HH Unwanted Rescue
Colonel Hogan stood next to the wall of the ballroom watching his men setting up tables. Newkirk and Kinchloe were hauling large tables into place, being directed by an officious German in a terrible suit. Carter was shaking pristine white tablecloths over each table. LaBeau was back in the kitchen, doing his prep work and fending off Schultz no doubt, as the large sergeant was prone to tasting a bit too much of the food.
"Will everything be ready on time? You assured me that your men could handle this party and if they do not then it's the cooler for everyone!" Klink rushed up and peered at the room. "The generals are the ones in charge of promotions and if this party doesn't go well, then my chance of promotion drop to... to..."
"To your chance of surviving the Russian front?" Hogan looked over innocently then pulled a repentant face. "Poor taste, sorry Kommandant." He nodded towards the men working cheerfully. "My men will get everything done. You know, Carter was a professional party planner before the war."
"Yes yes, well as long as everything goes smoothly." Klink stalked off towards the kitchens. After a few moments, Hogan could hear muffled yelling as Klink chastised Schultz. Raising his voice slightly, he spoke to his men in the room. "All right guys, let's get the lead out. Colonel Klink is counting on us."
True to form, it was Newkirk that talked back, as he came by carrying another heavy table. "It'd go a lot faster with another set of 'ands 'elping, Colonel Hogan... even if they are officer 'ands."
Kinch chuckled at that. "Now don't go asking for trouble, you know how officers work. We'd have to spent half of our time holding his hand and repeating instructions."
"Hey now..." chastised Hogan. "I'll have you both know that I tied my shoelaces all by myself just this morning."
Grinning widely, Newkirk quipped once more. "Yeah, but you tied them to each other."
H H H H
The party was in full swing and Hogan stood to the side watching over all the participants. He was in the habit of attending any parties that his men worked at for the Kommandant. Klink thought he simply took advantage to get the free drinks and food. Some of his men probably thought it was access to the occasional lovely young ladies who attended. A select few thought it was to make contacts with the Underground or collect intelligence.
He smiled politely at Burkhalter as he circulated nearby. Hogan had a much more important reason for attending. He watched over his men, to make certain that none of the attendees abused or mistreated them. There was no doubt in his mind that he couldn't protect them if someone truly wanted to harm them. Even with the Geneva Convention and their status as prisoners of war, there were many Germans who simply ignored such and a protest to the Red Cross or the governing powers would be little comfort to the victim. However, so far he had managed to distract or redirect serious aggression on most occasions.
Klink sidled up to him, smiling in an overly smug way. "The party is going so well." He took a glass of wine off a tray presented to them by a black-jacketed Newkirk. As he sipped the wine, he missed the Englishman rolling his eyes behind his back as he left. Carter and Newkirk were walking the party with trays of drinks. LeBeau brought out hor d'oeuvres at regular intervals to put on a table. Kinchloe was hidden back in the kitchen and prep area, helping LeBeau with the food or washing platters.
"Don't look now Kommandant, but isn't that General Schwitzer?" Hogan nodded towards a thin sour-looking German general. "You know, head of the promotions committee and very good friend to old Bubblehead himself?" That sent Klink off across the room, although he paused to glare at Hogan over the insult.
Hogan continued to watch the party and moved through the people, smiling and speaking politely to any of the officers that deigned to notice him. By the time he reached the opposite wall, he had overheard a few interesting tidbits of tactical information that they would pass on to London. Newkirk came strolling up and held his tray out to Hogan with a bland polite smile that Hogan knew from experience was covering seething anger. "Gently, Newkirk. I know that smile. Be nice."
Newkirk's expression stayed firmly in place, properly polite and pleasant but Hogan saw his eyes flash dangerously. "If I 'ear one more comment on the inferiority of the RAF, I'll bloody well tell the bastards off, guv'ner."
"No smart remarks, you'll smile and nod, soldier." Hogan lifted a glass up to block his soft words. "These are not our tame guards back at camp."
"No, they have manners." Newkirk's voice dropped to a soft growl. "I'd like to ruddy well punch that Schwitzer in the throat. Every time I walk by, he starts talking about how many downed airmen have been 'killed during capture'. Bloody murderer."
"Gently, Newkirk. Perhaps it's time for a break. Go have a look in that interesting room downstairs. I'm certain you'll prefer the safe's company to the party." Hogan glanced around, checking that Carter was still okay and Klink was still busy being annoying to generals.
"I'll get better conversation." Newkirk took a deep breath in and let it out, visibly forcing himself to relax into the posture of a pleasant and unremarkable waiter. "I'll go check it out. Should take me fifteen minutes or so."
"Be careful, just scouting tonight, don't let those magic fingers do any walking." Hogan patted his man on the back as he walked away. He caught Carter's eye and nodded slightly. Carter showed no sign of seeing it but began to move through the center of the room more to cover for the absence of the second waiter. Finding LeBeau setting down yet another platter of fingerfoods, Hogan raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly towards the drink prep area. LeBeau nodded back and went to fill a tray with glasses of wine and began circulating himself.
Now Hogan could worry. He pretended to be enjoying the party, talking to Burkhalter a few minutes and exchanging a quip or two with a Luftwaffe major he'd seen before. He nibbled a few crackers with toppings and hoped it wasn't marinated dog food again. But in the back of his mind he wondered what was happening out of sight with Newkirk scouting the hotel safe. Spotting Burkhalter's wife cornering LeBeau, Hogan wandered over to distract her with small talk and let the little Frenchman escape back to the kitchen.
Finally he could let his breath out as Newkirk reentered the ballroom with a fresh tray, acting as if he'd been there all along. He altered his path so he could take a closer look and noted that the Englishman seemed more relaxed and in control. Hogan made a detour to check on Carter who reassured him that he was just fine.
Carter was relaxed and leaned in closer to speak next to Hogan's ear. "The Luftwaffe major in the corner with Burkhalter has been talking about a new airbase. He hasn't mentioned location yet, but it seems to be west of Berlin."
"Good work, keep an ear out for a town." Hogan watched the amiable Carter walk away smiling vacantly at everyone. He would have bet money that not one German in the room would consider the young man a threat to security. Half the time he didn't look as if he could remember his own serial number.
Watching the room cautiously, Hogan began to hope for people to leave. The longer a party went on, the more alcohol got into them. The POWs carefully began watering down the drinks as the night wore on, but they couldn't water them down too much. Tipsy Germans were a double-edged sword. They might let information slip but they also became more dangerous.
Hogan began circulating through the room more himself. He was trying to round up Carter to get him to stay towards the sides of the room where it would be safer. Before he could get close, he saw Newkirk drift by and poke Carter in the ribs. A jerk of the Englishman's chin and Carter followed him to the drinks station. Newkirk put a hand up on Carter's neck to draw him in close and spoke to him briefly. After that, Carter made his way around the edges of the party. Newkirk still moved through the room more freely. Hogan would have preferred if both of them stayed out of the press. He couldn't very well pull the servers out entirely without Klink and possibly others objecting.
Luckily, it wasn't much longer before the higher ranked officers began to leave. Once the generals cleared out, the rest of the party broke apart quickly. Klink rushed about simpering at various officers, taking advantage of the last minutes. Hogan retrieved Newkirk from serving a last few officers by the simple method of walking by and taking his elbow. "Sorry, but Colonel Klink keeps a short leash on us prisoners." They walked away quickly, joining the others back in the rear of the room. Kinch came out and assured Hogan the kitchen was cleaned and cleared out. As the room emptied of guests, Hogan could send his men to change back to their uniforms.
By the time Schultz came to gather them up, the officers were all gone and Klink was crowing over his success. Schultz counted heads and then reported that all the prisoners were present to Klink who thanked them for the work. Hogan nodded agreeably and ushered the Kommandant and Schultz out. "Yes Kommandant, but my men are all very tired since it's so late and I know you are such a kind overseer, taking their well being into account after they've worked for you, a work detail they volunteered for, mind you." He continued the praise, nodding for his men to fall into line behind them. "It's because they respect you, sir, yes sir. We're always glad to help you out when it comes to these little tasks, as long as you remember the agreement of an extra shower per man for the next two months."
"Two months? Hooogan! It was for one month." Klink was still smiling over the success of his party. "But, seeing as everything went so well and no one caused any issues or embarrassment, I'll give you the two months. Simply because I'm so generous, of course."
"Well that is generous, sir." Hogan smiled to himself, knowing the original deal had been for one month. Even though the real reason had been scouting for a mission to steal documents in a week from the hotel, he couldn't very well give the services of his men away for free without arousing suspicion. "I mean, thinking about how much work they did, and how hard it would have been for you to find another chef of LeBeau's quality... the least you could do is to raise the rations, just a little bit. Things are a bit lean right now for the men and it's getting very cold lately."
His men smirked as they fell into line behind Schultz. Carter went first, chatting at Schultz about the food he was used to at parties back home. Kinch stepped in behind, listening to the conversation with amusement and adding in regional dishes he enjoyed. LeBeau followed them closely, yawning widely and looking sleepy. The little Frenchman had worked twice as hard, prepping the food and cooking it throughout the party. Newkirk ambled along behind them, still considering the model of the safe he'd examined. It had turned out to be quite a bit better quality than he would have expected in a hotel like this. But it wasn't so beefy that he'd need explosives, so he was fairly confident he could break it open with a stethoscope and a few minutes work. Colonel Hogan's plan to get him a look turned out to be a good one, since now they knew exactly how to get to the safe, what sort of precautions were normally taken around it and what Newkirk would need to crack it. He mused to himself that some days he really did think that Hogan's schemes were too elaborate and sometimes even plain crackers, but somehow they always seemed to work out.
They were on the ground floor, walking through a deserted hallway. Carter was animatedly describing banana splits to Schultz while Hogan was attempting to wheedle Klink into some outrageous concessions when Newkirk was suddenly yanked sideways into an alcove. He was so startled that he let out a soft 'urk' before stumbling into the wall. "Whaa?" A small soft hand clamped over his mouth and he looked into beautiful pale blue eyes framed by soft blond hair and he lost all desire to leave. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Blimey... what do you.." The hand was placed over his mouth again.
"Shhhh." The woman peeked out into the now empty hallway and then motioned Newkirk to follow her back down the way they'd come from.
He hesitated for only a second. There was a possibility of this being some sort of trap to get him away from the guard and the others. Many German citizens truly disliked any Allied personnel and the RAF in particular. Newkirk had experienced the hatred before and had no desire to walk into another trap of that sort.
The woman motioned again urgently. She looked frightened and small and helpless and he cursed himself inside his head as he followed her. He couldn't help himself. Women would be the death of him one day, but he couldn't walk away from a damsel in distress. A glance up the hallway showed the others hadn't even noticed him dropping out of line.
As he trotted down the corridors behind her, the best idea he could come up with was that she was most likely part of the local Underground. He couldn't help but appreciate the sight of the slender form in a completely impractical dark brown dress that came all the way down to her calves. If she was planning a scarper of some sort, she should have worn something easier to move around in, he mused. If the Underground suddenly needed help or to pass on some emergency information, it would make sense to take one of Papa Bear's men when they were right in town. If she was Gestapo, he didn't know why she'd look so frightened and why snatch one when she could bluster Klink into giving her one? He continued to muse to himself as she began to dodge through a few dark rooms and then opened a window to point out of it.
Poking his head out, he saw a short drop and put a hand out to stop her from climbing out. "Let me go first, love. I'll catch you." He made a motion of him holding out his arms to her and pointed out in case she didn't understand him. She nodded but still looked worried. "Okay, 'ere I go, bloody 'ell I 'ope this isn't a trap..." He slid out of the window and twisted in a practiced move to hang by his fingertips from the sill. Bracing his feet against the brick wall, he bounced off it gently and turned loose, landing in a crouch easily. His burglary days were coming in much more handy than basic training had ever insinuated.
"Okay, now." he whispered up to the window. She had to tuck her skirt around her legs as she scooted out onto the window sill and then dropped. His arms caught her and he set her gently onto the ground. "Are you okay?" She tugged his sleeve urgently and pointed down the alley. "Okay okay, birds are always in such a rush to go places..."
As he followed her through dark streets, he turned to look back at the hotel receding behind them for a few seconds. He was getting further from his captors and his team. Briefly he hoped that Colonel Hogan would hear him out when he got back before he started yelling.
Suddenly his attention was taken by her grabbing his arm and half-dragging him towards an apartment building. "Easy, love, I'm coming, I'm coming."