"Hundreds of these for that one knight in the uniform." "And it tells a story, don't it?" "I mean, Roundheads, Cavaliers, Cromwell and all that." "Yes, it would appear to be the English civil war period." " Mr Sweet?" " Yes, can I help you?" "Yes, I hope so." "My name is Winthrop, Dr Richard Winthrop." "You knew my father, Professor George Winthrop." "Indeed I did, we were great friends." "He said you were a man to be trusted." " Is there something wrong?" " Yes, something desperately wrong." "Would you mind coming through here?" " I had to find someone I could..." "Oh, this is a friend of mine." "Sam, a chair for Dr Winthrop." "Oh, thank you." "Now, what is the trouble?" " I think I'm being followed." " Have you any idea why?" " Yes, I think I have." "Supposing we start from the beginning, Doctor Winthrop." "The day before yesterday an army truck was hijacked on its way to the coast, it was ambushed and something was stolen from it." "Sounds like one for the law." "No, it's a matter for national security." "I work for a chemical research establishment." "We manufacture various military gasses and chemicals." "The lorry, the one that was hijacked, contained a crate of gas cylinders that had been condemned." "They'd been taken away to be dumped." "But, who'd want to nick that sort of gear?" "The crates that were stolen contained a gas we call H23." " Dangerous?" " Deadly." "By that, you mean poisonous?" "Poison can only kill a man, Mr Sweet, the effects of this gas are, far, far worse." "H23 is the identification code for Hallucinix 23." "But I call it the nightmare gas." "Nightmare Gas?" "Yes, I was trying to produce a mild tranquillising substance." "As a more pleasant substitute to CS gas?" "Yes." "Instead, I discovered one of the most deadly compounds known." "The effects of this gas are terrifying, Tarot." "How?" "When the victim inhales the stuff, he immediately loses consciousness." "Then, in that unconscious state, he experiences the most vivid, the most realistic hallucinations, he's transported in time and space into a nightmare world." "But, surely, that happens to us sometimes, when we fall asleep and begin to dream." "Yes, bur subconsciously, our mind knows that the dream is only temporary." "We know we're going to wake up." "With H23 there's no such guarantee, the subject's completely involved." "And so vivid is this nightmare, so awful, that the victim will die of shock within the space of 23 minutes." "Well?" "Looks as if it he's with a man called Tarot." " Who?" " Tarot." "He's some kind of magician, an illusionist, I think." " Why?" " Oh, I don't know." "Dangerous?" "Nothing is too dangerous for us to handle." " Correct." " Correct." " Patience." " Correct." "We must have patience." "I made exhaustive tests on myself and my assistant." "We experienced the effects of the gas on five occasions, each time lasting no more than three minutes." "I can't tell you how ghastly it was." "But, how did you come out of it?" "Fortunately, there is an antidote." "An injection of this will bring the subject out of the coma." "Unfortunately, it is very difficult and costly to manufacture." "That's all we were able to make." "Who else would have known the significance of Hallucinix 23?" "And who else would have known it was condemned and supposed to be dumped?" "Erm..." "Dr Winthrop, you said earlier that you'd kept your findings completely secret, not even your superiors knew how deadly the gas was." "No one did." "I kept the whole project a close secret." "As soon as I knew what I'd created, I just wanted to destroy it completely." "Someone must have known." "You mentioned an assistant." "Oh, Thalia Smith, she's been cleared by security." "Even security have been known to make mistakes, Dr Winthrop." "What do you know about her?" "Brilliant girl." "Completely dedicated." "Very Ambitious." " Umm, that sounds ominous." " Blimey." "But I trusted her completely, without her help I would never have..." "You would never have discovered the nightmare gas." " Yes, that's right." " Where is she now?" "I don't know." "She left the research establishment a few weeks ago." "She had a sick brother." "Very convenient." "And I imagine that this brother of hers became sick shortly after you condemned Hallucinix 23." "Yes." "Whatever we do, we've got to work fast and secretly." "The authorities believe a relatively harmless tranquillising gas has been stolen, they don't know what H23 can do." "If I were to tell anyone about the stuff..." "You'd cause a king-sized panic." "I get the feeling that I'm being watched." "Can the gas be activated?" " In its present form, no." " Thank goodness." "Not without this." "This is the activation device." "It screws on to the neck of the cylinder and forms it into a pressure pack." "Only it isn't soda water that squirts out the other end." "No, it's a right dose of the old nasties." "Time." "Oh, he's only been in there a few minutes." "Fetch." "There's no need, he'll be out in a moment." "Fetch." "Don't talk to me as if I'm your pet dog." "Fetch." "This one word mania of yours gets very tiresome, you know, Dalbiac." " Fetch." " Wait." "We need someone in authority whom we can trust." " Yes, but who?" " Mr Sweet?" "The person to see is Brigadier Connaught of the special internal security department, I play chess with him." "He has all the resources and facilities to handle an emergency of this kind." "I suggest you go to him at once." "He'll know exactly what to do." "Here's his address, and a note to go with it." "Thank you Mr Sweet." " Lulli, er, is your car handy?" " Yes." "Then, perhaps you could take Dr Winthrop down there." "Talking about nightmares, your driving." "Oh, you never let up, do you, Sam?" "Come on doctor, I'll take you to the brigadier's office in next to no time." "I don't know how to thank you, Tarot." "Oh, don't thank me yet, let's just hope we can get this matter cleared up without any panic and without anyone getting hurt." "What do you think of it, then, eh?" "That's a real picture, innit?" "I mean you can see straight away what it's all about." "Almost as if you were right there, watching it." " Ah, The Raven's Tavern." " You what?" "I've been there, it's a discotheque now." "Charming, it makes a change from a Steak House." "Yes." "That'll be better, do you want to carry on?" "Yes." "Oh, we forgot to give Dr Winthrop his antidote back." "How about that then..." "Lulli?" "She's trying to get through to me." "Lulli?" "Lulli, watch out!" "Lulli?" "Where are you?" "What's happened?" "Where are you?" "Concentrate, Lulli, concentrate." "Yes, downs in a distance, large quarry, she's trying to pinpoint the location." "Yeah, but what's happened?" "It must be somewhere on the way to the brigadier's office," "Sam get a map, south west London, surrounding area, hurry." "She's being taken to a car, a dark saloon." "The car's driven off." " What exactly is going on?" " Quiet." " Who are you?" " I think Dr Winthrop knows." "She's Thalia Smith, the assistant I was telling you about." "And doctor, may I introduce my brother, Dalbiac." "Yes, I'm afraid he's not a great conversationalist." "He's a doer more than a talker." "I wouldn't antagonise him, if I were you." "He rarely uses more than one word, but usually it speaks volumes, invariable I have to speak for him." " What do you want with us?" " With you?" "Nothing." "It was just unfortunate that you happened to be driving." "It's Dr Winthrop we want, or more specifically, something he probably has in his posession, the activator for Hallucinix 23." " So, it was you who stole the gas." " Naturally." " Why, Thalia?" " Silence." "We didn't go to all this trouble just to answer questions doctor." "What's going to happen to us?" " Die." "He has such a way with words, doesn't he?" "Come on Lulli, tell me where you are." "Keep on the left, Sam." "If she can pick out the landmarks we can find out where she's being taken." "Right." "Hedges...green fields..." "trees...no houses." "It could be anywhere, Tarot, anywhere." "Big house, set back from the road..." "pylons in the distance." "It's no good, it's got to be something I can identify on the map." "Coming to a narrow bridge over a river..." "Big house on the left...telephone box..." "Church...turning right...houses...pub." "Pub?" "Wait a minute." "Found it, it must be here, they're travelling towards Ryegate." "Is there a river running alongside the road?" " Yes." " Got 'em." "Y junction further up." "Yeah." " Y junction." " Yeah, you said that, go on." " I can't." " Why not?" "You were going great." "I've lost contact, something must have distracted her." " Didn't you hear what I said?" " What?" "I asked why Dr Winthrop went to see Tarot?" " I..." " We're old friends." "Oh, come on doctor, remember, I've worked for you for a long time, I know who your friends are." " I tell you..." " No." "It doesn't really matter now, we got everything we want." "Thalia, you must know that what you are doing is insane." "Insane." "That's a word you know you shouldn't use in front of my brother, especially as he has a gun." " Time." " Alright, I'm keeping my eye on the clock, we have a little over two hours before they're due." " Two hours." " Eh?" "I can't make it out." "She's trying to get through to me again, but the message is indistinct." "Something about two hours." "Something is going to happen in two hours' time." "Yeah, but where is she now?" "I don't know, I can't get anything else." "I've lost contact again." "We don't even know which arm of that Y junction they took." "There." "Turn." "This windmill is in a very remote spot, no-one could possibly hear the sound of gunshots." "If you upset him, my brother won't hesitate to shoot you." "He will, of course, aim for the girl, first." "You intend to kill us anyway, so why not get on with it?" "All in good time." "First, let's concentrate on the activator." "I haven't got it." "As soon as you discovered that a crate of H23 had been stolen, you wouldn't have let that activator out of your sight." "Ha, would you." "But I haven't got the antidote, Thalia." "Who cares about the antidote?" "We want to prove that the effects of Hallucinix 23 are totally..." " Deadly." " Exactly." "Don't you think it's about time we called in the law?" "And tell them what?" "That Lulli and Dr Winthrop have been kidnapped." "Well, they'd want some sort of proof, and I don't think that extra sensory perception is permitted as evidence yet." "That cord around your wrist is merely a form of insurance, doctor." "If you struggle at all, the cord will tighten and trip the switch on the electric motor, and if the motor starts, the wheels will turn, and the girl will be pulled up into the machinery on the floor above." "All this for a few crates of gas, Thalia?" "Don't underestimate your brainchild, doctor." "That gas is a potent weapon." "Then it has the built-in fear component, hasn't it?" "That gas was a mistake, a terrible mistake." " Perhaps, but valuable." " To whom?" "To somebody who'll be coming here in just under two hours' time." "First, I have to run some further test on the gas." "I must make sure it kills within the specified time." "Fortunately, I have two subjects on hand." "You're not going to use that stuff on us?" "Of course." "Isn't it a shame we don't have the antidote handy?" "But Thalia, the hallucinations, the nightmares..." "It's all in the cause of science, doctor." "Our buyer will require some form of guarantee." "I shall use one of you in a little while to run a final test, the other will be used as a demonstration subject, when our contact arrives." "Comfortable." "Speak." "Some other time." "Right now, I'm busy." " Sam, the map." " Back on the old hotline again?" "In a remote spot, tall building, a tower maybe?" "Tower?" "What sort of tower?" " A church tower, a castle tower, maybe?" " No." "A tall building?" "A lighthouse?" "What, in the middle of Surrey?" "Do me a favour, Sam." " Wheels, arms, wind." " Hang about!" "A windmill!" " Well done, Sam." " It's bound to be marked on the map." "It must be somewhere near the spot where we lost them, Gadbrook." "There we are, Glanford Mill, it's the only one anywhere near." "Right, let's get there." " Car or motorbike?" " The bike, it's outside." "Sorry about all this." " Listen." " Yes?" "I don't want to raise your hopes, but there is just a chance that help may be on its way." " What!" "Do me favour will you, just don't move your hands when you're excited." " Oh, sorry." " If this wheel starts moving, things are going to get decidedly uncomfortable for me." "But listen, how on Earth could you..." "Stage secrets, don't ask any questions, just keep your fingers crossed." "No!" "I take that back." " My god." "Richard?" " Yes?" " These nightmares?" " Better not to think about them." "No, I want to know." "What actually happened to you?" "I was transported back into the stone age." "I remember there were great plants rising in the light." "And monsters, and giant dinosaurs, with huge claws tearing at me." "The hallucinations are totally vivid, mentally you flip into another dimension." "And it's real." "That's the awful part." "If it ever happens to you, try to remember that the awfulness can only last for 23 minutes." "After that..." " Curtains." "Your system can no longer stand the shock." "Now, I wish I hadn't asked." "That's ready now." "Sorry about the makeshift gas chamber, but it will have to do." "It is airtight and we can observe all our subjects' reactions." "Safely." "Oh, he's getting quite chatty now, isn't he?" "Your sense of humour does you credit, Lulli." "You'll be going in the chamber first, I hope you find that amusing, too." "Laugh." " Bust." " Thalia, so I'm..." "All right, Dalbiac, release her." "Warning signal, someone's coming." " People." " How many?" " Two." " Tarot!" "Your employer?" "But how could he have found us?" "Coming." "One word, just one." "Die." "Tarot, I presume?" "Welcome, you're just in time to join the party." "Party?" "Your girlfriend was about to experience the effects of Hallucinix 23, the nightmare gas." "You will now take her place." " Glad to be of service." "But there could be a snag." " Oh?" "It's possible that I told the police exactly where I am." "Even now, they could be surrounding the windmill." "We would know immediately, Tarot, we have a very efficient early warning system." "I think you came with a companion, my brother will see to him later." "In the meantime..." " Tarot!" "Pleasant dreams, Tarot."