Chapter 2--- The Meeting
Malcolm Decker followed Hans and Ilse Bormann down the stairs that led to the Bormann's basement. Ilse brushed back a loose strand of her shoulder length blonde hair. Waiting in the basement were their friends Horace Belgium, Wilhelm Klauss and Fritz Schultz. When Decker was seated, Ilse removed an 8" by 11'' envelope from her pocketbook. Opening it, she removed 2 black and white photos and passed them to her husband Hans who glanced at them before passing them to Klauss.
"The first photo is of Robert Hogan, a Colonel in the USAAF. He's a prisoner-of-war being held at Stalag 13. According to the Gestapo, he's suspected of assisting the underground with their sabotage, espionage and aiding of prisoners escaping from the Third Reich. Code name is Papa Bear. They've never been able to prove anything against him. However, we've been able to discover the radio frequency he uses and send him a message advising him we know who he is and that he is to be punished as a threat to the Fatherland."
"And this other man?" asked Schultz, staring at a photo of a dark haired middle age man of about forty.
"This other man is no longer a threat to the Fatherland. His name is Claude Bessler, a member of the underground. He was captured by one of our operatives yesterday. He has been found guilty and was duly punished by those who captured him."
The group passed around Bessler's photo as well. Looking at both photos, Klauss smirked. "And what was the sentence?" he asked.
Ilse's face was impassive. "He was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out earlier this morning."
"And what about this Colonel Hogan?"
"Not yet. He needs to be caught first. We have been given permission to treat Colonel Hogan as a special case. We have been authorized to capture him and get whatever information about the underground and his own activities before we can pass judgement on him."
"We can't exactly go to a prisoner-of-war camp and take this Colonel Hogan out of camp," Decker reminded her.
"We won't have to," Ilse reminded him. "We were able to tap into the transmissions from London to Colonel Hogan. Apparently London wants him to pass on surveillance information on a German power plant that's being constructed about 10 miles outside of Hammelburg in order for London to bomb it."
There was an excited chatter amongst the group.
"So what is the plan then?" asked Schultz.
"We are to allow Colonel Hogan to leave the prison camp and conduct his surveillance of the power plant, and grab him before he returns to Stalag 13."
Belgium handed both photos back to Ilse who returned them to the envelope. She brushed a loose strand of hair off her face. She looked at each man. "Are there any questions?"
"What if Colonel Hogan resists when we make our move?" he asked.
"Our instructions are not to harm him. Then, we have been given free rein regarding whatever methods we decide to use during his interrogation."
"And assuming he is found guilty afterwards of crimes against the Fatherland, has a punishment been pre-determined for Colonel Hogan? Or do we have free rein to decide that as well?" asked Klauss.
Ilse smiled. "We have free rein to decide his punishment should he be found guilty. And I have decided that it will be death. However, I will not disclose what the method of death will be until the moment is right. Now, any further questions?"
Everybody simply looked at each other. But nobody said anything.
"Then, let us retire and prepare for capturing Colonel Hogan tonight."
Kinch stepped over the lower bedframe and into the barracks. He approached the stove, grabbed a coffee cup and poured himself a cup of coffee. There was a strained look on his face. Sitting down, he noticed LeBeau, Newkirk and Carter all looking at him, concerned.
"Something wrong, mate?" asked Newkirk, lighting a cigarette.
"Very wrong," Kinch replied. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a folded paper. He handed it to Newkirk. "See for yourself."
Taking the paper with a perplexed look on his face, Newkirk unfolded it and read the message. It was from London.
"Blimey," he exclaimed. "is this message for real?"
Kinch sipped his coffee. "I asked them to repeat it twice to be sure."
"What is it?" asked LeBeau. What's happened?"
"London says that one of the underground's top operatives, a Claude Bessler was found dead late this afternoon. He had been hanged."
LeBeau and Carter exchanged looks. Were they missing something?
"I'm sorry this guy's dead, but I don't understand," said Carter, confused.
"Oui. Neither do I," said LeBeau.
"Wait," explained Newkirk. "There's more. A message was found in Bessler's pocket from a group called the Death Unit. It read, and I quote 'We know who you are. You are an enemy of the Fatherland. You will and must be punished'."
Carter's eyes widened. "Wasn't Bessler the underground operative Colonel Hogan met with a few days ago?"
"Yeah, he was," added Kinch. "In fact, he's the one who informed London about that Kraut power plant we're doing surveillance on tonight."
"Sacre chat!" LeBeau exclaimed. Do you think that has something to do with his death?"
"Not sure," Kinch replied, taking the message from Newkirk. "But I need to show this message to Colonel Hogan right away. Where is he?"
LeBeau jerked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the closed door. "He's in his quarters. Probably asleep. He's been really tired lately. You sure you want to wake him?"
"Normally no. But this is important." Getting up, Kinch approached Hogan's quarters and knocked on the door. He was surprised when he heard Hogan's voice granting permission to enter. Kinch opened the door.
"Colonel, I hope I didn't wake you," Kinch said, noticing Hogan laying on his bunk with the desk lamp still on.
"You didn't," Hogan replied softly. He sat up on his bed. "I wasn't sleeping anyway. What can I do for you?"
Kinch handed him the folded paper. "Message from London, Colonel."
Noticing his radioman's strained expression, Hogan unfolded the message and read it. At once, all the color drained from Hogan's face. He became white as a sheet.
"Colonel?" Kinch stepped forward. "You all right?"
Licking his suddenly dry lips, Hogan folded the paper. "Anybody else see this?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. LeBeau, Carter and Newkirk all saw it. Why?"
"Kinch, forget you saw this message. Make sure the others forget they saw it as well. Understand?"
"Sure, Colonel," Kinch was now more positive than ever something was very wrong. "If that's what you want. But, sir.... if something's wrong...."
"There's nothing wrong, Kinch. Really. I'm just very tired," Hogan interrupted him. He laid down again. "Could we talk later? I really need to get some sleep before tonight."
Kinch took it as Hogan's nice way of dismissing him. A disappointed look appeared on his face that didn't escape his commanding officer.
"Kinch...."
The radioman turned and looked at Hogan. "Colonel?"
"Thanks for being concerned and being a good friend. I'll value your friendship always."
"As will I, Colonel," Kinch replied, puzzled at Hogan's last sentence. It almost sounded like the Colonel was saying goodbye to him. Instead of replying, he quietly walked out the room, closing the door behind him. Standing outside the now closed door, Kinch pondered what had just happened. He walked back to the table where the others were still seated.
Newkirk noticed Kinch's strange expression as the radioman sat back down. "You were in there for quite awhile," he said. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure." Kinch's eyes narrowed as he looked at the Englander. "Newkirk, did you ever have someone say goodbye to you without actually saying it?"
"Not that I remember, mate. Why do you ask?"
"I just got the strangest feeling Colonel Hogan was saying goodbye to me without actually saying goodbye."
"What are you babbling about?" Newkirk asked, confused. "Why would the Colonel be saying goodbye? We all know he's not going anywhere."
"I took the message into him. The minute he read it, he turned white as a sheet, and asked me who else knew about the message. I told him we all did. He then told me to forget I ever saw it and asked me to tell you guys to forget you saw it as well."
Carter was perplexed. He wants us to forget about a message from London? That doesn't sound like Colonel Hogan," he said.
"Oui. Something's wrong," LeBeau remarked. "Did you ask the Colonel what was wrong?"
"Sure I did," Kinch replied. "All he said was he was fine, just very tired. Then he thanked me for being concerned and a good friend, and that he would always remember my friendship."
The men all looked at each other.
"Something's definitely wrong, mates," Newkirk replied, after taking a long drag on his cigarette. "But until the Colonel tells us what that something is, we'll just have to wait."
