Bormann hesitated. "It concerns Reichsmarshal Goering."
"Well?" "Apparently the Herr Reichsmarshal arrived unexpectedly and demanded the immediate provision of an armoured column - on his personal authority alone. As soon as the column was a.s.sembled, the Reichsmarshal took charge of it and left Berlin."
"For what destination?"
Bormann swallowed hard. "It appears that his destination was Drachensberg one of the castles acquired by Reichsfuehrer Himmler for the use of the SS. It is being used by Doctor Kriegslieter and his staff for certain researches."
Bormann had never trusted Kriegslieter. He didn"t like his influence, over Himmler and over the Fuehrer himself. He was appalled at the enormous unnaccounted-for sums that flowed regularly from SS funds into Kriegslieter"s hands. Above all, as a highly conventional member of the bourgeoisie, he was appalled by the sinister rumours of bloodcurdling goings-on at Drachensberg Castle.
Hitler frowned. "Drachensberg . . . I know of the place, though I have never been there. So, our Reichsmarshal plans to visit Drachensberg?"
"More than that, my Fuehrer. My understanding is that he is planning to attack it."
Jammed into the front pa.s.senger seat of an armoured car that was far too small for him, Hermann Goering rose to his feet, sticking his head and shoulders through the open roof-hatch.
He stared ahead at the dark country lane, illuminated only by the armoured car"s headlights. He craned his head and looked at the lights of the armoured column stretching behind him. He looked to the east where pale streaks were appearing in the night sky. Finally he sat down and turned to the army driver. "How much longer?"
The driver, a tough old veteran of the Wehrmacht, shrugged. "We ought to be almost there, Herr Reichsmarshal. But on these country roads, in this darkness, at this speed, who knows? We might be hopelessly lost."
"We"d better not be," said Hermann Goering grimly. "If we don"t arrive by sunrise we"ll be too late . . ."
The knife flashed down, severing Ace"s bonds.
At the same time the Doctor"s other hand swept upwards like a fast bowler, hurling Ace"s last, confiscated capsule of nitro-nine at the ceiling.
The explosion was shattering in the confined s.p.a.ce and most of the chapel ceiling came down, showering the black-robed figures with dust and rubble.
The Doctor threw Ace over his shoulder and sprinted out of the side door and up the stairs. He hadn"t gone very far before he realized Ace was kicking and struggling. He put her down, took her hand and started pulling her up the stairs. "I thought you were drugged."
"I was just shamming scared stiff. Well, to be honest, I was scared stiff. I mean, talk about leaving things to the last minute..."
An SS guard appeared before them aiming a machine pistol. The Doctor sprang at him like a tiger, wrenched away the pistol and clouted him under the jaw with the b.u.t.t.
"So much for the supermen," said Ace, stepping back as the giant fell.
"Gimme that gun!"
"Why?"
"Because you"re much too squeamish." c.o.c.king the pistol, Ace sprayed a hail of bullets down the stairs to discourage pursuit. "Where to, Professor?"
"Up. All the way to the top." They met only one more guard all the way to the top and Ace shot him down without a second thought.
"I hope you"re not enjoying this too much," shouted the Doctor.
"Just a bit of my own back, Professor!"
They reached the very top of the stairs at last, and climbed through the hatchway on to the top of the tower. The Doctor barred the hatchway behind them.
"That won"t keep the ma.s.sed n.a.z.i hordes out for long, will it?" asked Ace sceptically.
The Doctor was at the parapet, peering towards the gates. "They"ll have other things to worry about before very long. Come and look."
Ace came to join him at the parapet. A long, straight road led up to the castle gates and down it a column of dust was moving steadily towards them.
"What is it?" asked Ace. "And who is it?"
"The what is an armoured column," said the Doctor. "The who, unless I"m very much mistaken, is our old friend Hermann Goering, playing the part, for this performance only, of the US Cavalry."
"How did you persuade him to do that?"
"I telephoned him before I came down here to join you. I told him Drachensberg was a hotbed of treason, and that Himmler and the SS were plotting to knock him off. "
"And he believed you?"
"Why not? It"s what he"d do to Himmler if he had the chance. I also told him that if he"d turn up here in force I"d give him positive proof."
"And can you?"
""I"ll think of something," said the Doctor cheerfully.
The column was fast approaching the main gates now. It consisted of a row of jeep-like vehicles, some of them mounted with guns, all of them crammed with grey-clad soldiers. In the pa.s.senger front seat of the leading vehicle, a corpulent figure in a sky-blue uniform stood up in a commanding position.
"There he is," said the Doctor. "Iron Fatty in person! Mind you, at the moment, he seems to think he"s Rommel."
Goering was arguing furiously with the SS sentries on the castle wall by the gate.
"What"s going on?" asked Ace.
The yard below them was full of black-uniformed and black-robed figures, all milling about and asking the same question.
"In this instance, too much jaw, jaw, and not enough war, war," said the Doctor. "Pa.s.s me one of the sh.e.l.ls from that rack would you, Ace?"
The little antiaircraft gun was a fairly simple piece of machinery, and it didn"t take the Doctor long to figure out how it worked.
" So if the sh.e.l.l goes in the loading chamber here, and this is the firing lever here . . . "
There was a sudden explosion, the gun bucked and recoiled, and a sh.e.l.l whistled over the head of the armoured column bursting on the other side.
"A bit wild," said the Doctor. "Still, it seems to have done the trick."
The members of the armoured column scattered and took cover and soon they were returning what they thought was the enemy"s fire. The SS sentries naturally shot back and soon there was a fierce little battle raging.
The Doctor observed it with a critical eye. "Iron Fatty"s not doing very well.
He can"t seem to get past the main gate."
"Maybe you should have sent for Rommel instead."
"Let"s give him a bit of help." The Doctor began fiddling with levers, depressing the angle of the gun barrel. "Ah, here we are." He sighted along the barrel. "Sh.e.l.l please, Ace. Load - and fire!" Half of the castle"s front gate disappeared, blown away from the inside.
"Quick, another one," said the Doctor. "Before they realize where it"s coming from."
A second sh.e.l.l took out the rest of the gate and the armoured column roared through the gap, all guns blazing. Battle was joined, black uniforms against grey, and there was furious fighting all around the courtyard. The Doctor and Ace observed the battle from on high, like spectators at a military tattoo. But in this little entertainment, the bodies that fell down didn"t get up again. The conditioned SS men of the War Lords fought with fanatical energy, quite careless of their own lives. But the grey-clad troops of the regular army seemed to be more than holding their own, and very soon there were far more black uniforms than grey ones on the ground.
"Those SS zombies of the War Lords" aren"t doing at all well," said the Doctor. "They"re so fearless they"re easy to kill. A good soldier doesn"t die for his country, he gets the enemy to die for his."
"I thought you didn"t approve of violence, Professor?"
"I don"t, not usually. Maybe I"m getting a bit of my own back too. Maybe I"m being corrupted. Time to go, I think."
"How?" asked Ace. "In case you hadn"t noticed we"re on top of a tower surrounded by n.a.z.i fanatics busily shooting at each other. I"m sure they"d be only too pleased to start shooting at us for a change."
"I"ve got a bit of a surprise for you, actually. One little job and - hang on, what"s this?"
A light aeroplane was gliding down towards the castle. It touched down on the wide road by the gates and a solitary brown-uniformed figure got out. It strode through the shattered gates and into the courtyard, and everywhere the figure pa.s.sed men stopped fighting and came to attention, hands raised in salute.
Suddenly the battle was over.
Ace said, "Surely that"s. . ."
"I"m afraid so," said the Doctor. "I don"t like the look of this at all, Ace.
Come on."
They ran down the stairs, through the empty tower and out into the main courtyard. It was littered with dead bodies and in the centre stood Goering and Himmler, arguing furiously - watched with benign amus.e.m.e.nt by a third man, the one who had arrived in the aeroplane. He turned as the Doctor and Ace approached, picking their way between the corpses.
"Ah, here is the Herr Doktor. He will give us the truth of things." The Doctor stared at him in amazement and dismay. The newcomer looked trim and fit, confident and alert - and he absolutely radiated power and charisma.
"Well, Doctor?" said Adolf Hitler.
The Doctor cleared his throat. "It"s all perfectly simple. Reichsfuehrer Himmler, in an attempt to gain valuable knowledge for the Reich, gave some encouragement to a certain Doctor Kriegslieter, and an organization called the Black Coven."
"I am aware of this," said Hitler. "Doctor Kriegslieter gave me much valuable help and advice."
"To begin with, yes," said the Doctor. "Unfortunately, and indeed treacherously, these men developed ambitions of their own. Entirely unknown to the Reichsfuehrer, they plotted to overthrow you, on the grounds that you were no longer capable."
Hitler laughed with genuine amus.e.m.e.nt. "Me? Incapable? Believe me, Doctor, I have never felt more capable in my life."
"I discovered this plot, and informed Reichsfuehrer Himmler," said the Doctor. "Naturally he repudiated these men at once. You remember, Herr Reichsfuehrer, we discussed the matter earlier, outside the chapel. Is not that so?"
"Yes, indeed, Herr Doktor," said Himmler gratefully. "You put it very well."
He turned to Hitler. "It is exactly as the Doctor has said."
"I could never doubt your loyalty, my faithful Heinrich," said the Fuehrer.
He turned to Goering. "But I am at a loss to understand the presence of my Reichsmarshal, leading regular army troops in a pitched battle with the SS."
Goering went red and began to splutter. "The Doctor said - he told me. . . "
"Allow me to explain," said the Doctor. "I took the precaution of informing the Reichsmarshal that there was treachery afoot at Drachensberg. In his righteous anger, he commandeered an armoured column and attacked at once. The SS men, hypnotized and brainwashed by the Black Coven, resisted his entrance. But thanks to the heroic efforts of the Reichsmarshal"s troops, the traitors have been overcome."
"Quite so, Herr Doktor," said Goering dryly. "If I may say so, you put it very well."
"And this man Kriegslieter? asked Hitler.
"Killed in the fighting, like his corrupt SS men," said the Doctor.
"Excellent," said the Fuehrer. He turned to his two leading henchmen.
"Heinrich, Hermann, you will both return to Berlin with me in my plane. The Polish campaign is a brilliant success. I shall now explain my plans for France and England."
Yoked once more in their uneasy alliance, Himmler and Goering saluted and marched away together, looking still, thought Ace, uncannily like a n.a.z.i Laurel and Hardy.
Hitler turned to the Doctor and shook him warmly by the hand. "I cannot thank you enough, Herr Doktor." He lowered his voice confidentially. "The force that visits me is now my servant - and you taught me to control her."
"I did?" said the Doctor, appalled.
"In the Chancellery, when the British sent me their ultimatum. You taught me to control her with my will. Last night, in Poland, she came again - and I tamed her. Now my mind is clear, my will is strong at all times. I shall win this war, I shall conquer the world - and then, she tells me, there are more worlds to conquer."
The Doctor stared at him in horror. First the Timewyrm, and now a super-Hitler. And it was all his fault.
"Goodbye, Doctor," said Hitler. "When we meet in Berlin, I shall reward you as you deserve." He turned and marched away.
The Doctor and Ace were left alone in the corpse-strewn courtyard. The Doctor"s face was stricken. "Oh, no," he murmured. "What have I done?"
"What have you done, Professor?" "Don"t you see? I"ve taught him to control the Timewyrm. She"ll feed him enough knowledge and power to destroy the world."
"That need not trouble you, Doctor," said a ghastly voice. "For you, the world ends now."
A black shape was rising out of the mud. It was Kriegslieter. His cloak was drenched with blood. The courtyard was littered with Kriegslieter"s brainwashed SS men. They were all dead.
As Ace and the Doctor looked on in unbelieving horror, the corpses started lurching to their feet.
14: CORPSE DISCIPLINE.
"The old Prussian army had a favourite expression," croaked Kriegslieter, leaning heavily on his cane. "Corpse discipline. The kind of discipline that makes a corpse jump to attention. As you see, Doctor, I have achieved it."
The Doctor looked round at the little semicircle of men - of dead men. The blue eyes were blanker than usual, the bloodstained, bullet-riddled bodies bore terrible wounds. Yet still they stood and moved and obeyed orders.
Corpse discipline.