Dumont-Smith paused.

'I don't believe it. Do those cretins in the Kremlin realise what they've destroyed? I handed you the most advanced piece of 141 technology either of us has ever encountered... and you blow it up.

Now I must insist that if I am to continue working with you, you take no more such steps without consulting me.'

'Where are you calling me from?'

George Limb licked his lips.

'A telephone kiosk. I have had to vacate the zoo rather hurriedly.'

'There is work for you to do. We believe that a component from the ship survived the attack. It must be found.'

'And destroyed, I suppose. You imbeciles! This isn't just another weapon. It is remarkable.'

'We are relying on you, George.'

'Well, naturally I will see what I can do. Describe the component'

'It has a flat case of grey metal and eight rows of rectangular silver b.u.t.tons.'

The old man glanced at Drakefell's unexpected gift and smiled.

'I can't promise you anything,' he lied, 'but I shall see what I can do, Miles.'

'Time is of the essence, George.'

'Yes, yes. Good day, Miles.'

'Wait. Where will you '

But George Limb had hung up.

The door opened and Jimmy entered with a tray.

'I brung you some tea, George.'

'Thank you, Jimmy. Dear boy. Put it here.'

George Limb took a sip, and turned his attention to the curious grey box. Jimmy made a lovely cup of tea... On reflection, things hadn't turned out too badly.

'No one in, Doc.'

The Doctor was peering down at a small metal gizmo. It looked like a Geiger counter to McBride.

'Try a window.'

'What does that thing do, anyway?'

'It scans for minute traces of Va.s.ser Dust.'

'And that's important?'

'Trans-dimensional contamination. Signs of reality-jumping.'

The Doctor fiddled with a k.n.o.b.

'I hope it's working'

McBride tested a window. The wood was quite rotten. It forced easily.

'OK, here goes, Doc...'

The Doctor was still tinkering with his new toy. McBride hauled 142 himself painfully through the window. He hoped to G.o.d he didn't have to do any more fighting.

One of those cute old English places that his mother had collected pictures of. They'd always looked fake to him, but there you go...

The room smelt musty. In a vase on the far windowsill a bunch of wilted flowers sagged against a grey sky.

The Doctor scrambled through the window after him and landed on his rump on the floor.

'I was gonna open the door for you, Doc.'

'No, I like to do a little breaking and entering from time to time. Just to keep my hand in.'

'Looks like there's no one in, Doc. I'll check upstairs.'

'I'm getting a signal, said the Doctor. He moved towards the kitchen.

'This way, no...'

He turned around.

'It's much stronger over here. I think it's a second signal...'

'What does that mean, Doc?'

'It means we should get out of here, Cody.' The Doctor's voice was low and deep with menace. 'Right away?'

There was a sudden screaming, tearing sound, which battered McBride's eardrums, and an icy, blasting wind. He spun around, reaching for his gun.

Something was cutting through the wall of the cottage. A great gash was ripping its way up the ma.s.sive stone slabs, opening them up like you'd open a can of beans with a knife.

A pair of black claws was slashing at the breach, widening it, pulverising the stone like it was pumice. More claws appeared up the crack dozens of claws, clattering against each other, jostling and snapping.

Not claws mandibles. Two jointed black legs pushed through the crack and skittered against the stone.

It was those ants again. Dozens of them by the look of it.

'Doc ...'

'Out of the kitchen window, I suggest.'

They darted into the kitchen. The window was tiny. McBride tugged at the door.

'Locked.'

He banged his fist against it.

'What now, Doc?'

There was a sickening pop from the living room as a single ant shot like a cork from a bottle into the room and landed with a thud. It was nearly a foot long.

143.

Others followed, larger still, slashing at the stone wall with their jaws, widening the gap. Forget dozens there were hundreds. Like before, they moved slowly. Unlike before, this was a full-on invasion.

'The window we came in by,' said the Doctor.

But how? The floor was already swarming with ants. McBride slammed the door in front of them as the first of the ants decided to explore in this direction.

The Doctor spun around and scanned the kitchen shelves. All sorts of herbs sat in jars.

'Doc?'

'Aha!'

The Doctor lifted down a big gla.s.s jar full of glistening white crystals, unscrewed the lid and sniffed.

'TNT?'

'Sugar.'

He opened the larder door.

'And honey. Oh, and a fresh jam roly-poly. Excellent! Arm yourself, Cody.'

'Have you lost your mind, Doc?'

The Doctor edged past McBride and up to the door. They could hear the clatter of chitin against the heavy oak.

'I used to play a decent game of cricket,' said the Doctor, hefting the sugar jar, 'back when I was younger... Now I want you to open the door carefully, just enough to give me a throwing line. And be prepared to slam it shut with all your strength if I yell.'

'OK.'

McBride inched the door open, his legs planted, his shoulder braced for any sudden impact. It came. The door slammed into him. A score of black legs thrashed about in the opening, whipping his legs.

The Doctor threw.

'Now!'

There was a sound of smashing gla.s.s from the living room. McBride hurled his weight against the door. So did the Doctor. It slammed into the legs of the ants, causing a sort of clicking shriek to rise from them.

'Again,' said the Doctor. 'Ease it open.'

The Doctor stepped back and picked up another missile. McBride took the weight with a groan. His ribs were ripped with pain.

The Doctor threw again and again. Cakes, jars, a bowl of over-ripe plums.

It was working. The ants were retreating from them, crashing and piling over one another to get to the feast.

The way to the window was clear.

144.

'After you, Cody,' said the Doctor.

McBride sprinted across the room and almost dived through the window. As he picked himself up from the gra.s.s, his ribcage wishing it had never been born, the Doctor tumbled on top of him.

They got to their feet, breathless.

'What now?'

'We've got to keep them inside the house'

'Oy! You two!'

The voice was accompanied by the irregular splutterings of a motor.

A police constable was drawing up to them on a motorbike.

'I seen that! You're nicked, the pair of ya. Breakin' an' enterin''

'There's a perfectly simple explanation,' said the Doctor. 'We were searching for a friend, then a breach opened in the walls of reality and a swarm of giant ants came through. We're trying to work out what to do about it.'

'All right, Jack Benny, you can keep your comedy routine for the station. Come on.'

The Doctor tapped the gla.s.s of the open window, smiling sadly. The constable looked into the room. He turned pale.

'I'm afraid I'm telling the truth,' the Doctor said.

The constable swallowed hard, then turned on his heels and ran.

'I was rather hoping he might have helped us. Oh, well...'

'So how're we gonna keep those things in there? You saw how they ripped that wall apart.'

'There was a dimension breach in the s.p.a.ce occupied by the wall.