Getting Carried Away

JC rolled with her duck and reached for her pistol, remembering belatedly that her pistol was with her sash and her sash was back on Thunderbird Two. Her attacker slashed down with a flat piece of wood, brightly painted, holding it as if it were a baseball bat.

A cricket bat? What the hell is a cricket bat doing in Fiji? JC pondered briefly as she ducked again, the flat paddle swishing over her head.

"Who are you and why are you attacking me?" she shouted, backpedaling. "I'm here to help!" Out of the corner of her eye she could see the six scientists huddled together just watching the action. No help from that quarter. But, if I can lure this guy further in...

She took a good look at her attacker. He looked Polynesian, with dark, frizzled hair and thick brows but something about him seemed familiar. JC had no time to ponder more than that as he pressed on with his assault. She said nothing as she fell back some more, her hands questing for a weapon, staying out of range of the bat's swing. Finally, she gauged he was far enough into the room, and past those she'd come to rescue.

"Run for it! The rescue capsule is out in the courtyard! Go! Go! Go!" she shouted to the small knot of people.

Her voice cracked across the room and the shocked group finally sprang into life, running for the door, helping one of their number along. Within seconds they were gone, but that tiny bit of time, that tiny distraction of JC's focus, allowed her attacker to get closer and to swing the bat dangerously close to the IR operative's head. JC's WASP training kicked in automatically and without a conscious thought she raised a forearm to swat it away. She began to try and circle back around, to get out of the confined area she had willingly backed herself into. She dropped to the right; the batter seemed to be a right-handed one and all of the attacks were coming from her left. The wood whistled over her head, and as her assailant drew the bat back, she ducked to her left and under it, sprinting for the door.

But as she did, the attacker swung around full circle, his weapon gaining speed and power and catching JC high on the right shoulder. She stumbled, clutching at her numbed arm, and fell to the floor, her own momentum causing her to slide some feet before coming to a stop. Her enemy approached slowly, grinning, bat held high, when suddenly there was a rat-a- tat-tat of Gatling gun fire that took out the windows. The sound of powerful VTOL engines shook the structure as the silver form of Thunderbird One appeared through the ruined blinds.

Sally's angry voice reverberated through her exterior speakers.

"Put down your weapon and back off, creep! I've got you in my sights!" The thermal imaging technology that allowed International Rescue to find victims was also incorporated into the weapons targeting scanners, and Sally could clearly "see" the two figures inside the room by their heat signatures.

Her assailant dropped the bat. He must know that Sally isn't lying, JC thought as she looked up at him. But how? Suddenly, the man's eyes focused on hers and open wide, glowing with an eerie yellow aura. JC gasped, and scrunched her eyes tight against it.

"Oh, no! Not you again!" she shouted. Picking herself up with an effort, she groped blindly for the exit, letting her useless arm hang down. She could hear the crunch of the man's footsteps as he came across the glass-strewn floor after her. At the last possible second, JC whipped open the door and was through. She opened her eyes and scrambled down the stairs. Thunderbird Two was nowhere to be seen, but Thunderbird One was there, a rope ladder lowered. JC ran for it, the sounds of her pursuer spurring her on despite the pain in her shoulder. Sally began to lift upwards and swing the tail of the rocket plane back towards the building, bringing the strong downward draft of her main VTOL engine to bear on JC's attacker and knocking him to the ground.

Dammit, Sally, why can't you stay still! JC thought to herself as Sally's maneuver moved the ladder out of her ready grasp. But a few steps more, a leap into the air, and JC had caught the ladder with her left hand. She quickly wrapped her left leg through the rungs and then shouted into her telecomm, "Get the hell outta here!"

Slowly, or at least slowly for her, Sally turned her ship towards the city. JC looked down to see her enemy get off the ground and shake an impotent fist at her. Then she closed her eyes and hung on for dear life.

"Get up here!" Sally's voice ordered over the telecomm.

"I can't. My arm... he may have broken it," JC called back, the first note of pain creeping into her tone.

Damn! Sally thought. Now I can't go high enough to avoid the thermals or the heat! Not if I want to keep JC at a level where she could survive a fall.

She radioed down to her sister. "Okay, JC. Just hold on tight and... uh... hang in there. I'll get you to help as quickly as I dare."

"O-Okay, Sally," JC said, wrapping her other leg firmly around the ladder's rungs.

Sally grimly picked up speed, causing the ladder to billow out slightly. The winch it was on wasn't strong enough to pull up more than the weight of the ladder itself, or Sally would have winched her sister up into her craft. Need to talk to Dad about that, Sally thought. This situation could happen again.

JC gritted her teeth as they went over the lava. She felt the heat rising from the molten rock on her face and now wished she had put on the protective hood. She breathed shallowly, ducking her mouth and nose into her suit, knowing that the air around her was hot, too hot and too full of various chemical fumes to be breathed in safely. Thunderbird One shuddered briefly as the thermal currents created turbulence in the sky around the ship and tried to push it upwards. But Sally was a skilled pilot; she knew just how fast she could go to minimize the thermals' action and still keep JC safe on the ladder below her. It seemed like an eternity, but it was mere moments before they were clear of the lava and it's affects on the atmosphere.

"You still with me, JC?" Sally asked worriedly.

"Y-Yeah. I'm still here."

"I'm taking you directly to the hospital so that they can take a look at that arm."

"N-No, Sal. I see Thunderbird Two parked up ahead. Take me there instead and let Christa take me home. Brains can deal with whatever injuries I have. And if not, then I'll let Daddy take me to the hospital."

Sally frowned. JC hated hospitals, a remnant of her four months spent in one after the hydrofoil crash that nearly claimed her life. But Sally felt obligated to take care of her younger sister and make sure she was all right. It had been ingrained in her during her formative years as she had helped her father raise her sisters after their mother's untimely death.

This time, however, the decision was taken out of her hands as a deep voice cut in.

"Base to Thunderbird One."

"Thunderbird One here."

"Bring Jerrie home. We'll deal with her here."

"F-A-B, base."

Christa sat at Mobile Control, waiting tensely for Sally's arrival. She used the binoculars to watch Thunderbird One's progress and gasped to see JC hanging on the rope ladder. She immediately radioed her sister.

"Mobile Control to Thunderbird One."

"Thunderbird One here, go ahead."

"Sally, can't you get JC up into your 'Bird?"

"No, Chris. The winch won't take her weight and she can't climb. Her arm is hurt. You'd better be ready to catch her when we arrive at your position. What's the status on the victims?"

"One was transported to a hospital for medical treatment. Seems she tried to tangle with whoever was lying in wait for JC. The others have been whisked away by the police for debriefing." Thunderbird One was getting closer; Christa could hear the whine of the engines as it approached. "I'll have to go over the winch mechanism for damage; the rescue capsule wasn't made to carry six."

"F-A-B. Base says that we need to bring JC home. We'll deal with her injuries there."

"F-A-B. Thunderbird Five, did you get all that?"

"F-A-B, Mobile Control," Mae sounded more subdued than she had when the rescue began. That's just the way we are, Christa realized. When one hurts, we all hurt.

Thunderbird One was now almost directly overhead. The bystanders who were watching backed off from the loud VTOLs and the wind they kicked up, but Christa stood firm for a moment then ran towards the silver rocket and the ladder that was slowly being lowered to the ground. She reached JC just as the part of the ladder to which the aquanaut clung touched down. Sliding her arms around her larger sister, she spoke into JC's ear.

"You can let go now. You're down. You're safe."

JC untangled her right leg from the ladder's rungs and put it firmly on the ground. Then she put down the left leg. But as soon as she let go with her hand, her knees buckled and she fell backwards. Christa grunted, but held on tight as JC's weight shifted towards her.

"I've got you."

Carefully she lowered herself to the ground, still clutching JC's chest, until she sat on her butt, propping her sister up with her own body. She spoke into her telecomm.

"Thunderbird One, I have her. You'd better set down and give me a hand here. She's too wrung out to walk on her own."

"F-A-B," was Sally's terse answer. She lifted Thunderbird One back into the sky, causing a mini-whirlwind of dirt and debris to sweep about her sisters. The ladder retracted into the hatch, stopping at just the right length for Sally to use as she put her craft down, light as a feather, some distance away. She hopped out, using first few rungs then jumping down the rest of the way from the belly of the rocket plane. Sprinting across the uneven dirt, she joined Christa and JC as the latter rested, her eyes closed, against the chest and shoulder of her much smaller sister.

Sally crouched down and gently touched JC on the cheek.

"You still with us, JC?"

The aquanaut smiled wearily. "Yeah. You're still stuck with me, Sal."

Sally looked up at Christa then down at JC, and smiled. "Yeah, I am. But that's okay. I've gotten used to you." She reached down to put an arm around JC's back and shoulders, sliding her sister's good arm around her own neck. "Let's get you up off of Christa here and into the sickbay on Thunderbird Two for the trip home." Christa did her part by pushing up on her sister's back.

JC looked at Sally in surprise. "No hospital?"

"No hospital. Base's orders," Sally said, not able to quite keep the sourness from her voice. She would follow their father's orders, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"Thanks, Sal," JC said gratefully as she stood, talking wobbly steps that became steadier as they made their way to the green cargo carrier.

"Any idea who attacked you?" Christa asked as she supported JC on the opposite side, taking care to hold the injured arm in a relatively comfortable position.

"I didn't know at first, but when Sally arrived, and he put down the cricket bat he was using, he tried using his eyes on me."

"So, it was the guy with the weird yellow eyes?"

"Yeah. Him." JC turned to Sally. "How'd you know I was in trouble?

"Besides the fact that the victims came running out of the building like the devil himself was chasing them?" Christa asked wryly.

"Yeah."

"Mae." Sally explained as they entered the pod. Christa let go of her sister to unlock the keypad that would bring the main body of Thunderbird Two down over the garage-type structure. The Firefly and the Fire Tender both stood within, unused.

"You didn't cut off communications with her after you told her to relay instructions to the vulcanologists. She heard you shout."

"Oh!"

JC groaned as they entered the lift that would take them up to the command level. It was cramped with the three of them in there, but neither Christa nor Sally would give place to the other in supporting their sister. The lift rose and turned as it did so that they were facing in the opposite direction when they reached the command deck level. The two older women walked JC over to the small sickbay and sat her down on a bunk. Christa looked up at Sally.

"You'd better pack up Mobile Control. I can take this from here."

"Let me help you get her heat suit off and then I'll go."

"Okay."

The two women worked together to divest their sister of the heat suit and her uniform top as well. Sally gasped, a hissing intake of breath, as she saw JC's badly bruised shoulder.

"I think it's dislocated, JC," Christa said sympathetically. "We'll have to let Brains put it back in its socket." She prepared a hypospray of anesthetic and shot it into her sister's shoulder before she could protest. Then she began to bind the shoulder and arm tightly to JC's chest so it wouldn't move any more.

"I'm going now. See you back at base," Sally said as she prepared to leave. JC shot her a small salute and a wan smile.

"Thanks for pulling my fat out of the fire."

"Hey, what are sisters for?" Sally returned the salute and the smile and was gone.

"Lay back now and let me strap you in," Christa ordered softly, guiding JC back onto the bunk.

"Aww, can't I come up front and watch you fly this thing again?" JC quipped.

"No," Christa replied in a no-nonsense tone.

"Phooey. You're no fun," JC grumbled, putting on a mock pout.

"You must be feeling better if you're joking around with me," Christa commented as she finished strapping JC into the safely straps.

"Nah. Just trying to bring some levity to what could have been a dire situation," JC said. She yawned, then looked at Christa with suspicion. "Hey, you didn't put a sedative in that hypospray, did you?"

Christa smiled. "Why yes, I did. Figured it would be easier on Brains if you were already out when your shoulder was fixed."

"No fair!" JC groused. She yawned again. Christa just laughed and left her sister where she was, knowing she was safe.

When Christa was gone, JC moved her telecomm up to her face. "JC to Thunderbird Five, come in, Mae."

"Thunderbird Five here. How're you doing. JC?" Mae's smooth forehead was creased with worry.

"I'm going to be okay, Mae," JC assured her. She yawned again, widely. "Thanks for hearing me when I yelled and telling Sal. I owe you one."

"You're welcome," Mae's face smoothed out and she smiled her beautiful smile. She shook a finger at her sister. "Don't you think that I won't forget you owe me."

"Never." JC knew Mae wouldn't; her blonde sister was unafraid to call in favors when she needed to. She yawned once more.

"Christa pulled a fast one on me and put a sedative in my pain-killer, so I'll probably conk out any minute. I just wanted to say thanks. That's all."

"Well, then. Close your eyes and go to sleep. I'll talk to you later and see you soon."

"Right, Mae."

"Sweet dreams, JC."

Mae's picture winked out but JC didn't notice. She was already asleep.