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Sir Richard remained silent, listening as hard as he could. As he had suspected, he soon heard thundering footsteps. Seconds later, the door opened and Lennon staggered in. He leaned against the wall to the little corridor that lead to the room beyond, still breathing raggedly. Lennon looked exactly as though he had been roughed up by a bunch of thugs in uniform, and Sir Richard had a nasty feeling that he knew what would happen to both of them, should they get caught.

"Mr Lennon," he said, as quietly as he could. From what Sir Paul had told him, he did not particularly want to find out how Lennon would react if startled. He touched Lennon lightly on the arm, and the man looked around.

Sir Richard reared back a little at the bruises on the man's face, but soon recovered. He put a finger to his lips, and led Lennon down to the tiny room at the far end of the corridor. Lennon collapsed gratefully onto the bed, clearly exhausted.

"There is no other way out of here," Sir Richard whispered, and Lennon nodded.

Neither man said anything as Sir Richard returned to the door to see what was happening outside.

Brian was bustling around his costumes, looking busy. Sir Richard examined him thoughtfully, and realised that Brian had only managed to survive as long as he had with the handicaps he bore because he was a comical sort of man. The Nazis had let him live, and live so close, because he made them laugh.

He glanced around to look at Lennon, and noticed that the man had fallen asleep. Now that he had time to think, he realised that something must have gone wrong with the machine. Either that, or there were simply consequences that they weren't aware of. In any case, they had to get back to their own world - he had read modern history at Oxford, and had no doubts at all of what the Nazis would do if they caught either him or Lennon. It wouldn't be hard for them to extract the knowledge they required to figure out where the two of them had come from, and they would then quickly discover how to get back there. It was clear what he and Lennon had to do - get back to their own world and disrupt the link somehow.

The door to the main room opened, and Sir Richard quickly turned to the spy hole. The Beatles had come in, wrapped in dressing gowns with their stage outfits slung over their arms. "Brian," Pauline said in a perfectly normal tone of voice.

Julie, however, was not so nonchalant. "Have you heard from my mum?" she asked, clearly worried. "And who was that man out in the club? Did he escape? Do you know anything at all?"

"I have heard nothing from your mother, Julie," Brian replied. "And the men in the club have passed this way."

"Men?" Pauline asked sharply. "There was only one stranger there tonight."

"No," Brian replied, "There were two. Ringo was also absent." He wandered over to the priest hole.

"Don't be silly, Brian, he was there, plain as the nose on my face," Georgina contradicted him.

"He was playing a bit funny," Pauline agreed, "but he was definitely there."

"Interesting rhythms, I thought," Julie agreed.

"I thought they worked really well," Georgina agreed.

Brian opened the priest hole. "It's alright," he told Sir Richard, "They are members of the Resistance." Sir Richard followed him out into the main room, totally unsurprised at the mention of a Resistance movement.

"You're looking well," Julie commented.

Pauline, however, was looking at him much more closely. "You aren't Ringo," she said. "Who are you?"

Sir Richard bowed slightly. "I am Sir Richard Starkey, one of the joint Heads of the Civil Service. I am also a stranger to this reality."

Predictably, the ladies looked confused. They didn't have time to explore this confusion, however, because more footsteps were heard outside. Quickly, Sir Richard ducked back into the priests' hole, and closed it behind him. Looking out the spy hole, he noticed that he had just been in time. More guards came in.

Their leader, a cold-faced man in a captain's uniform, looked the ladies up and down. Sir Richard noticed them all take a step back. The men behind the Captain gave the ladies suggestive leers.

A shudder passed down Sir Richard's spine, and as he watched, he noticed Julie pull a switchblade out of her sleeve and extend the blade. She held it behind her back, but she was clearly ready for action.

There was a motion beside him, and Sir Richard was pushed aside by Lennon. He tensed up in absolute fury as he saw what was happening outside. "If they lay so much as a finger on those girls," he hissed, "I'll..."

But he never got the chance to elaborate on what he planned to do to them, because Brian spoke up. "Remember what happened to the Rolling Stones?" he asked conversationally.

The Captain's face twisted in anger. He opened his mouth to speak, but then changed his mind. He turned and stalked out, his men trailing behind him.

"The Rolling Stones?" Lennon asked, his anger temporarily derailed.

They emerged from the priest hole.

"They were the group here before us," Pauline replied quietly. "The Captain and his men gang-raped them." She turned and walked to the far end of the room. Sir Richard glanced after her, and saw that her shoulders were shaking. He went to go after her, but Georgina stopped him.

"Pauline was really good friends with Michelle Jagger," she explained. "Michelle committed suicide not long after the attack."

"The Commandante told the Captain that if he and his men treated any more women like that, then there would be no more entertainment on the base," Brian added. "But he didn't punish them. The only thing that stops the Captain from doing it again is the knowledge that if he did, the Commandante would make good on his threat, and then the rest of the men on base would tear him to pieces. The girls are very popular here."

Lennon went down to the far end of the room, and gently touched Pauline's shoulder. She turned sharply to face him, but relaxed again pretty quickly. She touched his cheek just below his black eye, and then collapsed into his arms, crying helplessly. As Sir Richard watched, he folded her in his arms and let her cry.

"Where is Ringo?" Julia asked him. "And my mother?"

Sir Richard turned back to them. "Hopefully back where I was," he replied. "If they are, then they are safe. Who was that man back in the club? The one who came in and left again when he saw me?"

Georgina's eyes widened. "Skinny sort of man in a black leather overcoat?" she asked. "Looks like a caricature of a spy?"

He nodded. "That's him."

They all turned to look at him. "He's a government agent," Julia whispered.

"He looked shocked when he saw me at the skins," Sir Richard told them. "He didn't expect to see me there at all."

Brian was horrified. "Oh, no," he said faintly. "Julia, go and tell the others. They have to move base. Right now!"

Julia turned and ran. She was about to leave when Brian called her back. Wordlessly, he handed her a pair of denim coveralls and a cap. She pulled them on, and then left, neatly disguised.

"The SS must have rumbled him," Brian said. "The resistance movement is in terrible danger if Ringo was caught."

They froze as footsteps headed their way again, and Sir Richard and Lennon returned to the priest hole. Behind them, Pauline dried her eyes and pulled herself together. She handed her costume to Brian, collected her clothes, and left.

Georgina looked torn between staying and learning more from the two men, and following her normal routine. She quickly chose the latter option, also exchanged her costume for clothes, and followed Pauline out.

"We have to help them," Lennon said.

"We need more information," Sir Richard told him. "We are strangers here."

"What the hell is more information going to tell us?" Lennon demanded. "The fucking Nazis shouldn't be here! I don't know what this place is, or who those people are, or why that girl looks so much like my son, but I do know they need help! This place is wrong and it needs to be fixed!"

Sir Richard sighed. This, he thought, was just the right time to realise that Lennon doesn't understand. "Let's sit down," he said, "and I'll try to explain."