July 1st, 2021

2230 hours

It took a moment for Robyn's eyes to adjust to the nearly complete darkness. The first few feet of the hall she'd felt along the wall with her hand, blinking blindly as her vision slowly focused. There were red security lights every couple of yards, nevertheless, she fought hard to keep her breathing steady, as the cold chill seeping through her body threatened to upend her sanity.

It was deathly quiet in the corridor, and she took a few hesitant steps, glancing back at the indiscernible camera in the corner. Shepp was watching, and he had her back.

This semisweet reassurance forced her to gather enough gumption to tepidly continue. Her footsteps fell softly on the floor. She clung to the wall, as if the cold metal would keep her firmly grounded. The pounding of her heart was loud in her ears, magnified by the absolute silence of the hall.

"Turn left at the next junction." Shepp's voice crackled over the earpiece.

Robyn squinted her eyes, watching her shaking hands in the darkness, her fingers pale. She could barely see her own limbs, let alone the corridor before her. A rattling breath sucked into her lungs as she inhaled, as if she were extracting courage from the air around her. Body still wrought with nerves, she steeled them and rounded the indicated corner.

"Good." Shepp's voice was encouraging in her ear. "Go straight. You'll have to pass the cafeteria and take another right when the hall hits a dead end."

Robyn nodded, then mentally laughed for making such an idiotic gesture: Shepp couldn't see that in the dark. She had no idea how he managed to keep visualization of her, but she didn't dare ask for fear she would give away her position.

She continued, her legs trembled less and less as her courage building back up.

Soon she was nearing the small mess hall. At this hour, it seemed most of the roughnecks had retired for the evening, since they had to wake early for their shifts. Voices echoed lightly through the canteen and into the hall, causing Robyn to tense. She paused some ways off, straining to hear anything that might indicate if it was safe to pass.

She picked up snippets of conversation: there were two men, maybe three? She thought they said something about getting another round.

The unmistakable clink of bottles indicated she was correct, and she eased slowly down the far wall, crouched, hoping against hope she blended into the darkness. Her eyes trained on the doorway the entire time she slinked past the room, praying that they wouldn't be able to see her.

Several burly looking men were still there, though they had their backs to her, gazes fixed on a television screen that was playing reruns of a sporting event. Hoping the light from the television didn't illuminate her too much as she slinked past, Robyn held in an anxious breath, only letting out a sigh once she was a safe distance away.

Immediately in front of her was the next turn. She took it and frowned. Shuffling noises issued somewhere in front of her, and through the dimness, as she crept forward, the outline of a body emerged from the shadows.

Her muscles froze on instinct, splaying her to the wall like a swatted insect. Her breath suddenly seemed loud to her, an obscene rasping that would surely give her away.

The figure seemed to not notice: the person was busy cursing lowly under their breath as they fiddled with the smooth siding of the corridor. Their hands fumbled, then grasped at the corners of an unseen object. The silhouette pulled on the section of wall, revealing a hidden panel. Faint light from a keypad illuminated the person's face: the doctor.

Robyn held a bated breath as Urskin punched in a code, though it was far to dark to make it out. The panel shrunk back into the wall, emitting a beep, and the whole panel swung inward, leaving a space just large enough for a man to enter.

Robyn gasped, then bit her lip: the doctor paused and glanced around, eyes darting around suspiciously. After what seemed an eternity, he shrugged and shook his head before ambling into the secret compartment. Robyn released a tense rush of air, heart pounding with realization that she would either have to sneak in behind him quickly, or somehow find out the key code to open the door.

There wasn't time to think. Without hesitation, she lunged forward on sure legs and squeezed through the small opening, just in time to hear it emit a muffled clunk as it shut.

When her eyes adjusted to the new space, she didn't know what to think. She was on some sort of control platform: there were machines and computers everywhere, humming lowly as they processed information. A sickly green light bathed the entire room with an ethereal glow. It was cramped, yet for some reason she couldn't see the doctor anymore. She hunched down where she stood, using one of the large computer stations for cover.

"Where are you?" A voice hissed in her ear, sending her jumping in surprise. She'd forgotten about the two-way.

"Shhh." Robyn chanced, eyes darting side to side, unnerved that the doctor disappeared from her sight.

"You went through the damn wall." Shepp continued, voice strained. "I lost visual of you. Are you alright?"

Robyn tapped twice on the earpiece to indicate she was. Shepp must have understood, because a low, relieved sigh met her alert ears.

"Good. When you can talk, tell me where you are."

Robyn tapped the piece again and peeked around the side of the terminal, surveying the surroundings beyond the computers. The room wasn't very large, but was very cramped. The temperature reached at least ninety degrees, adding to the claustrophobic effect of the uncomfortably eerie space. The warmth was welcome to her thawing limbs.

Beyond a row of clanking machinery, to the right of the platform, flashed a white coat. Robyn leaned forward from the shadows; vision impaired slightly from the odd color of the light. There was a makeshift lab of some sort set up behind the machines, and she recognized several of the apparatuses, having used them many times in her own profession. Frowning, she wondered what Urskin would need them for.

"They're fine," Urskin spoke, again causing her to jump as he emerged between the machines "they're locked up tight." He grumbled into the receiver of his phone, presumably speaking to Ellis. She could see his outline moving behind the piping, and she held her covered position, in case he was coming back.

"Fine. I'll meet you back at the gala." Urskin materialized just feet from her, turning abruptly and snapping the phone closed.

Robyn's breath caught in her throat as she realized he was turning to leave. He would walk right into her.

She skittered sideways quickly, ducking around the large computer and cramming herself under a small desk, heart hammering a frightened rhythm.

Muffled steps grew louder as he came towards her hiding place. She forced her eyes to remain open, his shoes coming into sight. They paused right in front of her, so close she could reach out and touch them.

The seconds it took for him to continue, while she prayed fervently for him to leave, were the longest seconds of her life.

He reached out for the handle, pulling the door open with ease. Robyn exhaled shakily; body weary from enduring the amount of adrenaline it had been forced to take the last few hours. She didn't know how much more she could handle.

Urskin slipped out of the opening, and it shut resolutely behind him. Robyn waited for several tense minutes before deciding he wasn't going to return. Just to be safe, she whispered softly in an attempt to contact Shepp.

"Shepp."

"Yes?" The reply was immediate, for which she was extremely grateful. She wanted to be there no longer than necessary.

"Is he gone?" Her limbs were cramping from the tight space.

"He just left."

"I'm in some sort of hidden control room." She lifted herself up and dusted off the seat of her pants. "There's monitors and machines everywhere. They've set up a hidden lab down here." She observed, roving the room, her eyes dilated in the dark, green space.

"Can you get into any of the computers?"

"No." She looked at a screen sadly. "They're all password protected."

"Figures."

Robyn spotted something amiss in the far corner of the room. The glass sides indicated it was a tank of some sort, though it was hard to discern through the rows of pipes and machinery.

"There's something in here that seems out of place." She stepped gingerly over a railing and onto a corrugated platform used for mounting the array of devices clustered around.

"Careful." The warning was that of a familiar one, soft and protective, as if from an older sibling.

Robyn edged toward the cube-like object in front of her, a frown twisting her brows and mouth. It looked to be full of liquid, perhaps water, and was much larger than she previously thought.

Suspended below the deck level, secured by thick metal arms, was a huge holding tank. A shadow lay at the bottom, but the water was too opaque to get a good visual.

Fumbling in Shepp's pants pockets, she retrieved her cell phone with frozen fingers, taping at the screen in agitation. It took her a few seconds for her numbed digits to successfully open her camera, and when she did, a sigh of relief escaped her lips.

Her pale fingers pressed against the smooth, cool side of the tank, curiosity overwhelming her as she leaned forward to get a better view.

Low, guttural gurgling rumbled up through the liquid with pockets of air, the sudden appearance of the massive bubbles causing her to jerk and whack her head on the glass, a harsh reminder of her near death experience during her dive.

The rumbling turned into a roar, or perhaps a growl: the details were lost on her as something massive and scaly slammed into the side of the tank. Somehow, she kept her wits long enough to capture a picture of the creature, and then her scream caught in her throat, eyes wide in horror. Her feet couldn't fly fast enough as she launched herself back over the barrier, banging her kneecaps on a pipe. She belly flopped on the other side, her chin landing sharply on a hard object. Now, instead of being numbed, her entire body hurt with injuries, but the fear gripping her mind spurned her to launch herself up and run. She wrenched the exit open as soon as her fingers made contact, sprinting down the corridor without looking back.

"Miss Bourke!" Shepp's flustered voice was barely heard over the pounding of her bare feet.

"Call Quinn, now!" She panted sharply, heart a wild staccato as she ran back toward the safety of the security office.

"He asked to reconvene tomorrow morning."

Of course, Robyn thought bitterly, leave me to fend for myself.

"I don't care!" Robyn hissed, perspiration beading on her forehead, a result of the panicked whirring of her brain as it processed what she'd seen. "Call him!"

There was silence on the other end. She cursed, sprinting the last few steps toward the office and yanking the door open.

Shepp jumped in his chair, perhaps startled by the wild terror in Robyn's eyes. She breathed out a relieved sigh, noting the phone in his hand. "She says it's urgent."

"Quinn." Robyn gasped, yanking the cell from Shepp's hand. "We were right," her heart grew heavy with the admission, "we were right about everything."

"What do you mean, Miss Bourke?" Quinn's voice was low, nearly a whisper, and Robyn's heart panged with realization that he must still be with Lynne.

"I saw them." Despite her best effort, her voice wavered. "I saw them." She repeated, at a loss for any other words.

"Shit." Quinn cursed, a sudden rustling coming through the phone.

He must be fumbling around for his clothes, Robyn thought wryly, disgust coursing through her, along with another emotion she ignored.

"What do we do?" The phone shook against her cheek, jostled by the trembling of her hands.

"It's too late to do anything about it at this hour. I suggest we gather everyone tomorrow."

"Typical." She grumbled, hanging up on him mid-sentence, not bothering to hear what else he said.

Shepp eyed her cautiously, parting his lips as if to begin speaking.

"What?" She growled, tossing the phone back. He caught it deftly, easing up from his chair.

"There was one other thing he mentioned to me." He began slowly, with the air of a child eliciting candy from their parents.

Robyn didn't reply.

"Quinn thought you might extend your hospitality this evening and offer him a place to sleep." Shepp finished quietly.

Anger flared in her core immediately from the pretentiousness of the request.

"Not a chance in hell!"