Doctor Who_ Storm Harvest - Mike Tucker [21]
‘Good morning, my dear.’
Ace groaned inwardly. Bryce. She slid out from under his hand.
38
‘Wotcha, how’s the head?’
Bryce shook his head dismissively. ‘I’m fine, my dear. It takes more than a few bottles of cheap colony plonk to dampen my spirits.
Besides, I’ve got work to do. Lots of research.’ He gestured at the submarine. ‘Are you joining us? Exploring the ruins, delving into the past?’
Ace was about to decline politely when her eye was caught by the man clambering out of the sub. He was about her age, tall and slim –
Indian by the look of him – muscles rippling under his vest. He looked over at her and smiled.
Ace patted Bryce on the arm. ‘I may well be, Mr Bryce. I may well be.’
Bryce followed her eyeline. ‘Ah, young Rajiid. Our captain.’ He waved at the young Indian. ‘Rajiid, come and say hello to our new guest.’
Rajiid hopped up on to the jetty and sauntered over, grinning.
‘Who have you found to bother now, Edwin?’
‘Bother? My dear young man, Miss Ace is a keen explorer and companion of an excellent fellow by the name of the Doctor.’ He looked around in surprise. ‘Where is the Doctor by the way? I wouldn’t have thought he’d want to miss this.’
‘Oh he’ll catch us up later, don’t you worry’ Ace held out a hand to Rajiid. ‘Hi.’
The submarine pilot shook it firmly ‘What brings you to Coralee, Miss Ace?’
‘Not a lot, and it’s just Ace’ She nodded at the sub. ‘Does that make you a scientist?’
Bryce laughed. ‘Him? No, he’s an entrepreneur. Now if you will excuse me, I must get my usual seat.’
He bustled off down the gangplank. Ace looked after him, puzzled.
‘What did he mean, an entrepreneur?’
‘He means that I saw an opportunity and took it. Tourists are flocking here so we set up a tourist attraction.’ He nodded at the tall blond guy helping people down the gangplank. ‘Greg and I do tours of the ruins. The mysteries of ancient Coralee. The sub’s not big but she does the job.’ He grinned at her cheekily. ‘Fancy a trip around the bay?
On the house, of course.’
Ace nodded. With no monsters to fight and the Doctor out of her hair until dinner, a day with a gorgeous bloke seemed just the thing. ‘Why not.’
The two of them walked over to the sub. ‘Is it just the two of you running it?’ asked Ace.
39
‘Three. Rajiid corrected her. ‘R’tk’tk is our tour guide.’
‘R’tk’tk?’ Ace looked around the jetty. ‘I don’t see him.’
‘That’s because you’re looking the wrong way.’
Rajiid pointed over the edge of the jetty. In the clear blue water a dolphin floated near the bow of the sub. As Ace knelt down it swam over to her. Its grey skin glistened in the morning light. Ace could see a tiny headset set into the skull behind the dolphin’s ear. A translator unit. The Doctor had told her about the cetacean life forms that had settled on the colonies. Earth was far too polluted for them these days, and dolphins and whales comprised nearly a quarter of the colonists on ocean planets.
The dolphin squeaked at her, and Ace felt a slight tingling in the back of her neck as the telepathic translators kicked in.
‘I’m the brains of the outfit, darling. Greg and Rajiid are just the brawn.’
She shrugged. ‘Nice brawn though.’
The dolphin gave a series of harsh clicks. ‘All right if you like that sort of thing. Give me a nice set of fins any day.’
R’tk’tk turned to Rajiid. ‘Hull seems fine. That boat yard may be full of crooks but they seem to know their job. Are we ready to go yet?
Tides on the turn, you know.’
‘OK, OK!’ Rajiid ushered Ace over to the waiting submarine. ‘He’s terribly bossy. Gets it from his mother.’
Ace bounded down the gangplank and clambered through the hatch.
The sub was about the size of a small bus. Everything was arranged around a central airlock bordered with portholes. Two long windows ran down the curved metal walls and rows of seats lined the central aisle. The cabin in the nose contained two chairs for the pilots and was crammed with controls. Greg had already squeezed