“There is a place we are working at, where our engines will gather many doors so we can close them all. Sew the world’s wounds.” The brief poetry of that startled Lee, unless of course he meant it literally. “Dr. Khan must be with us there. We need her thoughts.”

“Right,” Lee agreed. “But look—”

“We thought she would be safe with you,” Stig said, not ungently. “It is not so. She is not safe anywhere, but you they can track.”

Lee blinked at him. His smile was engaging, friendly, utterly merciless.

“You are touched by other places. We cannot hide you from them because of this. We thought we could use you, but the…” He cocked an eye at Mrs. Stig, who filled in “Molecular resonance frequencies” like someone reading off a card. “Yes, that,” he agreed. “You and us together, we are too much. Like a beacon for them to find. Scent of too many places all together. The doctor is better off on her own. So you must go.”

“Go where?” Lee said. “They know where I live.”

“Do not go there,” Stig advised. “Lose yourself in this place, this city, if you can. If they find you, you cannot say where we are if you do not know.” He looked sad then, eyes as mournful as a spaniel’s. “Most likely they will find us anyway, but we will hide until the doors are ready to open, then we break and run. Perhaps we get out.”

“And me…?” Lee whispered.

Stig stared at her, and she realized that was her answer. Nothing for her.

“Now wait a minute,” Dr. Khan said, plucking at Mrs. Stig’s voluminous sleeve. “You can’t just cut her loose, love. Not now we’ve seen the fuckery that’s out there.”

“You, we must keep close,” Stig said carefully. “Mughushuper died, for you. I will die for you, if that is what time requires. Every world under this sky will collapse. Every mind like yours must be brought, to find the answer. Or no more minds, no more worlds, no more skies.”

“No,” Khan said.

But Lee shook her head. “Go, and I’ll…I know people I can hide with. Or I’ll get on a train and keep moving, maybe. And when you’re gone to…wherever, they won’t care about me.”

“Oh, love.” Khan hugged her impulsively. Stig was already making vague gestures to get her moving, and Lee decided she had to expedite matters, backing away from the unlikely trio.

I will just keep moving, she told herself. I’m at Paddington Station. Circle Line, here I come.

The Circle Line was a mistake.