"We have absolute confirmation now" Robert Oz said. "If he's evolved, then it has to be him. Sobek is the one who owns the Mother Cell"

The news of Sobek's evolution into a completely new creature had not gone unnoticed by Jocelyne and her companions. From their point of view, that was the confirmation of Dr. Oz's thesis: as he had foreseen, the organism was perfectly adapted to the conditions to which it was subjected.

"Maybe we should inform the scientific community..." Alan murmured as he read the newspaper, seeing how the situation was escalating. "We have no proof, but at least we would give people a theory"

"We can't, not until we have Henry Wu and overwhelming evidence. Otherwise we can never blame the Raiding Global" Jamie stopped him immediately.

"I agree with you. At least for the moment it's best to keep your mouth shut" Mitch gave her a strong hand. "It will not be a problem to leave the world in uncertainty for an extra couple of weeks. The capture team leaves today, right?"

"Yes, they set sail today" Jocelyne confirmed, who seemed completely absent from the conversation and was busy staring at the clock on the wall.

"What is she waiting for?" Ellie whispered in Alan's ears.

The man shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe she is expecting someone". And in fact, to confirm her thoughts, someone knocked on the door shortly after her: "Miss Jersey, there is another guest for you. Do I let him in?"

The staff who worked in the hotel where Jocelyne was staying were particularly meticulous: Jocelyne had given them the order to kick in the ass anyone who tried to approach her room, so they often didn't even bother her. However, since she had told them that day that she would have her guests, her staff preferred to notify her whenever someone came. "Who is she?" Jocelyne asked.

"Her name is Chloe Tousignant" was the answer.

Jocelyne smiled. "You can let her pass"

The door opened and Chloe entered the room. The scientists politely introduced themselves to her, but she only had eyes for Jocelyne. "They left?" she asked, obviously referring to Jackson and his team.

The girl nodded. "They will leave in ten minutes" she replied looking at the clock on the wall. "Have you sorted out the bureaucratic part?"

Chloe sighed deeply. "Yes, I contacted some of my friends in the navy to make sure that ship goes unnoticed and gets through the international blockade. It is likely that as soon as they find me I will lose my career, but at least our 'heroes' will be able to pass it" she replied, throwing herself heavily on a chair.

Jackson had asked Chloe to stay out of that situation, but she couldn't. After their appointment he had decided to contact Jocelyne in secret and together they had decided what to do. They had agreed on the departure date, so Chloe could take action to allow the ship to pass at just the right time. Jackson obviously knew nothing of this and Jocelyne had been careful not to tell him. When he asked her how she got him through the block, she replied 'better you don't know'.

So now Jackson could have crossed the sea safely. By now all obstacles had been overcome; the success of the mission now rested only on the capabilities of the capture team.

"Take my curiosity out of me" Chloe suddenly said. "When he came to see me Jackson told me you gave him a day off. Was it a spontaneous act of generosity or did you have ulterior motives? " Which translated meant "did you send him on purpose to convince me?".

Jocelyne shrugged. "It seems obvious to me. I have to watch my back at my every step; do you think I would get rid of my bodyguard if I didn't have ulterior motives?"

"You sent him to convince me, right?"

"I knew that he would tell you the truth and I knew that you would not be able to let him go into danger, and consequently you would choose to help me. Jackson just made me promise not to ask for your help, he never said I shouldn't accept it if you offered it to me". Jocelyne replied. "However don't get me wrong, whatever Jackson told you that night was real. He didn't know about this little plan of mine. Between us two, I'm the one who manipulates people using their feelings, he wouldn't be able to"

Chloe was totally expressionless; she seemed almost as if she had only received an obvious confirmation of what she already thought. "I'm seriously starting to wonder if I have to fear more the dinosaurs or you" she commented. Jocelyne just smiled back.

*******

"Everything is ready, sir. The ship is just waiting for your order to sail"

"Then do it"

"As you wish. Release the moorings!"

In an anonymous port of Kaiju, at the first light of dawn, a ship set sail and headed for the open sea. But it was no ordinary ship.

In addition to the crew on board, there were at least forty men armed to the teeth. In addition to paying for the ship, Hammond had managed, thanks to some old contacts, to track down the most discreet and efficient mercenaries on the market. All of them had guaranteed silence and all were willing to go even to the most dangerous place on the planet.

Jackson was on the stern. He watched the waves of the sea crash against the ship's keel. Occasionally he could catch a glimpse of some etruridelphis, a kind of prehistoric dolphin, leaping out of the water.

"Boss, we'll be on the block soon"

Jackson turned. What he had spoken was Dan, his second in command. He was a man with a lean physique and a hard gaze. He had a great strategic ability and a quick ability to calculate the situation, and he did not leave his men behind him; therefore Jackson had decided to take him as his second.

Beside Dan was another mercenary, Charlie. He was a slightly shorter, chubby black man; he was a great talker and often spoke out of turn, but when it was needed he seemed to know the fact of him. "That's right, boss! Look, I can already see the control ships!" he said handing him the binoculars.

Jackson took it and looked at the sea line. Indeed, in the distance you could see the silhouettes of huge aircraft carriers patrolling the area to make sure no ships headed out to sea. "No problem. Let's continue as planned" he ordered. "Dorian, light up a flare!"

A short distance from them another mercenary nodded. He was a black man too, but definitely bigger, stronger and more handsome than Charlie. He was called Dorian and was nicknamed by all 'the tough'; he spoke little and when he did he seemed to chew his words. The only things he seemed to relate well to were weapons: he knew how to use them all, from firearms to edged ones.

Without delay, Dorian pulled a pistol from his backpack and fired into the sky. The bullet glowed red and hovered in the sky for a few tens of seconds before falling into the sea.

"Have they seen it?" Charlie asked worriedly. "Maybe you should shoot another one, just to be safe..."

"They saw it" was Dorian's only reply. "Only a blind man would not see it"

Charlie didn't dare reply.

The ship continued on its way until it was directly alongside the aircraft carriers. Under normal conditions at that time the soldiers would have ordered them to stop and if they had not accepted they would have opened fire. However, no sound rose from the army ships, and the capture team quietly passed between them. Jackson didn't know what Jocelyne had done and didn't care; she told him to shoot a flare and so she did. He did not know that this was actually the work of Chloe, who using some of her connections in the navy had caused that flare to pass as the identifying mark of a secret team authorized by the Commission to travel beyond the blockade.

Now the ship was in the open sea, headed straight for Maakanar to capture the man responsible for the chaos that was raging throughout the world.