"We've received a call from Moon station A," John's holographic features were troubled. "A piece of space junk collided with a new module, and sent two of them hurtling into space."
"Moon station A? Wasn't that put into orbit to service and guide space freighters?" Virgil asked.
"The same. But over the years it's been turned over for scientific research, the best thing for it, in my opinion," John replied. "Anyway, there are three people trapped on board one of the sections."
"Are you sure? Those modules are designed to house several people," Alan asked.
"I dunno but it's possible there might be someone in one of the sections, and something might have happened to them. The call came from one of them, but go to the second section to be safe," John said.
"Any radio contact with the sections, John?"
"No. It looks like the collision damaged the sections, but they got too far away before they could get a chance to rescue them."
"That means there will be two modules spinning helplessly in space," Virgil commented gloomily.
"Is anyone doing anything about this?" Kayo asked.
"No. There aren't any ships in range."
Alan was already heading towards the couch that would send him down towards Thunderbird 3's hanger. "John, you're going to have to give me the map references to help me them down."
"Already on it, Alan."
"Good luck, Alan," Grandma Tracey said.
Alan acknowledged them, and he triggered the lift. As he suited up, his mind raced as he considered the problems but until he got out there, then there will be nothing he could do. The launch went well and as soon as he got into space in Thunderbird 3, Alan quickly checked the local star charts and the signals relayed by Thunderbird 5, the GDF markers and the satellites dotted about. It didn't take long for him to see the modules; one of them was drifting out of the gravity between the moon and Earth, and the second one was closer to Earth.
"Okay, John, I'm in space now. I'm starting with the closer module," Alan said.
"Okay, Alan. We're keeping a check on the communications traffic nearby," John said. "Everyone's been trying desperately to get in touch with the module, but there's still nothing."
Alan sighed, "Sounds like their radio equipment is gone. Which section had the people inside it?"
"The one heading away from Earth into space, so be quick," John replied grimly.
"Okay, I'll be as quick as I can," Alan replied.
As he pushed Thunderbird 3 towards the module, it didn't take long for Alan to spot it in the distance. It was on a course away from Earth, but as he checked the speed, he was relieved it wouldn't take long for him to reach it. Still, he calculated a course that would take him to the module and then he would return to Earth and perform a slingshot to save time and fuel so he could reach the second module.
As he pushed the engines, relieved the fusion drive engines could take it, Alan continued using Thunderbird 3's computers to make the calculations, accounting for any errors or anything that could have been overlooked. He could not afford to make any mistakes. Alan sent a transmission back to John in Thunderbird 5 and to Brains on Tracey Island so they could add their computational power to the mix. It didn't take long for him to receive several choices.
Arriving at the first of the modules, Alan quickly engaged the massive grapplers of Thunderbird 3, locked onto the module and held it tightly before he put on his spacesuit and quickly got outside while he ran life sign checks. There was someone onboard the module. And judging from the readings, they were swiftly running out of air.
Alan quickly checked the hull of the module, and he was pleased to see nothing was leaking out into space, but still, this was going to be tricky. The module was as fragile as an egg in the grip of the grapplers, and he had to do this as carefully as he could. Alan tapped a list of careful instructions into his keypad, opening his link to Thunderbird 3. The IR spaceship quickly let go, but took a new grip on the module and extended an airlock tube. Once he was sure it was locked correctly, Alan got back inside Thunderbird 3, and he opened the hatch once it was equalised.
Alan found the module to be fairly stripped down on the inside but there were cabinets full of equipment he found the trapped astronaut was wearing a spacesuit with the helmet off.
"Oh thank god," the astronaut leapt to her feet. "International Rescue."
"At your service. How come you didn't use a radio, did something happen to it?"
"Yeah, it smashed into little bits," the astronaut grimly gestured to a floating collection of electronic parts. "I was on the point of giving up hope."
"Never do that, any way we need to go. We have to check the second module."
"I know, I'd just gone into this module when the collision happened, and I know the others were trapped, too," the astronaut said, and the two men got back into Thunderbird 3. Very quickly, Alan retracted both the airlock boarding tube and the grapplers and he sped off towards Earth.
"Hold on, what are you doing? The second modules have been blasted off into space," the astronaut asked.
"I know, I'm doing a slingshot to circle the Earth to head for the direction of the second module, to save time and fuel," Alan replied.
"Oh, I forgot about slingshots, sorry," the astronaut said.
"Don't worry about it," Alan said as he left the course to the computer. Within half an hour, the rocket ship had reached Earth's equator and was swiftly caught by the planet's gravity. After performing one orbit, Alan made sure the engines were timed precisely to blast off in the direction of the last module. After running a quick check, he realised the second module was further away but that was expected.
'One day, we'll invent an engine that gets us around quickly,' Alan thought to himself as he cursed the distance between Earth and the second module. When Thunderbird 3's engines activated and they blasted off into space, aided by Earth's gravity, the acceleration was tripled but it was still getting away.
"Alan, we've got a new estimate of how long the module has; there are just 10 more minutes of air left onboard," John called.
Alan turned to the astronaut next to him. "Were there any spacesuits on the second module?"
"Yeah."
"John, there should be spacesuits on the second module, but I'll get there soon," Alan said, checking the speedometers before he engaged the boosters. Through the viewports, Alan and the astronaut could see the distant dot that was the module. Thunderbird 3 was getting there quickly, but they were still further back.
"Any chance we can reach it in time?" The astronaut asked.
"I'm pushing the tertiary engines now," Alan said as the rocket began shaking. He quickly stabilised the ship and the engines, but the shaking as the engines were pushed further on continued. But it paid off in the end. Once Thunderbird 3 was finally in range, Alan repeated the same operations as he had before and grabbed hold of the module as gently as he could, before he used the airlock tube.
Alan was about to leave the control room but he remembered the astronaut he'd rescued and turned to him.
"Come on," Alan said to the astronaut he'd rescued, "let's go and meet your friends, and I'll get you back to Earth."
"Okay," the astronaut said and they both headed down for the airlock. The moment the air was equalised, Alan was relieved the other two astronauts were okay, and dressed in their spacesuits. They'd realised the air was running down, and put on their suits to give them a bit more time.
"Hi, I'm from International Rescue," Alan said, "I've come to take you home."
The two astronauts leapt towards him, and when Alan was finally able to leave he was relieved the rescues had gone well.