Behind the Lines

The guards and scientists were extremely fit and that included the Commandant who explained that everyone in the building was expected to go to the gym to work out three times a week.

Soon Charles and the others had finished their examinations and was packing up their equipment when the Commandant came back in.

“It seem I have picked the perfect time to invite you up to see what we have achieved here.” He said.

“I hoped you would.” Terry replied with enthusiasm.

Charles and Terry with Salina in tow went upstairs whilst Alan took all the equipment down stairs to the halftrack.

They were soon wandering along through the wards stopping occasionally to have a word with a patient. The poor souls were surprised anyone would stop and speak to them so it was no surprise they didn’t say much if anything in return.

All the patients on the ward had battlefield injuries. It slowly dawned on the three hero’s that the wounds were deliberately inflicted. It was vile and stuck in Charles’s throat.

“Fascinating.” Charles lied. “I’ve never see such work. You seem so advanced.”

Wesley and Father Pierre were down the other end of the second ward giving the last rites to an emaciated looking woman.

“Still doing good work I see Father.” Charles said.

Wesley looked up at him his eyes dark with suppressed anger.

“No luck with Rot Wang.” Wesley whispered.

Charles bent down to examine the woman more closely as the Commandant made his excuses and left them for the moment to speak with a couple of white suited Doctors.

The woman had been crudely sterilised and her wound had become infected. The stench was so strong it made Salina gag.

Gangrene, a Doctor’s fear, his nemesis.

Charles turned and grabbed the nearest medic.

“I want an IV line put up and sterile tubing to drain the wound.” He ordered shaking the man. “Go on do it now. It’s the only chance the poor woman’s got.”

He turned to Terry and Salina.

“We need to get her into surgery immediately. We’ll have to excise the infected tissue and put in Sulphonamide and a mesh to stretch the remaining tissue over.” He became aware of the Commandant and a muscular orderly beside him. “We need to get this woman to theatre if it isn’t to late to save her. How the hell has she been left to get in this condition.”

“Deal with this please?” The Commandant asked the orderly calmly.

The man nodded and before the others could react pulled out a Lugar pistol pressed it to her forehead and fired.

Charles stared in horror at what had just happened.

“Do not worry yourself Doctor she was one of the inferior races. She was a Jew.” The Commandant explained calmly as if it was common occurrence. He turned to the orderly. “Get this filth cleaned up and get another female test subject up, and this time pick one that is in stronger health?!”

He waved at the shocked hero’s getting them to follow him out of the wards and upstairs to the next floor where there were several side wards opposite what was the largest test tube set Charles had ever seen.

The tubes were racked up one behind the other and disappearing into the wall. In each tube stood a fully grown man or a woman, all of them the same man and woman.

Charles sucked in his breath as he recognised the two Nazi agents that had died trying to kill him.

“Impressive is it not.” The Professor smiled like a father does when speaking of his children.

“You have duplicated a man and a woman, each of them closer to their duplicate than a identical twin.” Charles was fascinated despite himself.

“It is called cloning but I have gone one better I have genetically altered them to have unique talents.”

“Like what?” Terry asked.

“Like the ability to create a thick miasma, a fog. Or able to created a field of total sensory deprivation.” Rot Wag replied.

The woman’s eyes flicked open for a moment and seemed to stare at Charles for a moment with a frown before shutting them once again.

Charles took an involuntary step backwards a little shaken.

“Do not worry Doctor it is just an nervous reaction from the process.” Rot Wang reassured him.

“This technology is far ahead of anything we have. It’s, it’s, alien.” Charles replied.

“I must admit we had help to fulfil Germanys purpose and you are right that it is alien.” The Commandant replied. “A space ship crashed a few miles from here. There were two aliens in the space ship but only one survived and he has been helping with his advanced technology ever since.”

The Commandant crossed to a sideward at the far end and unlocked it.

The hairs on the back of Charles’s neck stood up at the thought that they had to lock the creature in. But Charles and the others got a shock when a dapper little figure of a man came out and it took a moment for them to realise the creature wasn’t human but some sort of humanoid lizard.

“Gentlemen, Lady let me introduce our ace in the hole, Mr Judas.”

Charles crossed over and held out his hand.

Puzzled the creature took it gently and shook it.

“You are well I trust Mr Judas? I thank you for helping the Third Reich.”

The creature was even more confused.

“It isn’t by choice I can assure you. They are holding both what is left of my scout ship and my partner as a lever against my continued obedience.”

“That is enough Mr Judas. You must be tired. Please return to your room.” Though the words were polite the voice brooked no arguments.

The little man shrugged and re-entered the room and was locked in once again.

“Do you speak English Doctor?” The Commandant asked in a heavily accented English voice.

“Yes.” Charles replied in English with a slight American burr. “I did my Medical Degree at Oxford before spending a year at Moorefield’s eye hospital as a Houseman.”

“Perfect. We have a problem. The other night a British bomber crashed into our security fences.” The Commandant said back in German. “The only survivor was the Pilot. We need to find out if his mission was to bomb us. We need to find out if the British know we exist.

We have three nurses that can speak English but no Doctors and my own accent is to strong. Would you interview him and get the information out of him? He’s been told that he made it to England before crashing. Will you do it?”

“Yes. Yes I will do this for you but only if you answer a question for me?”

“Yes?” The Commandant said warily.

“Mr Judas thinks his spaceship is destroyed but that his partner is still alive? Nether is true is it?”

“No he wasn’t the only survivor, the other brought fascinating evidence on the dissecting table, and his craft is intact in the slaves building. Can we get on now please.”

“Very well.”

He walked in with Terry and a nurse trailing in behind. As they were in civilian clothes they did send any bells ringing in their patients head.

Parker looked up into faces he knew, faces with looks of horror as they recognised him.

“Hello Squadron Leader it seems that you have been in the wars so to speak.” Charles said stuffing a thermometer into Parkers mouth and pulling up a chair. “Now where do you think you are?”

Charles pulled the thermometer out and with a tut shook it and put it away well aware of the nurse listening in.

“Somewhere in England, the south coast I should imagine. Did any of my crew survive Doctor? I’ve asked the nurses but they won’t answer.” Parker tried to sit up into a more comfortable position which was difficult as both legs were in plaster and so was his left arm.

“I’m sorry to tell you that they didn’t survive? You were found a few feet from your burning aircraft.” Charles felt the airman’s pulse. “Hmm. A little fast but that is not surprising. That wound on your head looks angry. Nurse will you fetch me some antiseptic wipes, lint and gauze? Thank you.”

After the nurse had gone Charles and Terry helped him sit upright with both of the men whispering at ten to the dozen.

“Your in Germany in a medical research centre.” Charles told him quickly. “They want to know if you were supposed to bomb the centre. When the nurse comes back play up to me that you were sent to bomb the centre.”

“You haven’t got any broken limbs. Get ready for us to get you out of here tonight .” Terry added as he had taken a look at the airman’s medical notes.

They stood up as the Nurse returned.

“Have you what I asked for?” Charles asked her.

“Yes Doctor.” She held out a kidney shaped porcelain bowl.

“Thank you.” He didn’t bat an eyelid when the Commandant slipped in wearing a white coat at least one size to small. “Now I need you to lie still for me Squadron Leader.”

“With a crocked arm and legs its all I can do.” Parker quipped.

Charles set about cleaning the wound.

“So did you manage to hit your target?” Charles asked giving a slight shake of his head.

Parker realised that he had an audience replied.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this doctor, careless whispers cost lives and all that, but I can’t see the harm in it. No we didn’t managed to find our main target but the secondary target, a ball bearing plant in the town nearby, we did. Flattened it.”

The fact that they had all missed the target by a good couple of miles was irrelevant.

“I’m glad.” Charles said earnestly before taking a calculated risk. “I’m Jewish and I’ve lost contact with my brother and his family in Holland. You hear so many nasty things have happened to my people you don’t know what to believe. I suspect you will be soon flying against it again so drop your bombs for me.”

“Will do Doc.”

Dropping everything into the bowl he clicked his fingers imperiously at the nurse to take it away.

“I’ll leave you to your rest Squadron Leader. It has been a honour treating one of our hero’s.” Charles held out his hand and Parker shook it.

After they had gone Parker opened his hand to reveal the small knife Charles had passed to him.

Pulling the bed cover over himself he set to work to cut his way through the leg plaster.

Outside the Commandant was full of praise and good natured bonhomie.

“You have surpassed yourself Doctor. You have confirmed what I feared about the British being aware of our work here and found out they have no idea where we are exactly.”

“I’m glad we have been useful but our next port of call beckons us. Good luck Professor, Commandant.” Charles said with a slight bow.

“Of course Doctor. Safe journeys. I will have one of the orderlies take you to your motor vehicle.”

With that they left. The didn’t speak until they were driving to the rendezvous point.

“I managed to get a word to the Professor while you two were dealing with the downed pilot. He seemed quite surprised. He said he’ll be ready with a small valise of papers.” Salina told them. “But something doesn’t ring true. I can’t put my finger on it.”

“We may not need him if It’s the little alien who has the knowledge.” Terry said tapping his long fingers together in deep thought. “I wonder how Rex and Theo are doing?” He mused.

The two men had found an uncomfortable spot in the tunnel to wait until they were called to action.

With a resounding clang the doorway from the slave’s quarters crashed open and a screaming woman could be heard quite clearly begging for her life before a heavy blow silenced her save for heavy sobs.

Rex and Theo looked at each other with query. Do they take on the guard and free the woman with all the danger of exposure or do they let them take her to her fate leaving their mission intact.

Rex was preparing himself to take a Miracol pill that gives him his power hour when Theo placed a restraining hand to stop him.

The growing light from the approaching guards had exposed a doorway opposite them.

They were across the space in seconds just managing to get it open and in before the guards reached them.

They watched through the doors crack a bedraggled woman with the Star of David sewn into the back of her shift being hauled along by her hair sobbing in fear. She was a Jew.

The moment to surprise them had gone leaving both men feeling unclean but more determined than ever.

Rex stepped away from the door and rested his hand on a swathed object as he recovered.

“Rex look!” Theo whispered hoarsely as he took off the sheet that was draped over the object.

There in front of them was a two seat scout spaceship.

Theo investigated it while Rex watched out of the door for the possible return of the guards.

“It seems to be intact save for scratches along the base and sides. The engines power source needs a charge up and its ready to go.” Theo whispered as he used his Cosmic rod like a Sonic Screwdriver and undid the panel over the crafts power unit and drives.

There in the middle of the solid state equipment was a small device, the size of a finger, that Theo knew well. It was a miniature replica of his Cosmic Rod.

Leaning in Theo placed his rod against the one in the machine. He pressed a button on his rod and energy was sucked across to the ships version like water down a plug hole.

“It’s powered using Stella energy all I have to do is jump start her and we’ll be away.”

At the back of the room was pair of double doors for the movement of pallets of stores in and out. It was on one of these that the small spaceship rested.

“This could get Rot Wang and one of us to England in minutes. We wouldn’t need the submarine.” Theo said as the idea hit him.

With a smile on their faces the two men began their silent investigation.

All was set now, the real game could now begin.