After a high-speed journey which would result in quite a speeding fine for Kate and her vehicle, the Huntress found herself exactly where she needed to be. The Naval Scientific Research Centre, again.
Thank god I learnt how to drive these things before coming here.
She quickly abandoned the car at the curb and ran up the main stairs. She burst through the doors and the receptionist Larissa was already waiting for her, heat ray gun in hand.
'Well that's predictable' Huntress commented.
Larissa fired her first shot and the Huntress let herself fall and slide along the vinyl floor underneath the rippling shot. Larissa jumped back, staggered that she'd missed. The Huntress took the opportunity to grab the gun off of her and land a strange pinch on the back of her neck. Her fingers twisted in quite an uncomfortable looking position.
In the matter of a second, Larissa fell unconscious while the Huntress waved her hand in pain. Straightened her posture after standing, she looked down at Larissa and shook her head.
'Forgot how much I hate doing that move!' she shouted.
She threw the heat ray gun away and knelt down to Larissa. 'Sorry' she quietly said as she repositioned her body into a comfortable laying position on the ground.
'You should wake up in an hour. That's all I need. Hopefully you can have your body back before then as well'.
Knowing that time was not on her side, she continued moving forward. She directed herself to an elevator in the eastern wing. Luckily, no more guards were waiting for her in between reception and the elevator.
Looks like the admiral wants me to find him after all.
She entered the silver-plated elevator and looked at the level options. It went from 6 to B. The Huntress bit her lip as she looked at the B button. Eventually she smiled and shook her head with a chuckle.
'Now we both know that's not true' she thought aloud.
She pulled her sonic from her pocket and let the purple light drown the 6 button.
With a massive and violent jolt, the elevator started to fall downward with the Huntress being thrown around inside.
'Only counted five floors. Woah!' she exclaimed as her and the elevator fell for what felt like forever. She was forced face-first onto the ground when it finally stopped at the bottom.
The doors opened with a ding and a voice came over the elevator speaker. 'Thames floor' it said.
The Huntress groaned as she pushed herself up with her arms and looked at the elevator buttons. 'Then put it on the damn button. Honestly, there's predictable and then there's stupid' she said back to it, already knowing full well that it wouldn't answer her.
With wobbly legs, she confidently got out into the pitch black, ankle-deep mud tunnel.
'Have a good death, time lord' came the elevator voice as the doors shut.
'I'm sorry what?' she answered before the doors shut and she was plunged into pure darkness.
With an unusual buzz, she held the sonic screwdriver in the air like a fire-lit torch and made the purple end very bright and illuminating.
'I said that these would be brilliant torches but would anyone listen, no. "There for sonicing, not seeing!" Ha, now who has the last laugh. Me!' she rambled cheerfully to herself as she observed the tunnel around her, trying to keep herself in high spirits.
Out of nowhere, she felt something slimy drop down onto her blazer. It was thick, gloopy and white. Not nice smelling at all either.
She knew she didn't want to look up, but she had to confirm her suspicions. As she held her head back and looked, she held back her urge to tear up, feel sick or grow incredibly angry. She had to use all of her brainpower to become emotionless for the sake of her mentality.
On the tunnels roof were cocoons. They were made out of some weird fabric in between silk and twine like spiders made. The Huntress knew exactly what they were. Asperathine. A cloth which would take a corpse and make it deteriorate at an exceptionally quick rate. Probably left behind by some other alien race which tried to attack earth through London long ago.
Looking at the endless line of cocoons, she knew that amongst them were the missing people. She never thought there could be so many. All of those innocent people used a guinea pigs or for their labour in these tunnels then killed and hoisted up there to hang for eternity. No, it was linked to the disappearances alone, no previous incidents. Their fate was unfathomable, yet sure.
To make things even nauseating, that gloopy substance came from them. What was left of their flesh seeping through and dripping down into the mud. It was the grossest thing the Huntress had ever encountered before and she used a hired killer. Even she thought this method of killing was immoral when she was her old self.
Holding her breath and trying her best to clear her mind and ignore what was above her, she ventured forward, moving through the mud down the damp and pitch-black corridor. She had to find that control hub. It was the only way she could save Will and Gray, not to mention the planet.
* * *
Gray was getting really panic-stricken. He'd done everything he could to disassemble the helm and disable the steering mechanism but much to his dismay, it went beyond his knowledge. The Sea Devils had wired much of their operational technology into the ship and that was the one thing Gray didn't dare temper with.
'Bloody hell! Stupid blue stuff!' he shouted in frustration.
He sat on the ground looking at where he was working, surrounded by wires, tools and metal pieces from inside the consoles. All of that work equalling to nothing. He couldn't stop it with ordinary technical means.
'Right!' Gray exclaimed while jumping to his feet. He looked directly out the window and was not prepared for the horror before him.
The Salvation was ready to join the main point of the Thames river leading through London. In the distance he could somehow hear screaming. People panicking around the ship. Mainly to his lefthand side.
Gray darted out of the bridge to the portside and went through an open door to the outside, not even thinking of the consequences. As he hung his body over the railing and looked at the river to his left, his worst nightmare came to life.
It was Discovery.
The Discovery was sailing down the river, ready to start its travel through the Thames. Behind it was another ship. He couldn't make out the name but was already distracted by its exterior. Repaired by blue ice, dead fish and seaweed littering the whole ship, glowing green veins and alien technology attached.
On the front of the Discovery was a massive, circular device. Kind of like a big transmitter. On the top and back were buffed up turrets, as it was with the other ship.
'That's not good' he observed.
This led him to hurry back inside of the Salvation. His goal had become much more pressing now. He had to stop that ship. Even if he did, there would still be two other warships to halt.
He looked at every console in the room frantically.
What do I do? What do I do? Please, what do I do!?
'Stay calm. We can do this...' came a strange voice.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gray saw a watery figure. He could hear the water running from his body and dripping down onto the floor non-stop. He looked like a young lad with a naval uniform. Innocent, but the water coming from his nose and ears made him a very spine-chilling sight.
Gray yelped and dropped onto the floor, shuffling himself backwards. It was only then that he noticed Weller's body by the figures feet. He became paralysed in fear. Completely terrified.
The ghostly man looked apologetic and worried. 'She died after you were unconscious. You just didn't notice. I am very sorry, mate' he slurred to Gray with his words not matching his mouths movements.
'Wha... What? You mean that it's been here that whole time! Whose body is it?'
The ghost looked down slowly with his facial water dripping onto the sheet at Weller's right leg.
'A woman possessed by a Sea Devil hybrid. Your friend shot her' he sadly replied.
Gray shook his head in disbelief with tears welling in his eyes. 'No. No, your lying! She would never! She wouldn't kill her!' he argued passionately while sitting his body upright.
'No. Not the time lord. The human bloke'
Gray froze his body again. Somehow, this made less sense to him. He couldn't figure out how to respond.
Will? Will did this... that to the Weller chick? He killed her? Is that why the Huntress was so mad? Why she treated him so diff'rent? That, but it, makes sense. Oh no. What'd you do, Will? Why'd you have to do it?
The figure looked out of the window. The Discovery sailed past as the Salvation shoved itself into movement, taking a position between the Discovery and Fortress.
'I don't have time. You need to stop this ship' the figure urged, starting to turn into water again, but this time slowly.
'I tried! I don't know how! I need ideas!' Gray rebutted.
The figure was now half gone but smiled at him. 'Trust Teddy, mate. Think of the pirates when they go into battle. Ah, so cool...'
He disappeared with a massive splash, leaving a puddle of water behind which was already turning into steam.
Gray carefully stood up and pondered over Teddy's words.
Pirates? In battle? Cool? Damn, what do they do? Do I really have ta remember Pirates of the Caribbean now?
Needing ideas or inspiration, Gray ran to the window above the helm and looked out at the bow. Nothing seemed to help until something caught his eye.
'Stop one, it stops the other. Stop the Salvation and the back ship stops. We just have to stop!' he shouted in glee.
Gray had a plan even though it wasn't clear. He had a plan and was sure that he could get this busted ship to stop.
* * *
Down in the weapons bay, Will was getting more and more frustrated. There was physically no way to disarm the missiles let alone get to them inside those tubes. Even if he could, it would be too hot to get near the clamps or the missile.
He had one job and he couldn't even do that. The only hope he had left was to get the ship far away or shut it down. He had to help Gray.
Will hadn't noticed the ship stop earlier but he certainly noticed the ship take off again. He was forced backwards again and onto the floor.
'What the hell? What now?' he complained in bewilderment.
He scurried to his feet and hurried out of the room towards the stairs.
I've got to get upstairs. Back to the bridge. If I keep going up, I can get outside and run around that way.
The stairs were slippery and multiple times he nearly fell but didn't care. The smell was starting to get worse and worse as time went by, almost rotten.
By going straight up, Will ended up at the back end of the ship. He sighed heavily as he emerged outside. 'Ah, damn' he sighed.
As he raised his head and looked past the back end of the ship, he finally noticed the Fortress. His foot slipped involuntarily and he nearly fell again. He couldn't believe it. Had he been down there that long?
'Gotta move' he commented aloud.
He turned to start running back towards the bridge but immediately slipped again on water and fell backwards. He hit his head hard on the deck and groaned as the sky tripled and spun for a moment. Before he could shout in anger, he focused his eyes onto where he slipped and noticed a pair of bland boots by his feet, dripping with water.
Nerves began to shudder and he finally realised his pants legs were being drenched with water and he could finally hear the water falling from their body as well as their laboured breathing.
He finally gathered the courage to look up at the person themselves. It was a woman. Naval uniform, gentle face yet a stern expression, not to mention a militaristic stance.
Once their eyes met, she began to smile down at him. Will didn't know whether to be scared or comforted. Luckily, she made the answer clear for him.
She spun around, closed her eyes and began to focus. It looked like it hurt, like whatever she was doing was causing herself a lot of pain. Her right arm was thrown outwards towards the back of the Salvation, in the Fortress' direction.
As Will rotated to look at where she was pointing and he couldn't believe what he was witnessing. After all he had seen and done today, this was the most incredible.
He saw water rise in clumps from the ocean between the Salvation and Fortress and crystalise into red ice, forming a rough bridge in between the two. Of all things possible, this was so inconceivably impossible right before him.
'Go. Go, now. There's a device on board which can encase all of these ships within a bubbled shield. Once this one detonates, it will only destroy the ships. You can save London!' the ghostly woman shouted in determination and almost like she was ordering him.
'What? How would you know? How can I even trust you? Who are you?' Will questioned heavily, not willing to just jump at her order blindly.
Still struggling, the woman smiled and nodded. 'I get it. I am... was the captain of the Fortress. Margorie Atwood. I've been endlessly floating around through my ship for over twenty years now. I see what they're doing and I've waited for a chance to get my revenge on those who sank us, even if it means destroying the very ship I'm tethered too.'
'Tethered? Like, spiritually?'
Atwood groaned in pain and Will could hear the ice cracking.
'No time! I'll help however I can, but you need to go right now! Hurry!'
Will didn't waste any time. He forced his body to rise and break into a sprint. He used the rail to jump up onto the red ice but immediately stopped, realising how slippery it actually was. He could hear the ice continue to crack and Atwood struggling to stay in one piece behind him.
He used his hands to keep himself straight whilst crouch down, moving forward step by step, letting a little slip happen now and then to quicken the pace.
His mind was currently going a mile per minute. One wrong move and he'd be in the Thames with a warship headed straight for him. He had to get this right no matter what.
He managed to get three quarters of the way before disaster struck. The ice gave way. The ice connected to the Fortress was chipping away at the edges and cracking along the centre.
He could hear water starting to splat down on the salvation behind him as well as Atwood scream in could only be described as agony. Will let himself slide quickly, praying that he would make it in time.
'Run!' he heard Atwood scream before a louder splat of water hit the deck. She was gone, but Will never looked back to see it. Somehow, he just knew.
He made a quick dive for the railing. As he jumped, the red ice started disappearing from beneath him and in front of him.
He forced himself forward and made his arms stretch and reach as far as possible and to his relief, managed to grab the railing. His body hit the ship's hull hard and he grunted in discomfort. Luckily, he moved his head to the side, allowing it to miss the potential impact against the railing.
His hands were frozen and numb, but there was no way he was going to let his guard down now, or his grip. The railing was slippery and icy, so he really had to be careful when pulling his body upwards and hoisting his feet to the main floor.
He let himself lay down and pant excessively once he'd hoisted himself over the railing and fully onto the Fortress. His nerves were shot, his brain had given up and his body was covered in goosebumps from the cold and the terror.
'Never. Never doing that again' he muttered as he looked up at the sky, giving himself one pleasant moment before heading into the depths of the Fortress to find this mysterious device.