Chapter 9:
It was well into the early hours of evening, when Burkhalter's car pulled into camp. Kinch, Newkirk, LeBeau, and Carter were in the small room of the barracks listening in on the conversation that was about to go down.
"How mad do you think Burkhalter is?" Newkirk asked.
"He sounded pretty furious on the phone." Kinch replied, remembering how loud he heard Burkhalter screaming.
"Boy, Klink's sure gonna get it for this."
"I don't think I've ever heard Burkhalter so angry before," Carter said.
"Would you be if you found out an investigation was going on without your knowledge?" LeBeau asked.
"Well...I didn't think of it like that, Louis."
"Sssshhhhhhhhhhhh; Burkhalter's entering into the room, " Kinch ordered softly.
The door to Klink's office slammed open, and Burkhalter stood there in the doorway. His face was as red as the swastika wrap Hochstetter wore around his arm. He turned to face Klink and glared at him. The old Kommandant was lost in paperwork. He had not heard anyone enter the room.
"KLINK!" Burkhalter hollered.
The man in calling nearly fell out of his chair. He immediately stood at attention and saluted Burkhalter better than he had ever done before.
"General Burkhalter, welcome to Stalag 13," Klink said rapidly. He was worried, seeing that the general was still furious.
"Why was I not aware of an investigation on Colonel Hogan's death going on?" Burkhalter ordered.
"General Burkhalter, I can assure you I had no idea you were not aware of what was going on. Major Hochstetter had told me you gave him permission, so I thought everything happening around here was being reported to you by him."
"Just one problem, Klink...I wasn't."
Klink shook in his boots violently. How he wished Hogan was there right now to help him.
"Herr General, I'll do whatever you want me to do. Just give me the order," the kommandant said, begging for mercy.
"Drop dead would be a start." Burkhalter spat.
That only made Klink shiver more.
"What else?" The colonel murmured.
Burkhalter pushed Klink's phone in front of him.
"Klink, I want you to call Major Hochstetter immediately requesting his presence. Tell him it's an order from General Burkhalter."
"Yes, General…" Klink began dialing, then looked back up at Burkhalter. "You want me to say it's regarding something with the investigation o…"
"KLINK!"
"Yes, Herr General; calling Major Hochstetter!"
Klink dialed the phone number to Gestapo Headquarters as fast as he could. He was relieved when someone answered immediately.
"Get me Major Hochstetter on the line. Priority call." Klink quivered. He had never been more scared in his life until now. Hogan, help me, Klink thought to himself. Hochstetter soon answered the phone. "Major Hochstetter, this is Colonel Klink speaking...no, I did not know you were in the middle of a meeting."
"I don't care if he were in the middle of a meeting with the Fuhrer!" Burkhalter spat.
Klink nodded, letting Burkhalter know he had been heard.
"Uh, Major...if you would not mind, I need you to come back out here for the evening...they are orders from General Burkhalter, Major Hochstetter...yes, sir...yes...huh...oh yeah, Heil Hitler." Klink hung up the phone and sighed. He was exhausted and just wanted the day over with so he could go to bed and forget everything that had happened today.
"Very good, Klink. You improve more and more each day," Burkhalter said, giving an evil grin.
"Really?" Klink asked brightening up.
"No," Burkhalter replied, his face immediately frowning.
Klink slouched in his chair.
"I didn't think so, General." He mumbled to himself gloomily.
Kinch, Newkirk, Carter, and LeBeau had put away the coffee pot in the small room and now were sitting at the table in the main area of the barracks.
"Boy...Burkhalter's sure ticked off," Carter said, as he held his coffee cup.
"I don't think we've ever seen Burkhalter any angrier than now," LeBeau said, taking a sip of coffee.
"I can understand where he's coming from, though. I mean, how would one of us feel being left in the dark about something big like this if we were him?" Newkirk asked, lighting a cigarette.
"What do you think, Kinch; should we help Klink?" Carter asked.
"I don't think Klink's in any trouble right now. We will, if something changes." Kinch replied.
Carter nodded and took another drink of coffee.
LeBeau sighed.
"Sure wish mon Colonel was here. This whole situation would be fixed by now, if he were here," LeBeau sadly said.
"Yeah...it sure is different without him," Kinch said.
"Well, look on the bright side. The Colonel's healthy again, and he's working with General Berkman," Carter said, trying to remain positive.
"So why do I feel so miserable, then?" LeBeau murmured.
"I'm with Louis on this one...in fact, I'm kinda jealous of London." Newkirk added.
"You are?" Carter asked.
"Well, yeah; they have the Gov'nor, and we don't."
Carter frowned.
"Kinch...are you sure we can't bring him home?" The young man whimpered.
"I'm sorry, Carter. It's too dangerous, and we owe our lives to the Colonel. It's our job to protect him...since we couldn't before." The dark man answered sadly.
"I know we shouldn't feel guilty for the Colonel getting ill, but I still do...and I have no idea why," LeBeau said grim.
"We should've saw how he was suffering before it became too late to do anything." Newkirk sighed.
"I remember some words of wisdom that the Colonel gave me once...it might make us feel a bit better, too." Kinch began.
"What is it, mon ami?" LeBeau asked.
"He said that 'for every bad thing, there's always something good as a result of it'." Kinch answered.
Newkirk shrugged his shoulders, as he took a drag on his cigarette.
"Bad thing: we lost him. Good thing: he's safe in London and is healthy again," the Englishman said.
"And look at it this way; had we not got him to London, he would probably be slowly dying somewhere in some horrible psychiatric hospital in Germany." Kinch added in.
"Colonel Hogan once told me one night when he was leaving for a dangerous mission by himself, he said 'if something ever happens to me, I'll always be with you, Kinch, Newkirk, and LeBeau...you just have to remember me is all'," Carter said, giving a sad smile. Remembering Hogan's words of wisdom made him feel better, but at the same time, it made him sad. He missed his talks with the American, his advice, his smile, and kind attitude towards everyone; even to Hochstetter, of all people!
Kinch smiled small.
"Remember him...he's still here with us, as long as we remember him," he softly said.
"I'll always remember him," LeBeau said proud.
"Me too," Newkirk said.
"I sure won't ever forget him; no siree." Carter added.
Olsen, who was keeping look out for Hochstetter, closed the door and made his way over to the four sitting at the table.
"Hochstetter's here." He reported.
"Back for more coffee, men," Kinch said, standing up.
Newkirk, LeBeau, and Carter followed their friend and made their way to the small room and went back to their show.
Hochstetter made his way up the Kommandantur's and into Klink's office. He was stunned to see Burkhalter in front of Klink's desk. He could tell by the feel of the room that Burkhalter was not in a good mood. Klink was slouched back in his chair trying to cower away from both men. He was obviously terrified from something.
"General Burkhalter...what an unexpected surprise," Hochstetter said, forcing a grin. He had no idea what the man was doing here, but he was sure he had a feeling telling him why.
"Major Hochstetter; I was expecting your visit," Burkhalter said, giving an evil smile.
"What are you doing here?" Hochstetter asked, glaring at Klink. The kommandant got the message and slid further down in his chair. Someone, please kill me, Klink thought silently to himself.
"The question is, Major, what are you doing…" Burkhalter's facial expression changed to the one Klink had seen when he first got there. "Starting an investigation without my permission?!"
"General Burkhalter, I can explain myself." Hochstetter put it.
"You better! Instead of hearing this all from you, I hear from this bumbling twit sliding further down in his desk!"
Klink froze where he was. It was like Burkhalter had eyes everywhere on his head. There was no way of escaping. The old Kommandant swallowed a large knot in his throat and continued watching in horror.
"I have come to conclusion with what happened six and a half months ago, when Hogan was taken to Hadamar for treatment. There is no record of his death being recorded and no death certificate for his death." Hochstetter sneered.
"Klink has a death certificate for Hogan's death." Burkhalter hissed.
The German colonel slid a touch more in his chair. Anymore, and he would fall out...perhaps that was not a bad idea, Klink thought. Maybe he would knock his head on his desk and go unconscious while this all occurred.
Hochstetter turned to look at Klink and grinned. He had the man right where he needed him.
"You didn't tell him, Klink?" Hochstetter beamed menacingly.
Klink did not respond in any way. He sat there blankly staring at nothing. At that moment, he was not sure whether he was more safe remaining silent or telling the truth. Maybe none of those options were safe. He made his eyes glance over at where the window was. At any moment he felt the least bit afraid, he was going to jump for it.
"Tell me what, Klink?" Burkhalter asked, turning to face him.
Klink swallowed before speaking.
"General Burkhalter...I seem to have...I might have...I appear to have uh...misplaced Colonel Hogan's death certificate." He trembled.
"WHAT?!" Burkhalter snapped.
"Schultz! Come here quickly!" The kommandant cried. The fear could be heard clearly in his throat.
"Schultz can't help you now, Klink." Hochstetter hissed.
Hoooooogaaaaaaan...help me, Klink begged in his mind. He hoped from Heaven that his late Senior POW would make sure nothing went ugly.
"What do you mean, 'you misplaced it'," Burkhalter ordered.
Klink licked his suddenly very dry lips, when the door opened, and Schultz walked in and made his way to Klink's desk. The old Kommandant shot up and stood very close beside the big guard for protection.
"Schultz, whatever you do...don't...move," Klink ordered.
"Kommandant, what if I need to use the bathroom?" Schultz asked.
Klink snapped his head to Schultz.
"Oh, shut up!" He begged.
