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"Nope, I don't care where or when. It could be present day, ten million years from now or 100 years ago, I just wanna go sailing."
"Don't tell me anywhere, cause we'll end up in the Bering Strait during an Ice Age."
"Well all right then, someplace nice. But really, it could be just about anywhere."
"Anywhere it is then." The Doctor said, grinning as he pulled the controls. Lucy had to restrain herself from jumping up and down and hugging him. But she'd wanted to go sailing for so long now. She did wish that Juliet was here with her, but she'd have to settle and she was, of course, grateful.
"Okay, this is really going to be a surprise, so no peaking."
"What, are you gonna cover my eyes and lead me forward, then?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea!" Lucy was about to protest, but the Doctor was already behind her, his hands over her eyes. She laughed and tried not to stumble as he was so much taller than she was and had to take much shorter steps.
"Okay, then Doctor, where are we?"
"I don't know, I haven't opened my eyes yet."
"Doctor!" Lucy shrieked, sure they were about to take a dive off the deck.
"Only joking, Lucy, only joking, no need to shout. But really, surprise over, we've landed inside a cupboard again."
Lucy felt the Doctor's hands leave her face and she was looking at a closed door only centimeters from her. The Doctor leaned in front of her and graciously opened the door. They stepped outside and-
"Oh, it's perfect! Doctor, just smell the air, you can feel the salt spray and everything! God, this is brilliant!... Where are we?"
"This is the good ship, the S.S. Hugo. I'm guessing that's Victor Hugo, although, maybe not. Anyway, we are sailing 50 miles out from the nearest tip of land in the Atlantic Ocean and headed west, traveling at about 30 knots. And you're sailing, Lucy Blake."
Lucy ran to the railing of the ship, the wind whipping her hair about her as she leaned over the edge. The sun was bright, but she didn't mind. She wondered vaguely if she had dressed for the part. She'd picked the 1940's as a template for her ensemble. She was wearing wide legged-high waist white trousers with a blue and white striped nautical shirt. She'd done her hair in curls and she was wearing patent leather black flats. She knew nautical and she knew 1940's, but with her luck, this was the 20's or something.
A crewmember came striding up to them at this point, and she figured she was at least close to the mark.
"Pardon, but who the hell are you two?" The crewmember was dashing, almost as tall as the Doctor, tanned from sailing.
"Does Mr. Hugo know you're here?" the sailor went on.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Hugo invited us weeks ago. We met at the Club, I'm the Doctor and this is my niece Lucy Blake." The Doctor had pulled out the psychic paper and displayed it for the sailor.
He took one long look at it and said, "Right then. Well, follow me; I'm sure Mr. Hugo would like to have all his guests in one place." The Doctor just beamed and offered his elbow for Lucy.
"Go on then, Doctor, what did the psychic paper tell him?" The Doctor turned the psychic paper over and smiled at it.
"It just says I'm the Doctor and gives my degree from Oxford University." Lucy grinned as they walked toward the bow. Once there, Lucy discovered a jovial sight. A corpulent man, presumably Mr. Hugo, was standing in the centre of a semi-circle. To his left were a man and woman, a rich couple, Lucy thought. The woman was tall and blonde, and looked distinctively vapid. She was the epitome of a trophy wife, smiling and doting on her husband. The man himself looked quite smug, and somewhat like a seedy lawyer. To Mr. Hugo's right were two men in business suits, both Italian looking. Thoughts of the mafia immediately crept into Lucy's head. They all turned when the sailor and the two strangers approached. The two business men and Mr. Hugo all gave Lucy approving looks. The sailor stepped forward and was the picture of graceful servitude, saying, "Presenting the Doctor of the University of Oxford and his niece, Lucy Blake."
Mr. Hugo looked confused for a second, but the Doctor flashed the psychic paper again. With a glance at that, Mr. Hugo looked placated. "Yes, of course. Thank you, Davis." Davis nodded and before he left, the Doctor grabbed him by the arm.
"Tell me, Davis, because I'm an idiot. What year is it?"
"Sir?"
"Oh, you heard me, what year is it?"
"It's the year of our Lord, 1947, sir."
"Thank you, Davis." The Doctor let go of his arm and let him walk off, looking somewhat confused. Mr. Hugo invited Lucy and the Doctor into his little semi-circle and said,
"Forgive me for not recongnising you, Doctor Blake, I-"
"Oh no, it's just the Doctor. My niece is the only who goes by Blake."
"Yes, of course, forgive me, Doctor. At any rate, you all know why I've invited you here. One week ago I scattered the ashes of my dear, departed Margot in the whirlpool. It is said that if one returns a week after leaving the remains of his loved one, he will be granted a great gift. Well, my Margot always wanted to be put to rest here and now I've invited you all to see if the legends are true. Cheers, mates."
Mr. Hugo's guests all raised the glasses they held, toasting their friend. Mr. Hugo nodded and said something about checking on the course. As soon as he left, his guests swarmed on Lucy and the Doctor.
"Pleased to meet you, sir and lady. I'm Cooper Callow and this is my lovely wife Anne. What exactly are you a Doctor of, Doctor? Because I've got this nasty-"
"Everything, you could say, but come on then, it's a holiday, isn't it? Let's all just relax."
The two business men gave each other a look but then turned back to Lucy and the Doctor. Addressing the latter, the one on the left said, "I am Simon Gavazzi and this is my twin brother, Michael. We have known Mr. Hugo all our lives but we have never seen you two before."
"Did you hear that, Doctor, they're twins too, just like me." Lucy said quickly, trying to steer the conversation away from where it was headed. She was met with success.
"And where is your twin, Miss Blake? Was she not invited?" Michael Gavazzi asked.
"Oh, no, it's not that. Juliet, er, she's at home. Doesn't fancy the sea." The Gavazzi brothers nodded simultaneously and Lucy couldn't help but feel an unpleasant shiver go up her spine.
"Tell me," said the Doctor, "because we've been away for a while. What happened to poor Mrs. Margot Hugo?"
Anne Callow spoke up now. "Poor thing died of heart attack. I always said she would, God rest her soul. She'd been going on for weeks and weeks about-"
"Now, now, darling, let's have none of that. The Doctor doesn't want to hear about those sorts of things." Mr. Callow chastised his wife.
"Oh, but the Doctor does. Go on, Anne, tell me what Margot said."
Anne looked sheepish and cast a half-frightened look at her husband. "Well, for weeks and weeks she was going on about the sea. She kept saying she'd end up in the whirlpool. Now, Mr. Hugo heard her and thought that she was telling him where she wanted her ashes scattered when she died, God rest her. But she looked so frightened; I think she was trying to ask for help. She said, and I was the last person to talk to her before her heart gave out, she said, 'There's something in the whirlpool. Something dark and dangerous and old. And it can only kill.'" Anne Callow's voice was hushed and every ear was tuned to what she said. The Doctor and Lucy exchanged dark glances and the Doctor said,
"Did she say what sort of thing was in the whirlpool?"
"Oh come on then!" shouted Mr. Callow. "It's not real, this thing. Margot Hugo was off her nut!" Just then, several things happened all at once.
Mr. Hugo came up from below; opening his mouth wide, presumably to tell them all something. But he stopped in his tracks when he saw what the rest of them did.
The sky was clouding over and the clouds crashing together. The waves were roiling beneath them, tossing the ship back and forth in an increasingly violent manner. Larger waves were building up not far from them, threatening to crash over the railing, damage the hull, sweep them away, sink them, or any combination of those unpleasant things.
The crew had all come up from wherever they'd been previously, looking at everything, mouths open, unused to anything like this in all their sea voyages.
And lastly, a huge tentacle over fifty feet long shot out from the depths of the ocean and snatched Mr. Callow from the deck of the ship. Anne rushed to the railing as her husband was pulled screaming below the surface and two sailors had to restrain her to keep her from jumping in after him. She clutched one of them, sobbing. Lucy could see where Mr. Callow had disappeared and found a great whirlpool much closer than she would have liked.
Mr. Hugo grabbed the nearest sailor and said, "Quickly now, we need to slow down and turn round. Trim all the sails, I want them completely in. That means all three sheets out of the winches. We stop first and then turn round. I need every hand on deck!" Lucy admired how efficient Mr. Hugo was, she had taken him for some kind of blundering oaf. She watched as six sailors, two to each sail released the sails from the winches. The mainsail, the one in the middle, stuck, however. Before the sailors could get up to free it, two more tentacles shot out of the watery abyss and grabbed the two unlucky sailors, pulling them below. Several more sailors ran off deck to get weapons.
A storm had really started now and Lucy looked to the Doctor for guidance.
"We can't just leave them!" Lucy said. The Doctor nodded and had to grab hold of Lucy as a giant wave came crashing down around their ears. In her panic, Lucy hadn't even seen it coming. She held tight to the Doctor as the ship rocked back and forth. She was sure it would capsize. The three sailors who had left to get weapons were back. Two of them were swept overboard by another giant wave. The third was snatched up by a hateful tentacle and dragged underwater.
"I'd say those waves are over five meters high! And the wind has got to be at about 50 knots!" the Doctor shouted over the roar that was crashing wave and howling wind. The Gavazzi brother had pulled out pistols and were shooting at tentacles as they came up. They didn't seem to be doing any real damage, just angering the beast. The Doctor seemed to share Lucy's thought. He ran up to them, still holding Lucy close to his side. "You're only making it angry! We should get as far back as possible. Maybe against the cabin and let the sailors handle it!"
"Fat chance, Doctor. We make our own luck and we're gonna kill this good for nothing squid." Michael Gavazzi said. No sooner had he made his bold prediction than a large tentacle coiled around his middle. He cast a horrified look at his brother, Simon and screamed as he was thrown into the water. Simon Gavazzi wasted no time, and dove in after his brother, apparently trying to rescue him from a giant squid and a whirlpool. Lucy looked round. Anne Callow was already being held by the wall of the cabin by two sailors and Mr. Hugo. There was only one sailor left trying to free the mainsail so they could stop on their collision course towards a giant whirlpool. Lucy and the Doctor both huddled against the cabin and said,
"You know, this is not unlike Greek mythology. Odysseus had to sail through the Strait of Messina, between a giant sea monster called Scylla and a giant whirlpool called Charybdis."
"Fascinating, Doctor, but they're not making any headway with that mainsail." said Lucy. She freed herself from the Doctor's grip and ran quite swiftly to the lone sailor. "Tell me what I can do to help!' she shouted at him and saw that it was Davis.
"A bit of the beam came off in the storm and now the sail is stuck. The only way to free it is to climb all the way up to the Crow's Nest and then climb out onto the sail and pull it up."
'Well that's what I'll do, then." said Lucy. Without any further ado, she set one foot in the netting that would allow her to climb to the Crow's Nest. She ignored the shouted protests from the Doctor and pulled herself higher and higher. She'd always been good at climbing, but it was a bit different in the wind, in a storm, on a moving ship, on an uneasy rope net and with several lives, including her own at stake. She was already more than halfway and she had to keep reminding herself not to look down.
Lucy finally reached the Crow's Nest and hoisted herself inside. She allowed herself only half a second to breathe before starting to climb out onto the sail. This was where her dance training would come in handy. She crawled, hands and knees for a few steps and then a gust of wind threatened to blow her off the ship altogether. She saw the Doctor rush forward to join Davis out of the corner of her eye. She took a deep breath and kept going. She was where she needed to be. Now all she had to do was actually hoist up the sail.
Lucy looked to her left and saw the absolute worst sight. A humongous tentacle was rushing toward her, ready to grab and drown. "LUCY!" she could hear the Doctor scream over the wind and the storm. Lucy hugged the sail support with her knees and wrapped her fists around. Before the tentacle reached her, she swung upside down wrapping her ankles around the support. She felt the tentacle crash on the beam and it caused her hands to slip. She was hanging on only by her knees and her ankles. She tried to focus, first swinging herself backward and then forward several times until-
Aha! She'd swung herself high enough to grab hold of the beam and then swing herself right side up again. She wasted no time in pulling up the sail. Once she had secured it, she used the slack from the rope to repel down to the deck. Davis steadied her rope all the way down and the Doctor caught her in his arms when she finally was there. He hugged her tight and said,
"You were brilliant, you were. Did you know, whirlpools were called maelstroms a while ago? It originates from the mythological story of Grottasongr, who-"
"Ssh." Lucy said, putting a finger to his lips. He looked surprised, but not altogether displeased. He stopped talking, at any rate. They walked back to Mr. Hugo, Mrs. Callow, Davis and the few surviving sailors.
"What happened, Doctor? Surely you can make sense of all this?" Mr. Hugo implored, looking desperate.
"I think your wife may have had some psychic abilities, dormant in her until just before her death. Perhaps she had dreams of the giant monster in the whirlpool killing everyone. She talked to Mrs. Callow about it. Mr. Hugo, you thought you were carrying out her last wishes by scattering her ashes here, but this was what she was trying to warn you about. It's not your fault, anyone could have misunderstood. And maybe scattering her ashes was what made the sea monster wake up in the first place, maybe that was the trigger."
"But if scattering her ashes there, if that was the trigger, then she could have just said she wanted to be buried." Offered Davis.
"Well that's just it, she tried. She tried to warn Mrs. Callow and her husband." said the Doctor.
"So is it premonition or paradox?" asked Lucy.
The Doctor turned to her and grinned. "Guess we'll never know. It could be a little bit of both; it's all mind-boggling at any rate. Now if you'll excuse us, Mr. Hugo, Lucy and I really should be going."
"Of course, Doctor, we'll arrange to head home straight away, I think we all need a good rest."
"Oh no need, Mr. Hugo, Lucy and I have our own means of transportation." Mr. Hugo, and everyone else for that matter all looked confused but said nothing as the Doctor and Lucy Blake headed starboard and then walked toward the stern, where they had come.
Back inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. and away from the ocean and the S.S. Hugo, Lucy and the Doctor were thinking and plotting their next move.
"What do you think was really down there, Doctor? Did you mean it about Margot having a premonition?"
"I'm not sure about either, Lucy. People will always surprise me."
"Do you think it was extra-terrestrial, thought, that monster thing?"
"No, it was definitely from Earth, I'm positive. Margot said, in her ramblings, that it was old. But, we're safe, you were brilliant and you even got to sail. So, where to next, Lucy?"
"Where indeed?" she said softly, smiling.
