Doctor Who_ Illegal Alien - Mike Tucker [94]
And now here I stand. Cybertechnology, and the ability truly to shape the future, in my grasp. I am aware that if dear Winston could see me now if any of my unimaginative countrymen could see me now they would have me shot as a traitor. A Nazi. But I have put myself above the petty interests of nation states in the service of a more farsighted approach.
I am merely interested in the balance of power. Certain outcomes to current hostilities ought to prove more...
interesting than others, in terms of the longterm destiny of mankind. No, it has never been a question of what the Nazis could learn from me. It was a question of what I could learn from them. Information. It is my passion. It is my nourishment.'
'Information and manipulation.'
'I do find the future a fascinating place, Doctor. I like to feel a citizen of it.'
'Rubbish!' The Doctor sounded angry. 'You can't possibly know how mankind's destiny will unfold. Let alone consciously control it. No one can know all of the ebbs and flows of future history, even within this one set of variables.
And every point in spacetime has an infinity of alternatives.'
'If the truth is as I suspect it is, I envy you your somewhat advantageous perspective, Doctor.'
'It is. And you shouldn't. The responsibility which comes with such knowledge is a heavy one.'
'And yet you are here. An anomaly. Creating havoc with, as it were, the timelines.' He smiled apologetically.
The Doctor's face was grave. 'Sometimes I'm appalled by my own recklessness.'
'Captain Hartmann... yes, yes I remember you.'
The voice, tinny down the phone, was nonetheless measured, cultured and intelligent. Hartmann believed. the Deputy Reichsführer's words. Reinhard Heydrich, the man with daytoday responsibility for running both the SS and the Gestapo, had a reputation as a formidable thinker with a staggering eye for detail. It was said by some that he had a file on everybody of note in the Reich. It was said by others that he didn't: that he carried the information in his head.
And how is Jersey?'
The Blond Beast, they called him in some quarters.
Degenerates and scum.
'Herr Deputy Reichsführer, I have to report that things are not as they should be. I believe that Colonel Schott, by his lack of positive action and by the fact that he has fallen unduly under the influence of enemies of the Reich, has jeopardised the security of this highly secret operation.
'Which has already got all Berlin buzzing with rumour and gossip, Hartmann. Your silver giants are the talk of the Chancellery.'
'Sir, Colonel Schott seems to be taking all of his instructions from an elderly English civil servant named George Limb.'
'Limb... yes, I've heard of him.' The Deputy Reichsführer was legendary for his calm manner. It was said he always talked as if he was seducing a woman. 'What exactly is Limb doing to unravel your little mystery, Hartmann?'
'At present, sir, he seems to be playing chess with another enemy alien.'
I see... And old Schott is just sitting on his hands, eh?
Probably half cut on brandy. Very well... let's see... Schott...
He's Canaris's man, isn't he? It might be appropriate to give the admiral a shot across the bows... Yes. You must act as you think fit, Captain. On my authority, of course. Don't let me down, Captain. Good day'
'Heil Hi ' Hartmann stopped. The phone was already dead. 'A poisoned pawn. Precisely what I should have expected from you, Mr Limb.' George Limb rubbed his hands with glee. He was enjoying himself immensely. 'This is a most interesting game, Doctor. Even I am finding it difficult to predict the outcome. What would you say to a small wager?'
'What had you in mind?' 'My one regret is that I don't live in an age of better communications. It is the curse of my singular profession that I need information at my fingertips all the time. Economics and technology at present are too slow to require or provide such a facility. We lack what I might perhaps