Karl had never known dry land, and as such it was not something he missed. Sometimes he heard the old folk reminiscing about how things used to be better when a man could feel the dirt beneath his feet, that humanity lost something on the day the oceans started to rise.

But Karl really didn't see what all the fuss was about. People lived well, provided for by the ever-bountiful seas. And the enormous floating cities were pleasant enough places to live, providing one was able to keep out of the worst areas.

Unfortunately, it was in one of those areas that Karl currently found himself. It was not his fault, of course, not that such a thing made any difference.

He'd managed to get caught out in a storm that had damaged his rig pretty badly, and so had been at the mercy of the winds and currents.

That was how he'd wound up on the Northside of Almaga, the largest city of the Southern Oceans.

That was how he'd wound up, quite literally, walking the plank, whilst behind him a gang of street thugs held multiple firearms upon him.

There was only one place Karl was going, of that he was all-too aware.

As most people he was an incredibly strong and competent swimmer, and there was every chance he would be able to make it to one of Almaga's sub-surface waste tunnels.

The waters of the Southern Oceans were dangerous though. Unaffected by any landmass, the strong unstoppable currents were capable of carrying a man for hundreds and hundreds of miles.

Karl knew, he'd heard stories....

It was the pressure he was most worried about though. He'd heard stories about that, too...

"You gonna' jump, or do we need to riddle your legs with bullets and make things even more interesting?" one of the street thugs behind him, leered.

Karl glanced towards the sky, blue as it was and scattered with a smattering of cloud cover.

Taking a final deep breath, he leapt...

With his eyes closed Karl counted down from ten, as he figured that was probably about how long it would take before he broke the surface, but when he reached six he landed awkwardly and painfully on something comfortingly metallic.

Opening his eyes he sought a handhold and found one, prior to taking in his immediate surroundings.

Oddly, it was almost as though he was balanced upon the prow of a ship, however the ship in question appeared to be flying!

Looking further afield he saw a pair of faces, one male and one female, smiling back at him through a somewhat smeared window.

"All right, Karl?" the female asked, by way of a speaker system. "Don't worry, we've just saved your life or to be more accurate, we've prevented your death that would otherwise have happened about seven seconds after you hit the surface."

To his right, just within reach, a hatch opened in the prow.

"Come on in," the female said. "We've got a whole lot to talk about!"

"Like what?!" Karl asked. Understandably he was both afraid and confused, and his grip was failing.

"Like, how you're gonna' save the Universe, Karl," said the male. "That sound all right to you?!"