The Firing Squad ( short story ) The Firing Squad was the fourth story in the Bernice Summerfield anthology " Secret Histories " . It was written by Eddie Robson . Summary . Adrian has landed in the middle of a trench battlefield . He makes his way out of the fighting . He doesn ' t know where or when he is , but he eventually figures out that he is in France . He doesn ' t know what to do , so he walks across the countryside , stealing food when necessary . At one point he encounters a woman who calls herself Lucinda Wharton , though she admits that ' s not her real name . She knows that Adrian somehow fell through time and has been tracking him . She is set to meet someone named Conchita in two weeks in Jaca and invites Adrian to meet them there so they can help him . Lucinda will take the train , but at this point in Earth ' s history , Adrian cannot travel in public . So he will travel on foot . She gives him some food and a medical kit before they split up . After his food runs out , as Adrian travels through the countryside he sees a house on fire . He rescues several people from the fire and helps to contain the fire . Though he can ' t speak their language , they reward him with food . None of them see a soldier leaving the site carrying a metal box . Adrian continues his journey . Two nights later , he comes across a house on fire in a small town . Again he helps rescue someone and put out the fire , but this time a soldier ( carrying a metal box ) pulls a gun on a woman and shoots her , then leaves in a white van with a red cross on it . As he runs away , Adrian tends to the woman , fixing her injuries with the advanced medical kit that Lucinda gave him . The villagers give him food for his journey . As Adrian continues his travels , he comes across a village hall that is burning . As he helps put out the fire , he hears a voice in his head that congratulates itself and him for doing well out of the fire business . Adrian claims he didn ' t set the fire , and the voice replies that it started the fires . In the burning building he sees a different soldier with a metal box . He opens the box and a small flame jumps inside . After the fire is put out , Adrian asks the villagers for food . They comply , but he can tell they suspect he may have started the fire . He leaves . Adrian encounters the white van again and follows it . When it finally stops , Adrian notes that there are at least five soldiers in the van . He easily overpowers them and ties them up , noticing that they look like dead men . He notices a fire nearby . He heads for it . On the way he encounters another soldier carrying the box . The soldier won ' t attack him because he ' s protecting the box . Adrian gets the box away from him ; it is empty . When he gets to the fire , the voice in his head is unfriendly . It tries to burn him , but he withstands it while the townspeople fight the fire . Once the fire is nearly out , the voice begs Adrian to spare it , but he captures it inside the box . Adrian finally meets up with Lucinda and Conchita . He learns from them that the fire is an Incen that was doing a job for Lucinda but went rogue . She arranged matters so that Adrian could capture it but didn ' t tell him because it would be able to sense his intentions . Adrian is not happy at being used , but they promise to use their time machine to send him back to his rightful time and place . Notes . " to be added "