Chapter 6

"They had found Corporal Lebeau?" the General asked.

"Yes."

"You remember this event clearly?"

"Yes."

"Yet you understand that he, as well as Corporal Newkirk and Colonel Hogan, is somewhere in this facility right now? You understand the full impact of what you're telling us? "

"Yes sir."

"Continue."

"Well, things just went on like I told you. We worked on getting ready for our escape and kept in contact with London, passing on what little information we could gather while stuck in camp. It wasn't until December that anything changed."

"December, December…" the General said, scanning Colonel Hogan's report. "Ah yes, that was when you state that Kommandant Bernhardt was recalled to Berlin."

"Yes sir."

"And how did this change things?"

"Kommandant Bernhardt left his adjutant in charge. Hoffman was smart enough, still dangerous to us, but he was a stickler for schedules. Suddenly the guards became a lot more predictable."

"So this gave you an opening to start sending men out again."

"Yes sir. There was a space of a few minutes each night around ten p.m, and then again around two a.m., when the area around the entrance to our emergency tunnel wasn't covered."

"And this was when Sergeant Carter came across Herr Stahlecker?"

"Yes."

"What day was this?"

"December 11th."

"How did Sergeant Carter first encounter Stahlecker?"

"He was in the café at the railroad station."

"You know that for certain? Or did he just tell you?"

"He told me."

"What was he doing at the railroad station?"

"He says that I sent him out to get information on the patrol routes and to find out the railroad schedules. Because of the extra security that had been in place for the last two months or so, our knowledge of the area was out of date and I wanted new intelligence before I started planning the evacuation of the camp."

Dr. Snide jumped on Kinch's statement. "He says? You don't remember?"

Very reluctantly, Kinch admitted that he didn't. He didn't know why that would be, other than the memories of both set of events had recently begun to blur together. And though it was extremely inconvenient at the moment, he was glad. It gave him hope that the original events would eventually fade. Finally I might get rid of the sight of that damn truck being pulled out of the river!

"So perhaps you're being swayed by nothing more than the power of suggestion."

Kinch sighed. "Yes, it's entirely possible. Carter has such a smooth and hypnotic voice after all."

Dr. Tall made a soft snort of amusement, then tried to cover it by clearing his throat. "Is this familiar to you at all? Is this in any way the reality that you remember?" he asked.

Was it? Kinch asked himself. "I have no real memory of it no, but it seems logical."

"That's irrelevant," Dr. Snide said. "If you are unable to corroborate Sergeant Carter's story, then all we have is one madman convincing four others that three of them are supposed to be dead."

Kinch was about to protest, but Dr. Tall spoke first. "With all due respect Doctor, we also have Sergeant Kinchloe's testimony as to what he saw last October."

"Fine. Two madmen then. And some crackpot scheme that they've devised between them."

"To what possible end?" Dr. Tall asked.

"Perhaps to shirk their duty and have themselves released from their current assignment," Dr. Snide answered, as if the answer was obvious. Kinch was beginning to truly hate the sound of the man's voice.

"Gentlemen, please!" the General interrupted. "Both Sergeant Kinchloe and Sergeant Carter have outstanding records, and have never given any indication of either cowardice or dishonesty." He turned to Kinch, "On the other hand Sergeant, all options must be considered. I make no accusations, but do you have any evidence to back up Sergeant Carter's story?"

Furious, Kinch took a few seconds to get a hold of himself under the guise of considering the question. "No sir, no physical evidence other than the photos of Stahlecker's notes, which Colonel Hogan has already given you."

"And who's to say that these are anything more than the ravings of another madman? They're not proof that what you say actually happened," Dr. Snide argued.

"A lot of madmen in your world," Dr. Tall remarked.

"Considering this damn war, I'd say that there's a lot of madmen in everyone's world," the Admiral broke in. "We cannot ignore the fact that this is the simpler explanation. No matter how much we may want to," he said, addressing the last part pointedly towards Dr. Tall. "Now, make no mistake," he went on, raising his hand to stave off protest, " I'm not saying that Sergeant Carter or Sergeant Kinchloe are up to anything dishonest, but Sergeant Carter strikes me as being fairly impressionable. He may have come across these notes, which as the Doctor says, may be little more than the ravings of an eccentric. Sergeant Carter read these notes, and not being an expert, believed them. Sergeant Kinchloe has already mentioned that Sergeant Carter hasn't been behaving like himself for the last two months. Perhaps depressed, or suffering from battle fatigue, he then, for whatever reason, concocted this story and began to believe it."

Dr. Snide looked ready to argue that a man in a POW camp couldn't suffer from battle fatigue - Kinch swore to himself that if he did he would break the man's nose - but then the man's expression changed and he quickly shut his mouth . Probably realized that denying battle fatigue would mean Carter's story was more likely to be true, Kinch thought.

"Sir," Kinch addressed himself to the General, "If I can say something?"

"Of course Sergeant."

"I've already told you that I'm not here to prove anything. But whatever you think of us, both Sergeant Carter and I have every intention of going right back to camp and returning to our duty. I've also said that I have no physical evidence. That's true. But I will tell you something - I may not remember everything about - what did you call it before? The other series of events? But I do remember most of it, and not only after Sergeant Carter told me. I remember them winching the truck out of the river. I remember how I felt seeing the lone body in the front. I remember Hochstetter taking the Colonel away. These things have been right in front of my eyes for nearly three months now. From right after that night in October. And if you don't believe Carter, then you're going to have to not believe me as well, because it's not just one man's story!"

Kinch looked at the men ranged up against him. Dr. Snide scoffed, but Dr. Tall was smiling. The Admiral raised one eyebrow as if re-considering Kinch. The General was unreadable, though not as much so as the man in the civilian suit. Despite his silence and lack of expression, Kinch had never forgotten his presence. He got the feeling that this was the man who was pulling the strings - in one way or another.

"So Sergeant Carter is at the café," the General continued, accepting Kinch's statement. "What made him follow Stahlecker?"

"To be honest sir, we can't seem to get him to go into it in any great detail. He told us he was sitting there, watching the guards and other soldiers come in and out, when the two men at the next table started talking loudly. He said that the one man - Stahlecker - 'sounded real worked up' and that he heard him say 'the Eldridge'. Carter said that this made him sit up and take notice. Why I don't know, other than it isn't a very German sounding name.

"Excuse me Sergeant," the Admiral interrupted, "Did Sergeant Carter say how sure he was that the word Stahlecker said was Eldridge?"

"He didn't make a point of it no," Kinch answered, and saw a look pass between the General and the Admiral.

"Fine Sergeant, go on."

"Well, Carter said he listened some more and he heard the man ranting about 'missing a great opportunity'. According to Carter, the other man had seemed bored until this point, like someone who has heard the same hare-brained story from a neighbour a dozen times, but when Stahlecker said something about 'the Americans getting ahead' apparently the other man got nervous and shushed him. Carter said he tried to hear more, but couldn't. But I guess the line about us getting ahead intrigued him enough that he thought following Stahlecker might be a good idea."

Actually, it had been hearing the words 'changing the past, fixing the disasters we're in now' that had really caused Carter to listen to the two men's conversation and then follow Stahlecker. Carter, shame-faced and staring at his shoes, hadn't wanted them to know that he had risked everything on some crazy, grief-stricken pipe dream, and this little tidbit of information had only come out after he and the Colonel had demanded Carter tell the whole story for a fourth time.

"So Sergeant Carter followed Stahlecker to his house - then what?"

"He waited until he saw the man's lights go out and then he broke in."

"Security must have been very lax," Dr. Snide pointed out.

"This wasn't a Nazi project," Kinch explained rather sharply. But he had to admit the other man was right about one thing, Stahlecker was considered an eccentric. From what he had learned recently, other Nazi scientists had refused to become involved in his project because even they had dismissed him as lunatic. Much like this one's doing to me now, he thought bitterly.

"Did Sergeant Carter confront Stahlecker?" the General asked.

"No. According to Carter, he searched through the ground floor of the house until he found Stahlecker's study."

"And everything Sergeant Carter needed was just lying around I suppose," Dr. Snide commented sarcastically.

Kinch looked at Dr. Snide and wonderedhow anyone could constantly feel a need to be such a jackass. "No, Stahlecker's papers were locked in his desk. However, considering the work we've been involved in the last few years, a few locks don't present that much of a problem. Even if lock picking isn't Carter's forte, living with Peter Newkirk has at least made him good enough to open the drawers of a civilian's cheap department store desk. When he found the notebook, he thought it looked promising - "

"How would he know that? Especially in such a short time?" the General questioned.

"Well sir, I know Carter comes off looking like he's not exactly the sharpest pencil in the box, but don't let that fool you. He's got more in the way of scientific knowledge than the rest of us. Sure, it's mostly chemistry, but he's got enough knowledge of basic physics that he can usually tell you the direction and velocity of the blast. And he's got a fair bit of mechanical ability; it doesn't matter what the Colonel asks for in terms of size, materials, triggers or timers, Carter can put it together. He might not have fully comprehended Stahlecker's notes, but I bet he understood enough to recognize that the notebook was important, rather than just making a lucky guess."

"So this is when he took the photos of Stahlecker's notes?"

"Yes."

"Why did he make photos? Why not simply take the notebook?"

"I don't think he wanted Stahlecker to get suspicious."

"Maybe he knew even then what he was going to do," Dr. Tall suggested. Kinch frowned at him without knowing why.

"Did he discover anything else at this time? Did he search the rest of the house?" the General asked.

"No sir. Time was running short; he only had the one chance before morning roll call to get back into the emergency tunnel."

"When he returned did he make any mention of this incident to you?"

"Not at that time, no. He only told us about Stahlecker afterwards."

"After the events of the 23rd."

"Yes sir."

"What was he doing before that time?"

"He had developed the photos and was studying them. I suppose he was trying to make a decision."

"About what?"

"About whether to tell me about Stahlecker and have the photos sent on to London."

"And why didn't he?"

"Maybe he thought that I would think he was crazy. Or maybe that London would think we were both crazy."

"Or maybe that you'd stop him, isn't that right Sergeant?" Dr. Tall asked.

Kinch didn't answer. Ever since he had read Stahlecker's notes for himself, he had been uncomfortable. On one hand, once he had managed to believe something this incredible, he had to admit that they had been given a miracle. Thanks to Carter, Newkirk and Lebeau hadn't been killed in an explosion. Colonel Hogan hadn't been taken away by Hochstetter. The operation was going great guns under the blind eye of Klink and the easily bribable eye of Schultz. He should be grateful, and he was.

However - though he couldn't admit it - deep down he was also angry. When he had read Stalecker's notes on his failed attempts he had become furious with how foolhardy Carter had been. How could you get in that machine Carter? Knowing that the man never had never had a successful experiment? Did you even read that part? Or did you just read enough to figure out how to turn the damn thing on and then jump in? Dr. Tall is right, you knew right from the start what you were going to do. How could you do it? How could you risk the operation on some insane scientist's idea of a damn time machine? How could you risk my life? The lives of all the rest of the prisoners? How could you risk your life when I had already lost everyone else?

The trouble was, how could he say anything? It had worked. There was nothing to worry about. How could he argue about the unbelievably stupid gamble Carter had taken when the results were so fantastic? If Carter had never done what he did, Kinch wouldn't have three of his best friends back.

So how in the name of God could he possibly be angry?

"So Sergeant Carter spent that time deciding what to do and making his plan," the General said.

"Yes sir."

"How did he get rid of Stahlecker?"

"He didn't. He watched Stahlecker's house for several nights until the 23rd, when he saw him leaving for a Christmas party."

"So Sergeant Carter saw Stahlecker leaving his home. He broke in and then presumably searched the house until he came across the German's invention."

"Yes sir."

"Then what?"

"He used it."