International Rescue: The Next Phase


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #780 is a reply to message #778] Wed, 25 July 2012 16:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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"Ess, where do you want me to drop the pod?" Virgil asked.

"Thunderbird Two from Thunderbird Five. Vee, the stadium at Ust'-Uls is ready for you. Downloading coordinates now." Callie's voice cut in from the orbiting space station.

"F-A-B, Thunderbird Five and thanks!" Virgil replied.

"Thunderbird One from Thunderbird Two. Ess, I'm going to drop the pod, unload it, and come back. We'll need the grabs in the base of the pod and I'll have more power to hold on or pull up if the pod is empty. Besides, it will get Seven and the auxiliary equipment out faster if we do it this way."

"Sounds like a plan, Vee. Just get a move on," Scott called.

"F-A-B." Virgil turned to speak over his shoulder. "CJ, you and Kay are with me. Aye, take Bee back. Have you been showing him the ropes on the recovery vehicle?"

"Yes, Vee. I think he's got the hang of it," Alan responded as he rose with Brandon to head back to the pod.

"Doc... oh, she's already gone, and Dee and En with her." Virgil shook his head. "She doesn't waste any time."

Back in Thunderbird Seven, Dianne was giving Dom a crash course in powering up procedure.

"You've got flight experience, so you should be able to do this pretty easily. Just remember that it's a hovercraft and needs something to push against. It doesn't do too well in open sky," she explained.

"I remember some of these procedures from the last rescue. Brains went over them with us after we cleaned and disinfected," Dom told her. Dianne nodded.

"That's good. And the two of you did a great job in cleaning things up after the last rescue. Thank you for your efforts there."

"You're welcome," Nikki responded.

Dianne turned to her. "We're going to get you into the simulator as soon as we can, Nikki, and give you flight training as well. It's imperative that all of our operatives know how to fly. But for now, let's get strapped in. I think this is our stop."

The three could feel the vibration of Thunderbird Two stop as the chassis was lifted from the pod. The door opened and daylight flooded the garage-like compartment.

"Looks like Alan and Brandon have point for the moment. We'll pull out and follow but once they start to work, we can go ahead and see if there's a place to land in the Danger Zone. One good thing about having a hovercraft: there aren't too many obstacles we can't get over," Dianne said with a smile.

"Thunderbird Seven to Thunderbird Two. Ready to move out," Dom said, his voice steady despite a bit of nervousness. After all, he was flying a Thunderbird today.

"F-A-B, Dee. Good luck," Virgil's voice returned. They could hear the smile behind it.

Carefully, Dom guided the Thunderbird out of the pod and between the hydraulic legs of the massive green machine. He kept his eyes on the retreating auxiliary vehicles and followed them as, behind him, the engines and cockpit of Thunderbird Two settled down over the pod once again and took off, headed for the Danger Zone.

Post by Tikatu on 14/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #782 is a reply to message #780] Wed, 25 July 2012 16:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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As the bus tipped forward slightly, the women and children screamed and the babies cried more loudly than they had before. Vladimir snapped, "Quiet! All this caterwauling isn't going to save us!"

Ivana was hysterical. "We're going to die. All of us we're going to die! I'm too young!" Galina reached out with a free hand and slapped her.

"Stop it, Ivana. Stop thinking about yourself and think of the children. We need to keep them calm and do what needs to be done to stay alive. Your screaming isn't going to help us one bit!" Ivana subsided into sniffles, and wrapped the baby more closely in the blanket that had threatened to fall off her.

Yulja cried out, "My husband, my Fjodor. He's unconscious. I can't wake him!"

Vladimir made his way to the couple and checked the older man. "He seems to have a concussion. There's blood on the back of his head and a lump is forming. I can feel it. But he isn't dead, Yulja. And he's a stubborn man, a fighter. If we can get him medical attention, I think he'll be okay."

"From your mouth to God's ears," she replied, crossing herself once again.

Vladimir stood up. "Now, we need to put as much of our weight as close to the back of the bus as possible. I've put blankets back there. I want all the adults to go back there and sit on them. Ilya, come help me move Fjodor back there." When they hesitated, he shouted, "Move!"

The two men carefully dragged Fjodor to the back of the bus and propped him up with his head against the door. Then the five remaining adults settled themselves the best they could. "Yorgi, you are the biggest of the children; come sit in my lap." The boy did so, then Vladimir had the next five oldest children sit in the other adults' laps. Finally he had the babies in the arms of the two older girls and the other four in the laps of the rest of the children. The rest of the blankets they placed over themselves with difficulty, but successfully.

Vladimir, who was on one side of Fjodor, checked the man again. He seemed to be breathing normally, and his heartbeat was steady. I wish I knew more about first aid. I hope we haven't done any more damage to him by moving him. But I couldn't leave him there. "Now we all know that International Rescue is here. They will get us out soon. But it's up to us to hold out until they can. We have been lucky or," he glanced at Yulja, who was sitting on the other side of her husband, praying, "God is indeed watching over us. Let's help Him out by staying close together for warmth and moving as little as possible."

There was some sniffling and shuffling, and whispered words soothing the babies and younger children, then quiet as everyone sat there with their thoughts and prayers, hoping it would be over very soon.

Post by Hobbeth on 15/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #785 is a reply to message #782] Wed, 25 July 2012 16:51 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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******Wednesday, March 14, 2068, Tracy Villa Lounge, around 5:30 p.m.******

Jeff sat at his desk, listening to the goings on with the latest rescue mission in Russia. One thing that kept troubling him was the code name problem. There's Callie, Christopher, and Cherie. Fortunately, Christopher would like to be referred to as CJ, so that does solve one part of the problem. And Cherie won't be a part of IR for several years. That solves another problem. The initials idea fell through, particularly because of Alan's initials.

Cherie sat on the sofa, reading the latest teen magazine. Lisa looked at Jeff. "I'm going to feed Joshua. Lena, would you like to come?"

"I would love to." She noticed Kyrano walking into the lounge. "We'll be back to help wit dinner in a little while."

"Thank you, Lena." He turned and noticed the look on Jeff's face.

Brains stood next to Jeff but noticed Kyrano's look and left the room. Kyrano said, "Something troubles you, Mr. Tracy."

Jeff snapped back into reality. "Oh, sorry, Kyrano. I'm just trying to figure out the right code names we can use."

"Well, I have noticed each of the recruits have different hobbies and interests. When I last took mail to Callie's apartment, I saw memorabilia from the...University of Alabama."

"The Alabama Crimson Tide. Callie graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from there. Perhaps I could call her Roll Tide."

"May I make a suggestion?"

"Of course, Kyrano. What is it?"

"Why not let the new recruits choose their own code names? Allow them to recognize each other without revealing who they really are."

Jeff pondered on his manservant's idea. "Kyrano, I think you've come up with the solution."

"I am glad I could help, Mr. Tracy. I shall return in an hour with your dinner on a tray."

"I appreciate that, thank you."

Post by TracyFan4Ever on 15/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #789 is a reply to message #785] Wed, 25 July 2012 16:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Kat and Christopher were the only ones left on the flight deck. They glanced at each other, then Christopher asked the question that was on both of their minds.

"What do you need us to do, mate?"

Virgil didn't turn around. He was flying slowly over the Danger Zone, trying to decide what to do about the bus and the other smashed cars and trucks that littered the road beneath them.

"Thunderbird Two from Thunderbird One," Scott's voice came over the radio. "Have you had enough of a look, Vee? Things are getting hairy down here. The bus is still shifting, even though everyone is sitting in the back."

"I've been looking things over to see how best to use the manpower I still have, Ess," Virgil replied, trying not to get annoyed at Scott's slightly sarcastic tone. "I think I've got it. We'll be with you in a few minutes."

He spoke to the two sitting behind him. "CJ, I want you to winch down in a harness and give me a report on the bus. See if you can get inside and assess any injuries. Kay, you'll have to winch him down."

"A little reconnoiter? I can do that," Christopher said. He stood and motioned to Kat. "Let's get going, Kat. There's no time to lose."

The two hurried to the lift that took them to the lower level. Christopher remembered where the harnesses were kept from when he did maintenance on Thunderbird Two and went unerringly to the small closet where they were hanging up. He chose one that looked like it was his size and began to put it on.

"How do I attach this to you?" Kat asked, looking dubiously at the harness and then at the winch.

"Here. You thread the clips through the loops on the harness and the loop of the cable," Christopher demonstrated. He double-checked all of his fastenings to make sure they were tight.

"Why can't you just take the rescue capsule down?" she asked as she began to fasten him to the cable as he had shown her.

"I think Vee wants to put me on the roof of the coach for a moment or two so I can look at things from that angle," he replied as he prepared to step out. "Then I'll get on the ground and unfasten myself and have a look-see." He smiled at her. "Are you ready?"

"I suppose so," Kat said quietly.

"Then start the winch and open the doors!" Christopher cried.

The doors opened beneath his feet and Kat slowly played the cable out, watching as Christopher grew smaller until he reached the top of the bus. She winced at every gust of wind that seemed to throw him off target, but at last he made it to his goal.

"Vee? I'm on top of the coach. It's pretty precarious here. Even my weight made it shift a bit. The end is too high in the air for anyone to climb into without help, and the only opening I see is too small for me to climb through." He gave Scott a jaunty wave as he walked gingerly towards the nose of the bus.

"It's caught by a wooden guard rail, but that could give way at any moment," he explained to Virgil.

"Okay, CJ. I get the picture. Could someone smaller get into that opening? Say... Kay?" Virgil asked.

"I think she could," Christopher agreed.

"Then that's what we'll do," Virgil explained. "Kay, finish lowering CJ to the ground so he can take a look at the rest of the mess down there. Then bring the cable back up. You're going down to get on the bus."

"I am?" Kat squeaked, even as she fed out more cable to bring Christopher to the asphalt.

"You are," Virgil confirmed. "I'm putting Two on auto-pilot and I'll be down there in a few minutes."

"F-A-B," Kat responded.

Meanwhile, Christopher disengaged himself from the cable and took off at a run. He peered inside cars, swallowing sometimes at the carnage that he saw.

"Thunderbird Seven from CJ," he called into his communicator. "I've got an idea of who needs help first."

"F-A-B, CJ. We're having a bit of trouble with this bridge," came Dianne's voice. "Try it again, Dee. Just a straight shot and close to the road so that the wind doesn't buffet us. CJ, we'll be with you in a few moments."

"F-A-B, Doc," Christopher replied."Vee, I'll wait for Kay over by the coach." He began to move over towards the bus.

"F-A-B, CJ," Virgil answered. "I'll lower the big grabs once she's on the ground. You'll have to be the one to position them onto the front of the bus so make sure you secure yourself to the main cable by your harness. We don't need you falling into the ravine."

"No, indeed!" Christopher replied. "Message received." He stood by the bus and looked up at the green cargo carrier, waiting for Kat to be winched down to his position.

Post by Tikatu on 18/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #792 is a reply to message #789] Wed, 25 July 2012 16:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Virgil put Thunderbird 2 on automatic pilot and helped to strap Kat into a harness attached to the winch. When he was happy that she was secure, he slowly lowered her down, down to the stricken bus. She stood beside Christopher; the air was cold and she drew the hood of her warm jacket closer over her head, pulling it down, almost covering her eyes.

Christopher pointed to a small broken window at the back of the bus.

"That's the only entry I could find that is big enough for a small adult," he told her. "I can boost you up there." He cupped his hands like a stirrup, his fingers intertwined. Kat took a breath, stepped into his hands, and found herself propelled upwards, headed for the small aperture. Squeezing and wriggling, she managed to get inside the bus. She was very careful, for the slightest movement could make the bus move precariously. She looked around her, a sea of anxious little white faces turned back to look at her.

Softly she asked, "Does anyone speak English?"

A light brown haired young man replied, "I speak English, but not good. My name is Ilya."

Kat nodded at him. Gently she said, "I am with International Rescue. My job is to find out what the situation is here on the bus."

Ilya attempted to translate this back to the frightened children and adults. One small toddler spoke in Russian and his friends giggled nervously.

Ilya turned to Kat. "They want to know if you are an angel because you came from the sky."

Kat laughed and pushed her hood down off her face. "No, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am just an ordinary young woman."

Ilya looked at Kat, a warm expression in his eyes. "No, you are special. No one from International Rescue can be... how you say?... ordinary."

Kat looked around her. There was a man slumped against the back door. She moved carefully among the children. There were two babies, no older than six months. Four or five youngsters appeared to be under the age of seven, and the remaining children ranged from eight to fourteen. The girls were very frightened, some crying, some moaning. The boys were obviously trying to put on a brave face, but Kat could see that they were also very frightened.

Kat asked, "What injuries are the children suffering?"

Again Ilya attempted to translate, but Ilya's English was not as good as he had led Kat to believe. The children stared back at Kat, blank looks on their faces.

Okay, Kat thought, this is not going to be easy.

At that moment, Virgil contacted her. "Kay, what is happening? Are you okay?"

Kat replied. "It's not going to be easy, Vee. I have an interpreter but he is not too fluent with his English."

Virgil groaned, then he added, "Maybe Jay or Cee can help you."

"Leave it to me for the moment, Vee. I have an idea," Kat said quietly.

Kat looked at the adults. Using sign language, she indicated on herself, a sore head, sore tummy, and by making her arms floppy, broken limbs. Then she pointed to the children and adults. One of the adults seemed to realise what Kat was trying to do. She smiled and told Kat, through Ilya, that she was called Yulja. She spoke to Ilya slowly, indicating on herself certain problems and pointing to one of two of the children. Ilya glanced at Kat. In slow, halting English he told Kat that one of the young toddlers had a broken arm, one of the older boys seemed to have broken his jaw, and that the rest of the passengers were suffering cuts and bruises. Kat pointed to the man on the floor. Ilya indicated that they believed he had a concussion.

The children were all shivering and Kat could see that if they panicked there was a very real danger of the bus sliding over the edge.

"Vee?" she called.

"Hello, Kay. how's it going?"

"Tell Doc we have we have at least two broken bones and a concussion. The rest appear to just have superficial cuts and bruises."

"F-A-B, Kay," Virgil replied. "Doc reports an ETA of ten minutes. The suspension bridge is slowing them down. Christopher will be putting the magnetic mega grabs on the front of the bus to stabilize it."

"F-A-B, Vee," Kat responded. "I shall try to keep them occupied so as not to panic them."

Kat felt someone tugging her trousers. She looked down and saw a small boy, his gappy smile proclaiming his tender years. He put his arms out to her. Instinctively she picked him up. He cuddled into her and spoke to Ilya. "He says you are pretty." Ilya said.

Kat smiled at that remark. "Won't their parents be worrying about all this? I suppose they have been notified?" Kat asked Ilya.

Sadly, Ilya shook his head. "No parents," he replied.

Kat spoke to John. "Jay?" she asked, her voice sounding tearful. "What's the Russian for 'orphan'?" John told her. Kat asked Ilya if the children were orphans. He nodded.

"Kay, is everything all right?" John had noted the tremor in her voice and was concerned.

"Oh, Jay," Kat answered him, "all these children are orphans. There will be no one to hug them when they are rescued, no one to kiss them and tell them how brave they have been. It is so very sad."

John spoke again to Kat. "Kay, I am so sorry about the kids. I will relay that message back to the Doc.." He added, "Are you quite sure you are okay? Do you need any help with any more translations?"

"Yes," Kat replied, "Can you let me know how to say, 'I am going to sing some songs and I hope you will join in', in Russian. I think it is the only way to distract the children."

"Gosh! Kay, what a clever idea." He told her and made her repeat it back to him. When she did, she seemed fairly fluent. "Good luck, Kay," he remarked.

"Thanks, Jay," Kat replied.

Kat looked at the children. Turning to Ilya, she said in halting Russian, "I am going to sing a song. I hope they will join in." Ilya looked again at her with admiration in his eyes. Turning away from him to face the children and putting her fingers to her lips to indicate that they sing softly, she began.

Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky


The children all began to smile, momentarily forgetting their dangerous situation.

Above in Thunderbird 2, Virgil heard the singing over the radio. He grinned and remarked to no one in particular, "Sounds like Kat has got things under control."

Back in the bus, several of the children said something in Russian. Ilya interpreted for them. "They want more singing."

Kat sighed. What on earth can I sing? She began to go through her repertoire of nursery rhymes. Just as she was at a loss what to sing next, Virgil's came over the radio. "Kat? Doc, En and Dee are at your position."

Kat silently prayed, Thank goodness!

Post by Tawnyangel22 on 19/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #797 is a reply to message #792] Wed, 25 July 2012 16:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Thunderbird Seven was now perched on a small patch of clear tarmac in the Danger Zone. Before the engines were shut down, Dianne was out of her seat, beckoning Nikki to follow her.

"Nikki, take this med scanner and triage the people on the bus first. I understand that there might be a concussion patient there. As long as there's no one else as bad as that, bring him or her in first. I'll have Dom begin triage of the people in the cars and I'll check on whoever they pulled out of the avalanches." She sighed. "We may be too late in some cases, but hopefully not for the children on that bus."

"F-A-B Doc." Nikki replied as she ran out of the Thunderbird. She had never run so fast in her life. Nikki thought that maybe the fact that there were mostly children on the bus gave her the extra burst of speed she needed. As she reached the bus, new thoughts were flowing through her mind, about how she was going to communicate with them. That's when she remembered John and Callie up in Thunderbird Five. Nikki lifted her arm and activated her watch, "Thunderbird Five from En. Come in, please."

"Go ahead, En," came the familiar voice of Callie.

"Cee, I may need a translator. I need you to let them know who I am and what I'm about to do. I need to find out what sort of injuries I'm going to be dealing with on this bus." Nikki explained to her.

"Ok, En. Let me know when you're ready."

"F-A-B." Nikki answered.

Kat heard someone speaking English outside the bus. A very familiar someone. "En, is that you?" she called.

Nikki was surprised to hear Kat's voice. "Kay, thank goodness you're in there already. Do you know what injuries we'll be dealing with?"

"I've been talking with Ilya, who speaks English. So far I've found out that we have an adult male with a concussion, a toddler with a broken arm, and there's a possibility that one of the kids has a broken jaw." Kat paused for a few seconds. "Most of the kids and adults are pretty shaken up and have a few minor cuts and bruises."

"F-A-B, Kay."

Nikki passed the word onto Dianne, who was busy trying to resuscitate an avalanche victim.

"Any way you can get in there, Nikki?" she asked between chest compressions.

"I'll have to wait until CJ has finished stabilizing the bus. He then has to open the back door with the laser. Stand by, Doc."

The nose of the bus came upwards, and Nikki made a call to Christopher before getting back to Dianne. "Doc, CJ has just finished stabilizing the bus."

"Good," Dianne said, panting slightly. She had finally raised a heartbeat and breathing in the person she was trying to bring back. "Here comes Bee with the recovery vehicle. Between him and CJ, they should be able to get that bus back on terra firma." Then she added, "Wait until they've got the bus back on solid ground and out of danger. Then we can haul the children out the windows if we need to."

"Ok, Doc." Nikki signed off.

Brandon's voice came over Nikki's hands-free set. "Nikki, warn the people in the bus to move up a bit and don't leave anyone by the back wall of the bus, then clear out! I'm going to shoot the magnetic grapple and between me and Virgil, we'll get the bus on the road again."

"F-A-B." Nikki did as she was asked and stood back as the bus began to shake. "Hang on, Kay. They pulling the bus back onto solid ground." The children began to scream as they felt the bus move. Nikki watched the bus shake again as Brandon and Virgil in Thunderbird 2 slowly pulled it back onto safe ground. Nikki contacted Dianne when the bus came to a standstill.

"Doc. The bus is safe now. I'm about to get to the kids."

"Good, En," Dianne replied. "Have CJ and Bee give you a hand with the concussion patient once the door is open. Do you need a stretcher? I'll have Bee pick one up for you."

"I will need a stretcher, for our unconscious patient. As soon as we get the back door open, I'll be removing him first, then the toddler with the broken arm, and then the child with the broken jaw. After that I'll get the rest of the kids out, starting with the younger ones and lastly the adults."

Nikki was soon joined by Christopher and Brandon. "Here, you go, En," Brandon said cheerfully as he held out an anti-gravity stretcher to her. He carried two, and between them they got the first of the stretchers open.

"Shall we transfer your patient for you, En?" Christopher asked. Nikki nodded, and the two men gently moved Fjodor to the floating gurney.

"En, this is Yulja. Fjordor there is her husband. I am told she would like to go with him," Kat explained. Brandon helped the older woman down from the bus.

"Here's another stretcher, En," Christopher said as he opened it up. "Who is next to go?"

"The toddler with the broken arm and then the boy with the broken jaw."

Christopher nodded as the screaming child was brought towards them, followed by the elder child. Nikki was careful not to knock the toddler's arm as she was passed to her.

After the seriously injured were removed, Nikki asked for the children to be brought to the exit starting with the younger ones first. Seeing that the children were leaving the bus, Ivana began to get hysterical again and tried to push her way to the front of the queue to get out.

"No! Not yet!" Kat called, trying to hold the larger woman back. Galina reached out again and slapped her colleague, angrily saying something in Russian. Kat turned to Ilya.

"What did she say?" she asked.

Ilya unaccountably blushed. "You do not want to know. It was... how you say?... insulting."

Nikki who was outside, heard the commotion on the bus. Using her hands-free set, Nikki called Kat. "What's going on in there?"

"One of the adults tried to push their way to the front to get out, totally disregarding the children. Don't worry, En, she has been taken care of."

"Thanks, Kay," Nikki answered. She was glad that Kat was in there to help.

"It's not me who you should thank. I'll explain later," Kat responded.

As Nikki turned to follow the antigravity stretchers back to Thunderbird Seven, she glimpsed Dianne and Scott bringing in a patient from somewhere, and Dominic pushing a stretcher along with Alan's help.

Nikki rushed the crying little girl back to Thunderbird Seven. As she quickly looked back at the bus accident and the rest of the cars, she realized that their work had just begun.

Post by Nikki-browneyes1 and Tikatu on 19/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #805 is a reply to message #797] Wed, 25 July 2012 17:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Christopher clung onto the struts connecting the grabs to Thunderbird Two.

"CJ to Vee," he said over the combined sounds of the ship's engines and the biting wind, "move right a few degrees"

"F-A-B, CJ." Virgil's voice echoed in his ear. "Right a few degrees."

Christopher looked down; he was getting closer to the roof of the bus. The wind and the wash from the retros were buffeting things a little.

"Left a bit!" Christopher shouted, as he unbuckled his harness so he could ease himself onto the roof. Jumping down gently, he guided the grabs onto the roof.

"CJ to Vee and Bee." He smiled to himself. "Grabs are attached!"

"Thanks, CJ," Virgil said as he flicked the switches to activate the magnetic grabs.

"Thanks also, CJ." Brandon's voice issued from his communicator. Christopher looked and saw a figure waving from a recovery vehicle a little way away.

He heard some frightened whimpers from within the bus. Maneuvering himself to the back window, he looked inside.

"Nothing to worry about, we have attached magnetic grabs so we can lift the bus to safety." Christopher grinned, the grin drooping when he didn't get a response from those nearest him. He saw that Kat was helping to move the passengers away from the back door and didn't see or hear him over the noise of Thunderbird Two's engines.

"CJ to Thunderbird Five." He sat up on the roof again. "Come in Cee, I need your help."

"Go ahead, CJ," Callie answered.

Christopher repeated what he wanted to say to the passengers. "I'm afraid I only know a few words of Russian. Da, Nyet, and Russian for 'Can I have a Vodka, please?'."

Callie stifled a laugh, then gave him the translation.

"Thanks for that," Christopher said gratefully, as he leant back down to the window and repeated Callie's words to the scared group in the bus.

Then after looking up at Thunderbird Two, he slid off the bus.

"CJ to Vee and Bee," he said, "they are ready to go!"

Post by TheWrongTrousers on 19/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #817 is a reply to message #805] Wed, 25 July 2012 17:05 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Alan laid back in his seat, arms resting behind his head. He was used to this, being a passenger on Two while his brother flew them to the Danger Zone. He looked around at the others. Kat and Brandon were quietly talking, and he'd noticed once more that Kat was about to leave her seat with the same look of worry that she'd had the first time he saw her leave. This time he decided to tag along. He didn't have to go far; Kat had gone back down to the winch again to check on it. She was taking her role on this rescue very seriously.

Alan hunkered down beside her, smiling. Kat smiled back and said, "I'm just making sure that everything is okay."

"Haven't you already checked this?" Alan asked.

"Yes, but I want to make sure it's safe."

Alan nodded his understanding, and praised her work. He'd heard from Virgil how good she'd been working with him, and how impressed Virgil was with what she knew. Their conversation was stopped when Virgil's voice announced they were approaching the DZ and everyone needed to be in their seats. Here we go! thought Alan as he took up his seat again.

Virgil landed TB2 with his usual finesse, and Alan was immediately out of his seat.

"Brandon, let's go."

Brandon complied and they headed towards the lift that would take them to the ground level pod door. Alan walked behind Brandon hoping the confidence he saw in him would still be there out in the field.

I told Virgil I thought Brandon could handle the equipment. I sure hope he can. I'm in the Firefly and I won't be able to help him.

Alan pushed his worries aside as he climbed into the Firefly, but not before telling Brandon to stay in touch and good luck. Brandon had smiled and winked before disappearing into the Recovery Vehicle. Alan got himself comfortable, and adjusted the seat.

Virgil, why do you always leave the seat so far back? he mumbled to himself.

Switching on the radio link, he called his brother.

"Firefly to Thunderbird Two, ready to proceed."

"Firefly from Thunderbird Two, F.A.B. Proceed as normal."

"Recovery Vehicle to Thunderbird Two and Firefly, ready to proceed," came Brandon's confident voice.

Virgil responded by giving him clearance and as the pod door lowered, the two vehicles descended onto the snow covered ground. Alan immediately made radio connection with Brandon.

"Okay, Bee, I'm going to go as far as I can by just pushing through the snow. I want you close behind me all the way. We're approaching from the town of Ust'-Uls so we'll be heading into the vehicles that crashed first. We should be able to see the bus once we're through, but I'm taking it slow at first. Don't want to have to deal with any more snow than we've already got."

"FAB. Understood loud and clear."

Alan powered up the Firefly and it surged forward. He positioned the heat resistant shield low enough for it to become an effective plow. Using the Nitro-glycerine gun was out of the question, one shot from that gun and the rest of the mountain would dump on top of them. Alan chugged along until he reached the area where the snow had cut off the road.

"Okay, Bee, we're here. Thunderbird Two and Mobile Control from Firefly, ready to begin pushing through."

"FAB Firefly, proceed with caution," replied Scott.

"Will do," Alan replied.

Like I can go faster than a snail in this thing and all this snow! he thought as he rolled his eyes at his brother's remark. Even now, Scott thinks I'm going to floor this machine like a race car!

He turned his thoughts to the task at hand and felt the Firefly shake as the shield encountered its first batch of heavy snow. Brandon kept up with the Firefly, staying on Alan's heels, and before long they were half way through.

"Mobile Control from Firefly, I'm switching on headlights and remote control searchlight. It's not too clear under all this snow, and I'll be using the warning klaxon as we're breaking through on the other side, so let everyone who needs to know, know."

"Okay Firefly, will relay message. What's your ETA on the other side?"

"I'd say about another 15 minutes or so. I've managed to clear most of the heavy stuff already."

"Good job Firefly, relaying message. See ya soon."

Alan smiled to himself. Scott got on his nerves sometimes, but he was always grateful to have his big brother on hand and in charge in situations like this. All this snow was starting to make Alan feel claustrophobic. Finally, the snow became lighter and Alan broke through on the other side. He let out a slow whistle at the mess of twisted vehicles and carnage. Brandon pulled up the recovery vehicle alongside and spoke to Alan.

"I'm going to push on ahead. Hopefully Thunderbird Seven will be here soon, and it looks like the bus will need help, too."

"F-A-B, Bee, I'll stay here for a while, looks like they may need help shifting some of these vehicles. Catch up with you later."

Alan watched as Brandon maneuvered the Recovery Vehicle and departed. Brandon had handled himself and the machine very well. Alan made a mental note to mention this at the debriefing. If a guy deserved a pat on the back, Alan was willing to give him one.

After helping move some of the vehicles on the road, Alan was able to get a clearer picture of what was going on with the bus and when Thunderbird Seven came on the scene, he ran over to help.

"Where do you want me?" he yelled as he trotted up to Dominic.

"Here, you can help me with this stretcher," Dominic replied. Alan grinned.

"Sure, no problem!" he answered as he reached out to grab the stretcher.

"Thanks!" Dominic smiled his reply.

Post by FrankieCTB2 on 19/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #821 is a reply to message #817] Wed, 25 July 2012 17:06 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Beneath his skin, Dominic could feel a strange mixture of anxiety and excitement spreading through his body. It kept him sharp and wary of any dangers around him. There were many lives at stake. The trail of destruction around him, the backed up cars and the bus, oh, the bus... Every sight he saw made him more determined to give 110%, or more, if he could.

He and Alan manoeuvred the stretcher, upon which they had placed a middle-aged gentleman who had been removed from one of the car wrecks, back towards Thunderbird Seven. He was grateful for the well-gripped boots he had been issued with. The ground was icy, even where snow had been cleared away. Alan gave him a slight nod as they began to load the man into the medical cabin.

"How're you doing?" The blond asked.

"Fine." Dom answered, backing up into the cabin. "You?"

"Fine."

Together they transferred the man onto a biobed, and Dominic reached for the diagnosis chart, and he began to log in the man's condition. He replaced the medical padd and, grabbing another anti-grav stretcher, headed out of the cabin and out into the cold once more, following Alan.

The two men went quickly back to the car wrecks, where people were being extricated as quickly as possible. Alan was familiar with triage, although perhaps not on this scale. Dominic was impressed at the other man's efficiency and professionalism. It was a blessing to have someone experienced to work with.

He jogged towards one of the freed victims, and put on fresh gloves and gel. The middle-aged man, whose shirt was soaked with blood, began to hack and cough. Dominic did what he could, trying to assess the injuries and providing what emergency treatment he could. But the man's injuries were just too bad, and within minutes, he was dead.

Dominic shook his head and screwed up his mouth. 'We may be too late in some cases,' he remembered Doctor Tracy saying, 'but hopefully not for the children in that bus.' Sighing, knowing, as an experienced nurse, that death was an unfortunate side affect of his job, he put a black tab on the man and pulled the thermal blanket up over his head, and then conveyed the stretcher to the, thankfully tiny, morgue area.

Post by ArtisticRainey on 19/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #823 is a reply to message #821] Wed, 25 July 2012 17:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Dianne glanced over to the still, covered, black-tagged form that Dominic brought into the tiny morgue and sighed.

"Another one? That's four so far. Two of suffocation, one of internal injuries, and this one...?"

"Another 'internal injuries'," Dom said, raising sad eyes to meet Dianne's. "I tried, but he was too badly injured."

"Ah know, Dee, Ah know. Jus' get out there and do what you can. Any ID?"

"I didn't look, Doc."

"Well, the local authorities will have to sort this all out. We don't have time."

The roar of motors diverted her attention. "Hmm. Looks like we're finally gettin' some help from Ust'-Uls. Good. Most of th' children are fit enough to ride out with them. Just a couple that Ah'd like to keep on board Seven. Them and Fjodor here." She beckoned to Ilya. "Ilya. Please run and ask if they can take the less injured into the city."

"Da, Doctor. I will ask," Ilya said as he began to walk toward the incoming vehicles, then broke into a run.

"That boy has been a Godsend today. Ah'm sure mah tongue would twist around that Russian so hard they'd never understand me," she murmured wearily. Nikki and Scott came up with another stretcher, and another patient, and Dianne's attention suddenly focused on them. "What do you have for me, Nikki?" Inside, she sighed. The long rescue had just gotten a little bit longer.

Post by Tikatu on 20/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #827 is a reply to message #823] Wed, 25 July 2012 17:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Wednesday, March 14,2068, 7:55 p.m., Tracy Island

"Dad?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"You yawned."

Jeff shot a look over at his daughter, who now stood before him, hands on hips, looking very, very serious.

"Did I?" he asked ingenuously.

"Yes, you did. I saw it. Brains saw it. Didn't you, Brains?"

Brains's eyes flitted between father and daughter. He almost didn't dare to speak; Jeff was his employer, after all. But he had heard the yawn, and the thought of what Dianne would say to him if he didn't tell the truth made him shudder.

"Well, actually Cherie, I didn't see it...."

Jeff smiled at this daughter. Cherry turned to Brains, crossing her arms, and glaring at him.

"But... I did hear it."

Jeff scowled at his engineer. Cherry's face took on a smug smile.

Brains looked at the scowl and shrugged apologetically. "I'm only telling the truth, sir."

"Hmphf," was all that Jeff would say. Cherry turned her attention back to her father.

"You know what Mom said. If you yawned even once, you were to go to bed. She was really emphatic about it," Cherry reminded him.

"I... remember, Cherie," Jeff admitted.

"And you said you'd cooperate..."

"I remember, Cherie," Jeff said with a warning tone. "Please get Kyrano. He can help me dress for bed. But..." here he shook a finger at his daughter, "I am sleeping in my own suite and in my own bed! No sick room!"

"But Mom said...."

"I know what your mother said. But I am sick of hospital beds. I'm willing to cooperate, but you've got to be willing to meet me halfway. I want to sleep in my own bed. Is that so unreasonable?" Jeff smiled at Cherry. "You can tell your mother that I insisted and threw a fit if that makes you feel better...."

Cherry looked at her father intently, then laughed. "Okay. I wouldn't want to sleep in a hospital bed either when I knew my own comfy bed wasn't too far away."

"Good girl," Jeff replied with a grin. "Now, please tell Kyrano that I'll meet him in my suite. Brains, if you'd give me a hand with the stairs to the study?"

"Of course, Mr. Tracy." Brains pulled the wheelchair up over the two steps that separated the lounge and the study, then Jeff took over, maneuvering himself out into the hall. Cherry watched her father head down the hallway towards the master suite then lifted her telecomm to her lips.

"Kyrano? Dad is going to bed. He'd like you to meet him in his suite and help him."

"I will come presently, Miss Cherie," Kyrano replied. Just then, Lisa put in appearance in the lounge, followed by Lena.

"Where's your father?" Lisa asked.

Cherry replied, "He yawned."

Post by Tikatu on 20/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #833 is a reply to message #827] Wed, 25 July 2012 17:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Wednesday, March 14th, 2068, 8:00 p.m. Tracy Island.

Elise had smiled as she watched Jeff Tracy being playfully bullied by Cherie. The gutsy little teen had actually ordered her father to bed, with some help from Kyrano and Brains, and Jeff Tracy had actually gone! She'd been sitting on the far side of the lounge, watching and listening to as much of the rescue as she could. She'd heard bits and pieces of the radio conversations and been able to see and hear John and Callie on the live feed from space.

So this is what its all about, she thought as she tried to imagine what was going on halfway round the world.

One thing she'd heard kept coming back to the front of her thoughts, over and over. It had happened when John was on live feed talking to his father, and Kat had called in from the rescue site. Elise had heard Kat talking about the children on the bus. The same phrases penetrated her brain and would not settle.

"All these children are orphans." "There will be no one to hug them... no one to tell them how brave they had been... no one to hug them..."

Elise was so lost in her thoughts she hadn't noticed Brains walking back into the lounge. He went over to his employer's desk and resumed contact with John and Mobile Control. He looked up at one point and saw how far away and almost sad Elise looked.

"Elise? Are you okay?" She didn't reply.

"Elise?" he asked, a little louder this time.

She looked up at him. "Oh, um... I'm sorry... what did you say?"

"I asked if you were okay?" he softly replied, realizing something was obviously troubling her.

"Not really, no. I was thinking about those poor kids, and what Kat had said."

Before Brains could ask anything further, John beeped in on the live feed. "Thunderbird 5 to base."

"Go ahead John," replied Brains.

"Oh, Hi Brains! Where's Dad?"

Brains smiled as he recounted to John the events of Jeff's dismissal. John laughed lightly. He gave Brains an update, but did not disconnect, instead remaining on live feed so Brains could immediately help if needed.

Brains glanced over once more to Elise asking, "You said that you were thinking about what Kat said? About the orphans?"

She stood up and walked over to the desk, and sat down, so that she was now facing Brains directly. She sighed, heavily.

"It's just that she said there will be no one to hug them, tell them how brave they are." She paused and then added,

"I know how that feels... and I wish could be there to hug them."

She looked away, suddenly stood and announced she was going to get a drink. Brains watched her walk solemnly away.

"Brains? Was that Elise with you just then?" John asked concern evident in his voice.

"Yes John, it was. Did you hear what she said?"

"Yes, I did." Both men wore looks of puzzlement.

"I wonder what she meant when she said 'I know how they feel'?" Brains asked.

"I've no idea, but it's really eating her up," replied John.

Before they could ponder anymore, John was buzzed by Scott, and all thoughts returned to the rescue at hand.

Post by FrankieCTB2 on 21/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1346 is a reply to message #833] Thu, 26 July 2012 19:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Wednesday March 14th, in the Ural Mountains

Kat had watched as the children one by one had been checked over by the Doc and Nikki, and allowed to board the local rescue vehicles that had managed to get through. Cries were heard from inside one of the rescue vehicles. An angry voice let forth a tirade of Russian. Ilya came forward.

"It's little Yuri. He wants to say goodbye."

A tiny figure came to the door of the vehicle. Kat saw it was the little boy that she had picked up and cuddled in the bus. Without a backward glance, she hurried over. Yuri held out his arms. Kat picked him up, held him close, gave him a kiss and said to Ilya, "Please tell him he has been very brave."

One of the rescuers gently pulled him away from Kat's arms and took him inside. Kat left without turning back; she couldn't bear to see the look on the child's face.

Dr. Tracy had been watching this little scene. As soon as Kat returned, she remarked, "Are you okay, Kay?"

"Yes, I am," Kat replied. "Is there anything else you would like me to do?"

"Yes, join Alan and Dom to check out the smashed vehicles. Start with the driver of the truck that smashed into the back of the bus."

The driver was slumped over the steering wheel. The front of the cab had been severely damaged, to the extent that any attempt at opening the door would be futile.

"Kay," said Alan, "I'll give you a boost. I think you can scramble through the window."

"Okay, but it doesn't look too safe."

Kat put her foot in the stirrup formed by Alan's hands. She managed to wriggle through the broken window. The driver was moaning softly.

"Dee, it looks like he is just unconscious..." Kat's breath hitched and her eyes widened. From the knees down, the man's legs were a mangled mess of blood and flesh, with the whiteness of a bone sticking through. She fought the nausea, and returned to the window.

"Dee, I think..." Her brief victory ended; she vomited over the side of the truck.

"Kay!" Both Alan and Dom reached for her, helping her out.

"Is he dead?" Dom asked, holding her head as she heaved again. She shook her head.

"N-No. His legs... I think his legs have been crushed."

Dom patted her on the back. "Bee!" he called.

Brandon, holding a tire iron, trotted over. "Yeah, Dee?"

"I've got to get in there! Can you widen the hole?"

Their conversation faded into the background as Alan smoothed a hand over Kat's back. "Let me take you back to Seven."

She shook her head and breathed deeply. "N-No. I can manage." Straightening, she took a few more deep breaths. "I've just never seen anything like... that."

"I know. It's hard to deal with that kind of trauma, especially on your first rescue." Alan gave her a sympathetic smile. "There are some water bottles in Seven's control cab. Why don't you grab one so you can rinse out your mouth. Then we can check out some more cars."

She nodded. "I... I think I will. I'll be right back." Alan patted her shoulder, and she trudged off.

Back at the truck, Dom was inside and already hard at work. He called out. "Bee! We'll need cutting gear to get him out of here."

"Where can I find it?"

Alan trotted up. "Find what?"

Brandon turned. "Cutting gear."

"Let me." Alan lifted his wristcomm to his lips. "Aye to Mobile Control."

Scott was busy coordinating things between the various groups coming up from Ust'-Uls. "Mobile Control here. What do you need, Aye?"

"We need cutting equipment over here in order to free the truck driver."

"F-A-B," Scott replied. "I have the oxyhidnite gear right here."

Alan glanced at Brandon then over at Seven. Kat was already on her way back. "I'll send Bee over for it." He pointed at Brandon, who nodded and hurried off. Then he approached the truck, getting as close as he could to the opening Brandon had widened. "You okay in there, Dee?"

"I will be once we get this man out of here! Kind of cramped at the mo."

"I've sent Bee for the cutting equipment. He should be back any minute. Kay and I are going to check for more victims."

There was a heavy exhale of breath. "F-A-B."

"Right." Alan got down and intercepted Kat, picking up the tire iron on the way. "Let's go."

Dom listened to the sound of their footsteps on the icy snow and sighed. "Dee to Doc. Come in, Doc."

"Doc here. Go ahead."

"We have a bleeder here..."


Post by TawnyAngel22 (with copious recent edits by Tikatu) on 21/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1411 is a reply to message #1346] Thu, 26 July 2012 21:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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There was blood everywhere. He was glad he had been able to get in. For once, I'm glad I'm so damn skinny. The thought merely flitted across his mind, and he turned his attention to a more important issue: how he was going to help this man. He was lying back in the seat, and, thankfully, he was not jammed against the steering wheel. The air bag that had inflated had prevented that. The man's left leg had was hanging on by a small amount of muscle and skin, and the rest had been sliced through by a thick shard of metal; Dominic could see the blood-soaked piece of the cars interior lying to his side.

Dom clambered over to the man; he took a scalpel from his medical bag and jabbed the airbag to pop it, to get it out of the way. Then, testing his footing, he twisted his body in a way not many people could, and managed to wedge himself almost underneath the front seats of the car in order to attend to the man. Blood was truly everywhere, but luckily, where the blood vessels in the severed part of the leg had retracted, the flow was lessened. He checked through the wound for any debris, of which there were, luckily, none. It was hard going, trying to manoeuvre in the tight space. Dom took a wad of bandaging from his med bag and pressed it down on the gaping wound.

This is bad. Just have to stop him from bleeding out until we get him out of here, and then I'll deal with the rest of the injuries.

He spared a glance down at his watch. He had been applying pressure for just over five minutes, and the bandage was quickly becoming soaked. This guy needs to get out of here!

"Doc!" He called into the headset communicator, for which he was very grateful, just then.

"Dee? Status!" Doctor Tracy's voice was terse; no doubt she was up to her eyeballs in a trauma of her own.

"The man's left leg has almost totally been severed below the knee. I'm attempting to staunch the flow of blood, but I don't know how effective it will be. He needs your hands as soon as possible."

"FAB, Dom, the cutting gear is on its way. Hold on, we'll be through soon."

The communication cut off, and Dominic waited for the cavalry to arrive. He glanced at his watch again and grunted. It had been fifteen minutes; it was time to remove the pressure. They need to get in here, fast!

Post by ArtisticRainey on 21/10/2004


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[Updated on: Thu, 26 July 2012 21:16]

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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1412 is a reply to message #1411] Thu, 26 July 2012 21:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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******Wednesday, March 14, 2068; Thunderbird Five; around 9 p.m.******

Callie listened nervously as she and John heard to the intensity of her fellow workmates' voices. She heard Dominic and Doc's conversation about the "black tag." Hearing that sent a chill down her spine. "John, can I ask you something?"

He turned to face her, her complexion turning pallid. "Callie, are you okay? What's the matter?"

"Have you ever, you know, have anyone die on you while you were out on a rescue?"

"I have had a couple of cases. Why?"

"I haven't heard the words black tag since I was a kid. A boy was riding a bicycle when a drunk driver slammed into him. I was the only person who saw it, so I ran to the fire house just down the street. They ran to the scene immediately and did the best they could to help him. The boy had been killed instantly, and I noticed one of the paramedics putting a black blanket over him, along with a black tag."

John knew Callie had been emotionally shaken by the events of the latest rescue. "I'm sorry, Callie. I didn't know this would bring back such a painful memory. However, there's something you need to know about--"

"You don't have to tell me, John. I figured that out the moment I joined International Rescue. We won't be able to save everyone involved, no matter how hard we try. It'll be hard, but somehow I've got to work through it."

"Callie, that will take time, but always remember you've got friends you can talk to when you need to. From what we've been hearing, some of us are going to need our friends when this is over."

The pair went back to listening to transmissions as the long rescue lingered on.

Post by TracyFan4Ever on 22/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1422 is a reply to message #1412] Thu, 26 July 2012 21:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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"Doc to Ess. Where the hell are you?!" Dianne growled into her hands-free communicator. "Dee's got a red tag in that smashed truck! He needs you now!"

Scott, who found himself giving Brandon a crash course on the oxyhydnite cutters, called back, "F-A-B! We're on our way, Doc. CJ, I need you here! Vee! Status!"

Virgil's voice cut in, "I've set Two down at the stadium and am enroute on a hoverbike and with another oxyhydnite cutter. ETA, two minutes."

"F-A-B, Vee. When you get here, look for CJ and finish getting the yellow tag patient out of the car. Bee and I are going to help Dee."

"F-A-B, Ess. Will do."

Scott then called, "Aye. Status!"

"Aye here, Ess. Kay and I are checking out some of the cars that were in the end of the pile up. So far we've got one yellow tags and four green. One black tag. I think we can get the yellow out onto a stretcher with little trouble."

"F-A-B, Aye. Don't hesitate to use the locals to pull the green tags out. And leave the black tag for now."

"F-A-B, Ess. Understood."

Dianne muttered under her breath as she carefully pulled slivers of glass from the face of the young English woman that had been pulled from the wreckage.

"Cee or Jay?" she called.

Callie answered. "Yes, Doc?"

"Get onto the authorities in Ust'-Uls for me, please, and see if they've got a plastic surgeon available? I've got a young lady here who is going to need one."

"F-A-B, Doc."

"Oh and Cee?"

"Yes, Doc?"

"While you're at it could you teach me some good Russian swear words? I feel the need to let loose."

Callie chuckled. "No can do, Doc. You'll have to get them from a national."

Dianne sniffed loudly. "You're no fun, Cee." She examined the girl's face carefully, and irrigated the wounds, beckoning Nikki over.

"En, is there an ambulance here from Ust'-Uls that could take her right away? Her and the two children? We need to free up some room in here."

"I'll ask Ilya, Doc," Nikki summoned the young man who had become their translator and asked him Dianne's question. Dianne put light bandages on the girl's face and jumped a bit when Callie's voice came in, loud and clear.

"In answer to your question, yes, Ust'-Uls has a plastic surgeon. She's being called to the hospital even as we speak.

"F-A-B, Cee. Thanks," Dianne replied.

Nikki came back. "Ilya says that an ambulance is just pulling up from Ust'-Uls. They can take the children and the woman."

"Excellent. En, can you see to it? I've got to get out and help Dee with that red tag. Then prep the OR. We're going to need it."

"F-A-B, Doc. Consider it done."

Shucking her soiled gloves, Dianne picked up the nearest antigravity stretcher and hurried out of Thunderbird Seven, heading for the smashed truck where Dom fought a battle for the life of its driver.

Post by Tikatu on 22/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1430 is a reply to message #1422] Thu, 26 July 2012 21:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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"Doc to Dee; come in Dee."

Dominic, up to his elbows in blood now, tossed his head to get some hair from his eyes. There was a splash of blood on the left lens of his glasses, and he knew that a generous amount had gotten onto his face, and guessed that it was all over him.

"Yes Doc?"

"I'm on my way. So is the cutting gear. Not long now, just hold on."

"I don't know how much time this man has." The words were futile; they all already knew.

Another five minutes passed, and Dominic glanced at his watch. Soon enough, he could apply pressure again. 'I hope Doctor Tracy will be here by then. We're going to have to get him into surgery ASAP.' There was a knock at the driver's-side car window, and Dom glanced up, and his heart leapt as he saw Scott giving him a thumbs-up.

"Just a few minutes Dee."

He disappeared, and Dominic sighed. 'That could be all we have.' He heard the equipment being set up, and when Brains' revolutionary cutting gas began to slice easily through the crumpled metal of the car wreck, Dominic glanced at his watch again. 'Time for pressure.' With a fresh wad of bandaging he had managed to take from his medical bag -- which was a miracle in itself, considering the confined space -- he pressed down on the wound once again.

Soon enough, Brandon and Scott had taken off the side of the car, and part of the roof, in order to allow the man to be removed. Dianne knelt over the man and checked his vital signs; she frowned.

"Pulse is thready. Let's get him out of here, stat."

It was hard work, trying to extricate the man from the wreck. Each of them was full of relief, because he hadn't been crushed and wedged into the car. There was still hope. Scott brought the anti-grav stretcher in as closely as he could, and together, they carefully extricated the man. Dominic slithered out from beneath the seat, keeping pressure on the man's leg until Dianne could take over.

"How long?" she asked.

Dominic knew what she meant, and glanced at his watch.

"Just over ten minutes, Doctor Tracy. This is the second time pressure has been applied."

"All right. Let's get this gentleman back to TB7, and fast!"

Dominic hurried alongside the stretcher, and shared a significant look with Dianne; with the damage, and the blood loss, there were no guarantees about the man's survival. He only hoped that they weren't facing another black tag. They made it to TB7 in record time; Scott and Virgil bid them farewell, and the two medical professionals rushed the man into the surgical bay, and prepped him as quickly as they could. It was all about time, and it was something they knew was running out.

Post by ArtisticRainey on 22/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1441 is a reply to message #1430] Thu, 26 July 2012 21:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Alan looked into the window of the next car, scraping snow away with his arm. They were coming up on fewer and fewer survivors. The last ones had been several cars ago: an English woman and her father.

"Well?" Kat asked. She had been holding back a bit; more and more the bodies and injuries unnerved her. I've never, ever seen anything like what I've seen today. I'm sure to have nightmares for weeks!

Alan glanced at her and shook his head. She sighed. Another life lost.

"C'mon, Kay. There are still a few more."

Just as she turned to follow him to another stricken vehicle, she heard a slight cry from the back of the vehicle. She stopped and headed back, peering through the rear window.

Alan stopped, looking back at her in irritation. "Come on, Kay!"

She motioned to him. "Aye, There's a baby in here!" She tried to get the door open, but it was stuck fast.

He trotted back, peering in much as she had. The baby cried again, louder this time, and Alan chuckled.

"Well, I'll be damned." He hefted the tire iron he was still carrying. "Stand back, now." He smashed the rear window.

"Can you manage to squeeze through, Kay?"

Kat clambered in through the tiny space. Landing on the back seat, she saw a very young baby, wrapped in blankets and strapped in. The baby stopped crying for a moment, and then realising that Kat was not its mother, started to howl again. She struggled with the straps holding in the baby seat and finally managed to free it.

"Aye, I am going to pass the baby to you."

Alan took hold of the baby seat and smled at the tiny baby. The baby stared back at Alan for a long minute before opening its mouth to scream again.

Kat scrambled back out, grinning. "Shall I take it back to Doc, or do you want to?"

Alan handed the baby back to Kat. "You can take him... her... whatever. Just let Doc know about these two." He turned to look at the short line of cars still waiting. "I'll keep going for a bit."

Carefully treading over the icy road, Kat carried the baby back to Thunderbird 7. Poor little thing, she thought, one more for the orphanage, I guess.


Post by TawnyAngel22 (with copious recent rewrites by Tikatu) on 21/10/2004


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[Updated on: Thu, 26 July 2012 21:57]

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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1456 is a reply to message #1441] Thu, 26 July 2012 22:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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With the help of Nikki, Dominic transferred their surgery patient to a biobed in the main cabin. They set up the monitoring equipment and drips, and Nikki gave Dominic a small smile.

"There was no more we could have done for him. His leg was beyond saving, from what I've been told."

Dominic avoided her eyes and, without real reason to, checked the flow from the blood pack down through the clear tube into the man's arm.

"I know. He's lucky t' be alive." He glanced over at Nikki. "Dr Tracy is a damn good surgeon." He paused. "But this man's not out of the woods yet. But then, he'll be out of our hands."

He cast an eye over the man again, before turning to Nikki, and folding his arms.

"I've assisted dozens of amputations, but ne'er one that bad. And the level of polytrauma," he whistled softly through his teeth, "uh uh. One of the worst auto accidents I've seen."

Nikki shook her head.

"I know. But that's what we're here for."

"I know."

Dianne walked in from the surgical bay and nodded at the two nurses.

"All right, we have more wounded to attend to." They could both hear the tiredness, but determination in her voice. "Let's go. And Dominic?"

"Yes Doctor?"

"You might want to get cleaned up some." She gave him a small smile. "Don't want to frighten the victims, do you?"

Dominic looked down at his blood splattered skin and clothing, and then nodded.

"Yes Doctor."

Post by ArtisticRainey on 22/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1465 is a reply to message #1456] Thu, 26 July 2012 22:05 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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While Dominic cleaned himself up, Dianne made her rounds of the patients in the medical cabin, pulling out the medical charts to add her own observations. I'll have to run these notes through the translation program and just send along data cards. Hopefully they have PDAs that will take the data cards we use. We haven't had any problems so far, but then we haven't had to translate extensive notes into Russian either.

A moan drew her attention to one of the beds on the lower tier. She hurried over to Fjodor, who was finally showing signs of consciousness. As she leaned over him, he opened blue eyes slightly, and spoke haltingly in Russian.

"En? Where's Ilya?" Dianne asked quickly.

"He went with the ambulance that took the English woman to the hospital," Nikki explained.

Dianne swallowed a swear word, and went to fetch her wrist telecomm. "Thunderbird Seven to Thunderbird Five, come in, Five."

"Thunderbird Five here," came Callie's voice in Dianne's ear. "How can I help, Doc?"

"I've got a patient just coming to and he's saying something. I have no Russian and need to know what he's saying," Dianne explained. By now, Fjodor's eyes were fully open and he looked around, a panicked expression on his face. Dianne held the wrist telecomm close to him as he muttered in his mother tongue.

"He's asking 'Where am I?'... uh... 'Where is Yulja?'... 'Are... are the children safe?'...." Fjodor reached out a weak hand to grasp Dianne's forearm, then he tried to sit up.

"En! An emesis bowl and hurry!" Dianne shouted, but it was too late. Fjodor had realized what was about to happen and had turned, vomiting all over the side of the diagnostic bed, the floor, and Dianne's scrubs and clogs. Nikki rushed over with a kidney-shaped bowl, and Dianne held it as Fjodor vomited again, trying once more to push himself into a sitting position.

"Cee! How do I say, 'Lie back, lie still'?" Dianne cried. Callie gave her the words to say and she repeated them. Fjodor lay back, his eyes focused on her again.

"Sounds like he's asking the same questions again, Cee," Dianne told her interpreter.

"He is. How do you want to answer him?"

"'The children are all safe.' " Dianne repeated Callie's words. " 'Yulja is with them.' 'You are in a... treatment center.' "

"You aren't going to tell him that he's in a Thunderbird?" Nikki asked.

Dianne shook her head. "It would take too long to explain. No!" she said quickly as Fjodor tried again to sit up. "Nyet!" she reiterated, gently pushing down on his shoulders.

The man lay back again, and closed his eyes. Dianne checked the biobed readings. "Good. He's still conscious. Just resting... I hope!"

Nikki glanced from Dianne to the puddle of vomit and back. "Would you like me to clean it up for you while you get changed?"

"No, En. I'll do it. You prep the surgical bay again for me, please. I know that there's a yellow tag coming in with Kat and Alan and we need to be ready for it."

"F-A-B, Doc. Will do."

"Everything okay down there, Doc?" Callie said suddenly.

"Oh, Cee! I forgot you were listening in. Yes, everything's under control now. Thanks for your help."

"If you need me again, just holler."

"F-A-B, Cee. Thunderbird Seven out."

Dianne stood up with a sigh and went to get the materials she would need to clean up the mess that Fjodor had made. Good thing my stomach's empty right now, she thought as she dealt with the vomit. Her stomach gurgled in response. Wonder if Virgil thought of bringing along any MREs. We sure could use them about now. I'll have to ask. Once I'm clean again.

Post by Tikatu on 23/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1483 is a reply to message #1465] Thu, 26 July 2012 22:19 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Wednesday, 14th March, Ural Mountains, Russia

Having handed the baby over to Nikki, Kat rejoined Alan to continue checking the casualties.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Alan asked.

Kat looked around her, at the carnage, the crashed vehicles, and the injured passengers. In the distance, she saw the teams of Virgil and Christopher and Scott with Brandon using their cutting equipment. She swallowed hard.

"I guess so. It is quite a lot to take on board. I've always had an image of International Rescue being able to fly in and save the situation. But in reality, although you save lives, sometimes lives can't be saved."

Alan nodded.

"Ala... I mean, Aye," Kat asked, "how do you cope? Okay, I know you have done it for a long time, but still there must have been occasions when you must have found it hard to come to terms with some situation or other."

Alan watched Kat as she looked around, obviously trying very hard not to be affected.

"It's never easy. We all are affected by what we see. There have been rescues when even the best laid plans have gone wrong. And sometimes things have happened that were out of our control. We talk. And talk. And put up with nightmares. And sometimes, once in a while, something wonderful happens and we hold onto that with all we've got."

"It's those children that get to me the most. The fact that they are virtually alone. Oh, yes, they have carers, but it isn't the same as having loving parents," Kat explained haltingly.

"True enough. Still, they're alive. They have a chance. It could have so easily gone the other way."

This conversation was abruptly brought to a close, as they came across a young man wandering aimlessly. He had a cut on his head, and was staggering about. Kat tried to help him, but he brushed her aside, talking in rapid Russian.

"Aye, I wonder where he has come from? He looks as if he has been knocked out and has come round completely disoriented."

"Ess," Alan called to his brother on his communicator, "could you come and help Kay and me?"

Scott came over. "Oh, I see you've found our wandering driver. He came to as we were trying to get his passenger out, and just rushed away."

Alan and Scott took the man's arms, and tried to lead him to Thunderbird Seven. The man was very agitated and struggled to free himself from them.

"Doc," Kat spoke into her communicator. "There's a badly disoriented man that Ess and Aye are trying to bring to you. Can you give us some help?"

"En is on her way, Kay," Doc replied.

Post by Tawnyangel22 (with copious recent edits by Tikatu) on 25/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1496 is a reply to message #1483] Thu, 26 July 2012 22:25 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Wednesday, March 14, 2:05 p.m. local time, Ust'-Uls

As Nikki moved out to help Kat and Alan with the disoriented man, several things happened at once. An ambulance came up from Ust'-Uls, carrying Ilya back to the Danger Zone. A short, dark-haired, middle-aged woman also rode with the ambulance and climbed out, gazing around her as if looking for someone. And a young man, around Alan's age, came up from the city on foot, a camera around his neck. He peered out from behind the ambulance and surreptitiously took pictures of the rescue operations.

The woman followed Ilya up to Thunderbird Seven. The young Russian man called out, "Doc? I am returned."

Dianne turned from recording her doctor's notes to smile at Ilya, then she frowned to see the woman behind him.

"Welcome back, Ilya," she said, distracted. She came closer and spoke to him personally. "Please go and help out Aye, Kay and En. They are dealing with a disoriented man who might respond better to a Russian speaker." She pointed in the direction that Nikki had taken.

"Da, Doc. I will go." Ilya nodded and headed off to where Dianne had indicated. The woman stepped up and met Dianne's gaze frankly.

"I am IR Agent 36," she said in a low voice, pulling a small badge from her pocket. "I am from Perm. Agent 83, from Ekaterinaburg, is in Ust'-Uls, standing watch over Thunderbird Two. How can I help you?"

Dianne's frown cleared as she saw the badge. "Welcome, Agent 36. We're almost done here, I think. Perhaps you'd better ask Ess if he needs anything in particular. He's over in that direction. Dark hair, blue sash."

"I will ask." And with that, Agent 36 turned on her heel and went off to find Scott.

Dianne sighed, and went back in to finish her notes. She turned and looked outside again when she heard a shout.

"Hey! Oy! You there! Nyet!" Christopher shouted, running after the photographer, Virgil at his heels. The young photographer ran some distance, heading back towards the city before he was intercepted by a fine football tackle from Christopher. Alan stopped on his way to the medical cabin, turned, and ran towards the growing altercation. Nikki and Kat came up, watching the situation unfold as they guided their charge to Thunderbird Seven. Dominic took over for Kat, who nudged Ilya and together they hurried to the scene of the brouhaha.

"Take him into the surgery so I can give him a complete scan," Dianne directed the nurses. She went into the driver's cab. A light was blinking and a chiming was sounding off. She flipped the switch that turned off the automatic camera detector and pressed the button next to it that would obliterate the photos that had just been taken. Then she went back to see to her latest patient.

Meanwhile, Virgil had pulled Christopher up off the photographer. Ilya and Kat hurried up.

"You'd better ask him what he's doing here," Christopher said to Ilya. "I don't know much Russian."

Ilya spoke sharply to the young man, who had pulled himself up from the ground, his shirt filthy and his hands, elbows and knees skinned and bloody. He answered Ilya back with an angry tone.

"He is a journalist from Ust'-Uls. He said he came to report on the rescue," Ilya said flatly to Virgil. Virgil's wrist telecomm crackled.

"Thunderbird Seven to Vee."

"Go ahead, Doc."

"I've activated the photo fogger." Dianne's voice sounded weary. "The camera detector went off, but it doesn't register in the medical cabin."

"F-A-B, Doc. Shall we bring our photographer friend to you? He's pretty skinned up."

A sigh. "Go ahead. En or Dee can clean him up. Then you can hand him over to Agent 36. She's with Scott right now. She can take him to the relevant authorities."

"F-A-B, Doc. Vee out." Virgil turned to Ilya. "Please tell our reporter that his photographs have been dealt with and will not print. Alan, could you, Kat, and Ilya take him over to Thunderbird Seven? En or Dee will clean him up, and then we'll turn him over to... the proper authorities." His gaze turned to the pile of wrecked cars. "CJ and I still have some work to do."

"F-A-B, Vee," Kat assured him. Ilya spoke to the man sharply and Alan took him firmly by one arm, while Kat did the same from the other side. The reporter looked over one shoulder and shouted at Christopher, his face angry and red.

"I don't need to know Russian to figure out what that was all about," Christopher said mildly as he dusted himself off. He nodded to Virgil. "Shall we?"

"Let's go," Virgil agreed, and the two men walked off to continue their search.

Post by Tikatu on 31/10/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1497 is a reply to message #1496] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Wednesday, March 14, 1:35 p.m. Kabul, Afghanistan

Tin-Tin sat in a deep tub of hot water, covered to her shoulders with bubbles. The suite that she and Grandma Tracy had taken on their arrival in Kabul was luxurious and had every amenity. Emily was taking a short nap, while Tin-Tin relaxed in a bubble bath, letting the hot water wash away her weariness.

Tomorrow will be a difficult day. I'm glad I got here when I did. Some rest and relaxing will give me a clear head to fix this problem. I hope we can get this fabric moving. We need those new uniforms. The ones we've already ordered will be arriving soon, but we need the tougher cloth to help keep our operatives safe.

She drained the water and stepped from the tub, wrapping a thick towel around her body. Her face took on a thoughtful expression as she sat on the edge of the tub.

International Rescue has developed some bitter enemies over the past three years, not least of which is my own uncle. He's gone underground right now, but who knows when he'll surface again? We have to be prepared. Brains and I will have to look over our security procedures when we get back. Perhaps Lena can help us on the computer side. From what I understand, she's been instrumental in keeping the Tracy Industries computer network tightly guarded from outside hackers and viruses. Hopefully we can work together to make IR just as safe.

She finished toweling off and put on a thick bathrobe, then left the bathroom to get dressed.

Outside, in a building across the street, a non-descript man in native clothing opened a cell phone. He speed-dialed a number and spoke in accented English just three words.

"She is here."

Post by Tikatu on 01/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1498 is a reply to message #1497] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Wednesday, March 14, 9:30 a.m., Foxleyheath, England

"Your morning tea, milady," Parker intoned as he brought a Wedgewood tea service into Lady Penelope's sitting room. He poured the tea for his employer, who sat calmly, dressed in cool pink slacks and a pale pink angora sweater, her trademark pink pearls gracing her lily-white neck. She had a PDA in one hand, and picked up her teacup to sip it while she perused the data on the tiny computer link.

"Let's see. Agents 36 and 83 have been dispatched to help with the rescue in the Ural mountains. Hmm. It might be wise to put those agents in Moscow and Volograd on alert. They are quite far away from the action, but one never knows."

She used a stylus to add those agents to the roster and put them on 'alert' status, then she scrolled down on the tiny screen.

"Here's an email from Tin-Tin, giving me her itinerary in Kabul. Agent 104 is already on the case and reports that she is safely at her hotel. Oh! That's interesting! Mrs. Tracy is with her. How farsighted of her!"

Another sip of tea, and some more scrolling down. A title blinked at her, and she clicked her stylus on it, opening up an email file.

"This is interesting. The Hightower cartel is setting its sights on Penelon again. My friend inside Interpol says that the Hightowers have found a possible place to get the formula outside of the tightly guarded manufacturing plants that have the formula under secure lock and key." She smiled. "How kind of Mr. Southern to remember that I was interested in anything to do with Penelon." She looked up from the email and her face took on a thoughful mien. "I wonder where? And I wonder if this has anything to do with Tin-Tin's trip to Kabul?" She looked down at the PDA. "I'd best put Agent 104 on high alert for anything suspicious." She opened another small portion of her computer link and scrolled down. "Hmm. The nearest fellow agent is 116 in Islamabad. I'll put her on alert as well."

She took another long sip of tea, then smiled at Parker. "Have you made arrangements to visit the Tracys yet, Parker? I wish we could have been there when Jeff arrived home, but we had that bit of trouble to the North to smooth over. Really, that journalist should not have tried to get the one of the oil riggers to sketch Thunderbird Two for him. I hope he has learned his lesson!"

"Oi shall make h'arrangements h'at h'once, milady," Parker said. "When would you loik t' visit Tracy h'Island?"

"Perhaps early next week would be best. Give Jeff some time to get back into the routine of life and hopefully Tin-Tin will have returned by then as well. I am looking forward to seeing Kat again and observing how she is doing there with the Tracys."

"Yus, milady." Parker turned and left the room while Penelope poured herself another cup of tea. She sighed contentedly, and turned her attention back to her PDA, looking it over to see if there were any other items that needed her immediate attention.

Post by Tikatu on 01/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1499 is a reply to message #1498] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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After the altercation with the photographer, Christopher and Virgil were scouting around the wreckage composed mainly of badly wrecked cars. Christopher was walking past a particularly mangled old vehicle, when he heard whimpering a short distance away.

Running over to the car, he looked inside. An older man was slumped against the steering wheel. Moving around, he checked for a pulse. Unfortunately he couldn't find one; the man's neck was broken.

"Help me please," a female voice came from behind him, shaky with pain.

Christopher moved to the back of the car, where he saw a pretty young woman lying on the seat.

"You are going to be fine," he said tentatively, not knowing how much English she knew or how much translating he was going to ask for.

"I don't feel fine!" the girl said before crying out.

Christopher looked and saw that she was very much pregnant and very much in labour. He also noticed rivulets of blood streaming down the inside of her right leg. There was also blood on the seat underneath her.

"CJ to Doc!" Christopher spoke into his headset. "I've got a patient here who is pregnant and seems to be going into labour, and I need someone here right away!"

"F-A-B, CJ," Dianne's voice came back. "We are a little stretched at the moment but we will send someone as soon as we can."

"I can see blood on the seat underneath her abdomen," Christopher turned away so he could whisper, "and blood running down the inside of her right leg. What should I do?"

"Hold tight, CJ," Dianne said as she was performing treatment. "Someone will be with you soon."

Christopher shrugged his shoulders. "CJ to Virgil, I've found another person to be extricated."

"F-A-B, CJ," Virgil said.

Christopher saw him rushing over with the cutting gear. Christopher leaned inside and took hold of one of the girl's hands.

"My colleague is going to cut the roof off of the car," Christopher said as he saw her worried face. "Just stay still and you'll be fine."

Virgil proceeded to remove the roof of the car. The girl whimpered with a mixture of fear and pain, as the roof peeled away with a screech of metal. Christopher momentarily let go of the girl's hand to help Virgil pull the roof away.

"Vee," Christopher moved closer to Virgil. "Could you possibly try and hurry one of the medical team up please? I'm going to stay with her to keep her mind off things."

"I'll try my best," Virgil said before heading off towards Thunderbird 7.

Post by TheWrongTrousers on 01/11/2004



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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1500 is a reply to message #1499] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:05 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Brandon was getting tired. It had been over three hours since they had arrived at the Danger Zone, and he had been going non-stop since they rolled in, helping out where needed. Not too far ahead, Scott had located another crushed car.

"Why do these things have to be so blasted heavy?" Brandon grunted as he carried the oxhydnite tanks to where Scott was waiting. "Here they are, Ess," he replied as he set the tanks down.

"Good," Scott replied. "Let's get a move-on. We need to get these victims out and to Doc as quickly as possible."

"FAB," Brandon replied. He slipped the tank on his back and both men went to work cutting the car.

As he cut through the twisted metal, Brandon tried to concentrate on what he was doing but he kept thinking of the carnage that surrounded him.

I've seen pile-ups on the freeway back home but never to this extent, Brandon thought as he continued cutting the car. It took them almost 15 minutes to cut through the car, 15 minutes the victims didn't have.

"That's it," Scott said as they cut through the last of the metal. Brandon hurried to the passenger, feeling for a pulse, Scott doing likewise to the driver. After a few seconds Scott looked at Brandon, shaking his head.

"Same here, Ess. I couldn't find a pulse." Brandon's voice was shaky and when he looked at his hands they were trembling. Scott noticed the look on his partner's face and took him aside.

"Bee, remember what Doc told us at the beginning of this mission. We won't be able to save everybody, but we can save most of them. Please, Bee, don't lose it now. The team needs you."

Brandon took a couple of deep breaths, willing his hands to stop shaking. "I'm okay, Ess."

Scott gave him a sharp look, then nodded. "When we get back to base, you make sure you talk to someone about this. Me, Doc, it doesn't matter who."

"I will, I promise." Grabbing the gear, Brandon started walking away from the car. Without turning, he called to Scott. "Come on, Ess. There are other people who need our help."

Scott looked at Brandon and, after black tagging the two victims, he hurried to catch up with him.

Post by MagicMaster8 on 02/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1501 is a reply to message #1500] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:06 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Christopher sat next to the girl, who was pale and clammy. Squeezing her hand, she looked round at him and smiled wanly.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Belinda," the girl said shakily before crying out in pain once more.

"Shah, shah." Christopher tried to calm Belinda down. "You can call me CJ."

"CJ." Belinda nodded her head.

"You speak very good English." Christopher smiled. "Actually you sound like a native."

"I should do," Belinda said. "I've been living in the UK since I was 6."

"Really?" Christopher looked surprised. "Where do you live?"

Belinda shifted her body so she could be more comfortable. "I live with my mother in a nice house just outside of Canterbury in Kent."

"I used to live up the A2 from there in Chatham," Christopher said. "Been a long time since I have been there though."

"Why is that?" Belinda seemed to be relaxing now, only wincing when she moved.

"After my parents died," Christopher said, then paused, "I went off the rails. I didn't want to go back because of the sad memories."

"My father left my mother when I was five years old," Belinda said with tears in her eyes. "I moved to the UK with mother because she had family there, and then she remarried."

Christopher squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Belinda smiled weakly. "I am happy. Father remarried, too and I came over to see him and his new family."

"Are you happy?" Christopher asked.

"Yes, I am," Belinda said. "I have my career, my fiancé, and we are buying a new house for ourselves."

Belinda suddenly wailed with agony, blood streaming down her legs.

"Hurry up, Virgil!!!" Christopher hissed under his breath.

Post by TheWrongTrousers on 02/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1502 is a reply to message #1501] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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"Damn!" Dianne swore as she read the surgery's scan of the disoriented man.

"What's wrong, Doc?" Dom asked.

"This guy's higher than a kite!" Dianne replied. "No wonder he's disoriented!"

"What's he on?"

"Looks like Ecstasy or some form of it." She shook her head. "Dee, see if that ambulance is still available. I'll send him down to Ust'-Uls in it. The sedative has at least made him less combative."

"Right, Doc," Dom said, nipping out to the ambulance that stood waiting.

Dianne helped the man off the surgical table and out to the ambulance. On the way out, she checked on Nikki, who was cleaning up the photographer. Alan stood by, looking tough and impassive. She beckoned to the paramedic who had come up from Ust'-Uls. Agent 36 joined them.

"This man needs to be in a detox center," Dianne said to the paramedic. Agent 36 translated for her. "I need to know what level of trauma center is at the hospital in Ust'-Uls. I have three or four patients that need the highest level of trauma center that we can get."

A few minutes of translation and Agent 36 turned to Dianne, shaking her head. "The medic says that the Ust'-Uls hospital is not set up to handle a lot of polytrauma and that the emergency department is overwhelmed right now by the patients that have already come in." She leaned close to Dianne. "If I may suggest? The hospital in my town of Perm has an excellent reputation...."

"I'll take it up with our site commander," Dianne said. She turned and indicated the reporter. "He was discovered taking photographs of our operations. The photos have been dealt with, but he needs to be taken to the proper authorities. Could you handle that?"

Agent 36 smiled widely. "It would be my... how you say? very great pleasure."

Just then Virgil came running up. "Doc, we have a pregnant woman in labor. A definite red tag. I've come to show you the way."

"I'm on it. Dee! Bring a stretcher! We have another red tag! En, get the surgery ready! Hand our reporter over to this woman. She'll deal with him."

Dom brought a medikit along and handed it to Dianne, and the two medics sprinted off after Virgil.

Agent 36 gazed up at Nikki. "Go about your work. Leave this one... to me."

Post by Tikatu on 02/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1503 is a reply to message #1502] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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"Come on Belinda!" Christopher said through gritted teeth as she grunted and groaned in pain. Mopping her forehead, he looked around for any sign of Virgil and a member of the medical team. Eventually he saw his colleague running towards him with Dom and Dianne right behind.

"Thank God you're here!" he exclaimed. "She is having trouble here!"

Dianne put her bag down on the ground, pulled on fresh gloves and started to examine the exhausted girl.

"Her name is Belinda," he said, mopping the girl's forehead again.

"Belinda," she smiled at the girl, "I would like you to start breathing gently while I examine you." Belinda looked at Christopher, a frightened look on her face.

"You'll be fine," Christopher reassured her. "She is marvellous at what she does."

Dianne continued her examination carefully, her face darkening slightly when she saw the blood on the inside of Belinda's thighs. Moving her fingers beneath the girl, she felt around, eliciting a hiss of pain from her patient. "Where does it hurt, Belinda?" she asked.

"My back hurts," Belinda said with tears in her eyes.

Dianne got up and went over to Virgil, who was standing near Dom. "She is haemorrhaging very badly," she said to them under her breath. "We need to operate quickly in order to save both her and the baby."

Virgil got the anti-grav stretcher, and with Christopher's help got Belinda onto it. Dominic connected the girl up to a monitor and a drip. They started moving towards Thunderbird 7.

Christopher smiled at Belinda. "You will be fine, they are going to take care of you and your baby; you hang on in there."

"Thank you CJ," Belinda said. "You have been very kind to me."

"Thank you." Christopher chuckled.

Suddenly Belinda went into spasms, and the monitor was sounding an alarm. "Belinda!" Christopher screamed, as Dianne tried to stabilise Belinda's condition.

"Dee!" she said, "go into my bag and get the hypo of adrenalin!"

Dominic did so, passing the hypo to Dianne who administered the dose. Belinda's condition stabilized for a moment, before another alarm sounded.

"She's going into cardiac arrest!" Dianne shouted. "CJ! I have to get her inside!"

Christopher just stood there, a look of horror on his face.

"CJ!" Dominic shouted, "Let go of her hand!"

Christopher dumbly complied, and watched as Belinda was rushed inside Thunderbird 7.

Post by TheWrongTrousers on 04/11/2004


Jeff heartbeat Dianne plain My IR:TNP OTP!
Re: Growing as a Team [message #1504 is a reply to message #1503] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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With her thumb, Dianne rolled the tiny ball on the thin cable that lead to the EKG defibrillator. She watched as the numbers of the voltage display climbed to the desired number.

"150! Clear!" she cried as her thumb moved up to the plunger at the end of the cable. She pressed down on it, hard, as if the extra force would somehow translate into a life-giving charge for Belinda. The jumping lines on the EKG display evened out into a sinus rhythm for a moment; a moment that Nikki and Dom seized to move Belinda onto the surgical table. The built-in scanner began its sweep of her body, and Nikki took a pair of scissors to Belinda's clothing.

Suddenly, the steady rhythm destablized, and Dianne took the cable up again, cranking the voltage even higher.

"200! Clear!" Belinda's body spasmed with the energy that flowed through it, but this time there was no change. The piercing alarm kept up its wail and Dianne grimly brought the voltage up higher still.

"250! Clear!" Dom and Nikki both stepped back as the electricity surged through Belinda again. Dom glanced over at Dianne.

"She's still in v-fib, Doc," he warned.

"Ah can't go any higher," Dianne replied, her voice tense. "There's a baby to consider."

She watched as the scanner reached Belinda's abdomen and slowed. A separate window popped up on the screen, and the scan of the baby's body was shown there, while Belinda's form still dominated the scanner's display.

Suddenly, the EKG flatlined, one wailing alarm replaced by another. And Dianne, her eyes on the scanner's display, made the choice every doctor hates to make.

"The baby's in distress. Ah have to do a c-section."

Dom, his face paler than normal, swallowed hard, then nodded his agreement. Nikki's eyes flicked back and forth between her colleagues, then she moved from where she had been cutting off Belinda's blouse to the other end of the body, and began working on Belinda's skirt.

Dianne ripped off her bloodied gloves, rubbed her hands quickly with an antibacterial/antiviral gel, then drew on a clean pair. She palpated Belinda's abdomen carefully.

"The baby's not far into the birth canal. We can do this," she stated flatly.

Dom cleansed his own hands and put on fresh gloves, then pulled out a sterile tray of instruments. Once Nikki had cleared away Belinda's clothing, he smeared the mother's swollen abdomen with some of the cleansing gel. Dianne glanced over at Nikki and caught her eye.

"En, set up an incubator. We're going to need it."

"Yes, Doc," Nikki replied. She left the surgery and went out into the main medical cabin. As she was pulling out the collapsible incubator unit, Christopher called from outside, where he and Virgil stood.

"En, how is Belinda?" he asked.

Nikki turned to him, and the sorrow on her face told him the truth more clearly than words could.

"Belinda's heart stopped, CJ. She... didn't make it. Doc is trying to save the baby now."

Christopher's face paled and he looked at Nikki with a lost expression as the words sank in. Virgil glanced up at the nurse and gave her a solemn nod.

"Thanks for telling us, En. We were very concerned." He gave a tug on Christopher's sleeve. "CJ. Come on."

CJ rounded on Virgil, prepared to shout at him, scream at him about how insensitive he was, but he saw the sorrow on Virgil's face, and suddenly his anger dissipated.

"You don't get used to it, do you, Vee?" he said sadly.

"You never get used to it, CJ. But we can't give up trying. Not ever. Now, come on. Let's finish the job. There are others who need our help."

Virgil began to walk away from Thunderbird Seven, back the way they had come, the oxyhydnite tank over his shoulders. Christopher looked back at Nikki, who was setting up the incubator, then shook his head slowly and turned to follow Virgil back into the pile of wrecked cars.

Suddenly, a sharp, squalling cry pierced the air. Christopher wanted to turn back, but Virgil kept on walking.

"Time is against us, CJ. We can't stop to smell the roses right now," he said as he picked up his pace. "Though I must admit, that's got to be the best sound I've heard all day today."

Christopher nodded wordlessly and matched his stride to Virgil's as they plunged back into the pile of cars to look for more signs of life.

Post by Tikatu on 04/11/2004


Jeff heartbeat Dianne plain My IR:TNP OTP!
Re: Growing as a Team [message #1505 is a reply to message #1504] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Dominic crossed his arms and watched the tiny baby inside the incubator, attached to the monitors beeping softly outside, asleep after its traumatic delivery. He watched the slight rise and fall of the baby's chest, and smiled a little when the petite fingers flexed and relaxed a few times.

Nikki came up beside him and crossed her arms as well, and they watched in silence for a few seconds, before Dominic sighed, let his arms fall, and looked at his colleague.

"It's such a shame, isn't it? That something so beautiful should be brought into the world in such a tragic way." He sighed again, and spared the baby another glance.

"I'd better get back out there. There could still be people trapped."

Nikki nodded, and rested one hand on the top of the incubator.

"She's beautiful," she said quietly. "It's such a pity that her mother passed away." The two nurses shook their heads at the thought of their latest, and hopefully last, black tag. "I wonder what she would have called her."

Dominic shrugged.

"Something English, probably. Christopher said the mother was English. Belinda, right?"

"Right."

Dominic reached for his medical bag, and set about quickly replenishing the supplies. Nikki kept her eyes on the tiny baby girl in the incubator. Suddenly, she looked up with a small smile, and called over to Dom.

"Hey, Dominic? How about, just for now, we give the baby a name? It'll be better than just calling her 'she' or 'the baby'."

Dominic shouldered the bag and pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Why not? What have you got in mind?"

Nikki glanced back at the little girl, and smiled.

"Chris."

Dominic smiled himself, and nodded slowly.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." He knew they were both thinking of Christopher. "So long, Chris. See you soon."

He nodded at Nikki, before leaving Thunderbird Seven and heading back off to the wreckage. Nikki glanced at the little girl, Chris, once more, and then went back to her work.

Post by ArtisticRainey on 04/11/2004


Jeff heartbeat Dianne plain My IR:TNP OTP!
Re: Growing as a Team [message #1506 is a reply to message #1505] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Wednesday, March 14, 2068, 3:12 p.m., local time, Ust'-Uls

Scott stretched his back and rubbed his neck. He glanced over at Brandon, who was leaning wearily against a car. It was the last one in their section. The occupants were lucky; they had only minor injuries and one had even managed to climb out through a broken window. They thanked Scott and Brandon in fluent Russian as the pair pried open the door on the other side for the remaining passengers to get out. Callie translated for them, and Scott, who had been picking up various Russian phrases all day, told them, "It's all in a day's work" in their native tongue. They chuckled, a reaction that Scott had encountered time and again that day.

"Is my Russian that bad, Cee?" he asked the fledgling space monitor.

"No, but your accent is," Callie replied, grinning.

Scott sighed, then activated his wrist telecomm. "Vee, status."

"We're done here," Virgil answered. Christopher nodded. Virgil noticed, not for the first time, that Christopher looked haunted, and that he kept looking down at his hands, arms, and clothes, all still spattered with Belinda's blood. He resolved to get their new pilot alone after they'd debriefed and had a good rest and get him to open up about the rescue.

"F-A-B, Vee," Scott acknowledged. "Status, Aye?"

Alan's face, weary but cheerful, filled the screen. "We've double-checked all the cars, Ess. All are clear. The locals have taken care of most of the black tags."

"Do we have idents for our own black tags and the patients in Seven?" Scott asked.

"Yes, Ess. We do. All papers are now matched with patients... or bodies," Alan informed him.

"F-A-B, Aye. Doc, status?"

Dianne's face replaced Alan's. "All personnel present and accounted for. We have two class three concussions, one with a skull fracture; one amputee that is still touch and go; two cases of polytrauma, one of them an adolescent; one green-tagged infant with no ident, and one preemie in an incubator." She sighed heavily. "All of our black tags have been matched with idents and have been removed by the locals. We still haven't gotten an ident on the baby Kay brought in." She paused. "I'm told that the Ust'-Uls hospital is full and can't take our new patients, particularly our polytrauma and amputee victims. Agent 36 suggested Perm...."

"F-A-B, Doc. I'll get Jay or Cee on that. Let's get our equipment together and head back to Two. Kay?"

"Yes, Ess?" Kat replied, her tired face coming up on his telecomm screen.

"Can you remember which car you found the baby in?"

"Yes, I think so, Ess."

"Good. Take Aye and find the car, then get the license plate number and the Vehicle Identification Code. Those will help the authorities to place the baby's family."

"F-A-B, Ess."

"Aye, as soon as you have that, give it to Doc and head out in the Firefly. Take Kay and the hoverbike with you. Vee, you ride with Bee and CJ in the recovery vehicle right now so you can get Two warmed up and ready. Aye follows in the Firefly. Doc, do you need a chauffeur today?"

"No, Ess. We can handle it. We're to come last in the processional?"

Scott smiled at his stepmother. "Yes, you are. How'd you guess?"

Dianne smiled back, a small, weary smile. "Simple. When we reach Perm, Seven's going to be the only one getting out. Last in, first out. Plus, we're the one with the photo disrupter."

"F-A-B, Doc. As far as our operations here are concerned, I'm calling stand down. Time, 3:20 p.m. local time. Did you get that, R&D?"

Brains's face appeared on his screen. "F-A-B, Ess. Give me an ETA once you're done at Perm and we'll have dinner ready when you all arrive."

"F-A-B, base. Sounds like a plan. Though I think that a few of us will be scarfing down some MREs on the way home. Myself included." Scott clapped Brandon on the shoulder and indicated he take the oxyhydnite tanks and cutter with him. Brandon nodded and wearily headed over to the idle recovery vehicle. He could see Virgil approaching with his cutting equipment and a disconsolate CJ following close behind.

The two men joined Brandon in the cramped cab of the vehicle. "You want to drive, Vee?" Brandon asked.

Virgil shook his head. "I'll be flying home soon enough. So I'll just sit back here and be a backseat driver." He tipped Brandon a wink, which garnered a small smile and rolled eyes. Then Brandon brought the vehicle to life, the engine first roaring and then settling down to a steady chug-chug.

"Recovery vehicle to Thunderbird One. Ready to move out," Brandon informed Scott. The three men looked out of the windshield to see the silver rocket rise slowly into the sky.

"F-A-B, Recovery vehicle. Move 'em on out. See you back at base," Scott replied.

Brandon put his ride into gear, and, passing the damaged school bus and the smouldering wreck that started the whole chain reaction, headed back to the stadium in Ust'-Uls.

Post by Tikatu on 04/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1507 is a reply to message #1506] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:41 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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"Oh my!" Kat exclaimed as she looked out the window of the Firefly. "I never thought I'd see this!"

Alan smiled. "Well, usually we don't have to make a trek through city streets to get back to Thunderbird Two."

What Kat was amazed at were the people. The people of Ust'-Uls who lined the street on the way to the stadium, waving kerchiefs and throwing flowers and generally cheering as the International Rescue machinery came through. Alan was amused, even though things like this had happened very infrequently during the three years that he'd been part of his father's dream, he still got a kick out of it.

He looked ahead to where the Recovery vehicle was preparing to make a wide left hand turn. To his consternation, there was a television camera waiting for them at the entrance to the stadium. But the light was red on top, which meant it wasn't filming, and the operator was having a heated argument with a tall, blond man whose thick mustache almost entirely hid his mouth. The tall man finally threw his jacket over the camera's lens and a police officer, who had been drawn to the altercation, listened to the two arguing and took away the camera operator to give him a good tongue lashing.

"Make sure you're strapped in, Kat. We're entering the stadium now."

Kat indicated that she was strapped in, and Alan expertly swung the Firefly in a wide turn and through the doors of the stadium. There was a military presence there, for which Alan was glad. He knew that there would probably have been pictures taken, both conventional and digital of the Firefly as they went through the city streets, but Thunderbird Seven would take care of those. The range of both the photo detector and the photo disrupter had been increased, and it had been altered to deal with all image types, from silver backed films to the most sophisticated digital recorders. No one who tried to take photos of the IR teams would get good shots.

The stadium itself was empty of all save Thunderbird Two... and Agent 36. The tall blond man had joined her, and Virgil, who had gotten out of the Recovery Vehicle to raise the chassis of Thunderbird Two from the pod was shaking hands with him. Alan grinned, and turned back to Kat.

"Hmm. That must be the other agent that was called in. Hey, look, there's your friend, Ilya."

Indeed, Ilya stood by Agent 36 peering into the Firefly. Alan could almost feel the warmth of Kat's blushing behind him.

"Would you like to get out here? I need to wait on Brandon to put the Recovery Vehicle in the pod...." Alan suggested in a seemingly off-handed way.

"Well, I guess so," Kat said, hesitantly. Alan pulled up next to Virgil and the small company he kept, and Kat climbed gingerly from the height of the Firefly's cabin. Alan couldn't help but notice how eagerly Ilya moved forward to help Kat down. He chuckled, remembering the many times that lovely young things had snuggled into his grasp if he had to carry them, or made their injuries look worse than they were so he would have to do just that. Occupational hazard, he thought, smiling.

*********

The Firefly had been loaded, and Thunderbird Seven was now resting on the floor of the pod. The door swung upward and shut with a decisive clang. The sound of Thunderbird Two's chassis lowering over the pod could be heard, then Virgil's voice came over Dianne's headset.

"Are any of you coming forward?" he asked. "If so, you'd better hurry."

Dianne looked at Dom and Nikki, both of whom were busy either tending to their patients or starting to clean up. She said to them, "You could go up to the flight deck if you like. You don't have to stay down here."

The two nurses looked at each other and both shook their heads.

"We'll stay here, Doc, and help you look after the wee little one," Dom said in his Irish brogue. He smiled, his first smile in hours. "And the other patients, of course."

"And get a head start on cleaning this beast," Nikki said, patting the wall inside the medical cabin. "She's a real mess right now."

Dianne glanced from one nurse to the other and shook her head, smiling. "Virgil, we'll all be staying down here for the duration," she responded to Virgil's query. "We have patients to tend to."

"F-A-B. ETA to Perm, 20 minutes. Vee out."

"I have a feeling," Dianne said, looking at her two nurses with a twinkle in her eye, "That this has just cemented us as a team."

The nurses looked at each other again and nodded. "Yeah. I think so, too," Nikki observed.

Post by Tikatu on 05/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1508 is a reply to message #1507] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Wednesday, March 14th; 11 PM; Tracy Island

It was late when Lena returned to her room in the Round House. She'd fed Joshua while Lisa and Kyrano prepared dinner for those still on the island. Then, once they'd put the toddler down for the night on a cot set up in Lisa's (and Kyrano's) bedroom, they went to feed and check on Asterix. Lena smiled, remembering the cat's reactions to her.

He'd hissed at her from his perch on the kitchen counter then, when she said to him, "You tink you're a tough one, little Simba, do you? And de only reason I'm here is to see dat you are safe and to help Lisa bring you your dinner," he mewed at her and purred loudly. The sound of her voice must have appealed to him - or was it the word "dinner"? But they were fast friends when she and Lisa left Christopher's apartment.

She, Lisa, Kyrano, Alex, Tyler, Elise and Brains had dinner at the table; Cherie insisted on staying with Jeff, so Kyrano had prepared two trays. Brains and Elise were the first to leave, and headed up to the lounge. Lisa took the boys to their room and stayed with them for a while, so Lena helped Kyrano clean up. While doing so, they got to know each other a little better, and their respect for each other grew.

They had finished when Lisa returned, so the women headed up to the lounge. Lena smothered a smile at Cherie's response to Lisa's question, and continued over to the couch, where she'd left her bag of needlework. Brains filled them in generally on what had happened so far.

"I don't have too much. They're keeping Callie busy asking for translations. It seems very few of the victims know any English. And I tried to find something about it on the news, but nothing has been reported."

"I'm not surprised," Lena replied. "De Russians have a long history of keeping de bad tings to demselves, whenever possible. Dey don't like de idea of de world knowing dey have such tings happening in deir country." Lisa, who had sat next to her, looked at her in surprise and she continued. "My fadder worked at de Kenyan embassy in Washington D.C. and I grew up in a neighborhood nearby. It wasn't difficult to learn tings like dat, when you're in dat environment. De Kenyans had dealings wit Russians on several occasions. Sometimes Fadder would explode in frustration and talk to my modder about dem. We all knew dat when he did dis, it was not to leave de house. But we heard what he said, and remembered."

Just then, John called in with an update. By the time Lena went to bed, she'd heard enough to keep her mind whirling with images of crushed vehicles, orphans, people injured or dead, tag colors and more. She undressed and got into bed, but her thoughts wouldn't let her sleep for a long time. She prayed for those who had died, for their families, for the orphans, including the new ones, but especially for the team members who were at the site.

Finally she slept, but her dreams kept her from getting much rest.

Post by Hobbeth on 05/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1509 is a reply to message #1508] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Ilya stopped in at a shop on the way to his hotel room. As a thank you for his services, International Rescue had paid for a room in the best hotel in Ust'-Uls. He had a phone call to make to the man with whom he was supposed interview. The agent who was still in Ust'-Uls, the dark haired woman, said she would vouch for where he was all day long in hopes that the interview could be rescheduled.

He looked around the shop, and made a few selections. A pad of good drawing paper, pencils in both hard and soft leads, and a soft blue eraser. He took his purchases to the clerk, who, as she rang them up and made change for him, chattered on and on about the excitement of the day. Had he seen the Thunderbirds? Weren't they wonderful? They had saved a whole busload of children!

Ilya nodded and said the proper things, then left the shop with his purchases. He went to a public phone and called the office of his interviewer. International Rescue had already been there: his appointment was cheerfully rescheduled for the next morning. He groaned inwardly when he realized that he'd probably be interviewed more for his experience with IR than for his experience at the job he coveted.

Once in his hotel room, he noticed that a clean set of clothes waited for him "with thanks for your help, International Rescue". He looked at himself in the mirror, realizing for the first time exactly how dirty he really was. A hot shower relaxed him as well as cleansed him, and once he was clean and dry and clad in clean boxers and t-shirt, he sat on the bed, thinking over the day's events. Then he took out the pad and the pencils and began to sketch.

He smiled softly as the vision in his mind's eye took shape on the paper before him. It took time to get it just right, but when he was through, he smiled wider, and satisfied, signed both his own initials and the only name he knew his subject by... Kay.

Post by Tikatu on 05/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1510 is a reply to message #1509] Thu, 26 July 2012 23:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Christopher walked slowly into the main bay of Thunderbird 7. His head was still spinning, but he wanted to have a good long look at the little one. Washing his hands, he walked over to the little incubator.

"You have your Mother's nose," he smiled, the waves of sorrow hitting him.

"She's gonna be a beauty," came a voice from the monitoring station. Christopher looked up to see Dianne observing him.

"I wish I could have done more for Belinda." Christopher sat down gently. "I feel so helpless right now." He rested his head in his hands, quiet sobs beginning.

Dianne glanced at Dom, who nodded and took over for her at the monitor station. She got up and approached Christopher, reaching out with a hand to his shoulder.

"You did everything you could have done for her, Christopher. She knew that someone cared about her there at the end, and that always means a lot."

Christopher looked up at her, his eyes red. "I couldn't do anything though. I watched her die while the people who had the skills to save her...." His voice tailed off as he turned to look at the sleeping baby.

" 'While the people had who had the skills to save her'... what? As we what, Christopher?" Dianne prodded.

"Let her die," Christopher muttered, his mind elsewhere. "She had a fiancé. She was buying a house. She had a blossoming career."

Dianne sighed, a large breath taken in and let out through her nose. "Christopher, have you ever been through anything like this before?"

"My parents died in a car crash," he said as he looked up. "We weren't speaking, so I didn't really feel much when it happened. I guess my answer would have to be, no, I haven't been through this before."

"Ah thought as much. Christopher, we did everything we could for Belinda. We used all the tools at our disposal to save her life. But there came a time when her heart stopped, and when trying to restart it would have been, one: very likely futile, and two: harmful to the baby. Ah had to make a decision, a decision that Ah hate making at the best of times. Which one do Ah save? The mother or the baby?"

"Ah had to think, which one is more likely to survive? And when Ah looked at all the facts, sir, Ah saved the baby. She was the one most likely to survive. Did Ah, did we, let Belinda die? No. We did all we could for her. But in the end, it was a whole lot better for one to die so that the other lived. Otherwise, Ah might have tried to save Belinda and, in doing so, failed to save either."

She cocked her head as she looked at him keenly. "Do you understand?"

Christopher looked at Dianne, her eyes flashing. He bowed his head, tears coming down his cheeks again. "I understand," he said,. "Part of me doesn't want to, but I do." He looked up again at the baby. "I have a lot to learn, haven't I?"

"Yes, y'all do have a lot to learn. Let me ask you this one question, an' maybe all parts of you will understand," Dianne said gently. "If Ah was able to ask Belinda which one of them to save, which do you think she'd say?" She paused, then said softly, "Ah'd like t' think that she loved that little one there more than herself."

Christopher shook his head in agreement. "I think she would ask you to save the baby." He sighed deeply. "Thank you for listening."

"That's part of what Ah'm here for," Dianne reminded him. "Now. Ah've got some questions for you about Belinda so that Lady Penelope can get to work findin' that little one's daddy."

Christopher sighed again and nodded. "I'll give you what information I can."

"Good. Let's get this done quickly, Christopher. We'll be arriving at Perm any minute," Dianne said, looking at her watch.

"Right," said Christopher, a resolute expression on his face as he began to repeat what Belinda had told him about herself.

Post by TheWrongTrousers and Tikatu on 06/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1511 is a reply to message #1510] Fri, 27 July 2012 00:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Wednesday, March 14, 2068, 11:10 p.m., Thunderbird Five

"Whew!" John leaned back and swiped a hand across his brow. "Finally! All of Doc's notes are translated and downloaded to data cards." He glanced over at Callie. "Thanks, Callie, for handling the live translations while I dealt with the rescue coordination and translating the doctor's notes. I don't think I could have handled it all without your help."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for," Callie replied, smiling. "Or at least part of the reason."

"Right." John stood and stretched.

"So, where is Thunderbird Two now?" Callie asked, peering at the screen where the markers for each Thunderbird were displayed.

"In Perm, waiting for Thunderbird Seven to return from the hospital run. Won't be much longer before they're airborne again and on the way home. I got those data cards done just in time. Seven should be at the hospital now."

Callie shook her head. She leaned back against a console and folded her arms. "How have you done this all by yourself for so long?"

John smiled wryly. "Well, this situation, with all the doctors notes that needed to be translated into Russian, hasn't come up before. We've been able to get away with the languages in the translator program up until now." He rubbed the back of his neck, and stretched again. "I think it's time to upgrade the translator, and maybe try to build it into the new hands-free communicators that Brains has been talking about. Perhaps an uplink to the computers here or something. I'll have to talk to Brains about it."

Both heads turned as they heard Dianne's voice. "Thunderbird Seven to Thunderbird Two. We've offloaded our patients and are on our way back to you. ETA, seven minutes."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird Seven." Virgil replied.

"Thunderbird Seven to Thunderbird Five," Dianne now said. John reached over and opened communications.

"Thunderbird Five here. Go ahead."

"I've got some information for you on our premature baby, Jay. Dee will upload it. Pass it on to the Pink Lady for us? That li'l one needs her daddy ASAP so she doesn't get lost in the system."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird Seven. What's the status on your other infant?"

"Good news, of a sort. She was riding with her aunt and uncle and her parents are on their way to Perm to pick her up."

"That is good news. Thanks for the update, Doc."

"And thank you for the stellar job on the translations, Jay. The doctors in both Perm and Ust'-Uls were impressed."

"All in a day's work, Doc. Talk to you when you get back to base."

"F-A-B, Jay. Thunderbird Seven out."

John turned to smile at Callie, who returned the favor. Then he yawned.

"You hungry? We haven't done anything more than snack during this rescue."

Callie nodded. "Sure am. Let's get a meal while the crew is on the way home. Do we need to be available for the debriefing?"

" 'Fraid so. But after we eat, we can get our thoughts together to make the debrief go as smoothly as possible." He rose and followed Callie to the galley. "I have a feeling that this in going to be one intense debriefing."

Callie nodded. "I think so, too."

Post by Tikatu on 06/11/2004



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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1512 is a reply to message #1511] Fri, 27 July 2012 00:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Tracy Penthouse, New York, Wednesday March 14th, 6:45a.m.

Gordon sank down onto the soft leather sofa, propped up his feet on the ottoman, and clicked on the TV. With the remote in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, he made himself comfortable as he began to surf the channels. He had worked late last night, so decided to have an easy morning and go into the office later.

Freshly showered, with boxers and an old t-shirt on, he was looking forward to a few hours of downtime, the only problem being that there was no fun in hanging out on your own. He missed the island, missed the action of a rescue, and missed his family. The last time he'd talked with his dad had been brief as Dianne wouldn't allow Jeff to be worn out with worrying about Tracy Industries business. That's what Gordon was there for, she had reminded him. That and the fact that he needed to rest his back. Dianne had then bullied (as Gordon thought of it) truthful answers from him about how he was really feeling.

He clicked onto the 24 hour news channel. Might as well see what's happening in the world, he thought. He leaned forward and turned the volume up as a story caught his attention. The words "Breaking News" flashed up on the screen as the newscaster proceeded.

"Local authorities are blaming poor road conditions and lack of driver attention for a fatal car pile-up early this morning on the mountain roads just outside of Ust'-Uls, Russia. It is believed at least 7 people are confirmed dead, with the numbers expected to rise as rescuers continue to pull victims from the wrecked vehicles."

Gordon watched intensely, waiting for the pretty blonde to confirm what he already knew in his gut.

"...Authorities called International Rescue for help when they were unable to get to a group of stranded children whose bus had swerved off the edge of the road and hung over a ravine. Reports so far have confirmed that the children were removed safely. We will keep you updated as further details come in. In other news, French Prime Minister...."

"CLICK"

Gordon switched off the TV. He should have been home; he was probably needed with a rescue this large. He glanced at his watch and decided to call John. Gordon needed to go home, and the sooner, the better.

Post by FrankieCTB2 on 07/11/2004


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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1513 is a reply to message #1512] Fri, 27 July 2012 00:05 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Thursday, March 15, 2068, 1 a.m., Tracy Island

The weary, hungry rescuers filed into the dining room, where the beginnings of a satisfying dinner were set out. Brains was setting up a large screen at the head of the table and more than one of the new recruits looked at it and him, puzzled. When everyone was seated, and Kyrano and Lisa were bringing in hot dishes full of appetizing food, Brains explained.

"Since it's so late, Scott wanted the debriefing to take place over dinner. This screen is set up so that John and Callie can take part from Thunderbird Five." He turned to the screen. "Thunderbird Five from base. Do you read?"

John answered. "This is Thunderbird Five, base. Reading you strength 5."

"F-A-B, Five. Tell us when the call came in and the details," Brains said, then he moved to a seat near the screen and sat down.

Callie said, "We received the call on March 14th at around 3:30 p.m. There was a serious multi-vehicle accident with a truck crashing into a bus loaded with children. The noise created an avalanche, thereby blocking conventional rescue from being able to reach the scene."

Scott now took up the tale. He swallowed a bite of salad and said, "By 4:30, we had coordinates and an overview of the problem. Thunderbird One was dispatched immediately and arrived on the scene by 10:20 local time and I scouted the situation. I deployed three sets of cahelium spears into the area above the cars to keep them safer in case of another avalanche. Then I used the nose of Thunderbird One to keep the bus from falling any farther while waiting for the arrival of Thunderbird Two with the grabs."

"Scott contacted me here to translate a message into Russian, telling everyone trapped not to panic and that rescue was coming. I also gave Virgil the coordinates to land at a nearby stadium in Ust'-Uls," said Callie.

"Yes," Scott added. "Before moving Thunderbird One to the bus, I used my VTOLs to melt some of the snow away from a couple of the buried cars, helping the locals to dig them out of the avalanches."

Brandon sat picking at his food. How can Scott be so calm? Especially after what we went through. Brandon thought to himself.

Virgil spoke up. "Thunderbird Two arrived on the scene at 11:10 a.m. local time. We first went to the stadium and lowered the pod. Then we returned to the site. We lowered Christopher down onto the roof of the bus to assess the situation."

Christopher looked up from his plate where he had been pushing his food around. "Kat lowered me down to the roof of the bus. I couldn't find any way to get in, but thought some one smaller could, and I reported such."

Kat stopped eating. "Christopher called through his communicator that there was a small opening into the bus, which could be accessed by a very small person, and so Virgil told me that he would put TB2 on automatic pilot and help winch me down. I scrambled in through a tiny broken window and faced a sea of white frightened children. Some were crying and some were trying to put on a brave face. I asked if anyone understood English and one young man, a passenger on the bus, I believe, said that he could speak a little English."

Nikki soon took her end of the story. "Dom and I were ready with Doc to take Thunderbird Seven to the Danger Zone and assist as many of the injured as possible."

"We set up shop close to the danger zone," said Dominic. He took a bite of salad, before setting down his fork. He wasn't very hungry, anyway. "Doctor Tracy and Nikki went to deal with the bus, and I went to start triaging the car wrecks."

"Dom drove Thunderbird Seven into the Danger Zone," Dianne said quietly. "I sent Nikki to the bus, and Dom to begin triage of the cars while I went to one of the avalanche sites."

Kat added, "After I had found out the injuries sustained and had reported back to Doc Virgil reported that TB7 would be some time arriving so, to keep the children from panicking, I started to sing. I went through my entire repertoire of nursery rhymes."

"I made sure the clamps were in position before Virgil activated them," Christopher looked up from a sketch he was doing. "I then informed those inside of what was about to happen," he continued, his voice a monotone.



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Re: Growing as a Team [message #1514 is a reply to message #1513] Fri, 27 July 2012 00:09 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
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Nikki spoke up again. "There were three badly injured people on the bus, two children with broken bones and an adult with a concussion. Once the bus was stabilized, they were removed to Thunderbird Seven for treatment. The other children had only minor injuries."

"Doc asked Alan and Kat to ascertain the other injuries, starting with the driver of the truck that had crashed into the bus. I then proceeded to examine the vehicles with Virgil when he arrived," Christopher said, sipping his tea. He had not touched his food.

Alan took up the narration. "When we left the bus, Kat and I found the truck driver alive, but slumped over. I helped Kat climb through the window to check how bad he was. His legs were crushed and he was in a bad way, so I called Scott for the cutting equipment," he added.

"Ah, the amputee. Boy, was that a fun experience." Dominic was conscious of being sarcastic at time when he would seem insensate, but it was just his way of dealing. He tried not to show any of the fear he had felt. "I don't know how, but I managed to squeeze in there and tried to staunch the bleeding." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I got soaked in blood. I think it's still all over me. It was hard. Virgil and Scott got him out, thankfully, and he was rushed back to Thunderbird Seven, where we operated on him." He grinned a little. "Doctor Tracy's magic fingers managed to save him." He turned to Dianne. "That was some great surgery."

"Thank you," Dianne murmured almost inaudibly.

Scott continued, "I assigned Alan and Kat to work together in determining where the cutting crews were needed first. Then I worked with Brandon while Virgil, when he arrived, worked with Christopher using the oxyhydnite cutters."

Kat said, "I found a couple in a car who had not made it. As I was leaving I heard a baby crying, calling to Alan and he managed to smash the rear window, I scrambled in and managed to free the baby in the baby seat, and took the baby back to Thunderbird 7.

"All in all, Thunderbird Seven processed seven black tags, 6 red tags, 12 yellow tags and 19 green tags. We took 2 red tags, 4 yellow tags, and one green tag on to the hospital at Perm, when we were informed that the local facility could not accommodate them," Dianne said succinctly.

The very mention of the words black tag sent chills down Callie's back

"Virgil and myself managed to prise a number of roofs from some of the cars," Christopher said. "I passed a car that had had a serious crash, and heard a young woman's voice calling out. I went round and checked on the driver, a white male in his late fifties." Christopher looked down. "Unfortunately the force of the impact had thrown him forward abruptly." He looked around. "Broke his neck straight away, I would imagine. Then," Christopher rubbed his eyes, trying not to succumb to emotion, "I saw a young woman in her mid twenties in the back seat. She was heavily pregnant but I also noticed a lot of blood."

Brandon was the next to speak up. "When Thunderbird Two arrived at the Danger Zone, I took the recovery vehicle and followed the Firefly to the scene of the pile-up. Once there, I went on ahead to see if I could help out with the bus. After helping to pull the bus back and making sure everything was secure, Scott and I proceeded to look for more victims." Brandon took a sip of water before continuing. "We came upon a severely crushed car containing two victims and started to cut the car open. But, by the time we finished doing so, both driver and passenger had..." Here he stopped, unable to continue.

Scott looked over at Virgil. They could both see that the new recruits were beginning to show signs of the stress from the rescue. The look between his brothers didn't escape Alan's notice. He too could see the strain on their faces.

Maybe it's time to stop talking about what happened and time to start talking about how they feel about what happened, Scott thought.

Alan glanced at Kat, whose eyes were on Christopher. Here we go. Alan could tell that emotions were going to be let loose. Kat was only moments away from it, and he knew she'd been feeling this way for some time.

John, too, noticed the looks on the faces of the people far below him and Callie. He said, "How about a break for a few minutes. Scott?"

Scott glanced over at John. "Okay, John. Everyone get a drink or something and come back in ten. I think we've rehashed the actual events enough and now it's time to get down to the hard part. Expressing just how you felt about this rescue."


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