THE GHOST OF NERO - by Leonard Stadd
The Time Travellers wrestle with the avenging ghost of
Nero during an Italian-German battle in W.W. l.
Tony and Doug tumble out of the Vortex of Time into the
basement of a villa in the Italian Alps and soon see that the
time is W.W. I. They do not notice that the lid of a coffin has moved in
a crumbling crypt and that something unseen has emerged. Meanwhile
Germans, under the leader-ship of Major Neistadt and Sergeant Mueller,
are moving into the villa to use it as a lookout post. As Doug and Tony
run through basement corridors in flight from the Germans, the ghost
follows, leaving a sword stuck through a soldier along the way. The
two find the villa's owner, Galba, frail and old. He is soon convinced
they are Friends, and as they plot to outwit the Germans the
pursuing ghost begins to pound on walls and hurl objects. They
soon discover he is the ghost of Nero, seeking vengeance on the
man who got his throne - Galba, the present Count's ancestor .
The ghost enters the body of Mueller and attacks Galba, who is saved
by Doug and Tony. In the Time Tunnel, Ann, Swain and Kirk hurry to
try to move the pair but find their efforts obstructed by Nero's ghost.
Sending for an expert on the super-natural, Steinholtz, they soon see
that the ghost is now possessing Tony. Steinholtz recommends shock
treatment and the Tunnel directs a momentary current of electricity at
him. But as he falls unconscious, the mad .spirit descends on the Tunnel.
Steinholtz remembers fire was used against poltergeists in the Middle Ages,
and flame guns are sent for. The spirit is then herded into the Tunnel by
flames and stubbornly heads back through the Tunnel to the villa of Galba.
He appeals to it to take out its vengeance on the real enemy, the
Germans. But the spirit attacks him, and Doug, at hand succeeds in
knocking it out so that he and Galba can flee. Coming on Tony, still
unconscious, they revive him. By this time the battle outside is escalating.
The Italians are fighting back like demons, and Neistadt gives orders to
abandon the villa and blow it up. But the Italians begin swarming in.
They arrive accompanied by a stocky Corporal. The Corporal then encounters
Neistadt, and Mueller who are both killed. The ghost there-upon enters the
body of the Corporal and Tony and Doug finally see that he is Bent Mussolini.
Then they are swept into the Vortex of Time.
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