Even with a sense of urgency, Will couldn't help but be held back by his conscience. It was evidently clear that he was way out of his depth. A warship raised from the depths along with two others charging through the Thames river, hellbent on destroying London and eventually Earth. Never in his life would he have guessed that he would ever end up here in his lifetime.
His almost silent tiptoeing through the bowels of the ship didn't make him feel any more comfortable. It was muggy, damp, smelt incredibly disgusting and beyond all else, dark.
Red light enveloped the whole interior, flashing as the alarm sirens spun endlessly in silence.
'Nice going, Will. Jump aboard another ship with a whole different layout looking for a device you know nothing about and no clue where it is. Well done, indeed' he self-criticised to himself, allowing his voice to cut through the silence and provide some kind of comfort. Some.
As Will slowly moved along one of the longer corridors, looking at every door and even light. Everything looked exactly the same. All doors clamped shut except for the hallway.
Feeling defeated already whilst knowing that time was something he didn't have, Will slumped his shoulders and stopped moving, sighing in disappointment. What do I do? I'm lost in more ways than one now, he thought over and over.
'Well, that's not the right attitude' came a familiar female voice.
Behind him, Will could hear a familiar sound once again. Pouring water.
He turned with raised spirits to face the owner of the voice, but immediately was bewildered. Nothing. No one was behind him. He could see around him however, running water. Barely dribbles down the walls.
'Alright. Was not expecting that' he commented to himself.
'I am here, you know!' the voice shouted back in frustration.
Will turned so quick he slipped on the slimy floor and almost fell. His arms flailed and his face twisted in panic as he fought hard to regain balance. 'What in the!?' he exclaimed.
Around him, the water gently gathered on the floor to make a puddle before Will's feet. Inside, reflected a face. The face of Captain Atwood herself.
'Sorry about that. Haven't got enough strength to form a body. This is the next best thing'.
Within moments of finishing her sentence, the puddle dispersed into steam. Her voice still continued through the hallway.
'I can lead you to the weapon, but that's the best I have. My time is shorter than you think. Good luck' she continued until her voice grew rasped and echoing, fading away like a shadow to a new source of light.
Will staggered as those few minutes dashed by as quick as they came. Lead the way? She couldn't even form a body.
With no options left and tensions rising, Will decided to just double-back and look for another way below. It had to be stored further below in the ship, it must be. He forced himself forwards with haste, only to slip again and land hard onto his back.
Feeling the cold wetness on his back, he groaned. He rubbed the growing lump on his head tenderly, feeling the heat of the blood rush to it.
'Um, not that way' came the apologetic update from Captain Atwood.
Will let his body lay down will all his weight again and sighed tiredly. 'Next time, make an arrow or something, yeah?'
All of a sudden, there was a thump. Will felt the vibration throughout the back of his body. It rose ever so slightly. He even heard the water shake around him. Then again, thump. And again, and again. Heavy footprints...
Will slammed his fists on the ground and used all of his strength to push his body up whilst his mind focused on his feet, eagerly wanting to slip on the foul, slippery floor. He hastened over to one of the doors and tried to force it open. Wouldn't budge. He slid over to another, same problem.
The footsteps neared. He continued trying the doors along the path Atwood wanted him to travel, hearing the approaching footsteps grow louder behind him.
Panic rose. Will broke into a cold sweat and his hands began to quiver in fear. This darkness, the noises, everything. How did it come to this within a few days? Twenty-four hours and his life went from a simple night coming home from work to a dangerous and perilous missing who could quite easily result in not only his death but the worlds.
His eyes darted everywhere. The hallway in front, the hallway behind. Door to door. All he could hear and feel in his ears was his heartbeat. Loud, thumping harder than the footsteps, growing faster and more painful per beat.
As if a miracle had witnessed his dismay, Will's eyes landed and stayed on something different, out of the ordinary. One of the doors, roughly three ahead of him. In between the doors arch and the door itself was ice. Red ice. Forcing its way in between then, forcing the door to open. Somewhere to run to.
Fear drove his mind into automatic. He didn't feel his shaking body, his heartbeat madly or feel his feet moving anymore. He practically dove into the room, using his body weight to force the heavy door open. Once he squeezed himself through, he pushed endlessly. The door moved inch by inch, with Will constantly slipping on the algae-covered ground. Luckily, in time, the door shut with a clang. The noise made him nervous.
He took a quick glance around. The galley. He'd just locked himself in the kitchen and there was another entryway.
Rather than frantically running around to find a hiding place, Will stayed by the door with his ear resting upon it, listening closely to the now very close footsteps. Steady pace, extremely heavy, almost metal sounding.
Sitting there in the darkness with only a phone torch, dead silence except for those footsteps and the rising anticipation of a possible fight approaching. The tension was so thick, it could be cut with a knife.
Almost as if he could see through it, Will heard the footsteps halt and knew full well where they stopped. In front of the galley door. He could almost feel the door above him heat up from the enemies gaze as he could sense that they were looking at it with a suspicious eye.
Will held his breath and waited. There was nothing else he could do now, otherwise he risked detection. Almost like a background noise which would normally be drowned out in the open city, he could hear an unusual noise. Sonar. Similar to the Salvation's missile room and bridge.
Is that their language? They communicate with sound? He pondered hard to distract himself from the peril possible facing him on the other side of the door.
Beneath his kneeling leg, he felt the water move around it. It formed another small puddle on the ground, just like before.
As Captain's Atwood shadowy silhouette appeared, so did a noise. Footsteps. Moving to the right and leaving. Must be a patrol route. His continuing along the corridor.
'Correct, sir. A Sea Devil warrior on patrol. Luckily for you, his the only one. Unfortunately, he guards where the device is whenever his not patrolling hallways'.
Once again, the puddle dispersed into steam and Atwood was gone again. It really made Will wonder what was allowing them to form in the first place and what it really costs for them to even accomplish it. Maybe their fate was much worse that he could ever imagine. Worse than dead.
'So then, Captain. Where must I go?' he asked, hoping that she still had some time. Luckily, she wasn't gone yet.
'The creatures have turned our Sickbay into an armoury and storage room. It's in there for sure. I can use the alarms lights to guide you and I'll leave a mark near the device. That's all I can do now. It's my time, as I am sure you've figured out by now.'
Will's heart stopped and his breathing halted for a moment in emotional pain. He was sad, not only that, it was as if his heart was almost breaking for her.
'Why force yourself to make a body or face in a puddle if it shortened your existence here?' he asked through a now breaking voice.
Atwood chucked in a whispering echo. 'Because who wants to lose themselves?'
Will's eyes widen and his mouth slightly gaped. That certainly wasn't what he was expecting to hear.
'We're what's left, ghosts of the drowned. All we have left is our minds and our memory. Sometimes a reflection of yourself can keep you sane. You can remember what you once was. You can change your title. For just a moment, we are human again. And I must say... It means everything...'
Her voice started breaking and growing quieter with every word. She was fading away. It seemed like his theory had truth to it. Even after death, they have some sort of technology or science that give them form. But just like the living, nothing lasts forever. They're still here... because the water remembered.
With Atwood gone, Will's determination grew. All of there effort can't result in nothing now. He had to get that device before the ships reached their final destination. Before they could end London.
* * *
Back in the underground control hub, the Huntress had to keep her guard up. Things above ground were much worse than she'd anticipated. The enemy was now assured of victory, cocky and confident. Just what she needed. Confidence talks.
'Alright, so your toy boats don't have running engines, so what! It seems like you don't have full control of your moving water gambit as it is, am I right?' she prodded. Ironwood's face twitched. She knew she was on the right path.
'A mere complication, nothing more. We control what we need' he sneered back, watching the Huntress with a detailed eye. Strong enough to hold her own piercing gaze.
The Huntress laughed at him. Kate and Cassie were both taken back in surprise. She'd even started moving, pacing around to the archway leading to the room full of hibernation pods.
'Mere complication!? You've been using that research centre non-stop to find a code which can override their control! That's what the code is that your looking for, a override! Their own crew, connected to their ships as well as the main device. They are literally part of it, an unattachable component!'
Ironwood grows red with fury, his hand twitching towards the weapons rack behind him. For one reason or another, he was fighting the urge to attack. Why? He was going to kill them earlier. Perhaps her genius sparked enough intrigued to the merit to remain breathing for the moment.
'They cannot stop our attack. They WILL NOT stop them! All land-dwellers will perish and we will take back our planet! Our armies will rise with the fall of London itself!'
Huntress' body suddenly relaxed, a smile of realisation flash across her face. Ironwood staggered back a step.
'So, all these sleeping soldiers can't awaken until after the first battle. You and your fellow foot soldiers are alone until your objective is complete. If we stop you, they'll never wake up. Thank you.'
Once she finishes her summarising, she whips her sonic screwdriver out in a quick flash, already whirring in an energised burst. It's aimed at the weapons rack behind Ironwood. The whole structure comes crashing down on top of Ironwood. He groans in a struggle pain as he collapses onto the floor.
While he was immobilised, she switched the sonics' direction to the main console and dashed to it. Kate and Cassie hurried to her side. Kate drops the weapon onto the ground with no second thought as she runs.
'Right, now for those ships!' Huntress exclaims, focusing hard on the console with her sonic. Her focusing face twists into frustration as the screen lights up almost every shade a red. The sign of denial.
'Argh! Deadlocked. Can't do it. Next best thing then. Stand back!'
They all sprint away from it and Huntress uses her sonic again. The whole console implodes internally, rendering it inoperable. The Huntress grabs both Kate and Cassie with both hands and leads them into the room full of pods at full speed.
Behind them, Ironwood is gathering his strength and slowly pushing the heap of equipment off of his body. 'Damned woman! Damned psychological dampener!' he shouts in anger. The girls could hear him in the distance as they ran.
In the corner of the room was a small cabinet containing glowing, orange capsules. The Huntress chuckles and grins at the sight of them. Cassie starts panicking at the sight of them, almost trying to stop her body from running even though she would never escape the Huntress' tight grip on her left hand. Kate meanwhile observed what was ahead of her and was intrigued. She'd even forgot about all of her agony and pains that still spread right throughout her body.
They halt once they reach the cabinet. The Huntress uses her sonic to unlock it and frantically grabbed three capsules whilst fiddling around with a device she pulled from her pocket. The one she used to make a 3D image of the Fortress and Discovery. Once activated, it isolated on the Discovery's scan.
Cassie watched and out of nowhere, almost from deep down within her, she felt a furious rage rising. 'What is that going to do! We're about to die!' she spits in a raging cry.
Watching the Huntress with her trained eyes, Kate knew that everything would be ok but she had to admit that a 3D image and some small capsules were a bit far fetched for a escape plan.
Hearing the increasing roars of Ironwood approaching, Kate placed a nervous hand on the Huntress' shoulder. 'We're nearly out of time' she urged.
'Oh, Kate. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, have you forgotten one of the very principles of Time Lords in a crunch!'
The Huntress throws one of the small capsules at Cassie who barely catches it and places another in Kate's open hand and uses her own to clamp it shut. Kate stares at her shut hand, feeling the capsule within then back at the Huntress in blissful curiosity. 'And that is?' she eagerly asks.
'There's always just enough time'.
With her point made, she bathes in device in the purple light of the sonic and in a single, split moment, the three of them disappear.
Rounding the corner just too late, Ironwood witnesses them teleport using the capsules. He stands there, bewildered. 'But, how. They have no co-ordinates! Damn!'
He kicks one of the pods in anger. The moment he stops shaking his foot in pain, he looks over the pod almost as if his fearful of what his done. Fearing the rage of his overlords presumably if their plan failed.
'First, they meddle in our affairs at the lab. Then that bumbling alien inhibits our telepathic enhancements. As if that wasn't enough, they murder one of our own. Now, they have the utter nerve to rival our claim on our world from the land-dwellers! Huntress, you have just declared a war you cannot begin to fight!'