Doctor Who_ Just War - Lance Parkin [45]
‘Doktor, that is what Max Planck, the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society says. The British and Americans mocked him for doing so. Once again, you agree with us.
Doktor, I want you to see the true state of German science. If you have not been allowed to see the stolen plans, then you are obviously not valued by the British government. The Reich, though, welcomes men of talent, and is happy to reward them. Tomorrow morning, we’ll go up to where Hartung is working. You’ll have a chance to meet him. The British won’t show you the plan. We’ll show you the finished product. You’ll be free to make up your own mind.’
‘You have a knack for ending the day on a dramatic note,’ observed the Doctor. ‘Yesterday you asked me to become a Fascist, now you seem to be offering me a job on your design team.’
‘Fascism is about the opportunity that tomorrow will —’
‘And of course, I get a daily dose of Fascist dogma,’ the Doctor added.
Steinmann was silenced, but after a moment he continued, ‘Doktor, I have a proposal for you.’
‘Another bombshell! I’m flattered by the offer of marriage, Herr Steinmann, you are a very handsome man, with undoubted prospects, but I’m afraid that I’m already —’ the Doctor wittered. Steinmann cut him dead.
‘Herr Doktor. I am being serious. My proposal is this: I will show you the future, show you what Hartung has built. I will let that speak for itself. Actions speak so much louder than words. As I believe you observed on the beach, Hartung’s work will win the war for the Reich. I offer you the chance to be part of that future. If you do not want to, you will be free to go. Do you accept?’
‘As Goethe might have said, Herr Steinmann, we have a deal.’
‘Do you know what the simplest, most effective form of torture is, Nurse Kitzel?’
Standartenführer Wolff was peering through a slot in the cell door. He was tall, broad-chested, blond: one of the few in the army who looked like the soldiers on the recruiting posters. At thirty-two, he was still unmarried. His eligibility was a frequent topic of conversation for the girls at the complex. They thought he must be very brave and dedicated to have reached such an exalted rank so young. Either that, or he knew someone high in the Party. Either reason made him a good potential husband.
Kitzel, surprised that such a senior officer would deign to talk to her, tried to remember her training.
‘Electric shock,’ she declared finally. Wolff sneered, and didn’t even turn to look at her.
‘The very simplest torture is electric shock?’
‘No, sir.’ Kitzel deflated. Pause. ‘The Chinese say that it is dripping water, sir.’
‘Yes, but as they are subhumans, their opinion is not valuable. You don’t know the answer, do you?’
‘No, sir,’ she admitted.
‘The very simplest form of torture is sleep deprivation.’
It came flooding back. ‘Prolonged sleep deprivation, or, to be precise, “dream deprivation” can quickly lead to personality changes: typically heightened irritability or paranoia. After three or four days the subject might well begin to hallucinate. This decline is characterized by a loss of all sense of time. After a week there is the risk of permanent mental illness, usually schizophrenia. The longest a person has been deprived of sleep, without the use of stimulants such as amphetamines, is sixteen days.’ Kitzel fluttered her eyelids.
‘Very good.’ Wolff smiled. ‘Now to see all that in practice.
Our subject has been in custody since twenty past six yesterday morning. Just about thirty-six hours ago. Since that time, she has been deprived of food, drink and sleep. If your calculations are correct, then the prisoner should be beginning to show the first symptoms. Her name is Bernice Summerfield, but you are not to use it in front of her. If I do give you permission to speak, she is to be referred to simply as “the prisoner”. Bring that beaker