Home » The Archives » Chapter 9 » Regrouping and Recouperation
| Re: Regrouping and Recouperation [message #154 is a reply to message #153] |
Sun, 22 July 2012 19:30   |
artisticrainey
Messages: 1228
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Karma:
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Field Commander
Switzerland |
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The commercials ended, and Ned came back on screen. No panning across the crowds now, just a tight, close up of the man from the waist up. He was somber and professional as he spoke.
"Since International Rescue made their debut three years ago, the public has grown accustomed to hearing about the amazing Thunderbird crafts. Thunderbird One, speedy and first on the scene. Thunderbird Two, the mighty cargo carrier craft. Thunderbird Three, the sleek space ship. And the tiny but important submarine, Thunderbird Four. No one has seen or heard much about Thunderbirds Five or Six; we can only surmise that they exist and that they are so technologically advanced and of such great importance that IR keeps them under tightly under wraps."
"I wouldn't say that about Thunderbird Six," John murmured.
"Don't let Brains hear you," Virgil warned him. "You know Six is his baby."
Ned continued. "But less than a year ago, a new Thunderbird vessel was unveiled to the public. A sophisticated, mobile hospital, complete with scanners and surgical bay, first appeared at a fatal chlorine leak in New Zealand. At first using a sturdy caterpillar tractor arrangement, then later a sleek hovercraft design, Thunderbird Seven made a big impact on the types of rescues that IR took on, as well as dramatically cutting the mortality rates involved in those operations. Until recently, its sole occupant was a woman known as 'Doc', a physician with a tender bedside manner and tremendous skill in treating the injuries sustained on the field. Within the past few months she has been joined by at least two nurses, both every bit as professional as she is. Those were the pilot and passengers of Thunderbird Seven on August 4, when disaster struck, turning two intense rescues into a harrowing three, and showing the world that even International Rescue must bow to the might of Mother Nature. Gavin Bell tells the tale."
The scene shifted to a farmer's field. Large swathes cut through the dirt and grass scarred the field, yellow "Do Not Cross" tape fluttered in a light breeze. Gavin Bell squatted low and looked directly into the camera.
"I'm here in the fallow field where the severed halves of Thunderbird Seven were deposited after being picked up by what has been classified as a F3 class tornado." Gavin rose. "The tornado was one of two that were ripping through the just south of Wichita at the time, and though it seems Thunderbird Seven managed to outrun one of them, in doing so, it was caught by the other. Here's some eyewitness footage taken of the scene." And the recording that Gavin Belle made while en route to Murray Gill began to run.
In his apartment, Dom stared at it in horror, blood draining from his face. He made a small, strangled noise, and Gordon looked back at him. "Dom? Are you okay?"
"No." Dom stood up suddenly and ran for the half bath. Gordon glanced back at the scene, shuddered from head to toe, then picked up Josh and went after Dom.
Downstairs, the girls gathered around Nikki, as she watched in horrified fascination. "I'm turning it off," Elise said firmly.
"No," Nikki whispered. "I want to see... I have to see."
The girls glanced at each other, and Callie, who had been blocking Nikki's view of the televid, stepped away. Kat sat close to Nikki and took her hand, squeezing it gently. "Tell us if you can't take anymore," she murmured.
In the lounge, Scott watched, stony faced, as Alan's eyes grew wide. "Oh, God," he whispered. He glanced over at his oldest brother. "I had no idea it was that bad."
"There's worse," Scott stated flatly.
At Andrew Carmichael's house, Cherie screamed and covered her face, while Alex made a little moaning cry and ran from the room. Maggie knelt down beside the girl to draw her close. "Drew! Kyrano! Go after Alex! Elisabeth! I need you... now!"
Her sharp commands sent her husband and a shell-shocked Kyrano after the boy, while a pale Lisa stumbled over to her granddaughter's side. The teenager all but threw herself into her grandmother's arms, and Maggie moved in to support them both.
"Oh, dear Lord in heaven!" Emily cried as the film showed Thunderbird Seven split in two. She kept shaking her head, murmuring, "No, Lord, just... no." Virgil tapped a shocked John on the shoulder then put his arm around his grandmother. After a moment, John followed suit, still gazing at the screen.
In Thunderbird Five, Brains shuddered as he saw the sections separate. "How did this happen? What did I do wrong?" he asked to no one in particular.
Jeff glanced over his shoulder at the sight, and closed his eyes as he held Dianne tight. Her face was buried in his shoulder, and she trembled in his arms.
The tape ended, and the camera returned to Gavin, who had moved to one of the scarred areas. "I'm standing where the cockpit, containing three injured International Rescue personnel, landed. The surgery and patient module," he pointed to a spot hundreds of yards away, "ended up over there, just by that stand of trees. The IR crew had just dropped off victims from the Challenge Day at Wichita General Hospital, so the patient module was unoccupied at the time. My crew and I ran up to see if anyone was alive inside the cockpit, and this is what we saw and heard."
The camera bounced up and down as it followed Gavin, still talking a mile a minute, to the cockpit. "Is anyone in there? Are you all right?" he called. There was no view of the cockpit's interior, but Nikki's voice called back, sounding angry, yet garbled enough that you couldn't make out what she shouted.
The piece suddenly stopped, and Gavin was seen again in the field. "It was at this point that Thunderbird Two arrived and my camera was blocked. The IR operatives began to cut open Thunderbird Seven and, with the help of local EMS workers, freed the medical crew. Thunderbird One arrived late; speculation is that it was returning from their base after bringing key personnel there to aid in the rescue of the ISS. I tried to speak with the on site commander, but he steadfastly refused to say anything. However, our helijet managed to get a brief bit of aerial footage as Thunderbird One lifted off, carrying the three occupants of the cockpit away for medical treatment."
There was a brief, thirty-second shot of the site as seen from above, and the helicopter pilot could be heard to murmur, "Oh, sweet Jesus! What the hell happened to that?" The two halves of Thunderbird Seven were clearly shown, the cockpit sitting nearly upside down, exposing the hoverjets, and the medical cabin on its side, the large dent in the back corner clearly visible. As the helijet moved over the two lead Thunderbirds, giving a tantalizing, split-second view of them, the screen went dark. Someone could be heard to say, "Da...", then the sound cut out as well.
Alan drew in a sharp breath. "I see what you mean, Scott," he said, casting a troubled glance at his eldest brother.
Scott nodded. "At least Virgil was able to cut off the helijet's feed. I wasn't sure he could."
Back as the center of attention, Gavin paused for a moment. "When Thunderbird One left the area, its destination was unknown. But within five minutes, it had arrived at Mercy General in Los Angeles. However, they left a crew behind to salvage what they could. I have with me, John Forrest, who owns this field. Tell me, Mr. Forrest, what happened after Thunderbird One left?"
Farmer Forrest, a tall, rangy man with a bit of a pot belly, pulled up his cap to scratch his balding head a little, then put the cap firmly back on. "Well, the people who were still here had a little powwow, and then some ran off to the big green Thunderbird. One or two of them stayed behind, looking over the situation, and makin' plans from what I could see. And a couple of 'em worked on the motors, tryin' to get them workin', I guess. The body of that Thunderbird pulled up, and left a little Quonset-hut of a barn behind. Out of that barn came the oddest assortment of vehicles I ever did see!"
"What did they do with those odd vehicles, Mr. Forrest?"
"Well, first thing they did was pull that big square part of the ambulance off its side, so it stood upright. Then me and my boys helped them put chains around it; this pretty girl with a funny accent told us where to put them so they wouldn't slide. She was a smart one! Then they used a big plow with a hole in the blade to smooth the way so they could tow one part to the other. While the towin' was goin' on, they righted the smaller bit, and then we chained 'em together, and they got the whole shebang into the barn. Then they put everything away and took off."
Gavin glanced around, and motioned toward the obvious scars left in the field. "Looks like they did a good bit of damage to your land here."
Farmer Forrest waved a dismissive hand. "Pffft. T'weren't nothin'. I was letting this field lie empty this year anyway. Before they left, one of the men came up and asked who owned the land. When I told him I did, he apologized for the mess, and shook my hand. Far as I'm concerned, they saved me some plowin' come spring!"
Gavin smiled slightly. "Thank you, Mr. Forrest, for your time today."
"You're welcome, Mr. Belle, and to the guys of International Rescue, hope y'all get back to normal soon!"
Virgil smiled. "That man was great. Volunteered himself and his sons to give us a hand. I was glad to know that the field was his. If it hadn't been, I would have taken him with me to whoever's it was while I apologized."
"Glad to know he's not looking for compensation," John said. "So many people would be."
"Well, you wouldn't find too many folks like them in Kansas," Grandma snapped. "Most are like Mr. Forrest there; hard-working, salt of the earth people. Give you the clothes off their back - and the back to go with them - if they thought you needed 'em!" She gave each of her grandsons a sharp look. "I certainly hope I helped raise you boys to do the same!"
"I think you did, Grandma," Virgil said softly, squeezing her gently to his side. "After all, we're part of International Rescue."
The camera pulled to one side so only Gavin was in the picture. "This has been Gavin Belle reporting. Back to you, Ned."
"Thanks, Gavin," Ned said as the feed went back to him in Los Angeles. "Back with more after this commercial break."
Post by Tikatu on 11/26/2006
  
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