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Dogface stuck his finger into the pot and tasted it. 'Maybe they didn't like the goat.'

'Come off it,' said Lambada, 'everyone loves goat.'

'Goat Flavouring,' said Dogface.

'Whatever,' said Lambada.

'Did you check the concourse?' Dogface asked Old Sam.

'Nothing.'

'Credit Card,' said Dogface.

'Yo.'

'Tell Ming we're going in now.'

Kings Cross (Central Line)

'Where does that tunnel go?' said the voice at Kadiatu's ear.

'Let go,' said Kadiatu and the fingers relaxed their grip on her hair. In her mind Kadiatu had constructed a huge man with oiled biceps capable of lifting her one-handed, but when she turned his hat was level with her shoulders.

'Who are you?'

The man ignored her and gazed down to the far end of the station and the tunnel gateway. The tip of his red-handled umbrella tapped insistently on the platform. 'That tunnel,' he said, 'where does it go?'

Blue paint was splattered in a long irregular line down the length of the platform. Kadiatu squatted down and reached out a hand to touch it. Her hand was trembling.

'Don't,' said the man.

The paint was wet and sticky, roughened by the thin layer of grit that covered the formed concrete of the platform. She picked up a small lump between her thumb and forefinger. It felt like a hardened composite, the edges had run like wax. It was a chunk of the inspector's body armour.

Kadiatu stood up fast, the lump falling from her hand on to the trackway below to sizzle for a moment on the friction field. Her shoulders jerked backwards as if trying to distance her body from the stain on her fingers. Bile clawed its way up her throat as her body began to shake itself to pieces.

The slap was hard enough to snap her head sideways,

'Better?' asked the man.

Kadiatu nodded. Her cheek was stinging, there was a hint of blood in her mouth. 'Who are you?'

'I'm the Doctor,' said the man.

He was shorter than her but Kadiatu felt that he looked down on her from a greater height. In the flat station lights she couldn't tell what colour his eyes were.

'Doctor of what?'

'Everything,' said the Doctor.

She could see his eyes now, they were a vivid angry brown. They seemed to track across her face, as palpable as a rastascan. 'What are you staring at?'

'Nothing,' said the Doctor. 'Where does that tunnel lead?'

'Eventually?'

'That would do for a start.'

'Pluto.'

'How do I get there?'

'Wait for the next train,' said Kadiatu.

The Doctor looked back at the tunnel gateway. 'Next time I'm going to find a better place to park.'

'What?'

'Well,' said the Doctor. 'I've kept you long enough, I'm sure you have things to do, people to see.' He pulled out a gold watch on a fob chain and checked the time. He glanced idly down the platform again before looking down to examine his shoes. The umbrella restarted its tattoo on the grimy concrete.

'Why are you still here?' he said after a moment.

'I'm waiting for the train,' said Kadiatu. She risked a glance sideways at the Doctor. He was scowling at the wall opposite. He nodded in an abstracted fashion.

You saved my life, thought Kadiatu, and now you're pretending I don't exist.

'Sorry,' said the Doctor without looking round, 'It was an accident.'

'What do you mean, an accident?'

'It's a reflex of mine,' said the Doctor. 'I see someone in danger and I try to save them. I can't help myself.'

Kadiatu nodded at the blue splatter along the platform. 'What about him?'

For an instant a spasm of real pain crossed the Doctor's face 'You were closer,' he said. 'When's the next train?'

Kadiatu glanced at the indicator holo. It said 'Check Destination on Front of Train' - not a good sign.

'Don't hold your breath,' she told him.

'I'll try not to.'

'I need a drink,' said Kadiatu suddenly. 'How about you?'

Acturus Terminal (Stunnel Terminus)

The station had been swept clean of people. Blondie's shoes stuck with every step in the sticky blue stuff that covered the floor and splattered the walls. The Stunnel gateway was a spinning copper gong nailed to the far wall.