Home » The Archives » Chapter 12 » Playing with Fire
| Re: Playing with Fire [message #502 is a reply to message #501] |
Mon, 23 July 2012 21:19   |
artisticrainey
Messages: 1228
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Karma:
|
Field Commander
Switzerland |
|
|
Thursday, October 18; 1:30 PM
Brains and Will watched as the weary team of rescuers exited Thunderbird 2 and headed to the elevator that would take them to the Villa and some much needed nourishment. Elise paused and looked at the pair for a moment, and Brains told her, "Get on up there. There's food waiting. You can debrief and eat, then get some rest. You all look exhausted."
"Yeah, well, there were three fatalities before we even got there, one from the local rescue team. And two others are so badly injured, we don't know if they'll make it or not."
A group of spelunkers had been trapped by a cave-in in a remote area of the Rockies along the British Columbia-Alberta border, a few hundred miles north of Montana. The local rescue team that went in to locate them and get them out had also been trapped by a second cave-in. It had taken that team and their equipment over twelve hours to get there, and time was running out for both groups. So International Rescue had been called. It had taken them another six hours to get all the trapped people out, and two more before the worst of the injured were stabilized enough to be taken to a hospital.
"As badly as we wish we could save everyone, sometimes it's just not possible," said Dianne.
Will looked at her somberly. "I hope that knowing that you did save others helps, even if it's just in a small way. Plus if the worst of the injured don't survive, at least you've given their families a chance to say good-bye. That's gotta count for somethin'."
Dianne smiled wanly at him. "It does; but sometimes it's just not enough."
Brains gave her a gentle shove toward the elevator. "No more philosophical discussions. They can wait until you're rested and fed. Will and I will take care of things down here."
She stepped into the car and as the doors closed, Scott was heard to say, "Be careful with my baby, now. She's been through a lot."
Brains snorted a laugh and turned to Will. "He says that to me every time. Well, let's get started."
"Right." Will headed over to where a small tank with a vacuum stood by as Brains moved to the pod. Thunderbird Two was still raised above it, and would be gone over after the pod and the vehicles within were taken care of. The tank was brought into the pod to be used to collect all dirt and rocks scattered throughout and on the vehicles, so it could be checked for any bacteria or other things, large or small, that might be hazardous to plant or animal life on the island. Once it was all in the tank, a sample was removed to go to the lab where Brains - or now more recently, Callie - would perform all the necessary tests to determine if it was safe to use.
They started with some of the smaller equipment, thoroughly and methodically cleaning each, then moving it out of the pod. Finally they tackled the Mole. Brains had Will clean it from top to bottom, inside and out, including the engine. Once the equipment was cleaned, Will vacuumed the inside of the pod. Finally the dirt and rocks were in the tank, which was then moved out and to one side.
"Since the Mole is the most important piece of equipment that was used," Brains said, "start with it while I work on some of the other equipment. I think you can handle it; you did after the previous rescue."
"Thanks, Brains. This baby's been getting a lot of use. I'll holler if I need help."
For another hour, they worked without speaking. Then Will, after starting the Mole and listening to its engine for a few minutes, said, "Brains, would you come over here a minute?"
Brains stopped what he as doing and walked over to stand next to the redhead. "What's the problem?"
"Take a listen to the engine. I'm hearin' something that doesn't sound right. Do you?"
There was a long pause while Brains complied. He was about to tell Will that it sounded fine, when he heard it. It was faint, but there - a slight vibration in pitch. "You heard that? It took me a while."
"Yeah, well, it took me some time, too. Besides, when the well being of an aircraft carrier is your ultimate responsibility, you learn fast to rely on all senses and to keep them sharp, so you can catch a problem early and fix it fast. But I'm glad you did hear it; now I've got to find out what's causin' it."
"Want some help?"
"Sure!"
It wasn't easy to check the engine from every angle to locate the source of the anomaly, and it took nearly forty five minutes before they found it. A shaft had become warped, just slightly, but enough for the engine to start making the faint sound change the men heard.
"You got a replacement for it in stock?" Will asked.
"Let me check. Come watch. You'll need to be able to do this yourself. After all, I won't always be able to be here to work with you."
"I know; heck, I wasn't sure if you'd be able to come today. You've got a lot of responsibilities. Ah! A computer. I take it you can find out what you've got and where is it from here."
"Right. Here's the desktop icon to take you to the inventory site. You know, we've been lucky so far, in that we haven't needed to replace anything in the time since you started. But it was bound to happen. So today, you get to learn a little more: how to find out if we have a replacement part, and how to get it." He showed Will how to access the site and locate the part. Each Thunderbird, auxiliary vehicle, and piece of equipment had its on section, with all the parts listed, and quantity in stock. "Now, which shaft was it that we need?"
"Hang on." Will went to the cabinet where the manuals were kept and took out the one on the Mole. He flipped through the pages as he returned, then set it down on the counter beside the computer. "It's this one, right?" he asked, pointing to the illustration.
"Right the first time. And," Brains checked the inventory, "we're in luck. We have one in stock." He noted the location and said, "Come on. I'll show you where we keep our parts."
Posted by hobbeth on May 4, 2008
  
|
|
|
|
Current Time: Sat May 18 12:48:40 EDT 2024
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.02292 seconds
|
International Rescue: The Next Phase
Search
Help
Members
Login
Home
