‘It’s clever.’ Kim actually half-smiled. ‘I lost my TV show dream, my mum’s been threatening to throw me out … We believe no one wants us, no one would miss us – and so these things reckon they can just take us away.’

‘Maybe Ryan had abandonment issues too, as well as that gunk on his face?’ Chantelle sighed. ‘I don’t know. When I said what I said I was just feeling down. I am gonna be missed, course I am. Why d’you think I’ve stayed in a grotty flat on my old estate my whole life? Because I care about people, and they care about me.’

‘You Earth-things!’ the Ratt chortled. ‘You say one thing, do another, change your minds the next day … Do you really think anyone can be bothered to understand you?’ He put his gadget back in his jacket pocket. ‘We have your brain scan and an audio confirmation confirming a state of feeling discarded, unwanted, unloved. In a technicality of galactic law, that entitles us to remove any unwanted dross from any Level 5 world as an act of charity, and put you to better use here. See, here you’re needed. Ain’t that nice?’ The Ratt held out one of the plastic sheets to Kim. ‘Your consent is just a formality.’

Chantelle looked bleakly at Kim. ‘He’s basically saying they look at Earth like it’s a charity shop, found us on the shelf and took us off the planet’s hands.’

‘That’s about it. Must be the same for all these other ones too.’ Kim took the sheet and stared down at it in his hands. ‘And now we have to confirm they can do what they like with us, or we’ll be left out to die.’

Chantelle blinked back a tear and looked at her reflection in the plastic sheet. She saw how haggard she looked, her peeling face, hair a disaster, clothes filthy. Oh, God, I really am a charity case, she thought, and as she blinked, the plastic changed colour to bright green.

‘Accepted,’ said the Ratt in the booth. A heavy wooden door cracked open in the outer wall. ‘In you go.’

Without another word, Chantelle took stumbling steps towards it.

The cool darkness inside was like a sweet caress. The stone was worn smooth at her feet. She stood trembling, eyes closed, grateful for the sudden respite.

The door slammed shut behind her and something sinuous wrapped around her waist and clamped tight. Screaming, Chantelle was dragged away into the thick shadows.

Step after step, step after step …