Episode 8 - Chapter 14

“Can he do that?” Fiona asks. “I mean, be in one places and still know what's happening in another two?”

“I think you'll find,” the Angel replies, “That Strauss is quite the remarkable chap. Being in three places at once will be a walk in the park for him. But do bare in mind, he only has one voice, so what he says to one of you, he says to all of you.”

The Angel pauses for a moment, a frown dancing across his brow, while the Author actually looks quite alarmed.

“Something wrong?” Robert asks.

“Nothing for you to worry about,” comes the Angel's reply, once more all smiles and oily charm. “But you really must be on your way.”

Episode 8 - Chapter 13

“If we're all done with kisses and making up,” Raven says bluntly, “You said there were conditions. Plural. What else do we have to do?”

“It's not something you have to do,” the Angel replies, “But it would be to your advantage if you all left at the same moment.”

“Why?” Robert asks, “How will that help?”

“While the Lord of Doors is looking for three of you,” the Author tells him, “His forces are divided three ways. Once that becomes two, his chances of finding you improve. When there's only one left...well, I don't have much hope for that persons prospects.”

“But time passes differently in different parts of the Weave,” Robert says, “Even if we synchronise our watches now, there's no guarantee...”

“I'll send Strauss with you,” the Angel says, “When you split up, you'll each take a midget with you. He can liaise between you.”

Episode 8 - Chapter 12

“You!” Fiona glowers at the Author, “You're...”

“Very regretful of my unspeakable behaviour at our previous encounter,” the Author replies. “Appearances had to be maintained, just in case we were observed, but it can't have been a very pleasant welcome for yourself. I do hope you'll accept my complete and sincere apologies.”

“What happened?” Robert asks, “What did you do to my wife?”

“I was a brute, and a cad,” the Author tells him, “Expecting your good wife to understand the dynamics of the Market from the moment she arrived, without ever explaining them to her.”

“And the reckoning you promised?” Fiona asks.

The Author smiles. “I think you should mark that card as filibuster and leave it at that.”

Episode 8 - Chapter 11

“Good,” Raven says, “I've had more than enough of this place to last several lifetimes.”

“Come, come now Corvus,” the Angel smirks, “You know you've secretly enjoyed your stay with us.”

Before Raven can reply Tom glitters red and gold. “There are,” he says, “Unfortunately, some conditions to how you each return to the Warp.”

“Conditions?” Raven asks, “What kind of conditions?”

“You must each go back,” Tom replies, “Via the route you came in. Retrace your first steps, if you get my meaning.”

“Oh dear,” says Fiona, “I'm not sure that will be possible for me. I may have upset someone powerful when I first got here.”

“Think nothing of it,” says the Author, suddenly stepping out of the shadows, “All previous misdemeanour's are forgiven.”

Episode 8 - Chapter 10

“Did you say the cats have chosen a side?” I asked.

“I did,” Oak replied, still rubbing his wrists.

“And that's unusual is it?” I enquired, not quite believing I was asking such a thing. “The cats don't usually take sides.”

“They tried,” he said, “Back when the Forest first formed to take action, but it didn't really work that well.”

The cats themselves, meanwhile, still in human form, were brushing up against my wife, purring.

“Why not?” She asked, looking a little on edge.

“In short,” Oak replied, “Because they're willful little bastards incapable of following even the simplest of orders.”

Mary considered this for a moment, then asked “What was the message from Raven?”

“He just said “Agent in the Field.”

Episode 8 - Chapter 9

“I'm afraid,” Raven says sadly, “That that's not my decision to make.”

“Of course it isn't,” the Angel snaps in irritated reply, “You're obviously just a bloody soldier, but you know who the generals are, and how to contact them. Can you do that?”

The pulsing in Tom's cloud slides into pink. “What we mean to ask,” he says, “With the greatest respect, is would you be willing to broker a meeting with ourselves and whoever leads the Forest?”

Raven thinks for a moment or two before saying “That wont be as easy as you'd like to think. There is no real chain of command to the Forest itself, it's much more informal than that. Intuitive, you might say. But there might be a way.”

“Excellent!” the Angel declares, “Which means it's time for you to return to the Warp.”

Episode 8 - Chapter 8

“I'm not sure you're correct,” Raven says, “But even if you are, why tell me?”

“We want to help prevent it happening,” Tom replies, yellows seeping into orange. “There are some in the Weave who desire nothing so much as they desire human civilization returning to a new stone age.” Orange darkens into a deep scarlet. “But there are others, such as ourselves, who understand what that would mean for us.”

“We would work with the Forest,” the Angel interrupts, “To help guide mankind to a new attitude towards their environment, a more balanced way of living.”

“The Lord of Doors has done much to prevent people finding their own way,” Tom says, purple ripples pulsing through his cloud. “Promoting industrialisation, whispering to scientists, advancing climate scepticism. Let us help to counter that, before it's too late.”