‘Oh no,’ I said. ‘Oh no, oh no. Oh no. I cannot let this happen. I must do something.’

‘You could jump,’ said the voice of Count Otto Black. Who was climbing from his motorcycle combination, which was now parked nearby on the deck. ‘Or I could fling you over the side. Or perhaps I know a better fate for you. One where you stand by helplessly and watch as your fat mentor and all that lies spread beneath him is annihilated.’

And a Luger pistol was trained on me once more and Count Otto Black urged me forwards.

If I had been in the mood to enjoy it I would oh so easily have fallen deeply in love with the Zeppelin. It was a thing of unutterable beauty and near faultless design. A thing, it must be said, that was not of the nineteen forties, but rather of some futuristic time.

Of the very time, perhaps, that Mr Rune and I had been transported to. Where we had met his future self.

‘Forwards,’ urged the count, and we entered the Zeppelin’s flight deck. Sky-men dressed in elaborate uniforms, which were more of a Victorian style than of some possible future, worked at dials and stopcocks, pulling great levers and viewing shining consoles that ran with twinkling lights.

And at the very heart of this flight deck there was a raised golden dais, and upon this a throne of tubular glass, and upon this… the robot.

And this was a mighty fine robot. Far better than the one that I had viewed at Bletchley Park. This was a real vision-of-an-alternative-future sort of robot. All gold and finely muscled as a naked man. And there was something about it that was beyond any concept of ‘Robot’. This was a mechanical being, but a living mechanical being. This was a thing of metal, possessed by the spirit of a God. And this construct of terrible power and wonder turned its head towards me. And if I had earlier known fear, it was as nothing before this.

‘Black.’ And its voice rang out and seemed to rattle my bones. The count threw me to the flight deck floor and placed his foot on my back.

‘Heil, Wotan,’ cried the count. And all the sky-men halted in their workings and joined him in this heil.

‘Is all prepared, Black? Is all satisfactory?’

‘All is prepared, O great one. The ionizing ray of the field generator is locked upon this craft. We can no longer be observed from below, and the moment the bomb falls from our bomb bay, we will be instantly teleported back to Berlin. There you may sit in glory, to await the Allies’ surrender.’

And Count Otto Black almost did the mad laughings. But he restrained himself, for to do mad laughings in front of an ancient God reborn into the body of a robot was probably inappropriate.

I now struggled to get at my revolver, but it was all sort of bunched up in my jacket beneath me and the count’s long foot was pressing down hard on my back.

‘Begin the countdown,’ came the terrible voice, rattling now my fillings and raising my hair on end.

I did not see who pressed the button, but one of the blighters did. Because now there came that pulled-emergency-cable-siren noise which signals that something somewhere is shortly to explode.

‘Ten.’ I struggled. But to no effect at all.

‘Nine.’ The count hauled me up.

‘Eight.’ He dragged me from the flight deck.

‘Seven.’ He took me to the rail.

‘Six.’ He lifted me high.

‘Five.’ He laughed in my face.

‘Four.’ Then I spat in his.

‘Three.’ Then he flung me.

Down

Two

And down

One

Zero

The great bomb fell with a rush and a scream and I fell down and down.

Then suddenly there came another rushing to my ears and something swept up and took me.

I found myself now in the arms of Hugo Rune, who smiled. and said, ‘Perk up, Rizla.’

Which offered at least a moment of joy.

Before the bomb exploded.

And now I stood, though rather shakily, in the bar at Hotel Jericho. And Fangio was serving us cocktails that not even he knew the names of and I really really wanted to know just how he was there and I was there and Hugo Rune was there and all of New York was still standing.

‘It was a dud,’ I said to Hugo Rune. ‘After everything, it failed to explode. You plucked me out of the sky by flying up to me on the Gravitite disc, I understand that, and please please please let me thank you for once more saving my life. But the bomb failed to explode. Thank all goodness for that.’

‘But it did explode,’ said Hugo Rune, ‘and caused much devastation.’

‘I think you will find that it did not,’ I said, ‘for we are both still here.’

‘Ah yes, young Rizla. But then the atomic bomb did not explode here. Nor either did it explode today.’

‘And it will be necessary,’ I said, ‘for you to explain to me just what you mean by that.’

‘You did very well, Rizla,’ said Himself. ‘You did what I hoped you would do and kept their attention on you, rather than me. You see, I had a spare key for the field generator. A gentleman can never carry too many keys, I am sure that you agree.’

‘Go on then,’ I said. ‘Carry on.’

‘I recalibrated the field generator. We already knew that it was capable of transporting matter through time as well as space, did we not?’

‘The count had set it to teleport the Zeppelin to Berlin the moment the bomb was dropped,’ I said. ‘Did it get there?’

‘Not to Berlin, no.’

‘I am intrigued,’ I now said. ‘You have me on the hook. Now reel me in, as it were.’

Hugo Rune smiled. ‘I have had this little newspaper cutting in my wallet for several decades,’ he said, ‘and I never knew until today why I carried it. Here, have a read of it and tell me what you think.’

And the Perfect Master handed me a rather dog-eared and much-folded newspaper cutting and I read from it, aloud.

CURIOUS EVENT IN TUNGUSKA

Reports from our Russian correspondent state that at around 7.14 a.m. on the morning of 30 June 1908, a dreadful explosion occurred near Podkamennaya upon the Tunguska River. It is estimated that some eighty million trees have been knocked over and that an area of eight hundred square miles is affected.

The cause of this explosion is unknown, but many radical theories are being postulated. One report tells of a great shining craft seen in the morning sky moments prior to the explosion. We await further reports.

‘The Tunguska Event,’ I said. ‘I have read of it and you-’

‘With the aid of the field generator. I recalibrated it to transport the falling bomb to a time and a place where, even though it would explode, it would be so far out of the way as to cause little concern or danger to life and limb.’

‘Incredible,’ I said. ‘Simply incredible.’

‘Thank you, Rizla,’ said Hugo Rune. ‘I do my best to impress.’

‘And that you certainly do.’

A faraway look appeared in the eyes of Hugo Rune. ‘It isn’t easy being a Perfect Master,’ he said.

And I nodded thoughtfully.

‘I only make it look easy,’ he continued.

And I grinned somewhat at this. ‘So what happened to Count Otto and to Wotan?’ I asked.

‘A shining craft seen in the morning sky? Caught too in the beam of the field generator. Gone, but not forgotten.’

‘Incredible,’ I said once more. ‘I do not know what else to say.’

And so I did not really say very much more about anything. And Mr Rune and Fangio and I drank nameless cocktails until it was chucking-out time.

‘I am going up to my room now,’ I told Hugo Rune. ‘I will see you in the morning.’

‘Perhaps,’ said Hugo Rune. ‘Or perhaps not. But whatever the case, let me thank you, Rizla. Once more, together we have triumphed. It has been a good adventure and no more noble or worthy companion could I have had than yourself. Thank you, Rizla, thank you.’