Scant bobbed impatiently. ‘Eight seconds, seven. By the gods, this is the last time I break the boss out of a clinic and replace her with a clone.’

Merv spun the trolley on its castors, pushing it through the open doorway.

‘Five… four…’

Scant did one last check around, running his eyeballs across everything they had touched.

‘Three… two…’

They were out, pulling the door behind them.

‘One…’

Corporal Grub slumped slightly, then jerked to attention.

‘Hey… what the —? I’m really thirsty! Is anyone else thirsty?’

Merv stuffed the night-vision goggles into the trolley, blinking a bead of sweat from his eyelid. ‘It’s the air in here. I get dehydrated all the time. Terrible headaches.’

Grub pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘Me too. I’m going to write a letter, as soon as the lights come back.’

Just then the lights did come back, flickering on, one after another, down the length of the corridor.

‘There we go,’ grinned Scant. ‘Panic over. Maybe now they’ll buy us some new circuits, eh, brother?’

Doctor Argon came barrelling down the passageway, almost keeping pace with the flickering lights.

‘Your leg is better then, Jerry?’ said Merv.

Argon ignored the pixies, his eyes wide, his breath ragged.

‘Corporal Kelp,’ he panted. ‘Koboi, is she? Has she…“

Grub rolled his eyes. ‘Calm yourself, Doctor. Miss Koboi is still suspended where you left her. Take a look.’

Argon flattened his palms against the wall, first checking the vitals.

‘OK, no change. No change. A two-minute lapse, but that’s OK.’

‘I told you,’ said Grub. ‘And while you’re here, I need to talk to you about these headaches I’ve been having.’

Argon brushed him aside. ‘I need a cotton bud. Scant, do you have any?’