Disclaimer: Carlton own them, I wish I did. Especially John. Girl can dream can’t she. Anyways, this fic is inspired by Boomercat’s Malfunction & Aftermath fics (Boomercat –mate, I did e-mail you asking if it was okay to refer to those events… I’m hoping it is as I haven’t heard from you.) I have an idea where I’m going to take this fic, but it’ll depend on the feedback I receive. Please, read and enjoy. Mouse.

 

Impossible Choices

By Mouse

 

 

This time, his plan would not fail. Everything was in place for it to succeed and his revenge would be complete. The international rescue men would be dead, he’d have their machines and their secrets, and he’d rule the world with their power at his fingertips. Looking over the valley from his hiding spot, The Hood gave an evil smile and pressed a button.

 

~ Tracy Island ~

 

Jeff looked up from where he was going over some reports on the latest techniques for salt-water reclamation when he heard the call. He hit a button and Alan’s portrait changed to a picture of his youngest son.

“Go ahead Alan.” Just then, the four remaining Tracy brothers all came racing in from various parts of the house in response to the alarm that went off.

“Father, a dam in Fingal Valley, Tasmania, has burst. Rescue efforts are being hampered by the fact that there’s a strong storm over the area as well. Australian authorities have managed to get most of the residents evacuated but there’s six people trapped at the dam site itself, the workers that were there at the time. The water isn’t subsiding fast enough and there’s quite a bit of structural damage to the remains of the power station at the dam, which is where the men are trapped. The water isn’t expected to recede for awhile due to the storm.” Jeff thought a moment.

“All right Alan. Scott, off you go, see how bad it is when you get there. Virgil, follow with Gordon and John, take pod four.”

“Right father.” Scott left and Gordon clapped John on the shoulder as he led him towards the entrance to Thunderbird two’s bay.

“Boy I bet your glad you came home yesterday aren’t you?” Laughing, they disappeared and Jeff couldn’t’ help but smile. He turned to Alan.

“The boys are on their way Alan. Let authorities know we’re on our way and give the co-ordinates to Scott.”

“Yes father. Thunderbird Five out.” The picture changed back to one of Alan’s portrait and Jeff sighed. Kyrano placed a mug off coffee next to his hand and he smiled thanks at his old friend.

“They are gone again.”

“Yes. It’s John’s first rescue since the whole incident with The Hood in Australia a few months back. I just wish he’d have had more time on the ground since he stayed a little longer up there to allow Alan to heal properly with his shoulder.”

“Your boys are strong Mr Tracy. You need not worry.” Jeff smiled slightly.

“But we do, don’t we.”

“As parents, that is our prerogative I feel.” Jeff shared a warm smile with his friend and then settled in to wait.

 

~ Fingal Valley ~

 

Scott over flew the dam site and frowned at what he saw. Water was everywhere but he could see where the local rescue craft had moved in. He saw their base camp and found a spot perched on the side of a hill to land.

“Thunderbird one to thunderbird two,”

“Go ahead Scott.” Virgil’s calm voice came though and Scott smiled.

“Virgil, there’s not a lot of room to land here; you may have to drop off the terrible two and circle around. I can’t see a space big enough for you to land on.”

“Oh well, them’s the breaks I suppose.”

“What’s your ETA?”

“Seven minutes.”

“Right, I should have an idea of the situation by then, and then we can decide what we’re going to do with the terrible two some.” Scott grinned as he heard a rather indignant ‘Hey!’ in the background. Most likely from Gordon, it sounded like him. Scott eased his craft down and taking a pair of binoculars with him, he climbed down to the waiting personal. He was quickly led to the man in charge.

 

He was a tall, strong looking man in an SES (State Emergency Services) uniform, the bright orange overalls looking out of place, but as Scott glanced around he noticed quite a large number of people in them. He hadn’t done a rescue in Tasmania before, so was slightly unfamiliar with its procedures, but he knew he’d be working with some extremely professional men. In fact, Australia was one of the better places to do rescues in due to the excellent training the people received. Plus the great laid back attitude and sense of humour these people had, he greatly admired their resilience, especially in the face of the numerous natural disasters that seemed to plague the continent. The man held his hand out and smiled grimly.

“G’day mate. I’m Captain Tom Jackson, in charge of this motley lot.” A few good-natured grins were on some very tired faces.

“Hello Captain, sorry we couldn’t meet under better circumstances.  Now, what’s the situation please?” Tom pointed at a map.

“Up here’s where the Hydro workers are trapped. They were doing a routine maintenance check on the turbines when the dam blew. They managed to get up on top of the substation, which is where they are trapped. We tried flying in via chopper but no luck; the winds are just too high.” Scott nodded.

“I know. Wasn’t easy landing that’s for sure. You’ve tried going over by motor boat I assume?”

“Yes. No luck. The water’s draining too fast, making the current too swift. Plus with all the debris in the water it makes it twice as hard.” Scott thought fast.

“Alright, show me exactly where they are, I might have an idea.” Tom took him outside and along to the edge of the cliff they were situated on. Scott glanced down at the churning water below him and knew that they’d never get a boat across on that, plus the wind was blowing a gale as well. Tom pointed up stream.

“There they are. You can just see them.” Scott raised the glasses to his eyes and quickly scanned both sides of the river and then sighed, smiling slightly.

“We can help.” Tom sighed in relief. Scott lowered the glasses and raised his watch.

“Mobile Control to Thunderbird two.”

“Go ahead Mobile Control.”

“Virgil, lower Gordon and John down as close as you can to my position. It’s too windy to try any rescue via lifting them up by winch; we’d just get entangled in the nearby trees. We’re going to have to use buoy system that Brains came up with.”

“That breeches buoy contraption?” Scott grinned. When they had tested it on the island, Virgil had lost a bet with Gordon and had to be the one to be dragged across in it. It hadn’t been the smoothest of rides but it had worked.

“Yes, that contraption. Don’t worry; you’ll be safe hovering above monitoring everything.” Virgil’s reply wasn’t one for polite company but the large green transport came into view just then so Scott ignored his brother’s words.

“Right, where do you want me to drop these two?”

“Drop them here with the clothesline gear, we’ll have to walk in.”

“Right. I see what you mean, boy, you were lucky to get down their in one piece Scott, these winds are fierce. I’m having trouble holding her steady.”

“I know, but if anyone can do it, you can Virgil. The boys are going to be in for a rough landing but.” Virgil chuckled softly.

“Serve them both right. You should see the stunt they pulled on me while we were travelling here Scott.” Scott grinned, shaking his head as he made his way over to the car park where Thunderbird One was resting. Gordon and John were sometimes a lethal joke combination.

“I don’t want to know. I’ll be down here to catch them when they fall tell ‘em.” There was silence on the other end for a moment and then Virgil’s voice came back and Scott could here the grin in his voice.

“You don’t want to know what they both just said, trust me on this.” Scott laughed and looked up, his hair blowing in the strong winds. Absently he pushed it out of his eyes and watched as a hatch opened.

 

On Thunderbird Two John glanced down at the ground below and shuddered slightly in the strong cold wind. He glanced up at Gordon and grinned wickedly at his younger brother.

“Ready to go kiddo?”

“As always.” Gordon was going down with the gear and then John would follow. Gordon finished strapping himself into the harness and nodded at John. John let the winch begin to go down and the bags with the breeches buoy system in it began lowering. Moment’s later Gordon followed and John held his breath. The wind was making the line swing all over the place but it was quickly and safely on the ground, moments later Gordon joining it. John began breathing again and began getting himself into a harness. Scott and Gordon would anchor the rope and he’d abseil down from Thunderbird Two, they’d then unhitch the equipment and Virgil would remotely draw back the winch and then would begin circling the area.

“I’m going down now Virgil; want me to get you anything while I’m down there?” John could hear his brother’s grin from the cockpit.

“Yeah. How about some beer, they make some of the world’s best beer down there.”

“Can do. See you later.” With that, John jumped lightly out of the hatch and free fell the hundred meters or so to the ground, stopping just short of the ground and then gently hopping down to the hard asphalt. Scott and Gordon both just stared at him and then shook their heads. John grinned at them both, unclamping himself. He occasionally liked to scare the begebbers out of his brothers, to remind them not to take him for granted, like they had a tendency to do most of the time. Being the quiet one sometimes worked to his advantage. Scott came over and helped him while Gordon scrambled to unhitch the equipment bags.

“Not very smart John.” John grinned at his older brother, his blue eyes twinkling and merry. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Good. My work here is done.” Laughing softly, they watched as the harnesses were retracted safely. Gordon had by now broken the gear down into its three packs and had three piles of poles for them to carry. John picked his pack up and Scott gestured to the waiting SES guys.

“They’ve got some four wheelers we can use to get close.” Gordon’s face light up.

“Have they? Great!” Laughing at their younger brother, the two older boys helped load the equipment onto the four wheelers and Tom got two SES guys to go along to guide them through the thick bush.

 

After a very long and sometimes slow thirty minutes later, they reached their destination. They parked the bikes up the bank, away from the unstable edge. The two SES guides – Bill and Bruce – guided them over the easiest routes. Bruce just happened to be the Local Park Ranger and Bruce one of the local bush fire crew and they knew the area extremely well. The three International rescue personal got off their bikes and examined the distance between the two shores. It was about one and half kilometres between the two shores and it was a large distance to cover. Scott turned to Bill.

“Do we have any communication with them?” Bill grinned.

“Sure do, they happened to have a couple of walkie talkies with them. We brought them with us so we can chat to them.” Scott grinned.

“Fantastic. We’ll get set up and get them out of there.” Scott moved over to where John and Gordon were busy assembling the clothesline.

“Almost ready Scott.”

“Great. John, you’re a good shot, you fire the anchor over there okay?”

“Can do.” John delved into a bag and began assembling a strange looking rifle. Scott turned to Gordon.

“Gordon, you’re going to go over and run things from that side okay?” Gordon perked up and grinned. Lately Scott had been giving him more and more responsibility and he found it was a great feeling.

“Sure Scott.” John straightened up, putting the final touches to the firing pin. He attached a strong tensile nylon rope and looked at Scott.

“Ready here.”

“Great. Come on.” The two of them moved over to the others and Scott smiled at Bill.

“Can I borrow the walkie talkie?”

“Sure.” He handed Scott the radio and Scott turned it on. “Hello the substation.”

“Brock here, who’s that?”

“International Rescue at your service. We’re going to have to use a breeches buoy setup to get you out of there. So I need you guys to all lie flat on the top of the roof while we fire the rope over. Once it’s there, I need you guys to secure it to something really strong.”

“There are a couple of concrete pylons we can tether it to.”

“That’d be perfect, now, get down as we’ll be firing across in a moment.”

“Righto. And thanks.”

“Any time.” Scott lowered the radio and moved out of the way. “You’re on John.” The blonde haired brother grinned and winked, moving close to the edge of the water. Gordon and Scott quickly made sure that the supports for the buoy were in place and then nodded at John. Out of all the Tracy brothers, John was the better shot with a long distance rifle. He constantly outperformed his brothers when they trained with them. John jokingly said it was due to the fact he used his eyes a lot more for long distance viewing than they did. John braced one knee on the ground and raised the largish strange looking rifle, bracing it against his shoulder. Closing one eye he focused on his target, his breathing still and calm. His voice was level and calm, like it always was.

“Firing now.” And with that, he squeezed the trigger. There was a loud whoosh of air and the rope went flying out. Seconds later it landed safely on the other side. John just grinned, unhitching the rope and handing it to Gordon. Gordon winked at him.

“Remind me to be on your team next time we play paintball.” John laughed, standing up, rubbing his shoulder slightly.

“Anytime Gordon. Let’s get you hooked up.” They laughed and quickly got to work. The two men with them just watched at the extreme professionalism and trust these men seemed to have with one another.

 

Two hours had passed and they had managed to get all six men across finally. The wind had gotten worse but the waters had calmed a little. All that remained for them to do was bring Gordon back across and pack up their gear. Gordon had set the anchor to automatically return once he was back on the other side. He was half way back across when tragedy struck.

 

The Hood had been biding his time, studying his prey carefully. He had discovered the elusive fifth member of International Rescue. Another blonde haired man but he was older than the other one. But it was the ginger haired operative he had his sights on. He raised the rifle to his eyes and took aim at the swaying figure as it crossed the river. Grinning maniacally, he pulled the trigger and smiled in triumph as the red haired figure slumped over, a stain spreading over his back.

 

Scott and John were watching carefully Gordon’s progress when suddenly they could hear a shot and then Gordon slumping over suddenly. John clutched at Scott’s arm.

“Scott!”

“Shit!” Scott raised the binoculars and then went pale. “John, pull it in, double quick. Looks like Gordon’s been shot!” John raced to the winch controls and pushed the lever forward. The chair carrying Gordon began to race towards them. The men with the International Rescue people looked horrified.

“What’s happened? Who would want to shoot at you?” John shared a grim glance with Scott, his thoughts racing. Scott returned the glance, nodding slowly. He turned to Bill, a horrible suspicion beginning to form.

“Just how did the dam burst?” Bill looked at one of the Hydro workers who grimaced.

“It wasn’t natural that’s for sure. As near as we can figure, something exploded deep within the bowels of the station. It cracked the concrete and the result is what you see there.”

“Thank you.” Scott raised his watch, his eyes never leaving the closing figure of Gordon coming closer.

“Mobile Control to Thunderbird two.”

“Go ahead Scott.”

“Virgil, we think we’ve got The Hood to deal with again. He’s just shot Gordon.”

“What? Is he alright?”

“No idea. He’s still in the breech buoy chair. We’ll know in a few moments. Can you lower a line down?”

“No, it’s too windy; it’d get tangled in the trees.”

“Shit! Alright, as soon as we’ve got him, we’ll bring him out with the bikes, wait over the car park, you can escort me in Thunderbird One to the nearest hospital.”

“Understood. Did you want me to radio home?” Scott winced, sharing a glance with John. Solemnly, John nodded and then turned back to watching Gordon’s progress.

“Yes please. Tell them that we’re going to take Gordon to the hospital…” Scott turned to Bill, his face grave. Bill just blinked and spoke softly.

“Royal Hobart, best in the state. Not long from here.”

“Thank you. Tell them we’re taking him to the Royal Hobart Hospital.”

“Understood. Scott, watch yourselves.”

“FAB.” Scott lowered his watch just as the breech buoy reached them. John shut off the winch and the two of them scrambled over to their brother. They both paled as they saw the spreading stain over his back. John reached out and sighed in relief when he felt a pulse.

“He’s got a strong pulse.” Bruce raced over with a first aid kit; Bill came over with a stretcher that they had brought along just in case.

“Sorry mates, best we can do.” Scott nodded his thanks.

“Thanks.” Carefully they eased Gordon out of the chair and placed him on his side, getting a good look at the wound on his back. John glanced up as he applied a pressure bandage to the wound.

“Looks like the bullet’s lodged in their somewhere Scott. There’s no exit wound. We’ll have to be extra careful getting him out of here.”

“Right. We’ll rig up something to carry him on the bikes.” Carefully, they secured Gordon to the stretcher and very slowly stood up.

 

The Hood grinned maniacally and took aim again. He squeezed the trigger once more. He was enjoying this more than he thought he would.

 

Scott had taken one end of the stretcher and Bruce the other. John was keeping pace while holding the pressure bandage on Gordon’s back. Just then, another shot rang out and Scott yelled in pain, falling to his feet, dropping the stretcher. Only John’s quick thinking stopped Gordon from rolling off. Blood was pouring now from Scott’s shoulder.

“Scott!” John was now white as a sheet, two brother’s shoot in front of him. Bill leapt forward and quickly grabbed the last of the bandages in the small first aid kit. The workers came pouring down the bank and stood between the water and the International rescue crew. One of them picked up the stretcher, and a couple of others helped Bill get Scott to his feet. John stared at his brother.

“Scott?” Scott looked up, pain dulling his brown eyes.

“I’m…alright Johnny, look after Gordon.” And with that, he would have fallen to his knees if Bill hadn’t caught him. John looked helplessly at his older brother and then down at his younger brother. What was he going to do now?

 

 

Tbc..