Setting up an enhanced microscope was the only way to further analyse the remaining water droplets. The Huntress noticed that pride in her work didn't really exist when she was looking for serious answers. Another new quirk about herself she'd have to get used to.
Once upon a time, she would subconsciously take pride in every single thing she did, even if it was actually the wrong thing. A very wrong thing.
Gray had found a break room and made tea for himself and Cassie, not forgetting the biscuits. Huntress actually tried some herself and really enjoyed the ones called Monte Carlo. Very tasty to her new palate.
Cassie was now back to normal. Gray did his best to explain the situation in a simple, human manner and it must have worked. He even managed to convince Cassie to unlock the cupboards and allow them access to all of the equipment.
As for his suit, he decided to forgo the tie and the jacket. A few buttons on his white shirt were undone around his neck and he scuffed up his thick hair till its natural upper spiking returned. He felt more comfortable now, in this appearance at least.
'Hey Gray, you got a moment?' Huntress asked from her seat at the microscope. Gray put his tea down and walked over, grabbing a stool on the way.
'You know I don't understand Mars DNA right?'
Huntress once again sighed and shuffled her stool aside. 'For one, there are many planets which have alien life. Secondly, this should be simple for a doctor like you. Have a look at that.'
Gray nervously looked into the microscope and changed the vision. He was frozen for a good five seconds before lifting his head. 'There's blood. There are bloody blood cells in that water. Very small ones at that.'
'Exactly. Micro red blood cells buried in the water. They're so small and so different from normal cells that the sonic couldn't register their existence with a clear identification. Hypothetically, they've been manipulated to react differently with received oxygen and is used to allow the droplets to live as an organic entity. In the galaxy, there have been experimentations with a little thing called blood control. This is certainly a new development in its research. Using the blood to control a new-born entity from a different location. If it weren't so immoral, I'd be impressed.'
'But, if it's blood control, wouldn't they need identical blood to link the two? You know, biological link? Kind of like DNA and genetics?'
Huntress turned her head away and flipped the light switch on the microscope. That told Gray that he was correct.
He straightened up his posture and looked around at Cassie, sat in silence and staring out of the window.
The Huntress stood up and fixed her skirt. 'Oh, this damned skirt. How do people wear these? I knew I should've stuck to pants. How do you get more efficient than pants?'
Before Gray could answer, Will charged through the open sliding door and ran into one of the tables, absolutely out of breath and exhausted. Huntress and Gray rushed to his side and helped him up. Cassie stood from her stool and only watched.
'Will! Hey. Hey, whoa calm down. Sit him down' Huntress said as she and Gray made him sit down on the closest stool.
He was quick to grab the Huntress by the shoulders and make sure her attention was directly on him. Since Kate was taken, the panic within him had been rising ever since.
'Kate's gone. This woman took her, just dragged her away with her mind!'
Huntress couldn't summon a response. This situation just got far worse and a connection between the kidnapping and the water was now even more unclear.
'What happened? Where was she taken? Better yet, who took her?'
'Was it a big blob of water?' Gray added.
'No. Wha, no. It was a woman. No emotions except for when she was doing something cruel. A normal, human woman with telekinesis. We ran away from her in the archives room and got to the first floor not far from here by elevator. We were so close, but the woman managed to drag Kate into the elevator and escape. The elevator went crazy after that, no idea where it went.'
Gray started pacing around the room while pushing the hair on his head back continuously. Will had let go of Huntress' shoulders and let her walk away. She was furiously thinking. Cassie however had a peaked interest. 'Um, what did she look like? The woman, I mean.'
'Uh, middle aged. Long red hair. Well, auburn I guess. She actually had a lab coat like yours on.'
Cassie strode across to Will and leaned in close to his face. 'Nametag. Did she have a nametag!'
Will staggered and thought hard. The Huntress only watched them and rubbed her chin with her right hand whilst that arm rested on her crossed left arm. Will's head turned in many directions while thinking, but immediately shot up once he figured it out. 'Weller! The nametag on her chest said Weller! At least I think that's what it said.'
Everyone in the room looked at Will now. They all knew too well who Weller was, but it didn't make sense. The picture was still incomplete.
Seeing everyone's surprised reaction, Will grew nervous. Cassie was so shocked that she hurried back to her resting cup of tea and sculled it in one go.
'What? You know who she is already? How is that possible?' he asked curiously.
Huntress looked at Gray and moved her head in Cassie's direction. Gray nodded and walked over to make sure she hadn't fallen into what they called Hibernation Mode. The Huntress then walked back to Will and sat on a stool near his at the table. She looked down and placed her hands together.
'Will. This lab belonged to Weller. Over there in that room is her office. She disappeared this morning and hasn't been seen or heard since. Her computer was hacked by a strange-engineered entity. After that, it tried to drown Gray. Someone, or maybe something, was watching and controlling it from somewhere else. Best guess is that someone has taken Weller and is currently using her body.'
'What about that blonde woman? How do you know she isn't an alien?'
'I scanned her multiple times. She's in the clear.'
'You say that as if you know what we're dealing with.'
'I have a few ideas. Do you by any chance have the documents on the Discovery?'
In response, Will lowered his head into his hands and leant against the table. 'They were in Kate's bag. Both are gone now.'
Huntress gave a silence sigh and gently touched Will's arm. 'Hey. If I'm right, and I have got a good track record, they're not going to hurt her. They started interfering when I came along and Gray didn't jump into the Thames.'
Will raised his head and nodded. The Huntress noticed his eyes had started welling with tears. His suffered trauma. Lost someone dear to him. It couldn't be any clearer. You poor man, she thought. He turned to his right and looked right at Huntress.
'So she'll be safe?' he quietly asked.
'Right now, she's either bait or insurance. Besides, this isn't the first time Kate's dealt with aliens. If anyone, she'll be the one to get out unscathed.'
By now, Gray had convinced Cassie to join the others. 'So what do we do then? We ain't got anything now. Kate's been kidnapped, Weller's a puppet and our documents may as well be my grade nine homework. Eaten by a pug.'
With a flicker in her green eyes and a spark of determination, the Huntress stood and made her way over to the altered microscope. She pulled the sonic from her blazer and used it on the petri dish with the droplets within. They started bubbling, then boiling, then evaporated into nothing.
Shortly after, she used her sonic to ruin the microscope. 'Can't have you guys finding those advancements this early in time' she commented quietly to herself.
After tucking her sonic back into the blazer, she turned around to Will, Gray and Cassie and to their surprise, was smiling.
'Right gang, looks like we're doing this the hard way. Will, you looked at those documents beforehand like I asked right?'
'Yeah. I mean, yes I did' came Will's staggered response.
Huntress clapped her hands and started walking to the door. 'Perfect. There's no point checking that elevator, its guaranteed to be a dead end. If anything, these people are clever enough to cover the tracks they want covered. Since those documents were taken from us along with Kate, we are certainly on the right track. Since the one thing we have to go on is that ship, that's what we're going to focus on. Get yourselves together boys, were going to pay a visit to the manufacturers. Cassie, your invited. The more the merrier. Chop-chop, let's move.'
With that, Huntress was out and gone. Gray's mouth was gaping in shock and Cassie's face was beyond puzzled. Will meanwhile started smiling greatly. 'That's more like it' he said as he stood and started following her.
Gray started following Will until he stopped and looked back at Cassie. 'You comin' or what?' he asked.
Cassie staggered and crossed her arms in refusal. She turned her head away from Gray in a flash. 'No! No way am I going with that crazy woman. That Jones woman is nuts! All of you are!'
Gray shrugged. 'Suit yourself. Oh and by the way, her names not Jones. It's the Huntress and she's the only person who can save us, Kate and your boss. Laters. Guys, wait up!'
Gray hurried to catch up with Will and the Huntress. Cassie's eyes moved to the door, then away, then once again to the door and then she simply looks up at the ceiling and sighs. 'Oh, damn it all. Don't leave me behind! Hey, Gray!'
* * *
Out in the Atlantic Ocean, an armoured ship charged towards London. Algae covered, seaweed draped everywhere. Dead fish across the upper deck. The strange ice covering the many holes and tears in the hull, glistening in the sun with no indication of melting at all. If anything, the ice was hardening.
Ahead of it was a small craft. A fancy yacht bearing the name Sunset Malory. One man is sunbaking at the front of the vessel with women in bikinis at the back of the vessel at the bar. Only the captain is within the bridge and no one is below. Roughly six people in total.
The large military ship halts. The original guns had been altered and now glowed an eerie green. All of the missile launchers started prepping and aiming at the yacht.
Aboard the yacht, the captain finally noticed the ship ahead of them in the distance. He looked over at the radar and to his surprise, nothing was showing. He tapped it furiously but nothing changed. With nothing else to do, he rushed out of the bridge towards the boat's owner. The sunbaking man.
The captain leaned down to address the man. 'Mr Ginsburg. Um, sir?'
The man sighs and lifts his sunglasses to look at the captain. 'What the hell do you want? Didn't I say to just leave us here until 5?'
'But sir, we have to go. A vessel is nearby.'
Ginsburg bursts into laughter. 'We're in international waters, you dumb geezer. Who cares?'
'Sir, this ship isn't showing up on radar. It's not right. It looks like a military vessel. Sir, there eyeballing us. They may be rogue.'
Ginsburg rolls his eyes and stands from his bench. On the nearby table is a case with binoculars in them, mainly used to find divers when they resurface. Ginsburg grabs them and looks directly ahead of them at the black blur.
As he does so, he is stunned. From their current position, he can see the ruined state of the ship, blurry white blobs which was the ice and the eerie green glowing weapons systems. All of the upper turrets are aimed at the yacht.
'Move us. Get us out of here! Now!' he shouts.
The captain stumbles away towards the bridge and Ginsburg hurries to the back of the ship. He starts grabbing the girls and forcing them below deck.
As soon at they started panicking, the military vessel fires two missiles. These weapons were also altered and glowing green. Their speed was almost twice that of a normal missile. In seconds, they obliterated the yacht. Only small fragments remained. The six bodies which were on-board would be ash now. The remaining wreckage above the sea was rampant with flames.
As soon as the smoke cleared and it was evidently clear that the yacht was gone, the ship continued on its way. It ploughed through the wreckage with no cares. With the wreckage causing the ship to rock, it knocked some seaweed and algae loose from the hull. This included the name tag. HMS Fortress.