"Get the child." "Quickly!" " Come on, Helen." " But Sapphire's upstairs." "Come on!" " Get her away from me." " It's cold!" "Come on!" "Someone was killed in this room - a young girl." "It wants me to be her!" "It wants it to happen again." "Steel, don't!" "The girl's killers are here!" "They've broken down the door!" "Steel!" " Sapphire!" " It's gone, the room's gone!" "But they haven't!" "'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, Lead," "'Copper," "'Jet, Diamond, Radium," "'Sapphire, Silver and Steel." "'Sapphire and Steel have been assigned. '" "Steel!" "What's wrong with Steel?" "He reduced his temperature to minus 273.1 degrees." "That's near absolute zero!" "Yes." "He told me not to touch him." "Rob, go to the kitchen and light a fire, please." "Yes." "Sapphire, look." "Yes." "Go on." " And Rob..." " Yes?" " Make it a good fire." " Yes." "Not... enough..." "It was." "You held that one." "E" " Enough to hold them, not enough to st-stop them." " M-Mustn't regain its heat." " I know." "Must be kept at same temperature." "Yes." "Helen, will you help us?" "You take Steel down to the kitchen." "But don't touch him!" "Upstairs and downstairs, upstairs and downstairs..." "Is he any better?" "Not yet but he will be." "'Fire. '" "'What?" "' 'Has the fire gone out?" "'" " 'No, it's still burning. ' - 'Higher. '" "It takes all his strength away." "Yes, it does." " Sapphire?" " Yes?" "It's only us, then, if that thing comes back." "We'll be all right." "'The frozen piece of light. '" " 'I've dealt with it. ' - 'You followed my instructions?" "'" " 'Yes. ' - 'Good. '" "'Now go to sleep, get some rest. '" " Rob?" " Yes?" " Are you feeling fit and strong?" " Yes." " Good, I need a hand." " Oh." " You're not gonna scratch that?" " What?" " The glass, that was my dad's table." " Emergency measures." " When my parents come back..." " It'll be all right." " Things will take longer to thaw." " Look, Rob." "Steel said this was a fragment." "It is." "Will you help me with this?" "A fragment of what's in the top room?" "Yes." " Oh." "Is it is alive?" " Yes." " Is it hurt?" " Who cares?" " Remember it tried to kill Sapphire." " Yes." "It's more of a scion than a fragment." " A scion?" " Yes, a descendant." "A successor." "A child." "Is it something you've seen before?" "Not quite." "It's like it but it's different." " As dangerous as before?" " More." " And there's two more in the house." " Yes." "Well, I must go and see to Steel." "Will you two bring that down to the cellar, please?" "Yes." "Pick it up." " It's too heavy, Rob!" " Come on, Helen." "Oh, Rob!" "Wait a minute." "Why can't Steel freeze whatever's upstairs in the attic the way he froze those soldiers?" "That would only suspend it for a while." "Not even Steel can stop time for always." "It'd be like trying to freeze the whole universe into one block of ice." "Are there others?" " Others?" " Like you." "There are 127 of us." "Oh." "Come on, Helen." "115." "There are 115 of us." "You must never rely on the transuranics." " Why not?" " They're unstable." " Wait for me, Rob!" " Come on, Helen!" " But if it's a child..." " Who said it's a child?" " Sapphire did." " She didn't say "child"." "She didn't mean it." "She said "descendant" and then "child"." "Like puppies or kittens." "Its young." " What?" " At school they say "its young"." "Yes, but this is different." "Different from anything we've known and the things they know at school." "You saw what that thing did." "Are puppies capable of that?" " No." " Well, then." "But what if its parents come looking for it?" " Steel could handle it." " But he's not well." "Yes, but when he's well, he'll just take himself down." " Who is it, Rob?" "!" " I don't know, do I?" "Perhaps it's the policeman." "I'll see." " No Helen!" " But we've got to answer it, Rob!" "All right." "A giant?" " Yes!" " No, a man, but almost a giant." " In the doorway?" " Yes!" "He knocked on the door!" " Then what?" " Then he pushed it open!" " He came from outside?" " Yes!" " A soldier?" " No, he was in ordinary clothes." " It's a giant!" " It's all right." "Did he come in?" " I don't know." "We ran." " Leaving the door open?" "He pushed it open!" " We've got to wake Steel." " No." "For the moment..." "I'm afraid there's just the three of us." " It's closed again." " Yes." "Now, be very quiet and do exactly as I say, do you understand?" " You left it open?" " Yes." " It's closed." " Look!" "Hello, Sapphire." "Got anything to eat in this place?" "It's him!" "It's the giant!" "You could call him that." "This is Lead." " Lead?" " Yes, he's one of ours." "You know what?" "I'm starving." "All right, where is he?" "Where is Steel?" "Lead?" "Is that Lead here?" "Yes, I'm here." "You can almost guarantee it, can't you?" "You can guarantee that whenever you wander off and ice yourself up without me around, you're in trouble." " I am not in trouble." " All right." "You're not in trouble and you don't need any help." "No." "But you do need..." "Insulation." "And that's me." "You tell him, Sapphire." "He shouldn't be doing that below-zero stuff without me." "Now..." "What about some food?" "Sapphire..." "Are you still the cook I remember?" "Ahh..." "By the way, Steel..." "Jet sends her love." "Does she, now?" "And Copper's having problems with Silver." " Again?" " Again." "When you've finished eating, I'll show you what we have to do." "All right, Steel." " Always cool, that man." " He has to be in this house." " Difficult job?" " Yes." "Be good training for you, then." "There's another difficult one waiting for us." "When we've finished here, of course." "Ahh!" " Steel!" " Up here!" "Thank you." "Here, son." "He gives you all the tough jobs, eh?" " No..." " He's good at that." " Having trouble?" " Yes." "Are there many more?" "Yes." "Rob will help when he's done the pictures." "Good." "It started in there." "First a section of the wall, then the wall, now the whole room." "Oh, there's nothing like good home cookin'!" "It's using old verse and picture forms." "Sorry, Steel." "The main trigger?" "Children's nursery rhymes." "Upstairs and downstairs..." " Has it taken anyone?" " Yes." "The boy's parents." "It's all right, son, he'll get them back for you somehow." "Lovely." "These are easy, aren't they?" "Yes." "Oh!" "OK." "Can I have another one?" "Oh." "I'm going in there and I'm gonna freeze it back as far as the wall." " You're gonna walk in there?" " Yes." "Into that?" "You know what that does to you." "But you'll be there to help me." "My insulation, remember?" "And I also remember that it knocks the hell out of me too and if it goes wrong we are both trapped in there." "We're gonna try it!" "As soon as the books and pictures have been burned." "It can't be worse than that ship." " Don't count on it." " You were on that ship?" " I did a day on it." " What was the name of it?" " What was it, Steel?" " I forget." " Blue..." " I thought it was Marie." "Marie..." "Marie Blue..." "Marie Blue Blue Blue..." " Not the Marie Celeste?" "!" " That's the one!" "That's it, that's it!" "Upstairs and downstairs..." " The Marie Celeste was important!" " Was it?" "People have been trying to solve it for years!" "Have they." "Are there any more books?" "This one..." "Sapphire!" "Helen..." "'The north wind doth blow and we shall have snow... '" " I know that one, Sapphire." " No, Helen!" " I do." " It wants you to know it!" "It's in my head, Sapphire." "It's in my head." "Helen, help me catch it." "It couldn't have been the Marie Celeste." "It was." "It was found abandoned and Steel sank it." "I sank the real one, yes." "What is it, Steel?" "'The north wind doth blow and we shall have snow 'and what will Poor Robin do then?" "'... and hide his head under his wing... '... doth blow and we shall have snow 'and what will Poor Robin do then?" "'" "Helen, stop it!" " I can't!" "I can't!" "I know it!" " No!" "I do!" "It's in my head and it won't go!" "'The north wind doth blow... '" "'... shall have snow... 'and what will Poor Robin do then?" "'" "'Upstairs and downstairs... '" "'He'll sit in a barn" " 'and keep himself warm... '" " Rob!" "'Upstairs and downstairs... ' '... and hide... '" " Let me out, Rob!" " 'Upstairs and downstairs... '" "Rob!" "Wait for me, Rob!" "'Upstairs and downstairs, upstairs and downstairs, 'upstairs and downstairs, upstairs and downstairs... '" "Rob!" "Let me out, please, Rob!" " 'Upstairs and... '" " Wait for me, Rob!" " Don't listen to it!" " It's... coming... through..." "'Upstairs and downstairs, upstairs... '" "Downstairs." "No!" "'Upstairs and downstairs, upstairs and downstairs, 'upstairs and downstairs, upstairs and downstairs... '" "'Upstairs and downstairs, upstairs and downstairs... '" "'The north wind doth blow and we shall have snow" "'And what will Poor Robin do then, poor thing?" "'He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm" "'And hide his head under his wing, poor thing" "'Poor thing... '"