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'That's easy for you to say,' said Ming.

Fusion Corp - Olympus Mons

'Have you noticed,' said the Doctor, 'how much time we've spent in lifts recently?' He kept his eyes fixed on the level indicator.

'Back there,' said Kadiatu, 'the major seemed to think you were Shango.'

'Who's Shango?'

'Yoruba thunder god.'

'Oh, Shango,' said the Doctor. 'Did you know the Yoruba have over two hundred deities?'

'Are you?'

'Mind you, Shintoism has thousands.' The Doctor turned to look at her. 'Do I look like a thunder god?'

'How would I know?' said Kadiatu. 'I've never met one.'

'Faced with the unexplained,' said the Doctor, 'people have a tendency to let their imaginations run wild. There are no gods. I should know, I've met a few.'

'The Shango cult is almost exclusively female.'

'People get the wrong end of the stick.'

'I'll bet.'

'It's true,' said the Doctor. 'I was in Ife during the tenth century and there may have been some static electricity involved. I was also in Mesopotamia in the time of Gilgamesh and I've visited all three Atlantises. It's not my fault. It's the planet, things happen there.'

'Why?'

'I don't know,' said the Doctor. 'Your planet just seems to be a major time-space nexus.'

'Lucky us,' said Kadiatu.

She realized that the Doctor was staring intently at her.

'Shadows,' he said, 'forced evolution. Spirits, demons, gods. Coincidences. I'm missing something. Do you dream?'

'Of course I dream, everybody does.'

'Your father didn't,' said the Doctor. 'Any that reoccur?'

'Some,' said Kadiatu, 'when I'm stressed out.'

'Describe one.'

'Beach,' said Kadiatu, 'dead people dancing.'

'No, not that one.'

'I can't remember any of the other ones.'

'Look at me,' said the Doctor.

Kadiatu looked into his strange eyes.

'Basket,' she heard herself say. 'Old woman in a basket over a big pit. Something's wrong with her eye. I think she's a witch.'

'Does she say anything?'

'She's cursing, about children, it's a bad curse.'

'Then what?'

'She cuts the rope that's holding the basket up and falls into the pit.'

The Doctor clicked his fingers. 'The Pythia,' he said. 'Interesting. You and I might have more in common than I first thought.'

'Who's the Pythia?'

'The ancient line of seeresses who once ruled my home planet Gallifrey. When the last of the line was overthrown she cursed the entire population of Gallifrey to perpetual sterility. No children. Ever.'

'Has this got anything to do with the transit system?'

'Nothing at all,' said the Doctor, 'for which we should be profoundly grateful.'

'Then why's it so important?'

'Have you any idea what kind of power a curse like that represents?' asked the Doctor. 'It creates shock waves and patterns within the metafabric of the space-time continuum. The procreative impulse of an entire species can't just dissipate, it has to go somewhere. It must have been channelled by the Pythia's curse, and she knew we were in contact.'

'Knew what?'

'Something I forgot a long time ago.'

'What, for God's sake?'

'I don't know,' said the Doctor. 'I forgot it, didn't I?'

The lift stopped and its doors opened. In the distance they could hear a siren wailing.

'Too late,' said the Doctor.

'Where the hell are you going?' asked the technician.

Benny flexed her wrist back and shot him through the chest.

The power plant had maroon carpeting and cream walls hung with framed abstract paintings at regular intervals. The thick shag absorbed any ambient noise and produced a kind of breathless hush. There had always been debate about the iconography relating to fusion power plants in the pre-expansion era.

Benny followed the signs to the control centre. The decor was obviously designed to be as calming as possible. This hinted at a deep-seated anxiety about the forces they were unleashing within the generator.

The corridor opened into an informal refreshment area. A cluster of easy chairs and sofas were centred around a freestanding entertainment console. A couple were sitting on a sofa watching television, a man was in the kitchen area pouring