The sloped cellar door was just visible in the darkness. Harker grabbed a grenade from his belt, yanked out the pin with his teeth, and threw it over the kitchen roof and into the cloisters for another distraction. As it went off, he blasted the cellar doors with his stolen gun.

A grin fought its way out. He'd forgotten how much bloody fun this could be.

The doors flew open but, judging by the yells coming from the other side of the building, most of the coalitionists were too preoccupied to notice.

He ran in, shot the first guard and Banks got the second. They were faced with a low corridor, cheaply subdivided into cells with many, many narrow doors.

'Shoot the locks off,' he said, 'all of 'em,' and Charlie and Banks nodded.

When Harker caught a glimpse inside the first cell, his smile faded. Inside huddled a family, filthy and emaciated, with what he was pretty sure was a dead child.

'Go,' he said, and didn't wait to see if they obeyed.

He blasted door after door, panic rising as it occurred to him that they might have kept her somewhere else, but then Banks yelled, 'Sir!' and he ran that way.

She has to be okay, she has to be okay, he repeated to himself, and then he heard the faint, rather wobbly but unmistakable sound of the melody Eve had sung last night by the river, and relief made him smile just a little.

She was singing about being found, and he shoved through her door to find Banks crouching over her. He looked up, and his expression killed Harker's smile.

The light from the corridor illuminated a small figure curled on the ground, shivering, cradling one hand against her exposed chest. Her dress was ripped at her breast, and also at the split on her thigh, ripped high enough for him to see the red, swollen wound there. It was crusted, and oozing, and stank of infection.

Eve's head lolled on the floor and she was mumbling the verse she'd sung to him about lights on the river, and this time she remembered the last line, because it was about being with him forever and forever.

Banks's eyes met his, and he looked frightened. And no wonder. Eve was lying on a filthy stone floor, an infected wound in her leg, shivering and sweating with fever.

This is not my definition of okay, Harker thought furiously as he took off his overcoat and knelt down beside her.

'Eve?' he said, and she ignored him. 'Eve, it's me, Harker.'

Her gaze fell briefly on him before sliding away. Her pupils were unfocused. 'Great,' she mumbled. 'Now I'm hallucinating.'

'You're not hallucinating.' He laid his coat over her and she huddled into it.

'Then explain the leprechauns.' Eve giggled.

Harker exchanged a look with Banks, and picked Eve up, which stopped her giggling and made her yelp in pain.

'Sorry, sorry,' he said, standing up and cradling her against his body, indescribably glad to have her back.

He followed Banks, who led with his gun, and met up with Charlie, who was kicking down the last of the cell doors. A stream of people was running, limping and in some cases crawling out of the cellar. Not one of them looked to be in particularly good shape.

Eve moaned in his arms, her face twisted in pain, and Harker shoved through the crowd to the cellar doors. Why hadn't he brought Daz? Why leave him and Mary back at the Chase? Stupid, stupid Harker. Eve needed help now.

She's survived twenty-four hours, she can manage another thirty minutes, said a small sensible voice, but the part of Harker that had seen that swollen wound on her leg ignored it.

Charlie led them, somehow finding the soldiers among the civilians and taking them out. People milled all over the compound and some soldiers were firing at them. Other soldiers ran around, half-dressed, unarmed, trying to restrain prisoners who clearly were in no mood to be locked up again.

Harker and his men ran towards the hole Tallulah had made in the fence, which was now being guarded by men with machine-guns. Banks, impressively, took them out without losing stride, and they ducked through into the chaos of the refugee camp, which was crawling with frightened people.

Frightened people, Harker knew, were the fastest route to complete anarchy, and no one managed to stop them as they raced out and back towards Tallulah and the car.

She had the engine started as soon as she saw them, and set off before Banks had even closed the passenger door.

'Is she all right?' she asked. Her eyes were on the road, but her voice was tense.

'Not exactly,' Harker muttered. He held Eve against him, trying to shield her from the knocks and jolts of the car as it bounced over badly made roads. They'd never taken it this fast before, because it was damned uncomfortable, although Tallulah had reached similar speeds in the truck trying to get Martindale home the other night.

Don't think about how that ended, just don't, he told himself, and touched Eve's face to bring her attention back to him.

'Nearly there,' he said, 'and Daz'll fix you up. You'll be fine.'

Her head lolled against his chest.

'Is she awake?' Tallulah asked.

'She's in and out,' Harker said. He reached inside the overcoat for her hand, and she flinched away from him. 'It's all right,' he said softly, 'I won't hurt you.'

And so help me, if that Sergeant raped you I'll burn that whole Abbey to the ground.

''m already hurt,' Eve mumbled.

'Yes, but we'll get you fixed. You'll be fine.' You'll have to be. I need you to be. He moved the edge of the coat aside and went for her hand again, but she had her left hand cupped protectively over her right and wouldn't move.

Shit, and she's a musician, if they've hurt her hands 'Is your hand all right?' he said, and she frowned. 'Let me see. I won't hurt you, I promise.'

She made a face, but allowed him to move her left hand away. In the dim light of the car, he couldn't see much, and then with a sudden flare of light Charlie had lit a lantern and held it over Eve, who flinched away, squeezing her eyes shut.

The harsh light fell on her right hand, which looked fine until he gently turned it over and heard Charlie's gasp.

Harker stared in increasing horror at the ruined skin of Eve's palm and fingers, white in places and deep red in others. Something had burned her, something deep and awful, and it had mutilated her beautiful hand.

Rage swallowed Harker for a second, and then he heard Eve say, 'You know, that's the second time you've been the last thing I saw before I died,' and his vision cleared just in time to see her eyes close.

For the second time in as many nights, the kitchen was full of chaos. It wasn't quite late enough for the cook and her staff to have finished, which meant the squad were getting in everyone's way. He collided with Frederick in the doorway and shoved past, ignoring the sneering voice as he carefully laid Eve on the table and bellowed for Daz.

'Really, Major, must you' began the cook, and Harker snarled at her.

'God, what is that smell?' drawled Frederick as he sauntered over. He regarded Eve through his nostrils. 'Ugh, it's disgusting.'

'I'd advise you to step back and shut up,' Charlie said in a low voice before Harker could murder the little insect.

'Where the hell is Daz?' he growled. 'Banks, Lu, go find'

'He's talking on the telephone,' Frederick yawned. 'General Wheeler called. Apparently you're not supposed to be here.'

Everything in the kitchen slowed and blurred as Harker turned to face Frederick. The loathsome cockroach didn't even have the balls to look afraid.

'How does she know,' Harker said, struggling to breathe through the fear and rage threatening to strangle him, 'that we are?'

Frederick looked bored, but there was a telltale gleam of malice in his eye that said he hadn't forgiven Harker for humiliating him earlier in the week. 'Well, she asked what time you'd left, and I told her it was only an hour or so ago, and she said'

'Is it bad?' Daz said from the doorway, and Harker turned away from Frederick before he shoved him in the meat grinder.

'Eve or Wheeler?' Harker said.

Daz looked up from examining Eve and winced. 'Someone,' he shot Frederick a poisonous look which bounced right off, 'told her you'd gone into Leeds to bring Eve back.'

Harker didn't even see Charlie step in to stop him killing Frederick. His world had narrowed to pain and revenge, all his blood turned to fire, roaring through his veins 'Sir, concentrate,' she said.

'I'll bloody dismember him'

'Yes, but first tell Daz about Eve's hand.'

He turned, shaking, back to Eve and managed to gesture to her right hand. Daz wordlessly picked it up. He winced again.

'Will she be okay?' Tallulah asked, her voice hopeful, and his eyes returned to the ooozing, swollen wound on Eve's leg. He'd seen men lose limbs over infected wounds. And he'd definitely seen amputations carried out on extremities burned less severely than Eve's hand.

'She'll be fine,' he said firmly, and Daz glanced up at him as he laid his fingers on her forehead.

'Sir, I can't promise'

'Promise,' Harker said, and the violence in his tone made even Charlie flinch.

Right then Benson appeared, apparently not at all disturbed by the scene he found, and said, 'Excuse me, sir, but General Wheeler begs me to inform you that she is becoming most impatient.'

Since this was directed at Harker, whose attention was rooted on Eve, it got no response.

'She wants to talk to you, sir,' Daz said, and Harker shook his head.

'Not now.'

'Sir, she is the General,' Charlie said, and Harker's conscience stabbed him in the back.

Daz was examining the wound on Eve's leg again, checking her temperature, frowning a lot.

'Daz,' he said hollowly, and the doctor looked up. 'What does she need?'

'Hospitalisation,' Daz said. 'This is more than I can do here. I don't have the drugs or the equipment. The Hull base has a decent hospital. We'll take her there.'

'Ought to keep the General happy,' Charlie said. 'Right. Put her in the car. The wagon can follow. Banks, go make sure the car has enough fuel. And you,' she pointed to Harker, 'need to talk to Wheeler. Longer you leave it, angrier she'll get.'

Harker stared at her for a moment.

'Sir,' Charlie said in the tone she used to command troops on the battlefield. 'Go and pick up the telephone. Now.'

He moved automatically, and was halfway across the room before it occurred to him to disobey. He looked back to see Charlie and Tallulah carefully picking up Eve, and very nearly turned back to take her from them.

'Go,' Charlie said, and Harker did.

He imagined Wheeler would probably be organising a sunny wall and a cigarette for him. He knew she'd yell.

He found he didn't much care.

But when he picked up the phone and her voice was quiet, cold, and calm, he knew he was in trouble.

'Kindly explain why I have been waiting so long.'

'Eve,' he said, and cleared his throat. 'She's injured, sir, but we're ready to leave'

'Leave?' Wheeler cut in, her voice made of ice. 'Major Harker, tonight you disobeyed a direct order given by the highest authority in this army. Do you have the faintest idea what that means?'

'Yes, sir.' It means Eve is still alive.

'It means, Harker'

'Sir, we're ready to go.' Tallulah's soft voice intruded over Wheeler's.

'I have to go, sir,' he interrupted, which was probably his worst move all night.

'Go?'

Harker flinched.

'Sir, we really have to leave now if we're going to get there before the bridge blows. Everyone's in the car.'

'Do you have another conversation to participate in, Major?' Wheeler asked in a voice made of needles.

Harker looked at Tallulah for an unending moment, and covered the mouthpiece. 'Tell them to go,' he said. 'I'll follow.'

Tallulah frowned, but when Harker raised his eyebrows at her, she nodded and went, and Harker uncovered the mouthpiece again.

'I'm sorry sir,' he said heavily. 'It's a bad line.'

Wheeler paused for a long moment, and he wondered if that was actually true. Then she spoke, and this time the needles were made of ice.

'I would not have entrusted just any of my officers with the task I gave to you, Major. You have consistently shown yourself to be a man of intelligence and resource but, most of all, of huge loyalty and trust. I trusted you with this mission and I trusted you,' she spoke slowly and deliberately, 'to follow my orders. All of them. You are not in a position to pick and choose which orders to obey.'

His torn fingernails dug into his palm. 'No, sir.'

'And now you force me to wonder if I can trust you at all. I am not unreasonable, Harker. I shall confer with my aides and other senior officers and in the morning I will let you know when and where the court will be held. And I expect you to be there to take my call, is that clear?'

In the morning. Eve would be in Hull, the other side of a bridgeless river. In the morning 'Court?' Harker said.

'Your court-martial.'

He stared at the gaping abyss between his life and his reality.

'I can't convene a general court-martial while you are on the other end of a telephone. It will take some time to gather enough officers of sufficient rank.'