Chapter 1:
It was another sabotage assignment. Nothing but the typical; blowing up a bridge in order to stop the Germans from crossing into enemy territory.
Hogan had called for Newkirk and LeBeau to come with him to plant the bombs, while he kept watch from a distance for any unwanted visitors.
The night was cooler for the usual weather in mid March, but not brutally cold like the winter was. Surrounding the three men were nothing more than bushy pine trees, a bridge made of wood and stones in the clearing, and a rushing river running beneath it. The sky was a deep, dark blue color with lots of stars twinkling and almost a complete full moon.
As Hogan continued to keep watch from behind a thick tree trunk, about 100 yards off from him were Newkirk and LeBeau quietly setting bombs and dynamite underneath the bridge. On top guarding the bridge was a single Gestapo sergeant, who seemed more interested in the rushing water than what his orders were.
"Louis, you finished wiring that thing yet?" The Englishman asked, constantly looking around for any German patrols roaming the area.
"Just give me one more second...I think I almost got it." LeBeau answered, shortly before losing his grip and dropping the bomb into the water. It made a loud 'splash', causing both men to freeze for a moment. The Frenchman got down silently on his knees and grabbed hold of the explosive device, when they heard footprints above them growing louder. Both Newkirk and LeBeau tensed and held their breath, as the Gestapo sergeant came to their side of the bridge and looked down to see if he could find anything suspicious. Spotting nothing, the young German shrugged his shoulders and made his way back to the other side and continued watching the water.
Once sure they were somewhat safe again, the two escaped POWs gave a sigh of relief.
"Watch where yah dropping stuff, will yah? You could've gotten us killed!" Newkirk spat, in a whisper.
"If you think you can do better, you do this last bomb then," LeBeau said, slightly agitated.
"Blimey, I have to do everything around here, don't I."
The English corporal took the bomb from his friend's hands and quickly wired it to the rest of the explosives. He made a quick check to see if it was in place, then gestured with his head to follow him back to Hogan.
The two corporals silently made it back to their commander as fast as they could, then hid behind the same tree trunk Hogan was.
"You get everything ready?" The American asked, soft.
"Oui, Colonel," LeBeau said.
"That bloody bridge is gonna make one heck of a boom, Sir." Newkirk added.
"Good. Who wants to do the honors?" Hogan questioned.
"Can I do it, Colonel?" The Englishman inquired, his voice with a hint of excitement.
Hogan smirked.
"Sure, Newkirk," he said.
Newkirk rubbed his hands together, knelt down beside the detonator, then plunged down the handle. The next noise that was heard was a thunderous 'BANG' and the sight of an explosion lighting up the night. Soon there was nothing left but the remains of the bridge, black smoke, and fire.
Proud of their work, LeBeau and Newkirk turned to one another and gave each other a high five.
"Alright, guys. Grab that detonator, and let's get back to camp." Hogan ordered, with a smile.
"Got it, Sir," the English corporal said, and lifted the device from the ground.
Both Newkirk and LeBeau followed Hogan from the sabotage site and made their way back quietly to Stalag 13.
The three Allied soldiers continued walking through the forest, when Newkirk's ears perked at the sound of something strange. It had the similar rumble to thunder, but it had a different tone to it. The noise seemed to be coming a little ways off from them, but was slowly growing louder.
"Colonel," he said, stopping in his tracks. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what, Newkirk?" Hogan remarked.
"That sound...it sounds like some sort of rumble. It's coming from over there." Newkirk pointed towards his left and up at the sky.
Hogan raised his eyebrow slightly, then looked up in the same direction and saw the culprit. It was an airplane. From what he could tell, it looked like one of their guys, but was not sure whether it was an American or RAF plane.
"Looks like one of our guys," the colonel said, trying to make out the logo on the side of the plane.
"I wasn't aware of an air raid happening tonight." Newkirk commented.
"Maybe a surprise attack?" LeBeau suggested.
Hogan was about to give the orders to continue walking, when he heard a more loud, roaring noise. He looked up again, and his eyes gaped at the sight. Three Luftwaffe fighter planes were on the Allied plane flying through. Gunfire was heard several times, then the sound of a plane coming down became audible. It was the Allied fighter plane. A black speck screaming soon appeared in the sky, then a parachute appeared and floated gently to the ground.
"Follow me," the American finally said, and took off in the direction the Allied flyer had landed.
LeBeau and Newkirk stayed close behind their commander, as they ran swiftly through the night. The three men stopped in the middle of a clearing and saw the flyer struggling to release himself from his parachute. However, the parachute was tangled up in a tree, causing the man to be hanging from the tree's thick branches.
The man, an American officer, struggled with his belt, then spotted three dark figures before him. He pulled out his gun and held it steady at them, his eyes engulfed with fire.
"Halt!" He barked. "Who are you and what division are you with?"
"The Division of Abbott and Costello," Hogan said.
The Allied flyer started to lower his gun, though kept it tight in his grasp.
"You're not Germans?" He asked, with hesitance.
"I find that insulting." LeBeau grumbled.
The colonel rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his fellow officer.
"Trust me; we're far from Germans," Hogan said.
"Then if you're not Germans, do me a favor: get me down from here." The man begged.
"Newkirk, LeBeau, help me get him down." Hogan commanded.
The two corporals made their way to the squirming officer and tried to release him from his parachute.
"Quit your wiggling, will yah?" Newkirk growled.
The officer tried to slowly stop moving around, when he felt LeBeau's hand grab his leg.
"Hey! Watch it, will you?" He snapped.
"Sorry, mon ami," the Frenchman said.
Soon the American officer was free, and Hogan, Newkirk, and LeBeau helped him land gently on the ground. Now getting a good look at him, the three could see the man was a captain. He had chocolate brown hair, brown eyes, and about 5'11". He looked very young; almost as young as Carter.
"You're a captain, I see." The colonel commented.
"And a very young one at that. Captain Gary Dorsey, United States Army Air Corps," Dorsey greeted, shaking Hogan's hand.
"I'm Colonel Hogan. This is Corporal LeBeau and Corporal Newkirk, two of my men."
Dorsey nodded in the corporals' directions.
"Gentlemen," he said.
"Captain," Newkirk said.
"Wait a minute...why are three Allied soldiers out here in the middle of the night? Shouldn't you be in hiding or something?"
"We'll explain later. In the meanwhile, we need you to follow us. It won't take long before the Krauts start looking for you. They'll have spotted your downed plane by now." Hogan spoke, firm.
Not knowing what else to do, Dorsey followed orders and took off behind the colonel and his two men.
The moment Dorsey laid eyes on the site of Stalag 13 was astonishing to him. It was when he descended down the fake tree stump and saw the elaborate tunnel network below that almost knocked the wind out of him. He continued to gaze in shock at the many rooms and types of equipment that Hogan kept below the camp. It made the captain begin to wonder if even the camp personnel knew about the setup.
"Whoa!" Dorsey gasped, entering the radio room behind Hogan, Newkirk, and LeBeau. All three men had returned to wearing their military uniforms. "You could fit my entire high school gymnasium down here!...And the pool...maybe the cafeteria, too."
"Consider it our little side job along with being an average POW," Newkirk said, with a mischievous grin.
"'Average'," LeBeau remarked, slight sarcasm in his voice.
"And those Krauts guarding camp know nothing about this?" Dorsey gasped.
"We wouldn't exactly be running this place if they knew, now would we," Hogan said, sitting down at the radio table.
"I guess not...but how am I exactly getting back to London?" Dorsey asked.
"Leave that to us, Captain. We'll get you to where you need to be."
"But how are you gonna do…"
Dorsey never got to finish his sentence, as Hogan put on the radio headset, turned the machine on, and set it to a certain frequency.
"Papa Bear to Night Owl, Papa Bear to Night Owl, come in, Night Owl," he spoke.
The young captain's eyes dilated in size and almost collapsed to the ground had it not been for Newkirk and LeBeau's quick wits. They grabbed onto Dorsey by the arms and held him up straight.
Dorsey tried to speak, but all he could get out were gasps and the faint words of 'Papa'. He was very familiar with Papa Bear and the tremendous work he and his men were doing for the Allies. He never expected to be greeted by the Allied idol and his commanding team that night. Yet, there he was; standing right in front of the mysterious man that Germany craved to find the identity of and bring to justice for his crimes against the Third Reich. By the fifth time the American officer tried to speak, Newkirk stopped him.
"Take it easy, mate. You're safe now," he said friendly.
"It's, it's, it's, it's...him!" He stuttered, hoarse.
"Weren't expecting the Gov'nor to find yah, were you."
Dorsey's only response was the shake of his head, as he continued to stare in both shock and honor. He was in the presence of one of the greatest heroes to the Allied War Efforts. A man he had died to meet and give his utmost thanks and gratitude to. Nothing compared to what he was feeling at that moment.
"Night Owl to Papa Bear, come in, Papa Bear," the familiar voice of underground leader, Otto Heidleman, said. (1)
Hogan could not help but smile at the sound of his friend. He had not seen or spoke to him in months since their last assignment together. Every time he got an opportunity to work and talk to Otto and his other close underground friend, Dr. Richard Klaussner, it made his day. (2) The two had been the reason he had survived from critical condition the night he was shot down over Germany. He had always been grateful for the two risking their lives to save his and their friendship that developed from it.
"Otto, how are you doing tonight?" The colonel asked.
"Just fine, Papa Bear. And yourself?"
"Just got back from another assignment. We picked up a package on the way back and were wondering when was the soonest you could help us mail it back home."
"I can have an agent sent out there to you in a few days. They will have instructions and a description of your physical appearance in order to locate you without questions. I will alert London tomorrow morning of your request and report to you the time for a pick up."
"Knew I could count on you, Night Owl."
"Anything else you would like to report, Papa Bear?"
"No, that'll be all for now. I'll let you know if anything else is needed later."
"Very well. I shall get back to you shortly on what I find out. Again, I'll have an agent sent out there in a couple days to assist with getting the package back to its sender."
"Good. Take care, Night Owl. Papa Bear out."
"Night Owl over and out."
And with that, both men disconnected.
Otto turned off the radio at his desk, then rose to his feet. He walked to the center of the room and sat down on a sofa next to the fireplace. Across from the coffee table he sat behind was another sofa with an older man and young girl sitting next to one another. The man had slick, gray hair, green eyes, about 6'4" and wore a nice gray suit and tie. He was in his mid to late 60's, but had the appearance of someone in their late 50's.
As for the young girl, she was small. No more than 5'0". She had gentle blue eyes, light brown hair that went a bit past her shoulders, and wore a long sleeved blue dress with a white collar and black laced boots. She was quieter than the man sitting next to her and seemed a bit timid being in the presence of one of the underground's most respected leaders.
Otto looked at both of them briefly, then turned his eyes towards the man.
"You heard what Papa Bear said, Gustav. What do you think?" He asked.
"I think she's ready for an assignment with him. She has done well so far, especially for being her age," Gustav said.
The underground agent changed his attention to the young girl.
"What do you think, Star? You up for this assignment?" Otto asked, friendliness in his voice. He referred to her by her codename. The girl's real name was Kalina, and Gustav was her great uncle.
Kalina swallowed a knot in her throat, her eyes growing slightly in size. The idea of working with Papa Bear sounded both exciting and frightening. She knew of the masked hero of the underground and Allied War Efforts, but she felt as if she measured no where near to the agents who were previously assigned to work with the man. Did Otto and her great uncle really believe in her that much?
"Me?...Are you sure, Mr. Heidleman?" Kalina questioned, with hesitance.
"I couldn't think of anyone better for this assignment. It will be good for you to get acquainted with Papa Bear. You may work again with him in future missions." Otto answered.
The girl turned to her uncle.
"Uncle Gustav, have you met Papa Bear before?"
"Indeed, my dear. He's a good man, and a very brave one, too. He has lots of courage to run an espionage and sabotage operation right underneath an ordinary POW camp," Gustav said, with a small smile.
"A POW camp?"
"Stalag 13, Star," the underground leader said, answering Kalina's question.
The response made the young agent's eyes light up and face glow with a wide grin.
"Luft Stalag 13! That's where my father is!" She cried softly.
"That he is indeed. He does not know of your alliance with the Allies, either." Otto answered, growing serious.
"Will I get to see him? Even if it's just for a minute?"
"If we make it look like you're just visiting for a few days, I think we could arrange that. The man you're really there to see is Colonel Robert Hogan of the United States Army Air Corps."
"Is he Papa Bear?"
Otto nodded.
"I never knew Papa Bear was an American...when you said he worked at Stalag 13, I thought he would be just another camp guard." Kalina commented.
"Far from it, darling. Colonel Hogan has been operating under the codename Papa Bear for over two years now. His core team consists of four men by the names of Newkirk, LeBeau, Kinchloe, and Carter. You can trust them with your life."
"And my father? Will they protect him as well?"
Otto chuckled at the concern.
"Kalina, my dear, your father is needed for Papa Bear to accomplish his duties. Someone corrupt and violent in your father's place would make Papa Bear's task much more difficult," he said.
The girl nodded softly.
"You make a good point...of course I haven't seen my father in years. He could be a stranger to me for all I know. I don't even know what a POW camp is like. What do they look like? Are they dreary looking? Or does it look like any other camp you would see at a summer resort?" She asked.
"You will get your answers once you arrive to Stalag 13. You leave a day after tomorrow. The assignment is simple: help Papa Bear get USA Army Air Corps. Captain Dorsey out of camp and have him meet with me here. Once that happens, we will make contact with London and send him to the rendezvous point with the submarine. You understand, Star?"
"Yes, Sir. But what about my uncle? Will he come with?"
"I'm afraid you will be going alone. Your uncle is needed for other missions and tasks the underground needs done. You will be escorted to camp by an underground agent by the name of Karl Wagner. (3) He will be dressed as a Gestapo major and drive you to your destination. No one will question the Gestapo. Another man will go with him as a Gestapo captain just in case. They will meet you tomorrow night where you and your uncle reside."
"Yes, Sir."
Otto gave an encouraging grin, then got to his feet. He approached the girl and patted her shoulder gently, making Kalina look up at him. She gave a weary smile, still unsure of herself, but could see her uncle and commanding leader strongly believed in her and her skills she had obtained through training and experience. It made her feel a bit more confident and ready for her task.
"Viel Glück, meine Kleine. You will do well," Otto said.
Kalina smiled a bit more, then gave a shaky sigh.
"I hope," was her answer.
(1) Otto Heidleman (Night Owl) is a character I created myself. He first appears in my story "Coming Into the Light".
(2) Dr. Richard Klaussner (Lone Wolf) is a character I created myself. He first appears in my story "Hogan's Heroes: Finding the Silver Lining". I lend him out to other writers once and awhile to use in their stories, but they must get approval first from me. PM me if you want to make a request.
(3) Karl Wagner is from the episode "The Missing Klink" in season four. I liked his character, so I decided to bring him back for this story.