Lies and Other Tales

By

Jennaya

Disclaimer: I own nothing about Hogan's Heroes and only write for pleasure.

Hogan rolled over feeling warm and comfortable and then realized that he was still in Klink's guest bed. He'd been quite surprised when he hadn't been ordered back to barracks two after General Burkhalter found out about their planes being destroyed last night. The Germans were going to send captured RAF airplanes into dog fights attacking the Allied Air Forces who wouldn't recognize the aircraft as being flown by enemy pilots until it was too late. Hogan couldn't allow that to happen, so he and his team blew the planes up and then he snuck back into the Kommandant's quarters. He'd pretended to become sloppy drunk falling asleep in the spare bed, only Olsen stood in for him as he led his team on the mission. A witness had described the officer who ordered the attack to Burkhalter whom for a moment thought it might have been Hogan. The General woke Hogan up to make sure he was still in Stalag 13. Afterwards, Hogan asked for an early wakeup call as he lay back down and quickly fell asleep. Looking at his watch, he saw it was 9:00 in the morning and he wondered why he hadn't been awaken for roll call. Had they thought he was too drunk and just let him sleep it off? Whatever the reason it was the best night's sleep he'd had in a long time.

He stood up and stretched then looked out the window. Prisoners were milling around, guards at their post, everything looked normal and quiet. Still a little confused as to what was going on he opened the door and stepped out into the living room. No guard was on duty so he made his way to the bathroom and answered the call of nature that had awakened him. He looked at the shower then the door, and with a wry grin on his face he undressed and took advantage of the shower. After shaving and making himself as presentable as possible in slept in clothes he exited to find General Burkhalter entering Klink's quarters. It was evident the General hadn't slept the night away.

"You're still here," Burkhalter stated dryly placing his briefcase on the coffee table.

"Just leaving, sir," Hogan made his way to the door.

"I hate to eat alone. Why don't you join me for breakfast?" Burkhalter indicated for him to sit at the table as a German cook asked the General how he'd like his eggs. The General told the man to prepare the same dish for both of them.

"Why thank you, sir," Hogan answered sitting down. His mind was working overtime looking for a reason to the special treatment.

"That was some audacity to use Klink's bath, but I can't say that if I'd been in your place I'd done anything differently," Burkhalter gave out a small laugh. "Do you know what I've been doing while you were sleeping?"

"No, sir."

"I've been out inspecting what was left of our aircraft and the airfield. The planes burned so hot that they melted part of the runway. It's going to be a long time before its usable again," Burkhalter had a scowl on his face.

"Sounds like the underground did a good job," Hogan replied. It was welcomed news to him, the planes had been completely fueled before the bombing and it made a pretty fire he'd thought.

"I'm not convinced it was the underground, but we'll keep investigating the sabotage. The guilty persons will be apprehended." Burkhalter poured cream in his coffee as the cook brought over their breakfast. Hogan thought now he knew why he'd not been thrown out yet, he was to be pumped for information about the attack. "You said something last night that I wanted to discuss with you."

"What was that, sir? A lot of last night I don't remember," Hogan answered his mind coming to a screeching u-turn. He remembered all of last night and didn't have very much to drink despite appearances.

"You were telling us a story about a bombing mission where your fuselage was damaged beyond the ability to return home. Then you said something about not wanting to land in Switzerland," Burkhalter said causally. "I was wondering where you did land."

"That might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but there were a few times when I didn't think I was going to make it home," Hogan had no idea where he was heading with this line of interrogation.

"I'm sure there were. Your story got me to thinking. A few months before your capture there was a bombing raid that you led on the border of Switzerland and Germany. An extremely important facility was destroyed. What can you tell me about that bombing run?" Burkhalter tried to make it a casual conversation, but he couldn't hide all the anger he felt.

"There were a lot of bombing missions; I'm not sure which one you're referring to. After a while they all melt together," Hogan lied. He knew exactly the run the General was questioning and why. Being able to lie with a straight face was something he had to admit the Germans helped him to perfect with enough practice.

"I'm referring to a hospital outside of Feuerbach that was destroyed in the spring of 1942 when you were flying with the RAF," Burkhalter answered staring at Hogan.

"A real hospital would never be a target and avoided if possible," Hogan's tone taught; his eyes match Burkhalter's both holding their ground. The building had once been a hospital but when it was bombed out of existence it had been the foreground for atomic research in Germany. Destroying the experiments contained within set the Axis back several years.

Burkhalter flinched first, "I suppose we both know it wasn't a medical hospital and we know for a fact you led the mission." He buttered a piece of toast breaking the stalemate stance between them. "Tell me, where did your information come from for the assignment?"

"I don't understand what you want to know," Hogan's mind was going over every detail about that mission.

"How did the Allies know it wasn't a hospital?"

"Sir, you're asking stuff above my pay grade. I was just a pilot. I went where I was told," Hogan answered taking a bite of his eggs.

"You were a leader, surely you helped plan the flights," Burkhalter said with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know how it works in the Luftwaffe, but in both the RAF and the US a bombing crew is given a jacket of information. Basic vectoring, wind prevalence, target identification, and any available local areal information then we plan the job. As far as where the intelligence came from I have no idea." What was the General after, Hogan wondered?

"So you never talked to anyone with firsthand knowledge of the area?"

"No sir. Why do you ask?"

"A friend of mine was in charge of that project."

"I'm sorry you lost a friend," Hogan replied with just enough sympathy in his voice. "What was your friend like?"

"Why do you ask?" Burkhalter stopped eating and looked directly at the American.

"No reason just seemed you missed your old friend and sometimes it helps to talk about them."

"He was a good man, but your typical scientist more interested in his work than anything going on around him. His name was Joel Klein. Have you ever heard of him?"

"Can't say that I have," lying was becoming second nature to Hogan. Klein was someone that he considered a close friend. Obviously Burkhalter was lying because anyone who'd ever spent any time with the scientist could only describe him as infectious laughter. Joel had Hogan laughing so hard that he had tears coming from his eyes more often than not. Just mentioning the man's name made Hogan want to breakout in a smile but he held his face at an impasse.

"I'd never admit to this but I'd hoped that perhaps Klein had defected and was living his life out somewhere safe. His body was never recovered from the ruble," Burkhalter said with a lowered voice.

"Most successful bombings don't leave enough of a structure intact to find specific people in the ruins," Hogan finished off his coffee now understanding why this interrogation had occurred. The Germans wanted to know if Klein was working with the Allies or if he'd really been killed in the blast. "Thank you for breakfast, but I should be getting back to my barracks."

"You're dismissed," Burkhalter said disappointed and knew he wouldn't get any useful information from Hogan.

Robert Hogan walked across the compound with a grin on his face. He first met Joel Klein during the briefing for that particular mission. They'd become good friends due to both man's sense of humor. A few days before Hogan led his last bombing mission for the Allies, he'd bid farewell to Klein who boarded a plane to the US. The scientist was going to work on a top secret project but Hogan had no idea what it was. The two friends had promised to find each other and catch up when this war was over.

Arriving at barracks two, Hogan filled his men in on his morning and they reported what had happened in his absence. A few minutes later Hogan went into his office closing the door behind him. His men could hear their commanding officer laugh at some private joke they weren't privy too.

Across the pond in a secret Manhattan laboratory, several scientists who had just solved a rather complex nuclear fission problem were laughing at the jokes their colleague Joel was telling.