Smith and Joan shot off backwards towards the dome, the umbrella spinning after them.

Bernice watched as they went. Hoff and August caught them neatly by the dome and threw them inside. Then the force that had captured them was switched off, and all was quiet again in the forest.

‘Do you think you’re dealing with children?’ August pulled Smith to his feet.

‘Children would be better behaved,’ Joan told him. She smiled proudly at the aliens.

‘John came to rescue me, against all the odds.’

‘We have similar ethics, then.’ August let go of Smith and motioned to Hoff. The gruff alien grabbed Joan and secured her to one of the benches. ‘We both look after our own. Where are Serif and Greeneye?’

Smith glared at him. ‘The first is dead. The second we’ve taken prisoner. I’ll swap him for⁠ —’

‘No. If you had the stomach to harm him, that would have been your initial strategy.’ He picked up the scanner again and checked the readings. ‘You’re swamped with the kind of radiation we’ve learnt to associate with the Pod. It’s not on you, but you do have it hidden somewhere.’ He pointed to Joan. ‘Our offer still stands. Give us the Pod and she lives. Go and get it.’

Smith looked into August’s eyes. ‘If she’s hurt, there will be nowhere in the cosmos that you can hide from me.’

August inclined his head. ‘I believe you. One hour.’

As Smith left the dome, he caught sight of the expression on Joan’s face. Pride and quiet determination. He paused for a moment, then, imperceptibly, he nodded to her.

When he’d left, Hoff turned to August, his eyes closed in grief. ‘Serif too…’ he whispered. ‘This trip has been costly.’

‘They’ll both be avenged.’ August patted his shoulder. ‘Before we go, we’ll reduce this world to ashes.’

The others were waiting in the forest, sitting in a great circle in a clearing, too shocked or nervous to make their way home. Alton had started a fire and Hutchinson was staring into it morosely. Anand and Tim were talking in whispers, going over Tim’s adventures.

‘The thing is,’ Tim was saying, ‘I thought that I knew how Rocastle was going to die. The Pod told me. But he blew himself up to kill Serif.’

‘Then that means that the future’s wide open. We can change it,’ Anand whispered.

‘Isn’t that wonderful?’