Lilly has no problem navigating the underwater tunnels with the SCV suit, thanks to all the detail from Saffron’s sensor readings. The water is pretty murky, so she is quite glad to have advanced knowledge of where she is going. Once she reaches the cavern below the key room, she lets the air-filled SCV suit’s natural buoyancy pull her up to the surface. Then she hooks her arm around her elaborate floatation aid and waits to steal a scientist. The suit at least provides a little light, so she is not left waiting in the dark. Still, she cracks her knuckles as she waits, trying to relieve some of the tension, and daydreams of lobster with butter sauce.
A shriek and some thumps draws her attention back to her surroundings. “What in tarnation is this?” a sputtering voice demands. The man tangled in the safety net studies Lilly by the SCV suit’s lights. “Are you the person who got my message? Are you with the Dominion?”
“Are you Nimroon? Naroom?”
“Narud! Close enough!”
“Then yes,” Lilly says.
“Yes, you’re with the Dominion or yes, you got my message?” Narud demands.
“I’m with Imogen,” Lilly offers by way of explanation. She begins swimming closer with the SCV suit.
“Who’s Imogen?”
Wait, who are we supposed to be here? Lilly wonders. She glazed over during a lot of Imogen’s presentation of the plan. “We don’t have time. Get in the suit,” she orders. The elderly scientist struggles in, but with her help, he gets squared away.
“Were you the one who put the outrageous protoss signage up in that room?” Narud asks.
With a chuckle, Lilly replies, “That was Imogen, but I helped a little.” The scientist asks once more about who his rescuers are, and this time, Lilly tries giving the name of the person who hired Lost & Found to go to the prison that had been holding Narud. “We’re friends of Jimmy’s.”
“I’m not even going to ask who Jimmy is. I just need to know you’re someone who can get me out of here and that you’re not Dominion.”
“Yessir.”
“Perfect!”
Now that he is fully cooperative, Lilly closes up the SCV helmet and double checks the seals. Then she grabs a strap on the suit, puts in her breathing piece, and dives. As she swims, she can hear the vague sounds of Narud asking more questions, but she could not answer even if she wanted to. When they finally surface, Narud is still talking. “That ghost is a nutbag, let me tell you. Talking to himself like he’s hearing things… crazy. Y’all got a ship?”
“Yup,” Lilly replies, readying her gun. Those lobster things are nowhere around—which is too bad as far as supper goes—but she does not know where Neiman or the zerg are. It is better to be prepared. “Be quiet, the zerg are coming,” she tells Narud, as she begins to carefully pick her way through the swampy terrain, back toward where Saffron waits.
“What do y’all mean, the zerg are coming?!” Narud demands, clomping awkwardly after her in the SCV.
“Shhh!” Lilly hisses back at him. What part of quiet did he not get?!
“Why are the zerg coming? What is wrong with this place?!” Narud is getting more worked up.
“They’re just coming!” Lilly replies, frustrated by all his questions.
“All right, well, you’ve got a ship you said. Let’s just go! There’s no use sneaking around, right?”
Damn scientists, Lilly groans inwardly. She picks up the pace, abandoning stealth. If he is not going to shut up, there really is no reason not to just make a dash for the ship.