Special thanks to 2lieutenant for beta reading! Thank you very much! All remaining mistakes are my own.

Thank you for reading.

DAY ONE

The staff car carrying Hogan drove slowly along the Hammelburg road.

"I don't understand," Klink complained, "what could General Burkhalter possibly want that couldn't be discussed by phone or whenever he comes by. He surely comes often enough."

Hogan kept his gaze out the window.

With the surprising order, General Burkhalter had sent his staff car. Along with Colonel Hogan, Colonel Klink had also been ordered to come to his office right away.

The major, now identified by Klink as Major Haus, had remained behind in Stalag XIII, temporarily taking over as commandant.

"And why do I have to bring you with me!" Klink hit his thigh with his hand.

Suddenly he brought up a fist and shook it in front of Hogan's face. "What did you do?"

"Whether you believe it or not, Colonel," Hogan started, "this time I am as clueless as you."

Klink's anger deflated and he leaned back. "And everything was working so well. Stalag XIII is the toughest POW camp in all of Germany. No escapes and now ..."

Hogan only listened to Klink's whining with half an ear. He had picked up a far more worrisome sound than the babbling of the German officer.

"Did you order some bulldozers?" He asked in jest as the sound of the powerful engines became louder and louder.

"Bulldozer? I don't need bulldozers. They would destroy my beautiful camp and the fence!"

The staff car drove around a curve and braked sharply.

Colonel Hogan shivered in the heat as he realized why they had to stop.

Klink also started to look around and his focus turned to other things beside himself. Almost.

"What are all these trucks are doing here? And the tanks," his voiced vibrated from fear. "Where are they going? This isn't the way to the front!"

Hogan's stomach churned. He had taken a gamble. And now it looked like he had lost.

Nothing had indicated this. There hadn't even been one of London's famous 'Be careful but we don't know why'-warnings.

"They are driving to my camp." Klink whispered, his voice as lifeless as his pale face.

Hogan just watched the column of trucks jutting alone the Hammelburg road. At the end of the road was nothing.

Nothing besides Stalag XIII.

Kinch jumped from the back of the truck.

His boots landed in the morass making a splashing sound.

"We're here already?" Olsen jumped down behind him.

Kinch nodded. It was unexpected but helpful. They couldn't have traveled more than a few miles. Stalag XIII was still near enough to have realistic chance to return in time.

He let his gaze wander across the camp. He counted ten barracks, arranged around a central place where the prisoners stood in a roll call.

The huts for the Germans and the commandant were outside of the barbed wire.

"Did we lose anybody on the way?" Kinch whispered his question to Olsen who stood besides him.

"No, we're still complete." Including Kinch, fifteen men from Stalag XIII had been transported to this outpost of Stalag XII.

Kinch sighed in relief. This was a starting point. Together with Sergeant Olsen, he had enough men to work something out.

Calculating the distance to and the layout of the surrounding fields, Kinch estimated a low grade of difficulty for an escape.

They waited for their new commandant. The German guards were too near for Kinch to converse privately with Olsen. Since morning, they hadn't been alone to talk about anything else but harmless reassurances.

A man with a cane climbed down slowly the few stairs from his office. Behind him, the sergeant of the guard followed.

Kinch tensed as he eyed the men. The sergeant was a short man with dark hair and a perfectly pressed uniform. The way he walked and how he raised his head and straightened in front of the prisoners, Kinch knew that this man tried to outplay his lack of height with brutality and strength.

"I am Colonel Friedrich Kaiser, the commandant of this camp." The officer appeared older than his uniform and rank suggested. His fingers encircled the handle of his cane until his fingertips turned white. It spoke volumes about the pain he felt from a wound that wasn't as visible as the eye patch in his face.

Kinch didn't need to ask London to see the consequences of a grenade that had barely missed the man.

"If you don't give me trouble, I won't give you trouble. For the day to day business you can ask Sergeant Koehler or your comrades."

With that short speech he turned and hobbled back to the cooler shadows out of the sun.

Kinch shared a short look with Olsen. The commandant was finished with the war and his part in it. His weariness eliminated one threat for Kinch's plan to return as fast as possible.

Sergeant Koehler on the other hand was a different story. He glanced down on his watch and then across the compound.

"What is he waiting for?" Private Keller whispered.

Something was off. Kinch had a good idea how a POW camp should be run and it wasn't how Colonel Hogan let Colonel Klink run it.

Most of the guards were around the camp. Only a few very bored looking young men stood around their new prisoners. The other guards were focused on the inside of the camp. Of course, they knew that this wasn't their first rodeo but still, something was off.

"I guess we are not interesting enough," Olsen said and relaxed a bit. None of their guards reacted.

Two German guards walked out of the commandant's office and into the camp.

"Sergeant Koehler is on duty again," a German voice said from somewhere behind Kinch. "This is going to be fun."

Kinch shared a look with Olsen who also had understood them. It was a given to hide their ability to understand and speak German, but Kinch didn't like what he had heard.

He narrowed his eyes. There was a clear line of separation between two groups of prisoners visible. The uniforms identified one of the groups as south-east Europe, Kinch wasn't sure, and the other were Americans.

"The Serbian and our guys are clearly not talking to each other," Olsen commented as he focused on the same. Apparently, he had recognized the uniforms.

"And the Germans use this," Kinch said as they watched as a German corporal questioned one member of the Serbian, then went to an American barrack and returned with a confiscated item.

"Maybe we should stay clear of the Serbians," Private Keller standing behind him proposed. "It doesn't look like they play fair."

Kinch shook his head. He knew a thing or two about assumption and social norms about whom to trust. He wasn't willing to think what he was supposed to think.

"I don't think we need to watch the Serbians. We need to watch the Germans and especially this Sergeant Koehler. He knows how to read and play people. He is the real danger."

Olsen nodded. "It looks like our guys also gave the Germans something on the Serbians."

The men inside the wire were dismissed.

"They started it," Keller pointed out.

The wind blew over a few of the angry words that were exchanged inside the fence.

"For the sake of this war, our guys should have stopped it. If the Serbians manage to escape, the Germans have to hunt them. It doesn't matter who they have to run after, as long as they have to run after somebody." Kinch fought the urge to cross his arms in a display of anger.

Suddenly, fists and shoving replaced words and the two groups started to fight in earnest. Sergeant Koehler left his post and marched into the camp without any hurry.

"He knew it would happen, he almost expected it," Olsen stated.

"I know," Kinch agreed as he remembered the glance at his watch. "He arranged it."

Everybody was busy watching the camp and had their attention on the fight. Kinch took the chance and leaned forward to Olsen using the time for a short secret conversation.

"Did anybody get down in time?"

Shaking his hand, Olsen reported: "No, we were blindsided completely. We were just preparing for the morning roll call as suddenly everywhere guards appeared. We didn't want to risk giving the tunnel away for free."

Private Keller snorted. "We thought, in a few hours they would be gone again. Not that we would be gone."

Koehler separated the two groups while using his club as much as possible. He was clearly enjoying this.

"Do you really think that General Burkhalter is going to turn over Colonel Hogan to the Gestapo if there's not enough evidence of Papa Bear's operation in the given time frame?"

After the first few trucks, one of them with LeBeau on it, had disappeared and Carter had been whisked away in a staff car with Langenscheidt, Kinch had done nothing else but think about it. "Yes, before it hurts his career he is going to hand him over."

"Then we need to get back as fast as possible."

Kinch nodded again. "We either need to keep Papa Bear alive or free Colonel Hogan and return to London."

"As long as they failed finding the tunnel we have a chance if we can get away from here."

"They didn't even search for anything like this," Kinch said. "Burkhalter wants to get Hochstetter of his back so he can return to the good life of a general. That doesn't mean he believes him."

Koehler had successfully dispersed the two groups. The Serbians and Americans returned to their side of the camp, licking their wounds.

By what Kinch had been seeing in just the few minutes they had stood in line and watched the daily operation of the camp, he knew that his biggest enemy in this camp wasn't even this Sergeant Koehler or the barbed wire.

The mistrust between the prisoners was far more dangerous.

If he wanted to escape and return to London or Stalag XIII, Kinch had to overcome this obstacle first.

Hogan watched the landscape outside of the car. How often had he ran through the woods around here? He contemplated to jump out and run. But as long as he wasn't dead he had a responsibility to his man.

He would see this through.

After the column of trucks had passed them, their driver had started up again. Both Colonels' were quiet. One feared for his command and the other for his men.

No further words were spoken until they arrived at Burkhalter's office.

In his office, Burkhalter kept them waiting for a long time. He wasn't around and whenever Colonel Klink had collected enough braveness to ask, he was rejected.

"I don't understand this. I thought General Burkhalter and I, that we worked together. I almost married his sister. I-"

The opening of the door interrupted Klink.

"Shut up, Klink." Burkhalter stood in the door frame.

Klink jumped to attention. "Good morning, Herr General."

Hogan rose slowly and faced General Burkhalter. He tried to look behind him to spot his execution team, but the bulky statue of General Burkhalter ensured that he couldn't see anything.

"General Burkhalter," Hogan greeted, his fingers digging into his cap.

Burkhalter sighed. Then strolled behind his desk and sat down.

"General Burkhalter-," Klink started but the general hushed him.

"Colonel Hogan, what a pleasure that you could make this meeting."

Giving the General the false smile this statement deserved, Hogan sat back down. "Didn't want to miss the party. What party is this actually?"

The door was jerked open and Klink jumped again. Major Hochstetter marched into the room.

Hogan raised his eyebrow. The SS-Major had already a red face before they started. "Is this the guest of honor? Or the clown for entertainment?"

"Major Hochstetter," Klink greeted and paled at the Major's expression. "What a pleasure."

"General Burkhalter, I must protest."

"Please do, Hochstetter," Burkhalter said and leaned back in his enormous chair, "but do it somewhere else. I am busy."

Hogan looked from the general to the SS-major. "Oh I see, our little party interrupted your important conversation."

"What is this man doing here?"

Klink raised his finger while shuffling back. "We are both here on orders from the general."

Hochstetter balled a fist. "This will have consequences!" His threat addressed the whole room. "Heads will be rolling!"

Burkhalter put his hands on his desk and heaved himself up. "The next head that will roll is yours if you don't leave right now."

Hochstetter narrowed his eyes. Playing a chameleon, Klink tried to blend into the background.

But Hogan leaned back and crossed his legs. He knew who would be winning this argument but he was more confused as ever about the reason for this adventure.

"Bah!" Hochstetter pirouetted around and marched from the room.

With a loud bang the door swung close.

"Well," Hogan drawled, "I guess we now met the black sheep of the family."

"Hogan!" Klink jumped away from the book shelve but didn't know what else to say.

Burkhalter sat back down again. "He is more a nuisance to the war than a black sheep."

"Oh, he is part of the war?" Hogan quipped.

The general gave him a dangerous smile. "You should be careful, Colonel Hogan. If it wouldn't be for the rift between Luftwaffe and the SS, you wouldn't be here."

Hogan heard the warning undertone clearly but not Colonel Klink.

"About this, Herr General, I have a POW camp to run and can't stay away for too long-"

"Silence!"

Klink jerked and nodded. "Silence."

Burkhalter waited a moment until he was sure that he had the undivided attention of his guests.

"Major Hochstetter is sure that somebody known as Papa Bear is running a major sabotage mission around Hammelburg." He paused. "And he believes this mysterious Papa Bear is Colonel Hogan."

Klink jumped up again. "This is nonsense!" He became agitated. "Colonel Hogan is a prisoner in Stalag XIII, the toughest POW camp. Nobody has ever escaped from my camp."

"Shut up, Klink!"

Nodding, Klink sank down again. "Shutting up."

"I don't like it, but I have to agree with Colonel Klink. I am a prisoner. I don't have time to sabotage anything. I have to make plans to escape and I have to dig tunnels."

"Tunnels? Nobody is allowed to dig tunnels in my-"

"Silence!"

Burkhalter considered his next words carefully. "I have to concede, that there is high number of incidents around Stalag XIII. Major Hochstetter wanted to arrest you for sabotage as he claimed to have a witness identifying you."

The smile on Hogan's face froze. There could be enough possible witnesses. His eyes darted to the door Hochstetter had disappeared.

"However, I have vetoed this idea." General Burkhalter grabbed a cigarette and lit it up. "I like to survive the war and not losing a prisoner of the Luftwaffe to the SS. They tend to return bodies and not men."

Klink looked hurt. "If you didn't want to have Major Hochstetter to talk to Colonel Hogan, all you had to do is call. I would have followed your orders to the letter."

Burkhalter just started at Klink until he got it and nodded. "Shutting up."

The general raised his head and regarded Hogan. "This witness complicated things, but I am done with Hochstetter's nonsense. So I put together a simple plan that is going to prove whether Papa Bear has his headquarters at Stalag XIII or not."

Hogans straightened. "And how, if this question is allowed?"

"I have ordered that the whole camp is to be cleared. Nobody remains there. We get new prisoners and new guards."

"And?" Relieved Hogan, forget his worry about his mission for a moment. No executions. His gamble had paid off for the time being.

"Then we wait. Fourteen days. If the sabotage continues around Hammelburg then we know that Hochstetter is too incompetent to look for the right people. But if there's nothing, then Hochstetter will get his chance to have a chat with you."

Hogan swallowed hard. It was a chat he didn't look forward knowing how it would end. There were no court proceedings in Germany anymore.

"But General Burkhalter, I must return. How-"

Burkhalter looked at Klink out of the corner of his eyes. "New guards and a new commandant, didn't I say this?"

Klink shook his head silently, looking like a lost pupil in front of his principal.

"Oh, I must have forgotten. I am sure that we will find a new post for your competence. Until then, you can keep Colonel Hogan company."

"Company?" Hogan had a lot of work to do. Klink wasn't welcome to help, this time.

"Of course, Colonel Hogan. You are going to stay here." Burkhalter smiled. "My guards are competent. I won't let Hochstetter sour my victory with baseless accusations."

"I'd rather wait in Stalag XIII, if it's the same to you, sir."

"It's not up for debate," Burkhalter stood up, "or do you rather want to talk to Hochstetter now?"

Hogan shot Burkhalter a quick smile. "Fourteen days, you say?" He also stood up knowing when to retreat. "I guess I can stifle my curiosity for that long."

TBC

Next chapter we are going to visit Carter and LeBeau and find out how they are doing.