Chapter 12:
Kalina walked into the main lounge rubbing her eyes with her hands. She had just woke up from a much needed nap. All the dancing and everything with Captain the night before had worn her out immensely. When she got back to Headquarters, she had literally collapsed into her bed and fell to sleep within three seconds.
Bailey and Skipper were gone all day on an assignment getting information from a defecting Kriegsmarine commander and were currently in a conference with Captain regarding it. Leaving her alone with no one to talk to, Kalina had spent her day in her room reading, drawing, or sleeping. She had finally ventured out of her room and headed downstairs to play a game of solitaire.
The little Klink entered the lounge quietly and began making her way to a vacant chair near a coffee table as Nixon and his men stood leaning against the wall on the left. When she began to walk further into the room, the ensign quickly stuck out his leg, causing Kalina to trip and fall. She tried as much as she could to keep balanced, waving her arms around trying to catch herself, but failed. She gave a short yelp as she fell flat onto the ground.
The room was soon filled with thunderous laughter while Kalina sat up after shaking her head a few times and gave them an icy look. Her appearance was hard to be intimidated by, as she was blushing bright red full of embarrassment and humiliation.
"Oh, what are you gonna do; cry for your daddy?...Your Nazi, pig-headed demon of a father, Colonel Wilhelm Klink." Nixon snarled.
Kalina's eyes dilated in size and silently gasped in terror. Her father. How did this horrible person know her sweet papa?
"How do you know who my Papa is?" She quivered.
"Your underground is quite useful in getting dirt on people. I know all about your precious papa," the ensign answered, the last part with a harsh growl. "POW camp kommandant of the infamous Stalag 13 and the most made fun of officer in war history. Failed to get into medical school, law school, once a parking lot attendant in Munich, calls himself the Iron Eagle...or should I say Bald Eagle?"
"Leave my Papa alone!" Kalina hollered, her voice breaking and tears stinging in her eyes.
"Hey, Nixon," Jebson said, putting a cucumber over his right eye. "Guess who I am?"
"You're that Kraut, Kommandant Klink," Gonzales answered.
"Ha! Kommandant Kraut!" Sherman added.
As everyone busted their sides laughing, little Kalina's blood boiling. They could attack her all they pleased, but now they had brought her father into this. No one attacked her father. Not after everything he had done for her. Not after all the love and laughs he had given her. Fighting and nearly dying in World War I to protect her future before she even came into existence.
"You'd all be lucky to know my Papa! His kindness and wisdom, he fought in the Great War and almost died twice!...And his monocle is on his left eye!"
"A shame he didn't perish back then. Could have saved us some pain in this second war," Nixon said, his smile crooked and malicious. He looked like a serial killer about to target his next victim.
"Oh, General Burkhalter," Jebson began, using a horrible German accent. It sounded more Russian to Kalina. "Let me clean your shoes, General. I can't wait to be a general like you someday."
"Look at me, I am Colonel Klink. I'm incompetent and laughed at by everyone," another seaman said, using just as poor of an accent.
"Stop it!" The little Klink cried, all of them again laughing. Tears were streaming down her face at that point. "Stop it!...Quit laughing at my Papa!" When the hooting and hollering continued to drag on, Kalina broke down and began to cry.
Hogan paced through the streets of Caen deep in thought. He was still stuck on how to get Kalina alone and talk to her. He needed to tell her he was sorry, and Klink was on the verge of having a heart attack not knowing where his little girl was. He sighed and continued to tread on by, when he passed by Captain's Headquarters and heard a bunch of men laughing hysterically. In the loud ruckus, he could hear the faint noise of someone crying. He snapped out of his train of thought, and turned his head in the direction of the basement window.
"Kalina?" He asked, worried. He sprinted towards the window and swung himself inside the building. Once inside, he dismissed all the men ahead of him and ran to the little teenager's side. He knelt down by her and put a gentle hand on her back before turning his attention to the seamen and low ranking officers with a cold glare in his brown eyes. "Alright, that's enough! That's enough, back off! All of you!" He barked, over all of them. The room went dead for a brief second when the navy men looked back in the direction the voice was coming from and saw Hogan.
"I thought Captain told you to stay away from here, Co-Pilot," Nixon remarked, his tone full of bile.
"I wouldn't be talking if I were you, Ensign. You're swimming in hot water enough as it is. I have connections in London, I can have you demoted all the way back to E-1," Hogan said, replying with a snarl.
The room fell dead silent, Nixon and his men giving the Army Air Corps colonel an icy stare, while the other seamen and officers looked on quietly. They appeared intimidated and frightened of the Royal Navy Battalion, but no one could muster up the courage to say anything to them.
Hogan's glare hardened.
"All of you. Out! Before I decide to give every one of you a court martial," he ordered.
Despite their efforts to disobey directions, the idea of a court martial was too much for the navy men. They slowly trudged out of lounge, Nixon and his men taking up the rear. The ensign gave one more disapproving look at Hogan, then dissipated from sight. The minute they were gone, the colonel turned his attention back to Kalina, and his eyes softened.
"You alright, hon?" He asked softly.
Kalina sniffled and nodded, then immediately shook her head and began to cry softly.
Hogan wrapped his arms around the little Klink, who latched onto him tight, and hushed her as she buried her face into his chest and sobbed.
"It's okay, it's okay," he said, in a whisper.
Kalina continued to cry and leaned her face into the crook of Hogan's neck. She hugged him tighter, never wanting to let go of him. She felt safe. She felt wanted. She felt loved.
The American rubbed her back gently and held her close. He again hushed her when her sobs became a little louder.
As everything seemed to be falling into place for the two, Nixon and his men returned with a fuming Captain leading the group. He froze in his spot when he saw Kalina hugging Hogan tight, as if he were her lifeline. Seeing her with her little face buried into him made part of Captain's heart warm a little. It was evident to how much the little teenager loved Hogan. How he made her feel safe and protected. Comforted and warm. It made his respect for the man go up a little. He quickly realized his change in emotion, and shook his head back to feeling fury. No, he thought. This man had hurt his little Kalina once already, and he was not letting him hurt her again. That was exactly what would happen if he allowed him entrance into his headquarters. He resumed his march towards them and stopped when he was just a couple feet away.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from this place?!" The Naval officer barked, grabbing both Hogan's and Kalina's attention. Kalina squeezed Hogan with all her might, and the colonel did the same while staring at Captain coolly.
"This what you call camaraderie?" Hogan asked. "This what you call standing up for each other, making fun of this sweet little teenager?"
"You telling me I don't command my men correctly, Colonel?"
"They're certainly not getting a lesson you taught them. Or at least I hope you taught them. There's a difference between a German and a Kraut. Kalina's fighting on our side, and your men are treating her as if she were a member of the Gestapo being held hostage here. The underground, a group full of Germans wanting to throw Hitler out of power, do you think those thousands of people are Krauts as well?"
"You leave my men to my care, and I'll leave you to yours. Besides, it won't be long till after our next assignment we take off for London. I will continue my work far from the reach of the Kriegsmarine, and no one will hurt or cause harm to Kalina or any of my men ever again." Captain snapped his eyes to Kalina. "Kalina, come here at once."
The teenager held onto Hogan's neck and leaned against him more. Her eyes were wide were fear, her lip trembling as she she shook her head 'no'. Her heart was pounding violently against her chest, adrenaline was rushing through her veins. She felt as if she let go of Hogan something horrifying would occur.
"Miss Kalina!" Captain barked. "Get over here before I have you spend the night in the brink!"
Kalina closed her eyes, already regretting what she was about to do, and slowly let go of the colonel. She rose to her feet and sulked her way to Captain's side. Hogan rose to his feet shortly after and tried making his way over to her, when his navy counterpart spoke again.
"I wouldn't advise you come any closer, Colonel...you may find yourself in a very uncomfortable situation."
"I just want to say 'goodbye'!" Hogan retorted.
Captain let out a steamy breath of air, but allowed.
"You have sixty seconds," he answered, hasty. He turned to Nixon and his crew. "Make sure he leaves the minute time's up...alone." Captain turned on his heels and made his way upstairs to the main floor.
When he was out of hearing and sight, Hogan turned his gentle brown eyes to Kalina and brought her into his arms. Kalina wrapped her arms around the colonel's belly and felt hot tears stream down her face. She clenched her eyes shut and buried her face into Hogan. She was trapped here. She wanted to go with him. She wanted to leave with him and go home. She did not like France anymore. She wanted nothing to do with the Navy. She wanted to see her father and never let go of him again. She wanted both of her papas back.
"Colonel Hogan, don't go," she whimpered. "Please don't go."
The colonel gave a sad smile and rubbed her back softly. There was nothing more he wanted to do than to just scoop the little Klink up in his arms and take her home to Stalag 13. He was no match for Captain, though. They were both of equal rank and had the same authority as the other did. He could not overstep his power, nor disrespect the navy officer. He was not a man to go against his beliefs and ways of thinking. He had no choice but to let Kalina go. There was nothing more he could do. He had lost, and he had to accept that...no matter how much it broke his heart to say 'goodbye'.
"You're gonna be okay," he said. "You got Bailey and Skipper looking out for you. Captain sounds like a fierce officer, he won't let anything happen to you. I'll never be too far away from you...I'm so sorry I failed you."
Hogan painfully let Kalina go and made his way for the window. He turned to look at her one last time. She shook her head as tears continued to fall from her eyes. She did not want him to leave. She was frightened and scared, but there was nothing he could do other than to give her a brave smile. He fought back the tears welling in his own eyes, waved 'goodbye', then silently left Captain's headquarters, leaving a devastated Kalina behind.
"Colonel Hogan," she cried. "Colonel Hogan, come back! Come back!"
"Colonel Hogan, Colonel Hogan, come back, Colonel Hogan. We'll give you Colonel Hogan alright," Nixon said, a malicious smile going from one side of his face to the other. He left with his followers laughing hysterically, the room suddenly dead silent. Kalina was all alone now. Hogan was gone. Her papa was gone. Her home and her friends were all gone as well. She pulled out the picture of her father from her dress pocket and held it against her chest. She collapsed to the ground next to a chair and resumed sobbing. She soon heard two sets of feet running towards, and she looked up to see Bailey and Skipper kneeling down at her side.
"Kalina," Bailey gasped. "What happened here?"
The little teenager began to cry violently.
"Colonel Hogan...I want Colonel Hogan...I wanna go home." She wept.
"We'll take you to him," the leading seaman said. "We'll take you to him and get you back to Germany again."
"I can't go...Captain said if I left with him, something bad would happen to him."
"Skipper, grab a gun. Grab two and a handful of ammunition."
"Right," Skipper answered. He was about to get to his feet, when he looked back at his friend. "Why?"
Bailey looked at him with an irritated glance.
"'Cause we're gonna wave 'em around like batons," he said sarcastically. "Go grab the guns!"
Without another question, Skipper ran to one of the smaller rooms in the lounge, leaving Bailey to help Kalina to her feet. He wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.
"Don't worry, kiddo. We'll get you Colonel Hogan back," he spoke sincerely. "You'll be back in Germany before you know it."
Skipper quickly returned with two loaded SIG Sauer P228's and a round of ammunition in a belt pocket. He handed one set to Bailey, and both seamen snapped the belt pocket on one side, and slid the handguns into their holster on the other. Once certain they were fastened and secure, Bailey looked up to both of them and nodded, his arm still wrapped around Kalina.
"Let's go," he said, and the trio hurried for the basement window.
