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As far as Gillikin was concerned, it was like Elvis’s coroner had said, right. If they weren’t dead before the post-mortem, they sure as hell were now.

Shit, there it was again!

Gillikin narrowed his eyes, turning, checking every shadow and every shape. He ducked down, hands on his thighs. Nothing was hiding under the trolleys, heavy with their plastic-bagged burdens. Nothing he could see, anyway.

Wait a minute. The cupboard. What if someone was hiding in the cupboard?

He mentally counted corpses, just in case one of them had got up and started to walk around. Nope, there was the blue one, and the two from today. And the three from last week, bagged, waiting for disposal orders.

Gillikin drew his pistol. In every horror movie, right, you were shouting ‘Don’t open the cupboard!’ when some idiot went to open the cupboard. But they didn’t have a gun, right.

He grinned and pulled open the cupboard door.

There was an alien inside with a huge white head and big slanted black eyes and a little smiley mouth.

There was a redheaded kid standing behind the alien, squished into the cupboard. ‘Um,’ said the kid.

Gillikin opened his mouth to scream at the alien. It reached up and tapped him between the eyes with its silver wand.

At least, that’s what Gillikin’s hypnotherapy tapes said happened.

Jacqui knelt down next to the unconscious soldier. There was a bit of blood on his mouth.

‘Roz,’ said the Doctor, looking at his companion, ‘was that entirely necessary?’

‘No,’ she answered, with relish.

Jacqui helped them pick the soldier up and put him on the floor behind the desk. The Doctor rolled him onto his side to make sure he could breathe properly.

Someone came around the corner, making them all flinch, but it was only the Admiral’s daughter. A moment later, the Admiral himself appeared out of thin air.

‘There are only twelve people in the building,’ said the little blond guy.

Ms Randrianasolo closed her eyes for a moment. ‘Two are asleep,’ she said.

‘Closed for the night,’ said Roz.

Jacqui sat on the corner of the desk. Nothing looked familiar, but she remembered the smell of the place, underneath the smells of fresh paint and winter.

‘Almost all of them are downstairs.’ The Admiral was reading the screen on his handscan. ‘If we —’

He stopped short, staring at the Doctor. Jacqui followed his gaze.

The little man’s eyes had grown huge, the pupils shrinking away to nothing. He pressed a hand to the centre of his chest and stumbled forward, eyes closing in a strange, intense expression.

Jacqui gasped and leapt back, nearly falling over the desk.

But nothing awful happened. The Admiral grabbed the Doctor before he could fall, supporting him awkwardly.

Bernice took the scanner, and he helped the little man stand up.

The Doctor was shaking his head at Bernice. ‘She’s found the TARDIS,’ he said hoarsely. ‘She’s found it.’

‘Who’s she?’ asked Roz.

‘Are you in pain?’ asked Isaac.

‘No,’ said the Doctor. He straightened up. ‘I’m all right now.

Let’s get a move on.’ He turned to go, but not before he saw the way that Jacqui was looking at him. He frowned at her, not understanding. Jacqui trailed after the group, hands in her pockets.

* * *

Woodworth had dismissed the medical staff. She was sitting on an orange plastic seat, regarding the man in the dentist’s chair. He was still upside-down — well, tilted back, anyway.

He seemed to be fading in and out of consciousness, his eyelids flickering from time to time.

He made her stomach churn. They could at least have covered him up, decently, so she didn’t have to look at him.

But he was her responsibility, now. She had to decide whether to let the lab boys have him.

It was cold in the room, cold and bright. She was wearing her overcoat, despite the fitful efforts of a heater in the corner.

He rolled his head towards her, as though noticing her for the first time. ‘Can I have my clothes back?’ he said. His voice was raw and shaky. There was a nasty bruise on his forehead.

Woodworth