The old couple showed their tickets to the woman at the desk and passed through. Valkyrie took the opportunity to wave the businessman’s ticket to the woman while the businessman cursed loudly as he searched his pockets. The woman nodded to her and Valkyrie smiled, left the ill-tempered man to his bluster and frustration, and approached the metal detectors. Even if she’d been hiding a dozen guns on her person, the clothes would have shielded them all. She walked through and strode on.

She passed through the Duty Free shops, resisting the sudden urge to check out the sunglasses on offer. On the other side of the glass wall travellers walked in the opposite direction, having just arrived. That’s where Valkyrie needed to be. There were a few Staff Only doors she could have tried to sneak through, but she didn’t know where they led, and she didn’t have the luxury of trial and error. The only way she was guaranteed to get where she needed to be was to get out on to the tarmac, and then come back in through an Arrivals door.

She reached the Departure gates. Three flights were boarding. She went to the huge windows that looked out on to the tarmac. Only one of those flights didn’t have a walkway that connected to the door of the aircraft. She joined that crowd as they showed their passports and filtered through. She smiled at a man and he let her in front of him, then she waved her hand slightly and all the papers on the flight attendant’s desk fluttered into the air. The attendant grabbed at them as Valkyrie slipped by unnoticed. She took the steps down, following the passengers out of the building. Another attendant directed them to the pedestrian pathway that led to the plane. She was wearing a nice hat. Valkyrie waved her hand, less gently this time, and the hat flew off the attendant’s head. Valkyrie turned sharply, heading for the door further on.

A man in uniform frowned at her. “Are you supposed to be here?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “I got delayed.”

She went to walk by him, but he stepped in her path. “Are you sure? What flight did you come in on?”

“Heathrow,” she said. “I don’t know the number of the plane, sorry. It was a big one, though. The plane, not the number. Though the number was pretty big too.”

He held up a hand. “Could you hold on a minute? I’m going to have to call someone.”

“Sure.” She beamed a smile at him as he took his radio from his belt. “I bet your job’s fun.”

“Pardon me?”

“Being around airplanes and everything, meeting exotic people. Having a radio in a holster. I bet it’s really fun. Did you have to do any special training for it?”

“Uh, yes. Excuse me, I have to call this in.”