‘Good thing this is fizzy grape juice, then.’ Ace poured two glasses, handed one to Yaz and then sat down next to her. ‘Cheers.’

The two of them clinked glasses, the frown still not leaving Yaz’s face. Ace leaned back in her seat, sipping at her drink. ‘We’ve not got off to the best of starts, have we?’

‘I guess not.’

‘Well, that’s a shame, because I think we have a lot in common.’

‘Hardly!’ Yaz gave a snort of amusement. ‘You’re a multimillionaire, I’m …’

‘What? What are you exactly? Beyond being someone who travels with the Doctor, that is?’

‘I’m a police officer,’ said Yaz proudly.

‘Really?’ Ace raised an eyebrow.

Yaz bristled. ‘A probationary police officer, but all the same …’

‘All right, don’t get so defensive. I spent a lot of time around of police officers when I was younger, that’s all.’

‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’

Ace ignored the jibe. ‘I just wish they’d been a bit more like you.’

‘Oh. Why?’

‘Because they might have understood …’

‘Understood what?’

‘What I was feeling.’ Ace took a deep breath. ‘I was 13. I had a friend a lot like you … She died. Burnt to death in a racist arson attack on the flat where she was sleeping.’

‘Oh …’ Yaz’s face softened. ‘I’m sorry. Did they get the people who did it? I mean, you didn’t …’ She tailed off.

Ace gave a barking laugh. ‘You think I went all “vengeance is mine” on them? Hunted them down and killed them? You really don’t think much of me, do you? No. The police caught them. The three of them spent a year in a young offenders institute and that was it.’ She stared out into the night for a time. ‘I took out my anger on a derelict Victorian manor house.’

‘You blew it up?’

‘I wish.’ Ace took a sip of her drink. ‘No, I burnt it down. Got charged with arson.’

‘OK, I get the reasons, but why are you messing with explosives now? I mean, you run a charity, that’s not a front, is it?’

Ace frowned. ‘Course it isn’t!’

‘So why are you making your own Improvised Explosive Devices?’ Yaz put down her glass, staring at Ace with a confused look. ‘I mean, in normal circumstances that would class you as a terrorist …’

‘But circumstances are anything but normal with us, aren’t they? We hang around with the Doctor, we know how dangerous the world is. I just like to make sure I have some insurance, for when it’s needed.’

‘Even so …’ Yaz obviously wasn’t convinced.