'Well, that was supposed to come on.' She sighed.

'The, uh, monitor thing is blank.' Harker came over and peered at it. 'Are these wires supposed to be connected?'

'Yes, eventually, but I need to get this working first. Remember what I said in those notes about this being the brain of the computer? And the rest of it is just how you see what's on it, or input new stuff?'

'Yes, but without anything to display the information on, how do you know it's not working?'

'Well, these lights aren't on for one thing. And it's not making a noise.'

'Should it?'

'Yes. It should.'

She set Harker to locating another plug point, and carried the CPU into the bedroom where he'd unplugged the lamp by the bed. Still nothing.

'Are you sure no one dropped this? Or got it wet?' she said, frowning at the CPU as it lay on Harker's pillow.

'I'm sure,' he said. 'And it was working when we got it.'

She resisted the urge to sigh again. He'd probably just yanked the plug out, which could have caused the damage. It didn't seem likely he'd have waited for it to power down.

'Well,' she said, 'I suppose I could have a look inside it.' She turned it over and inspected the back plate. 'I'm going to need a screwdriver. A small Phillips head.'

Another blank look.

'You do know what a screwdriver is?' Eve said heavily.

'Yes, I know what a screwdriver is,' Harker said. 'But I don't know what a small Phillips head is.'

'Well, small means little, like the size of my patience,' Eve said. 'A Phillips head is the crosswise kind, look,' she pointed to the screwheads, and Harker leaned in close.

It rather suddenly occurred to Eve that they were leaning over his bed together, and she drew back sharply.

'Okay,' Harker said, still looking closely at the back of the computer. 'Come on, then.'

'What do you need me for?'

He hesitated, just for a split second, but in that second his eyes darted to the computer, and Eve's mouth dropped open.

'Oh my God,' she said. 'That's why you're here, isn't it? You think I'm going to sabotage it, don't you?'

'I never said'

'You didn't have to. Or am I going to use it to send messages to my Coalitionist friends?'

'Do you have Coalitionist friends?' Harker said.

'No. But then, maybe I should. They'd have to be nicer to me than you are,' Eve said, and snatched up the CPU to stomp back into the sitting room.

'Come on, Eve, don't start on this again,' Harker said, following her.

'Well, how would you like it if everyone thought you were a spy, huh? If all you did was have a minor accident and get blown off course because no one actually told you how to use the damn thing, and when you woke up you were accused of spying?'

But it seemed odd, talking about the glider and the TV show and the accident. Almost as if she was relating something that had happened to someone else. On TV maybe, or in a book. Not something that had happened in this world.

Harker pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Look at it from my point of view, would you? I've got someone flying over the river over the Tower, no less when the only things that ought to be flying through the sky are birds. When you wake up you can't tell me where you're from'

'I can,' Eve said.

'Oh, aye. Mitcham. Remember Mitcham?'

'Yes,' Eve said wretchedly, 'but not the Mitcham you showed me.' She sat down in the armchair and put her head in her hands. Took a deep breath or two.

Maybe she really was crazy. Maybe she'd hit her head. Maybe she was in a coma and dreaming all this. Maybe she was dead.

'Oh God,' she groaned, 'is this hell?'

'No. Hell wouldn't have toast and honey.'

She looked up. Harker was crouched in front of her, concern in his eyes. There was a small scar just under his left eye, on the cheekbone. A tiny dent.

'Look, Eve, I'm trying here,' Harker said softly. 'I've got a job to do.'

'I know,' she said.

'And for all I know you could be innocent. But then, for all I know you might not be. And I just can't risk something so important on a maybe.'

Eve reached out without really thinking and touched that little scar. 'What made that?'

Harker's eyes closed for just a second. He swallowed. 'Don't remember,' he said, his voice slightly husky. 'Did it as a child.' His hand moved up to cover hers, and this time it was Eve whose breath caught in her throat. 'Eve'

Someone scratched at the door. Eve froze, and so did Harker, then he rose and turned away. 'Yeah?'

It was Tallulah. 'Sir, Captain Haran says he's got the phone line working.'

Harker glanced back at Eve, then at the computer. 'That any good to you?'

'Maybe, once I get the thing working.' She blinked, shook her head. Something had just happened and she wasn't entirely sure what. 'Uh, I forgot to ask if this has a modem. You might need' She saw his face. 'Never mind.'

Harker gave the computer a dark look. 'Lu,' he said, 'stay here. I'm going to find a screwdriver.'

With that he was gone, and Eve was left with Tallulah giving her a very knowing look.

'Whatever you're thinking,' Eve said, closing her eyes, 'don't.'

Chapter Seventeen.

'Ah!' said Eve suddenly, waking Harker from his half-doze.

'What?'

But she wasn't speaking to him. Daz was also sitting on the floor, holding the light for her to peer into the back of the computer. Harker had looked in, and been reminded of a drawing he'd seen once of Manhattan, all these toweringly high buildings full up of tiny apartments, people living on top of each other all higgledy-piggledy.

'See this?' Eve pointed to something he couldn't see. 'It shouldn't be loose.'

She dealt Harker a look that said it was his fault.

'Once again, no one dropped it'

'Where should it go?' Daz said.

'Well, that's the fun thing. See these tiny sockets?'

'Um ...'

'Any one of those.'

'But there are dozens. Hundreds.'

'Yep,' Eve said with mock cheerfulness. She glared at Harker again. He ignored her, having just heard the car pull up outside. Charlie. He left Eve with Daz probably safer that way and made his way downstairs, colliding with Sir Dennis in the lobby.

'Is that my car?' he asked, peering out through the fantail.

'Yep. Lovely machine,' Harker said, striding towards the door.

'You've had it out every day!'

'Nice little runner.'

'I really must protest, Major'

Harker spun around so fast Sir Dennis lost his footing. 'Are you impeding the war effort, Sir Dennis?'

Sir Dennis's moustache quivered with indignation. 'Of course not, sir!'

'Good. Then you won't mind us making full use of your car, will you?'

He didn't wait for an answer, but went outside into the cold, where Banks was driving the car back around to the garage. Charlie crunched over the gravel towards him.

'Still there, sir,' she said. 'At least for the time being, then they're moving them to Madingly's house tonight.'

The former MP who'd led the secession. 'Guarded?'

'Extremely well.'

'Excellent.' Harker turned to go back inside the house. If Daz and Eve couldn't get that damned machine working, they'd have to break into what was probably the best-defended house in Leeds just to get some spare parts.

'Any progress on the machine, sir?'

'Some. Well, no. She's fannying about with wires and screwdrivers seriously, Charlie, I've seen entrails less complicated than that. It's all tiny, tiny little pieces of I don't even know what they are. She calls 'em circuit board.'

'Is someone watching her, sir?'

'Yes, Charlie. At all times, Charlie. Just as ordered, Charlie.'

She gave him a reproachful look. 'I'm only trying'

'Yeah, I know.' The trouble was, so was Eve.

At lunch, he asked Eve if she'd got the keyboard working. She gave him a harassed look.

'No. I told you, I won't know if that works until I've got the CPU working. There's no point having a fully functioning hand if your brain is missing, is there?'

'I dunno, it's always worked for me,' Banks said.

She left lunch early, trailed by Banks, since Harker figured he'd probably be best at diffusing her. Daz followed them shortly after, and Harker turned to Charlie and said, 'Okay. If she can't get these pieces working, we go into town and break into Madingly's place.'

'Dangerous, sir.'

Harker rolled his eyes. 'Charlie, we're the bloody army. Dangerous is what we do.'

Happily, while they were still making plans, a triumphant shout came from upstairs. At least, Harker assumed it was an occasion for happiness. In the back of his mind he still couldn't banish hideous thoughts of Eve and Daz shagging like mad, every opportunity they got.

No, Banks is there too, he reminded himself, and then his treacherous imagination added Banks into the scenario, and he ran up the stairs so fast he nearly tripped and broke his neck.

But when he pushed the door open, everyone was still clothed and clustered around the computer. The CPU box was glowing, at least a small section of it at the front was, and a low humming sound came from it.

Eve looked up, beaming. 'It's working!' she said, grabbing a cable that was linked to the flat black screen, and pushing it into a socket at the back of the computer.

The screen made a noise that sounded like glonk, and then a little light flashed down in one corner.

Eve stared at it. Harker stared at Eve. Damn, she's beautiful.

'That's it!' she shrieked, turning those big blue-green eyes on Daz and squeezing his arm. 'It's working.' She let out a big sigh. 'Oh, thank goodness for that, I thought it was completely knackered.'

She watched the screen as various things flashed up on it, all of them complete nonsense to Harker, until it settled on a black screen with a couple of lines of text in the corner. The last character blinked on and off.

Eve nodded and brushed some dried blood from the keyboard before tapping a few buttons. She watched the screen, where precisely nothing happened. 'Oh dear.'

Harker's heart sank. 'What do you mean, oh dear?'

'Well, I'm not getting anything out of this.' She hit a few keys. 'See? Nothing on screen.' She peered at the single line of text, which was a couple of nonsensical characters, and added, 'And I have a feeling it's in French anyway.'