Later – Evening
The Barracks - 2230 Hours

Today has been normal, nothing that indicated that the Gestapo is hot on our trials or worse: that they're looking for their little spy.

Well, anyhow, the day of the mission was still up in the air for me. During the day afterwards I took to Rob's quarters and was staring at a wall. I had already readdressed the final letter to Father and was becoming freakishly paranoid about the assignment again. I was afraid for everybody, for this, like every other mission, could have us shot. My neck, always the one to warn me of such things, had been prickling and therefore, my concern was justified. The best thing to do for me was to calm down and this meant being alone.

I couldn't tell the time, but when Rob came in, it was dusk and about time to put the plan into action. "Are you all right, Nikki? Nikki? Miss Saucy Tongue?"

I turned towards Rob and just nodded my head. I almost bugged my eyes out when I saw him in a Gestapo colonel's uniform. It was like my sadness and paranoia was lifted off my shoulders when I saw him, it was that absurd. I laughed good and hard. It was worse when Rob saluted me and said in a German accent (which he still doesn't really have because it's so American), "Herr Major, your uniform awaits!" By then I was ready to hit the floor and cry with laughter.

In my laughter, I saw Newkirk come in with my uniform. He, too, saluted me and said in a German accent (his is better than Rob's), "Herr Major, your uniform! Heil Hitler!" He handed the uniform over to me, clicked his heels together and saluted me once more and said again, "Heil Hitler!" Newkirk then turned on his heel and spun out of the room, only to have Rob hit him on the head with a pair of his gloves. By then, I was really on the floor, crying again. The uniform, which I lost in my hands, was lying misplaced on the floor. The laundry that I hung up earlier had been knocked over and was flying all over the place. It was a ruckus!

Rob laughed along with me and picked up my uniform, trying to hold me up at the same time. It was so incongruous trying to hold each other up and be serious, so we stopped. I sighed and grabbed a blanket to tack across my bunk, taking the uniform with me. I tucked myself in there and listened to Rob talk about the mission as he picked up my now-dirty clothes and hang them back up on the line (I must say, the quarters are not cleaned and explains why my laundry is now dirty). We had to make sure I was passable to the Gestapo in the dark, for sure, before heading out. We had about three hours to go and Carter and Newkirk need to head out. "LeBeau has ensured us that there is no bedcheck tonight but the usual roll call at 2045," Rob began.

"A little food never really hurt Schultz," I called out from behind the blanket. I heard Rob chuckle and continue.

"The Underground has set up a trap for our suspected double agent and London has approved of it," Rob continued. "We're to meet him at the bridge. For him, it's to make sure that he has help from the Underground. He's the same teen-ager that keeps asking for help from the Underground, says that his father was killed by a German woman and the Krauts are hot on his trial. His code name is Athena."

A teen-ager is asking for our help? "He has some wisdom, huh?" I said as I slipped into the uniform shirt. "Are you sure he's wise enough to know he's heading into a trap?"

"Probably," said Rob, "but we have to keep on our toes too. This agent was sent on purpose, remember, because he's suspected to be a Gestapo spy and the Germans probably sent him in because they want to catch us at something. If he really is a double agent, then we'll know."

Rob started to whistle "Unsung Heroes," something I haven't heard in a long time. It made me more baffled than before. "We will know? How will we know?" I popped my head out of my bunk and unhooked the blanket. I looked at myself in the nearest mirror, which was the one that Rob used when he shaved himself (rare is that time since LeBeau does it). The uniform looked really good, it didn't show how small and thin I really was. "Rob, are we using a different code then he's anticipating?"

He stopped whistling and smiled at me, I saw him through the mirror. "Everybody will know but him. That's the catch. If he is one of us, then he'll know the code, for it is the common one used among us and the Underground. Every agent in every unit in the Underground here knows this code. Krauts haven't caught this one yet."

"So, what's the code?" I was pulling my fingers through my short hair and grabbed the customary hat that came along with my uniform. Someone must have left it there for me because I never saw it before then.

Again, there was that smile. "Oh, something we both knew first." Rob shrugged his shoulders at me as I turned to face him, giving him one of my most menacing looks. He laughed. I pulled myself back to normal, trying hard to suppress a smile, but failed. I even raised an eyebrow at Rob and waited for the code. He said, "Nikki, do you remember the words to 'Starman'?"

I shook my head and laughed.

~00~

After those half a million prisoner checks and making sure we had our Gestapo uniforms hidden well enough before taking them out again to change for the real thing, Rob had ordered that Newkirk and Carter leave. They left through the emergency tunnel with their papers, supplies and some tools. "Making sure that the Krauts catch us, Colonel Hogan," Carter told me before he left. Newkirk just hit him in the head with his hat and pushed him up the ladder, causing Carter to almost break his neck in a fall.

"That's the bloody point, Andrew!" Newkirk yelled at him. It was by then only an hour before Rob and I had to go. So far, so good: my neck wasn't prickling this time (I had calmed down enough) and Rob and I were scoot-free. Nothing was going on tonight, according to LeBeau.

One incident almost had us in the slammer or the firing squad for good except we were caught by the right person. Just as Rob was ready to go (I was still getting changed for the real thing and Rob is always ready to leave early) Schultz came in. Kinch and LeBeau were trying to stall him in a poker game they had started with some other men, but he saw Rob in his Gestapo uniform in a shadowy corner of the barracks. Before I knew it, I heard Schultz rummaging around our barracks and calling for me. I can explain that one, for Schultz is usually here for a reason. Regularly, about once a week, Schultz would come looking for me and ask me if I could play some cards with him and the guys here, which also explains the poker game LeBeau and Kinch had going. The first time Schultz asked me, I was in utter despair because I had just lost everybody. As time went on, it was fun hanging around Schultz once in a while. I didn't like the gambling and I just play along for Schultz just because he's a good guard for a Kraut.

I pulled the blanket aside and went to the door. I pressed myself against it and was listening to the conversation (might I mention that I was still half-naked?). Through the doorway, I heard that Schultz sounded as frustrated as ever before. I'm guessing he was tired of our silly antics, in all seriousness. "Colonel Hogan, PLUL-EASE! To be wearing a Gestapo uniform is to have you SHOT!"

I was putting my knuckles in my mouth when Schultz said this, I was ready to giggle. It's amazing how much Rob and the rest of the crew can manipulate poor Schultz. I hate doing that, but just seeing them pushing him around is funny. You still have to pity the poor guard, though.

Rob's reply was perfect, just in time to confuse our guard. "Come on, Schultz, I just put this one to make the Colonel smile a little. She's sick, you know, really sick."

I heard Schultz chuckle. "Well, Colonel Hogan, that's good, but –" Schultz stopped himself and then I heard him, for once, be serious. "COLONEL HOGAN! Why wasn't Captain Nitlz informed about this? And what about THAT Gestapo uniform? WHERE DID IT COME FROM?"

"Well you see Schultz – LeBeau, go check on the Colonel – she's…" And so Rob rambled. I scampered away from the door and headed back to the bunk. I took the blanket off the bunk, hid my Gestapo uniform under it and jumped into bed, hugging the blanket with me. I hurt my shoulder and side more than I had anticipated, but I had to make sure that Rob's story checked out. I was pale and sickly-looking enough and didn't have any of that female paint on me. That and I didn't want LeBeau seeing me half-naked. I think the up-close and personal measuring was enough. Well, on second thought, the shower incident from a few weeks ago was enough. The men were stealing my clothes and dismantling the showers for public viewings! Lucky I didn't court martial them for disrespect! That should be ranked as one of the most embarrassing moments I've had here so far.

LeBeau opened the door and closed it quickly behind him, holding a bowl of soup and our rag-tag thermometer. He set those things upon the desk and ran to me, whistling about the misplaced laundry, and fixed the blankets. He tried to get me to roll over to my right side, but with no success. I struggle against him and almost smacked him in his retaliation to hold me in that position. He didn't remember where I was hit and figured out where only when I struggled. Then he stopped.

"The Kommandant has lost his mind," LeBeau hissed with some nastiness in his voice, annoyed. He continued to make sure everything was in order (it was) and that my uniform was hidden. I didn't need any makeup to create a sickly person, for I looked it already.

Beyond the door, I heard Schultz asking, "Where is Newkirk and Carter?" He sounded panicky and afraid. Nitlz must have bent his will already and frightened him into giving some information, but everyone is familiar with Schultz's main idiom: "I know NO-TING!"

LeBeau jumped when he heard the door open. I closed my eyes and tried to look as if I was sleeping. It was hard because I was ready to giggle again, this time in excitement and at the comic scene I can almost imagine outside. I did hear LeBeau trying to get Schultz out (I knew it was Schultz because of the noise that was created as the door opened) and the door slammed in the end. I got out of bed (forgetting that I was half-naked) and sat next to LeBeau, also sitting, at the door. Schultz was talking and sounded like he was in doubt about the situation again, saying, "Maybe I should tell Kommandant Nitlz…"

"No, you shouldn't, Schultz," Rob said rashly and boldly. So, he was trying to keep up with this charade and hide a little something around that captain. Keep it up, Rob!

However, Schultz couldn't be wavered in his decision this time. Maybe Rob shouldn't have told Schultz I was sick! "But I have to report this, Colonel Hogan. You should NOT be in Gestapo uniform. AND there are two missing prisoners! This should be told to the man in charge and I should be the one to do it!"

It was lucky for us that Rob started in on his blackmail, just in time (very quick thinking, I might add): "I'm sorry then, Schultz. I guess you'll be wearing cold weather clothing at the Eastern Front. I mean, how can a prisoner of war get a uniform like this and get it past his guard? Not to mention, Schultz, that two prisoners are gone after roll call only two hours ago?"

Schultz still wasn't afraid. "Cold weather has never hurt me, Colonel Hogan. And beside –" Schultz stopped midsentence, probably shocked by what he said by this small detail, and whispered, "The Eastern Front?"

I could almost hear Rob's smile. "Oh yes, Schultz, the Eastern Front! And this isn't the only thing Nitlz is going to hear. I mean, there is also this story, a rumor, about a certain guard here at Stalag 13. He didn't mind his own business and told the present Kommandant everything that went on this camp. Now, this guard had stolen, before this incident, three pairs of nylon stockings of a certain colonel and twelve pounds of Red Cross coffee meant for pris–"

Bingo, I thought as I heard the satisfying answer, the one we needed desperately. "COLONEL HOAGN!" Schultz must have been covering his ears for now he was screaming loudly. "I SEE NOT-ING, I HEAR NOT-ING AND I KNOW NO-TING!" Then I heard a door slam, and this time, it was the barracks' door.

"Well, that takes care of that," I said to LeBeau, who wasn't even paying attention to what I was saying, but to what I was wearing. He was gaping at me and started whistling. I blushed red and made a grab for the blanket on the bed. I was mortified!

"LeBeau, back off! That's an order! Just…back…away…LeBeau!" I was screaming. It was that insufferable look that prevailed and not the respect he was suppose to be giving me as senior officer. So, covered in a blanket, I screamed further and was just about to slap him silly when the door opened. It was only Rob, still in his Gestapo uniform.

"Colonel, what's all this yelling about?" Rob asked. He only had to turn his head to see LeBeau's unmoving, almost drooling face. Unfortunately, he was laughing and this time, it was at me and the situation at hand. "LeBeau, out!" he ordered before doubling over in laughter. Turning back to me he said, "Nikki, you better hurry up before the guys get in here with the dummy. And I hope you're dressed fully next time!" He then shut the door behind him. I could still hear his laughter behind the door.