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hair and a beard that Simon imagined would be grey in normal light, but was currently a sickly green. The colour came from a hologram at the centre of the podium. It was a three-dimensional image of a temponaut—a figure nearly twice the professor’s height. ‘This gives you a pretty accurate look at the travel suit and equipment issued to every time traveller,’ McPhee said.
    Full of curiosity, Simon leaned forward. The computer-generated figure was clothed in a thick, body-conforming suit, with a helmet and faceguard. Chunky-soled shoes integrated seamlessly into the outfit. On the outside of both thighs there were zip pouches for carrying documents and small pieces of equipment.
    ‘Of course, it is more than a suit,’ McPhee said. ‘Several of you have asked why we took skin and hair samples from each of you.’
    There was a murmur of agreement.
    ‘That’s easily answered,’ he went on. ‘We took your genetic material and combined it with special fabrics and memory polymers to make a biodynamic suit that is very much like a second layer of skin. It organically becomes part of your body while you wear it. Each suit is individually made. You might say it is grown for you. Every time you travel you wear a new suit.’
    Using a remote control, McPhee made the figure rotate. ‘In addition, the suit is waterproof. It will protect you against extremes of heat and cold. The helmet can also be retracted, like this …’
    The Professor clicked the remote and the holographic helmet retreated over the head of the figure, like liquid skin, and disappeared into the collar of the suit.
    Simon glanced at the fair-haired girl who had been last off the bus. She was still looking wary, glancing continually at every person and every part of the room, and twitching and shifting in her seat, as though she didn’t want to be there. Her edginess irritated him. Why had they recruited someone like her? Didn’t they want people who were steady and reliable? The girl looked in his direction. Simon focused back on the professor.
    ‘The suit also provides camouflage when you need it,’ McPhee was explaining, as he brought up a pattern on the holographic figure. ‘It takes on the colour and patterns of your surroundings, such as trees and foliage, even bricks and timber walls. But of course, when you travel to another time, you will often be issued with the clothing of the era to cover these suits.’
    He brought the figure to a stop. ‘The main feature of your suit is this: it contains countless billions of nano-molecules that retain an exact memory of your body shape. Your size, the colour of your eyes and hair, everything. It allows us to convert your body to pure energy and transmit you across time. The nano-molecules then re-form your body at your destination. Now, any questions?’
    The Chinese boy put up his hand. ‘What you just said about transmitting us across time. How do we get from place to place, and from time to time?’
    McPhee nodded. ‘Good question. The technology is based on the Time Accelerator, of course. And the use of Time Positioning Satellites, timelines and wormholes.’ He stepped closer to the front row of seats. ‘You’ll learn more about this during the tour of our establishment later today. But, basically, what happens is as follows: before you depart on a mission, we send a Time Positioning Satellite—or TPS—ahead of you, to open up the timeline to your exact destination. Then, you enter the Travel Chamber.’
    ‘What we call the Spin Box,’ Cutler added.
    ‘Exactly. You enter the Spin Box,’ McPhee went on. ‘Your body is dematerialised and you reappear through a wormhole at your destination. Sometimes, the TPS will stay and hold the timeline open. At other times, it will depart, and return to fetch you at a pre-programmed time. Understood?’
    ‘Yes, Professor,’ the voices murmured around the room.
    ‘Any other questions?’ McPhee asked.
    The black girl shifted in her seat. ‘So,