'Protect us from what?' Brian implored her.

'Some foreboding, force, occurrence, being ... I don't know, but I feel it in my gut,' Tory stressed her concern.

'Me too.' Rhiannon seconded her mother's view, as she usually did.

'Tory?' Brian plastered his hair back off his brow.

'I know it's a big gamble, Brian, but I have a seriously bad feeling that mainstream society is about to take a dive.'

Brian sighed. 'Alright, I'll head us out to sea tonight.' He was showered with kisses from both women. 'Aw, do me a favour!' He knew he'd been conned, and so brushed them both off in protest. 'You look like a couple of drag queens.'

'Head for deep water and stay submerged.' Tory backed up, Rhiannon with her. 'We shan't be far behind.'

Brian shuddered as he watched them both fade from sight. 'John's right, this family is just too weird.'

The thought of Ray found Tory and Rhiannon thirty floors up in the office of a new high-rise building overlooking London.

'The new ICA offices, I presume.' Tory wandered to the door to find a light switch.

The room had yet to be carpeted or painted, but as it turned out there was electricity.

'Sweet Jesus.' Rhiannon spotted her crewmate huddled in a corner, badly beaten. 'Ray?' She rushed to squat beside him, gently turning his swollen face toward her.

'Who, who?' He pushed himself hard into the corner, wondering what horror lay in store for him now.

Rhiannon had completely forgotten about her strange guise. 'It's okay, it's me.' She smiled.

'Who?!' He still hadn't made the connection, as his eyesight wasn't the best. Ray looked harder. 'Rhiannon?'

he mouthed the name.

'Hey, babe.' Tory gave him a wave.

'Oh my God,' Ray mumbled. 'You two look awful.'

'Well, you know, Ray, you're not looking that crash hot yourself.' She helped Rhiannon to get Ray to his feet. 'Is anything broken?'

'Ah!' He winced with pain as he was raised up onto his feet. 'I think the question is more, what isn't broken?'

'Let's get you back and have a doctor check you out.'

'Not without my case,' he mumbled, barely conscious.

'My sweet, you're dying,' Tory pointed out. 'Is it really that important?'

'Yes,' he insisted. 'I have to get it back.'

'I'll get it.' Tory rolled her eyes, motioning for him to stay put. 'Do you feel confident to get him back home?'

Rhiannon nodded. 'I have been known to provide men with such a service on occasion.'

'You learn too fast.' Tory gave her a wink before she transformed her appearance.

'No, Lord, I'm not seeing this,' Ray whined in protest.

'What do you think?' Tory asked.

As it was Doc Alexander smiling back at them, Rhiannon replied, 'What a babe!'

'Ray?' Tory looked at him, adding another dimension to her disguise by employing Doc's voice.

The engineer was stunned speechless. His eyes rolled back in his head, and Rhiannon found herself struggling to hold the dead weight of his body up.

Once Tory had seen Rhiannon and Ray safely depart, she focused on finding the suitcase. It was old, and had many a distinguishing sticker and baggage tag.

As the case in question took form before her, Tory didn't make a move for it. The smell of cigar smoke let her know there was someone else present in the room where she'd manifested.

She was in a very large office, exquisitely decorated with fine antiques and artwork. Directly beside her, seated in a chair facing a desk, was a big man in a suit.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Tory and was startled to his feet. 'Christ, Doc, you scared me. I wasn't expecting you for another hour or so.'

'Is that why you're smoking my cigars?' Tory casually strolled round the back of the desk and took a seat.

'Sorry, I got bored.' He stubbed it out in an ashtray on the desk.

'That's quite alright, uh ...?' Tory clicked her fingers a few times and waited for him to jump in.

'Murray,' he obliged, seeming rather surprised.

'Sorry, my friend, it's been one of those days.' Tory could see a gun in a shoulder holster inside Murray's jacket, yet surely this overweight, middle-aged man could not have taken Ray out on his own - or beaten him so grievously. 'Where are the rest of you?'

'They left early to avoid suspicion, just like you said.'

'Excellent.' She smiled to reassure him. Then, slapping her hands together, Tory rose and looked around to locate the bag. 'So, you got it I see, well done.'

'It was just like you told me, Doc. Murdock was on Thurlow's boat. Who would have thought?'

Who indeed? Tory mused.

'That's some smart rig they've got there. I think you oughta check it out sometime.'

'I'll do that, Murray. But right now,' she glanced at her wristwatch, and attempted to walk him to the door, 'I've got to motor.'

'Wait a minute.' He came to an abrupt halt, and Tory's heart shot into her throat. 'What do you want me to do with the brain ... dump him in a river, or what?'

'No, Murray, that's okay.' She patted his shoulder to put him at ease. 'I'll take it from here.'

The thug shrugged, and then hesitated again before departing. 'You seem thinner, or shorter, or somethin' ...

you should take better care of yourself, Doc.'

'I'll do that.' She shook his hand firmly on his way out. 'You take care yourself, Murray.' She closed the door behind him and gave a sigh of relief.

Her bedchamber on board the Goddess took form within the ethers, and slowly materialised around her. She was home, far from the eyes and cameras of would-be voyeurs, so Tory dropped the suitcase and resumed her true form.

'I knew it.'

Tory turned to find Noah seated in a dim corner.

'But I had to see it for myself.' Noah stood in a daze, clutching a pile of papers in his hand.

'See what?' Tory scoffed; maybe she could convince him that he was imagining things; it was rather dark in here.

Noah was so completely mind-blown he didn't know where to start, and so paced a little. He didn't want to offend Tory by jumping to conclusions. He had to stick to the facts. 'I know you think I'm not very observant, what with the Ray thing slipping by me and all.' He stopped still. 'But that's because something else has been preoccupying my brain space.'

'I see.' Tory smiled, taking a seat on the bed to hear him out.

'Wow!' He let loose a burst of enthusiasm as the pieces of the puzzle came together in his mind. 'See, I've been doing a bit of reading whilst I've been on this rig - ancient history and mythology, seeing as that is what your CD ROM library has to offer in the main. And I came across this.' He handed her a copy of the printout.

A short life hast mine been, wondrous and blithe.

I have learned of many a legend.

But who wast the greatest?

I reply ...

It was she who tamed the Dragon.

It was she who united this land.

It was she who shaped my future, the Goddess' right hand.

The head-wind of a storm, wast she, with more radiance than the sun.

The heart of a warrior, had she, who fought until she won.

I am proud to say I knew her, for she wast my truest friend.

The years we had together, art the happiest I shall spend.

Departed now, for some future age, and mourned by all who knew her.

I shall recount her deeds till I draw final breath, Her name? ... Tory Alexander.

It was a piece of poetry that a young druid of the sixth century had written for her before her departure.

Thankfully, it was not dated. She'd had it translated into modern English and put on CD ROM, mainly for Rhiannon's benefit, along with the copy of her legend that had been passed down through time to become part of British mythology.

She smiled as she finished reading it. 'It's a joke. A friend wrote it for me, when he'd read the legend.

That's why I had them put on CD together.'

'Now, that's what I thought.' Noah let her know he wasn't buying it. 'But, answer me this, Tory Alexander.

We've been out at sea for over an hour, so how can Rhiannon show up with Ray less than fifteen minutes ago?'

Tory opened her mouth to answer, but only gave a huge exhalation. She was tired of trying to hide who she was, and if they were headed for dangerous times those close to her were bound to find out anyway. Unlike most in this day and age, at least Noah was eager to hear the truth.

'Departed now for some future age ...' Noah quoted the poem. 'That future age is now, isn't it? You are the immortal, time-shifting warrior from ancient British myth.'

'If you say so.' Tory was not really up for a fight.

'No, hear me out.' Noah was far more excited than she. 'You obviously have certain powers, right? And as Rhiannon inherited them, I can safely assume it's passed on from generation to generation.'

'I'll go with that.' Tory was intrigued to see where all this was heading.

'Well, in myth, the first person to strongly oppose the Goddess ... you,' he pointed out, then took a moment to get a grip on his thoughts again, 'was Caradoc, which could perhaps be shortened to Doc, and the Alexander part, well ...' He shrugged, thinking it was obvious. 'Now, that could be just a coincidence, of course?'

But Tory knew better. There was no such thing as chance. She had killed Caradoc out of mercy with her own hand, but she couldn't rule out the possibility that he might have incarnated. 'That's food for thought.'

'But there's more.' He sat on the bed and spread out a whole lot of papers. 'I traced the Kings down from Maelgwn for five generations, to the Dragon's final male descendant to the throne, Cadwaladr. And you know, every single one of them was reputedly taken by the Otherworld before death, or mysteriously vanished after death. And,' he held up a finger in resolve, 'they were all fabled to return to join the Goddess in battle at the Gathering of Kings. The aforementioned battle is against an evil entity with extensive armies, who, it is said, will bring universal slaughter ... do you know anything about that?'

Tory shook her head. She had heard the prophecy before, but even she was none the wiser as to the identity of her foe in the affair.

Noah suspected she was withholding information, but didn't push the issue. 'Anyway,' he grinned, gesturing to the chart he'd made, 'this is the family line ...

'Maelgwn - taken by the Otherworld. Rhun - mysteriously vanished. Cadwell - taken by the Otherworld. This one is interesting: Cadfan, most cultured and renowned of all British Kings, mysteriously vanished. Cadwallon - taken by the Otherworld. And, the last of his line, the great warrior, Cadwaladr, his body mysteriously vanished after he'd been slain at the battle of Brunanburh. Which, just as a matter of interest, is what Doc Alexander named the ICA's first space station.'

'How long have you been working on this?' Tory could hardly believe what a hive of information he was.

'I haven't really ... like I said, I've been reading. It only really came together when Rhiannon showed up with Ray.'

'Well, it seems you've already earned your week's pay.' She could see now why he'd wanted the job in the first place.

'We aim to please,' he advised. 'So let me run this theory by you. You believe in reincarnation, right?'

'Most certainly.' She handed the poem of her deeds back to Noah. 'When one considers that you were the druid who penned this poem for me in 540 A.D.'

'Radical ... a druid, eh!' He was pleased. 'So I was a reporter even then.'

Tory laughed. 'Indeed.'

'Will you tell me your story one day?' He forgot all about his theory, as this was far more interesting.

'One day, perhaps.' She motioned him back to his notes and the matter at hand.

'Right, ah ... yes. It just occurred to me - what if these talents of yours had been passed down through the generations? There could be others like you.'