Opposites Attract

Back In The Saddle

“International Rescue, this is Thunderbird Five, we have a situation.”

Three heads snapped up as John’s hologram appeared in the middle of the lounge.

“What’s the situation, John?” Jeff asked from his spot at his desk. They had been back two days and this was their first emergency call. To say that everyone was on edge was an understatement.

“Unseasonably heavy rainfall over the last few days has caused a flash flood heading towards a village in the Highlands of Scotland that has a large number of retirement properties and elderly residents as well as families. A river has burst its banks and it’s already reached the lower houses of the town, some of which are already half under water and its rising fast. The local authority has sent in some help to try and evacuate the residents but some are being a little...difficult.”

“How deep is the flooding?” Gordon asked, drawn to the lounge from parts unknown by the mere mention of water.

“Not deep enough for Thunderbird Four to be needed,” John replied, pulling up a new visual display to show a map of the area. “The local authorities are already using motorised inflatable rafts to ferry the residents to a safe distance where they have shuttles on hand to take them into the city. But, as I said, there are a number that are refusing to leave and some that are further up the hillside that cannot be reached by land or by boat, that’s where we come in.”

“Better take Pod two and tell Brains to include those new inflatable life packs,” Virgil decided, already heading for his launch chute. “Gordon, Alan, come with me.”

Scott jogged in, hair wet from his recent shower, shirt clinging to his still damp shoulders. “What do we have?”

“Heavy rain and a flash flood in Scotland, you had better get going,” Jeff told him. Scott paused as if waiting for the inevitable. “John will brief you when you’re in the air,” Jeff finished and Selene knew she couldn’t be the only one who saw Scott visibly relax as he moved towards the spot on the wall which concealed his launch chute.

Gordon and Alan headed to the passenger chute with a cheery wave and suddenly it was just her and Jeff left in the room. Damn, this was awkward. She hadn’t been alone with him since they had returned and didn’t really know how to act around him. It was sobering to realise you didn’t know someone as well as you thought you did. The views of others will always colour your judgement no matter how hard you try to avoid it. John’s opinion of their father had been shocking to say the least. She might joke that John was one of the most judgemental people she had ever met, but in reality he was nothing of the sort. He was the type of person to look at a situation from all sides and always keep an open mind. He didn’t judge without reason, he used logic and all the information available to him before he made his mind up about anything. She knew that he had years of experience with Jeff and that had led her to believe him.

They sat in awkward silence, watching the feed from Five as it continued to show the progress of the water rushing the village and the attempts of the rescuers to help as many people as they could.

There was that low down base rumble as Thunderbird One’s engines started up. Every building on the Island including the hangars had been fitted with the very best soundproofing, so they didn’t hear much more until the rocket shot out of the recently revealed opening in the swimming pool and took to the skies. The second its jets kicked in they heard the muffled boom as it broke the sound barrier and was gone in the blink of an eye. Less than four minutes later they heard the same, but with a distinctly lower pitch, as Thunderbird Two launched from the other side of the Island, banking to the left to follow after Scott.