29
Pool day was a success, everyone tired and done in by an afternoon of silliness. The balloons tied together to form a weird sort of floatie Owen insisted on trying out was a hilarious moment, especially as the balloons were clearly not tied correctly and all drifted apart as he sank to the bottom.
Finally, everyone was in bed, bar Ianto who was tidying up. Martha and Mickey were on nightshift and Jack was turning down the bed while thinking about what PJ bottoms Ianto wanted tonight.
Ianto was finishing up and as he headed past the bank of screens to place the last of the files away he noticed something. Stopping, he stood watching the screen for the furthest camera that overlooked the carpark at the tourist centre next door.
It was… a light… no… a glow… glowing…. What was it? A spotlight? Ianot stood staring at it and suddenly he knew, reaching out to slam his hand down on the alarms, then turning to run for the main Hub where he knew everyone would assemble.
"FIRE" Ianto yelled as he entered the Hub, "To the east, about eight kilometres away, there is a scrub fire. Toshiko, I want to know which way the wind is blowing."
"Oh shit" she said softly as she rushed to do as he asked.
Everyone rushed to their assigned jobs, the drills Ianto had demanded now and then for 'meteor storms' and 'tidal waves' now making everyone move with purpose. Soon Toshiko had a Drone up and they were looking over the fire.
"That is NOT a scrub fire" Owen muttered with annoyance "Look at it, it's like a monster."
"And the point of origin seems to be the next property over, look. The barn and old homestead used for storage now" Ianto swore softly, drumming his fingers "Tosh?"
"Look, I don't like it either" she replied with annoyance "But you are right. The wind is fanning it this way. If emergency services don't get it under control it might reach us."
"Brilliant" Rhys grumbled dryly, turning to Andy "We need to turn on the Dome Sprinklers."
"We will all get soaked and…"
"No. No buddy… the outside ones. Remember? When this place was built those cleaning sprinklers were put in so we can wash off dust and grime after a windstorm? We test them once a month and make the Domes all clean and sparkling? We turn them on and leave them running. They feed from the spring so… any sparks or whatever blowing this way cannot settle and the water is limitless. Will be a bog outside by the time it's over but… will save the domes."
"Brilliant idea Rhys" Ianto nodded, "Make it so. Jack, smoke will be the next thing. You and Suzie need to go shut down the ventilation system and put us on emergency air filtration and recycling."
"Come on Cap, I can do this one in my sleep." Suzie slapped Jack's shoulder.
"What do we do?" Skippy asked, clinging to her dog with fear.
"We know the direction it is coming from. Maybe go to that nearest Dome and evacuate what animals you can and make sure the escape tubes are fully open. They will get freaked out by the noise, the confusion and it will get hot. Put them all in the West Dome, farthest away. If worst comes to worst, they can then escape back to the Ark Dome from there." Ianto instructed, then added softly as he leaned in close to kiss her cheek in a brotherly way "Like a drill. This will not reach us, like most things this is mostly for the audience, OK?"
She looked more confident as she rose "Come on my fella… we got lives to save."
Both teens took off with the dog trailing after them, Ianot turning to nod to Mickey who silently moved after them to help. Donna and a couple more moved with them. Ianto then turned to the others "Right. Emergency protocols. Like a apocalyptic event again… this time we have a directional force moving against us so… go through your packs and read up on the correct procedures. We have plenty of time to get this right. We have done simulations for things of a similar nature, and we will be fine. Just fine. Come on, hustle for the messes watching at home."
Everyone started to move away leaving just Jack and Owen, both men watching Ianto who seemed…. Shifty. Jack finally asked, "Ideas lover?"
"Where are our emergency services?" Ianto asked.
"Not coming" Mari called out as she walked towards them with a satellite phone in her hand and a look of sheer pissery "Apparently 'Someone' downed some trees over the three entry roads. They are trying to clear the mess, but it can take them up to an hour. They are sending men in foot with equipment as ground support but as we know… it's a fair trek in fully loaded. Choppers are a no go, too far out as well. By the time any fucker is close enough to help fight this thing it will be running over us."
"This is not an accident" Ianto was pissed now.
"No, they think it's deliberately lit. Someone caused this fire and it's running for us at great speed. The wind is picking up and we don't have much time. An hour at most" she replied with genuine fear making her voice wobble.
Ianto stood with his fingers tapping against his thigh as he tried to go over scenarios, then he looked up as the outer sprinkler system kicked in and cool water started to flow from the jets of the Dome's meatal framework to envelop the surface, like they were inside a waterfall.
"Wow" Mari breathed with wonder "Pretty."
Jack was not looking up; he was focused on Ianto who seemed to have passed that tapping.
He had an idea?