In the Cold Depth of Darkness

Bergen, Norway
The Harbour, dock 7
15th November, 1995 - 21:07 CET

The scene shifted from the familiar BBC-studio, where the British news service kept their viewers informed with everything from gossip to dramatic stories, to the rainy outdoors of an industrialized urban environment. The camera was facing a reporter named Elizabeth Sawyer, a young woman who had made a career out of being at the right place at the right time. As usual she could be seen standing with a microphone in her hand, wearing BBCs' logo, ready to address her audience. This time she wasn't seen wearing the usual grey reporter-style clothing but a large yellow raincoat, one that you normally would see being worn by the fishermen in the area she was in. Quite possibly she may have loaned it but she did seem to have trouble adjusting to it and the neither the harsh wind or pouring rain made it easy. However, she was not going deny the audience her moment.

"It has been four hours since the terrorists were surprised by a routine police patrol and from then fortified their position onboard the privately owned research vessel, the Tyrannien. The ship had just returned eight hours before that from an expedition just outside Greenland and was to continue back to England tomorrow morning. So far there has been no contact with the terrorists, except the brief exchange of gunfire when the hostile activity was first discovered, so there has been no demands made yet nor has the group of terrorists claimed any political allegiances…"

While the woman was speaking the camera man slowly rotated the camera just enough to let the reporter still be seen on the left side of the screen while some other activities could be observed on the right. Two Norwegian police cars could be seen parked near an entrance of an enclosed loading area, beyond which a large vessel could be seen. Both of the cars had their headlights going but what set the two apart was the one to the right, which had sustained heavy damage to the hull that could assumingly only been caused by full-automatic weapons. In front of the cars, on the same side as the cameraman and the reporter, could three police officers be seen squatted down well enough to use the cars as cover while at the same time being able to observe the scene more closely. But, from the camera's point of view, very little details could be made out because of the rain.

"…All we know now is that the terrorists are heavily armed and that they're holding approximately 20 of the ship's crew as hostages. And with the arrival of the Norwegian anti-terrorist unit we might very well expect a more bloody ending to all of this."

The camera suddenly but slowly shifted back to the reporter and continued until she was standing on the right side of the screen while a man appeared to be standing on her left side. The man had a pale face while the rest of him was covered in a rather dry black suit; with his right hand he held an umbrella over himself. He didn't look like he was enjoying the weather anymore then the reporter but the expression of dislike was the only one. The top of his head was covered in slick black hair and just below two large sets of eyebrows were a set of relaxed eyes.

"With me I have Jonathan Smith, the representative of the Umbrella Corporation who also happens to be the owner of the hijacked research vessel." The reporter turned to the man, who raised both of his eyebrows to look more receptive for the reporter.

"Mr. Smith, what can you tell us about the Tyrannien and her crew?"

"The Tyrannien is one out of four cargo ships that were rebuilt to suit Umbrella's needs when it comes to naval research. Two of those ships are today out of commission and the Tyrannien had only a few months left before she also would be put out of commission. The crew of the Tyrannien are mostly experienced sailors and scientists that all have families waiting for them back home."

The reporter glanced at the camera while the man was speaking, in a clear but unpleasantly calm tone just like his stature. Before she went on to her next question she brushed a wet strand of her red hair away from her forehead.

"I understand that you came down here on your own behalf. What kind of assistance are you hoping to provide the police with?"

"I am here only as an advisor to the police authorities and the anti-terrorist unit, that just arrived. Onboard the Tyrannien there are certain equipment and research material of significant value that needs to be kept out of danger if possible. And, since I have experience with the crew that designed this kind of research vessel I have a unique knowledge of the ship's layout, I think the police would be interested in if they decide to perform some kind of insertion."

"These 'equipment' and 'research material' that you have referred to, are we talking about some kind of bio-hazardous pieces?"

"Not at all, Ms Sawyer. There are no dangerous compounds aboard the Tyrannien, neither chemical nor biological. The Tyrannien's expedition was to collect a certain kind of spore that can only survive in sub-temperature water. It would then be taken back to our lab in England where we would see if we could somehow adapt it to warmer temperatures. You see, this spore as a unique ability to consume certain chemical substances that we sometimes find coming out of our drains."

"Which brings me to the next question, Mr Smith. Under these last few years Umbrella has received threats and complains from certain radical green party organisations. Do you think the terrorists aboard the Tyrannien belongs to any of these organisations?"

"I have no comments to that, yet."

"Thank you, Mr Smith."

The woman turned back to the camera and spoke to her audience in a clear but dramatic tone. "This is Elizabeth Sawyer, BBC News. Reporting from Bergen in Norway."