‘Things are bad,’ the Doctor announced. ‘I won’t sugar-coat it – even though sugar is something I heartily approve of under usual circumstances. Things are very bad.’

‘You don’t have to tell me,’ Yaz said. ‘Believe it or not, I noticed.’

She gestured round the disaster area that was Ace’s penthouse home. The police box, standing blue and bold beside the window, was about the only thing in the whole place still intact. The split torn in the floor gave a view down onto the ruined offices below.

‘Poor Sanaul,’ said Yaz. ‘I hope he’s going to be OK. He was more injured than he was letting on.’

‘Intensive care is the best place for him,’ the Doctor said.

‘Those rat-things made such a mess of him.’

‘But he’s gonna be cared for. Intensively. Plus Sorin will be waiting for him when he’s out.’ The Doctor glanced over at the TARDIS. ‘Poor little Squidget needs some care too. I’ve got him hooked up to a recharge cradle, but he could use a proper overhaul.’

‘I know how “he” feels,’ said Yaz. It was so good to have the Doctor back, but Yaz had been expecting her to come whizzing back here to collect her and then zoom off to Ryan and Graham’s rescue. Instead she had parked herself heavily in a slashed leather office chair, looking properly deflated.

‘I won’t lie, Yaz, things are—’

‘Bad, I know.’ Yaz breathed out heavily. ‘These horse monster things kidnap Ryan and Graham while you’re out cold, and even though Ryan’s wearing an indestructible homing tag you said you could follow anywhere … there’s not a sign.’

The Doctor caught her note of disapproval gloomily. ‘I promise, Yaz, I could’ve made it work. If you’d only been time-stormed away, it would’ve been a cinch!’ She sighed. ‘I wasn’t banking on the Astingir coming along. Their War Chariots have quantum warp engines, they can slip through the tiniest wormholes in space-time and cover vast distances in minutes. Searching the whole of the universe for one tiny signal …’ She shook her head wearily. ‘It’s going to take time.’

‘Meanwhile, I was never taken in the first place, so my tag is totally useless, a bunch of those Ratts kidnapped Ace instead of me, and a load more stole Chantelle and Kim away God knows where.’ Yaz put her face in her hands. ‘It’s a total mess.’

‘An absolute and utter total mess,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘Things are very bad. Very, very bad—’

‘Don’t start that again.’ Yaz leaned forward urgently in her seat. ‘Doctor, what are we going to do? Search the whole universe till we find them?’

‘If that’s what it takes,’ the Doctor said firmly. Then she seemed to crumple, shook her head sadly. ‘Why did these creatures take Ace at all? It shouldn’t have happened.’

‘It should’ve been me,’ Yaz said.