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    ‘It’s not possible,’ he insisted as the truth slowly dawned on him. ‘It’s only a legend, a fancy dreamed up by Solon and mentioned by Plato...’
    Zaroff laughed. ‘Not a legend, Doctor, but the truth.’
    ‘We’re in the ancient kingdom of Atlantis!’
    ‘Yes,’ said Zaroff, enjoying the look of surprise in the Doctor’s face. ‘It’s all really quite simple, my friend. When Atlantis was submerged at the time of the flood, some life continued in air pockets in the mountain, thanks to natural air shafts provided by the extinct volcano. Those ruins you see out there beyond the protective screen are all that remains of old Atlantis. But here within the mountain itself the life and traditions of that ancient kingdom still go on.’
    ‘But how did you find this place?’ asked the Doctor.
    ‘I had long suspected its existence. The legends of nearby islands told of a once mighty kingdom now buried beneath the sea. I came here where I knew I could continue my research in peace, free from the interference of my fellow scientists above ground.’
     
    ‘But how did you get them to accept you?’ The Doctor wanted to know. ‘Surely science is in opposition to ancient temple ritual and idol worship.’
    ‘The Atlanteans needed me. When I arrived here they depended for their food on the few animals living on the surface and the fish which you as a scientist know are rare at these great depths. I developed the means of extracting plankton from the sea and, at a stroke, solved their perennial food shortages. They are right to be grateful to me; they owe me their lives.’
    ‘But surely that’s not all?’ pressed the Doctor. Why did he have this feeling that Zaroff was hiding something from him?
    ‘Their society was stagnating; it had hardly advanced since its disappearance over three thousand years ago. I brought with me all the benefits of modern science: electricity, penicillin. I trained their thinkers and philosophers, taught them that the ways of science far outstretch the narrow path of superstition and ignorance.
    In return they gave me all the facilities I need to pursue my research.’
    Zaroff paused a moment and considered the Doctor, debating whether he could trust his great secret to this scruffy little fellow with the brilliant eyes. Finally he said:
    ‘And I also gave them a rather large sugar-coated pill.’
    The Doctor’s eyebrows arched with interest. Just at that moment one of the technicians working in the laboratory interrupted their conversation and handed Zaroff a slim sheaf of notes. The scientist glanced over them and then turned apologetically to the Doctor. ‘There is a slight problem in one of the power generators, Doctor. Please feel free to look around my laboratory while I attend to it.’
    As Zaroff and the technician moved away, Ara, who had made her way to the lab and had been standing in the doorway awaiting her chance, approached the Doctor. The Doctor, noticing her worried expression, asked her what was wrong.
     
    ‘It’s the girl –your friend,’ she whispered, fearful lest Zaroff should hear her. ‘They’re going to carry out the fish operation on her.’
    ‘Fish?’ asked the Doctor and remembered the Fish People he had seen swimming outside. He looked quickly around the laboratory. Zaroff was deep in conversation at the far end of the room. ‘Ara, do you know where the main fuses are?’
    ‘Fuses?’ Ara did not understand – a fact the Doctor noted with interest.
    ‘Never mind... Go back to Polly and if the chance comes get her away.’
    Ara nodded. ‘But what will you do?’
    ‘Well, Zaroff did say I was to look around the laboratory, didn’t he? Now hurry!’
    As Ara left the room the Doctor sauntered as casually as he could over to the banks of machinery lining the wall.
    Frantically he began to examine them; if he was to save Polly he would have to act quickly.
     
    In the clinic to which she had been brought Polly was fighting for her