Hogan picked up his pace when General Burkhalter's driver stepped out and opened the passenger door. The guard posted outside Klink's office went to greet them, giving Hogan the opportunity to slip into the outer office unnoticed, Anderson one step behind. He glanced around and picked up a duster and pretended to make himself busy. Anderson caught on and absently started shuffling papers around. Hilda just watched them with carefully hidden amusement.

A moment later, the door burst open and General Burkhalter stepped in with another man. Hogan took a second to assess them. Burkhalter was in his usual sour mood- not at all pleased that he had to come to this particular camp and talk to its bureaucratic, annoying Kommandant. The man behind him, who Hogan could only guess was Doctor Kunze, was half a head taller than the General, lean and handsome. He was not at all what Hogan expected, though he wasn't quite sure what that had been. Doctor Kunze viewed his surroundings intently, taking in every detail and Hogan could see the gears turning in his brain as he analyzed it all.

"General Burkhalter! What a pleasant surprise!" Hogan greeted cheerfully, ignoring the uneasiness he felt as he watched the doctor.

Burkhalter eyed him suspiciously. "What are you doing here Colonel Hogan? Cleaning? That is not a duty required of officers, POW or not."

Hogan mentally winced. How did he miss that? "Well, you know the old saying General; cleanliness is next to Godliness. And Klink can use all the help he can get."

Burkhalter snorted in amusement. "Speaking of Klink…" He turned to Hilda. "Hilda, my dear, would you be good enough to introduce us?"

"Of course Herr General," Hilda replied with a flirtatious smile as she stepped away from her desk. Every man in the room watched her as she poked her head into Klink's office and announced the General's arrival. All except Kunze, Hogan noticed, peeling his eyes away from the secretary. A cold chill ran through him- the doctor was watching him and Anderson intently.

"General Burkhalter!" Klink exclaimed, thoroughly surprised when the rotund general barged into his office. "What are you doing here?! And who is with you?" General Burkhalter rolled his eyes in frustration. How stupid could a man be to forget a conversation from only the night before?

"This is Doktor Kunze," Burkhalter said tersely.

"Oh yes! Now I remember. How kind of you to join him. We didn't expect you so soon. Major Hochstetter was just telling me about your work Doctor Kunze. Very ingenious, very-"

"KLINK!" Burkhalter boomed. "In case you haven't noticed, we are not alone!" He gestured to Hogan and Anderson.

"Hogan! What are you doing here? I sent you to your barracks!"

"Did you? Oh, well, when I saw General Burkhalter arrive, I came back." He swivelled on his heels and turned to face the general. "I'd like to lodge a complaint, sir."

"Hogan, any complaints you have must be brought to me!" Klink said, shaking his fist. "Now out!"

"But the complaint involves you Herr Kommandant!"

"Me?! What did I do?" Klink asked with a mix of fear and confusion.

"Hogan, I am not interested in your complaints. I don't need you to help me find faults with Klink. I can come up with them on my own. Now go away!" Burkhalter ordered sternly.

Hogan was more than a little surprised. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It never happened like this! He always managed to twist the Germans the way he wanted to get his own way.

He was about to protest, but the look on Burkhalter's face made him think otherwise. The German was in no mood for games- not that he ever was- and Hogan could see he would only end back up in the cooler if he tried anything.

"All right, but if you change your mind, I've got a whole list of reasons to send the colonel to the Eastern Front," Hogan said with fake cheerfulness. "Come on, Anderson." He nodded to Anderson and the two quickly exited.

"I take it that didn't go as you planned," Anderson noted, not sure whether he wanted to sound smug or not.

A sour expression darkened the colonel's face. "You take it right, Captain," he muttered as he stomped towards the barracks.

"Can I ask what was supposed to happen?"

Hogan paused and scowled. "I was supposed to feed them the same lines I fed Schultz, Klink and Hochstetter. They were supposed to fall for it but Burkhalter didn't really give me a chance to pitch it to them."

"So now what?"

Hogan let out a deep sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "The operation is on hold for now until I get an opening." He pushed open the barracks door and looked around until his eyes fell on Olsen. "Olsen, get the boys together in my office. We've hit a snag."

"Is it bad colonel?"

"Nah, just a little hiccup," he said, trying to assure the sergeant as well as himself. "Get to it. Come on Anderson, let's see what our merry band of Krauts are saying about us behind our backs." Anderson followed Hogan into his office and watched as he plopped into the chair at his desk and connected the coffeepot. Instantly, the room filled with German voices.

"As I said before," Klink was saying, "I am delighted you are both here. Major Hochstetter was just telling me about your work Dr. Kunze. Subliminal messaging he said. That is very ingenious-"

"Klink, shut up. You don't even know what you are talking about," Burkhalter growled. "I came here after you told me your radio broke down." Hogan held his breath as he heard Klink start to proclaim his ignorance of that but Burkhalter quickly continued. "I wanted to explain to you just why that program is so important."

"Oh, you don't need to explain it to me, General Burkhalter. I understand completely."

"No you don't!"

"Yes sir, no I don't."

"Shut up Klink," Hochstetter yelled.

"Oh shut up all of you!" came a deep voice that Hogan assumed was Dr. Kunze. There was a tense silence before the doctor continued. "You are all acting like children. None of you understand it! And that is the way it should be. But just for my own amusement, and just to humour you as well, I will try to explain it- using small words."

Hogan blinked. The doctor was certainly gutsy to talk to Burkhalter and especially Hochstetter like that. But then again, neither the General nor the Gestapo major would dare retaliate against such an important man. Hogan peered at the door as it opened to reveal Kinch, LeBeau, Carter and an escaped Newkirk. He raised an eyebrow, but Newkirk just shrugged. Matching the gesture, Hogan turned back to the coffeepot, his ears tuned to the sound of Kunze's voice.

"Several months ago, I began work on a new project that would help undermine the Allied war effort- subliminal messaging. Subliminal messaging means a message is hidden in an object, or in this case, sound, that is not detectable by the conscious mind, but rather the subconscious." There was a pause, then Kunze let out a deep sigh. "Never mind. I see small words would be useless. The point is, I've been able to lace Berlin Betty's broadcasts with hidden messages- delivered at a high frequency so it penetrates the subconscious, but is otherwise unnoticed. So far, it seems to be effective as it has already caused one bomber crew to defect."

"Ah, that is very ingenious! But I don't understand why my prisoners must listen to it?"

"Every time a prisoner escapes, it ties up resources until they are caught," Burkhalter explained. "In subjecting them to these messages, we hope they will become content with their lot as POW and stay put."

"Prisoners are of little importance to me," Kunze stated coldly. "They can tie up all the resources they want. We won't need as many resources anyway as long as their comrades who are still able to fight listen to the program. That is why Berlin Betty plays the decadent music she does- so the Allies will listen to it despite her propaganda. And while they are dancing to Glenn Miller and the like, they are inundated with my messages.

"Major Hochstetter, I believe you have the bomber crew that surrendered to the Third Reich. Since I am here, I see no need to wait until you have brought them to Berlin to interrogate them. I'd like to find out how effective my programming was."

"Of course Herr Doktor. But while you are at it, I would like you to interrogate one of the prisoners here as well- Colonel Hogan."

"The American that was just in here? Why?"

"Colonel Hogan has shown signs that he has also been affected by Berlin Betty's broadcasts."

"Hogan? Really?" Burkhalter was clearly intrigued. Klink was more than happy to update him on Hogan's behaviour and attitudes. Burkhalter let out a little belly laugh. "Well this is indeed a welcome surprise. The great Colonel Hogan, who practically bleeds red, white and blue, has turned to the Fatherland!" Hogan shivered and absently scratched his side at that. Anderson noticed but did little more than raise an eyebrow at Hogan's discomfort.

Silence. "How many times has Colonel Hogan listened to the program?" Kunze asked slowly. He didn't sound too convinced.

"Only once. The radio broke during the first session."

More silence. Hogan couldn't help but feel nervous. "He is an incredibly stupid man then," Kunze concluded. Hogan grimaced at the insult.

"I assure you Dr. Kunze, Hogan may be a little insane, but he is not stupid!" Hochstetter barked. Hogan was taken aback by the unlikely defence. "He is the most dangerous man in Germany! I believe he is behind the extensive sabotage in this area and many other strange occurrences!"

"Dr. Kunze, may I point out that Major Hochstetter has never been able to back up those claims with any proof!" Klink said nervously.

"Well, all things considered then, there are four possibilities… First, Hogan is indeed stupid enough to be affected by my messages after only one session. Second, that wasn't his first time listening to it, which means he has a hidden radio. Third, Hogan has always had pro-German sentiments and so it didn't take much for the messaging to affect him. Or fourth, he is pulling the wool over your eyes in an attempt to pull off one of his alleged sabotage exploits." Hogan paled at the last possibility. He was really starting the hate this Dr. Kunze. The man was a lot smarter than Hogan liked. Of course, he'd have to be to come up with something this sinister and make it work.

"I can assure you it's not the first or the third. Your other two suggestions, however, have merit. Klink! Have a guard search Hogan's barracks for any hidden radios immediately!" Burkhalter barked.

"Yes sir! Schultz!"

"On second thought… Major Hochstetter, have one of your men do the honour!"

Hogan ripped the wire out of the coffeepot and jumped to his feet. "Newkirk, down in the tunnel and get back to solitary," he barked. "LeBeau, dig out a radio and 'hide' it. Carter, Kinch, spread the word to Anderson's men- tell them it's okay to co-operate with Kunze. But tell them that if asked, it was all Anderson's idea. All right, move." His men threw him quick salutes and rushed out to complete their tasks. Hogan turned to Anderson, an apologetic look on his face. "Anderson, I hate to break up our budding friendship, but I need to ask you to-"

The captain held up his hand and stopped him mid-sentence. "Don't worry about my feelings. I'll play along. What's the plan?"