Something like that, anyway. Time for another spin of the wheel, I think!"

The Doctor stepped aside and to Ace's astonishment General Stra.s.ser came into the cafe. Behind him were two stormtroopers, not from the Freikorps but from the dreaded SS.

The Doctor's voice crackled with authority. "General, I regret to say that through a combination of malignance and stupidity, this officer has come close to ruining a most delicate and vital operation, essential to the security of the Reich."

General Stra.s.ser looked worried. "I am distressed to hear it, Herr Doktor. If there is anything I can do?"

"There is," said the Doctor decisively. "If he can be arrested and held incommunicado, the situation may yet be saved."

"Of course, Herr Doktor," said General Stra.s.ser. "Nothing could be simpler." He nodded to the two SS men, who moved to either side of Hemmings, taking him in charge.

"My General - "-began Hemmings. He broke off with a gasp of agony as one of the stormtroopers delivered a brutal kidney punch.

"I do not think I gave you permission to speak," said Stra.s.ser placidly.

"Would it a.s.sist the security of your operation, Herr Doktor, if this unfortunate officer were to hang himself in his cell? Better yet, he could be shot trying to escape - here and now, if you wish."

Go for it, Doctor! thought Ace.

For a moment the Doctor looked tempted, then he shook his head.

"Perhaps not. It is possible his conduct has been overzealous rather than actually treasonable. With your permission I will conduct a full inquiry when time permits. Meanwhile..."

"Of course, Herr Doktor. He shall be held at your disposal." General Stra.s.ser snapped his fingers and the SS stormtroopers marched Hemmings away.

The General looked round the room. "And these others?"

"The nucleus of a resistance cell," said the Doctor calmly. "Located by my a.s.sistant here - and turned."

"Incredible!" murmured the General. "And all in one day, less than one day."

"In due time," said the Doctor impressively, "they will lead us to their colleagues - all their colleagues. But for the moment, they must have complete freedom of action, freedom from surveillance even. If their fellow conspirators even suspect..."

"Say no more, Herr Doktor. I shall leave them entirely to you." The General looked round the little cafe, seeming to feel something more was expected of him. "A most charming little hostelry," he murmured.

"Care for a nice cuppa, General?" said Ma Barker wheedlingly. "Or a nice slice of ersatz corned beef? On the house naturally - we'd be honoured..."

"Thank you, no," said the General hastily. "Some other time, perhaps. If you will forgive me, Herr Doktor?"

The Doctor showed him out. They heard shouted orders, the sound of departing cars and trucks.

The Doctor reappeared in the doorway. He stripped off his hat and coat and flung them over a chair. "What about that cuppa, then?" he asked plaintively. "And is there any danger of any food? I'm so hungry I could even tackle ersatz corned beef."

"Real ham for you, Doctor," said Pop, reaching under the counter. "And all you can eat."

Ma Barker poured a hot strong cup of tea and carried it over to the Doctor.

"Gets a Freikorps Lieutenant arrested, shops us to the Gestapo and gets us right off the hook, all in one breath," she said admiringly. She looked at Ace. "You're quite right, ducks."

"What about?"

Ma Barker beamed. "About your little mate, here. He's got the cheek of the devil..."

10: VANISHING TRICK.

"I tell you that's it, Doctor," said Ace. "That's all, the lot! My brain feels like a squeezed lemon at half-time."

It was later that day and they were back in their riverside suite at the Savoy, sitting out on the balcony to avoid the hidden microphones in their rooms. It was a fine afternoon; and the river glistened in the sun. On the other side, you could just see the Festival pavilions.

"You've got to admit, the view's better here than in the bathroom," said Ace.

She had just finished recounting every detail of her conversation with Pop and Ma Barker. The Doctor had made her go through it over and over again, and now he was brooding over what she'd said.

"Will they be all right?" she asked.

The Doctor was staring abstractedly at the slow-moving river. "Who?"

"Pop, Ma Barker, even that little rat Arnold. . . "

"They should be. They'll have to give up the cafe, of course, find new ident.i.ties and a new HQ but they're used to that. Stra.s.ser thinks they're acting as double agents for me, so with any luck no one should bother them for quite a while. . . "

"That was quite a good offer old Stra.s.ser made - about Hemmings, I mean.

You should have taken him up on it."

"I was tempted - especially when I saw your face." The Doctor shook his head wearily. "Good grief, what am I saying? It's quite true you know. All power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"What do you mean? We're not corrupt."

"Aren't we? Yet here we sit, calmly discussing cold-blooded murder - just because someone punched you on the nose. We've got to get away from this place."

"Can't be too soon for me!"

"How does it feel? The nose, I mean?"

Cautiously Ace touched the end of her nose. "Not too bad."

"I've got some Sisterhood Salve back in the TARDIS somewhere."

"What's that?"

"You might call it a miracle product," said the Doctor solemnly. "It'll clear up your bruises in no time and make your skin look years younger."

"Are we leaving straight away?"

"Pretty soon," said the Doctor. "I don't think there's much more to be learned here."

"Was it any use - all that stuff I got from Ma Barker and Pop?"

"Most of it was just routine horrors, I'm afraid. The n.a.z.is made all those plans for England in your timestream - the doc.u.ments were found after the war."

"Only this time they won," said Ace broodingly. "So they got to carry them all out."

For a moment she sat silent, thinking of the grim picture the two old people had painted so matter-of-factly. Ma.s.sacres and deportations, starvation and oppression. Routine horrors. "I tell you what, Professor," she said. "I'm not crazy about the England I come from, but it's a b.l.o.o.d.y sight better than this one."

"The most interesting bit was all that black magic stuff," said the Doctor thoughtfully.

"How come?"

"Well, it's always been a bit of a mystery to me."

"What has?"

"How the n.a.z.i party came to power in the first place," said the Doctor patiently.

"What's so mysterious about it? They were just ordinary politicians, weren't they?"

"Have you any idea what they were like when they started out? A broken down drug-addicted ex-pilot, a failed chicken farmer, an unsuccessful sn.o.b of a champagne salesman with a fake t.i.tle and a ratty little lecher embittered by a club foot. A gang of total deadbeats, led by a paranoid failed art student."

Ace shrugged. "Like I said, politicians!"

"Amazingly successful ones! One minute they're only one jump ahead of the law, next thing they're running the country, and before you know where you are they're in control of half the world."

"Well, I suppose if you put it like that." Ace wasn't really convinced. To her all politicians were weird and slightly suspect anyway. Why should the n.a.z.is be any different?

"It's always struck me as a bit of a historical oddity," said the Doctor.

"Another of the peculiarities of your peculiar little planet. I've been meaning to look into it for ages, but you know how things pile up. I always thought they might have had a bit of help somehow."

"Magic help?"

"Something disguised as magic, perhaps. They're a superst.i.tious lot. The SS is as much a mystic order as a private army."

"So we're going to Germany?"

"Yes, but to pre-war Germany, Ace, where it all began."

"Why?"

"Because it's easier to pluck up a seedling than tear down a tree," said the Doctor poetically.

"Let's get going, then."

"Not quite yet, Ace. There's something I've got to do first."

"Such as?"

"Go and see Hemmings."

"Forget it, Professor. I expect Stra.s.ser will get round to having him shot sooner or later, that or leave him there till he rots."

The Doctor turned his grey eyes on her in what Ace always thought of as the "look". The one that made her feel as if her brain had been peeled and all the nasty impulses exposed.

"All right, all right," she said uneasily. "Where do we meet?"

"At the TARDIS of course."

"You're sure it's here?"

The Doctor nodded. "Positive. General Stra.s.ser came to see me in a great state about it."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth, more or less."

"You told him it was a time machine?"

"No, of course not. But I told him it was packed with top-secret, highly dangerous electronic equipment - quite true, actually - and he was happy to let me take charge of it."

"Where is it now?"

The Doctor beamed. "Down below in a locked storeroom to which I alone have the key."

"How do I find it?"

The Doctor grabbed some hotel stationery and did a quick sketch. "You remember where we were first locked up, down below?"

Ace nodded.

"There's a whole network of cellars and corridors under this place. Some of them have been converted into cells and interrogation rooms, but some are still used for storage. The TARDIS is in an old wine cellar here. Give me a start and then come and meet me there."

The Doctor headed for the door. As he reached the threshold Ace called out, "Professor!"

The Doctor paused. "What?"

"Just don't give him my best."

The Doctor crossed the crowded lobby of the hotel and went through the door that led to the lower regions. He showed Stra.s.ser's pa.s.s to a respectful SS guard, who led him along the dimly lit corridors to Hemmings"

cell and let him in.

He found Hemmings sitting on the bunk, staring at the blank wall. The Doctor turned to the guard. "Wait outside, please."