“Been a while since I’ve had a mate along. Fancy a trip?”

“Gosh. That’s kind of you, Doctor, but I’m really quite happy where I am,” Arthur said, wringing his hands a little. He hated to disappoint.

“Well, that’s not a problem. I can bring you back in two minutes, no one the wiser. Well, I say two minutes. For them,” he nodded towards the portacabin. “For you…”

Arthur glanced over his shoulder. He could see Carolyn’s shadow moving behind the closed curtains—probably shouting at Martin and Douglas again. They’d really overdone it this time on the trip back from Fez, but he thought the incident with the cheese tray had been quite funny. “Well…”

“One trip. If you don’t like it, you’ll be back here at… five-sixteen precisely.”

Arthur looked back at the strange man in the bow tie. “And I can’t tell anyone where I’ve been? They’ll know I’m lying, I’m rubbish at lying.”

“Nonsense. Tell whoever you like, if you think they’ll believe you.”

He glanced over his shoulder again. A trip. He loved trips… and anywhere… His eyes lit up. “Can we see the northern lights from space?”

The Doctor grinned. “Arthur Shappey, I can do you one better.”

He flung the doors to the police box open. Arthur wondered how cramped it was going to be—even G-ERTI was bigger, and she was quite a small plane, and followed the strange man inside… “Brilliant.”