The group could heard the distant sound of sirens, and more worrying, gunfire as they stood in the shadow of what had once been a warehouse.  The building was a burnt out frame now, and the surrounding structures were heavily scorched themselves.  Beyond the building, beyond the cover it provided, was a narrow private road used by vehicles that needed to reach the docks.  Beyond that was a set of stone docks, solid, with a number of ships anchored.  The research vessel was fairly impressive in size, with the main deck roughly ten feet above the dock itself.  Above the main deck was three stories of superstructure, and there was no way to tell how many decks it had below.<br/><br/>The dock that the ship was berthed to was blocked by a pair of cargo-vans.  Beyond them, only their combat boots visible, were at least a pair of men.  Occasionally a head and upper body, dressed much like the men from the office, would appear and peer down over the front of the ship.  There were no gangways to access the ship, and the miniature crane on the rear of the ship was securely anchored in place.