Fitz had managed to find a crashed motorbike, whose dead rider was lying a few feet away, with a few more holes in him than he had been born with. Other bodies, both German and American, were scattered around.
There were a couple of dents in the bike, but nothing that Fitz couldn"t fix with the tools and puncture repair kit that were in the pannier boxes. He had no idea whether there was any fuel left in it at all, but it started up when he tried it, and made good time on it. He had no idea where the h.e.l.l he was going, of course, but he knew that west towards the Allied forces was probably a good idea. To that end he had ditched his looted uniform.
All in all, it made him feel just like Steve McQueen, except that Fitz was having enough trouble keeping the bike upright to even think about what would happen if he came to a fence blocking the road.
It was a moot point anyway, as the thing eventually ran out of fuel, and he was returned to moving on foot. It wasn"t, he decided, much of a Christmas week, if the Doctor"s theory about the date was right. He didn"t remember the exact dates of this battle himself, but the calendar back at the Cafe Scholzen had shown December as the month.
His mood didn"t improve when three men in dark green uniforms suddenly stepped out from behind the snow-encrusted trees, with rifles raised.
Even as he recognised the uniforms as American, Fitz"s hands shot into the air. "Don"t shoot! Don"t shoot!" He put on his best RADA accent. "Sorry to give you chaps such a fright, but Jerry"s right behind me..." He trailed off, suddenly realising what a bad idea that was if these men should happen to be more impostors.
The Americans hesitated. "You"re English?"
Fitz nodded. "Working behind the lines. Eavesdropping, that sort of thing..."
"You got a name?"
Fitz knew that the words "Fitz Kreiner" at this point probably wouldn"t be a good idea, but didn"t hesitate to answer. "Bond," he said. "James Bond."
Sam watched herself push her way into the spooky-looking house back in Lanzerath. It was well weird, being able to watch yourself doing something you remembered doing recently, and Sam had a momentary sensation of being unsure which of the two Sams was really her.
She saw her earlier self look around and shiver, and remembered that when she had first visited this house she had had the feeling of someone walking over her grave. She hadn"t expected it to be herself. She hadn"t expected it to be quite so literal, either.
Sam and Galastel watched the earlier Sam the living Sam, she reminded herself with a shiver try the telephone beside a large armchair.
When her earlier counterpart lifted the receiver, Sam could somehow see the fault: a downed line. It was as if some part of her mind had followed the telephone line until the break, and she swayed slightly at the sudden sensation.
Galastel caught her.
"Your perceptions of things will be different while you are with us."
"What about if I return to my world?"
"Not so much, then."
The Sam using the phone jumped as the door crashed open and Kovacs pointed a gun at her. There was a blur of drab-green uniforms as a couple of other men followed him in. "Put the phone down, sister. Nice and slow."
"It"s dead," Sam heard herself say.
"Put it down or so are you."
"A "please" wouldn"t have killed you, would it?" she demanded, recovering.
His expression faltered. "You"re a Brit? Who were you trying to call?"
"n.o.body yet. I was just trying to get an open line to find some help. Not only do I not know where I am, but our transport was knocked into the river when the sh.e.l.ling hit the bridge down there." She gestured in the direction of the TARDIS.
The soldiers exchanged glances. "You said "our". How many of you are there?"
"Two others: the Doctor and an orderly. We got separated when our transport broke down on the bridge, and they"re on the other side of the river."
Kovacs hesitated. "Civilians. Hoo-rah. Joe, get the field wire set up. I want a watch on the Losheim road." He turned back to Sam. "OK, so you say you"re a Brit. What"s your name?"
"Samantha Jones. Sam."
As the earlier Sam spoke, Galastel moved in front of Kovacs, and now Sam got the confused impression of papers and pa.s.swords, curiosity and relief, as Kovacs"s eyes unfocused for a moment.
Galastel stepped aside, and Kovacs recovered. "Well, at least you"re probably not a spy."
"That makes a nice change," the earlier Sam murmured. "Usually people a.s.sume the opposite."
Sam was astounded. She had known something was up when Kovacs had accepted her so readily, but she hadn"t expected this. "How the h.e.l.l did you do that?" she asked Galastel.
"I let him perceive what was necessary for him to perceive. Your perceptions and ours are different, but related, and so we can "
"Fudge things?"
"If you like. It"s a defence mechanism, it helps us move through your world without hindrance or hostility. Even if we have contact with mortals, all we need do is have ourselves perceived as some harmless local, or an animal. Nothing of consequence. It"s not difficult even the feeding swarm do it, by instinct, to hide themselves." He looked at Sam, the ghost of a smile on his pointed face. "In time, you could learn this, too."
Chapter Seven.
The Art of War t.i.tania had walked the Doctor to the edge of the lake near her city. She had shown him the damage on the way. There had been no fooling of his perceptions this time. The Doctor had some concerns about getting back to Bastogne at roughly the time he left. He knew all of the old tales about how time ran differently here.
He also knew how time really worked, though. So long as his perceptions remained his own, he would have no problems getting back.
The Doctor could still feel t.i.tania"s eyes on him while he looked out over the lake. There was movement below the surface and he watched with interest. "You keep following me around like a lost puppy," he said suddenly. "If there"s something you want from me, why don"t you just ask it?"
"It is not our way to seek help from others."
"At least, not to come straight out and ask it?"
She didn"t answer for what felt like several minutes, though he knew time had little meaning here. "For the most part, when mortals make war, it does not affect us. We do not interfere with mortals. At least, not on a cultural or national level," she added with the sound of a smile. "But in this place the conflict is damaging us."
The Doctor turned, to see that she had sat down on a worn and ancient piece of stone that hadn"t been there a moment ago. "How is that possible?" he asked softly.
"There is a breach, a tear in the veil that part.i.tions the lands of Men from those of ours."
"You mean something"s causing dimensional instability in the region...?"
"I mean what I say, Evergreen Man."
The Doctor came over and sat beside her. "Then it"s not you causing it?"
"No," she replied, a little too quickly. "Not us. Otherwise we would not have asked you for help. And we know you are compa.s.sionate enough to a.s.sist us."
"That"s a very big a.s.sumption to make."
"Your friend said so."
"My friend? Fitz?"
"Samantha."
The Doctor remained motionless, and t.i.tania kept her mask of inscrutability as she watched his surprise.
"Sam? You saw Sam?" His face darkened. "She was here?"
"Yes."
He hesitated. "I was told she was dead."
t.i.tania appeared amused. "No one dies here, unless I allow it. Your friend was brought here in time, and saved."
"Sam"s alive!" he exclaimed, delighted. "Alive..." He swept t.i.tania into his arms, and kissed her, but only on the cheek.
"That was very careful of you."
The Doctor nodded quickly. ""But take one kiss of my blood-red lips, And sure of your body I will be", or so I"m told."
"I"m sure you are."
"Where is Sam?"
"On her way to where you are working with the humans. She will arrive shortly."
"And the other humans you"ve taken from the battlefields and the hospitals?" He obviously hoped the sudden change of tack would surprise her, but it didn"t work.
"They remain."
"You can"t just take them like that!"
"We can. They are on the brink of death, Doctor. We save them."
The Doctor shook his head. "By changing their natures? That"s what you do, isn"t it?"
"It is our right," t.i.tania said icily. "We are permitted to exact recompense from the mortals when they breach the truce that was reached."
"A truce?"
"It was many generations ago, after the Sidhe and Men fought."
"t.i.tania, human civilisations are as mortal as their individuals. Whatever truce was signed, it"s long since been lost to history."
"I understand. That is why we do not punish their infractions of it. But we remember, and we stand by our vows, and our rights. Even the Lord of Time has no right to deprive us of our due."
"These are living beings, with futures and "
"They are taken at the moment of death!" t.i.tania responded angrily. "How can any of them have a future, other than that which we give them? We choose to take that compensation in kind. Those we take, we take body and soul; and they take the place of those we have lost. They have immortality, purpose and paradise."
"Perhaps they don"t all have what it takes to accept a completely alien world-view."
"That is a problem with their limited thought," she said simply.
"That," the Doctor shouted, "is a facet of their very nature!"
"Are you suggesting that death is preferable for them?" she challenged.
"That would be their choice! It"s not up to you or me!" The Doctor visibly got a grip on himself. "I"m just saying you should give the humans a choice. That was always the way it was done."
"Ah," t.i.tania whispered sadly. "That"s true. But that was when we could move more openly, and approach mortals who were still hale and hearty, talk with them without being hunted by others. Now they kill so quickly that if we wait we lose everything."
"Don"t you care? Don"t you care about human life at all?"
"We care about Life. Life endures. We care that there are mortals in their world; they endure."
"But individual lives, t.i.tania." The Doctor took hold of her gently by the shoulders. "Individual personae, and hopes, and dreams, and fears..."
t.i.tania looked into his eyes. "Yes, we care. We live and love and tell stories, as do humans But we care about the life of humanity as a whole. Without them, we would be diminished. We would be alone."
"Then show that you care," the Doctor suggested. "Offer a choice before taking them."
t.i.tania touched her cheek absently, at the spot where he had kissed her. "Are you offering me a bargain?"
"Yes," he replied after a moment. "Do as I ask, and I will find a way to repair whatever dimensional problem is hurting both your people and the humans."
She knew his mind of old, of course. He would have helped anyway, especially if the rift threatened humans.
"Agreed."
And then she was gone, and he was standing in a bombed-out street in front of the hospital.
"You"re trying to hide?" t.i.tania asked once the Evergreen Man had left. "There"s no need."
Oberon emerged from the trees, his wiry frame excited, and his grin just on the wrong side of manic. "Is a consort supposed to openly watch his love courting another?" he asked.
"Courting?" she scoffed. "I sought his help, not his love."