For a minute, I wasn’t sure that he knew how to finish what he was saying, or whether he’d maybe even forgotten that he was speaking. He was no longer really looking at us, but more at the darkness of the walls behind us.

But then he seemed to shake himself out of it. Fiercely, he glanced round the room. ‘And there’s no reason for behavin’ like idiots,’ he said. It was exactly the sort of thing he normally said, several times a day, and there was a sigh of relief from all around the room. It wasn’t clear if he was still talking to us, to the rest of the people in the room, to the people outside, or whether it was just general life advice. We all looked at each other, but seriously this time, covering up our smiles.

There was another pause in the room, because most people didn’t want to risk saying anything. Or maybe because there wasn’t much to say. That was the advantage of Dr Jones’s evening lectures. They gave you something to do when you couldn’t be trying to escape.

And it was into that silence that Old Albert came rushing.

‘You’ll all want to know this,’ he said, as he entered the doorway.

There were quite a few things we wanted to know. You could see that the entire room was shocked. We should have realized it was Old Albert who was missing, because the evening’s discussion had been strangely rational. Next to me, Lana started shaking with silent laughter, so much that there was a ring of wibbling mesoglea all around her. Which was making Kate giggle even more.

‘The dirty dog,’ whispered James with exaggerated disgust.

‘You’ll all want to know this,’ said Albert again. ‘That other boat is here. The yacht.’

Chapter 21

21

‘Pull!’ shouted Soldier John. ‘Steady now . . . ease her in . . .’

The yacht edged slowly forward, its bow turning to one side.

‘Gently, gently . . .’

The boat crept through the mass of tangling tentacles feeling and stroking it.

‘Now . . . wait for it . . . wait . . .’ Soldier John held his arm up until the bow was just inches from the edge of the creature. ‘Now . . . cut!’

With a jagged piece of wood, Dr Jones started to quickly saw through the edge of the mesoglea, leaving a mooring space for the boat. As it came right up, a sudden mass of jelly bubbled out of the creature, gathering round the bow of the boat and pulling it in.

‘Get it through that,’ said Soldier John. ‘Into the cut.’

Both teams pulled hard, guiding the hull through the sticky fluid.

‘Now ’old ’er there – ’old. We need a few minutes to make sure it’s secure.’

Already the jelly around the bow was starting to change from a viscous, colourless liquid to a translucent solid.