As far as Rose, Tegan, Liz and Sara knew, they'd never met before. They were just four travellers, strangers to each other, who'd happened to be travelling by train to London that day, and had ended up sitting at the same table. By the time the main course was served, any initial awkwardness had long since vanished. "Rose Tyler?" Sara asked. "Anything to do with Tyler's Beverages?" Rose nodded. "That's my dad. He was visiting one of his bottling plants, and he took me along for the ride. I'm supposed to be learning the business, sort of thing. But he got tied up there for longer than he was expecting, so he sent me back on my own." "On the Pullman express. Nothing but the best?" "For Daddy's little girl?" Rose gave her a sharp look. "Look, I can afford first class, so why shouldn't I take it?" "My apologies. I wasn't trying to insinuate. How do you come to be here, Miss Jovanka?" "Please, call me Tegan. I'm needed in London as soon as possible. This train was fastest, and the company was prepared to pay." "You're Australian, aren't you?" Rose asked. Tegan exaggerated her Brisbane accent slightly. "What gave me away? Is it the hair?" Rose laughed. "Sorry. Stupid question. But do you travel a lot?" "I go wherever Blue Diamond Cruises send me." She sipped her wine. "I'm no-one important. Just a waitress. It feels a bit weird to have all these chefs and stewards fussing over me instead of ordering me about." Sara turned to Liz. "And you, Dr Shaw?" "I do some work for the Home Office, now and again," Liz said coolly. "Always at some time that's convenient for them and not for me." "What sort of work?" "In this case? Forensic pathology. I don't think I should discuss it at dinner. You might all lose your appetites." She leaned back in her seat, looking thoughtfully at Sara. "Are you anything to do with the police?" "I've been all sorts of things," Sara replied. "Why?" "You seem to want to know all about us. Professional curiosity?" "If you like." There was a brief lull in the conversation. "So what happens in one of these bottling plants of yours?" Tegan asked brightly, turning to Rose. "How long have you got?" Rose replied, charming her with a smile. * About halfway through the meal, a group of four or five people walked past their table, conversing quietly among themselves. "They must be who the other tables were booked for," Rose muttered, keeping her voice low. "They're all dressed for it," Tegan agreed. "Did you see those gowns?" "Must've set them back a few bob," Liz said. "Yeah, up till now I thought I was the cat's whiskers," Rose said. She rearranged her napkin, to make sure her own silk dress was well protected from accidental splashes, and picked up the wine bottle. "Who wants a refill?" * "... And the message came back," Tegan said, waving her coffee cup to emphasise the point, "'This is the Picton Reef lighthouse. Your call.'" Sara and Liz laughed politely, while Rose dissolved into a fit of apparently genuine giggles. "Did that really happen to your ship?" Liz asked. "Well, no," Tegan admitted. "But it could've done." Rose managed to stop herself laughing. "This is the best evening I've had for ages," she announced. "It beats looking round some drinks bottling plant in Sedgefield. I'm so glad we all happened to catch the same train. Is there any more of that wine?" "No," Liz said firmly. With a sigh Rose sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. "If you go to sleep now," Tegan pointed out, "you'll be awake half the night." Rose opened her eyes again, and yawned again. "All right," she said. "But I'm bored. Any ideas?" Sara produced a pack of cards. "D'you know how to play poker?" she asked. Rose shook her head. "I'll teach you." She looked round at the other two. "You can come in as well, if you like." "As long as we're only playing for farthings," said Tegan, with a smile. "And you?" Liz shook her head. "I'll just read my book," she said, producing a slim volume from her capacious handbag. * "Rose," Sara said patiently. "It's no use hiding the cards if you grin at us every time you think you've got a good hand." "I wasn't grinning!" "You were too." Tegan said. Sara shot her a glare. "Did I ask you to jump in? You're just as bad, anyway. You drum your fingers on the table." Tegan fumbled for a riposte. She had to admit, though, that she couldn't charge Sara with giving information away. Even when supposedly relaxing, Sara was tightly self-controlled and as opaque as a concrete wall. "I don't have to take this..." Tegan began. She never got a chance to develop her argument, such as it was, because at that moment the lights went out. Part 1 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8
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