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she comes from a forest planet. I call her Trinity because she’s a one-being nuclear war – a game-changer. You’ve seen what she can do.”
    “Gotcha. I can see that.”
    “And sometimes a deterrent.”
    “Yeah. Trinity. The nuclear option.” They strode on silently for a few seconds. Kevin noticed they were getting near St George’s Hospital. “Like, now I totally get what a native South Londoner you are, Doc.”
    “Really?”
    “Totally. The boys in my ’hood have got their attack dogs – their pit bulls and that. You has like got Trinity.”
    The Doctor harrumphed. “It’s not at all like that.”
    “It so is , man. It is so utterly and totally equivalent! In fact, Trinity’s been around a lot longer than this whole status-dog thing. You’re like the guy who invented it, man!” Kevin was bouncing around the crowded pavement now, laughing. He slapped his hand on the Doctor’s back. “You’re the man , Doc.” A few passers-by regarded the odd couple, and Kevin wondered how many were from out of town.
    “Oh, for heaven’s sake ,” said the Doctor. “Right, down this street here.” They cut off Tooting Broadway towards the hospital. The street had seen better days.
    “Are we going to the hospital, or the cemetery next door?”
    “Neither.” The Doctor stepped through a gate into the small concrete garden of a terraced house. There were three buttons at the front door and he pressed the lowest one. There was a crackle and the Doctor stated his name. The door buzzed and they went through into the hallway. There was a door straight ahead and one off to either side.
    “How can you have a two-storey house split into three flats?” Kevin wondered aloud.
    The door to their left buzzed and the Doctor opened it. A wave of cool, dank air drifted out. “Cellar,” said the Doctor, and started down the stone steps, which turned immediately to the right so that they led in the direction of the rear of the house. “Come on,” he called back. “And shut the door, will you?”
    “There’s no light. Doesn’t your Ultraknife have a flashlight function?”
    “Of course it does, but it would be bad manners. You’ll just have to tread carefully. Follow me. And keep your head down because the ceiling’s a bit low.”
    “Apparently you can see in the dark, Doc. Well I can’t. I’m only human.”
    Kevin shut the door and took his first tentative steps around the corner by the light leaking through the gap at the bottom of the door. The stairs were steep, the tread narrow, and the stairwell itself only a couple of feet wide. He heard the Doctor stepping confidently on the stone below him and then walking across level ground. Not wanting to touch the wall, he brushed his left forearm against it and edged down, a step at a time, feeling the way by putting the backs of his heels against the risers as he lowered his feet. His eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness, and when he finally reached the bottom he could see that there was a dim green light emanating from a flat object on the ceiling. He kept his eyes off it so that they would adjust further and saw the Doctor standing in the opposite corner. Minding his footsteps, he walked over to join him and turned to face the same way that the Time Keeper was facing.
    “Man, it’s so damp in here,” he whispered. “The walls are actually wet with slime, Doc. I stand by what I was saying this morning. You’re a bit of a slum landlord.”
    “Shh.”
    Kevin jumped. A figure had appeared in the doorway opposite. Or perhaps it had been there before and his eyes hadn’t been able to pick it out in the gloom. The figure was of a stooped old man, dressed in robes. His white hair and beard were matted and tangled, masking his facial features.
    “Greetings, Doctor.” The voice had no echo in the cavernous room. Instead, it seemed to reverberate outwards from the walls.
    “Greetings. This is my new assistant.”
    “Ah, Kevin. Welcome. I heard you acquitted