The door opened. She gave brief thanks they didn’t have a ramp, squeezed through the gap as soon as it was wide enough for her to do so and stood very still with her hands on her head wearing her very best unthreatening expression.

Within seconds, she was surrounded by a half-ring of armed officers, all of them bristling with weapons and all of those weapons pointed at her. Beyond them, three teams stood in familiar formations, their officers conferring together. Beyond them, mechs clustered around three pods, prepping them for immediate use. She estimated between fifteen and twenty people all looking directly at her.

And the biggest of them all was Anders.

For a second, he stood motionless, as if frozen with surprise. And something else. Alarm. He – or possibly they – whoever they were – had not banked on this. They’d thought she would run. That they would all run. As far and as fast as possible. Fleeing the might of the Time Police while they could. Not for one moment had they thought she would return to the lion’s den.

And then his eyes bulged. Pointing dramatically, he shouted, ‘That’s her. She killed Smith. And Ellis. Get her.’

He looked wildly round as if expecting a hail of supporting fire. If he was, he didn’t get it. Not immediately.

The second person she recognised was Officer North. Whether she had been incorporated into a team or was there solely to give an insight, Jane never discovered, but present she was. Which meant that not everyone in the Pod Bay was out to kill her. It was extraordinary how heartening she found that thought.

They were all shouting at her. Everyone was shouting conflicting instructions. She was to get on the ground now. She was to stand still and not move. She was to put her hands in the air. All of it designed to terrify and disorient her and it was working very well. She was terrified and disoriented.

The air was electric with tension. She could feel it crackling around her. It would only take one shot – just one nervous finger on a trigger and they would all fire. Blaster, sonics, everything they had. She had a brief but very vivid picture of her body jerking and jumping as the charges impacted. Their combined firepower could blow her apart.

Remembering Ellis’s instructions, she remained absolutely motionless.

‘Just stand still, Lockland,’ he had said. ‘Don’t get down on the floor. Don’t make a single move that could be construed as hostile. They’re not all out to get you. Most of them are just normal officers doing their job. Just stand still and wait. Let someone else make the next move.’

Obediently, she stood still and waited.

Gradually, just as Ellis had said they would, the shouts died away. The mechs had withdrawn. Not a good sign. Trouble was obviously expected.