Chesterton nodded. "I do so hope you"re not offended. You got that gun from a private who thought you were me, didn"t you?"
Ian nodded, dumbfounded. He didn"t know whether to be delighted or horrified that things had gone so differently from the way he had intended. How would this affect Barbara"s chances of survival? That was all that mattered. If someone had asked Ian to imagine this situation, he would have said he would want to find the kidnappers and make them pay.
He was surprised, and felt helpless, to discover that he didn"t give a fig about them. He just wanted to see Barbara once again, and hear her voice and know that she was all right.
"I"d have done the same," Chesterton admitted.
Ian managed a thin, humourless smile. "I know."
"The gun was loaded with blanks. Not even much powder in them, in case you came too close. Just enough to make a noise."
Chesterton sat down opposite Ian, and the pair spent a moment just looking at each other.
"I would die for Barbara," Ian said. "As a matter of fact I almost have, several times. You would too."
"I daresay I would, if I"d ever met the lady in question."
"You can"t mean that," Ian exclaimed. "I... You don"t even remember Barbara?"
"Keep your voice down, dammit," the major hissed. He looked round as if expecting to see all his troops listening at the door. "I don"t remember much of anything before this week," he admitted. He fingered the b.u.mp on the back of his head, and wondered how much he could trust this man.
"I know I shouldn"t tell anyone this, but I feel I can trust you. I wish I knew why."
I could tell you, but I doubt you"d believe it," Ian muttered.
"I took a fall from my horse. It did something to my memory. I love my life in the Hussars, Ian. I"d never want to do anything else, but if word got out that I"d gone doolally I"d be back to Blighty before you could say... anything, really."
"But maybe the Doctor can help you recover our - your - memory."
"The Doctor most certainly can," came another voice from the door.
It was the Doctor, of course, and Ian almost leapt out of his chair in delight.
"You"ve been a complete idiot, Ches-Ian. Complete and total!" The Doctor waggled a finger at Ian as if he had been scrumping apples. "If I hadn"t got here first, you"d have been a murderer."
Ian"s mind reeled. "But if you got here first, why didn"t you say something? Why the charade with the gun and the blanks?"
"Because young Master Wong - Fei-Hung - spotted that man Gao watching, and we decided to put on a disinformative show for him and his master."
Ian slumped, and started to shake as all the adrenaline and tension drained away. "What about Barbara?"
"I know where that abbot fellow is. We shall be dealing with him next, once we"ve decided who is to be doing what."
"We?"
"Myself, Master Wong, the other Tigers and the major. We shall have a sort of council of war within the hour. In fact, just as soon as Major Chesterton here collects the remedy Master Wong has been preparing for him to sort out this memory problem."
He looked pointedly at the major, who shrugged submis-sively. "I"ll go now," he said, and did so, leaving the Doctor and Ian alone.
"I"m rather afraid that the major there... well... He"s not you," the Doctor said more quietly. "I was wrong, Chesterton, about your future impinging on your past."
"You were wrong?" Ian wondered who the h.e.l.l he had nearly killed.
"His name is Major William Chesterton."
"Bill Chesterton? But that was my great-grandfather"s name-"
"Exactly. And that is exactly who this man is."
Ian shivered and his hands trembled. "You mean I nearly..."
"Yes."
What Ian said next, he would have been sacked for saying in front of his cla.s.s at Coal Hill School.
2.
The "council of war" was taking place in the officers" mess. A circle of reasonably comfortable armchairs had been pulled around a large circular table stained with rings from years of mugs of tea and flagons of beer.
Kei-Ying, Three-Legged Tham, Beggar Soh and Iron Bridge Three were huddled together, speaking rapidly. Logan watched them suspiciously. The Doctor was using pint pots to hold down the corners of a map on the table.
The two Chestertons arrived together. The major was beginning to realise that this chap Ian wasn"t so bad after all, though the resemblance between them was disturbing. He was unable to express his wonderment in mere words.
"Upon my soul... I never imagined such a likeness was possible. Who are you, exactly?"
"My name"s Ian."
"Yes, I heard that. Can"t say I"ve heard of an Ian in the family."
"I"m a rather distant relative, a couple of times removed."
"Ah." Now the major understood. "You must be one of Aunt Mary"s boys. Though you"ve done a good job of hiding the accent..."
"Thanks," Ian said, then quickly changed the subject. "It looks like everyone"s ready for us."
"Yes." The major saw Logan salute, and returned the gesture. The captain looked as though he"d been through a nervous breakdown, though Chesterton couldn"t imagine why. Shocked by the security breach of Ian being able to wander into the garrison like that, he supposed.
Beggar Soh looked up from the other Tigers and rubbed his hands with glee. "Ah, there you are. As occupying powers go, you"re not really doing much with your va.s.sal country, are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you"ve got your own laws here in the city, as if the Chinese didn"t have good enough ones, and outside there seems to be no law at all."
Ian"s attention drifted away from the conversation and he saw Fei-Hung sitting quietly behind his father. He realised he hadn"t been able to ask the young master what had happened when he went looking for Barbara at the monastery.
He slid around the edge of the circle and reached Fei-Hung.
"Thank you," he said first, "for all you"ve done."
"It was the right thing to do."
"Yes, it was. I sometimes wish more people in the world had your att.i.tude. Look, I wanted to ask you: when you went to look for Barbara at the monastery, you didn"t see her at all?"
Fei-Hung shook his head. "I"m sorry, Ian. Neither she nor the abbot, Qin, were there. They must have left before I arrived."
"Yes, but how?"
"Perhaps the same way this "General Gao" left."
This got the Doctor"s attention. "And how was that?" he asked.
"Magic."
The Doctor glared at him over the top of his pince-nez.
"Nonsense, my boy."
"I am no liar, Doctor. He waved his hand and cut a fiery hole in the air. I could see another place through it, and then he stepped through."
"And the hole?"
"Closed up after him."
The whole story sounded preposterous to Ian, but Fei-Hung seemed earnest enough, and had proved an honest and reliable witness so far. Ian also had to ask himself whether the story was really any stranger than a police box that could disappear, and travel anywhere in time and s.p.a.ce.
"There are more things in heaven and earth," he muttered to himself under his breath.
The Doctor didn"t notice his comment. He simply tapped a forefinger on the map. "We know where he"s going, but that would give him a terrible advantage in speed..."
Kei-Ying had been listening to his son"s conversation with one ear and to his fellow Tigers with the other. He caught the Doctor"s eye, and both men looked from Ian to each other.
Kei-Ying drew the Doctor aside. "You"re worried about her too."
The Doctor nodded. "She is a friend, yes, as is Ian. I fear that to lose one of them would be to lose the other."
"If you"ll pardon my saying, Doctor-sifu, you look like one who has lost someone close already."
"I was thinking about my granddaughter. She left me recently, you see."
Kei-Ying nodded understandingly. "She"s back in England?
In London?"
"Yes, yes, in a manner of speaking. She chose to stay behind."
The Doctor"s eyes became unfocused, as if he was looking at something - or someone - impossibly far away. He fell silent for a moment and Kei-Ying fancied he could feel something of what the Doctor must be feeling. Fei-Hung would set up his own school and surgery some day, G.o.ds willing, and Kei-Ying could see himself wearing that expression when he did.
"She just didn"t realise," the Doctor continued, "or perhaps I should say understand, that she had made that decision."
"Your granddaughter... Do you have sons, Doctor? Or daughters? Or both?"
The Doctor seemed surprised by the question. "Yes, hmm, I suppose you could put it that way. Sons or daughters, or both, yes."
"Then we must make sure this threat doesn"t last to threaten our sons or daughters."
"I quite agree. The conjunction I spoke of before will begin at the moment of totality as seen from Xi"an."
"And when will that be?"
"At exactly eight minutes past midnight. And, whatever happens, we must be there to stop Qin - or whatever is behind him - from exploiting it."
"How?"
The Doctor didn"t answer. Kei-Ying searched his face, knowing in his gut the only answer the Doctor could have in mind. The Doctor"s eyes remained level and determined, indomitable.
"What exactly is it that you"re expecting, Doctor? Men from Mars to land?"
"Whatever our opponent is, it comes from much further away than Mars. The other end of the line of focus formed by the conjunction is millions of times further away."
Iron Bridge Three sniffed slightly. "Yes, well obviously we have to worry about the troops as well as this conjunction thing."
"Troops?"