Herein lies the beginning of the new tail, er, tale, where we are introduced to a group of vacationing Yanks, who could not have foreseen how their vacation would turn out. Be patient, dear readers: the characters you love will come into the story...

Set about a year after the end of Season Three.

Please let me know what you think...

The Moon Pool

"Now what?" Rowan asked Tanya as they walked back along the beach towards their hotel.

The girls had become fast friends during the last couple of years, ever since Rowan's husband Paul and Tanya's boyfriend Stephen had started working for the same software company in California. The guys had come to Queensland for a software conference and had brought the girls along for a mini-vacation afterwards. They were almost done with the vacation part of their trip, though; in just a few days they were all scheduled to fly back to the States. The two friends had spent the morning snorkeling at the point until the surge had gotten too strong for them and now were on their way back to the hotel.

"When are the guys supposed to get back?" Tanya asked.

There was a world-class golf course on the other side of the city and the guys had taken off a few hours previously for a round of golf. Rowan took a look at her watch.

"They're probably only half done," she said.

"Which means they won't be back for another 3 hours or so," said Tanya. "I don't think we should wait for them."

"I think we should see how Jackie is feeling; it's too bad she has been unable to go into the water the entire trip," Rowan suggested.

Jackie and her husband Seth used to live next door to Paul and Rowan in California and had become close friends. Even though they had moved down to the LA area they stayed close and when they heard about the vacation to Australia had decided to come along.

"It must be hard on her, having to sit and watch us swimming," Tanya mused.

"I don't understand what is wrong with her, though. Something about a reaction to both seawater and chlorinated water was what she told me. She said it's been bothering her for about six months now; something happened when she and Seth went on that vacation to Muir Beach."

"That's too bad," Tanya said, "She's missing out on some great swimming."

The two girls approached a stretch of beach that was surrounded by broken up by rocky outcroppings. It was not a good place to surf, but there were some good tidal pools scattered around. As they passed by a couple of the larger rocks Rowan caught a glimpse of someone with red hair down by the water.

"Hey, isn't that Jackie?" Rowan asked, pointing.

"Probably, she has been spending a lot of time hanging out down there," Tanya replied.

"Let's go see how she's doing."

As the girls walked closer to where Rowan had seen Jackie a small cloud of steam rose from the middle of the rocks.

"What was that?" Tanya asked. "Was that steam or was that mist?"

The steam or mist dissipated quickly and the girls could see that Jackie was on the other side of a big rock. As the girls came around the rock they found Jackie sitting with her feet up against a boulder, watching the surf.

"Hey Jackie, you missed some good snorkeling," Rowan said when Jackie saw them.

"I'm sorry, guys," Jackie replied, standing carefully so as to not get her shoes wet. "Maybe some other time."

"That's okay," Tanya told her. "We're just sorry you haven't been able to have fun in the water the entire trip."

"I'm doing okay," Jackie replied. "I've been enjoying the ocean in my own way."

"So let's do something we can all do," Rowan suggested.

"Sounds great, what did you have in mind?" Jackie asked, standing.

"Well, we've been snorkeling and swimming," Tanya said.

"Maybe we can do something on land?" Jackie suggested.

The three girls headed up towards the beach path. Not much farther to the south was the start of their hotel's beach and the recreation shack. There were wind boards, tubes, and lots of other gear to rent. There were even a couple of motorboats tethered to a pier that ran out into the water from the beach. Seeing the boats Rowan suddenly got an idea.

"Hey, why don't we go out to Mako Island?" Rowan said. "Nobody goes there; it might be fun to check out an unspoiled island."

"I've heard there are sharks around the island," Tanya said.

"Maybe we should ask," Jackie suggested as they got to the shack.

"There are sharks surrounding the island, correct," said Jack, the recreation outfitter, "but they won't bother you if you're in the boat."

The girls liked his description of the reef and the secluded beaches and decided to rent one of the motorboats for the afternoon. After pulling some clothes on over their swimsuits and retrieving some dry towels from the hotel they jumped into the boat and Rowan steered it out away from the pier towards the faintly visible island off in the distance to the east. After just a few minutes they were able to recognize the smudge as the Mako Island volcano and Rowan aimed the boat directly for it.

As they got closer the girls got a better look at the island. The jungle was thick at the base with the bare sides of the volcano rising up out of the jungle. There was a beach surrounded by exposed reef rocks, which looked like a great place to anchor the boat. On the side of the beach a stream came out of the jungle and ran into the ocean. Rowan maneuvered through the reef towards the beach, and after they passed that last of the rocks she gunned the engine and with a rasp the boat drove up partway onto the beach and stopped.

Rowan and Tanya hopped out onto the wet sand and pulled the boat up higher. Jackie then carefully stepped out and they all pulled the boat up past the water line and set out the anchor.

"This looks perfect!" Rowan told the others. "Not another soul in sight."

The girls pulled off their over clothes and spread out their towels and lay back, soaking up the warm sun.

After getting her fill of the sun Jackie announced that she was going to hike up the stream.

"Maybe there's a waterfall or pool up there," she explained. "Interested?"

"Sure," Rowan said.

"Sounds fun," Tanya replied. "But we shouldn't go very far as the sun will set soon."

"But the moon is up and it looks full!" Jackie said.

The three girls pulled back on their over clothes and headed for where the stream ran out of the jungle, towards the ocean. There they found a faint trail running alongside the stream that made it easier to hike up. After hiking through the trees the three found themselves at a rocky pool pressed up against the base of a waterfall. They had climbed steadily and from their vantage point had a good view out over the lagoon surrounding the beach. Off in the distance, under the setting sun, they could see the coastline near the Gold Coast and down on the beach they could see their boat. The girls looked out over the water between them and the mainland; there were no other boats in sight anywhere.

"What a gorgeous view!" Jackie exclaimed. "I'm surprised no one else is out here."

"Me, too," Rowan said. "But it is kind of creepy here."

"You felt that, too?" Tanya asked. "I thought it was just me."

"Do you guys want to head back down to the boat?" Jackie asked. "I'm going to go on a little farther."

"No, we'll come with you," Rowan replied. "But just to the waterfall; it's getting dark."

Jackie led the way around the pool towards the waterfall, with Rowan and Tonya following. After climbing onto a large rock she stood and looked around, trying to decide whether she should go on. In front of her the stream from the waterfall had cut a small channel.

"That looks easy," Rowan said, joining her on top of the rock

Rowan jumped across to another rock and waved Jackie on. Jackie was just getting ready to jump when she suddenly stopped and peered down. Just below her a crack in the rock had formed the entrance to a cave.

"Hey, Rowan, there's a cave here," Jackie called out to Rowan, who was looking at the waterfall.

"Don't go in; we don't have flashlights and it will get dark soon!" Tanya exclaimed, joining Jackie on the rock.

"Just a peek; there are footprints here," Jackie said and sat down and scooted partway into the opening.

The cave turned down at a sharp angle and Jackie suddenly found herself sliding down a narrow chute into the dark, unable to stop.

"Oops!" she shouted as she rocketed down the chute.

When Jackie vanished with a shout Rowan jumped back across the gap and stuck her head in the tunnel opening.

"Hey, are you alright?" Rowan yelled down the chute.

"I'm okay," Jackie called back up.

"Can you climb up?" Tanya asked, joining Jackie at the entrance to the tunnel.

"I don't think that will be a problem," Jackie replied. "But I want to look around this place; there's a side tunnel and some type of light coming from it."

"Wait for me!" Rowan called down.

"You're going down?" Tanya asked. "It's getting dark!"

"The moon's bright and now I'm curious about this place," Rowan explained. "You can wait here for us if you want."

"Let me know if you can climb out when you get down there," Tanya told her.

Rowan carefully climbed down the chute, going in reverse and keeping her feet to the side where it didn't look quite so slippery. After a minute or two she found herself at the bottom of the chute, in a sandy cavern. On the far side of the cavern she could see Jackie looking into a side passage that was faintly illuminated with a blue glow.

"I'm down!" she called back up to Tanya. "Going up should be easy."

Moments later she heard the rasp of someone sliding down the chute and Tanya slid out, onto the sandy floor of the cavern.

"I thought you were going to stay up there," Rowan said.

"I didn't say that; I just wanted to know if you thought we could climb back up."

Tanya looked around at the cavern. Not only was there the dimming light from the chute, but there was also a faint glow coming from a side tunnel with steps up that led deeper into the mountain.

"I want to check out the side tunnel," Jackie told them from the entrance to the side passage.

"Then we better hurry!" Rowan said. "The sun is probably already down."

Jackie climbed up the steps into the side passage and Rowan and Tanya followed her. The floor of the side passage was sandy which made walking easier. After the steps the tunnel gradually descended and curved until it ended at a circular room with a pool to the side. Looking up the girls saw that they were in the middle of the volcano; they could see up the throat and out of the volcano into the almost dark sky. One side of the throat was brighter than the other; it looked like light from the moon was shining into the volcano.

"Cool!" Rowan exclaimed.

Turning the girls examined the pool and noticed that under the water level there appeared to be passage; there was some light coming in from the passage.

"Maybe that is another way out?" Tanya asked.

"Or a dead end," Rowan said.

"Look at the light coming in; I bet that's moonlight!" Jackie observed. "Maybe we should stay away from it."

"Looks cool to me," Rowan said. "One of us should check it out."

"Well, I used to be on the swim team and can hold my breath for quite a while," Tanya said.

"Okay, but be careful; don't go too far!" Rowan warned.

"Will do," Tanya said and after she removed her over clothes she jumped into the pool.

After a couple of deep breaths she dove under the water and swam into the passage. After a couple of minutes Tanya reappeared from the passage and surfaced.

"It looks like the tunnel leads out through the reef into the ocean; it's not too far to where you can surface and take a breath," Tanya told them. "The moonlight is really bright and you can see very well."

"I want to take a look," Rowan said.

She took off her shoes and over clothes then slipped into the pool.

"Coming, Jackie?" Rowan asked.

"It's really cool," Tanya said, treading water in the center of the pool. "Come on, Jackie!"

"Um, I don't think I can," Jackie exclaimed. "I'd better say right here, nice and dry."

"Are you sure, Jackie?" Rowan asked.

"Yes."

Rowan and Tanya prepared to dive and swim out the passage. The interior of the cave, especially right in the middle of the pool, suddenly got very bright. Looking up the girls discovered that the full moon was almost directly overhead and its light was shining down on the pool. As they watched the moon became centered in the mouth of the volcano and suddenly the water of the pool surrounding Rowan and Tanya began to bubble and swirl. The surface of the water began to glow and the glow enveloped the girls. A tingling sensation ran through the two of them as they looked in amazement around the cavern.

As quick as the weird bubbling and light had appeared things became normal again, leaving Rowan and Tanya treading water in the pool and Jackie watching from the side. Even thought the moon was no longer directly overhead and was moving off the light from it was still bright enough to see, and the underwater passage was also still brightly illuminated.

"I don't know what that was, but we should get going!" Rowan exclaimed.

Tanya nodded in agreement and took a couple of deep breaths. Rowan submerged first, followed by Tanya and the two girls vanished from sight. As Jackie waited for them to return she looked around in wonder, fingering the strange rock pendant that she wore around her neck.

"Unbelievable; now them too?" she asked cryptically.

Sure enough, not far from the pool the tunnel opened out into the ocean. It was just as Tanya had said; the light from the full moon was bright in the water and the visibility was excellent. After looking around a little at the reef Rowan and Tanya swam for the surface.

"We shouldn't rest here; there might be sharks," Tanya said once they had broke through the surface of the water.

The girls turned and dove again, swimming through the water towards the brightly lit entrance to the tunnel. After a moment longer they surfaced in the pool, finding Jackie waiting anxiously for their return.

"You guys okay?" Jackie asked.

"It was so cool!' Rowan exclaimed. "You could see really well underwater!"

"Great, but I think we'd better get out of here," Jackie said. "The light is slowly dimming."

Tanya and Rowan pulled themselves out of the pool and pulled on their socks and shoes. Jackie then led the way back up the path and over the steps, to the base of the chute.

"Be careful!" Jackie warned and carefully climbed up the chute.

After pulling the rest of their over clothes on Rowan and Tanya followed, emerging from the tunnel into the still bright moonlight.

"See, it's still bright enough," Rowan said.

"I hope it stays bright enough for the hike down," Tanya said. "Let's hurry!"

Once through the jungle and onto the beach they quickly headed for the boat. After helping get the boat pushed back almost into the water Jackie jumped in and Tanya and Rowan gave it one last shove, then jumped in as the boat slid back into the water, clear of the beach.

Back at the mainland they were met by a very worried Jack at the pier.

"Did you run out of gas?" he exclaimed.

"Um, sorry," Rowan said. "We lost track of the time."

"You're lucky you didn't get lost, or stuck," Jack said.

"We know," Tanya told him as they left the shack, heading for the hotel.

As the girls entered the hotel they were met by the guys who were sitting around the lobby waiting for them.

"Well, look who finally decided to come back," Paul said after giving Rowan a kiss.

"Very funny," Rowan replied.

"Let's go eat; I'm starved!" Tanya exclaimed.

As they all went into the restaurant Seth's questioning look to Jackie went unseen by the others.

Later that night Rowan woke up suddenly and got out of bed and went to the window. The full moon was just going below the horizon and as it set Rowan had a feeling that something odd was happening. Nothing seemed out of place so she went back to bed and snuggled up against Paul's back and fell into a deep sleep.

To be continued in Chapter 2, Discoveries