Chapter 1
August 1943
=o=0=o= Outside of Barracks 2 =o=0=o=
Colonel Hogan stood with his men, sharing a cigarette, when he saw the car pull up to the gate. He was actually shocked to place it as a Rolls-Royce, which seemed out of place in Nazi Germany. It wasn't the blue-gray of the Luftwaffe either, but a highly polished turquoise. The feeling that he was dealing with a guest intensified when the car passed him, and he saw a golden flower silhouetted on the car's doors.
"A Rolls-Royce Phantom Three," Newkirk said, eyeing the car in surprise. "What the bloody hell is it doing here?"
Hogan didn't answer, concentrating instead on the car as it stopped in front of the Kommadant's office. He watched as a man stepped out of the driver's seat, his uniform nothing like the rest of the German military. It was green, not black or grayish blue. He opened the door for his passenger, who was almost a half a head shorter than their guard, and Hogan was almost sure it was a woman. She wore the same colored uniform, but hers was trimmed in gold braid. She hid her platinum blonde hair with an officers cap, then walked into the Kommadant's office.
"Kinchloe, get the coffee pot out," he told him. "I want to know what's going on here."
"Right away, colonel," Kinchloe said, going inside. Everyone followed Kinchloe in but Hogan, who took one last look at the car. It meant trouble, but what kind?
Shaking his head, he went inside the barracks then into his personal quarters. Kinchloe already had the coffee pot out, and he could hear the static of Klink's office as it picked up the rattle of paperwork as Klink worked. Soon, the sound of a door opening came, and Sergeant Schultz's heavy bootfall.
"Kommadant Klink!" Schultz said, seeming to pronounce each syllable as he spoke as he announced their guest. "A General Kongelig to see you."
"Show him in," Klink said cheerily. Hogan knew the Kommadant was eager to suck up to the brass, which made his job of espionage easier. Klink wouldn't turn anyone away, and often let details slip to try and impress people.
"It's her," the general said, her voice stern and commanding as she spoke. "I am General Elsa Kongelig of the Arendelle Luftstyrke, its nascent air force."
"What can I do for you, general?" Klink said, seemingly unfazed.
"Your orders, Colonel Klink," she said, and Hogan could practically hear the paper as it was unfolded.
"Colonel Klink...transfer command...Elsa...stay...advise...TRANSFER!" Klink finally roared, finding the one word in the document he didn't like. "But I don't want to go to the Russian Front!"
"Who does?" Carter snarked to make the rest of the group laugh.
"If you will read the rest of your orders," Elsa said, taking charge of the situation, "You will find you are being transferred to Stalag Three in Poland. They've had a recent mass escape of over seventy men, many who have yet to be captured. It seems your expertise is required there."
"There's never been a successful escape from Stalag Thirteen!" Klink said happily, regaining his composure since he was being recognized for his flawless record.
"A fact that the German High Command recognizes," Elsa assured him. "You are to stay here a week and train me in the operation of a successful camp, finalize your affairs, and then transfer to your new command."
"What about me, general?" Schultz asked her. "Am I to transfer too?"
"No, Sergeant," she told the man. "Your expertise in the prisoners will be invaluable to me, as well as your knowledge of the local area should any try to escape."
"Danke, general," Schultz said, taking the compliment as it was intended.
"So, where do we begin, Colonel Klink?" Elsa asked the former Kommadant.
"I'll, uh, introduce you to the camps senior POW," he said. "Schultz, bring Colonel Hogan in at once!"
"Jawohl, Colonel Klink," the Sergeant said, then closed the door as he left to fulfill his task.
"Alright, shut it down," Hogan told them, even as most of his men were already leaving to take up tasks to hide from Schultz what they were doing. LeBeau picked up his sewing on a shirt that had been ripped, and Kinchloe, Newkirk and Carter sat down to enjoy a game of cards, each man drawing several off the top. They were just in time, because Schultz came huffing through the door just as they made it look like they were doing nothing.
"Colonel Hogan!" Schultz called, just as soon as the door was shut. "Colonel Klink wants to see you."
"What does the Kommadant want with me, Schultz?" Hogan asked the guard.
"We have a new Kommadant!" Schultz told him. "A woman general from Arendelle!"
"Woman?" Newkirk said, drawing a card from the pile. "Probably has the face of Goering."
"Nein, she is very beautiful," Schultz said.
"And I've never heard of Arendelle," Hogan told him.
"It's a small island off of Norway," Schultz said. "About three thousand square kilometers, and the food is terrific."
"How do you know so much about it?" LeBeau asked him.
"My wife and I honeymooned there," Schultz said. "The Queen had just given birth to her first child, and everyone was celebrating."
"Well that's reason to celebrate," Newkirk said, raising his glass of water.
"So, boy or girl?" LeBeau asked him.
"Girl, but they never named her while we were there," Schultz said. "Now, if you don't mind, Colonel Hogan, the new Kommadant is waiting."
"I'm coming," Hogan said, giving a wink to his men. "Be right back guys."
=o=0=o= Kommadant's Office =o=0=o=
"So, you flew the Heinkel bomber?" Elsa asked him, as he she listened to Klink recount his war record. "I've yet to fly one. I did get to fly America's B-17. It is an impressive aircraft."
"Really?" Klink said, looking impressed.
"Arendelle has purchased five," Elsa told him, "But they have yet to deliver them. I guess that's what we get for ordering war materiel just before a country goes to war. A slight oversight, perhaps."
"So, tell me about the Luftstyrke, general," Klink asked her. "It seems to be your personal project."
"It is," Elsa told him. "I managed to convince the king that a proper air force would help secure Arendelle from attack, though we've counted on our naval forces since time immemorial."
"I understand that, being an island nation," Klink told her. "How did you manage to convince your king, though?"
"A simple game," she told him. "Using our strategy map like a board game, I commenced an attack by Norway using their own nascent air force. I decimated Arendelle's forces in attacks that could have occurred within a day, leaving our borders wide open. After that, I had unfettered access to build and train the Luftstyrke, and I've been it's general since inception, answerable only to the king."
"Only to the king?" Klink said, aghast. "No High Command? No Council? If you decided to purchase a hundred Heinkel bombers..."
"Only King Agnarr could say anything against it," Elsa told him, as the door opened up to reveal the Sergeant leading a prisoner wearing a leather jacket, a pilot's jacket if she wasn't mistaken. His isignia identified him as an American Colonel, and he seemed to have the cocky attitude of an American pilot, standing in front of her with his hands in his pockets and only offering a half-hearted salute that never even touched his brow.
"You wanted to see me, Kommadant?" the man asked, almost as if he were rudely interrupted and was forced to be here.
"Indeed I did," Klink said, stepping between Elsa and Hogan. "Colonel Hogan, might I introduce your new Kommadant, General Elsa Kongelig. General, the senior prisoner of war officer, Colonel Robert Hogan."
"General," Hogan said, giving her a nod. Elsa stiffened at his blaise attitude, then properly saluted the man.
"Colonel Hogan," she said, once she she dropped back to parade rest. "How has captivity treated you?"
"Well, the Krauts don't treat us too badly," he groused. "But with the winter coming on, I'd like to request more hot water for the men and maybe a little extra fuel for the barracks heaters, especially at night."
"I will take that under advisement," she told him.
"Uh, general," Klink said, facing her. "The camp has a short supply of fuel oil. Any extras to the prisoners will have to come from somewhere, most usually the guards barracks and moral is low enough as it is."
"That also I will take under advisement," Elsa told him.
"If you can, I'd also like to request extra rations of food for the men, maybe allow us to start a garden next spring?" Hogan asked her, but Klink spun on Hogan.
"So you can get access to tools?" he said, shaking a finger at Hogan. "I warn you, Hogan, I will train the general very well so she can continue my fine tradition of no escapes!"
"Swell," Hogan groused as he eyed the general up close.
"If I may, gentleman," Elsa said, hoping to de-escalate any coming arguments. "Why don't we postpone this until dinner? I'm sure the camp cook can prepare something that will be enjoyable."
Hogan and Klink shared a look and both started chuckling. "I volunteer Corporal LeBeau to prepare the meal, Colonel Klink," Hogan said, after he resumed some composure. "I'd rather have a meal that won't poison me."
"If the camp cook is that bad, why not replace him?" Elsa asked the pair.
"He is the best we can get," Klink told her as he sat to his desk. "The best cooks are taken by top military and government personnel. Better cooks go to important wartime operations. We, with our prisoners, get the runt of the litter, and have to make do."
"And he feeds the entire camp?" Elsa asked him.
"Unfortunately," Klink groused. "I'm surprised the men haven't tried more often to escape."
"Hard to escape on the rations they give us," Hogan pointed out.
"I wasn't talking about the prisoners," Klink muttered.
"I have a cook coming on a transport tomorrow," Elsa told the pair. "I will see if he is amenable to preparing meals for the prisoners as well."
"That'd be great for everyone," Hogan said, almost stunned. "Well, if you'll excuse me, the men were wanting to practice their glee club."
"Dinner shall be at 1900 hours," Elsa told him. "Until then, you are dismissed."
"General," Hogan said, giving her another half-hearted salute as he left the room.
"How about a tour, general," Klink said after Hogan left the room. "We can start with the coolers."
"Lead the way, Colonel Klink," Elsa told him.
=o=0=o= Barracks 2 =o=0=o=
"Well, colonel, how did it pan out?" Newkirk asked Hogan as he entered their barracks.
"As well as can be expected," Hogan told them. "She's amenable, strict, and very serious. Going on the off hand comment, we got more guards coming, from her side."
"So what are we doing?" Newkirk said sourly.
"She's hosting a small dinner party tonight, me, her and Klink," Hogan told them. "Her bearing might be nothing, but we're going to have to play our cards close to the vest for a time. Figure her out. We might need to arrange some escapes to make her look bad."
"Need volunteers, colonel?" Carter asked.
"Sure," Hogan said, nodding.
"I'll go," Carter said, volunteering himself.
"As will I," LeBeau said. "Our dogs will never track me."
"Then it's settled," Hogan said. "Kinch, get on the radio as soon as you can. We need everything we can about this new general and Arendelle."
"Will do, colonel," Kinchloe said.
"Oh, and LeBeau," he said, garnering the Frenchman's attention. "Make it your best. She's got a private chef and if we're going to keep using food as a way into private dinners and guest's personal items, we're going to need you to be better than whomever she has."
"I'll make tres magnifique, Colonel Hogan," LeBeau said.
"Now if you'll excuse me," Hogan said moving for his private quarters. "I gotta press my dress uniform."
=o=0=o= Kommadant's Private Dining Area =o=0=o=
"A most magnificent meal, colonels," Elsa complimented the men as the last of the dishes were removed from the table.
"Usually when I host a dinner party for guests, I use Corporal LeBeau," Klink told her.
"I can see why," Elsa said as she sipped her wine. "A most magnificent chef. Tell me, Colonel Klink, how are the prisoners compensated for catering these events?"
"For one, all involved are treated to the meal," Colonel Klink told her. "All plates are prepared equally, and Sergeant Schultz picks some at random to serve us. He also eats a plate himself, just after it's prepared, to test it for tampering."
"A food tester," Elsa said in understanding. "All adequate precautions, Colonel Klink. A French gourmet is a rare treat, indeed."
"So I take it you'll be using LeBeau's services in the future?" Hogan asked her.
"Most definitely," Elsa told him. "With the recent unpleasantness in France, and many French nationals returning to form resistance cells against German occupation under de Gaulle, I lost my own gourmet and had to turn to an Italian chef, instead."
"How do you think we got LeBeau?" Hogan said with a smile. "So, where does Arendelle fit into the war effort?"
"With our recently discovered oil reserves, Arendelle has been under intense pressure by both sides to join their cause," Elsa explained to them. "Until last week, Arendelle has stayed neutral and not delivered any oil at all to either side."
"Then what have you done with the oil you have been producing?" Klink asked her.
"Stockpiling it for the most part," Elsa told him. "Some of it has been sold to other neutral countries to alleviate hardships and provide money for Arendelle workers, subsidized heavily by royal coffers, but we've needed to provide a proper outlet and that meant choosing a side."
"Our sides winning," Hogan quipped.
"In your dreams, Hogan," Klink responded.
"In our case," Elsa said, ignoring their spat, "It has less to do with whose side is winning and our location on the geopolitical map. In the North Sea, Arendelle is firmly behind Axis lines. According to Prime Minister Churchill, even if Arendelle sided with the Allied powers of England and the United States, we couldn't expect any help in repelling the Kriegsmarine and the Luftstyrke is too small at the current time to be of much help, especially against the much larger and better funded Luftwaffe."
"So joining the Germans is an act of self preservation," Hogan said almost silently, thinking it over.
"In a way," Elsa confirmed. "Our biggest act of self preservation has been the removal and hiding of both heirs to the throne to neutral countries."
"The princess?" Hogan asked as he remembered Schultz saying the queen had had a girl when he was there.
"And her sister," Elsa said. "For security reasons, I can't reveal their locations, but they are safe, for now."
"I understand, general," Klink said.
"What are their names?" Hogan asked her, to get a questioning look from Elsa. "I can have the men crochet something for their birthdays."
"That has also become a state secret," Elsa told him. "To further protect them from spies who might try to coerce the king."
"You can't just erase their names from the record," Klink said. "There would be documents, meetings with other royals and nobility!"
"King Agnarr knew war would touch this continent again, and so their names have long been kept from public record," Elsa told the German colonel. "As such, only high ranking nobles who can be expected to keep the secret have even met the princesses."
"Sounds like a lonely way to grow up," Hogan commented.
"But secure," Elsa told him.
"I take it you have met them?" Klink asked her.
"A few times, yes," Elsa said. "The Kongelig's are an old line of nobility in Arendelle that can be traced back to its origins. We have helped safegard Arendelle for as long as it's been in existence."
"Including building an air force," Klink said. "I would love to see what the Luftstyrke does when the they are supplied with the latest German fighter airplanes."
"I would as well, but they are currently under the command of the Luftwaffe while I am assigned here as part of our cooperation," Elsa told him.
"You sound a little bitter, general," Hogan said, noticing her lip curling a bit as she said it.
"I've spent years building the Luftstyrke to what it is," Elsa told him in a low tone. "And now that they will see action, I won't be around to lead my pilots into war."
"I can respect that," Klink told her. "I myself find myself miss flying as I'm stuck here overseeing this camp."
"So how do you end up overseeing a POW camp?" Hogan asked her.
"Being a woman general," Elsa said simply. "Translating my rank to the German system, I'd be equal in rank to Field Marshal Goering, considering I answer only to the king of Arendelle. Due to my sex, however, I've been demoted a few ranks, but I can't be entirely dismissed due to my connections to the Fuhrer, so I requested assignment to a POW camp. Here, at least, I can serve the Luftwaffe without ruffling the collars of generals who would commit suicide by...trying to make me look bad."
"Interesting," Hogan said quietly.
"You've met the Fuhrer?" Klink said, astonished.
"Met?" Elsa said, raising an eyebrow. "I've known since before he was chancellor, having met him in '32 while he ran against Hindenburg."
"Most interesting," Klink said in astonishment. "To be in the presence of the Fuhrer himself. It's quite an honor."
"An honor I had the privilege of just this past week," Elsa said.
"Wow," Klink said as he pondered the significance of that.
"Should we be expecting him?" Hogan asked her.
"I doubt he'd ever visit," Elsa said, shrugging her shoulders. "Until the war's end he'll be busy discussing strategy of both political and military styles."
"I suppose you'd rather be with the High Command discussing those strategies," Klink asked her.
"Not really," Elsa told him. "Mostly dry talk of rumors, potential targets and intelligence reports to which everyone questions the veracity of its reporter. Plus you have the political suckups who want to elevate their position, the supposed military strategist whose advice is laughable but is listened to because of his connections...I could go on but I'd rather do my own research, draw my own conclusions and devise my own strategies than listen to the supposed experts."
"Well, you did beat a king," Klink said, agreeing with her and sucking up in his own way.
"That I did," she said with a smile.
"So, what do you think of the master race?" Hogan asked her.
"As a member of said race, I don't see any advantages of my hair, eye or skin tone," Elsa told him. "The American, Jessie Owens, proved himself superior when he took gold in the Olympics in '36 as a sprinter. He is far from the master race."
"Hitler wouldn't much care for that position," Hogan pointed out.
"I am neither a Nazi, nor a German," Elsa pointed out to the POW. "I am, however, an ally from a resource rich nation, a rich noble, connected politically to powerful world leaders on all sides of the war, and a personal friend to the Fuhrer himself."
"Hell of a place to be coming from," Hogan commented. "Well, if that will be all."
"You are dismissed, Colonel Hogan," Elsa told him. Elsa watched as Hogan rose and gave another of his half-hearted salutes before turning to leave. After he had gone, Elsa turned to Klink.
"Has your personal effects been removed from the kommadant's quarters?"
"Yes, general," Klink told her brightly. "I assume most of your own personal effects will be arriving in the morning?"
"Yes," Elsa told him as she looked around for the head of the guard and not finding him. "Schultz!"
"Yes, herr koma..." Schultz started to say as he entered the room, but started to stammer.
"Mein kommadant will be sufficient, sargeant," Elsa told him.
"Danke, mein kommadant," Schultz said with a smile.
"My staff car has several pieces of luggage in the boot," Elsa told him. "See that they are delivered to the kommadant's quarters."
"They have already been delivered by your driver, mein kommadant," Schultz told her.
"Good man," Elsa said with a raised eyebrow. "Well, Colonel Klink, it's been a long day."
"Tomorrow, general," Klink said as he stood with Elsa.
=o=0=o= Barracks Two =o=0=o=
"How'd it go?" Newkirk asked Hogan as the senior officer entered the barracks.
"It's a lousy way to fight a war," Hogan remarked as leaned up against a wall.
"The info you wanted," Kinchloe said as he handed a clipboard to Hogan.
"What's it say?" LeBeau asked him.
"Our new general is twenty-seven, born in 1916, from Arendelle's oldest noble line, yada yada, great pilot, and apparently has had the ear of her king since she made her first appearance in political circles since she was thirteen."
"She started young," Carter said.
"Which makes this escape tonight even more important," Hogan told his men. "We have to make her look incompetent, and we have to do it soon. Otherwise, the only way she'll leave is when the war is either by Hitler himself forcing her out or she decides to go."
"What about Burkhalter?" Newkirk asked. "Couldn't he force her out?"
"Not even if she insulted his sister, Gertrude," Hogan told them. "She has the ear of Hitler himself. Known him for over a decade and through his rise to power. I doubt even the Gestapo will cross her."
"Blimey," Newkirk said as she shook his head.
"No, we have to make her look bad," Hogan pointed out. "So bad she wont want to stay and tarnish her career."
"You can count on us, sir," Carter said.
Chapter 2
=o=0=o= Roll Call, The Next Morning =o=0=o=
As the men filed out of Barracks 2, Hogan noticed with pride that LeBeau and Carter were already gone. He hoped the two weren't found and that they'd be safe, but it was hard to be sure of anything with a war on.
He also noticed the trucks coming in, carrying supplies no doubt, then a handful of men along with a soldier behind them. The soldier was what really caught his eye, as he noticed the dog with him, and not a German Shepherd either but a short haired Collie who eyed everyone as he walked with his handler as if he were wanting to attack.
As Hogan lined up with his men and Schultz began to count, he saw the general's staff car enter the main gate and stop near the kitchen, letting a man in a brown suit out. The cook Hogan guessed. He could only smile though as Schultz came over with a sad look on his face.
"Colonel Hogan?" the sergeant said sadly. "Where is Carter and the cockroach?"
"France," Hogan teased the guard. "LeBeau got homesick and made a run for it."
"And Carter?"
"Well, France is in the right direction," Hogan commented sarcastically.
Schultz just groaned as he turned to see Elsa exiting the kommadant's office with Klink in tow.
"Report!" Elsa yelled as she came to a parade rest in front of the group.
"Beg to report," Schultz said as he saluted her, "Two prisoners missing. A Corporal LeBeau and Sergeant Carter."
"Sound the alarm!" Elsa yelled. Noticing the incoming soldiers, Elsa marched over as Schultz ran to retrieve the motorcycle and sidecar and confronted the handler with a dog.
"Corporal Bjorgman," she said as she addressed the soldier. The man snapped to attention and even the dog sat back on its haunches and raised a paw to its ear. "Are you and Sven ready to track escaping prisoners?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said with a smile.
"Circle the camp and see if you can track their scent," she commanded him. "Call out and begin searching once you do. The guards and I will be right behind you."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, snapping another salute before turning with his dog to begin his first assignment, several guards trailing behind him as he left the camp.
"Mein general!" Schultz called as he pulled up with the motorcycle and sidecar. "Hop in!"
Elsa hopped in the sidecar as Klink boarded the truck carrying another handful of guards and they began tracking. Sven seemed to catch their scent fast, putting his nose to the ground and running briskly along.
For the better part of an hour, Sven tracked the scent through the woods. Elsa worried that they might have made a train or hopped onto a truck when Sven entered a farm, then began to search the haystacks, finally digging into one.
"Sven, heel boy," Corporal Bjorgman said as he pulled the dog back as the other guards surrounded the stack.
"Good work, corporal," Elsa said as she exited the sidecar.
"Thank you, general," the corporal said as he held the dog back.
"Exit the stack, or we will open fire!" Elsa yelled.
"Don't shoot!" LeBeau yelled as he began to crawl out of the stack. He looked mournfully at the dog as he stood, but raised his hands in surrender.
"Klink," Elsa said as the elder man arrived with the truck. "Take this man back to camp and lock him in the cooler."
"How long?" Klink said with a grin. "Two weeks? A month?"
"Indefinitely," Elsa said coldly to wipe the grin off his face.
"But general..." Klink began but Elsa held up a hand to stop his protest.
"Carry out my orders," she said as she climbed back in the side car. Sven had already began to track again, and five guards plus the motorcycle followed the dog back into the woods.
This time, the trail wound through creek after creek, seeming up and down several trees and through two barns. Elsa wondered how hard this sergeant would be to track down when they arrived at an abandoned farmhouse with a burned down house. Sven entered the barn, and the guards had just taken up positions around the barn doors when a human yell sounded from inside the barn. Soon, the lean form of Sergeant Carter fell out of the loft, Sven standing triumphant at the loft door.
"Good boy, Sven!" Corporal Bjorgman called out to get a bark from Sven.
"Ow," Carter groaned as he got to his feet, taking in the guards severe faces.
"Guards, return this man to camp," Elsa commanded them. "Place him in the cooler."
"Jawohl, general," one of the men said, then motioned for Carter to march in the lead.
"Follow along, Sergeant Schultz," Elsa told the older man. Together they returned to camp, and thankfully the captured sergeant didn't try anything on the way back.
=o=0=o= Stalag 13 =o=0=o=
Sergeant Carter was marched past his fellow prisoners to the cooler, some catcalling and others saying he'd do better next time. Elsa paid no attention herself, just exited the motorcycle and went into the kommadant's office.
"That didn't take long," Newkirk muttered.
"It's that new dog," Hogan mused as he watched the collie play. "LeBeau couldn't tell it to go away and it's got the nose to track down a seasoned outdoorsman."
"Bloody marvelous," Newkirk groused as he washed his shirt in the tub.
It wasn't long before Sergeant Schultz came huffing up and clearly out of breath.
"Colonel Hogan!" he whined. "The kommadant wants to see you in her office, immediately!"
"Sure Schultz," Hogan said, then promptly marched over to her office. Hilda was typing away on forms that seemed to somehow run the camp. She smiled at seeing him, then turned to face him.
"Go in, Colonel Hogan," Hilda told the POW. "She's expecting you."
"Thanks, Hilda," Hogan said as he opened the door. There were several boxes that were open, but not unpacked yet, but the new general clearly had time to unpack her desk supplies. The old spiked helmet was gone, as was the cigar box. In it's place was a chess table, done in black and white marble squares. The pieces themselves were hand sculpted and of such superior quality that Hogan could recognize each piece simply by the style. He also saw that it was halfway through a game, but whom the general was playing against he wasn't sure.
"You wanted to see me?" he asked the general as she wrote on a page with an older style pen, it's inkwell and nameplate combination in front of her.
"I am giving you five minutes to see your men in the cooler, each," Elsa told him as she sat upright in her chair and set her pen down. "You may question them, get their stories, and otherwise ensure that they have not been unduly harmed or molested."
"Well, you brought them back alive, so that's definitely a plus," Hogan quipped, then moved a piece, a bishop to attack the other sides knight. "How long are they going to be detained?"
"Three days," Elsa said, moving her other knight into an attack position on a rook.
"That's fair," Hogan said, moving his rook to safety.
"Just as soon as they tell me how they escaped," Elsa said, moving her knight again, this time to attack the Hogan's provocative bishop.
"You want to know how they escaped?" Hogan clarified, not sure how he was going to handle this wrinkle.
"So I can ensure it doesn't happen again," Elsa said with a smile. Hogan eyed his pieces, running the scenarios in his head, knowing he was trapped as he moved again, this time a pawn to reinforce his failing bishop.
"I'll ask them," he finally said, feeling defeated as Elsa leaned forward and sacked his bishop. "If they don't reveal how they escaped, do you intend to keep them confined for the rest of the war? It can get pretty cramped if more men take the same approach and don't tell you how they escaped."
"True," Elsa said, leaning back in her chair as Hogan took the knight. "But if they have a tunnel, I need to secure and fill it before more prisoners use it to escape."
"If we had a tunnel, more than two men would be gone," Hogan told her as he began to move his pieces into better attack and defense positions.
"And I could get more obnoxious with my searches," Elsa said, moving her own pieces into better attack positions. "Multiple midnight bed checks, more guards searching your belongings and dumping the contents out, more strict rules and less access to entertainment."
"And I'm guessing nothing but the bare necessities," Hogan mused as he realized that Elsa had him at a slight advantage as she placed her queen right in the middle of the field, and he had nothing to attack it with that wouldn't damage his position.
"We can be friends or we can be enemies," Elsa said, as Hogan made his own move, a rook down the side to provide support to an attacking bishop. Elsa moved her own pawn to block his support, smiling at Hogan.
"For now, I think I'll take a friend," Hogan said, moving his own queen deep into Elsa's territory. "If you'll excuse me, general, I'm going to go see my men. Hope you don't my tinkering with your board?"
"That's why I display a chess board on my desk," Elsa told him. "It's an irresistible draw and allows me to gauge an opponent's tactical ability."
"So how do I measure up?" Hogan asked with a smile.
Elsa pursed her lips as she examined the board, then looked up at him. "A little rusty, perhaps, but you have a firm grasp of tactical planning. As I hinted last night, I highly despise false tacticians and this lets me weed out, how does that saying go? Weed out those that don't know their hat from a hole in the ground?"
"Eh, close enough," Hogan said with a shrug. "Tootles."
Hogan then turned and left, heading straight for the cooler. The guards admitted him without problem, and he found LeBeau and Carter in cells already, but not together. When he looked around to see if he was alone, he was almost surprised that he was.
"That collie will get no snacks from me," LeBeau said as he moved closer to the bars.
"I was sure a bloodhound couldn't track me if it tried," Carter said as he shrugged. "I used a wet shrub to scrub my trail clean, crossed water several times, doubled back so often I almost came out on camp..."
"That dog is definitely going to complicate matters," Hogan agreed. "LeBeau, see if you can get friendly with it when we get you out of here."
"Oui, colonel," LeBeau agreed.
"Now, how are we going to cover you two leaving?" Hogan asked. "She's demanding to know how you did it."
"How about the pole vaulting trick?" Carter said. "I've been practicing."
"No, she might want a display so she knows how high to raise the wire," Hogan groused.
"Why not show her one of the spots where we have the fence cut?" LeBeau piped in.
"I hate to, but I think you may be right," Hogan said, crossing his arms. "Use the one behind the motorpool. We just worked there recently and it's easy to say you two were just waiting for a good time to run."
"Oui, colonel," LeBeau said as the guard opened the cooler door.
"Once you spill the beans, you'll get out in three days," Hogan told them as he began to drift back towards the guard.
"As long as they don't feed us saurkraut," LeBeau said as Hogan walked out the door. The guard shut it, cutting off the rest of LeBeau's rant, but Hogan knew the gist of it.
Disparaged, he walked back to the barracks, to plot his next move.
=o=0=o= Kommadant's Office =o=0=o=
Elsa finished her report, detailing the attempted escape of the two prisoners, then filed it in the cabinet. She looked around the spartan office, and decided to redecorate a little. The first thing she wanted to do was hang a painting of the king and queen in her office. Looking around, she decided the best place to hang it was to the left of the door where a photo of the Fuhrer hung.
Shaking her head at the folly of the man, she lifted it up to pull it off its peg, finding it didn't want to move. She was astonished at first, but then put a little muscle behind it to pull it free. When it finally moved, she was shocked to see the wires that came with it.
"What?" she said aloud, checking the painting again to find a microphone hidden in the photo. Shock flooded her, and her brain went to who might have planted a listening device in her office.
Her first thought was the prisoners, but that didn't make much sense. First off, where would they get the parts and wires plus the time to put a microphone in the kommadant's office. Her second thought, and the more likely solution, was it was planted by the Gestapo.
Setting the photo aside, she opened the door to find Klink talking with a razzled Hilda who clearly didn't want to talk with the older man, but lacked the ability to say no. Clearing her throat, Elsa got his attention.
"If I might have a moment of your time, Colonel Klink?" she said.
"I am at your command, general," Klink said happily as he followed her into her office. His smile faded however, when Elsa showed him the photo with the hidden microphone.
"Any idea who would bug your office?"
"The Gestapo!" Klink said, shock and anger evident in his voice. "They are constantly looking for dissenters and traitors!"
"Then I'll have to keep a better eye on them in the future," Elsa said, throwing the photo in the trash.
"Major Hochstetter is the one who comes by most often," Klink informed her. "He sees traitors and saboteurs everywhere."
"Then I shall deal with him next time he comes to my camp," Elsa said, as she hung her own picture of the king and queen.
"And those would be?" Klink asked her.
"King Agnarr and Queen Iduna of Arendelle," Elsa said with a little pride.
"Ah, they look so happy together," Klink said happily.
"It was a well done portrait by a rather famous artist in Arendelle," Elsa told him as she returned to her unpacking. "I have my own likeness done by him as well, though that portrait hangs in my family's ancestral home at the foot of North Mountain."
"I'm sure it is a lovely work," Klink said in an approving tone as Elsa pulled another framed picture from a stack, this one was of a monoplane with a grinning young girl standing next to it in full pilot's garb. "I don't recognize the plane."
"The Westland Wizard," Elsa told him. "My first airplane after it was purchased by my father for my enjoyment."
"So the pilot is you?" Klink said as he studied her. "Either it's a very big plane or you were very young."
"Fifteen," Elsa told him. "I've used it to train and dogfight with my pilots in Sopwith Camels and Snipes, but it wasn't until we upgraded a few years ago to the Hawker Hurricanes that we still use today that I retired it."
"How many squadrons do you have?" Klink asked her.
"Five," she said with a sigh. "Too many applicants lack the necessary coordination and control for being a fighter pilot. They've become able bombers, but again, we lack the proper materiel to be a credible threat. Now, advancements in aviation have further put us behind the times."
"At least Germany has its own production companies," Klink said a bit haughtily.
"Something I was working on before the hostilities," Elsa conceded. "We need the ability to produce our own materiel, our own parts to be of any particular threat. However, we can't afford to compete with firms providing war materiel for the major factions. Their funds run deeper than ours."
"That's understandable," Klink told her. "Once things settle down after the war, you can return to your own endeavors. Creating airplanes, training pilots..."
"Wonderful things for a general," Elsa commented in a low tone, but Klink took no notice as he looked out the window.
"You're in trouble," he muttered when he turned back from the window.
"Have I done something wrong?" she asked as she hung her photo on the wall.
"Major Hochstetter just arrived," he said, grimacing. "If you don't mind, general, I have some paperwork to fill out."
"Stand your ground, Colonel Klink," Elsa told him as she moved behind her desk. Klink looked positively sick, but moved with her to stand behind her on the right as she took her seat.