the others began to follow him. As Klieg was about to go down, he stepped aside and whispered to Kaftan.
'You know what to do?'
'The hatch?' Kaftan scarcely moved her lips.
Klieg nodded.
'Yes,' she murmured.
Professor Parry, Viner, quaking a little but bullied into it by the Professor, and Jamie were already in the icy black shaft, holding on to the slippery rungs.
'Now, Mr Toberman,' said the Doctor smoothly to Kaftan, standing aside politely to let the giant pass.
'He stays with me.'
'Then I shall stay up here, too,' smiled the Doctor. He folded his arms lazily and sat on one of the stools with all the time in the world ahead of him.
Kaftan gazed at him with her dark eyes for a moment, then smiled. 'I am being selfish,' she said softly, 'of course he must go with you. His strength will be useful, Go down, Toberman.'
Toberman hesitated for an instant, then grunted, nodded and walked towards the hatch. He turned and looked at the Doctor suspiciously, then, as Kaftan nodded him on, shrugging to himself, swung down the hatch in one simple movement.
The Doctor stood up to follow him.
'Remember!' he said quietly to Victoria. He squeezed her arm gently. 'And watch out,' he said, 'for yourself as well as us.'
He turned to the hatch and in a moment had disappeared down the cold black hole after the others. Victoria shivered.
'It seems we are to be left alone—to wait,' said Kaftan in her warm liquid voice, and sat down, smiling at her.
Victoria admired Kaftan, but she was in awe of her. Now they were alone together she couldn't think of anything to say. Kaftan was always so pleasant and poised, it inhibited the younger woman. She nodded awkwardly, like a little girl, and clutched her bag for comfort. She felt inside it the hard weight of that peculiar silver animal thing she had picked up.
The Cybermat! She must take it out some time soon; that was a silly thing to do, picking it up just to defy the Doctor. But her bag contained her whole world right now. She'd brought it with her from her Victorian home, and its rough feel made her think longingly of the old drawing room and her father reading in front of a crackling log fire.
'Captain Hopper brought us some food from the orbiter,' went on Kaftan, trying to put Victoria at her ease. 'I'm sure you are ready for some.'
'Oh! I'm ravenous!' said Victoria, forgetting her nervousness.
She put down her bag—and the lump in it moved a fraction of an inch—neither Victoria nor Kaftan saw it. They were opening the aluminium rectangular box the Captain had left, and taking out the small, transparent plastic food containers. At least, Kaftan was taking them out and Victoria was turning them over in puzzlement, wondering where the food was.
'Roast Veal?' asked Kaftan. 'Roast Beef? Chicken?'
'Oh, chicken, please,' said Victoria visualising a plate weighed down with an enormous drumstick, tasty white meat and stuffing, onion sauce, brussels sprouts and roast potatoes. Kaftan handed her one of the small transparent packages.
'What on earth is this?' asked Victoria.
'What you have asked for—chicken, of course,' said Kaftan sharply. Was the girl stupider than she had supposed?
Sure enough, there was a label on it saying 'Roast Chicken'.
Not wanting to appear silly, she copied what Kaftan did, opening the end of the package and inserting a squirt of water from the water bottle, then massaging it until the dehydrated food swelled up.
Out of the transparent plastic came a smell which certainly was very like roast chicken. But Victoria didn't fancy it somehow.
'Thank you,' she said politely. 'I'm not so hungry now,' she said primly. 'I would like something to drink.'
Kaftan reached into the aluminium box and took out a vacuum flask.
'Perhaps you will pass me the other rucksack,' she said.
Then, as Victoria walked over to fetch it, Kaftan quickly poured out a cup of coffee, took a small tube out of her pocket and tipped a white tablet into the cup. Victoria