The teams reported back that Barton seemed to be doing a thorough inspection of the entire camp: besides the rec hall, workshop, infirmary, laundry, and latrines, he spent times going through many of the barracks, though there didn't seem to be any particular pattern to which ones he was choosing. As in Barrack 2, he focused almost exclusively on the American prisoners, which some of the prisoners from Great Britain, the British Commonwealth, and other European nations found rather insulting.
"Probably doesn't know what our uniforms are supposed to look like for inspection," Newkirk remarked drily at this news. "Can't expect an 'igh-ranking officer like 'im to keep track of details like that when 'e's got a war to run."
Several barracks chiefs commented that the general had frequently asked American soldiers how well and often they ate, how often they got showers and could do laundry, how often they did calisthenics and what other kinds of exercise and recreation were available, and what kinds of self-improvement courses were taught. But just as often, he kept pressing men on what kind of labor they did for the Germans, what kinds of projects Colonel Hogan had volunteered them for. Klink was all too happy to suggest answers, asking if the man in question had helped with a particular road or factory project or working on any local farms. Several times, Barton had asked, "and no one tried to escape?" But in Klink's presence no one could answer freely. Barton had picked up on their wariness, but ascribed it to the wrong cause.
"I didn't like it one bit," Corporal Jim Meadows from Barrack 8 told Newkirk. "Here he was conducting the inspection without having the colonel there, and after bawling him out like he did on Klink's word alone. So no one was happy to see him, but he seemed to think that was just because of bad morale overall because of no escapes, and blamed Colonel Hogan for it. The way he asked his questions, it sounded to me like he wanted us to rat on the colonel in some way, like any poor camp conditions are his fault! And when we didn't, you could tell he thought we were afraid of Hogan, instead of unhappy with him and his questions. But we couldn't tell him anything with Klink sticking like glue right there next to him. You'd think he might have noticed," Meadows finished in disgust.
Newkirk brought the reports back to Kinchloe shortly before the Barrack 2 dinner shift. "I'd like to tell 'im a thing or two meself," he said, shaking his head.
Kinch nodded sympathetically, then glanced at his watch. "It's about time for dinner. I'll get the colonel. Don't pester him," he warned, looking around the room. Everyone nodded glumly.
Kinch knocked on the colonel's door to signal the time for dinner; Hogan came out zipping his jacket. He glanced around, noting the smaller than usual number of men in the barracks, then asked, "The survey teams still shadowing Barton?"
"Yes, sir. I just asked Meadows and Soderstrom to take over, since they're on the earlier dinner shift, so LeBeau and Carter'd have a chance to eat. Meadows will pass the word, so Saunders, Garlotti, Chapman, Pike, and Foster should be along with them."
"Good. Let's go." Hogan headed out the door; the others all followed. Kinch briefed the colonel quickly on the reports from the other barracks. Hogan nodded, but made no comment. As they got close to the mess hall, they ran into the off-duty surveillance teams. Catching Kinch's eye, Newkirk quietly passed on to them Kinch's suggestion not to bother the colonel. All the men made an effort to be cheerful, not pushing Hogan directly to talk but keeping chatter going so he wouldn't have to as they made their way into the mess hall and lined up for their rations of thin barley soup, boiled potatoes, and bread.
They were in the middle of eating when Kinch stopped abruptly, his spoon halfway to his mouth, as he gazed toward the entryway. "Barton's here!" he whispered urgently to the colonel.
"Ten-hut!" bellowed out someone near the door; conversation all over the hall came to an immediate halt as everyone scrambled to their feet to stand at attention.
"At ease," Barton called out. "Continue with your meal, gentlemen." Everyone sat back down; conversation resumed, but at a low buzz as everyone watched covertly while Barton came to the front of line and took rations of soup and bread.
"Did you see, mon Colonel?" LeBeau queried in surprise. "He's going to eat here!"
Hogan nodded. "So I saw," he replied calmly, raising his spoon to swallow another spoonful of soup. He hardly felt hungry, but he knew he needed to project unruffled confidence in front of his men right now.
Klink, meanwhile, was almost dancing in his concern at the idea of the general eating the common rations of the camp. "But General, I planned for you to dine in my quarters this evening, you really must accept my hospitality. . . ."
Barton ignored the Kommandant's pleading and took his soup bowl over to a table filled with men from Barrack 10, who shifted uncomfortably over to make room for him. Klink fluttered around, but Barton paid no attention to the hovering German officer, instead asking the men at the table where they were from. A couple of them answered hesitantly, and as vaguely as possible, highly aware of the hovering Kommandant and not wanting to add any details to their dossiers in Klink's office.
"Klink's fit to be tied," Carter said, trying to hide a grin as he looked down at his soup.
"Oui, he did not plan on the general seeing exactly what garbage he feeds us," LeBeau responded with a sniff.
"If 'e'll eat this rubbish, 'e's braver than I thought. So far 'e's been naught but a bloody coward," Newkirk growled.
"Newkirk!" Hogan snapped out sharply in censure. Unfortunately, he spoke during a momentary lull and his reprimand was audible to several nearby tables.
The Englishman flushed and responded quietly, "Sorry, sir." He glanced up to see Barton watching them and flushed even redder. Clearly, the general had overheard at least that last part of the exchange, and maybe more, so the Englishman doubly regretted his remark. Colonel Hogan was fairly informal for an officer, but he did have certain requirements and Newkirk knew he had just stepped over a line by voicing disrespect for a superior officer. Particularly given the general's presence within earshot, Newkirk realized he might have just embarrassed the commanding officer he had wanted to support. He felt Kinch looking at him disapprovingly, but the sergeant nonetheless came to his aid (or maybe it was the colonel's), moving the conversation on by asking if anyone knew the schedule for the camp volleyball tournament that was running the next week.
Grateful for the new topic, Carter, Saunders, and Garlotti entered into a discussion over which barrack team would likely win; as the others joined in, the sheepish consensus was that Barrack 2 would not be among the finalists, though debate was contentious over whether the team from Barrack 4 (LeBeau's bet), the one from Barrack 9 (Carter and Garlotti's favorite), or Barrack 12's team would win (heavily supported by Saunders, Pike, and Foster). Only Newkirk kept quiet, staring down at his soup, stirring it desultorily rather than eating it.
By contrast, dinner conversation seemed to be going badly over at the Barrack 10 table. Apparently tired of getting one word responses from the wary men at his table, Barton made short work of the meal – as usual, it didn't encourage lingering over anyway – and rose to head out, followed by the relieved Kommandant.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the two left the hall, and the hum of conversation rose immediately. Colonel Hogan was the subject of a lot of covert looks; though highly aware of the scrutiny, he ignored it. Finishing his own meal, Hogan stood, followed in short order by the rest of the men in his barrack. It would soon be time for roll call, so everyone else was finishing up as well, gradually spilling out into the compound for a little time of leisure first.
ooOoo
Everyone took their accustomed places for roll call. They had to stand there longer than usual, well past the point that the count had been accomplished. Eventually Klink and Barton came out of the Kommandant's quarters where, presumably, Barton had gotten a second and better dinner.
"I suppose he got all the privileges of his rank," LeBeau spat out to Carter in a low aside, careful to keep his voice quiet enough that Hogan wouldn't hear, standing on the other side of Newkirk. He trailed off into a muttered rant in French till shushed by Kinch with "Give it a rest, LeBeau!"
Though they did not normally come to formal attention for Klink at roll call, with General Barton present the men all snapped to it, unwilling to give the general any further ammunition to use against their colonel. Having received confirmation of the official count, Klink turned to Barton and asked, "Is there anything you would like to say to the prisoners assembled here?"
Barton frowned at him, then turned to the ranks of prisoners. "At ease," he ordered first, then waited a moment for the men to stand easy before continuing. "Allied soldiers," he called out strongly, "I know you have been told that for you the war is over. But rest assured, at Allied headquarters we are working as hard as we can to end the war and bring you home as soon as possible." Klink's face fell: a rallying speech was not what he'd had in mind.
Barton continued, "But also remember that the war is not over for you: you still have a part to play in keeping faith with your comrades, resisting Nazi propaganda, and refusing to collaborate or help the Nazi war machine in any way. I've seen for myself that you lead lives of privation. Privileges and luxuries as payment for extra work are naturally tempting. But remember that you must never perform any labor that will provide any kind of aid to the enemy, that will prolong the war and might cost your countrymen their lives. Any man who sells out should be condemned by all of you, and you should all keep in mind that such treason will be severely dealt with by the Allied High Command when the war is over – no matter what the man's rank." Barton stared directly and malevolently at Hogan while making this pronouncement. Hogan held and returned the gaze squarely, as Barton finished, "You may have been captured, but you can survive the war with honor, and that is expected of you. Also remember that it is your duty as prisoners to escape, no matter what."
Klink smiled gleefully behind Barton's back as the general made his speech, watching Hogan the entire time, but his smug look disappeared at the general's final comment. Immediately he broke in, saying, "Thank you, General, but I am afraid I must escort you back to your quarters now. It will only be for a short while, however, until your departure in the morning." Following an extra-long "Dissss-missssed" to the prisoners, he bowed the American officer toward the cooler with great courtesy, though he couldn't resist looking over his shoulder in triumph at Hogan as soon as Barton turned to precede him.
For his part, Hogan simply stared bleakly in silence after the two officers, as his men gathered round him muttering darkly. LeBeau was nearly apoplectic with fury. "How dare he say such a thing!"
"Keep it down," Hogan ordered, frowning. "It doesn't really matter what Barton thinks right now. He's just going on what he's seen here in camp. From his perspective, it looks pretty bad: no escapes and me volunteering you all for road, factory, and farm work. But London will straighten him out when he gets back there in a couple of days. He doesn't need to know about us right now – it could even be dangerous, since he's too transparent about saying what he thinks." His gaze shifted around sternly to all of them. "Don't let it get to you; you're giving Klink just what he wants. Got it?" After seeing several sullen looks, he hooked his thumbs in his jacket pockets and repeated himself more forcibly, "I said, got it?" He waited until he heard a ragged chorus of subdued "Yes sirs," then with an exasperated sigh he headed inside the barrack.
Kinch didn't follow him, and after catching sight of his face LeBeau, Newkirk, and Carter remained outside as well. Several of the nearby barracks chiefs came up to join them, their faces etched with worry and anger, and the complaints about the general made a considerable racket. No one's mood was improved by watching Klink march back from the cooler to his quarters, satisfaction emanating from him with every swaggering step.
Meadows finally proclaimed, "He practically called Colonel Hogan a traitor in front of the whole camp. We can't let him leave here thinking that about the colonel! Something's gotta be done." He looked around to unanimous nods of agreement.
"Yep. And here's how we're going to do it," Kinch announced. He'd been thinking this over since the general had left the barracks earlier in the afternoon; the general's speech had simply crystallized his determination. All the men looked at him expectantly. "First, we need someone to pretend to be a malcontent and ask Klink for permission to speak to Barton tomorrow, in the compound before he leaves."
Everyone turned at once to look at Newkirk, whose eyes widened at the sudden attention.
"Why me?" the Englishman asked, genuinely perplexed.
"It's gotta be someone from Barrack 2; Klink'll figure you didn't have a chance to complain like the guys from the other barracks did because Colonel Hogan was in the barrack with you," Meadows nodded in agreement.
"Fine – why me then?"
LeBeau grinned. "Who else can play the malcontent so well, mon ami?"
"Well, 'ow about Carter? At least 'e's in the right army! Barton only pays attention to Yanks anyway!"
LeBeau laughed openly at the idea. "Carter, a malcontent! Next you will suggest that Oscar Schnitzer bring puppies as guard dogs?"
Carter looked apprehensive. "Me, talk to a general? Gosh, I wouldn't know what to say!"
Newkirk rolled his eyes. "Like I ruddy well do!"
Kinch shook his head. "We need someone who's good with words, who's not afraid of the brass, who Klink will believe might complain about the colonel, and preferably who's not in the same army, to make it harder for Barton to take reprisals if he gets mad," he replied, ticking the points off on his fingers.
"Oh well that's just bloody charmin'," Newkirk muttered, not thrilled with the prospect.
Kinch ignored him. "British would be best, since our contacts in London can back us up on this if we need them. Besides, given that Barton saw you get in trouble with the colonel at dinner, it'll mean more to him if you're the one supporting him. All you have to do is tell Barton that he's got the wrong idea about the colonel." He paused and looked Newkirk in the eye. "You said you wanted to tell him a thing or two, right? So how 'bout it, Newkirk?"
Feeling everyone's eyes on him, Newkirk sighed and rested his thumbs in his trouser pockets. "Course I will, for the guv'nor. But if I'm supposed to be speaking for all of us, you blokes can give me some ideas on what and how much I should say."