'Don't start,' said Mr Mintz. 'I've thought thought about the consequences, OK? I'm not going to "pervert" anything.' about the consequences, OK? I'm not going to "pervert" anything.'

Penelope sat back, glaring at him. 'How can I persuade you to abandon this foolish and dangerous path?'

'It's too late,' he said again. 'Listen, Miss Gate, think about this. Back in your own time, no one took your invention seriously, did they? Well, imagine if you could build a better one! A faster, bigger Engine.'

'With sixteenth-century engineering?'

'Don't be fooled. Their metallurgy is streets ahead of what Europe's managing at the moment. And they've got me to give them a push in the right direction. Think about it, Miss Gate. We could really make it happen.'

She got up and walked away from him, arms folded, head down. He watched her, the corner of his mouth twitching up in frustration.

'I had thought,' said Penelope, after a long interval, 'that time travellers would share certain common characteristics. A desire to explore and discover.

An equal desire not to tamper with or destroy what they were exploring.'

Mr Mintz opened his mouth, but she held up a hand for silence. 'I was wrong. This society of time explorers I imagined, this honourable society, doesn't exist. There are only isolated renegades, out for themselves.'

Mr Mintz's mouth had turned down at both corners. He looked at the floor.

Ashamed or resigned?

'Therefore,' Penelope went on, 'I renounce my imagined society.' She knelt down and opened her bag. 'I brought the plans for my time machine, though I was obliged to leave the real thing behind. Present me to this Gufuu-sama.

If I have no choice but to remain in this situation, I must make the best of it.' He was looking at her in astonishment. 'And perhaps someday we will create a fully functioning version of my time conveyance. And then I'm going to leave.'

Everyone was running in the opposite direction to Chris. He fought his way through the blackened, shouting crowd, back towards the inn, into the smoke and panic.

He didn't stop to think. Running on instinct.

131.

The building opposite the inn, some kind of gambling parlour, was roaring with sooty flame. The fire had spread to three houses already. Terrified-looking men were throwing water into the blaze, uselessly.

Chris waved his arms as a great puff of smoke billowed down on to him, blinking the stinging heat out of his eyes. There was a figure lying in the street, halfway between the two houses, covered in dust and ash. He made a beeline for it without even thinking.

He grabbed the Doctor and turned him over. There was an impressive sear mark on the left shoulder of his jacket.

'Wooden buildings and energy weapons,' Chris muttered. 'Bad combination.'

The Doctor coughed, shouted something about the world dissolving, and came to, brushing soot from his eyes. 'Chris,' he said.

'Let's get you out of here,' said the Adjudicator, lifting him up.

'Let's get the pod out of here,' he said. 'There's a Caxtarid agent running about. Probably a slaver.'

'A woman with copper hair?' said Chris, helping the Doctor out of the smoke.

'Metallic red, yes. And very unpleasant. She wants that pod badly enough to kill for it. She thought she'd done just that.' The Doctor looked back at the raging fire. 'She may well have killed someone. Blast! I should have had more sense than to bring the thing to a population centre, especially after what happened to Hekison.'

The Time Lord was striding towards the blacksmith's, looking left and right.

Chris said, 'Here's hoping she split when the fire started. I'm just glad you didn't go off and leave me.'

The Doctor clapped his hand on Chris's arm. 'You'll be fine. I'm not sure how much the Caxtarid cares about publicity.' He scowled, wiping soot from his nose. 'We can't waste any more time. We have to collect the cart, the horses and the pod, and drive as hard as we can for Doa-no-naiheya Monastery.'

'Leaving a trail of destruction behind us,' sighed Chris.

'That's what I'm hoping to avoid,' said the Doctor.

That was when the troop of samurai came out of the smoke.

132.

15.Cat and mouse

Wednesday 22 May 1996, subjective time Probably March 1560, local time Dear Diary, I refer you to the entry for 30 December 1999 Dear Diary, I knew I should have listened to the Doctor, whose advice always makes good sense. Besides, I knew that messing about with history makes good sense. Besides, I knew that messing about with history was a Bad Thing. So thank goodness I didn't decide to go ahead with was a Bad Thing. So thank goodness I didn't decide to go ahead with whatever it was I was planning. whatever it was I was planning.

As I suppose you know, dear Diary, I didn't write that.

*gulp*

There were at least a dozen samurai, driving wildly out of the smoke. Chris caught flashes amongst the motion, frightened faces, purple banners.

A flurry of energy bolts punctured the black smoke, searing pink light like loosed arrows, following perfectly straight trails up into the sky, or smashing into buildings with a puff of flame. A horse screamed, nearly throwing its rider. Chris grabbed the Doctor by the collar and pulled him out of the way of the panicked animal's hooves.

The Caxtarid ran barefoot into the street, coming out of the smoke with her red eyes glittering like a bad flash photo. Anyone who hadn't already screamed and run screamed and ran. Including the firefighters, who abandoned their buckets and took to their heels.

'Where'd those samurai come from!' Chris shouted, over the noise.

'They probably came to fight the fire,' said the Doctor. He didn't have to shout; his voice overrode the background noise.

'Where's Penelope?' shouted Chris.

133.

'She left in a huff.' He looked up at the Adjudicator. 'Or possibly in her time machine?'

Chris shook his head. 'It's still safe in the blacksmith's store.' Well, as safe as it could be in a town that was burning like a bonfire.

The braver samurai were riding in circles, charging the Caxtarid and weaving away as she let loose her energy bolts. 'Get the pod to the monastery.'

'What?' Chris actually reached out to grab the Doctor's collar again, but the Time Lord had run right into the middle of the conflict.

'Go!' shouted the Doctor, as he bolted past the Caxtarid. She swore and swung to cover him.

Chris was amazed to find himself running down the street, away from them, towards the blacksmith's store.

He looked back, once, but he couldn't see the Doctor in the middle of the fight. The thatched roof of a house exploded into flames, showering the street with tiny bits of burning straw. Chris covered his face and turned and ran.

Aoi couldn't decide whether to be excited or disgusted. Was it an honour, being a.s.signed to guard the foreign woman, or was it an insult? His father hadn't said anything about it, except to wish him good luck.

Aoi glanced over at the woman. She was riding with a frown on her face, as though deep in thought. Gufuu-sama had said to keep her safe she had promised to show them a working version of the other gaijin's gaijin's machine, though Aoi wasn't too sure what all of that was about and more importantly, not to let her run off. They weren't sure of her loyalty. If she tried to escape, they would have a very clear picture of it! machine, though Aoi wasn't too sure what all of that was about and more importantly, not to let her run off. They weren't sure of her loyalty. If she tried to escape, they would have a very clear picture of it!

But she hadn't tried to slip away: she'd just ridden along, in silence. Thinking. Aoi wondered what it must be like to live in a country where the women built machines. Though it was some kind of weaving machine. How that was going to help Gufuu-sama, Aoi had no idea.

He wouldn't have minded the job so much if she'd taken the trouble to paint her teeth black, like any normal woman. Did all barbarian women have teeth like naked bones? Aoi shuddered. At least she didn't smell. None of the foreigners did, unlike the unwashed barbarians his father had talked about.

So much was going on, and they'd told him so little about it. He felt as though he had been plunged into deep water without first being taught to swim.

'Tell me something about these people we're going to meet,' he said.

Startled out of her reverie, she looked over at him. He wondered how old she was. She didn't look too old, maybe the age of his oldest sister.

'Well,' she said, 'they're a little hard to explain. They're birds.'

'Birds,' repeated Aoi.

134.

'Large, black birds. But they're not just birds, they're people. They have hands, and they talk.'

' Tengu! Tengu! ' said Aoi. 'I heard a rumour that some ' said Aoi. 'I heard a rumour that some tengu tengu had come out of the forest. Have you seen them?' had come out of the forest. Have you seen them?'

The foreigner nodded. 'It's my theory,' she said, 'that they somehow affected my time conveyance, bringing it here.' Aoi had no idea what she was babbling about. 'If the Doctor's map is accurate, and we can find them, they may be able to make it operate again. Besides, I wish to discover what their purpose was in bringing me here. Or more accurately, in bringing the machine here. . . '

She trailed off, her brow furrowing. Thinking again.

Aoi took out the map and checked it once more. By now they must actually be somewhere under the large foreign writing. Not more than a ri ri from the from the tengu tengu's camp.

When he looked up again, they were surrounded.

The samurai captain paused halfway up the hill, turning back to look at Toshi town.

It was ablaze. The fire had jumped easily from wooden building to wooden building, chewing through the town as though it was made of crumpled paper. He could see crowds milling about outside the wall of the town. People watching their homes burn.

The troop had seen the fire as they came over the hill on their way to Umemi-sama's castle. Their detour had ended not in succour for the towns-people, but in disaster.

He looked around at his troops. The ones who had survived. Some had been smashed from their horses by the demon fire. One had died as a burning wall collapsed on to him.

The man sitting behind him on the horse took off his hat in what the captain a.s.sumed was a gesture of respect. The foreigner's face was dusty and sooty, making it hard to tell what his expression was.

The captain couldn't quite remember how the little man had ended up sharing his horse, only that he had been there ever since they had left the town.

'Terrible,' the little man said. 'Try to fight the fire, and you only fan the flames.'

The foreigner noticed the captain, who had half turned in his seat, looking back at him. ' Sendoo-sha ni okutle kudasai, Sendoo-sha ni okutle kudasai, ' the man said. ' the man said.

The captain blinked at him. 'I beg your pardon?'

'Take me to your leader,' the man repeated patiently.

Chris felt as though he had been driving forever. His mind had gone into neutral, and only his hands and his eyes had been guiding the horses along the roads. If you could call them roads.

135.

Abandoned again.

His spine felt as though all the individual vertebrae were about to fall out, and he was covered in small bruises. He hadn't seen anything else on wheels since leaving Toshi, and after a while he'd realized why: the countryside was so rugged that it wasn't even worth building good roads. He hoped no bits of the cart fell off. He doubted he could repair it.

What if he just stopped driving? What would happen if he didn't take the pod to the monastery? What if it was another red herring? What would happen if he just buried it under a ton of rocks, or dropped it into a lake, where no one would ever find it again?

And what the h.e.l.l was it with Kosen's student?

He nearly drove past the villagers without really seeing them. A flurry of shouts caught his attention, and he gently tugged the reins, until the horses decelerated to a stop.

He turned in his seat as Mikeneko and Kame ran up. The others struggled up behind them. 'Should you not be at the monastery by now, Kuriisu-san?'

Kame asked, not bothering with greetings and etiquette.

'We stopped in Toshi,' said Chris glumly.

'We saw it burning,' said Mikeneko. She shook her head mournfully. 'We had hoped to take shelter there on our way, but now '

'Look,' said Chris, 'This thing is like a magnet for disaster.' He jerked his thumb at the heavy shape of the pod. 'Are you sure you want to keep heading in the same direction as me?'

Mikeneko said, 'We have no choice. We sent whoever we could to stay with relatives in nearby villages. Without the monks' help, we won't survive.'

Chris nodded resignedly. 'I'll try to get as much distance between us as I can,' he said.

'Watch out for shin.o.bi shin.o.bi,' said Kame. 'Gufuu and Umemi have agents everywhere. We were attacked in the night. I was only able to save the villagers at the cost of my own life.' He gave a lopsided, slightly insane grin.

Chris left them behind on the road, and pounded ahead. He had to get this thing to the monastery, and hope that the Doctor would catch up with him there. He had no idea what the Time Lord was planning once they'd got the thing to safety.

A lump of panic banged around in his chest as the cart negotiated the rocky road. What if the Doctor didn't turn up? What if it was just him now no more Benny, no more Roz, no more Doctor, just Chris?

The lump got into his throat. He blinked back the tears, and drove on.

The Kapteynians had built a camp in the forest. Penelope saw they had constructed three large nests, each one presumably shared by a few of the birds 136 for warmth. There was a carefully cleared patch of ground in the centre, a charred circle marking the spot where they lit their fire.

Talker was sitting on the ground, legs and wings folded. The others watched from the trees, or their nests, waiting patiently while their spokesman dealt with the humans. Even though Penelope had watched Mr Cwej's conversation with them, she still found herself light-headed at the thought of talking birds from other worlds.

Aoi, the page, was sitting on the ground with his mouth hanging open.