International Rescue: The Next Phase


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Re: The Call Goes Out [message #320 is a reply to message #314] Mon, 23 July 2012 19:52 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Tikatu is currently offline  Tikatu
Messages: 813
Registered: April 2012
Location: South Carolina
Karma:
Field Commander
Ubiquitous one
Scott quickly surveyed the area below him and around crash site. There was no place for him to put down his ship. Frustrated, he turned to Dianne.

"I'm not gonna be able to land, I'll have to get as close as I can and drop you down. I'll stay in hover mode and keep the lights on. Once Virgil gets here, you'll have the equipment you'll need." Dianne could see the frustration written all over her stepson's face.

"Ah know you want to be down there Scott, but Ah'm gonna make sure your father comes out of this alive!"

All Scott could do was nod. He was afraid the sudden lump in his throat when Dianne mentioned his father would cause him to break. He was the Field Commander, and as such, breaking down was unacceptable. Scott fired the retros and his Thunderbird started to descend.

Dianne gathered up her things, putting a blood red ball cap on her head. She nodded to Scott.

"When Ah'm safely down, drop the duffel to me. That way, th' instruments won't break."

The ground came up, closer and closer beneath the open hatch. She sat on the edge, feeling the cold air and the winds from the VTOL jets buffet her lower legs and ankles. She tried to keep her focus on the ground beneath her and not on the dark blob of silent wreckage that lay off to the left.

Finally Scott looked at her and said apologetically. "I'm three meters up. It's as close as I can get." Dianne nodded, the snow and darkness were messing with her depth perception but she had to go; it was now or never. She grabbed hold of the hatch's edge, swung herself out, and dropped into the snow.

Her body made a muffled crunch as the snow absorbed the impact of her landing. Shaking off some flakes, Dianne stood and looked to the left again. Then she looked up and caught her medikit duffel. Scott had the lights tracked onto the wreckage and she made her way towards it. Her heart beating faster with every step, she approached the main fuselage.

"Elise? Elise, where are you?" A small noise in the darkness indicated where Dianne should proceed.

"O-over h-here...we're o-over here!"

Dianne pulled out the flashlight she had in her duffel bag and shone it in the direction of Elise's voice. Instantly Elise could be seen and Dianne started to climb towards her.

"Where's Jeff?" Elise indicated where her boss lay. Dianne gave Elise a quick once over, checking her external injuries.

"Ah'll be with you as soon as Ah can Elise." Dianne's voice was soothing and Elise merely nodded. She was still too cold to do much else. Dianne moved over to Jeff. Bracing herself for the worst, she looked down at her husband.

She slid the flashlight up her jacket sleeve and closed her eyes briefly, swallowing heavily. In her hands-free headset she heard Scott asking in a low voice. "How is he, Mom?" No pretense of code names here. Just the raw emotion of family.

"Ah'm about to find out, son." She dug around in her duffel bag, pulling out her medscanner. She got close, her fingers feeling for the carotid artery, feeling for that all-important pulse. She found it and breathed a small sigh of relief. "He's got a slow, erratic pulse."

Now she passed the scanner over him and interpreted the back lighted readings. A deep breath this time, let out slowly. "He's hypothermic with a core temperature of 90 degrees. Which is a good thing because he's got some pretty serious internal injuries, broken ribs, at least one fractured vertebrae, which, thank God, isn't impinging on his spinal cord. His left tibia is broken and his left foot has a lot of little fractures as well. Man, this is a laundry list of trauma! A concussion and a broken left scapula. Unfortunately, there's not a lot I can do for him now. Not until I get this debris off of him. I'll just have to monitor his condition and...pray." She put up her scanner and sighed deeply. "In other words, Scott, tell Virgil to push that green beetle o' his to the max!"

Elise sat quietly hearing every word being spoken across from her.

"He didn't have his seatbelt on, I tried to make him sit down and put it on."

Dianne turned towards Elise and softly talked to her.

"Elise, this isn't your fault, Mah husband can get real stubborn at times, and Ah have a feeling this was one of them."

Husband? Elise digested this piece of information and it confused her even more. "Your h-his wife?" she asked incredulously.

Dianne noticed the shiver in Elise's voice and turned to her.

"Yes, Ah'm Dianne Tracy, and you're going to be needing this." Dianne handed a thermo blanket from her duffel bag to the other woman and helped secure it around her. Elise looked up and gave Dianne a small smile of gratitude. With a reassuring squeeze of Elise's hand, Dianne once again turned her focus to Jeff.

"Thunderbird Two from Thunderbird One! Virgil, where the hell are you?"

Scott's level of patience had long been exhausted and his brother should have been here by now.

"Thunderbird Two to Thunderbird One, Scott, I'm 5 minutes from the DZ, I'm pushing as hard as I can!" Virgil tried not to sound annoyed with his brother; they were all on edge and short fused and so he let his brother's words slide.

"Okay, just get here ASAP. Mom is down there already. I can't land, and she needs back-up now!"

"FAB" came the curt reply.

Both women heard the approach of more engines and Dianne, closing her eyes, thanked God and Virgil all at once.

"It's the rescue equipment, Elise. We'll have you and Jeff out of here soon."

"Mom, I can't land. Virgil can't land. What do you need down there?" Scott asked succinctly.

"Lights. Winches to get the debris off of your father. Two antigravity stretchers. Compression bandages. The hypothermia kit with the warmed air." Dianne wracked her brains to think of anything to add. "Send all three; Gordon, Brandon, and Dom down with the rescue capsule."

She knelt by her husband's side and gently touched his cheek. Elise could hear the tears in her voice as she told him, "Don't you die on me, Jeff Tracy. Don't you dare die on me!"

Virgil heard his step mom's words and without hesitation called over his shoulder to the three team members with him "You heard the lady, now GO!"

"FAB!" Gordon was already out of his seat and giving directions to Brandon and Dom. Both listened intently to every last word and then along with Gordon they disappeared from the cockpit and were descending with the rescue capsule.

"Scott, they're on the way down! Brandon and Gordon will work the winches while Dom gets the anti-grav stretchers and medical equipment to Mom"

"FAB Virgil... and good work." Scott added the last part in a softer voice than he had been using and Virgil knew it was his brother's way of apologizing.

"Sure, Scott, no problem. Let's just hope we can get them out in time."

Post by FrankieCTB2 and Tikatu on 01/07/2004

Jeff heartbeat Dianne plain My IR:TNP OTP!

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