Opposites Attract

Stars And Moon Part Two

"We have a situation."

John floated beside Selene in the monitoring station pulling up the plans for the resort they were sending Scott, Virgil, Alan and Gordon to. An avalanche had cut off and partly buried the ski lodge at the base of the mountain.

Scott had touched down first on the safe side of the resort and immediately started to organise the crew on the ground exactly as he would his brothers.

His first orders was for the staff that were still up and moving to start getting as many holiday makers out as possible. The back entrance of the lodge had, thankfully, remained relatively clear and with a little digging between Scott and two of the ski instructors, they had managed to excavate a pathway from the door to the large hanger where the shuttle sledges were kept when they weren't in use.

He had the first shuttle full of residents on its way down the mountain to the nearest town just as Virgil began his descent.

"What's the status, Thunderbird 1?" Virgil's voice came cool and calm through the comms.

"So far we've managed to locate a large number of holidaymakers who were in the lodge when the avalanche hit, we've got them out and they are being transported to town by the staff that are still on their feet, but according to reports there are still at least twenty people in or around the building on the south side where the snow slide hit. The sheer weight of the snow has partially collapsed part of the building."

"What are you needing?"

"I'm thinking you'll need to assemble a couple of pods to start clearing the snow, leave that to Alan and Gordon, and you can follow me inside to tackle the heavy lifting. We don't know what we'll find in there, so be prepared for anything and bring a full stretcher and med kit."

"FAB."

They scrambled quickly, knowing time was of the essence. The smallest configured a couple of pods to help shift the snow and Virgil donned his exo-suit heading out to meet up with Scott.

Virgil made his way carefully across the densely packed snow, ducking into the eerie quiet of the lodge's kitchens, the snow muffling all sounds from outside.

"Scott? Where are you?" Virgil spoke quietly into his comm, as if shouting would be some kind of sin in the silence of the building.

"Head towards the front of the building, follow the signs for the lounge bar if you can see any. We've got a few walking wounded that have volunteered to stay and help, but there is an unknown number of potential casualties that we are unable to reach."

"FAB, on my way." He broke into a jog, the suit weighed him down but he refused to let it slow his pace, they knew that in their job every second counted. A minute saved could equal a life.

He navigated a maze of corridors, passing a dining room, a sign for a gym, the pool area and the stairways for the upper floor bedrooms and finally saw a sign for the lounge. The deeper he went into the building the colder and darker it became, the electricity having gone out with the avalanche.

Finally the sound of murmuring voices and shifting debris reached his ears and he put on a burst of speed, following the noise as it grew louder.

"Virgil!"

Scott's voice held just a hint of desperation as he rounded the corner and took in the sight before him. His brother was crouched beside a heavily pregnant woman, who was sobbing uncontrollably.

"My...my husband...my son, where are they?"

"Try not to worry," Scott soothed, "we'll do all we can to find them, just concentrate on breathing."