'So remember, girls, it's OK to say No.'

Janet Weiss finished the speech with her usual conclusion, and smiled expectantly at the hall full of girls.

'Are there any questions?'

As usual, she was answered with nothing but a few embarrassed coughs form the audience. After a few moments, the headmistress stood up and thanked her politely before dismissing the school. Janet shook her head as she began to pack her briefcase. She loved her job, but sometimes she felt that she couldn't get through to these girls, no matter how much she tried. And it was so important, she thought, so vital that they understood the consequences of these things. She herself had given into lust six years ago, and where had it got her? Two dead lovers and a failed marriage before she hit thirty. Men? She could manage without them.

She locked the briefcase, and left the hall. As she approached the school entrance, she heard a voice calling to her. She quickly turned round, and was greeted by the headmistress's secretary, who was hurrying to catch up with her.

'Ms Weiss, thank goodness. I thought I might have missed you,' she said. 'There's someone on the phone for you.'

Janet thanked her and followed her to the telephone in the school office. She picked up the receiver, puzzled. Who would have any reason to call her at work? Panicking, she thought of the nanny. Had something happened to her son?

'Hello?' she said anxiously. 'Janet Weiss speaking.'

There was silence at the other end of the phone.

'Hello?' she tried again. 'Liz, is that you?'

'Hello Janet.'

It was a woman. The voice was not one Janet could put a face to, but she thought it sounded oddly familiar.

'Who is this?' she asked.

'It's been a while.' The woman laughed nervously.

'I'm sorry,' Janet answered. 'I'm afraid I don't know who you are.'

'Doesn't surprise me. We need to meet face to face. Can you get to the Royal Park hotel in an hour?'

Janet looked at her watch.

'I can make that. Can you please tell me who it is I'm supposed to be meeting?'

'I'll be in the lobby,' the woman continued. 'And I'm pretty sure you'll remember me, Janet. I know I remember you.'

'Can't you at least tell me - '

But the phone had gone dead. Confused, Janet put down the receiver, thanked the secretary and hurried to her car.

An hour later - punctuality had always been one of her strongpoints - Janet arrived at the hotel. She sat down in the lobby and smoothed out her skirt awkwardly. She had been here once before, attending a lecture on feminism, and the upper-class atmosphere made her uneasy. She stood up again, and began to walk around impatiently, scanning faces for anyone she might recognise, but there was nobody remotely familiar.

Except…

Looking across the lobby, her eyes were drawn to a poster fixed to one of the walls opposite.

Tonight - one night only, read a black and red strip which had been pasted across it. And there above it was a familiar red bob, topped with a black top-hat.

'Oh my God,' Janet breathed.

'I guess you do recognise me, after all.'

Janet turned upon hearing the voice close to her ear, and found herself staring into a face from a past she thought she had long forgotten. Columbia seemed almost as stunned to see her, and it was some time before Janet managed to speak.

'I don't understand. I saw them shoot you - I remember.'

Columbia led her to a table, and they both sat down.

'Yes, he shot me in his own madness. Next thing I knew, I was lying in a ditch just outside the castle grounds. Only, the castle was gone. I suppose they went home, did they?'

Janet nodded, unable to speak. Memories of that fateful evening were flooding back into her mind.

'I knew they would. They were pining for home - Riff Raff especially. Earth couldn't offer him anything compared with Transexual. I always used to listen to him and Magenta longing for their planet, and it sounded wonderful. I had hoped they'd take me back with them, but I guess I'm better off here.'

Finally Janet managed to speak.

'They killed Frank. Rocky tried to save him, and he died too.'

Columbia nodded slowly, and swallowed hard.

'I'd guessed as much. If he could shoot me, there was no end to what he would do. I've been trying to get on with my life. I'd put all that behind me - or at least I thought I had. Then I saw this.'

She reached into her bag and produced a folded piece of paper. She opened it, and Janet recognised it immediately as an article she herself had written for a girls' magazine a few months previously. In the corner of the page was a picture of Janet herself. Columbia smiled.

' "Why it's best to wait",' she read. 'Sex-Ed, who'd have thought it?'

Janet sat upright.

'It's important that these girls learn. They shouldn't feel that they have to do anything they're not comfortable with.'

'Sure, I don't deny it,' Columbia replied. 'God knows how I could have turned out if I hadn't gone the way I did. Look at me - hotel cabaret. I'd rather teach girls sex education any day. Anyway, since I saw this, I've been trying to track you down. And here we are now.'

They looked at each other for a moment. Columbia hardly seemed different at all. She had the same bright red bob, and although she wore far less make-up than Janet remembered, her eyes were still outlined heavily with black liner. She was wearing black PVC trousers with a gold sequined halter-neck, and receiving admiring stares from male hotel staff and guests alike. Janet, although she was wearing a plain grey pencil skirt and blouse, suddenly felt very self conscious sitting with her.

'But how did you escape from the laser? I thought it had killed you.'

'Yes,' replied Columbia. 'I was knocked unconscious. But when I finally came round, I found I was wearing this tube all around my body, under my corset. It could have been metal, only it was more bendy, like rubber. It must have been some kind of shield.'

'But why?' Janet asked. Columbia looked down at the table, smiling faintly.

'Magenta and I had a…special bond. I suppose she wanted to protect me from her brother.'

Janet nodded, taking this in. Although it had only been one night, it seemed to contain itself in a whole different chapter of her life. She still thought about it, wondering how different her life would have been if she and Brad hadn't gone to that castle, or had left earlier in the evening…

Columbia suddenly pointed to Janet's left hand.

'No wedding ring? Didn't you and Brad…'

Janet gave a small, humourless laugh.

'Oh, we did. We lasted three months.'

'I'm sorry,' Columbia apologised. Janet shook her head dismissively. 'What happened?'

Janet thought for a moment.

'There were a few reasons. But I guess this is one of them.'

She reached into her bag and pulled out her purse. She opened it, and produced a photograph.

'He'll be six next year.'

Columbia looked at the blonde-haired boy in the picture. He was smiling happily at the camera, with eyes which she recognised well. She'd seen eyes like that before, before they'd even had a face to go with them. After all, she'd been there when Rocky had been put together.

'Oh God,' she said, realisation finally dawning on her. Janet nodded.

'Yes,' she replied. 'That's my son.'

TO BE CONTINUED…