Chapter 9: Operation Payback
After Schultz left, the men quickly changed into their Gestapo uniforms. Earlier, Kinch placed a call to Koch, congratulating him on the success of breaking the stubborn American colonel. As a token of General Kinchmeyer's appreciation, he and a few of his colleagues, wanted to buy him dinner.
Koch had been delighted to hear his efforts were appreciated. By a general taking him out to dinner, it might mean a promotion in the near future. Maybe even a transfer to Berlin. He waited patiently in front of Gestapo headquarters for General Kinchmeyer to arrive.
A black staff car stopped in front of Gestapo headquarters. A sergeant stepped out of the back and held the door open for him. This must be General Kinchmeyer. Koch quickly entered the back seat of the car. As soon as he was seated, the sergeant who opened the door for him sat down. The car headed down the road before the door was shut.
After they had passed the restaurant he thought they were going to, he asked, "So where are we going to eat, General?"
"We're not," Kinch responded.
Newkirk lit a cigarette. "You have a date with justice, mate."
Koch gaped as the lit match revealed Newkirk's face. "I recognize you." He quickly looked at the face of the general on the other side of him. His face didn't appear dark from sitting in the shadows, it was dark because he was the black American he tortured. "What is going on here? I demand you release me at once." Koch reached for his side arm, but found it missing.
Newkirk pointed the newly liberated pistol at Koch. "Looking for this?"
"It appears to us, you are in no position to demand anything," said Kinch.
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Olsen made Hogan's favorite for a late night dinner; a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When he set the sandwich in front of Hogan, he just stared at it. "Please Colonel, you must eat." Hogan still didn't move. Olsen sat down next to him and cut the sandwich into fourths. He picked up one piece and held it up to Hogan's mouth. "Open up please."
"He's not a child, Olsen." Baker said as he looked up from the book he was reading.
"I know, but I don't know how else to get him to eat." Olsen inserted the piece of sandwich. "Now bite down and chew."
"Good grief. I'm going downstairs," said Baker in disgust.
"I know. It bothers me to." Olsen thought back to the first time he came to camp. He was scared standing in front of Klink. All his fears left when Hogan waltzed into the office and took control of everything. Before he had a chance to fully grasp what Hogan was doing, he had talked Klink out of the mandatory two days in solitary and escorted him to Barracks 2.
Now that same officer sat beside him like a vegetable. He fed Hogan another bite of sandwich. Don't worry, Colonel. The men are handling things.
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"How? Give that back," demanded Koch
Newkirk laugh. "Ummm let me think about it. No. How dumb do you think we are?"
"I should have had Hogan kill all of you when I had the chance," said Koch.
Newkirk punched Koch with his good hand. "That's Colonel Hogan to you. You best not be forgetting it either."
"Letting us live was your mistake. Did you honestly think once we found out what to did to Colonel Hogan we would let you get away with it?" said LeBeau from the driver seat.
"You are a bunch of prisoners. There is no way you can get away with this," said Koch.
"You can keep telling yourself that all the way to London," said Newkirk.
The car turned down the road leading to Hammelburg Lake. It was a nice secluded location in a hilly area and no one visited it this time of year, making safe from onlookers or patrols. The men got out of the car. Newkirk motioned with the pistol he wanted Koch to stand in front of the car.
Since the cars black out lenses didn't give off much light, they didn't worry about turning them off.
"Do you intend to kill me? Is it money you want? Freedom?" asked Koch. "Let me go and name your price."
"Nothing like that. We want you to suffer." Kinch walked up to him. "It wouldn't be fair for all of us to fight you at once. To show you we are fair, we'll make a deal with you. You can choose one of us to fight. If you win, we will let you go and you can do whatever you want to that person. If we win, you get to go on a nice one-way trip to London. Deal?"
"How do I know you'll keep your word?" Koch asked.
LeBeau walked up to Koch with anger in his eyes. "Unlike Nazis, we keep our word."
Koch looked at Kinch with an evil smile on his face. "You said anything?"
Kinch took a deep breath as he tried to not let his fear show in his voice. "I said anything. If you don't take the deal, then we will just do what we want with you."
Koch looked at each person standing around him. He stood with his back to Carter and faced LeBeau. "I choose you." He turned around and punched Carter in the face.
Carter fell to the ground. When the guys took a step toward Koch, Carter held up his hand. "Wait. We have a deal. This is my fight." Carter wiped the blood from his nose and stood up. He removed his Gestapo tunic, throwing it on the grown. "So it begins."
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Klink stared out the front window of his private quarters. The compound was quiet. All the lights were out except in Barracks 2. He didn't mind. Hogan needed his men to take care of him. Right now, he would do just about anything to ensure peace in the camp.
He walked away from the window toward the decanter sitting on the table. He poured himself a drink. He downed it in one gulp. In disgust he threw the glass against the wall, where it shattered.
A few seconds later, Schultz ran in. "Herr Kommandant, are you okay?"
Klink sank into a chair. "Ja, Schultz. How could the Luftwaffe agree to hand Colonel Hogan over to the Gestapo in the first place? How do they expect me to protect these men if they hand them over to the Gestapo? Do you realize Colonel Hogan could file a complaint against Koch and I to the protecting powers? He was counting on me to protect him and I let him and his men down. I'm a failure."
"I don't know why they did it. It was very bad of them," said Schultz. "But Herr Kommandant, do you really think Colonel Hogan will file the complaint against you? After all, you didn't do anything. It was all the Gestapo's fault."
"Yes it was, but the problem is I didn't do anything." Klink walked back to the window. "I let the transfer happen without putting up much of a fight. In the eyes of the prisoners, I'm just as guilty as if I willingly handed him over myself. You realize if the allies win this war and Hogan doesn't get better, they will try to use me as a scapegoat and blame me for what happened to him."
"That isn't very nice. You are a good kommandnt. You run the camp by the rules," said Schultz.
"Schultz, this is war. It's not supposed to be nice." Klink stared at the guard towers and search lights. His eyes roamed the compound as the search lights illuminated the barracks. Each barrack had an armed guard outside the door. Sentries walked their posts inside and outside of camp. Klink even started to feel like a prisoner. "Schultz, how has the rioting been doing since Hogan came back?"
"I'm afraid a rumor of Hogan's condition has spread through camp. Most of the men are very angry. Some of the prisoners are starting to confront the guards," said Schultz.
After a sigh, "I will talk with Sergeant Kinchloe again about it tomorrow. For right now, give the prisoners their space. I need to get out of camp for a while. I'm going to take a drive to Hammelburg Lake. I should be back in a few hours.
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Klink parked his car near where an old friend kept his boat tied up. He walked to the end of the dock and sat down. It was so peaceful and quiet. It was like the area was declared sacred and no fighting was allowed to take place there. He laid back to stare at the stars. They were so peaceful.
When he was a small boy, he would go to his grandfather's cabin in the mountains. At night, they would sit outside staring for hours at the stars. He tried to remember the names of the different constellations he saw.
In the distance he heard the faint sounds of men shouting. He looked around. To his right, was it a dim light he saw? He walked around the edge of the lake to where the noise and light came from. He crept the rest of the way in the woods. He was about ten meters from the circle of men.
His mouth dropped as he recognized Kinch, Newkirk and LeBeau in Gestapo uniforms! He flinched as one of the men fighting delivered a hard punch to the other man, sending him sprawled out on the hood of the car. When the man on the hood got up, Klink recognized him as Carter. What on earth is going on!
The man who had punched Carter was now in a position for Klink to see his face. Koch!
To Klink's surprise, Carter delivered a couple of good punches, sending Koch to the ground.
I should stop this. I should help my fellow countrymen. Klink couldn't force himself to move. It's my duty as a loyal German officer to stop this and haul those prisoners back to camp. Where did they get the Gestapo uniforms? How did they get out of camp? My perfect no escape record is ruined. No. They won't escape. They're too loyal to Hogan. They wouldn't leave him in his condition. They'll be back at camp. I don't know how, but they will.
Klink laughed to himself. Listen to me. I'm leaving one of my countrymen in the hands of the enemy. I have the power to save him, yet I'm not. I don't feel the least bit guilty about it either. He deserves everything they do to him.
He turned away from the fight and headed back to his car. It was odd. He felt at peace trusting his prisoners to do the right thing. He didn't feel guilty by not stopping it or reporting it. He felt good. He felt…free?
Klink sat in his car. If it ever got out what he just did, he would be shot if he was lucky. If he was unlucky, the Gestapo would take vengeance upon him. He shuddered. Who is there to find out? I'm the only one who knows I'm here. Schultz! He's nothing to worry about. I'm not going to tell anyone what I saw. Hogan's men didn't see me. If they did, who are they going to tell? Telling on me would be telling on them.
As soon as Klink arrived back in camp, he found Schultz. "Schultz, I didn't go to the lake. I just drove around."
Schultz shrugged. "Okay, Kommandant."
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The guys were cheering Carter on. Sometimes Koch would get in a few good punches, but so did Carter.
Carter finally knocked Koch to the ground. As quick as lightning, he jumped on top of him. He punched him over and over. He didn't stop until Koch's body went limp. When he stopped, Kinch pulled him off of Koch. All of Carter's strength drained as his adrenalin levels dropped. He stared at his hands. They were covered in blood. In the dim light, he saw all the blood stains on his shirt. Some was from Koch's wounds and the rest was from his.
Kinch left Carter alone as he, Newkirk and LeBeau checked on Koch. Kinch glanced at Carter when he heard him crying. "You guys tie him up and put him in the trunk."
"LeBeau, help me carry this creep over to the trunk." Newkirk said in a low voice, "I never knew he had it in him."
"Oui. Me either," said LeBeau.
"Next time I get upset and start yelling at him, remind me of this," said Newkirk.
"Oui. Same here," said LeBeau.
Quietly, Kinch walked over to Carter who was kneeling down beside the lake. "I can't get the blood off. It won't come off my hands."
Kinch knelt beside Carter. "Andrew, it's over. You made Colonel Hogan proud." He helped Carter to his feet. They took only a few steps when Carter bent over. Kinch held him up as Carter's stomach emptied itself of its contents.
Eventually they made it to the car. LeBeau and Newkirk were in the front seat waiting on them. Kinch gently helped Carter into the back seat.
Newkirk patted Carter on the shoulder. "You did good mate. I take back everything I ever said bad about you."
Carter nodded. "Thanks."
