Chapter 4: Explanations

Hogan and the rest of the men did their best to keep Tom distracted so he wouldn't realize Carter hadn't come back yet. Hogan wasn't ready to tell Tom everything yet. He wanted to. After all Tom was his brother; but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't know why, but for some reason he didn't trust Tom. Coming to think about it, he hadn't trusted Tom for a long time.

The last time Hogan and Tom had talked was before he went on his first spy mission to Berlin in 1938. He couldn't tell his family the truth, so he made up some story about going to London to do some training with the RAF.

His mom and dad had accepted his story, but Tom didn't. He said the US had no business going to London or training with the RAF or being part of the conflict between England and Germany. Tom also thought he was too immature to take on the responsibility. Hogan always believed Tom was jealous because he wasn't chosen for the "honor" of training with the RAF.

Hogan remembered the stories Tom would tell about planning and distributing what he called humanitarian aid all over the world. It was something he never understood. What could be so important about distributing humanitarian aid that Tom would have to go to top secret instillations in the middle of the desert for specialized training?

As Hogan watched the football game, his mind drifted back to their days at the Academy. For a short time, both Hogan's attended West Point at the same time. The football game between the upper classmen and lower classmen was tied. Hogan was running toward the end zone for a touchdown, which would have won them the game, when he saw a gorgeous female on the sidelines. A gust of wind blew, causing her skirt to rise a little too high. The small distraction caused Hogan to slowdown enough for Tom to tackle him. His team mates never let him live it down. They teased him by calling him Goldilocks.

The teasing carried all the way to his flying career. When he was first given a B-17 to fly, it had a woman, resembling the one on the sidelines, painted on its nose. The plane was named Goldilocks. He often wondered who he had to thank for that.

SMACK! Hogan jerked out of his thoughts at the sound of the football hitting the building behind him. Tom jogged up to Hogan.

"Sorry about that little brother," said Tom

"Sure you are," said Hogan with irritability.

"You think Carter is okay? He's been gone for a while?" said Tom with concern.

"Carter's tough. As a matter fact, here he comes now." Hogan pointed toward the infirmary.

Tom walked up to Carter and Newkirk. "How's the ankle?"

"Wilson said I'll be fine. Just twisted it was all. Sorry, but I have to sit out the rest of the game," said Carter as he made his way toward Hogan.

"Looks like the cheering section is growing," said Hogan.

After Tom rejoined the game, Hogan asked Carter how things went.

"It was a piece of pie, Colonel. We got enough stuff to take down the bridge with no problem. You might want to ask Klink to stock up on more supplies though. Even the Krauts are getting low," said Carter.

Hogan shook his head. "I doubt it. He was already complaining about Berlin taking too much from him already."

HH HH HH

After dinner, Hogan familiarized Tom with the names of all the guards and important traits of each. "It's good to know which ones will look the other way or can be easily bribed and with what."

"What about that big Kraut over there?" asked Tom.

"That's Berlitz. He's the only die hard Nazi Kraut here. He cannot be bribed and he will not look the other way. Thankfully, Klink has him on the front gate most of the time," answered Hogan.

"That seems odd. All the rest of the guards are de-clawed pussy cats except Berlitz. Is there some reason why he isn't fighting on one of the fronts?" asked Tom.

Hogan nodded. "Yep. His father's on the General Staff. He used to guard more of the compound until he got too physical with the prisoners. Klink tried to have him transferred. After being threatened with a transfer himself, Klink reassigned him to a post where he won't have much contact with the prisoners."

Tom shook his head as he stared at Hogan. "I'm sorry for the comments I made earlier. I had no idea you were recently tortured. By the looks of the scars, this wasn't the first time either."

Looking away from Tom, Hogan said, "No, this wasn't the first time. Like I said, I lived through two months of hell before I came here. They didn't start abusing me at first. After their more subtle techniques didn't work, they resorted to more violent measures."

"I thought the Luftwaffe was supposed to protect prisoners? What happened?" asked Tom.

"The Luftwaffe didn't do most of this; Gestapo did. When I was first shot down, I was more than a handful for the Luftwaffe. They didn't know what to do with me. They had threatened to turn me over to Gestapo if I tried to escape one more time. I didn't believe them, so I escaped again. Before I knew what had happened, I was sitting in a Gestapo jail cell," said Hogan.

"You don't have to tell me anymore. I can tell you have been through hell and understand why you act the way you do. But I'm curious though, you mentioned earlier they have tortured you since you have been here as well," said Tom.

"Colonel Klink is a decent German officer. He stands up to the Nazis some of the time. Once they start threatening him with a transfer, he calls his superior, General Burkhalter. Most of the time, it gets the Gestapo off my back. But then there are those times when the Gestapo has orders to question me. It's at those times when Klink and Burkhalter's hands are tied. They have no choice but to let the Gestapo do what they want." Hogan stared at the ground. Images of some of the torture sessions came to his mind.

Tom placed his hand on Hogan's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Hogan looked Tom in the eyes. He could read what Tom was thinking. It was something he didn't consider and now wondered as well. Would they come to question Tom now, or would their suspicions still rest on Hogan?

HH HH HH

After evening roll call, Tom and Hogan sat in their room smoking pilfered cigars as the men went on their mission.

"Were you on the level with me about the reason you can't escape? Tom asked.

"Yep." Hogan knew where this was going and was hoping to avoid it.

"I understand why you don't escape, but why don't the men?" Tom asked.

Because they have orders not to. "On the other side of the coin, if they escape, I'm the one who gets punished since I'm responsible for them," said Hogan.

"Isn't there some way all of us can band together and take over the camp? The number of prisoners far outweighs the number of guards. Once we gain control of the camp, we can get back into the fight." Tom said eagerly.

Hogan walked over to the window, staring out through the crack. "Could, but we don't have any weapons. How are we going to overtake the guards? How many of the men will be killed or injured? It isn't worth the risk."

Tom walked over to Hogan. "Rob, we're at war. Or have you been sitting here for so long, you've forgotten it. You're a commanding officer. It's your duty to send these men out to fight. Unfortunately, death is a possible side effect. Do you have any idea of the impact we could make on the Krauts if we attack them from behind their own lines. We could either cripple or draw their attention away from the advancing allies. This could work."

Somberly, Hogan shook his head. He glared at Tom. How could he be so cold and unfeeling for these men to waste their lives? "It's one thing to send men into battle, but it's something else to send them on a suicide mission. I will not send these men on a suicide mission."

Tom stared at Hogan. "You're also not the one in command anymore."

Did Tom just pull rank on him again to send his men, yes; they were still his men, on a suicide mission. If he disobeys Tom's orders, he could be court-martialed. This wasn't a hard choice for Hogan to make. He'd rather be dishonorably discharged and spend the rest of his life at Leavenworth then send his men on this mission of Toms. "I will not allow this to happen. If you try, I'll do whatever I have to, to stop you."

Hogan noticed Tom didn't react to his threat. Had Tom been expecting it? Was he pushing his buttons to make sure there was still some fight left in him?

"Relax Rob; I'm not going to do anything of the sort. Like you said, we don't have any weapons. Look, I worry about you. I want to understand the new you and what motivates you now. I want to understand the reason behind why certain things either happen or don't happen around here," said Tom. "Surely, the men here have realized the prisoner/guard ratio and have considered it?"

"Maybe. Like I said, most of us change who we are so we can survive." Hogan quietly stared off into the distance.

BOOM!

Tom ducked under the bed. "What was that? Is it a bombing raid?"

Calmly Hogan answered, "No, just a train blowing up."

"How do you know what it was? Why aren't you taking cover?" Tom asked in almost a panic.

"It happens regularly. You get used to it." Hogan could hear faint cheers coming from the common room. He knew the mission was successful and his men were safe at home. He climbed in bed. Will have to talk to Carter about setting those timers, they're cutting it close this time. "Good night, Tom."

HH HH HH

As regular as clockwork, during morning roll call, Major Hochstetter made his appearance.

"Klink, I demand to speak with Hogan immediately," yelled Hochstetter.

"Which one? I have two of them now," said Klink, calmly.

"What do you mean which one? Did you say you had two of them?" Klink nodded in response. Hochstetter marched to where the two colonels were standing in formation. He looked from one to the other. "Hogan, what is going on here? Is this some sort of game?" Hochstetter asked.

"No game. Kommandant Klink got lucky enough for this Colonel Hogan, no relation, to be stationed here. Would you know it; he outranks me," said Hogan with a smirk.

"Don't think for one second this'll keep me from investigating you. I know you're somehow connected to the bombing last night or know something about it and I intend to prove it," said Hochstetter waving his finger under Hogan's nose.

"Is there a problem, Colonel?" Tom asked.

"Stay out of this. It doesn't concern you," said Hochstetter.

"I'm afraid it does. Any time it involves any of the men in my command, meaning this camp, it's my business," said Tom as he stared down at Hochstetter.

"Would you like me to make you wish you stayed out of this?" Hochstetter glared at Tom as he cracked his knuckles.

The last thing Hogan wanted was his brother to endure everything he had. "Major, this is between us. Leave him out of it."

Hochstetter's attention shifted back to Hogan. "We'll talk again soon."

Tom leaned close to Hogan's ear after Hochstetter got back in his car. "Is he the one responsible for your…"

"Drop it, Tom." Hogan had too many things going through his mind to keep playing twenty questions with Tom.

Hogan delayed Tom going into the barracks so one of his men could go downstairs to man the radio. "Something you have to understand, Tom, I'm not used to having anyone but the Nazis play twenty questions with me. Not even Klink bothers interrogating me like he's ordered to."

"It's just we hadn't talked in so long, I want to know all you've been through and what you've done. You used to talk to me about everything. I'm still here for you." Tom put his hand on Hogan's shoulder. "You never know, I might understand more than you think."