“Lucas, on this world, before I came, there was a set of islands off the coast of Europe, but it wasn’t our Great Britain, it wasn’t England. It was a wilderness populated by beasts. When I understood what was happening to the universe, and what forces we could potentially marshal if only we had a few clever brains like Khan’s to chew over the maths, I decided I’d save all that was worth saving. We’ve heard politicians mouthing the words, haven’t we? Making hard choices for the good of the nation? Well, I put it into action. I’ve saved England, Lucas. All of it…from Land’s End to, well, to Berwick. Because to hell with John o’ Groats, frankly. I’ve brought it all over. You should have seen Charen modelling it, working out how it would swap places with its corresponding map coordinates on this Earth. There was a moment, Lucas, when fifty thousand square miles of forest were dumped where England used to be, and then there was a moment when that world just ceased to be. But England survived. I saved it.” He grinned massively, eyes wide, and Lucas wondered how he’d ever looked on that smile and seen it as anything other than deranged. “No more rats, no more cavemen. Just this world—and England. A new start, where we get to set the rules. We have just shy of a thousand people back at the base, all hand-picked for their health and loyalty. We have a warehouse full of rat technology to give us a leg up. Besides, by the time we march south to recruit and re-establish order, there’ll be no real resistance.”

“Sixty million people will roll over, will they?”