Doctor Who_ War Games - Malcolm Hulke [27]
‘You’ve burnt our homes, mistreated our women folk—’
‘Ve are not Yankees,’ said the German. ‘Ve are resistance fighters!’
‘It’s no use,’ said the Boer War sergeant. ‘These two men are still under the spell. Tie them up before they try to kill us.’
The Negro soldier had cut free both Lady Jennifer and Jamie. Jamie rubbed his wrists. ‘How many resistance fighters are there?’
‘Who knows?’ The Boer War sergeant reached down to help up Lady Jennifer. ‘Sergeant Russell, ma’am. How long since you lost the spell?’
Jamie began to say, ‘As a matter of fact...’
‘Quite recently,’ Lady Jennifer cut in, giving Jamie a look that told him to keep quiet. ‘What are you looking for exactly?’
While the other Boer War soldier tied up the two Confederates, Russell and the Negro had been prodding through the straw with their rifles.
‘The tunnel,’ said Russell.
‘We been watching this barn,’ the Negro explained. ‘We seen all these columns of soldiers marching out,but we ain’t never seen them marching in. Must be a tunnel someplace.’
Despite another look from Lady Jennifer, Jamie tried to make the men understand. ‘It isn’t like that. There’s a box that suddenly appears in the middle full of soldiers. And there are these video things.’
The resistance men stared at him. ‘What’s he talking about?’ said the Boer War private.
‘It’s true,’ said Lady Jennifer. ‘It is much more complicated than you imagine—’
Von Weich stood in the doorway. Behind him were two soldiers holding guns at his back, one Chinese from 1911, the other a young Frenchman from 1917.
‘We find ‘im,’ said the Frenchman. ‘’E is officer—
enemy!’
‘That’s one of them,’ said Jamie. ‘When we first met him he was pretending to be a German.’
Von Weich put on his Deep Southern accent. ‘I don’t know what you all is talkin’ about. What are you Frenchmen and Germans and Britishers doing in America?’
Sergeant Russell went up to him. ‘Where’s the tunnel?’
Von Weich stared into the sergeant’s eyes and spoke in his normal, cold voice. ‘I am your commanding officer.
You will obey me.’
The Negro laughed. ‘Don’t give us any of that stuff, man! We’re through with all that.’
‘Put him over there,’ said the sergeant, indicating one of the stalls. ‘We’ll talk to him later.’
The Chinese and the Frenchman prodded von Weich with their guns. He strode across to one of the stalls.
‘Is this where you intend to murder me?’ he asked, turning to face them all.
‘You just shut your big mouth,’ said the Negro, continuing to prod the straw in search of the tunnel.
Von Weich reached out to one of the saddle pegs. He turned it sharply and planks of wood at the end of the stall slid away to reveal a telecommunications unit.
‘Stop him! ‘Jamie yelled.
But von Weich had already leapt towards the video screen. He activated the ‘on’ button and shouted:
‘Emergency! 1862 time zone. Help needed immediately!’
‘Well,’ said Jamie to the astounded resistance fighters.
‘Now will you believe me?’
The Doctor took his time wandering about the great underground city. At least, he guessed it was underground: he found corridors, offices, communications rooms, even the living quarters of the silvery uniformed guards, but he did not see a single window. No one questioned him. At one point he turned a corner and bumped into a man coming the other way. The man was dressed in the black uniform of those who seemed to be in authority.
‘My dear sir,’ said the Doctor. ‘My apologies.’
The man looked at the Doctor. ‘Who are you?’
‘A German spy,’ the Doctor explained. Then he considered his long frock coat. ‘Franco-Prussian War, 1870.’
The man in black was impressed. ‘Very good. I have only just arrived from the home planet. I thought we all posed as high-ranking officers. No one told me about spies.’
‘I am a high-ranking spy officer,’ the Doctor explained.
‘My under spies are all human specimens.’
The man in black chuckled. ‘Of course. Well, don’t let me delay you.’
The Doctor hurried on. His plan, apart from seeing