Prologue
Slocum drew his blaster and quickly opened the hatch to the aqua-pod. He saw the two girls that he had questioned earlier and two men that he recognised. It gave him a slight grim pleasure that he had been right about the identity of the thieves.
One of the men held a small gun so Slocum didn't hesitate and fired immediately, hitting the man squarely in the chest. With a groan, the man crashed lifeless to the floor.
The other man didn't pause and dashed up the opposite steps and into the cockpit of the pod. The two girls threw themselves hurriedly behind some couches, obviously not wanting to get between Slocum and his prey. Slocum ignored them as he strode through the lounge and followed the man, his blaster raised.
Suddenly, the engines of the aqua-pod roared into life and it darted away from the jetty just as Slocum had reached the top of the cockpit steps. Slocum fired at the man who had reached the controls, but was caught off balance. Instead of hitting the man, the blaster shot had blown a large hole in the cockpit front window. Now Slocum held precariously onto a handrail as the pod accelerated away into the water.
The man at the controls kicked out viciously at Slocum and the blaster fell from his grip and clattered to the floor. With a snarl, Slocum hurled himself onto his opponent and the two men fell backwards onto the controls of the pod. As they did so, their bodies hit the rudder control of the pod sending it into a deep dive. Both men were thrown forward and with a terrible cry, they vanished through the gaping and jagged hole in the front of cockpit window.
Dock water began to flood into the pod with incredible speed as the pod dived below the waters.
In the passenger lounge, Katherine crawled across to Megan. "What are we going to do?" she yelled as water rushed around them and rapidly started to fill the cabin.
1.
Katherine and Megan watched sadly as the TARDIS dematerialised in front of them. The wheezing groaning sound of the engines faded away until they could no longer hear it. Katherine turned to Megan who was doing up her denim jacket. "Well?" she sighed.
Megan shrugged, turning up the collar of her jacket. "I don't know. We'll just have to wait for him." Katherine nodded and Megan could see that her friend was worried. She put her hand on Katherine's arm. "Trust him. He'll come back; he wouldn't leave us stranded!"
Katherine managed a smile. "I know."
Megan tried to be a bit more cheerful. "Come on, let's take a look around," she said breezily. "Where did the Doctor say we were?"
"Reef City One, wherever that is!" replied Katherine with a frown.
They glanced around them. They seemed to be in a plastic or opaque glass tunnel about ten feet high with a hemispherical ceiling. Small lights ran down both sides of the tunnel.
Megan looked both ways but there seemed to be no-one about, so she pointed forwards. Katherine shrugged and nodded and both girls started to walk forwards noticing that there was some kind of junction a few metres ahead of them. As they reached the junction they both stopped and stared in awe at the sight around them. The tunnel here wasn't constructed out of opaque plastic but clear toughed glass that gave them fantastic view of an incredible vista.
They were in an incredible underwater city with buildings and towers that soared up into the darkness of the ocean above. Myriad lights flashed and twinkled, covering all the buildings and the connecting tunnels and walkways. Some of the buildings were attached to a magnificent reef that spread out over the ocean floor like a mountain. Fish of startling colours and hues swam gracefully over and under them, darting in between the tunnels. Small sleek submersibles were propelled through the water, their headlights flashing in the dark and illuminating more fish that quickly swam away.
Megan's eyes almost popped out of her head. "Oh my God," she stammered, dazzled by the colours and lights.
Katherine caught her breath. "It's so beautiful!" she whispered.
Megan laughed. "Thank you Doctor! Katherine; welcome to Reef City One!"
2.
Megan turned to Katherine, almost jumping up and down with excitement. "We're going to have such a great time!" she squealed and then another thought struck her. "That card the Doctor gave us?"
Katherine nodded; she still had it in her hand and held it up.
Megan almost snatched it from her, her eyes wide with anticipation. "A million credits the Doctor said! Boy, are we going to do some shopping! Come on!" Megan grabbed the slightly bewildered Katherine by the arm and propelled her to what looked like an escalator that rose gently up another walkway and into a building.
At the other end of the escalator there was a small electronic information screen built into the wall. Megan cautiously pressed a button and large maps of the underwater city sprang into view.
Megan grinned at Katherine. "Hey, that wasn't so difficult!" She studied the maps and gave a low whistle. "This place certainly is big! It's like an underwater Manhattan! Now then…….." she pressed a few more buttons and some red dots began to flash up on the screen.
"What are they?" asked Katherine.
Megan just grinned. "Shopping malls!"
************************
The plush office was dark as the executive certainly didn't want anyone to know he was there. The only light came from the screen of the laptop on the large desk in front of him. He tapped quietly away at the keys, watching the graphics on the screen change in front of him. He paused as he heard the sound of footsteps outside the door and hurriedly pulled the screen down to reduce the light output. He held his breath and waited, knowing that if they discovered him here he would be killed. But the footsteps moved on and the man let out his breath slowly, pulling the lid of the laptop open again.
He examined the graphics and saw the figures changing on the screen. He smiled as he saw the figures decrease rapidly. That would show them! He punched a few more keys and the graphics faded to be replaced with the screen saver; two wavy blue lines, one on top of each other – the corporate logo of 'Aquarius'.
3.
The two girls spent the next few hours doing some serious retail therapy. Katherine, although a little hesitant at first, had soon become caught up with Megan's infectious enthusiasm for buying clothes. They must have tried on dozens of dresses, tops, shoes, coats and jackets, and driven various shop assistants to distraction. In one shop where the assistant had not been particularly helpful, Megan had laughed and told her that she had 'made a big mistake; huge!' It was only later when she tried to explain the plot of 'Pretty Woman' to Katherine that her friend had some idea why Megan had found the whole incident so amusing – especially as she had on more than one occasion called her 'Julia Roberts'!
Although Megan had certainly bought her fair share of clothes, it was Katherine however that had really been transformed. Megan had taken one look at the summer dress Katherine had be wearing and declared it 'so last century darling'! Katherine had half heartedly tried to explain to Megan that this was all new to her and that she would much rather be wearing a full length Renaissance gown anyway, but Megan would have none of it.
Now Katherine wore a shimmering crimson top with jagged neck line, smart dark trousers and high boots, and over these wore an expensive long dark grey leather coat. Megan took one look at her friend and knew she looked stunning. Katherine was used to elegance and wore clothes well. She certainly turned enough male heads as the girls trudged along the walkways to their hotel carrying bags of shopping in their arms.
Now they had dumped all their shopping bags in their rather luxurious room. Megan had found a hotel she had liked on one of the electronic information screens and booked it using the credit card the Doctor had given them, opting for a deluxe suite naturally! After a long hot bath, both were ready for something to eat and drink and had found a table at the hotel restaurant.
Both were blissfully unaware that they were being watched.
4.
The hotel restaurant was a fantastic place with one wall made completely from glass that looked out onto the ocean beyond. Tiny multi-coloured lights played over the coral reef below the city turning into a magical grove. The lights in the restaurant were dim with tables lit softly so as not to spoil the incredible vista beyond.
Katherine gazed appreciatively at the extensive menu. She was used to fine cuisine and the choices on offer at the restaurant seemed excellent with an obvious accent on fish and seafood. Megan, on the other hand, felt a bit lost and realised that this was a real role reversal of what she had put Katherine through in their shopping spree. So she just shrugged and smiled, put down the menu and let Katherine order for her.
After a few moments, and with the help of a very attentive waiter, Katherine chose fresh sea scallops with a herb and butter dressing as a starter, followed by a fillet of sea bass with fresh vegetables. For Megan, who told Katherine that she quite liked spicy food, Katherine chose king prawns with chilli and garlic to start, followed by a fresh lobster dressed with crab. With some beautifully fresh crusty bread and some glasses of a wonderful Chardonnay – French naturally – this was a meal to remember!
The girls were just polishing off the last remains of some chocolate profiteroles and cream that Megan declared 'were to die for' when Katherine dropped her napkin on the floor. She bent down to retrieve it, pushing her chair backwards and accidentally pushed against the legs of a man who happened to be walking behind her.
There was a crash of glass as, with a curse, the man dropped the bottle of wine he had been carrying and hopped backwards clutching his injured leg. He turned around, ready to deliver let loose his anger just as Katherine looked up, full of apology. "I'm so sorry monsieur, I didn't see you!"
The man, who was tall with slicked back black hair and really quite handsome, was dressed in a black dinner suit. He opened his mouth to deliver some stinging retort and then closed it again when he realised that, in the first place, it had been an accident, and in the second, Katherine was quite beautiful. "That's all right, I can see you didn't mean it," he smiled. "It was a terrible waste of a good wine though," he shrugged looking down at the remains of the smashed bottle as waiters hurried over to clean up the mess. He extended his hand. "My name's Jeff Davenport, but my friends call me 'JD'."
5.
It was almost, Megan described later with a rueful smile, 'a pink fluffy moment'.
Katherine put out her hand to shake Davenport's hand but instead he reached down and kissed it. Katherine was quite used to this sort of attention, at least before she had married her beloved Remy, and played it beautifully, giving a short bob and widening her big brown eyes. "My name is Katherine de Gallois, monsieur Davenport."
Davenport smiled, still holding Katherine's hand. "Enchanted mademoiselle!"
Katherine took back her hand and gestured towards Megan. "And this is my friend Megan Williams."
Megan just grinned and gave a little wave. "Hi there!"
Davenport grinned back at Megan. "Nice to meet you Megan, and call me 'JD' please!"
Katherine smiled; she was good at this game. She pointed to an empty seat on their table. "Won't you join us JD, let us buy you a new bottle of wine at least?" She caught a waiter's eye that was hovering nearby and he nodded and scurried off to the bar.
JD grinned. "That's very generous of you, how can I refuse?" He leaned forwards. "Now what are you two lovely ladies doing all alone in Reef City One?"
Megan chuckled. "Who says we're alone?"
JD held up his hands. "Hey, no offence, I'm not trying to lay any cheesy lines on you believe me!"
The waiter arrived with a bottle of wine and after a nod from Katherine, poured it into three fresh glasses before withdrawing.
JD took an appreciative sip from the wine. "Great choice, look, if you are alone, let me show you around."
Megan raised an eyebrow, noticing JD's interest in Katherine. "And by 'you', you mean 'us' right?"
JD laughed. "Yeah, sure; you're both welcome. What do you say? I know some fun places."
Katherine exchanged a glance with Megan and decided to flirt a bit more. "And how would you know those?"
JD took a business card from his pocket. On one side were two wavy blue lines, one above the other. "I work for the Aquarius Corporation. I've been at Reef City One since it was built believe me!" He took another sip of wine. "Some business clients have hired an aqua-pod to go and explore the reef tomorrow. Care to tag along?"
Megan looked excitedly at Katherine who smiled. "Sounds like fun!"
6.
The next morning, after a good night's rest in fabulously comfortable beds, Megan and Katherine had met up with JD in a huge chamber that served as a dock for submarines that the locals termed 'aqua-pods'. These came in various sizes from bulk carriers to the smaller, privately owned models. It seemed that Reef City One was only one part of the underwater terra-forming on the planet and there were other, smaller habitations on the ocean bed that could be reached using the aqua-pods. There were also, as JD had explained the night previously, private homes, way-stations and industrial complexes. The dock itself was a fairly large chamber about the size of a football field that was half flooded with water. Jetties led to the various aqua-pods that were moored there. In the sides of the chamber were large portholes that led to airlocks that would fully flood with water and release the aqua-pod into the ocean beyond.
JD had met both girls with friendly embraces, although Megan noticed with a flicker of a smile, he certainly held Katherine just a fraction longer. He then introduced five business associates, two men and one woman, all dressed impeccably and clearly stinking rich, together with two aliens. Both girls were taken aback at first as all their previous encounters with aliens with the Doctor had been hostile. The aliens were the size of a man and a cross between a lizard and a tropical fish in appearance. They were generally green in colour but with glittering scales of different hues, some blue, some gold and some scarlet. These, as JD later told the girls, were Lemerians, the indigenous population of the planet. The Lemerians also lived under the oceans in beautiful coral cities, the nearest being a few days travel by aqua-pod. The Lemerians were quite peaceful and traded and co-operated freely with the Aquarius Corporation that ran Reef City One.
After a small champagne and canapé reception at the dock, they had all entered a very elegant aqua-pod about the size of a yacht. One of the JD's clients, a man called Bradley, had taken to the controls and steered the pod expertly towards the nearest airlock, whilst the other guest relaxed on comfortable white leather sofas
As the sleek aqua-pod left the airlock and swept out into the ocean, both Megan and Katherine knew that the experience would stay with them for the rest of their lives.