“We are…not best placed to affect these forces, here. It’s like we’re pushing on the short end of a lever.”

“I’m aware what ‘leverage’ means, Dr. Khan.”

“There is a gradient in the changes we have modelled. The disintegration within the universe is coming from somewhere…Or to put it another way, the disintegration is a symptom of a collapsing core structure, originating somewhere else. Like ripples—so when it gets to us, the wavefront is so broad we can’t do anything to stop it. But if we were at the source…”

“What source?” Rove demanded.

“Well…” Kay shrugged. “That’s the question.”

“Answer it,” Rove said. “And find out how much energy you need to move the lever from this end, otherwise.” With that, and a stern glower at the shrinking rodents, he was gone with his man at his heels.

“Fuck you, mate,” Kay said when he was safely out of earshot. Then the chief scientist drew himself up and screeched at his underlings to get back to work. Not good enough, Kay could almost hear. Results! Results! Results!

Later, when the workforce had been dismissed—sent to their tiny beds or banished to sift data in lesser labs—Dr. Rat approached her. With great ceremony, he took out a bottle. It wasn’t exactly Scotch, but the rats had alcohol and it was potent stuff. The translator had fished out her vapes, too. Back home she wouldn’t have touched the things, but the smell of cigarettes violently offended the rats. When she was in rodent company she was reduced to inhaling a nicotinous mist. It stopped her climbing the walls with withdrawal pangs, at least.

“Show me what he’s been up to, Doctor,” she suggested.

“With eminent pleasure, my fellow doctor,” the translator interpreted, and Dr. Rat began pulling up images on her screen.

Spying went two ways, and maybe Rove would look in on them. However, Dr. Rat had already set the surveillance gear in the lab to provide fake images, culled from other days, all nicely set to the correct time stamp. Rove was a suspicious bastard, no doubt, but he was also used to being in control of the situation, the top dog whom everyone was afraid of. It bred a certain complacency, Kay suspected.