Chapter 6: And So The Search Begins:

Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy met Kinch, Newkirk, Carter, LeBeau, and Scotty in the radio tunnel to start planning on how they were going to track down Hogan and bring him back to camp.

"Alright," Kinch said. "So far, we know that Colonel Hogan left to retrieve equipment from a previous mission late last night, never came back to camp, and is possibly being held by Italians somewhere in the nearby area."

"Don't forget that both Klink and Hochstetter have patrols out looking for him. If we plan on sneaking out of camp tonight to look for him ourselves, we'll have to be twice as careful to make sure we're not caught," Newkirk chimed in.

"Where could he be, though? Even in the nearby area, he could be anywhere!" Carter pointed out.

"André's right, mes amis. Mon Colonel could be anywhere. And on top of that, we don't even know anything about his kidnappers other than the assumption of them being Italians," LeBeau continued.

"I think Mr. Spock could find more answers for us, couldn't you, Spock," Kirk said, turning to his second in command.

"It is a possibility, Captain," he replied coolly.

"If his captors are causing him harm…" Scotty gulped a knot down. He sure hoped the man was not being tortured. He had read about Hogan and admired him and his work. He thought he was a good man and a well respected figure in the United States Air Force. "How long do yah think he can hold out until we find him?"

"Colonel Hogan's a strong individual. It'll take some serious abuse for him to crack," Kinch answered, crossing his arms.

"Where was he headed last night?" Kirk asked.

"To the remains of a bridge not too far from here. About a thirty minute trip by foot."

"Perhaps taking the route he took last night would help us find some clues to where he went off to," McCoy suggested.

"You think so?" Carter asked.

McCoy gave a friendly smile.

"I do," he said.

The young man gave a small grin and nodded.

"So," Newkirk said. "When do we leave?"

"Tonight at 2200 hours," Kinch said. He turned to Kirk and his men. "Care to join us?"

"We couldn't be more pleased," Kirk replied, smiling.

"Newkirk, you'll go with Kirk as one group."

"Understood, Sergeant Kinchloe," the Starfleet captain said.

Kinch turned to Spock.

"Mr. Spock, you'll take Carter and LeBeau with you as another group."

Spock nodded.

"Acknowledged, Sergeant." Spock answered.

"Dr. McCoy, Scotty, you'll come with me as the last group."

"Aye, lad," Scotty said.

"Whatever you say, Sergeant," McCoy added.

"Captain Kirk," Carter said meekly.

The young Starfleet captain turned to look at the young sergeant.

"Yes," he said.

Carter swallowed a knot.

"You think Colonel Hogan's okay?"

Kirk smiled and put a hand gently on the sergeant's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Carter. Colonel Hogan's gonna be just fine," he answered, in a friendly manner.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. If he happens to be in need of medical attention, we've got the best doctor of the bunch right here with us."

"Wow! Really?"

McCoy chuckled, while blushing.

"Well, I don't mean to brag or anything, but…" McCoy paused, shrugging a shoulder of his.

Carter gave a small smile, and Kirk gently patted the young man's shoulder.

"Alright, men," Kirk said. "Let's go find us a colonel."

Night soon came, and the four Starfleet officers and POWs all snuck out of camp successfully. They stopped at a pine tree a couple meters from the tree stump leading to the tunnels, when Kinch turned around to face all of them.

"Alright. Dr. McCoy, Scotty, and I are gonna head out west. Louis, you, Carter, and Spock search in the south area. Captain, take Newkirk and search the east," Kinch ordered.

"Yes, Kinch." A chorus sang out.

"We'll all meet back here in two hours. Good luck, everyone."

Spock took Carter and LeBeau off in one direction, and Kirk and Newkirk in another. It left Kinch, McCoy, and Scotty to themselves. Both men looked at one another, then to Kinch. The radio man nodded and gestured for the two of them to follow him.

They headed off west, searching for anything that could possibly help them find Hogan and where he was.

"So," Scotty started. "How long have yah been at Stalag 13?"

"Oh, about two years now," Kinch answered.

"I still can't believe none of yah try to escape from the place. I mean, haven't yah ever wanted to go home to yer family in the States, lad?"

"We all do once and awhile, but we all have a job to do here in Germany. We help lots of people get out of this country and assist the Allies in making the war harder for the Krauts to win. Besides, the colonel makes it seem like it isn't even a prison camp."

"He's a good man with a big heart," McCoy said, smiling.

"The biggest heart a man can have. He's the greatest commanding officer and person there could be," Kinch spoke, smiling back.

"Does he have a girlfriend?" Scotty asked.

"One back in Cleveland. Her name's Maggie."

"Cleveland, huh? I have a cousin who lives in Cleveland." McCoy remarked, smiling.

"He wants to ask her to marry him when the war's over," Kinch continued.

"Aw, she must be some special lady to him, then." Scotty beamed.

The sergeant smiled and nodded.

"She is. You can always tell, when she sends a letter to him."

"We've gotta find that man. He's gotta lady waiting for him to come home to her."

"Don't worry, Scotty. The colonel's a strong man. He'll hold out, till we find him."

The engineer gave a faint smile and nodded.

The three of them continued, when McCoy caught his foot on a rock, making him bend his right foot back farther than allowed. He cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground.

Both Kinch and Scotty turned around and gasped.

"Dr. McCoy!" Scotty cried softly.

The two men hurried to McCoy's side and knelt down besides him.

"Are you alright, Doctor?" Kinch asked.

McCoy moaned and tried moving, but fell back down.

"Ah! Oh, I think I did something to my foot." The old doctor groaned.

The three of them then heard voices yelling out to one another in German, and Kinch gulped.

"Oh no," the sergeant said softly.

"What?" Scotty asked, just as quietly.

"Gestapo...they've heard us."

Spock, Carter, and LeBeau were searching through brush and bushes for anything that might be hidden underneath them.

"You find anything, Louis?" Carter asked, off in a distance.

"Non. All I've found is a bunch of pine cones," LeBeau replied sadly.

"Oh," Carter said, depressed.

"And a spider the size of the Eiffel Tower!"

Carter heard a couple of thuds, before he spoke again.

"Don't worry, mon ami. I got him!"

Spock turned to look in the little Frenchman's direction and raised his eyebrow. He found these humans quite illogical and irrational. Almost as much as McCoy. He could not think of that right now, though. He had an assignment to fulfill and was determined to accomplish it. There was a man, a commanding officer that needed to return home safely. He had a loyal crew and even more so, loving friends who were worried and scared for him. Logically, Spock put those thoughts aside and continued looking for possible clues that would lead to Hogan and/or the Romulans.

"What about you, Mr. Spock? Did you find anything?" Carter asked.

"Negative, Sergeant Carter. Colonel Hogan's captors certainly made a well thought out plan before executing it. Still, I would find it being we're dealing with irrational and illogical thinking beings, I am more than certain that we will eventually discover a flaw to their plan," Spock replied.

"Boy, you sure do talk about logic a lot."

The Vulcan gave a puzzled look.

"It is the only way of life, Sergeant," he spoke calmly.

"Have you noticed you don't really speak with any feeling in your voice, Monsieur Spock?" LeBeau questioned, crossing his arms.

"I do not speak with emotion, Corporal LeBeau. I only speak from logical thinking and careful analysis," Spock replied.

Carter and LeBeau turned to look at one another, then back at the tall man.

"Okay, Mr. Spock," the young sergeant simply answered.

"Whatever you say, Monsieur Spock." LeBeau added.

Spock nodded and went back to searching for more clues, leaving both Carter and LeBeau by themselves.

"Is it just me, Louis, or does something seem a bit off to you about Mr. Spock?" Carter asked softly.

"No, I see it, too, mon ami." The corporal shook his head. "Something's off with Monsieur Spock, and I'm determined to figure out what's going on regarding it."

"Me, too."

"We can worry about that later, though. We have the colonel to think about right now."

A weary Carter sighed.

"You think he's alright, Louis?"

LeBeau gave a sigh in response.

"I hope so, mon ami."

The young man let out a breath of air and nodded.

LeBeau scanned the area a little and noticed something off a few feet in front of them.

"Hey. What's that?" He questioned, curious.

"What's what, Louis?" Carter asked.

"That over there," the Frenchman answered, pointing off in the distance.

Carter squinted his eyes and now saw it, too.

"Gee, Louis. I don't know," he said.

"Follow me." LeBeau ordered.

"What about Mr. Spock?"

"We'll come back. Besides, we're still in seeing and hearing range."

"True."

The two of them left Spock to what he was investigating, and went off on their own to see what it was that was off in the distance.

Kirk and Newkirk were searching the area they had been assigned to. The captain looked off into a few trees, finding nothing too interesting to him.

"Anything, mate?" Newkirk asked.

"Huh?" Kirk replied.

"You find anything that might lead us to the Gov'nor?"

"Oh," the young captain sighed. "I've found absolutely nothing. Those Italians have done a pretty good job at hiding their trail."

"Captain, we gotta find him. I can't stand not knowing how the Gov'nor's doing. He could be dying for all we know!"

"I know, I know, Newkirk. I'm going to do everything I can to find him. Hopefully, the other guys are having better luck than us."

"I sure hope you're right."

The two of them suddenly heard a rustle nearby. Newkirk and Kirk huddled closer to one another, both pulling out their own weapon. Newkirk's being a pistol and Kirk 's being his phaser.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Newkirk cried softly.

"I don't know, but keep your eyes and ears open for any sudden movements," Kirk ordered calmly. "Follow me."

"Right, sir."

The two of them continued walking slowly, and their sensory radars on an all time high. It was not long before a Gestapo officer, a captain, jumped out from the side of them.

"You two!" He hollered. "Where did you come from?!"

Kirk and Newkirk turned around and pointed their weapons at the young man.

"Where's your commanding officer?" Kirk ordered.

"I'd ask you the same question! And why is there an Englander with you with his own weapon?"

"He's an undercover agent sent from Berlin."

"I don't believe you. Where are your papers?"

Kirk turned to look at Newkirk.

"Close your eyes or look away," he ordered the Englishman.

"Why?" Newkirk questioned.

"Just do it, Newkirk!"

"Yes, sir."

The corporal turned around, and Kirk fired his phaser. The Gestapo officer collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Kirk hurried over and grabbed the Gestapo officer's gun and made sure he had no other weapons on him.

"Alright, Newkirk. You can turn around now," he kindly spoke.

Newkirk turned around and looked at the unconscious Gestapo officer before him.

"What did you do?" He asked, curious.

"I'll tell you later." Kirk answered.

The two of them continued walking and eventually Kirk stopped, looking down over the edge of a cliff. Newkirk was about to walk off the edge, when the Starfleet captain stopped him with his arm. The Englishman looked down and gasped at what he saw.

The drop was about 25 feet down. There were rocky ledges and a speedy river at the bottom. The captain was pretty certain death was the sentence, but was no doctor. That was McCoy's profession. Not his.

"Where do we go now, sir?" Newkirk asked.

"I don't know," Kirk said. "But I'm pretty sure the Italians didn't take Colonel Hogan here."

Newkirk nodded and looked off at something, when suddenly his eyes grew wide.

"Captain, look out!" He warned.

Kirk turned around sharply and was quick to dodge the Gestapo officer from shoving him over the ledge of the cliff. The two fought on the ground for quite a while, as Newkirk watched from afar, standing close to the edge of a rocky and watery grave.

The two men on the ground eventually rose to their feet and started swinging throws at one another. With all his strength, Kirk managed to shove the Gestapo officer over the cliff. He flailed his arms and screamed for mercy, as he plummeted to his death.

The captain sighed.

"Thank God that's over. Where were we?"

No answer.

Kirk looked up.

"Newkirk?"

Nothing.

"Corporal Newkirk."

Again, no response came.

Kirk looked over and saw that Newkirk was gone from where he last was. The young captain gulped, fearful of what he thought happened to him.

"Oh, God, please tell me it isn't so," he begged.

He hurried to the cliff ledge and looked down at the site. He saw the body of the Gestapo officer lying on the ground beneath him, but no sign of Newkirk. He must have fallen into the river or left the area.

"NEWKIRK!" Kirk hollered.

Nothing.

The captain was about to rise, when he saw something on one of the cliff ledges. He saw a blue hat that RAF men wore during this time period and immediately knew who it belonged to. He then proceeded to frantically check the other cliff ledges, but found no sign of the man lying on or holding onto one.

Kirk gulped and closed his eyes, as he inhaled a harsh breath of air and turned to look up at the nighttime sky.

"Why?" Was all he could ask.