Chapter Ten: No Free Rides
"It's gone!" Chekov repeated, frantically searching his sock; then checking his shoe, just in case it had somehow fallen out and landed in there. About the time he started to panic, he noticed the others staring at him with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "Ya ne sumasshedshij…I know it vas here!" he exclaimed.
"No one said you are," Tiger replied, sympathetically.
"Are what?" Carter asked.
"Crazy," Tiger translated.
LeBeau looked at her, surprised. "You speak Russian?"
Tiger smiled. "Just a few words and phrases. It has helped me out on a few occasions."
"Well, what did this thing look like?" Carter asked Chekov, getting back to the matter at hand. "Maybe it fell out somewhere in this room…" His voice trailed off as he leaned over and started looking around on the floor. After a couple of sweeps back and forth, he straightened up and announced, "Nope, nothing on the floor."
"It must have fallen out either in the voods, vhen ve vere captured, or… Bozhe Moj!" Chekov's eyes widened even more, "In the truck, vhere the Germans could find it!"
"What happens if the Germans find it?" LeBeau asked.
Chekov didn't answer for a moment; thinking it through. If the Germans did find the communicator and started to mess around with it, they would inevitably contact the Captain or Mr. Scott, who – as soon as either of them heard German voices on the other end – would send a signal to make it self-destruct. Realizing it shouldn't be a problem after all; he quietly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Nothing."
LeBeau frowned. "Nothing? You got us all worried over nothing?"
Chekov shrugged. "Sorry."
LeBeau walked over and sat down heavily next to Tiger. "So, how did that thing work, anyway?"
"Vut do you mean?"
"You said you could contact Captain Kirk with it."
"Oh, that!" Chekov replied. "Vell, it acts like a type of beacon…sort of a homing dewice."
"What's so secret about that?" LeBeau snorted, "We use things like that all the time!"
"Yes, I suppose you do," Chekov muttered, looking properly embarrassed.
"Well, it's too bad you lost it," Carter piped up. "It would have made it easier for the colonel to find us."
"Oui, and if the Germans had found it on him, they would know we are spies!" LeBeau exclaimed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Louis," Carter agreed. "Maybe it is better you lost it," he said to Chekov.
Chekov inwardly shook his head. It was going to be a long night.
Hogan peeked out of the hollowed-out tree stump; watching until the searchlights had passed, and then climbed out quickly and made a beeline for the safety of the trees. He waited there; watching as Kirk followed his example. After him came Spock; then Newkirk bringing up the rear. When they were all there, they took off for town; Hogan in the lead.
It was a fair distance by foot, but Kirk had reminded the colonel that his 'borrowed' car might still be parked along the side of the road, so Hogan headed in that direction. They reached the car in about fifteen minutes, and to everyone's relief; it appeared to be just as Kirk had left it. They piled in; Hogan taking the wheel this time, and headed for town – and SS headquarters.
They'd hardly gone a mile, when – of all things – the car ran out of gas. Hogan cursed and pulled over just before the engine quit. He turned his head to glare at Kirk, who was in the passenger seat. "You couldn't have stolen a car with a full tank of gas, could you?" he muttered in irritation.
"It wasn't on my list of priorities, no," Kirk quipped.
Hogan scowled. "All right, it looks like we're walking, after all," he announced to the occupants of the car. They all got out and fell in behind Hogan, who was mumbling something about how everyone should know to check the gas gauge before stealing a car.
They'd walked for another fifteen minutes or so, when they heard a car coming down the road. Hogan motioned Kirk and Spock to take up a position behind the trees that lined the road, while he and Newkirk stayed on the shoulder; hoping to flag it down and, with luck, use their Gestapo disguises to commandeer it.
The car came closer, and Hogan took a step toward the road, just about to walk in front of the car and make it stop, when Newkirk grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "It's Hochstetter's car!" he hissed into Hogan's ear.
Hogan squinted in the dark to get a better look at it; sure enough, he recognized the car as belonging to Hochstetter. "Let's get out of here!" he exclaimed as he turned around and headed for the trees, glancing over to make sure Newkirk was next to him.
They heard the car squeal to a stop behind them, and suddenly there was shouting, and three flashlights were being waved in their direction. Hogan and Newkirk hit the tree line, and nearly ran over Kirk and Spock, who had already surmised something was wrong. "It's Hochstetter!" Hogan whispered fiercely at them, "We have to get out of here!"
The four men ran; acutely aware of the Gestapo guards who were hot on their heels. After a minute or so, Hogan gestured that they should split up, in the hopes of shaking their pursuers. Hogan and Spock went one way, Newkirk and Kirk went the other. The guards split up, too; two of them following Hogan and Spock, the third guard going after the other pair.
Hogan kept running; Spock right behind him, until they thought they'd given the two guards the slip. They stopped near a clearing, which sloped beyond the trees and up a gentle hill, where they could just make out the silhouette of a farmhouse in the darkness. As they stood there, Hogan caught his breath, noting with some curiosity that Spock seemed barely winded. Hogan was about to say something, when Spock looked at him and held up his hand, cocking his head to one side. He appeared to be listening intently, although to what, Hogan couldn't guess; he, himself didn't hear a thing.
Suddenly there was a rustling in the underbrush, but before Hogan could react, the two Gestapo guards rushed out at them, rifles at the ready. "Hands up!" one of them shouted, waving his rifle menacingly at their chests. Once Hogan and Spock complied, he added, "Major Hochstetter would like to have a word with you two."
Hogan glanced at Spock; his curiosity growing over how completely calm the man seemed. In fact, he couldn't remember a time since he'd laid eyes on him, when he'd seen anything but that blank, calm expression on his face. It was almost as if the man had no emotions.
The guard who had spoken now gestured to them with his rifle to start walking back. Hogan spared another quick glance at Spock, wondering what the man would do if he went after one of the guards. Deciding to risk it, Hogan took a few tentative steps forward; then feigned tripping over something on the ground and allowed himself to start falling forward. The guard, caught by surprise, lowered his rifle and unconsciously took a step back. Hogan – who was still very much in control of his balance – lunged forward, slamming into the guard and knocking the rifle out of his hands. They both toppled to the ground; the guard landing on his back, Hogan on top of him.
Meanwhile, the other guard saw what happened, and his attention was diverted to the two men struggling on the ground. He brought his rifle up and aimed it at them, but didn't dare shoot, for fear of hitting his friend. As they rolled back and forth, each trying to get the upper hand, the guard followed their movements with his rifle, completely forgetting about the other man he was supposed to be keeping an eye on. Suddenly he felt something at the base of his neck, and the world went black. He didn't even feel Spock remove the rifle from his hands before he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Hogan, who was on top at the moment, noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, but he was too caught up in trying to subdue the guard to glance over. He threw a punch to the other man's jaw; then tried to pull away as the guard tightened his grip on Hogan's arms; attempting to roll him onto his back. Hogan yanked his arm out of the guards grasp and raised it for another punch, when both of them heard a voice say calmly, but firmly, "That's enough." They looked up to see Spock pointing a rifle directly at the guard's head.
Hogan smiled and, after wrenching himself free from the guard, stood up and quickly brushed himself off. He'd already noticed the other guard on the ground, and he inwardly nodded; his respect growing for this quiet, unassuming man that had shown up with Kirk. He looked at Spock and said, "Thanks."
"Your gratitude isn't necessary, sir," Spock replied, "I was merely doing what needed to be done to prevent us from being taken prisoner."
Hogan, taken aback, didn't know what to say for a moment. At last he muttered, "Yeah, well, thanks, anyway." He looked back at the guard on the ground and barked, "Stand up!"
The guard complied, keeping a wary eye on the rifle in Spock's hands. Hogan stepped up and searched him, confiscating a pair of handcuffs that the man had attached to his belt. "Turn around," he ordered.
The guard began to turn, when suddenly he lunged for the rifle in Spock's hands, throwing the Vulcan off balance. Spock tried to catch himself by stepping backwards, but it was no use. He fell hard on his rear; the impact jarring him enough to send his helmet tumbling off his head. He was still clutching the rifle, which was now pointing skyward.
Hogan grabbed the guard and was just about to deck him with a right cross, when they both caught a glimpse of Spock without his helmet, and froze. Spock blinked up at them; then he rose slowly to his feet, watching as Hogan and the guard kept their gaze glued to his face.
"Wha…what are you?" The guard stammered.
Spock strode up to the guard and placed his hand on the area where his shoulder joined his neck. He applied pressure, and the guard stiffened; then collapsed to the ground. Hogan watched him fall, letting go of his arm. Then he looked back up at Spock, his eyes growing impossibly wide. "What…how did you...Who are you?"
"Colonel, in the time it would take me to explain, these men may regain consciousness," Spock answered calmly. "I suggest we leave this area, and go find Captain Kirk and Corporal Newkirk. They may need our assistance."
Hogan, still in shock, merely nodded. Spock went over to retrieve his helmet, and placed it back on his head. Then he looked at Hogan expectantly. "Sir," he prompted.
Hogan blinked several times and shook his head, as though to clear it. "Oh, yes, um," he looked around, trying to get his bearings. "That way," he said, pointing in the direction Kirk and Newkirk would have gone.
Spock nodded. He still had his tricorder, but using it at the moment was out of the question, considering his proximity to the colonel. Besides, Hogan was pointing in the same direction that he had concluded was the correct one, so it seemed logical to follow him, for now.
While Hogan and Spock were tangling with the guards, Kirk and Newkirk had run into a dilemma of their own. They'd been sprinting through the woods, going in the opposite direction of the other two, when they noticed the ground seemed to disappear up ahead. They stopped dead in their tracks; then moved forward cautiously. They could hear rushing water, and as they stepped closer, found themselves at the edge of a ravine that dropped down to a fast-moving river below. It was a straight drop, about ninety feet, which meant they couldn't climb down – not that they wanted to, anyway; the water was moving too fast for them to cross. Their only choice was to parallel it, and hope they could lose whoever might be following them. Then they could circle back and meet up with Hogan and Spock.
They turned right, and were just about to start walking upstream, when they heard a noise behind them and whirled around. A Gestapo guard was standing there, staring at them angrily; his rifle aimed at Kirk. "Where do you think you are going?" he shouted.
Kirk glanced at Newkirk. The Englishman turned to the guard and yelled back in German, "Where do you think we are going? We're looking for the escaped suspects!"
The guard frowned and leveled his rifle at Newkirk. "That's impossible, Sergeant…you two are the escaped suspects!"
Newkirk glanced back at Kirk and shrugged.
"All right, get your hands up!" the guard ordered.
Kirk and Newkirk raised their hands.
"Now, get going!" He stepped aside and gestured to them to head back in the direction they'd come.
Kirk went first. He took a few steps forward, when suddenly they all heard a crashing noise nearby in the forest, and a deer leaped out; then instantly took off. It was just enough to momentarily distract the guard, and Kirk sprang at him, grabbing his rifle and attempting to wrestle it from him, while Newkirk circled behind the guard and grabbed his arms, trying to pull them away from the weapon.
The three of them struggled for a few moments, shifting around until Newkirk's back was inadvertently pointing towards the ravine. Then, with a renewed burst of energy, Kirk pulled with all his might; wrenching the rifle free and sending the guard and Newkirk flying. The guard fell sideways and smacked his head on a large tree root sticking up from the ground. He lay there, unconscious.
Kirk looked around, but didn't see Newkirk anywhere. "Corporal?" he called out, "Corporal Newkirk, where are you?" A stab of worry hit him, and he began to walk around the immediate area, calling Newkirk's name. As he stepped near the edge of the ravine, something on the ground caught his eye, and his heart caught in his throat – it was Newkirk's helmet. The corporal must have fallen down the ravine!
Russian Translations
Я не сумасшедший. I'm not crazy. Ya ne sumasshedshij.
Боже мой! My God! Bozhe moj!