Doctor Who_ Storm Harvest - Mike Tucker [5]
He was busy putting his kite together when she dropped on to the sand next to him. She leant back and stared at the huge sweep of the rings cutting across the sky.
9
The Doctor smiled at her. ‘Impressive, isn’t it?’
Ace nodded. ‘Wicked.’
‘It used to be a moon – a very long time ago.’
Ace stretched back on the white sand. ‘What happened?’ The Doctor stared up at the rings thoughtfully, shading his eyes. ‘I’m not sure. I should pop back one day and find out.
‘But not today.’
‘No’ He held his kite out proudly. ‘Not today.’ He clambered to his feet. A bunch of kids thundered past him down the beach, splashing into the sea. Ace could hear the chatter of their parents lounging under the palms. All around there were scattered groups of people, swimming, sunbathing, generally having a good time. On the edge of the shoreline a small group was setting up a sophisticated sail board.
Ace stared at them. Humanoid but definitely not human. Too many limbs for one thing.
The Doctor answered her unasked question. ‘Dreekans. You find a lot of them on the ocean planets. Very good swimmers. Having four arms does help, I suppose.’
As if to prove the point two of the Dreekans launched themselves into the water and within moments they were little more than dots heading for the horizon.
The Doctor began to trot down the beach, reeling out the kite’s tail.
Ace rummaged in her beach bag and pulled out a cassette tape.
Courtney Pine. God, it had been a long time ago when she bought this.
Another nightmare. She peered at the small shape of the Doctor. It was so strange seeing him in a relaxed environment. Too often they were in the thick of things as soon as they landed; and the last few weeks had been worse than most. The Blitz. Victorian London...
The events of their last adventure had shaken the Doctor badly.
Things had been awkward between them since then, and they hadn’t talked about it properly. Not yet. Ace scratched idly at the small scar on her neck. The scar where the Doctor had tried to...*
She shook her head angrily. She was on holiday for God’s sake!
They had come here to heal things. To relax.
She slipped the cassette into her ghetto-blaster and hit play. Soft jazz drifted over the beach. One of the Dreekans on the shoreline cocked his head, listening. He turned and gave her a dazzling smile.
Ace grinned back.
‘I wonder what else you’ve got four of,’ she murmured.
There was a sudden cry of delight from the kids she had seen earlier.
* See Doctor Who – Matrix
10
The Doctor’s kite had leapt into the sky, sending gulls scattering in alarm. The Doctor sent it soaring higher and higher, weaving in intricate patterns against the distant rings.
Ace settled back on the soft sand and closed her eyes. The suns were gorgeously warm on her skin. Everything was turning out perfectly.
Brenda Mulholland sipped her third coffee of the morning and stared out of the huge, curved window that dominated her office. The island chain stretched away into the haze of morning light, a thin line of green among the endless blue. Below her the colony stretched down the headland, already alive with traders and tourists. Tourists, for God’s sake! Only four years since the first colonists had arrived on Coralee and they were already attracting tourists from the outer worlds. Not that this was a bad thing, of course, it was good for the economy – she could just hear the chatter from the market quarter and the harbour.
The colony was already beginning to struggle with the rapidly expanding population, which was well over the projected figures. They had to start developing the other islands fast if they were going to keep up with demand. Most of the infrastructure was in place, the reactor was more than capable of coping with the extra demand and one of the smaller islands had been fitted out as a halfway decent shuttle port. She could see a distant transport droning across the