"Where were you going when you..." "There are suitcases in your car." " Don't answer him." " You looked, did you?" " Yes, I looked." " I said don't answer him." " We don't have to." " You do have to." "If you want us to get you back into your own time." " To face whatever you have to face." " What do you mean?" "!" " I don't know, you tell me." " What do you mean?" " It's obvious you're running away." " Are we?" "!" "Don't you think we've had enough?" "That's odd, I was thinking of playing that machine." "Oh, my God." "Look!" " I was holding..." " Look." "Look at the clock." "It's moved forward by ten minutes." "Our bodies haven't been affected, only this place has." "So, what is it moving forward to?" "To whatever is going to happen here." "'All irregularities will be handled 'by the forces controlling each dimension." "'Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life." "'Medium atomic weights are available." "'Gold, Mercury," "'Copper," "'Jet, Diamond, Radium," "'Sapphire, Silver and Steel." "'Sapphire and Steel have been assigned. '" "'... 4 preci... will be 9:04 preci..." "will be 9... '" "'... expected... expected... '" "It's at a standstill again." "At four minutes past nine." "And the radio, apart from a slight ten-minute variation." " And the traffic?" " Different vehicles but the same repeated sound." "Let's find out more about those two - as a loving couple." "Well, they are only human, aren't they?" " What happened?" " Hm?" "That sound, things moving by themselves, something happened." "It did." "You may not have noticed but time here is at a standstill." " That's not possible." " And yet you're here." " Where did you get this?" " I poured it for myself." " From where?" " From behind there." " Would you like it back?" " No." "'Separate them. '" "Erm, do you think I might have the keys to your car?" " What for?" " And your cases, if you don't mind?" " Well, I do mind." " Oh." "Well, it makes no difference." " Don't!" " If he tries to get into that car..." "Don't play their game!" "What is our game?" "He's gone outside." "Yes." " But outside..." " He's perfectly safe, provided neither of you tries to leave this place." "Hey, you!" "We happen to be running away, that's all." "She from her husband, I from my wife." "We already know that." "Oh, you know that, do you?" "Well, that's not exactly an arrestable offence, now, is it?" "Nor is being here in the future where we don't belong." "We didn't mean to come here, we're not trespassing." "Adultery?" " They can't hang you for it." " How can you be sure?" " Perhaps in this time period..." " We..." "We don't belong to this time period, remember?" "Excuse me." "Lovely old car, isn't it?" "He has every right to be upset." " To be angry." " To be protective?" "Yes." "Why not?" "No one can condemn us." "Only the Church but..." "I don't care about the Church and neither does he." " He?" " What?" "You're referring to him as "he", does he not have a name?" " Of course he has." " Then tell me it." "No." "All right, then." "Your name, tell me that." "You keep telling us that you've done no wrong." " It's true." " Then tell me your names." " Why should I?" " All right, him." "Tell me about him." " Where did you meet him?" " Ask him." " How long have you known him?" " Seven or eight months." " That's not long." " Long enough to..." " Long enough to what?" " To know that I love him." "I suppose that means you're able to forgive him almost anything." "No, it doesn't mean that." "What year is this?" "Which decade?" "The 1980s." "Therefore there's no need for me to lie to you." "I mean, with 30-odd years lost somewhere, well..." "I could tell you just about anything." "I mean, you can't very well go back and check up on us, can you?" "It's a clear night." "What if she and I were to climb into the car and drive away?" "Just drive back where we've come from?" "We've explained, there is no time here." " You'd arrive here again." " Arrive again?" " How can we arrive again?" " Isn't it obvious?" "If we went straight back... no stops, no turns, just drove in a straight line for 50 miles?" "You would arrive back here once more." "Oh." " What if you came with me?" " Me?" "Yes." "You belong to this place, this time..." " Do I?" " So, you'd be my... my passport." "So, if I went back, in a straight line, with you at my side, then what would happen?" "What would you like to happen?" "Excuse me." "That lady you're prepared to move mountains for is waiting for you." "What was that?" "A bit more fun at our expense?" " Possibly." " Yes, I thought so." "Silver!" " 'Steel. ' - 'Yes, I heard that." " 'It came from outside. ' - 'Is the woman still there?" "'" "'Of course she's still..." "'No..." "No, she's not." "'Wait. '" " Sorry, what did you say?" " I said, "Yes, I thought so. "" "The woman disappeared, just for a moment." " Was there a shadow?" " Yes." " It happened to the man." " And the time?" "Still the same, four minutes past nine." " How do you explain the shadows?" " I can't." "Whatever happened, it hasn't upset them." "That sound, what was it?" "Something banging." " Open window, perhaps?" " No, it wasn't an impersonal sound." "Impossible, time's at a standstill." "No one can leave or enter this place." "It was something rattling in the wind." "One of the garage signs, perhaps." "No, it was a higher frequency, more like a cymbal or a triangle." " You mean it wasn't an accident?" " No, the sound was made by someone." "Someone who wants us to know they're here." "Nothing." "Whatever it is..." "it's not in here." "We heard it again, somewhere above us." "It was here." "It was close by." " Did you see anything here?" " Nothing." "That image we saw of the old man, perhaps it was something to do with him." "You said the image was first seen in here?" "Yes." "Nothing." "Just a moment." "Why Silver?" "Why is he here?" " Because he was sent." " Sent to do what?" "To wait and watch, same as us." "Steel, I want to talk." " Why Silver?" "He's a technician." " Ask him that." "I have." "He doesn't know why he's here and neither do we." " Of course we do." " Think about it, Steel." " Why are we here?" " Because..." "We're usually sent at the beginning, when damage has begun." " It has begun." " I don't see any signs of damage." "Time has stopped here, it's standing still." "People from 1948 are running around in the 1980s." "That's not serious damage, not at this stage." "Not yet." "You said it earlier - we are on some countdown to an event due to happen." "But supposing that it already has happened?" "That this is it, the three of us not knowing why we're here?" "Supposing there's nothing for us to wait for?" "Supposing it is waiting for us?" "Here." "Quickly." "'He's no longer an image. ' 'No. '" "Is it..." "Are you wanting service?" "Only that's at the front of the building, not here." "This is private." "'Talk to him. '" "What's wrong?" "This is private, this part of the building." "You shouldn't be here." "What's wrong?" "Why are you frightened?" "Well..." "I suppose it's cos I can't see you very clearly." "And I've never believed in ghosts so I'm not likely to want to start now." " What do you see?" " I see everything as it should be... except for you lot." " Tell us." " Tell you?" "Yes, tell us what you can see." "Well, I see the house, don't I?" "As it should be, as I should see it." "The sheds and the path..." "and the cold frame." "That wooden fence there... and you lot sort of..." "sort of over it all." "In the wrong..." "Well, in the wrong place." "What year is this?" " What year?" " Yes." "What year do you expect it to be?" "It's 1925, of course..." "'Of course... of course... '" "We were the images that time." "We were the ones that didn't belong." "1925?" "And 1948." "So which of them is wrong?" "Or lying." "What kind of a lie would it be?" "They've described accurately a place and a man." "They described the place and the man." "Yes. 23 years later." "Maybe, as we did, they saw the ghost of an old man 23 years ago." "But he wasn't a ghost." "If anything, we were the ghosts to him." "My first thought is that everything is haphazard, time just mixed up and..." "Your second thought?" "It's just too haphazard." "It's like something that's been designed." "Sapphire was saying the same thing earlier." "It's like something being designed." " And what exactly we're doing here." " Yes." "What was your briefing?" "Well, it..." "Come to think of it, it wasn't the usual briefing." " It was like a knowledge." " Something telling you to be here?" " Yes." "And you?" " The same." "Steel?" "Yes..." "There's one simple way to find out." "Silver, have you been told anything we haven't?" "Well, I've just said..." " Concerning this place." " No." "You weren't given any special information?" " Special?" " Privileged." " Something withheld from us?" " No." " You were here before us." " That's right." " Why?" " Well, I don't know why." "Specialists never move in until operators have done their work." " But this is different." " Is it?" "Haven't we just said so?" "Didn't we agree..." "We haven't agreed anything, we're comparing notes." "Fine." "Ignoring the fact that you are operators and I am a mere specialist, but accepting the fact it was shared knowledge that brought us here..." " Why the delay of six hours?" " Yes." "Between my arrival and yours." "I mean, six hours?" "You could have picked up a lot of privileged information in six hours." "Well, we don't know why." "So, there's one simple way of finding out." "We just leave this..." " Time." " Has moved forward again." "By 20 minutes." "And into that." "It's happened again." " You heard that sound?" " Yes." "It was the sound of an instrument." "I think it was a tambourine." " A tambourine?" " Yes." "No, we didn't hear that." "If it is part of an arranged plan, would those two be a part of it?" " I don't know." " 10 minutes, then 20." " When does it stop, I wonder?" " When it's ready." "I don't like being part of an arranged plan." "I prefer to make the moves." "Steel..." "Listen." " It's just the rain." " No, there's someone walking." "There's someone walking outside." "No, don't!" "Whoever it is, they're coming this way." "They're coming here." "Stay here." "The clock..." "We know." "What is it?" " Someone coming." " Someone coming here?" " Where?" " Just outside." "Be careful." "Whoever it was couldn't have gone, I would have heard them." "Close the door behind me." "Lock them." "'... be 9:24... be 9:24... 'be 9:24... be 9... '" " Is Steel back yet?" " From where?" " He went outside." " Well, no." "The rain's stopped." "Storm must have passed." "Silver, nothing is supposed to change here." "It's still 9:24." " What shall I do?" " You'd better find him." " Oh, who is it?" " What?" "The person who's come here, who is it?" " It didn't happen." " We heard someone arrive."