Sheri Whitehead stared in awe through the ceiling of the transparent dome.
"It's beautiful," she breathed, taking in the view of millions of sparkling fragments of ice and rock turning slowly above her.
"It is quite spectacular," the Doctor replied, his face lit by a smile.
"And we're really inside Saturn's rings?"
The Doctor nodded. "From Earth, the rings of Saturn appear as two light rings, divided by a band of darkness. That's called the Cassini Division. Over fifty years ago, Cassini Leisure Incorporated bought a two-mile wide chunk of rock inside the Division. They hollowed it out, creating miles of transport tubes and new caverns and built hundreds of transparent domes on the surface. Then they opened it up to tourists from all over the Solar System. It's now an attraction for visitors from all over the Galaxy."
"I'm not surprised," said Sheri, her gaze still captivated by the view.
"Of course, not everybody comes here for the view," the Doctor commented.
Sheri grinned. Their other travelling companion, Fitz Kriener, had headed straight for the Cassini Casino, clutching the bag of gambling chips the Doctor had given him. They expected him to return empty handed.
"So, are you ready to explore?" the Doctor asked.
Sheri shook her head. "I'd much rather go shopping. We passed a row of fancy boutiques on the way from the TARDIS. I could do with a new outfit."
The Doctor frowned. "But the TARDIS has an extensive wardrobe section," he protested.
"I know," Sheri replied, "but none of the clothes are quite me, if you know what I mean."
Sighing, the Doctor reached into his pocket and produced a bagful of the local currency. "Looks like I'm exploring on my own then."
Sheri smiled sweetly, taking the bag. "Thanks. I'll see you back at the TARDIS."
***
After they had parted, Sheri turned away from the area dedicated to clothing shops and set off down another walkway. She didn't really want to buy new clothes. The TARDIS wardrobe had anything she wanted to wear.
In reality, she wanted to explore on her own. She was very independent and, as this seemed a relatively safe place, she didn't feel like trailing after the Doctor all day. She wanted to see the sights on her own, without a teacher/tour guide/adventurer for company.
She felt a little guilty at deceiving her Time Lord friend, but after their recent encounter with the Daleks, she needed to do something on her own. She didn't want to be dependent on the Doctor.
Smiling slightly to herself, she turned a corner, looking for excitement. And she was about to find it.
***
The Doctor was impressed by the beauty of the Magna Quartz sculptures in the gallery he was visiting. Magna Quartz was only found inside the rings of Saturn and it was an extremely fragile material. The sculptures were made and kept in a zero gravity environment, as only a tenth of a gravity would shatter them to dust.
He half turned to impart this information to his companion, before remembering she was away shopping. Sighing, he continued his progress through the gallery, alone.
***
Fitz couldn't believe his luck. He had never had a winning streak like this. Every choice he made seemed to be coming off. His pile of chips was growing. Wait until he told the Doctor and Sheri.
***
Sheri was enjoying herself. Experiencing the sights and sounds of an alien world. Well, it was alien to her, anyway.
The majority of the people around were human, though she had spotted a variety of non-human races as well. There was an exotic atmosphere about the places, probably from the mix of species and cultures.
She paused beside a holographic advertising board. It was promoting the Living With Dinosaurs exhibition.
Sheri smiled to herself. If she had wanted to see dinosaur bones, she could have asked the Doctor to take her home. She worked as a palaeontologist, making plaster casts of bones for the unforgiving Professor Stone. While she enjoyed handling the fossils, she hated the plastering, especially during the hot, dry summer months.
Her mind made up, she decided to pass on the Dinosaur exhibition. She turned to continue her exploration, when something caught her attention.
It was an antique shop on the corner of the market square. This being the 24th Century, she didn't recognise some of the antiques in the window.
The idea of future antiques sparked her curiosity and she decided to browse around.
Inside, the shop was quite dark. Among the old space age articles were some things she recognised. An 18th Century table clock. A Queen Elizabeth II coronation mug. A Boomtown Rats record, on vinyl. A Pokemon video game.
There were others walking round the shop. A middle-aged woman, a young couple, obviously in love and a tall, green humanoid. Beside the counter, a man was talking in a low tone to the orange skinned reptilian behind the cash desk.
Sheri smiled and nodded to the couple as they passed. The youngsters smiled back. Then, all hell broke loose.
From the counter, the low conversation exploded into violent argument.
"Not good enough, Kurtis," yelled the man at the reptile. "You owe me, big time!"
"I don't have your money," hissed Kurtis. "You didn't deliver the goods on time, so you don't get paid."
The man shook his head and pulled a gun from his coat. "Then I'll just start shooting your customers until you pay up!"
"Put the gun down, Mak," said Kurtis from behind his counter. "You won't use it."
Sheri smirked. Gun indeed. She had seen more convincing plastic toys when she visited her sister and nephews.
She changed her mind when Mak used it to vaporise a fake marble statue. Despite its cheap look, it was real enough.
Her fellow customers were reacting with varying degrees of alarm. The young man had a protective arm around his girl, who was pale with shock. The older woman also seemed surprised, while the green alien appeared calm, blinking its large eyes slowly.
"Over here, all of you," commanded Mak, gesturing with the gun. Sheri and the other customers complied.
"Now, sit on the floor," instructed their captor. Again, they went along with him.
Mak seemed to be very much on edge, Sheri thought. The man was wound up tighter than a watch spring.
He waved the gun at them all. "Now, Kurtis, give me my money, or I start shooting them!"
"I don't have that kind of money, not here," replied Kurtis. He didn't seem as confident as before.
"You must!" screamed Mak.
"Just give him the damned money," shouted the young man, still comforting his partner.
Mak turned his attention away from Kurtis. "Did I say you could speak?" He waved the gun menacingly. "Did I?"
The girl whimpered. The young man faced Mak grimly. He shook his head slowly.
"Good," Mak said, nodding. He returned his gaze to the orange skinned Kurtis, but he kept his gun firmly trained on the customers huddled on the floor.
"Now, Kurtis, about my money."
***
Word of the siege spread quickly in the tight knit environment of Cassini Ringworld Plc. There was soon a multi-species SWAT team outside Kurtis' antique shop, ready to go in at a moments notice.
When the Doctor heard about it, he immediately thought of Sheri. Vast past experience had taught him that if trouble erupted somewhere the TARDIS landed, it was a cast iron guarantee that one of his companions would be involved. As Fitz was probably still losing the Doctor's money, that left Ms Whitehead.
He hurried to the scene, following the crowds. Humans had an amazing fascination with danger and trouble.
The Doctor arrived to find the local law enforcement was already on the scene. Frowning, he headed towards the rear of the shop, looking for a way to sneak in. He just hoped he was in time.
***
Inside the shop, Mak was getting more agitated by the moment. The arrival of the SWAT team hadn't helped. Now there was an Enforcer with a loudspeaker trying to communicate with him.
Sheri watched the man pacing before Kurtis' counter. He was medium height and build. He had mousy brown hair, starting to recede. There was a couple of days stubble on his chin. He looked just like anyone you might pass on the street, she thought.
"Now look what you've done," Mak accused Kurtis, who was now sitting on the floor with his customers.
"Give it up, Mak," urged the orange skinned shop owner. "I'll speak up for you, tell them you're not a violent man."
Mak sneered. "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to fall for that. You'll sell me down the river, you rat." He paused in his pacing, running his free hand through his thinning hair.
"RELEASE THE HOSTAGES AND COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP," called the Enforcer with the loudspeaker.
"Shut up!" yelled Mak towards the doorway. Sheri noticed that he had developed a nervous twitch. She knew it wouldn't take much to push him over the edge.
It was at this critical moment that the older woman decided to speak up.
"Why don't you take their advice and let us go?"
Mak spun and fired in one smooth movement. The woman fell silently backwards and lay still.
The girl started to cry.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" screamed Mak. He pulled Sheri to her feet. "Everybody shut up, or she's next!"
Given the circumstances, Sheri was strangely calm. A maniac had his blaster gun pressed to the back of her neck, but she wasn't panicking. Then she heard a familiar voice.
"Could you please let my friend go? I've not known her long and would like us to be better acquainted."
Mak turned swiftly, dragging Sheri with him to use as a shield.
There stood the Doctor, hands already raised to show he was unarmed.
"How did you get in?" demanded Mak, tightening his grip on Sheri.
"I have my ways," the Doctor said mildly.
"Could you get me out, past the Enforcers?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Now, please let these good people go."
"Not until I get my money and safe passage off this rock."
"I don't think that's going to happen."
"It had better." Now Mak was starting to tremble, Sheri could feel it.
The Doctor glanced at the woman Mak had shot. "You know, she might still be saved, if she gets immediate medical attention."
"I don't care. I just want what I'm owed."
Mak levelled his gun at the Doctor. The Time Lord didn't flinch. Slowly, Mak started to squeeze the trigger.
Sheri's first thought was that Mak was going to shoot the Doctor. And she would have been correct.
Suddenly, the pressure of Mak's hand on her arm, which had been vice-like, relaxed. Then his unconscious body slumped against her.
She dived away from him, into the waiting arms of the Doctor, ready to comfort his alarmed companion.
Sheri turned, to see the tall, green alien standing over Mak. He still had his usual serene expression on his face.
He crossed his arms over his chest, hands resting on opposite shoulders and bowed. The Doctor returned the gesture.
"What happened?" Sheri asked.
The Doctor smiled at her. "Our Mentikian friend here was able to render the man with the gun unconscious while I had him distracted."
Sheri sighed. "I'm just glad it's all over," she admitted.
***
"He looked so normal," Sheri said as they walked back to the TARDIS.
"I know," the Doctor said, a protective arm around his companions shoulder. She didn't complain about it.
"Do you think the woman will be alright?"
"I checked her over, she'll be fine. Lucky he had it on the stun setting." He didn't tell his companion that the gun had been set to disintegrate when Mak had been rendered insensate.
"But he looked so, so..."
"Normal?" the Doctor inquired. "Not all the monsters of the Universe have tentacles and eye stalks. Humans are capable of the most hideous acts sometimes. Usually against other humans."
"Well, I'm not going off exploring on my own again for a while and that's a fact."
The Doctor smiled and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. She returned his smile.
They saw Fitz waiting for them outside the TARDIS. He held up a canvas bag.
"Guess what?" he called. "I won. Not big, but enough for a few pints. How did you two get on?"
