Doctor Who_ Timewyrm_ Exodus Part 12

"Are you sure, Herr Doktor? This man is a dangerous traitor and criminal "Out!"

The guard went out, closing and locking the door.

The Doctor leaned his back against it. "Noughts and crosses is a good way to pa.s.s the time, if you've got a pencil and someone to play with."

Hemmings looked up. "You devil - you cunning little devil!"

"Cunning?" said the Doctor thoughtfully. "Well, yes, I have to be sometimes. And as for little, these things are relative, you know. I've been much smaller than this. As a matter of fact, I was once in grave danger of being washed down the plughole. But devil? We make our own devils, and our own h.e.l.l."

"Do we? Well, you put me in this one."

"At least it's familiar," said the Doctor. "It's one where you've sent plenty of other people. And if I put you here - who put you in that uniform?"

"I was thirteen when England lost the war. What was I supposed to do?

Wait till I grew old enough to be deported as slave labour? I soon saw there were winners and losers in this world, and I decided to join the winners. I was lucky to get in the Freikorps, but I did get in, and I did well."

The Doctor nodded. "And it all ends here."

"Only because of you!" Hemmings" eyes glittered with hatred. "Look, you've won, so satisfy my curiosity, grant the condemned man his last wish. I was right, wasn't I? You are a fake?"

The Doctor shrugged. "A fake? I'm not sure. That's relative too. If it's any consolation to you, I'm certainly not the ReichsinspektorGeneral."

"Where is he, the real one?"

"Who knows? Rochester, Gravesend, Southampton... Perhaps he'll float all the way to Germany."

"You killed him?"

"Somebody did. I took his place. Nature abhors a vacuum, you know. Still, enough about me, let's talk about you."

"There's no me to talk about. I'm a dead man waiting for the funeral."

"Not necessarily," said the Doctor. "I could help you."

"You help me? Why?"

"I don't think you'd understand. Besides, it's not a matter of why but of how."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't like to leave you here - but I refuse to restore you to your former position. What I will do is help you to escape. I'll give you a good start, and tell General Stra.s.ser when you're well away." The Doctor paused. "I shall also tell him you are a dangerous criminal who must be shot on sight -so don't even think about coming back here."

"I'll be hunted. . . "

"It'll give you a chance to see what you and your n.a.z.i masters have done to England."

"It's not much of a proposition, Herr Doktor."

"Are you expecting a better offer today?"

Hemmings stood up. "All right."

"Go for the guard when he comes in, I'll do the rest." The Doctor rapped on the; door and the SS guard came in.

Immediately Hemmings attacked him. The Doctor slipped behind the struggling guard, draped an affectionate arm round his shoulders, and closed powerful fingers on a pressure-point. The guard slumped on to the bunk. The Doctor's other hand twitched his keys from his pocket as he fell.

The Doctor and Hemmings slipped out into the corridor and the Doctor locked the cell door behind them.

"What will you tell them, about my escape?" asked Hemmings curiously as he followed the Doctor along the gloomy corridors.

"Obviously you overpowered the guard. I wasn't even there."

"Suppose the guard says different?"

"He won't. The Venusian nerve-pinch induces short-term amnesia -" The Doctor heard a whisper of movement and turned, but too late. Time Lords are by no means invulnerable, and Hemmings" rabbit-punch, delivered with the strength of desperation, slammed the Doctor to the ground.

Hemmings gave the body a quick kick then turned and ran. He was making for the upper levels, and Stra.s.ser's office. If he could relay the Doctor's confession and be believed, if he could even persuade Stra.s.ser to check...

It was a risk that had to be taken. He hadn't considered accepting the Doctor's offer of escape for a single moment. For Hemmings, life without rank and position was no life at all.

Ace was pacing uneasily up and down the suite. Grabbing the Doctor's map she decided to set off. If she reached the TARDIS before the Doctor she'd simply wait for him. She went out of the room and down to the main lobby. Then, like the Doctor before her, she went through the side door that led down below. At the bottom of the steps she consulted the Doctor's map, and began moving along the underground corridors. The air felt dank and cold, and dusty electric bulbs hanging at intervals from the whitewashed ceiling gave a dim, yellowish light. Ace had her pa.s.s ready in case she was challenged, but there didn't seem to be anyone about.

Not far away, Hemmings too was hurrying along the dimly lit corridors, wondering why the whole area seemed to be empty. Usually there were patrolling guards, prisoners being delivered or released, dead or unconscious bodies being dragged away, the grim sounds of interrogation.

He shot round a corner and stopped in amazement before a strange blue box. It was the Doctor's box, the one his own men had fetched from the Festival site. The box should be locked away in a storeroom. But it wasn't, it was here and the door was open. A voice was calling to him, inside his head.

Like a sleepwalker, Hemmings walked up to the open door of the box and went inside. The door closed, and the box faded away with a strange wheezing groaning sound -just as Ace ran by the end of the corridor. She stopped and stared unbelievingly . . .

The Doctor awoke just a few seconds later, stiff-necked but otherwise unharmed. He hurried towards the wine cellar, puzzled but thankful that the corridors were so empty. He reached an arched door halfway along a corridor, produced a key and opened it. There stood the TARDIS, safe and sound.

He heard movement behind him, too much movement to be just Ace. He turned and saw General Stra.s.ser, flanked by two SS stormtroopers with machine pistols.

"Not leaving us already, Doctor?" said Stra.s.ser. "Tell me, can that strange object really be a time-travel device? Its uses to the Reich will be incalculable. How pleased with me they will be in Berlin! It will even make up for the sad death of the ReichsinspektorGeneral."

The jig was up and the Doctor knew it. "How did you know?"

"The river gave up its dead. There were other papers on the body. Just to make sure, I had more microphones installed on the balcony as well. Built into the ornamental ironwork, I believe. Once I'd heard your plans, I had the corridors cleared, just to make things easier for you."

"Very thorough."

"You know, I always thought you were just a little too good to be true, Doctor," said General Stra.s.ser thoughtfully. "And the performance at the cafe was a little rich, even for me. Oh, and Hemmings" cell was bugged too, of course. I'm afraid that clinched it."

"My own fault," said the Doctor. "I just can't get used to living in a society of snoops. Can we make any kind of deal?"

"I fear not, Doctor," said Stra.s.ser with genuine regret. "I like you, I really do, and I admire your nerve - but I fear your cunning and your silver tongue. You've made rather a fool of me you know. I'm not sure who or what you are but I am sure I can't afford to have you around any more."

"I see," said the Doctor. "Shot while trying to escape, is it?"

"I'm afraid so," said Stra.s.ser apologetically. He gestured down the corridor.

"Would you care to run a little, just for the look of the thing? Not much of a course, but you could zig-zag a bit if you liked."

The Doctor looked at the little corridor, and at the two guards. "I don't think I'll bother."

"Goodbye then, Doctor," said General Stra.s.ser. He stepped back and the stormtroopers raised their machine pistols.

The Doctor knew he was facing death. Even Time Lords can be killed. The bullet-clips of two machine pistols, emptied into his body at close range, would shatter both his hearts and kill him just as surely as they would any human.

He was no stranger to death. He had undergone the little death of regeneration, and he had faced, many times, the great death that ends all lives. The Doctor emptied his mind, as the old hermit had taught him, and prepared to meet his fate, whatever it might be.

The stormtroopers were used to killing. They had seen grim defiance, tears and pleas for mercy. But never before had they encountered the ma.s.sive calm of the unimpressive little figure before them. They hesitated - just a moment too long.

A voice shouted, "Get down, Professor!"

Inevitably the stormtroopers looked towards the sound - and in that second the Doctor threw himself down and rolled over and over, disappearing behind the TARDIS.

General Stra.s.ser and his two stormtroopers saw Ace, her hand raised behind her head. They saw her arm sweep down, and something s.h.i.+ning flash towards them. They saw the something smash against the wall, and heard a deafening crack. The last thing they saw - literally the last thing - was the wall curving gracefully like a sail. It collapsed, as did the ceiling above it, burying all three of them deep in rubble. Nitro-nine will do that, scientifically applied.

Ace came das.h.i.+ng through the dust clouds and helped the Doctor to his feet. The Doctor opened the TARDIS door and they shot inside. Seconds later the TARDIS faded away.

The Third Reich greatly regrets the tragic death of General of the SS Otto Stra.s.ser in a dastardly terrorist attack on Freikorps Headquarters. It is feared that Lieutenant Hemmings, one of the Freikorps" most valued young officers, perished in the same attack, though his body has not yet been found. Rumours that a high-ranking Reich official and his female a.s.sistant were killed in the same tragic incident are completely without foundation.

No such official exists.

PART TWO

1923 PUTSCH.

After the defeat of Germany in 1918, the resulting chaos threw up a number of minor political parties and splinter groups, now more or less number of minor political parties and splinter groups, now more or less forgotten. Amongst them was the National Socialist German Workers Party, forgotten. Amongst them was the National Socialist German Workers Party, founded in 1919 by Anton Drexler and Dietrich Erhart. With its cunningly founded in 1919 by Anton Drexler and Dietrich Erhart. With its cunningly chosen populist policies, a windy mixture of nationalism, socialism and, chosen populist policies, a windy mixture of nationalism, socialism and, above all, anti-Semitism, the party enjoyed a modest success in the early above all, anti-Semitism, the party enjoyed a modest success in the early twenties, thanks mainly to the rabblerousing abilities of an ex-serviceman called Adolf Hittler, or Hitler. The party held a number of twenties, thanks mainly to the rabblerousing abilities of an ex-serviceman called Adolf Hittler, or Hitler. The party held a number of meetings in the beer halls of Munich, most of them ending in battles meetings in the beer halls of Munich, most of them ending in battles between National Socialist supporters and their Communist opponents. between National Socialist supporters and their Communist opponents.

However, the new party ruined whatever hopes it might have had of lasting political success with a ludicrously inept and ill-timed attempt at a political success with a ludicrously inept and ill-timed attempt at a political coup in Munich in September 1923, which led eventually to the political coup in Munich in September 1923, which led eventually to the new-born party being banned. Enlisting the support of the old, confused, new-born party being banned. Enlisting the support of the old, confused, now almost senile war hero General Ludendorf, the man Hittler led an now almost senile war hero General Ludendorf, the man Hittler led an armed rabble of followers in a march on the War Ministry . . . armed rabble of followers in a march on the War Ministry . . .

From Ballots, Blood and Bullets -Political Chaos in Post-War Germany, by Professor Karl Muller. Published Berlin 1927.

This work was suppressed and its author executed when the National Socialist Party came to power in 1933.

1: Interlude

The Doctor was hunched over the time-path indicator studying the bright green trace. "We overshot a little the last time. We need to go back."

Ace was slumped in the chair, beating brick dust out of her clothes. "How far back?"

"That's just the trouble. A slight miscalculation and we could end up arguing with Attila the Hun. I thought you'd given up nitro-nine?"

"Well, you know how it is, Professor," said Ace uneasily.

"Do I?"

"I was pottering about in the TARDIS lab, just doodling really, a pinch of this, "a few grains of that. Before I knew where I was..."

"I know. Nitro-nine."

"Nitro-nine-a, actually," Ace said proudly. "New and improved with added pizzazz! Concentrated too, twice the whammy for half the weight." She fished in her pocket and produced three large gla.s.s marbles.

The Doctor regarded them with suspicion. "Is it any more stable?"

"Well, marginally. It takes a severe impact to detonate. You have to chuck it, not just drop it."

The Doctor shuddered. "How many have you got?" "Just the three now. I only had time to make four."

"Well, put them away - and wrap them in your hanky or something. By the way, thanks."

"My pleasure... Professor, I didn't tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"On my way to the storeroom, I thought I saw a TARDIS - another TARDIS - dematerializing in one of the corridors."

"Good grief! Are you sure?"

Ace shrugged. "Dunno. I thought I saw a flash of blue and heard the sound, but when I went to look there was nothing there. For a minute I thought you'd left without me."

The Doctor frowned. "Could have been temporal refraction, a freak foreshadowing of our own departure. Odd, though... Still, nothing we can do about it now."

He made a minute adjustment to the controls. "Well, that's the best I can do." He patted the console. "The rest is up to you, old girl!"

Ace could never quite get used to the way the Doctor treated the TARDIS like an intelligent living being. "You're letting the TARDIS decide where we go?"

"Not entirely. I'm using the time-path indicator to lead us into :he right spatio-temporal segment, and leaving the TARDIS to lo the fine tuning."

"How will it - "

"She!" whispered the Doctor. "If you hurt her feelings she'll sulk."