The old man was very clever; but very lonely, and so, before he told anybody else about his invention, he used it to go exploring. He visited another world, a place called Gallifrey.

There, he found a tribe of very primitive people.

Smith stared at the paper in annoyance. It had flowed out of him, but he couldn’t show it to her. Far too childish. Even for children. And where was it going? He didn’t even have a plot. He’d sleep on it.

He retired, extinguishing the oil lamp on his desk with an irritated jerk of the valve.

As he moved about in the bedroom of the little lodge, a boyish hand silently picked up the first page of the story. After a moment, there was the sound of stifled laughter.

Smith ducked out of the bedroom in his nightgown and cap. He glanced around the place. But all was as it should be.

All that remained of his visitor was a gentle breeze from an open window. It sent the papers scudding to the floor.

Smith retrieved them, and, shaking his head in puzzlement, went back to his bed.

‘What do you think?’ Greeneye had his feet up against a tree, his back to the hillside above Bernice’s cottage. Hoff sat beside him, staring through a pair of advanced binoculars.

The image he was watching was of Benny pacing her room, in blue against white, seen through the wall of the building. ‘Native to this planet, a touch of Artron energy, therefore she’s been in a TARDIS. Yes, she’s the companion. Professor Bernice Summerfield, the subject told Laylock. Sometimes called Benny. There are a few other details in the files.’ He pulled a gun from his belt. ‘Coming?’

‘What? No, Hoff, no! What would be the point of that?’

‘We grab her, interrogate her, find out where the Pod is, and we’re home before first light. What’s your problem?’

‘It won’t work! She’s a Time Lord’s human assistant, therefore she must be somebody of particular qualities and abilities.’

Hoff raised his eyebrows. ‘Oh yes?’

‘She would resist our efforts, try and escape, all of that. No, we must do this in a subtle way.’

‘You’re attracted to her, aren’t you?’

‘Well, she has got a nice shape. For a humanoid.’

‘I don’t believe it. If it’s got a corporeal form, you’ll cruk it.’

‘All I’m saying is, let me do it my way. Tomorrow.’

‘All right.’ Hoff slipped the gun back into his belt. ‘But if it doesn’t work, I’ll have the hot irons ready.’

Chapter Three

Boudiccan Destruction Layer

The next morning, Smith walked into the classroom, dressed in the mortarboard and gown in which he always looked so awkward. Silence fell, as it always did.