‘You saying you wanna give me a massage?’

‘Don’t be cheeky.’ She leaned forward and rubbed some onto his cheeks in slow, circular motions. ‘How’s that?’

Ryan looked at her steadily. ‘Not so bad.’

Chantelle was just leaning forward in her chair to apply more of the slime, when a sudden loud scratching noise made her freeze.

‘Did you hear that?’

Ryan nodded. ‘D’you think it’s starting already?’

There was a loud ‘crack’ from the hallway, followed by a terrified scream.

‘Kim?’

The two of them scrambled from their seats and rushed out into the corridor.

Kim was standing half-dressed outside the bathroom, staring in horror at a small hooded figure that was advancing towards him.

‘Who the hell are you?’ yelled Chantelle. ‘And what are you doing in my flat?’ The figure turned and snarled at her, its face fierce and animal-like. As it did so, a rat scurried over Chantelle’s feet, making her cry out in surprise. Ryan snatched an umbrella from the stand near the door and lifted it ready to strike, when the rat suddenly swelled and cracked.

Chantelle and Ryan watched in horror as, with a series of violent explosive snaps, the rat started to transform, expanding in an impossible distorted manner until a second hunched figure stood in the corridor before them.

This time Chantelle could see it in close detail and she stepped back in revulsion as she realised that what she had taken for a hooded top was, in fact, the creature’s skin, pulled in thick, wet folds over its head.

Ryan recoiled too at the sight. ‘That’s disgusting.’

Kim seemed unable to take his eyes from the creature. ‘It’s real. It’s alive. Undeniable proof that they walk among us.’

He celebrated his triumph by collapsing in a dead faint.

Ignoring Chantelle and Ryan, the first Ratt scurried over to its recently transformed fellow.

‘The boss isn’t happy! We are behind quota!’

‘It’s not our fault!’ came the whining reply. ‘The abduction of the Kerry-thing was interrupted.’ It kicked out at Kim’s unconscious body. ‘What about this? Is this suitable?’

‘Oh yes,’ the first creature nodded. ‘This one is ideal material.’ It turned, staring directly at Chantelle and Ryan. ‘But two further donations would be most welcome.’

Ryan hefted the umbrella. ‘What the hell do you mean, donations?’

Chantelle gave a gasp of horror as the creatures began to advance along the corridor towards them.

As the Doctor ran, she felt the power rising through the ship like a charge through a battery. The flesh-stuff of the ship was quivering, alive with energy.

She quickened her pace. Behind her, she could hear the clop and clatter of the Astingir centaurions galloping after her. ‘It’s a two-horse race,’ she breathed. She knew they would run her down long before she reached Graham.