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It had been a woman. Now she had an exaggerated jaw, heavy enough to hold the sabre teeth she’d been given, muscles bulging 178

in her neck as she panted. Her claws snatched at his coat and arms as she tried to climb over him.

‘Wait,’ he said. ‘Listen to me.’

Her green eyes stared at him in panic. She grabbed his jacket and pulled and pushed, sharply, so that his head ricocheted off the hard edge of the seat.

The Doctor woke up on board a shuttle. ‘You were dreaming,’

said Genevieve.

‘Was I?’ he sat up.

‘Your eyes were moving, and you kept muttering things. I couldn’t understand them.’

The Doctor sat up. He could see clouds out of the window.

‘The Duke,’ he said. He shut his eyes. ‘Am I remembering rightly? Were we attacked in this timeline?’

‘The Duke is well. He had some minor injuries. Are you sure you’re all right?’ Genevieve shrugged uncomfortably. There was an inflatable cast on her arm.

‘It doesn’t go with what you’re wearing,’ said the Doctor.

‘It’ll come off tomorrow,’ she said. ‘We were a lot luckier than the people who… changed. How’s your head?’

The Doctor put his hands on top of his head. ‘Round,’ he said.

‘Where are we going?’

‘The Duke’s offices. A few thousand miles from the Imperial Palace. We’ll be there in an hour. Try to get some sleep. There’ll be a lot to do.’

The Doctor looked out of the window. ‘Have you ever noticed,’ he said, ‘that the clouds on terraformed worlds have a slightly geometric look?’

Genevieve knocked on the door. She waited patiently, then knocked again.

‘I’m in the bath!’ called the Doctor.

‘I know,’ said Genevieve. ‘You weren’t answering the terminal. I thought you’d drowned.’

‘You could have checked this very embarrassing security camera… oh,’ he said.

179

‘Bubble bath’s wonderful, isn’t it?’ she called. ‘Very popular throughout the Empire.’

‘Madam,’ said the Doctor, his voice distorted by echoing around the tiles, ‘can I assist you in some way?’

‘The Duke is anxious to speak with you,’ said Genevieve. She sat down, leaning against the door, unable to keep a mischievous grin off her face. ‘There’s a great deal to discuss.’

‘I’m not coming out there,’ said the Doctor. ‘Someone will execute me.’

‘Actually, that’s pretty unlikely. For the moment, at least. The Duke has demanded that the Council – what’s left of it, anyway –

hold a full investigation into both the Empress’s death and whatever happened in the courtroom.’

She waited, but all she could hear was splashing. ‘Doctor?

What did happen in the courtroom?’

‘I’m not completely sure,’ he said. ‘Tell me – the people who changed. Were they all registered psis?’

‘Yes, they were,’ said Genevieve, impressed. She’d just sneaked a look at that report half an hour ago, while the Duke was sleeping. ‘Though few of them had measurable powers. The Psi Registry tracks recessive genes as well as actual powers. If there was a conspiracy, it was a very serious one. The Imperial surgeons say that none of them could have survived the changes to their bodies.’

‘I thought you needed Quoth to do that,’ mused the Doctor.

‘Quoth?’

‘A subatomic life form with the power to alter matter. They can be enslaved to produce all sorts of unlikely results. But I don’t think the Quoth have anything to do with this.’

‘You’ve seen something like that before, then,’ said Genevieve.

‘That’s true of an alarmingly large number of things,’ said the Doctor. ‘Sometimes my life is like a series of repeats.’

‘We’re very lucky to have you, Doctor,’ she called. 'Now of all times, the Empire needs expert advice.’

‘Flattery will get you everywhere,’ said the Doctor. ‘Except perhaps into this bathroom. Just remember not to let anyone cut off my head, please.’

180

‘I wouldn’t worry. A full Council investigation ought to give you five years at least.’

‘You ought to get anyone with psi powers away from the Duke,’ he said.

‘That’s being arranged now. Most of them will be keen to go once they realize the danger they’re in.’

‘It’s obvious that whoever’s behind