Chapter Fourteen: The Gestapo Thinks Rhetorically
"Pull over here," ordered Major Hochstetter. The driver, a young Käpitan Bauer, quickly did as he was bid.
They both got out and surveyed the damage of their car. They were only five minutes away from Stalag 13. It had not taken them long to realize that there was something wrong with the car, but they thought maybe they could at least get to town. That would not be the case. Hochstetter bent down to examine the tires. He recognized the appearance of a slashed tire immediately. Someone had wanted to slow him down. He kicked the tire furiously.
"Come," he said. "We are going back to the camp."
He got into the back and slammed the door. Käpitan Bauer rolled his eyes wearily, but got in quickly. He started the engine up and turned the car back to Stalag 13 once again. Sometimes, he wished the war would end, solely because he no longer wanted to be around his Major.
()()()()()()
When the car rolled back into camp, alarm went through the prisoners. They were out, having been given an hour of recreation. They were still confined to barracks otherwise. Olsen and Scotty were throwing the football close to the Kommandantur. They backed out of the way for the car to park beside General Burkhalter's. They watched with some other prisoners as Hochstetter got out of the car angrily. He saw the prisoners watching him.
"What? You have seen me here enough times before! If you have a problem with it, take it up to with your Colonel Hogan!"
He turned back to the Kommandantur and started up the stairs when he heard a remark that stopped him dead in his tracks.
"We would, but he's too busy making a fool of you."
Hochstetter was not meant to hear it, but it had not been said low enough. He whirled around, as the prisoners were walking away snickering. His eyes fell on one, and he glared.
"You!" He pointed at Scotty.
"Me?" Scotty looked around. "Yes, me. Um…something you need from me, Major."
"I saw you next to my car before I left," said Hochstetter. He walked down the steps quickly and came to nose to nose with Scotty. Scotty took a step back.
"Sir?"
"You—were—by—my—car–before–I–left ," said Hochstetter, with emphasis on each word. "Is that slow enough for you, Amerikaner?"
"Fine, sir," said Scotty. "And I was. You see, my ball had gone under your car, and I was getting it out. I had to do it quickly because you came storming out of there pretty quick. You looked angry, too, but I—".
"Shut up" bellowed Hochstetter. "You are almost as bad as Klink." He grabbed Scotty by the collar and started pulling him forward. But there was suddenly a strong grip on his arm. He looked back. A Negro man was staring down at him.
"I am going to have to ask you to not manhandle my men like that," said Baker sternly.
Hochstetter gripped Baker's wrist and removed his hand off his arm. He also let go of Scotty. Scotty straightened his jacket, and took a step back to stand beside Baker. Olsen stepped up on the other side of Scotty, and the rest of the prisoners gathered there took a step closer to form a semicircle around Baker, Scotty, and Olsen. Hochstetter warily took a step back, but showed no fear.
"That will not go unpunished, Schweinhund," he said, looking at Baker sternly. "I will commend your wishes, but I will also remind you that you are not to harm a German officer in any way."
"Oh, did I harm you," asked Baker, with a raise of his eyebrows. "If I did, my apologies." The prisoners might have all laughed, if they were inside, joking around. "I always thought that the Gestapo was tougher than that."
That was the last straw for Hochstetter's almost uncontrollable anger. He lashed out at Baker, backhanding him across the face, and then punching him in the gut before he could react. Baker stumbled backwards some, into the prisoners, who immediately crumbled around him. They began to yell furiously, and push back at Hochstetter. They just pushed him away, though. They didn't want to have him unleash more anger on one of them. The guards ran over, firing shots into the air. The prisoners collapsed to the ground as one, and Hochstetter stepped back with a triumphant smile. The guards surrounded the prisoners, with their rifles pointed down at them. Schultz came bumbling over, just as Klink and Burkhalter hurried out of the office.
"What is going on out here," asked Burkhalter. "Major Hochstetter, what are you doing back?"
Hochstetter turned to the General. "These men,"—he said viciously, pointing his fingers down at the prisoners—"sabotaged my car."
"That's impossible," cried Klink.
"Klink, shut up," said Burkhalter.
"Yes, sir, shut up," replied Klink.
Burkhalter rolled his eyes and looked back at Hochstetter. "Explain yourself."
Hochstetter hated to explain anything to anyone. He felt that he had no reason to. But he was a Major, and a General was ordering him. He had no choice.
"All of my tires are flat," he said. "Every one of them…even the spare! It was not like that before I entered this camp, which means someone here did it. I saw one of the men near my car just before I left. It had to be him."
"You sound really sure, Major," sneered Baker. The prisoners were cautiously getting up, while the guards kept their rifles on them.
"Sergeant," said Klink. "Do not speak that way to your superiors. And what happened to your face."
Baker's lip was bleeding, and his cheek was already swelling.
"Major Hochstetter struck me sir," Baker replied, looking only at Klink. "He was manhandling one of the men, and I was only doing my duty in reminding him that we prisoners can't be touched without good reason—".
"I had good reason," snapped Hochstetter. "Suspicion is all I need."
"Major," said Burkhalter sternly. "You may be used to having suspicion as your cause to interrogate, but not here in a POW camp. These men are protected under the Geneva Conventions. You must have a really good reason."
"I do," said Hochstetter. He looked at Baker. "And when I get the evidence I need, you will all pay for it."
"Good luck," said Olsen, rather happily, as if he was encouraging a friend.
The prisoners chuckled, and Baker barely hid a smile.
"BAAAAH," yelled Hochstetter. He turned around and glared at Klink. "I need four new tires. Get your men to do it!"
"My men are—" began Klink, but he was cut off by Burkhalter.
"Klink, just do it. The Major needs to leave quickly," said Burkhalter, looking down at Hochstetter annoyingly.
"Jawohl, Herr General," said Klink. He began to order the guards to work. The prisoners left quickly, retreating back to their barracks. Schultz herded them back inside.
"I would say it is best for you to stay inside," said Schultz.
Baker was about to reply when they stopped and heard Hochstetter again, ranting at the guards who were replacing the tires.
"BAAAH! You are all as incompetent as your Kommandant!"
Schultz rolled his eyes and looked at the prisoners. "He sounds like a goat. Or maybe a lamb."
The prisoners roared with laughter. Schultz shook his head and walked off. "I do not get paid enough for this job."
()()()()()()
Hochstetter watched the men work on the car for a moment, before he stormed into Klink's office after Burkhalter. Klink was left outside, to keep his men going.
"Major, you must control yourself," said Burkhalter. "Have you ever thought that maybe if the prisoners did do something of the sort, they were only playing a practical joke?" He walked to the window and looked outside. "They live in a miserable existence. I would think they are merely enjoying their afternoon. After all, things have been very tight around here these past two days."
"Herr General, with all the respect, I do not agree," said Hochstetter. "They knew I was going after Colonel Hogan, so they sabotaged my car to slow me down."
Burkhalter turned around. "Major, I want you to put yourself in the prisoners' position. If you could escape, would you?"
"Yes, of course," answered Hochstetter quickly, without realizing the trap.
"Would you ever return," asked Burkhalter.
"Nein," replied Hochstetter.
"Then why do you insist that Colonel Hogan and his men are saboteurs," asked Burkhalter. Hochstetter momentarily pouted when he realized his mistake in answering the questions. The General continued. "And before you go on to tell me that these men were planted here, let me remind you that Colonel Hogan was shot from the sky as the commander of the 504th, and he was intensely interrogated by the Gestapo for quite some time, before becoming an official prisoner of war. And his men, on your insistence, have also been checked for any suspicious gaps in their prisoner records, and I can assure you that each and every one of them were not planted here. They are as true POWs as they come. Two days ago, they found a way to escape, and took it. There is nothing more to tell."
He turned back to look outside the window. "Your car is almost ready."
Hochstetter was glaring at Burkhalter's head. "Sir, if I could ask you a few rhetorical questions?"
Burkhalter turned around. "Go on."
"If you were taken prisoner of war by the English," began Hochstetter. "And you somehow found a way to sabotage the English from inside your prison camp without being detected, would you stay and do it?"
"Ja," said Burkhalter. "A very good question. Now, I do not mean anything by this, but I for one, believe that the English are not that stupid or clueless. I believe that it would be impossible."
"Most would, Herr General," said Hochstetter. "But I do not. We both agree that Colonel Hogan is intelligent and cunning, do we not?"
"We do," assured Burkhalter.
"Right," said Hochstetter. "And I have never met a prisoner of war in all of Germany who is that clever and untamed. If anyone could pull it off, it would be him. And if any Kommandant was dumb enough not to detect it, it would be Klink."
"Where do I fit in," asked Burkhalter.
Hochstetter paled slightly.
"Let me finish it for you," said Burkhalter. "And if there were any General lousy enough to allow Klink as Kommandant, it would be me." He chuckled at Hochstetter's cautious expression. "But you forgot the last line. If there was any Gestapo agent that could be fooled and duped by these saboteurs, it would be Major Hochstetter."
He looked out the window again.
"Your car is ready," he said.
Hochstetter was fuming now. He clicked his heels and saluted. "Heil Hitler." He left, nearly bowling over Klink as he stormed out of the room. The walls shook when he slammed the door.
In the car, he pushed Käpitan Bauer over into the passenger seat.
"Herr Major," asked Bauer worriedly.
"Keep quiet," barked Hochstetter. He started the engine, and they rushed out of camp and down the road.
They drove for awhile, going straight through Hammelburg and passing up Gestapo headquarters. Bauer watched it go by, and then looked back at Hochstetter.
"Herr Major," said the Käpitan cautiously.
"Ja," snapped Hochstetter, not taking his eyes off the road.
"Where are we going," asked Bauer.
"I was thinking rhetorically, and decided that something must have gone wrong with Colonel Hogan and his men because they were not back at camp by now."
Bauer had become used to his Major's thoughts about the infamous American. It was a common subject in the office, since Hochstetter was bent on uncovering Colonel Hogan's secrets, if he had any. Bauer knew better than to say anything against it, so sometimes he threw in his own two bits. This was not the time to, he decided.
"Ja, Herr Major," said Bauer. "It makes sense."
"Of course it does," replied Hochstetter sharply.
Bauer looked back out the window, and dared to continue. "You still did not tell me where we are going, Herr Major."
Hochstetter looked at his aide, and smirked at Bauer. "You amuse me Käpitan. We are going to Scheunenstraße. You are familiar with it?"
Bauer looked at Hochstetter. "Ja. But what is there? It is all farms."
Scheunenstraße was a road. The name literally meant "road of barns". All along it were old farms that had belonged to the same families for generations. The road wound through the countryside, coming up alongside the railroad for a bit, and then over the Schluckt Flüsschen, a river in which the railroad passed over.
"Exactly," said Hochstetter. "And where would escaped POWs go to hide?"
Bauer raised his eyebrows, and smiled. "You know, Major, that Scheunenstraße eventually runs up against the railroad?"
Hochstetter smiled. "Käpitan, you are becoming very good at this."
But Bauer seemed troubled. "Herr Major… I suppose it is hard to imagine that such a sabotage group could survive here, in the middle of Germany, but I must say…what you say, it fits."
"I am glad you are finally beginning to see," said Hochstetter. He clapped a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Keep thinking. Two heads are better than one, so they say."
Bauer smiled uncomfortably, but could not help but feel elated at the sort of acceptance he was receiving from his Major. It made Hochstetter seem, well, more human for one. He looked back outside the window, as they left Hammelburg and came out onto the countryside.
Suddenly, Bauer was struck with an idea.
"Herr Major," he said, excitedly. "I know it!"
"Know what," asked Hochstetter quickly. "Know what?"
"There is an old cabin," said Bauer. "My father took me hunting one time, and showed it to me. It has always been uninhabited, but sometimes hunters use it to spend a night in. It is behind the road, and near a few farms. I would think nothing of it except that is off the river. It gets its water supply from there. Also, reading the reports from last month, I noticed that there have been a lot of people spotted around there. They always say they are hunting. But Major, the season has been warmer than most for so early. The deer are not out as much. Also, the food has been plentiful. There is no need to hunt, and a good hunter would know the deer are not moving as much. Major, I bet that that cabin is being used by the Underground. It's got to be a safe house or something."
Bauer looked at Hochstetter excitedly. Hochstetter was studying him. Then, the Major smiled.
"How do we get there?"