The Heliotrope Bouquet II was a space yacht, a long-hulled STL sunjammer constructed in the specialist yards on Sark. It had been purchase by a wealthy resident of Nyvann, who had hired Sym Costain to bring it down the line from the Davian Systems to Fifth Sister in the Pleiades, where he was vacationing.
At Soarpath Junction, Costain waited six weeks for a second crewman to help him man the ship; when the Downline Express failed to arrive he convinced Misha Devlin and Goff to help him instead. After departing, the Heliotrope Bouquet II became caught in the middle of a space battle between Daleks and Cybermen. The ship escaped, but was badly damaged after being struck by a Cyberman escape pod and stray blasts of crossfire, and its systems began failing. The crew decided to pilot the ship to a waystation at Sadizar, but Cyber-Leader Klayt, who had arrived on the pod, forced them to return to the battle. The crew managed to swing the yacht about in a tight turn, and the G-force flung Klayt against the wall. After Misha shot and killed the Cyberman, Costain resumed course for Sadizar. (PROSE: Heliotrope Bouquet [+]Loading...["Heliotrope Bouquet (short story)"])