The Ransom (Part 5)
By Jenny Taylor
"What's the situation there, John?" Scott asked John in command mode.
"There's been an explosion at Sydney Tower, which has started a fire, which has gone out of control and there are people trapped in the tower and in the basement, which the local fire department are unable to reach, plus the tower is on the verge of collapsing." John replies in report mode.
"F.A.B. John. I'll fly over to the Danger Zone in Thunderbird 1 to check up on the situation from the ground. Gordon, since we don't have Virgil, you will have to fly Thunderbird 2 and take Alan with you since it sounds like it's going to take everyone to deal with this." Scott commanded.
"F.A.B. Scott." Gordon replied and was about to head for Thunderbird 2's hanger until Alan spoke.
"How are we going to manage this without Virgil? It sounds huge."
"Alan, we need to do this as best as we can. And we will do it, for dad and Virgil." Scott tries to reassure him and then Colonel Casey steps in.
"The GDF Rescue Team from the GDF Base at Richmond are already on their way Scott, to assist you in the rescue effort."
"Thanks colonel, we'll need all the help we can get if we can get everyone out of there in one piece." The Field Commander thanked the colonel and then turns to Alan. "Alan we need your help. Can I trust you to do your duty for International Rescue despite the circumstances that we're currently facing?"
"F.A.B." Alan stood up and made a mock salute, filled with determination.
"Okay then." Scott turns to look at the British agents, the colonel and Kayo. "I trust that you guys will do your best to find Virgil?"
"Scott, we will do our utmost best to find Virgil. We've got the best men to help and track him down." The colonel replied, full of duty and determination.
"I'll get in contact with our fellow IR agents to help in locating Virgil." Came the reply from the British aristocrat.
"I'll go in Thunderbird Shadow to the last known coordinates from that transmission and work out from there." The determined covert op chipped in.
"Okay then. Thunderbirds Are Go!" Came the Rescue Cry from a determined Field Commander as he grabs the lights, which leads to his secret entrance of a travel tube to Thunderbird 1's hanger, while Kayo heads to her secret entrance to Thunderbird Shadow and Alan and Gordon takes Gordon's entrance to Thunderbird 2, since they cannot use Virgil's entrance to enter his Bird.
A few seconds later, 3 Thunderbirds launched from their retrospective launch bays and left the base, with 1 and 2 heading south-west towards Sydney while Shadow heads towards the last known location of Virgil's stolen communicator, used by the Hood.
Meanwhile in his cell inside the Hood's Flying Fortress, flying over the Pacific Ocean, Virgil is shivering violently. The freezing cold water and ice which the henchmen poured onto him 4 times, is making him hypothermic.
His clothes is completely soaked, he'd wet himself which didn't help and there's the remains of ice cubes, to which some of them had fallen down the back of his shirt, is making him shiver even more.
He's becoming cold, freezing cold, as well as confusion and feeling sleepy. He tries to stay awake and tries to raise his body temperature by breathing heavily and shivering, as he tries to work out what just happened.
These men just came into his cell, carrying 4 buckets and then without warning, they poured the contents of water and ice onto him. One bucket after another, they poured the freezing contents onto him without any explanation into why they were doing it.
He knew the Hood commanded them to do something to him, but why? That's the million dollar question that runs through his mind, but then he starts to feel numb, numb to the cold, numb to the ice and numb to the wet clothes he's wearing.
He slowly starts to realise that couldn't feel his arms, he couldn't feel his legs, he couldn't feel hands nor his feet also he couldn't feel his shackles nor the thick chain that restrains him to his metal bed.
His eye lids become heavy, his breathing slows and his shivering is subsiding. This isn't good. He's starting to succumb to hypothermia. He tries to call for help, but no words came out. His mouth and lips are too cold for him to speak, let alone shouting for help.
He tries to fight it, he tries to fight hypothermia, he tries to stay awake, but it was useless. His eyes close, his shivering stops. He can't feel his body anymore. Is this his fate? To die at the hands of his family's mortal enemy? Will he see his family again?
His mind, full of questions, starts to fall into the black emptiness of… of what? Death? Is this what death feels like? He then hears voices, blurred and unable to make out what they were saying. He becomes unconscious and succumbs to hypothermia.
At Sydney, one of the city's tourist attractions, the Sydney Tower, the fire is still raging and threatening to spread to nearby buildings as well as leaning almost to the point of collapsing.
Thunderbirds 1 and 2 land on Hyde Park North, next to the GDF Rescue forces mobile base. Scott leaves his Bird and heads to the mobile base, occupied with GDF Rescue Forces commander, Sydney's Fire Chief Commander and AFP Commander for a quick briefing for the situation.
"How is the situation, commanders?" He asked. The Sydney's Fire Chief Commander spoke first with the updates.
"Not good sir. The fire and explosion is situated at the base of the tower, cutting off a mixture of tourists and staff who are trapped in the Golden Turret. The plumbing for the fire safety system has failed due to fractures in the main water tank, caused by the explosion, which also acts as a stabilizer the tower itself. Also half of the tower's 56 cables, mainly on the south side of the tower, has snapped due to the explosion, and is about to collapse onto a few of the large restaurants and retail units on the opposite side of Market Street."
"So you're saying that the basement levels are currently flooding?"
"Yes sir." The fireman replied.
"Do you any idea on what's caused the explosion?"
"No sir, we won't know until we get the fire under control and we've got every fire department from all parts of the city to tackle the blaze."
"Okay then," Scott then turns to the AFP representative. "What about the evacuation?"
"Almost everyone in the shopping complex, beneath the tower has evacuated," The AFP Commander replied. "We have also have put up a 1km exclusion zone around the tower, which means everyone within the zone is currently evacuating."
"Okay, but I think it's better to double the size of the exclusion zone, just to be on the safe side and reduce the risk of everyone being affected by the smoke and a possibility of more explosions." Scott replies to voice his opinions.
"Yes sir, but I would require assistance from the GDF to help with the evacuation." The commander replied, turning towards the GDF personal.
"I can spare some of my men to help with the evacuation, but I will need them just in case we need them to help rescue the trapped personals in the Golden Turret," The GDF commander replied and then turned to Scott. "What do you want us to do sir?" Scott replied in an instant.
"I want you get your men to airlift the trapped people from the turret commander, and land in a suitable area which can be used as a makeshift landing pad and hospital, away from the Danger Zone."
"Yes sir." The commander saluted, turned and headed towards to a fellow GDF personal to make the rescue.
"Fire Commander, I want you continue with what you can in getting the fire under control and do your best in rescuing the trapped people."
"I'll do my best sir, but there's a problem." Scott raised his eyebrow as the Fire Commander spills out the problem. "The explosion has caused some of the floors to collapse which has resulted with some of the people falling into the flooding basement and there's no way we can reach them."
"Don't worry Commander. We've got the best equipment that will save the trapped people and to stabilize the structure." Scott reassured the fireman and then briefed John, Gordon and Alan on what he'd learned.
"F.A.B. Scott, I'll use the Foam Pod to seal and stabilize the targets." Alan acknowledged.
"And I'll use the Mole Pod to get at the trapped people and use Virgil's 'Jaws of Life' if required." A determined Gordon responded.
"Are you sure that you can the 'Jaws of Life' Gordon? It was designed for Virgil." Asked a concerned Alan.
"Now's not the time to debate Alan," Cuts in Scott. "We know that the 'Jaws of Life' is designed to be used by Virgil, but Gordon is the only other person who's capable of using it."
"What are you going to be doing Scott?" Gordon asked curiously.
"I'll use my jetpack and laser cutter to help the trapped people in the turret and then when they're clear from the Danger Zone, I'll return to help you guys in the basement."
"I'll use my scanners here in Five to locate the trapped people." Chipped in the space bound brother.
"Okay then, everyone knows what they're doing?" Scott asked his fellow teammates.
"F.A.B." They replied in unison.