Command and Control, Tracy Island.
(John's POV)
I had gotten the blueprints for Fireflash and what I saw I couldn't believe, the plane was powered via Thermal Nuclear Fusion Drives, which although they were cleaner then the original Fireflashes Nuclear Fission Core was still dangerous under the right circumstances, this being one of those circumstances. When the Statue of Liberty was destroyed in the crash, and pieces fell onto the plane, it cut off the pumps to the main engines which were still intact after the crash. The pieces that now sat on the pump pipes leading to the engines were now the only thing stopping a nuclear disaster from occurring right now, we needed to safely remove and clear the TNFDs before we could proceed with the actual rescue.
I had contacted Gordon and told him to stop cutting through the last piece of the statue that held back the radioactive fuel, much to his distaste,
"So now what?" he asked
"like I said, I'm about to contact Scott and Virgil and the NYDC are on their way as well" I answer
"this is the worst possible outcome" Gordon says
"I know, but the possibility was always there when it comes to Fireflash" I say
"I bet they're rethinking the Atomic powered plane idea now" he remarks
"i'm sure they are, I'm connecting Virgil and Scott now" I say pressing two buttons to call the others "Thunderbird 1 and 2 come in" I say over the commlink
"Thunderbird 2 here" Virgil says
"Thunderbird 1 here" Scott answers
"we have a situation" I say
"what is it John?" Scott asks
"This new model of Fireflash is powered by Thermal Nuclear Fusion Drives" I say
"your kidding" Virgil responds first
"i'm not, and to make matters worse the debris from the Statue of Liberty has landed on fuel pump pipes leading to the engines, this is causing a build up of the nuclear fuel" I explain
"you not saying what I think your say" Scott says
"I am, if we don't fix the issue as soon as possible or if that piece of debris falls off the plane then New York and Jersey City will end up as a Nuclear Wasteland" I explain
"what do we need to do?" Scott asks
"we need to safely relieve the pressure that's built up as well as remove the TNFDs" I say
"I take it the NYDC has ways of detecting this as well?" Gordon asks
"yes they do, and they currently have a team heading over with a tank to relieve the pressure" I answer looking over the screens
"doesn't Thunderbird 2 have tanks as well?" Gordon asks
"it does, we can run a pipe to the plane as well, i'm sure it would help the NYDC" Virgil confirms
"alright, i'll send word to the NYDC, you guys run the pipe to the plane, we will save Alan and everyone else on board Fireflash" I declare
"F.A.B" Virgil, Gordon and Scott say in unison before I end the transmittion and get to work, there was a lot to do before the proper rescue could take place.
heading over to another panel I began to contact NYDC command to inform them on the current situation and to prepare to extract the nuclear fuel,
"New York Disaster Control Command this is International Rescue come in" I say over the commlink
"This is New York Disaster Control we read you International Rescue" a man on the other end answers
"I take it you detected the same radioactive issue we have?" I ask
"that we have, and we have a hazmat team inbound" he replies
"Thunderbird 2 also has a tank which is able to hold such fuels, we are can also help" I say
"understood, the helicopter should be over the island as we speak, if you ask me this is just one big old mess that we always have to clean up" the man says
"comes with the job, we are moving our pumping pipe into position as we speak" I say
"the helicopter has lowered our tanks and our crew is currently doing the same" the man says
"lets fix this issue" I say
"agreed" the man says
"say I never got your name" I say
"its Dexter" Dexter answers
"nice to meet you Dexter, now lets fix this" I say as we set out to coordinate the pumping of the nuclear fuel from Fireflash.
_____________________
Liberty Island, New York City.
(Scott's POV)
The helicopter marked NYDC had lowered the tanks and equipment to drain the nuclear fuel from Fireflash as we arrived at the plane with our own equipment, along with another hazmat suit for Gordon to change into. We began to find the access panels for the pipes leading to the engines but they were proving difficult to find due to the damage done to the plane, but after a few minutes of searching we found the access point on our side and I contacted John about to update him,
"Tracy Island, we have located the access point" I say over the commlink
"right, now you see what looks like the outline of a circle on the panel?" John asks
"yeah I do" I answer looking directly at the described feature
"turn it right 180 degrees and then left 90 degrees and it'll unlock" John explains as I put the tips of my fingers on the circular part of the panel and follow his instructions, hearing a click after finishing the 90 degrees turn
"alright it's unlocked" I confirm to him
"right now hook the pipe onto the fuelling access point like you would any other aircraft, there's a seal preventing unwanted fuel spills until the refuel pipes are attached and engaged" John explains as I follow through with what he says
"alright, that's done" I say completing the next step
"I've got confirmation that the NYDC crew have also done their side, now activate the pump" John says
"F.A.B. Virgil activate the pump" I say
"you got it" Virgil answers taking out a remote from his uniforms belt and pressing a button on it before the pump comes to life " pumping the fuel now" Virgil says
"The NYDC are doing the same" John confirms
"how long will this take?" I ask
"we're only draining what is in the pipes, once enough is cleared the emergency shut off should take effect" John explains
"emergency shut off?" I ask
"I looked over the blueprints and found out there's an emergency fail safe in the event of a situation like this, if the fuel pipes were to ever rupture or there was to ever be a leak, the planes fuel tanks will lock themselves off to avoid a catastrophe from occurring" he explains
"but why didn't they lock themselves off before?" I ask
"there is fuel in the pipes, the systems that are still working that help with this type of situation can detect this fuel, and as it is deemed as not safe, it won't engage the fail safe" he explains further
"so once this is done it will happen automatically?" I question
"yes it will, that's how it was designed" John answers
"how will we know that its engaged?" I ask
Emergency Fail Safe Now Engaged
Caution Is Advised Around The Fuel Tanks
A voice announces as a red light activates above the access point
"That answer your question" John says
"yeah, yeah smart guy" I remark
"now the NYDC have said they'll take care of the Thermal Nuclear Fusion Drives so all you guys need to do is rescue the passengers" John explains
"at least one disaster was averted" I say
It Is Now Safe To Disengage Pumping Pipes
The voice announces as Virgil stops the pumps and Gordon moves towards the Thunderizer to finish cutting the debris away, I begin to detach the pipe from the plane to return it to Thunderbird 2,
"alright, thanks John" I say
" now we get back to the matter at hand" John says
"don't worry our little blonde will be safe" I say
"I know, but you can't stop me from worrying" John says
"I know, we all are, i'll call you back once we get him" I say
" alright, I'll keep an eye on things from here, Tracy Island out" John says ending the transmittion as I get back to work, we still had people to save so we couldn't afford to relax just yet, not until we knew that Alan was fine and that the people were ok.
TO BE CONTINUED...
YOU ARE READING
Thunderbirds: A Hood Over The World
ActionAn accident involving Alan, similar accidents of the same nature and the escape of the Hood from Ultra - Security Prison leads to an event that could end in utter disaster.
