"What's the latest?" Kate demanded, striding into the control room of UNIT HQ and looking directly at the monitors in front of her. She leant both palms on the console and leant in, narrowing her eyes as she did her best to make sense of the readings fluctuating on the screen. "What do I need to know?"

As a team of scientists immediately leapt forwards and took it in turns to explain the predicament they had found themselves in, Kate listened carefully, interrupting every now and then to ask questions. The team were eager to answer and by the time Osgood appeared, Kate thought she had a clear grasp of the situation.

"I don't think this is one for the Taskforce." She announced, turning to the brunette quickly. "They're caught up in the Pacific, anyway."

"Colonel Parks thinks they should be done soon, Ma'am." Lieutenant Bishop reminded her, stepping forwards. "I'm sure if necessary they could be redirected."

"You're right, Sam, but this isn't really their remit." Kate agreed. "This is turning into a large scale problem and I think we need to get to the Outer Hebrides as soon as possible."

"I'll rally the troops." He assured her, turning and striding away hurriedly.

"It's a good job Scarp is uninhabited." The blonde mused, returning her attention to the monitors. "It makes things a little easier for us if this gets out of hand."

"The low level telepathic field being emitted from the point triggering the alert seems to be growing in strength." Osgood announced, pointing towards the pulsating ring on the closest screen. "Initial investigations indicate that there's a risk of mind control linked to the wave frequency and density. I think we'll need to take precautions against that eventuality if we do go in, Ma'am."

"Quite." Kate nodded. "I'm sure you've got something suitable?"

"There is something I've been working on." The scientist admitted. "I may need just a little more time to ensure they're operational, though."

"Time is a luxury we might not have." Kate pointed out with a sigh.

"I'll go and dig the device out of the archives and see what I can do." Osgood told her quickly. "Please keep me informed of time constraints, Ma'am."

Her wife nodded, eyes on the screens once more. "Depending on how long it takes Sam to muster the dogs, I'd say you've got a couple of hours at most."

"Hopefully that should be all I need."

"Excellent."

In fact it was a little less than two hours later when everyone was gathered in the courtyard ready to depart for the furthest reaches of Scotland. Osgood appeared, a little flustered, but with a large case in her arms that she assured Kate was fully operational and safe for use. The blonde didn't question her words, trusting her top scientist implicitly. Instead she ushered Osgood into the car and turned to continue speaking to the assembled Colonels and Captains waiting for orders.

As things weren't desperate at that moment – and there was no point Kate and Osgood arriving at their destination hours before any of the troops – it had been decided that they would travel in the convoy. It gave the brunette time to explain her latest device to her superior and for the two women to understand what they might be dealing with inside and out. They drove through the night and, by the time they arrived at the West Coast of the Isle of Harris, dawn was breaking and they could just about make out the Island of Scarp on the other side of the stretch of water.

"I trust you all managed to get some sleep?" Kate asked Colonel Shindi as he approached the figure of his boss standing on the edge of the grassy outcrop, just the very tip of her toes resting on the white sands that led down to the Atlantic Ocean. "I think it's obvious what our target is."

She raised an arm and pointed needlessly to a large, dark shape sitting on the very top of the land opposite. It was clearly a spacecraft of some sort, shimmering vaguely with a luminousness that Kate assumed was linked to the telepathic field it was emitting. The sheer size of the ship was enough to make both UNIT officials pause, considering just how many life forms it might be harbouring. If they were hostile, then they would have a fight on their hands.

"We did, Ma'am. Parker and Tollingson have got the troops running drills in preparation, just over that ridge." Shindi assured her quickly, motioning over his shoulder. "They're ready to go when you are."

"I think we need to find out what we're dealing with before we send the dogs in." Kate mused. "It's perfectly possible that whoever they are, they're not as hostile as we're imagining."

"Possible but unlikely." The Colonel replied jadedly.

Kate smiled wryly. "I think we should go and investigate; attempt to make contact, at least."

"Just you and me, Ma'am?"

"And Osgood."

"Ma'am?"

"I know." She sighed, hearing the unasked question in his tone. "I don't like the idea of putting her in that much danger, either, but you know as well as I do that we might need her."

"Anyone else?"

"Possibly Sam? The more people we take in, the more of a threat we pose." Kate pointed out. "If we're attempting to make peace, that's the last thing we want to do."

"Very true." Colonel Shindi agreed with a quick nod. "I'll go and speak to Lieutenant Bishop and inform him of the plan."

Kate watched him stride away, before turning back to stare out over the water at the space ship once more. She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment or two, before turning and following Shindi's path back towards the makeshift camp that had been created since their arrival. She sought out Osgood, intending to explain what was happening and apologise that she couldn't give her much reassurance about what they might find.

"Here, Ma'am."

Kate blinked as her wife held something out in her direction, preventing her from so much as opening her mouth. Looking down at the two small objects the brunette had handed her, the older woman frowned as she realised they looked like regular, everyday ear buds – remarkably like the ones that Emily had a terrible habit of just leaving lying around in random places in their house.

"What's this?"

"I've analysed the wavelength of the psychic field being admitted by the spacecraft and modified these to emit a frequency that will cancel out whatever the effects of the wave are."

"You're sure?"

"As sure as I can be." Osgood admitted with a shrug. "Obviously I haven't had a chance to do as many tests as I'd like, but I'm fairly confident that they'll have the desired effect."

"That's good enough for me." Kate nodded at her, smiling warmly and pocketing the ear buds. "Now, how do you feel about coming over there with Sam, Vikram and me to find out what we're dealing with?"

"Me?"

"We might need your genius brain."

"Well, in that case, I can hardly say no, can I Ma'am?" Osgood replied with a smile.


The Taskforce's trip to the Marianas Trench was, indeed, a pretty straightforward one. While the Sea Devils were causing a few problems for any sea vessel passing close to their underground base, the arrival of the troop soon quieted any hopes they might have had of expanding their territory.

That wasn't to say that they had an easy time of it. Following their last deployment, their scientist Dr Piper had broken his leg and so they had drafted in another. Bethany Khan hadn't long been part of UNIT and had never been on an actual mission before. She soon realised that active service was nothing like the rigorous training exercises they were put through in preparation. The rest of the team were sympathetic, but didn't really have the time to hold her hand as they went about their business.

"You did fine." Emily assured her, sitting cross-legged on her bunk on the UNIT submarine that had taken them to their destination. She was taking stock of her supplies, slightly irritated that she'd been forced to use a couple of bandages to patch up Captain McGregor after he'd tripped in the trench tunnels. "No one's expecting you to be the Terminator."

"That's good."

"Cheer up." The medic ordered with a grin. "Mission accomplished, crisis averted, we're going home."

"Now you've gone and done it," Josh teased, nudging her in the shoulder as he passed on the way to his own bunk, "you've jinxed it."

"If anyone's jinxed it, it's you by saying I've jinxed it." She shot back.

The Captain laughed, dropping onto his bunk and kicking off his boots. He steered the topic away from work and onto other matters, mostly engaging the scientist in conversation and leaving Emily to her own devices. She didn't mind in the slightest, quite happy to let the sound of their voices rumble away around her without really thinking about what they were saying.

It was only when the Colonel's voice came over the intercom, making everyone instinctively look towards the speakers on the ceiling, that she sighed and exchanged a look with Josh. Perhaps he'd been right that between them they'd managed to jinx things. He nudged her in the shoulder as he passed on his way up to the control room.

"Our orders have changed." Colonel Parks informed his team when they were assembled, looking around at the wary, yet expectant, faces staring back at him. "We're needed in Scotland. Orders direct from Geneva."

"Why, Sir?" Captain McGregor asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"It seems that a mission Ms Stewart and the rest of UNIT troops embarked on has become rather more hazardous and our urgent assistance has been requested."

"Sir... there are only six of us… including one medic and one non-combat trained scientist." Captain Simmonds pointed out slowly. "I understand that, excluding Ms Khan, we've all been highly trained, but our remit isn't to get involved in the bulk of incursions. We perform highly targeted hits and situations such as this where less is definitely more."

"Very true, Simmonds." The Colonel nodded at him. "But we're needed so we're going."

"Sir."

He dismissed them with a warning, explaining that a helicopter was being sent to collect them and they were leaving in five minutes, leaving them to hastily gather up their belongings. The majority of their things were already stowed in their packs, but Emily wanted to triple check her medpack was fully and accurately stocked so that she was ready for action. The others laughed at her, reminding her that she'd been doing that when Colonel Parks called for their attention, but she just rolled her eyes and fastidiously lined everything up again.

"You alright, Em?"

Emily smiled as Beth laid a hand on her arm, the scientist's eyes crinkled with concern. "I'm fine. Can't think about it too much or I wouldn't be much use to anyone."

"I'm sure Ms Stewart can take care of herself."

"Oh, I know that." She agreed with a chuckle. "It's whatever they're dealing with that should be worried – particularly if they've threatened Osgood."

"They're pretty close, right?"

Frowning in bemusement, Emily turned to look at her. "How long have you worked for UNIT?"

"Not long… a few months." Beth replied with a shrug.

"Ahh… well yeah, they are close." She chuckled. "I mean, she's my stepmum, so…"

"Oh…" The scientist blinked a couple of times. "That's cool. Your parents must have a pretty good relationship if your mum and your stepmum are so close."

"Wait, what?" Emily paused, looking confused. Then it dawned on her what the other woman had assumed. "Oh god no. My dad's a complete arsehole. Osgood is married to Kate."

"Oh!" Beth went bright red. "I had no idea, I…"

"They'll be delighted; it's proof they're not as obvious as I keep telling them they are."

"And you're gay too?"

"Yup." Emily nodded, slinging her backpack on and glancing towards Colonel Parks who was heading for the door. "Like daughter, like mother."

"Isn't the saying 'like mother, like daughter'?"

Laughing, the medic nudged her towards the door. "Yeah, but I came out first, so I get to be first in the saying."

"Helicopter is waiting, girls!" McGregor called. "Stop gossiping and hurry up."

Emily and Beth immediately started complaining, making threats and pointing out that they'd been picked for the same taskforce as he had. Laughing, he turned and led the way to the waiting helicopter, completely ignoring their irritation.

The journey to the Outer Hebrides passed quickly. None of them had got much sleep the night before and Colonel Parks encouraged them to try and rest while they could. Emily clenched her jaw as Simmonds almost immediately fell asleep and started snoring; the main reason she struggled to sleep on the nights they spent crammed into whatever accommodation was arranged for them on their operations.

Knowing that she had zero change of sleeping, Emily turned her gaze on her superior. She caught Beth's eyes as she looked towards the Colonel, smiling weakly at the eye roll the scientist sent her, nodding her head towards the snoring soldier. Colonel Parks was staring at his phone intently, no doubt reading up on their new mission and Emily wanted to ask what they were actually going to Scotland for. She knew, however, that he would enlighten them when he felt it was necessary.

Finally they reached their destination. The helicopter landed on a bleak stretch of moorland, scrubby grasses and rocky outcrops as far as they could see, leading towards dense woodland ahead of them. The six members of the taskforce moved quickly away from the aircraft when it lifted off as soon as they were clear, five of them looking around in bemusement before looking to their leader for their instructions.

Clearing his throat, Colonel Parks looked around at his troop, smiling reassuringly at the scientist who looked terrified. It was one thing heading down to a base to diplomatically encourage the Sea Devils to see sense – the threat of action only necessary as a deterrent – but it was another thing completely knowing that you were walking into a potentially deadly, hostile situation. As he briefly outlined their plan, filling them in on the information that he'd been given on their journey to meet the others, Emily listened with slightly narrowed eyes, trying to read between the lines of what he was saying. She knew enough about the UNIT hierarchy to know beyond doubt that there was far more to the situation than they were being told.

"Lieutenant Stewart?" The Colonel fell into step beside her as they headed for the point he'd indicated on his map. "What's the problem?"

"No problem, Sir."

"You can't kid a kidder, Emily." He replied with a soft chuckle, reading her like a book.

"I know how UNIT works well enough to know there's something more, Sir." She told him, lowering her voice to prevent the others hearing. The last thing she wanted was for any of them to think she was questioning the Colonel. "So what haven't you told us?"

Fixing her with a slightly amused, but mostly exasperated expression, the man dropped his speed so that there was even more space between them and the rest of the troop walking ahead of them. There was a long silence as he apparently tried to decide how to react to her words. Part of Emily thought she was about to receive several stern words and possibly a reprimand, knowing that she had no right to question him like that. Instead, Colonel Parks exhaled sharply and nodded.

"The Haxi have taken out a large number of the troops that are already on site." He told her quietly. "That's why we've been called in even though, as Simmonds rightly pointed out, it's not really in our mandate."

"And…?"

"And what?"

"What else?"

Colonel Parks sighed. "Ms Stewart, Ms Osgood and Colonel Shindi went to speak to them. Lieutenant Bishop informed me that they had been taken prisoner."

Emily clenched her jaw. "Right… well I understand why you kept that one to yourself."

"I'm sure they're absolutely–"

"You can't guarantee anything, Colonel." She cut him off bluntly, not needing to hear empty platitudes. "But I agree, they're tough and they'll probably be fine. I wouldn't want to be them if they lay one finger on Osgood."

"This goes no further than us, Lieutenant Stewart."

"Understood, Sir." Emily nodded firmly.

"We've been tasked with retrieving them. Geneva has given us the order; ensure that Greyhound One and Two are safely extracted from the situation, whatever it takes." He continued. "The rest of the taskforce won't be told what our true target is until we find them. No point in panicking them with the news that Ms Stewart is in danger."

"Knowing Mum we won't even be needed."

Colonel Parks chuckled, glancing sideways at the young woman who reminded him so much of their boss. "You're probably right."

"Sir?" They both glanced towards the voice, realising that Simmonds and McGregor, who had been leading the party, had stopped and were staring at an island ahead. "Is that what we're looking for?"