Doctor Who_ Just War - Lance Parkin [77]
‘We don’t have time to discuss the morality of war: we need to find Hartung.’ The Doctor turned a chunk of masonry over, scraped away at the rubble. Chris was about to speak again when the Doctor discovered something. The little man bent down. Chris moved forward to catch a glimpse, but the Doctor held him back. Using Chris for support, the Doctor pulled himself to his feet, then picked up his briefcase.
‘Her name was Ulrilda Fegelein, from Falkenstein in Germany. She liked opera, she had a small collection of gramophone records. She told me a very rude joke about two sailors and a one-eyed goat, but she didn’t understand it.
Ulrilda liked her coffee black and strong, with two sugars.
She wasn’t old enough to vote when elections were abolished, but she would have voted for the Nazis given a chance. Did that make her evil?’
‘Yes.’ Chris was surprised by the certainty in his own voice. The Doctor looked shocked, but Chris continued, ‘She had a choice. Everyone gets a choice. There is evil in the universe and there is injustice. The Nazis are evil. Everything they stand for must be wiped out, without mercy.’
The Doctor managed a thin smile. left my home planet many years ago. I discovered things on my travels, things I never suspected: monsters and villains, death and disaster, ghosts and godlings, evil coalescing from the beginning of the universe. Dark forces. I’ve fought against them, beaten them back. Wiped them out, as you say. But I’ve always tried to show mercy.’
Chris was angry now. ‘Sometimes mercy isn’t appropriate. The British tried to bargain with the Nazis. They gave them the benefit of the doubt, they tried diplomacy. The Nazis took advantage of them, sliced away more and more territory. Used the time to build up their military.
Appeasement doesn’t always work. The Nazis are monsters.’
The Doctor looked up from his excavations. ‘That’s your perspective. That’s my perspective. From a monster’s point of view, though, things look rather different. I’ve always tried to listen to the monster’s point of view. You’d be surprised how passionate, how eloquent, they can be.’
‘Herr Doktor,’ a German voice called out.
‘Speak of the devil,’ muttered the Doctor, who stood up and dusted himself down.
Chris followed the sound, and saw a Nazi officer stepping towards them through the fog. The man was of average height and build, and wore his uniform as though it were a Savile Row suit. As he got closer, Chris guessed that he must be in his late fifties: his thin white hair had receded to his crown, his face was lined and sunken.
‘Oberst Oskar Steinmann,’ the Doctor announced. The officer stopped in his tracks.
‘Herr Doktor,’ he responded formally, clicking his heels together. He sounded almost relieved, Chris noted with some surprise. He scanned the area, but the officer was alone.
‘I am sorry, Oberst. I had no idea this raid was going to happen.’
‘No, Doktor, I’m sure that you didn’t,’ Steinmann said softly. The Nazi pointed at Chris, who prepared for the worst, but Steinmann simply asked, ‘I take it this man is not really one of my officers?’ The remark baffled Chris until he remembered that he was still wearing a Nazi uniform.
The Doctor grinned. ‘This is Christopher Cwej, a friend of mine.’
‘The policeman,’ Steinmann said pleasantly, offering his hand. Chris found himself shaking it.
The SID staff car raced through the fog towards Paddington station.
‘So what do we know?’ Roz asked. George only had one telephone, in the front room. Just before seven o’clock it had rung, waking them. When George returned to the bedroom, all he said was that they were needed at Paddington and that a staff car was on the way. They’d dressed and left the flat quickly.
‘The transport police picked up a man half an hour ago.
Scotland Yard were trailing a known German agent, a woman, on behalf of MI5. They’ve known about her for six months, but they didn’t pick her up because we’ve always thought that she could lead us to bigger fish.’
‘Von Wer?’ Roz suggested,