Chapter 2

Jack and Susan were still gawking at the airships like tourists when a van came around the corner of the road, a side door opened and four men got out, grabbed and hooded them, bundled them into the van, and drove away.

"Okay, check their tattoos!" a gruff, commanding voice said and both Jack and Susan's sleeves were raised up and their arms were twisted around by unseen, but strong, hands.

"Nothing, Herr Direktor," A man replied

"NOTHING? You mean they've been removed?" The senior man spoke.

"No, Herr Direktor. There's no mark at all. Even a removal would leave a mark, but these are completely clean. If I didn't know better, I'd say they have never had any tattoos at all," The man replied in a subservient tone.

"Strange ... well prepare them for interrogation. I'll deal with them at headquarters." The senior said as if Jack and Susan weren't there.

Jack spoke up. "Wait a minute. I'm with the police and if you —" He began.

"We are well aware where you're from, Herr Adams, but that isn't the problem. But we will deal with that later." The senior man said and then Jack felt a pain in his arm as he was injected, a noise from beside him told him that Susan had been treated the same way.

Jack awoke to find himself handcuffed to a chair. He wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but the mask on his face preventing him from seeing anything. From the coolness on his ass, he could tell that he was naked. He called out and was surprised to hear a familiar voice answer him.

"So, whoever you are, you are awake?" Wilson said.

"Guv? What the hell is happening?" Jack asked as the mask was pulled off his face His question was answered by a blow from Wilson's hand. Jack noticed that he was dressed in the same dark uniform that Professor Blythe had found on his dead visitors.

"You think you know who I am, so tell me!" Wilson demanded of Jack.

Jack nodded "Of course I know you, you are Detective Inspector Charles Wilson, and you are head of the Detective squad," he said.

Wilson sneered. "Close. I am Wilson, Hauptfragesteller Wilson. You do not work for me, but you are now here for me to work with."

Wilson shook his head and began to switch on some equipment. Jack looked down his body to see that he had pads over parts of him, some were connected to a box on the table, and others seemed to extend to the machine that Wilson was starting.

"You will answer all questions fully and truthfully! If you don't, these will register your failure and you will receive an electrical charge. Now what were you doing at Herr Doktor Blythe's house? Were you spying on him? TELL ME!" Wilson shouted at Jack.

"I was sent to Professor Blythe's house. I had to protect Susan Pulse. I wasn't spying. We were invited in. Just what is this?" Jack said but Wilson struck his face again.

"YOU WILL TELL ME THE TRUTH!" Wilson screamed at him.

"I was telling you the truth. Didn't you say that this would shock me if I lied? So is it not working? Or am I saying the truth?" Jack countered.

"It ... it can't be connected correctly! I'll check it!" Wilson said, going through all the wires and frowning. He turned and pulled out a card, which he placed on the table. "Do you recognise this?" he asked.

Jack looked at it. "Of course. It's my warrant card," Jack acknowledged.

"This calls you Detective Sergeant Adams. How long have you been working for a subversive organisation? You were thought of as a loyal member of the Britische Polizeieinheit, and now you have this!"

"I've never heard of this Britische Polizeieinheit or whatever it is! Look chief, you know me. What the hell's happened since I went into Professor Blythe's house? Has the whole world gone mad?" Jack protested.

"NO. You have gone mad. Where is your uniform? What happened to your tattoo? How did you get it removed so quickly?" Wilson barked at him.

Jack shook his head and heard the machine start to hum. "What tattoo? I never had one. As for the uniform, you know we're plain-clothes," he said.

Wilson moved his face close to Jack's and shouted. "ALL OFFICERS IN THE Britische Polizeieinheit are required to wear their uniform at all times! As for your tattoo, it was placed on you at your birth, like any other normal Britische person. You had yours when you last logged in, and now when you're picked up it's as if you've never had one. Where is it?" Although his volume had lowered, he was still red in the face.

"Look! I've never had a tattoo!" Jack exclaimed. Then the memory struck him. "But that other me ... he had a tattoo, except he was dead."

Jack thought that Wilson was going to hit him again, but a quieter voice stopped him. "Wait ... Now Herr Adams, what other man would this be?" Jack wasn't sure where the voice came from, but at least its owner wasn't hitting him.

"It was at Professor Blythe's house. That's why Susan and I went there. He showed us two bodies that looked exactly like us, except they had the tattoo that DI Wilson — I mean this man here — was asking about." Jack was now realising that this wasn't a comedy act.

A door opened and two men stepped in wearing black leather coats which were opened to show a variation of Wilson's uniform. There was a sense of power in their walk.

"Leave us!" one said authoritatively to Wilson.

"But, Herr Major, what if—" Wilson started to say, but was cowed by a look. In the meantime, the second man was removing wires from the humming machine. He placed them in the case he had put on the table, and then switched off the machine.

"We don't, I think, need this ... Now, Detective Sergeant? Is that how you pronounce it?" The second man said. Jack nodded. Although the man spoke British, he spoke the words as if they were foreign to him.

The first man took up the conversation. "Gut. Now, please wait until I have finished speaking before you answer. Fraülein Susan Prague was sent here for Britische Polizeieinheit Offizier Jack Adams to investigate Herr Doktor Blythe. His output of inventions had fallen behind and the Reichführer Direktorate wanted to know why. Is this correct?"

Jack shook his head. "No. Susan Pulse came to the Police Station because Professor Blythe had found two bodies in his basement. From their descriptions, they were our doubles, so Susan was instructed to take me along so that the Professor could explain."

The first man looked to the second, who nodded his head. Frowning, he turned his attention back to Jack. "Herr Adams, please tell me a lie," he requested.

Jack thought for a moment and then smiled. "I really enjoy being naked in a room full of madmen." The first man raised his eyebrows, and then looked at the second man, who shook his head.

"Gut. Now tell me about the two bodies."

"No. First tell me what is happening to Susan." Jack demanded.

"She is being questioned in the women's wing by our associate. I assure you that she is being treated better than you due to her position in the Britische Polizeieinheit," the officer answered. "Now, before I have to invite Hauptfragesteller Wilson back in here to ask the questions, you will tell me about the bodies."

Jack sighed. "The Professor showed us two dead bodies. One was the spitting image of me, the other of Susan. We checked both bodies and found that they were exactly like us except they were dead. They both had a puncture wounds which the Professor identified as a possible injection of poison. He thought it was from a weapon that he had thought of but had discarded, as the recharge time was so long."

"What clothes were they wearing?" The second man spoke up and then looked down as the first glared at him.

Jack answered despite the exchange between the two men. "They had uniforms like the one which Wilson had on, and both had tattoos. We didn't know what they meant."

"Where were they found?" the first asked.

Jack frowned as he recalled the details. "The professor said that he found them in front of one of his machines. He called it ... I can't really remember, but it was something about far looking, although when he demonstrated it, all it showed was the back of his basement."