Stalag 13
March 24, 1944, 0845 hours

Colonel Hogan had retreated to his office immediately after roll call. He was not a happy person at the moment. Yesterday had been another mail day, and yet another day when Schultz did not call his name. His lack of mail hadn't been bothering him as much lately, but with what had happened to Marya, he just couldn't prevent his hatred for Hochstetter from bubbling to the surface.

That damned Hochstetter! How dare he keep me from my family! It's bad enough that I am stuck over here never having seen my little boy. He fumed as he thought of his young son who had never met his father. And now he goes and beats on Marya to try and get her to confess to something for which he has no other proof. He will pay for all this … somehow, someway, he will pay.

- - - - -

Sergeant Schultz walked slowly towards Barracks 2. He was supposed to bring Colonel Hogan to the Kommandant's office at the request of General Burkhalter, but it was the last thing he preferred to do at the moment. The Colonel had been in a very bad mood that morning at roll call, and Schultz suspected it had something to do with his lack of mail.

What does Major Hochstetter hope to accomplish by keeping mail from the Colonel? I know he suspects the Colonel of being responsible for all the bad things that happen in this area, but can't prove it. The portly Sergeant let out a long sigh. I know that there is some monkey business going on, but don't care to know any of the details. I just wish the Colonel would start getting his mail again.

- - - - -

"And you got to see your family again?" LeBeau asked. He was holding a tray containing small pieces of buttered toast and was placing small bits of scrambled eggs on them.

"Yes," Vladimir replied. He was sitting on the bench at the table in the barracks, talking with his old friends. He had changed out of the Gestapo uniform and was wearing one of his old uniforms that had been left behind when he had gone away. It was as if he had never left. "They were very surprised to see me."

"What in the 'ell are you making, LeBeau?" Newkirk asked, looking at the small bits on the tray. "Scrambled egg sandwiches?"

"I don't have enough eggs for everyone, so I'm stretching things," LeBeau explained. "Just leave the cooking to me and you go back and do whatever it is that you do."

"And that first night, my family slept with the neighbors and gave my wife and I the flat to ourselves," Vladimir continued as he described his homecoming for Kinch and Carter.

"But I don't understand," Carter said. "If they were so happy to see you, why did they sleep somewhere else that night?" As he stopped talking, realization hit him and he began to blush. "Oh, I get it now."

Vladimir laughed. "You haven't changed a bit, Andrew," he said.

LeBeau had finished his tray and began to carry it over to the table when the door to the barracks opened. "Colonel Hogan," Schultz said as he entered the barracks and closed the door. "The Kommandant …" He looked around, not seeing Hogan. "Colonel Hogan?"

"He's in there, Schultz," Newkirk said, motioning towards the Colonel's office. "Why don't you leave him alone today? He's not in a very good mood."

"Newkirk, the Kommandant wants to see him at once," Schultz insisted. "Ooo, that looks good," he said as he spied the tray LeBeau was carrying. He snatched one of the small morsels from the tray before LeBeau could stop him.

"Hey, stop that," LeBeau protested. "Those are for us prisoners!"

Schultz tried to chuckle as he chewed his food. He slapped Vladimir on the back. "You don't mind if I have one, do you?" he asked, not recognizing him.

"You can have mine, Schultz," Vladimir replied.

When he heard him speak, Schultz did a double take and looked at Vladimir again. "You?" he exclaimed as he finally recognized him. "What are you doing here? How did …" he stammered.

"It's good to see you again, Schultz," Vladimir said with a large smile on his face.

Schultz closed his eyes. "When I open my eyes, you will not be here," he said. He opened one eye slightly and looked at Vladimir. He quickly closed it again. "I see nothing!" he said.

The door to Hogan's office opened and the Colonel stomped into the main room. "What's all the racket out here?" he asked crossly. "Schultz, what are you doing here? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"But I do, Colonel Hogan," Schultz insisted. "I came here to tell you that the Kommandant wants to see you at once."

"Okay, you told me, now you can go," Hogan shot back. He walked over to Schultz and began to usher him to the door and followed him out of the barracks.

After they had left, the door opened again and Schultz popped his head into the opening. "It's good to see you again, Sam," he said with a smile.

- - - - -

"Colonel Hogan, the Kommandant has told me of your adventure to England," Burkhalter said to Hogan. "But I wanted to hear your version of the story."

Hogan harrumphed in annoyance. "If the Kommandant told you what happened, why do you need to hear it from me?" he said testily.

Burkhalter studied Hogan closely. "I found it a little hard to believe that Klink overpowered three guards single-handedly to get you to the plane," he said, throwing an annoyed glance in Klink's direction. Klink gave a weak placating smile in return.

"I find that hard to believe as well," Hogan replied. "Okay, here's what happened. We stole the plane and on the way back the engine conked out. We bailed out and the plane crashed. That's it. Can I go now?"

Burkhalter didn't know what to say to this abrupt outburst. Something is bothering him. Normally, he'd have come back with a better shot at Klink. He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted when the office door burst open.

- - - - -

Hogan stood with his arms crossed waiting for the General to speak when the office door burst open. Major Hochstetter strutted into the room, sneering at everyone.

"Ah, Colonel Hogan. Why am I not surprised to see you here?" Hochstetter said.

"What do you want, Major?" Burkhalter demanded.

"General Burkhalter, I am surprised to see you here," Hochstetter replied.

"You didn't answer my question," Burkhalter said. "What do you want?"

Rather than answer the question, Hochstetter strode over to face Hogan. "Where were you last night, Colonel?" he asked.

"He was right here in this camp," Klink answered. "Where else would he be?"

"Maybe he could be in the woods a few miles from this camp," Hochstetter said calmly. "Throwing explosives into trucks and trying to blow up a fuel depot."

"That's ridiculous!" Klink exclaimed.

Hochstetter leaned closer to Hogan. "Is it, Colonel Hogan?" he asked menacingly.

Hogan remained silent, but was beginning to boil inside. He was not in the mood to play these games with Hochstetter.

"Last night, someone attempted to blow up the fuel depot by throwing explosives into one of the delivery trucks," Hochstetter explained. "They failed. The truck exploded as it went through the main gate. Three men were killed and the gate was destroyed, but nothing else in the depot was damaged."

Hogan remained silent. Who the hell tried to blow up that depot? Erich wouldn't do it without my knowledge. It suddenly dawned on him who would do this. Hans Wagner! Damn him – I told him that we were going to wait until it was fully operational. Now Hochstetter will tighten up security and make it even tougher for us to do the job.

"Well, Colonel Hogan – it seems that you failed," said Hochstetter mockingly.

Hogan had had enough. "I'm getting tired of you!" he exploded. "Every time something goes wrong around here and you can't find the ones who did it, you blame me, yell and scream and call everyone incompetent fools. Maybe you should look in the mirror to see who the real incompetent jackass is around here."

Hochstetter had taken a step backwards, surprised at the force of Hogan's outburst. He quickly recovered and stepped forward, raising his hand to strike the American. Hogan tensed for the blow he expected to come, ready to lash back at the diminutive Gestapo Major.

"Major Hochstetter – that is enough!" Burkhalter yelled.

Hochstetter whirled to face the General. "You are preventing me from interrogating a suspected saboteur?" he asked in surprise.

"No, Major," Burkhalter said icily. "I am preventing you from physically assaulting a prisoner of war protected by the Geneva Convention."

"Bah!" Hochstetter yelled. "He is guilty and I will get the truth from him!"

"Do you have proof, Major?" Burkhalter said. Without waiting for a reply, he continued, "I don't think you do, so you have no reason for being here. You are dismissed, Major."

"General, you don't seem to understand the seriousness of this," Hochstetter countered.

"I said you are dismissed!" Burkhalter bellowed. "Get out!"

"General, when I find proof that Hogan is responsible for everything that goes on around here, I will take care of you as well," Hochstetter threatened.

Burkhalter grinned. In a battle of wits, I'll bet on Colonel Hogan over Major Hochstetter any day. "Major, I would be surprised if you were smart enough to find proof that the sun rises in the East every morning," he quipped.

Hochstetter let out a low growl and slammed the door as he left.

Hogan felt a small sense of relief when Hochstetter left. He had struggled hard to suppress the urge to let loose on the Major.

"Colonel Hogan, you may go," Burkhalter said. "We'll talk about the P-51 some other time."

Without a word, Hogan left the office.

- - - - -

As Burkhalter left the Kommandant's office, he was surprised to find Sergeant Schultz waiting for him.

"General Burkhalter," Schultz said as he gave a salute. "May I talk to you?"

"Do you have a problem, Sergeant?" Burkhalter asked.

"Nein, General," Schultz replied hesitantly. "Colonel Hogan has the problem."

Burkhalter wasn't surprised to hear this after witnessing Hogan's strange behavior. "What kind of problem does he have?" he asked.

Schultz cleared his throat nervously. "I found out from the mail courier that Major Hochstetter has ordered that his mail was to be rerouted to Gestapo Headquarters."

"Are you sure, Sergeant?" Burkhalter asked.

"Yawohl, General," Schultz replied. "All of his mail, incoming and outgoing, is being held. The Colonel has not received any mail for months."

Burkhalter was shocked that Hochstetter would do such a thing. No wonder he is in a bad mood.

"I just thought that …" Schultz started.

"Danke, Sergeant," Burkhalter interrupted. "I will take care of it."

Schultz snapped a salute. "Yawohl, Herr General," he said.

- - - - -

As his car drove through the main gate, Burkhalter was lost in thought. Hochstetter was holding Hogan's mail and it was beginning to take its toll on the Colonel. This would not bode well for Hogan's operation, whatever that might be - and it also was a problem for the General and his plans. He knew quickly what he had to do.

"Driver, take me back to headquarters. I must speak to the postmaster," he ordered. "And then we will visit Gestapo Headquarters."

"General, your flight to Berchtesgaden …" the driver said.

"Can be delayed," Burkhalter finished for him. "I am not due in Obersalzberg until tomorrow."