Stirring with her vision blurred and her head boiling whilst it pounded relentlessly, Kate finally regained consciousness. She was lying face down in what she assumed was mud. Stinking, freezing, squelching mud.
Wherever she was, it was beyond dark. She couldn't even see her own body. This meant she had to rely on her other senses completely.
She tried to sit up, but her muscles were sore. In flashes of pain, she remembered her constant struggle against that woman in the elevator, including the terrifying part of being dragged into the damn thing by what she could only call telekinesis or mind powers.
Her hands were bound behind her. Surprisingly, it felt like they were tied up with wire. If not wire, they were some kind of metallic strips which were bendable to strong beings. Her legs and feet surprising were unbound.
As she struggled into a sitting position, she felt the emptiness of her pockets as her damp clothes rustled and squelched in the mud. Nothing at all. Not even her gun. Then she remembered what she had with her. She sighed and moved her body as if to feel around. She felt no strap or weight of a bag on her.
'The documents. Well that's just great' she thought aloud.
Behind her, Kate heard the squelch of what she assumed was a footstep. Her head snapped around to face that direction. All she saw was darkness.
Her senses were failing her. There was no way for her to figure out where she was, except for moving. With that, she forced herself to her feet with her head growing dizzier and dizzier and readied herself to walk. She could feel droplets dripping on her from the apparently high roof. She prayed that it was just water, but the liquid seemed thicker.
Steadily, she placed one of her feet forward and took a step, her face filled with disgust as it landed in the layer of thick and gross mud.
Almost as if someone shouted in her mind, she heard a male voice shouting. 'No!'
Kate jumped in fright and lost her balance, falling again. Her whole lower body ached and twitched with pins and needles. Her head spun as she once again tried to focus. All she wanted to know now was where that voice came from. There was no direction when she heard it. It was literally cast to her mind.
Telepathic abilities too?
She changed her head direction to her right as she tried to scan the room for sounds or strange feelings such as a gust of wind or change in smell. As her head continued to turn, now to her left, the voice returned.
'Yes. Yes, that way. That's the right way, love' she heard. It sounded like an old Welshman. This was making less and less sense now.
'Who are you?' Kate shouted. 'Shhh!!!' was the response she got. Somehow, this increased her headache and strangely her eardrums tingled.
'They'll hear you! Just do as I say and you can get out. Run that way. Run that way. Run that way...' the voice ordered as it slowly drowned out to nothing, almost as if she were hearing a ghost.
As Kate tried to keep her body facing the correct way, she heard a massive splat behind her. It was as if someone had thrown a bucket of water behind her into the mud.
She desperately wanted to turn around but knew if she did she'd lose her direction. If a Welshman says that escape was in this direction, who was she to argue. She hauled herself up once again to her feet and forced herself forward.
She hated every step; she despised the smell and more than anything she wanted to see something again. With her determination to leave at a high, she ploughed on through the pure darkness of what she assumed was her prison cell.
* * *
Aboard the Salvation, the Huntress dashed through the corridors. The only place she would find her remaining friends would be the bridge, if they'd done as she instructed.
Every time she came across a locked door with a warning light flashing in the main corridor, she would sonic it open with no hesitation. Every room had been clear except for some sea water roughly ankle deep and traces of red ice inside.
So far, she hadn't been interrupted by anyone or anything. At this point, Huntress was trying to be as noticeable as possible by opening every door and making noise as she hurried to the ships bridge. The silence was beginning to annoy her.
As she climbed what she assumed would be the last set of stairs, she stopped at the crossroads and started ruffling her hair furiously. She had so many pieces, but her brain was conflicted and couldn't piece it together.
'Oh, come on head! Come on! Two ships; one missing and one docked and clearly linked. Same launch dock, same type of name, I mean come on, Discovery and Salvation? Ergh, what am I missing? Organic water using blood control in the Navy's own headquarters. One of its scientists possessed by an entity. Hacked satellites and radar black spots. Water with no current. Disappearances of people in the Thames. Alien technology.'
Her rambling ceased with a flash and her head darted up. Her sight was locked forward but she was focused solely on her thoughts. It all finally clicked. The pieces she had became linked and unwillingly, she smiled.
'Aw, well look at that. They're as clever as I am. Well, nearly.'
Huntress turned around to run again towards the bridge but immediately her feet were stopped and she couldn't move her body. Her eyes turned to a glare and her smile vanished.
'Well done, little girl. Now that took less time than I thought. I must say, I am impressed.'
Before the Huntress was Admiral Ironwood himself. He stood with a military stance, smiling down at her as she attempted to move any part of her body with no success.
'Impressed? I'm flattered. What I sir am not impressed with are the telepathic restraints. What am I going to do? Pull the hairs on your stupid beard? Oh, I'm sorry, I mean Admiral Ironwood's beard. That's whose body that is right? He is after all the man who launched the Discovery to its planned demise.'
'And he's in charge of the research facility project Monroe. I've used those humans to do the work for me. Finding the correct genetic sequence in our water is too greater a task for our forces to handle. Oh no, we have enough to do as it is.'
'Like plan an invasion on London using those ships. Discovery had so much alien tech aboard that they didn't even realise what they installed. Perfect picking. Not to mention a free warship and storage for a few hundred soldiers.'
'Ah, such thinking. I could almost say your not human. Then again, you're not. Are you?'
'Wow. What gave that away.'
Ironwood stood forward until he was face to face with the Huntress, standing right in front of her. He reached out and touched her hair. She was beyond repulsed and enraged but couldn't move a muscle.
'Pretty for an alien. Such eyes. But too dangerous to be free to roam around.'
'Can't argue with you there. Wait, no, back up. Project Monroe? What's that when its at home, hm? Why do you need to find a genetic sequence in your own weapon?'
'Primarily because it's not just ours. Unfortunately, we, as you say, slipped up. There's only enough water for one ruler and right now there is a contender.'
'Now that is funny. This planet is seventy-one percent water and you can't even control your own device which turns it into a weapon. Not just that, but your own contenders are the people you murdered on those ships. The people whose blood operates the weapon, the people that made such a wonderful mistake with alien technology that they had no clue it would end up saving their minds and keep them alive to fight back. Now for an evil plan, I call that a hilarious under-sight.'
Ironwood took a few steps backwards to distance himself from the Huntress.
'Now how about the restrains then?' she enquired with a smug smile, just to motivate him.
He waved his hands and all of the doors around them slammed shut. 'I suppose there's nowhere for you to run.'
He squinted at the Huntress and her body flopped as she regained control of her own movements. She pushed on her back and stretched, clearly relieved she could move again.
'Ah, that's the ticket! I'm the sort of girl who doesn't like restraints. However, the same thing could be said about you. All this work, and its not even the big boys doing the work. Just the lonely foot soldiers.'
Ironwood was about to step forward in retaliation but was stopped as he saw the Huntress holding something in her hand hung by her side. It was a circular device with a red light flashing on top.
'But, how?' Ironwood shouted in a confused manner as he started frisking his pockets. Huntress smiled as she observed the device.
'Funny thing about me, I've learned to overcome many things in my past. One being telepathic influences on my brainwaves. Managed to break free my right arm and went digging through your pockets. Now this, this looks interesting indeed. Important?'
'Your messing with things you shouldn't. This is your warning. Give the device back and leave this planet!'
The Huntress soured and placed the device into her own pocket. She cracked her neck and put her hands into her blazer pockets whilst taking one confident step forward.
'Oh, I'm sorry. I think your getting these roles mixed up. I'm the one giving the warnings here. Now you and your race are going to go back into your hibernation and set the clock for a few thousand years. This planet is not yours to take and I sure as hell won't let you try.'
Ironwood responded by taking his own step forward as he stared at her curiously and almost fearfully.
'How could you possibly know who we are. I've heard about someone like you, but it can't be. We checked and his not here. Who are you!'
Huntress stood forward. 'Don't worry, I'm not the Doctor. However, I would be very careful of your next move because it will only take one mistake to ensure your failure from here on in.'
Ironwood took another step. 'Who! Are! You!'
Huntress takes another step and now both are face to face again. 'Hello. I'm the Huntress. And thanks for buying me time while I recalibrate my sonic.'
As soon as the word sonic left the Huntress' lips, she pulled her sonic screwdriver from her pocket and activated it, pointing directly to the loudspeaker. It screeched a strange noise, almost like loud sonar. Huntress grimaced at the noise, but Ironwood sank to the floor with his hands clutched over his ears.
Once Ironwood hit the ground, the Huntress took her chance and started running back towards the bridge. Luckily for her, Ironwood hadn't deadlocked the door. She used her sonic to open it, run though and shut it while using the sonic to keep it shut.
'Can I go anywhere without being mistaken for the Doctor?' she thought aloud as she continued to run, looking backwards every now and then.
Back at the stairs, Ironwood grumbled as she hauled himself back to his feet. He pulled back his left sleeve to reveal his communication device and activate it. A holographic image of Weller appeared.
'Mena! Tell me those human brats are dead!' he shouted as he tried to use his telepathic abilities on the door the Huntress escaped though.
'No. Something, or someone unsealed the door. They got out' she muttered as she looked at something else wherever she was. Meanwhile, Ironwood slammed his fist against the door. He couldn't use his abilities to open it.
'The woman's a time lord! We're going code red. Find and kill those stupid boys, then do whatever it takes to stop her from interfering. I'll deal with Lethbridge-Stewart and that dumb blonde. If the hierarchy finds out about this, we're done for.'
With fear clearly put into Weller, she nods and cuts the transmission. Ironwood steps back and looks at the locked door. 'This isn't over, time lord' he promises before taking his leave down the stairs and eventually, the ship.