Few people ever spoke in the presence of the Map. It generated a pulsing hum, but respect and awe kept most people quiet. Except Luke Parrish. Spotting Jane and Matthew on the far side, he strolled over.

‘Good Lord, Matthew. I’m surprised you’re not down there with the Map Master poking away at this monster’s innards.’

‘Banned.’

They stared at him. ‘What?’

‘I’m banned.’

‘What did you do?’

He sighed. ‘I broke it.’

‘What? What did you break?’

‘The Map.’

‘You broke this colossal, glowing, humming, rotating, and I’ll say it again – colossal – thing?’

Matthew nodded.

‘How? How could you break . . . that?’

Matthew pointed. ‘See that bit over there?’

Luke squinted. ‘The 16th century and its immediate surroundings? Yeah.’

‘It kind of . . . fell off.’

‘Did it bounce?’ enquired Jane, before she could stop herself.

‘Of course not,’ said Luke. ‘It’s the blood-soaked 16th century, Jane. Trust me, I did history at Uni. It would have been more of a squelch.’

‘I like history, too,’ said Jane.

Matthew nodded agreement.

‘You’re from St Mary’s,’ said Luke. ‘You have to like history. Were they very cross?’

‘Who?’

Luke sighed. ‘The Time Police.’

‘About?’

‘About the Map. When you broke it.’

Matthew nodded. ‘Oh yeah.’

‘When was this?’

‘A few years ago.’

‘Wow – they can really hold a grudge in the Time Police, can’t they? Hang on – I’ve seen you down there among the geeks, geeking away.’

‘If I get permission from the Map Master. And if I’m escorted. And they like me to keep my hands in my pockets at all times. Did you want something?’

Luke abruptly remembered why he was looking for them. ‘Yes – something to tell you.’

They followed him into the general library, further down the corridor. Herding them to a corner table, he whispered, ‘Have you heard?’

Jane shook her head. ‘Heard what?’

‘Team 8.’

Matthew tapped the table, opening up a data stack to play with and not really listening. ‘What about Team 8?’ he said, vaguely.

‘They’re just back from some God-forsaken dump in the 14th century. Someone reported a time-slip. They went to check it out.’

Unable to stop herself, Jane picked up one of the books left on the table and inspected the cover. ‘And?’

‘A tiny village up in the mountains somewhere in Albania.’

They nodded. ‘Yes?’

Luke looked around and lowered his voice even further. ‘They’re all dead.’

They stared at him. ‘Who’s all dead?’

‘All of them.’

Jane stared at him in shock. ‘Team 8 are dead?’

Around them, heads began to lift.

‘Shh. No.’ He drew in his chair more closely. ‘The illegals are all dead.’

Matthew shut down his data stack, saying, ‘The time-slip got them? That’s serious. Did we manage to shut it down?’

Luke lowered his voice even further. ‘No – Team 8 killed them.’