"You're fiddling at the outset of a conflict that will have profound consequences for this planet's history. You don't think that's dangerous?" Earth, September 1939. With Europe sliding into war, a young Englishwoman, her loyalties torn, comes to a terrible decision. But what does the intergalactic secrets broker Mephistopheles Arkadian want with the fascist sympathiser Cecelia "Sissy" Pollard on the last day of her life? By journey's end, the truth will out — but at what cost to Romana and Leela? To Gallifrey's empire, even?