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There was an almighty KKLAK! and the walls and ceiling split in several places at once. As the rifts widened, the ship lurched and they all stumbled, some of the men falling over.The floor was becoming gooey, as though covered with a carpet of mud. Green slime and what looked like lumps of decaying vegetation oozed from the widening rents in the walls and spattered down from the ceiling to the floor.

Everyone had left their posts now and was milling around in confusion, trying to avoid the falling debris. 'We'll have to swim for it!' the Doctor yelled. 'Follow me and try not to panic. We don't want to lose anyone.'

He ran for the door, the others bustling after him, Sam bringing up the rear.The Doctor led them on a nightmare journey through the convulsing, shuddering ship. The place was literally falling apart, turning to mush and ooze around them, the walls and floors and ceilings tearing like putrefying flesh.

There were places where great chasms had opened in the floor, others where they had to wade through showers of decaying matter that made Sam feel as if they were being pelted from above by rotting fruit.At last, bespattered and dripping but all relatively unscathed, they reached what Sam assumed to be their destination.

It was the Doctor who brought them to a halt, turning and holding up his hands. Immediately Sam looked around, searching for their likely escape route. They were in a large but unremarkable chamber, the walls running with rot. There were several gaping holes in the walls through which only blackness could be seen, but whether these had been fashioned or were simply another consequence of the ship's disintegration it was difficult to tell.

Sure enough, the Doctor led them over to one of the holes and pointed down into it. 'If my calculations are correct,' he yelled, 'this is a connecting chute down to the simulated Skarasen environment we saw earlier.'

'That swamp place?' shouted Sam.

He nodded. 'I'm fairly sure it will be flooded by now and there will be access direcdy into the Thames. We'll go down one by one. We'll be coming out directly under the ship, so I want everyone to take a deep breath, and once you find yourselves under water strike out to clear the ship and then head upwards for the surface. If you all remain calm, you should be able to do it.

Once you've reached the surface, the shore shouldn't be far away. Now, who's first?'

The men hung back, fear in their eyes. It was Nathaniel Seers who stepped forward. He stripped off his sodden jacket and necktie. 'I will go first, Doctor,' he said.

'And then I,' said Emmeline. She was already peeling off her bulky outer layer of clothing. Even at this juncture, some of the men, Victorian to the core, were looking away, embarrassed.

Her show of mettle, however, did have the desired effect of shaming the rest of the men into stripping off their coats and jackets and lining up to await their turn. Before stepping into the chute, Nathaniel Seers proffered a hand to the Doctor.

'Good luck to you, sir, and God bless you for all you have done to help us.'

The Doctor grasped Seers's hand and shook it warmly. 'And good luck to you, Mr Seers. I'll see you soon.'

'Count on it,' said Seers, and launched himself feet first into the chute.

The blackness swallowed him almost immediately. Without hesitation, Emmeline occupied the gap left by her father. She looked at the Doctor and offered a tight smile. 'Thank you,' she whispered.Then she was gone.

One by one the men came forward, some looking determined, some apprehensive, some downright terrified. Eventually only Sam and the Doctor were left. She sat on the edge of the chute and nodded at his slime-encrusted frock coat.

'Hope that's not dry-clean only.'

He smiled. 'I've got others.'

'Gallifrey's answer to Imelda Marcos,' she said, rolling her eyes. 'Right then, see you later.'

She pushed herself forward and disappeared into the blackness.The Doctor gave her thirty