Raiders of the lost Hogan

by dcgirl-7

Hogan gets captured while meeting an underground agent and it's up to his men to get him back,with a little help from someone.

4. chap 4

Newkirk awoke groggily and found himself hunched over in the backseat of a car.  He almost forgot where he was until he felt the threatening cold barrel of a gun pressed up against his forehead.  Blinking his eyes to clear the blur, he looked up into the face of the Gestapo man who held the gun.

~~~Oh great, an I was 'oping that this was all just a bloody nightmare brought on by one of Louis' French dishes.... ~~~ Newkirk thought as he slowly started to sit up.

The Gestapo man leaned back in his seat, never taking his eyes or his gun off of his prisoner.

"...Hey Buddy..." came a soft, raspy voice next to Newkirk.  He turned and saw that it was Kinch.  Torn and beaten, but still all in one piece.

" 'ow long 'ave we been travelin'?" Newkirk asked Kinch, his own voice thick and gravely.

"I don't know," he replied.  "I just woke up a couple minutes before you did."

The two captured men leaned back in their seats, watching the scenery as it blurred by their dark windows.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile in the other car, three other prisoners watched as they pulled up to a gate.

This gate was attached to barbed wire fences with four guard towers connected at each corner.

"Why are they bringing us to a prison camp?" Indy breathed angrily.

LeBeau and Carter didn't answer, instead they watched silently as their car pulled up in front of a small, modest looking building.  This had to be the Kommandant's office.

The Gestapo Major that was in their car, quickly got out and walked up the wooden steps and knocked loudly on the door.

Inside the office, the Kommandant, an Italian Major, was startled in his seat by the sudden pounding at his door.  Quickly clearing away some papers at his desk, he called towards the door.

"Come in..."

The Gestapo Major came in and closed the door loudly behind him.  Raising his left arm, he said to the Kommandant , "Heil Hitler! Major Kriegger, Gestapo."  Then he said in a demanding voice " I am here to request the use of your prison camp to hold six of our prisoners until we reach our destination."

The Italian Major looked  at him awhile, then said. "This is getting to be quite a busy place!  Just a couple of days ago, we had another prisoner stay with us, courtesy of the Gestapo.  Are you all meeting at the same destination?" he asked, curiously.

Major Kriegger narrowed his eyes and leaned into the Kommandant's face  "Your job is not to ask questions...Just...guard...my prisoners."

Nodding his head slowly, the Kommandant remembered to breathe again.  He stood up and walked over to the window to watch as the prisoners were being unloaded.

"I only count five prisoners, Major.  Don't tell me one has escaped already."

 Kriegger walked over to the window and said to the Kommandant .

"One of the prisoners will be staying with me in the guest quarters."

"Are you sure that is safe, Major?" the Kommandant asked uncertainly.

"Ach, she can be a bit aggressive at times, but I'm sure I can handle her." the Major answered smugly.

"A she?! Sir, my prison camp is no place for a woman-"

"And that is why she will stay with me!" Kriegger interrupted the major's protest." Now, I want those men placed in the cooler!"

"Ah yes, well..." the Kommandant started.

"Is there a problem, Kommandant?" Kriegger asked, the look on his face expecting the right answer.

"Well, there's no room left in the cooler-"

"Make room!"  Kriegger yelled, and instead of waiting for a response, he left the office to see to the prisoners.

"Mama mia, why do I put up with this?" the Kommandant muttered and called for his Sergeant of the guards to clear out a cell in the cooler.  Looking back out the window, he got a closer glimpse at  the five prisoners standing outside in the compound.  He recognized four of them immediately.

"What are they doing here?" he asked aloud to no one in particular.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Slamming him against the cold stonewall, the guards grabbed Newkirk and led him towards his appointed cell.  He had been separated from the others and he was constantly telling himself that they were all right.  He hated lying to himself.

After rounding another corner, they slammed him against another wall.

Whether from the constant beatings, or the fact that he couldn't take it anymore, Newkirk lashed out and shoved one of the guards away.  He quickly reached inside his boot, but only came up with an empty sheath.

"++Looking for this?++"

Newkirk turned to face the Gestapo agent who was holding up a wicked looking dagger.  Newkirk's dagger.

~~~Bloody stupid of you, Peter.  Whot made you think they would've missed that?~~~ he thought to himself  as he was finally thrown into a very small and crowded cell.  There was only one window and it was partly covered up, leaving only a sliver of light to creep into the dank room.

 Newkirk looked around and saw that all of his mates were there.  Squinting in the darkness, he noticed  Indy had LeBeau pinned face down on  the floor.

Dropping to his knees, which was pretty hard to do in the cramped quarters, he asked Indy. "Whot 'appened?"

Wrestling to keep LeBeau under control, Indy answered "Our little friend here started going crazy, tried to climb the walls!"

Glancing around at the four walls that seemed to move closer and closer in on them every second, Newkirk commented.

"Well, I suppose if I wos as claustrophobic as 'e is, I'd be joining 'im' on the floor."

"I think he's all right now." Kinch said, moving in to look at the still form of LeBeau as he lay, passed out underneath Indy.  Wiping the sweat off the little Frenchman's face, he mentioned.

"As long as he doesn't know where he is right now, he'll be ok."

"How long do you think we'll be in here, Kinch?" Carter, who had been standing the whole time in the corner of the room, asked.

Slowly letting out a long, discouraged breath, inch looked up at Carter and said.
"I don't know."  he then scooted  against a wall and brought his knees up to his chest.

Indy was now off of LeBeau and had turned him over on his back.  Carter threw a worried look over at Kinch.  Stepping around the men, being careful not to trip over LeBeau, Carter came over and squatted down beside Kinch.

"Kinch...what's wrong?" he asked, looking at his face for an answer.

After a long pause, Kinch looked over at the young man and raised his hands up in defeat.

"Everything's wrong! How could I be so stupid? Jumping into this mission feet first, allowing ourselves to be caught in such a trap!"

Pressing in a little further, Carter blurted out "Is that all?  You can't give up so easily, we'll get out of this cell somehow!"

"The kid's right."  Indy spoke up "We are gonna get out of this cell, wherever the Germans take us next is another thing."

Kinch gripped Carter on the shoulder. "Thanks Andrew."  was all he said, but that was enough.

Carter nodded, and sat down on the frigid floor.  Shivering, he wrapped his arms around himself .  Their warmer, civilian clothes had been taken from them.  And instead, the guards had dressed them in much thinner, threadbare coveralls.

Indy sometimes felt naked without his hat, and as soon as they were out of the cell, he was going to find that not so lucky Gestapo corporal who took his fedora.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It had been about three hours and all was quiet in the solitary cell.  Kinch, with Newkirk and Carter on either side of him, hadn't minded when they both fell asleep ;with one lying his head in Kinch's lap, the other, his head against Kinch's shoulder.  It provided much body warmth.

Indy was lying close by LeBeau, drifting in and out of slumber.  He wanted to make sure the little guy wouldn't wake up and have another attack.

From beneath the cooler floor, a scuffling sound could be heard.  They didn't pay much attention to it until the noise started getting louder.  Part of the floor started to rise from underneath Carter, arousing him and some of the others.

Indy, now fully awake, watched as Carter rolled off of the rising panel in the floor, which proved to be a trap door.

A head peeked up from the opening and addressed the stunned men.

"Buena sera and welcome to my prison camp!  If you're looking for Colonel Hogan, I'm afraid he's gone."

Kinch peered in the dismal light at the familiar face and voice.

"Major Bonacelli!"

"Bonacelli!" Newkirk and Carter both exclaimed.

"Who's Bonacelli?" Indy asked.

"What's going on?" a croaky LeBeau asked, to distracted to worry about the confined space around him.

"Woah woah, too much at once!" Bonacelli's voice now reduced to a whisper.  "We start with one thing at a time, yes?"

"Ok,"  Indy sounded off in a hoarse whisper "For starters, who are you?"

"Oh, we haven't met.  Dr. Jones, right?  I am Major Bonacelli, the Komandante of this camp."

With an amused look on his face, Indy slowly looked over at the others. Cocking his head to one side, he thrusted his thumb towards Bonacelli.  "If he's the Komandante, I'm Betty Grable!"

"Pleased to meet ya, Betty." Newkirk joked, then confirmed seriously "The Major is who 'e says 'e is."

Still confused, Indy questioned "Well, if you're such buddy pals, why does he have us locked away in the cooler? And how do you know each other?"

"Again, so much at one time!"  Bonacelli cried out, then explained  "The reason you are in the cooler is because the Gestapo placed you here.  I had to rush very quickly to clear out this one cell and hide the radio equipment somewhere else."

Indy, now full of more questions was ready to speak up.  But Bonacelli was not finished.

"You see," Bonacelli began, "I met them, along with Colonel Hogan at Stalag 13.  I was, you might say, an apprentice of Colonel Klink's.  I didn't want to stay in Germany, I wanted to go to Switzerland.  But Hogan convinced me to stay here and be an agent for the other side.  So, I stay.  And pass on plenty of information to London.

Before Indy could get a word in edgewise, Kinch spoke up  "You said something about Colonel Hogan, was he here?"

"Si, he was here."  Bonacelli nodded his head.

"And...?" Kinch probed.

"He was brought here by a Gestapo Major.  A Major...Stroegger I think.  They didn't keep him here as long as they are keeping you, so I didn't get to speak with him very long."

"What did he say?" LeBeau asked impatiently.

"First, he inquired about the girl."

"Briar Rose?" Carter asked.

"Yes.  She was such a pretty young thing.  I wonder if it's the same girl they brought along with you?" Bonacelli wondered.

"Yeah, she escaped and contacted us by radio. When we came to meet her, we were captured along with her." Kinch explained.

"Oh, that was very risky of her!" Bonacelli exclaimed. " The Gestapo have been swarming over this area recently.  That's why we had to temporally shut down this operation.  Or else I would have contacted you about Hogan right away!"

"Hhmmm, what else did the Colonel say?" Kinch asked.

"Just that, he was going to see how far they were heading so he could find out what was going on."

"So, he must have found out what was happening and that's why he tried to escape." Carter summed up.

"Did you ever find out where they were taking Colonel Hogan?" Kinch asked Bonacelli.

"I tried to ease it out of the Major, but he wouldn't give.  So, to not bring attention to myself,   I...what's the word...oh, I shut up.  I then allowed him the use of my office so he could make phone calls.  Some of my men were able to tap into the line and listen in."

"That was a bit chancy, don't you think?" Newkirk wondered.

"Yes, but we have a well concealed phone tap.  The receiver is hidden in a coffeepot." Bonacelli confirmed.

"Now who would think to look there?" Indy asked aloud.

"You use a coffeepot too?  Wow!"

Indy cast a questioning look at the enthusiastic Carter.

Catching his glance, Carter cleared his throat and inquired Bonacelli.

"So, ah...what did your men find out?"

"That Major Stroegger was taking Hogan and the young woman to the castle of Brunwald, located on the Austrian/German border."

"Salzburg?" Kinch queried.

"Si." Bonacelli affirmed. " He was going to meet up with a Major Kriegger, the same man that brought you here."

A commotion was heard down below.  Major Bonacelli excused himself and listened in to the voices that called up to him. Quickly, he pulled himself up into the cell.

"My men inform me that the Gestapo are on their way to get you.  They'll try to delay them, but we have to work fast." he took out a knife and came towards Indy.

"Just *what* do you think you're doing?" Indy asked, grabbing Bonacelli's wrist.

"Unless you want this thing accidentally shoved in your ear, you're gonna have to trust me." Bonacelli said and released the knife.  He pulled out a couple of small objects from his pocket.

He apprised the men.  "They won't think to look at the toe of your boots.  Inside these packets are a mixture of ether and smoke .  To activate them, just kick the toe of your boot against something.  My men in the motor pool had time to *fix* your transportation.  A couple miles down the road, your cars will start to lose control, but don't worry, and all will be fine."

"Don't worry 'e tells us."

Bonacelli ignored the Englishman's muttering and advanced to trim off a flap at the end of Indy's boot.  Stuffing the packet in place, he smoothed the flap back in position.

"Now, if they repeat what they did to Hogan, black hoods are going to be placed over your heads.  So you should be safe from breathing the ether.  " Bonacelli explained as he now worked on LeBeau's boot .  " Wait until the car is pulled over before you acetify the smoke bombs.

Heavy footsteps coming from outside the door soon approached and Bonacelli scurried down the tunnel hole.  "Good luck."  he told them before disappearing under the panel.  Carter quickly sat on it just as the door to the cell opened.

"Raus! Raus, schnell!"  growled the squad of Gestapo as they pushed and pulled them out to the black sedans waiting outside.

Stepping out into the darkness, their only way of sight was the searchlights as they caressed their beams from one part of the camp to the other.

Kinch only noted two cars.  He took a sidelong glance at the far end of the compound and noticed at the front gate,  the third car was just  exiting the camp.

~~~No doubt with Briar Rose inside.~~~

A Gestapo Corporal started to lead LeBeau towards a car.  LeBeau tried to steer in the direction of the other car, so he and Indy would be separate.  Noticing the Frenchman's stubborness, the Corporal struck him in the ribs with his knee. Laughing at the little one who was clutching his side in pain, he spit on the enemy prisoner.

Pulling himself up to his full height of 5'3 , LeBeau was about to return the favor to the "filthy boshce."

"LEBEAU!"  Indy yelled, stopping the Frenchman from kicking the Corporal, with the toe of his boot that contained the smoke bomb.

LeBeau mentally chastised himself for being so careless, and used his other boot to deliver a blow to the man's shin.  He then dropped to the ground and rolled to the farthest car that he intended to enter.  Raising his arms in surrender, he submitted to the guards as they shoved him inside the vehicle.  All the while, silently chuckling to himself.

"Crazy Frenchie, could've gotten killed..." Indy smiled to himself as he and Kinch were directed to the nearest car.

Even though all the men expected the black hoods, they pretended to struggle as the obscure coverings were placed over their heads.

Bonacelli watched from the window of his quarters and silently prayed for their safety as both cars exited the camp with a five-minute interval in between.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After about five minutes of monotonous traveling, the car started to sputter. The driver was cursing loudly while trying to pull the car over to the side of the road.

LeBeau, still under the safety of the hood, waited a few seconds as their vehicle swerved off the road. He felt around with his foot until he made contact  with the back of the front seat. Nudging Newkirk and Carter to signal what he was about to do, he kicked the seat with all his might, setting off the ether spray.

"Was ist los?"  the driver and the guard both exclaimed, turning around in the front seat and getting a face full of the gas.  The driver slumped over to the side.  The guard, dizzy from the fumes, reached over and opened the door.  He tumbled out before the car hit a tree.

Slamming forward in their seats from the impact, the three men yanked off their hoods yet kept them close to their nose and mouths in case the potent ether smell lingered.

After the air was clear, they quickly frisked the driver for the keys to their handcuffs. They came up with nothing.

"Blast!  That bloody guard must 'ave 'em" Newkirk cried out in discouragement.

The entire right side of the car was smashed up by the tree, so Carter struggled to open the door on the left side.  He flung it open and tumbled out, followed by LeBeau and Newkirk.  Rolling off of Carter, they preceded to cautiously walk back towards the road to see if the other car was approaching.

* * * * * * * * *

About two hundred feet down the road, Indy had already activated his smoke bomb and was straining over the front seat to steer the car .  Not an easy thing to do in handcuffs.  The unconscious driver was slouched over, his foot on the gas pedal. With his full weight on it, the car was accelerating at a rapid speed.  Bringing his body fully into the front seat, Indy kicked the driver's foot off the pedal and slammed on the brake.  The car swerved and spun into a full 360 before screeching to a stop.

Kinch, who was speechless the whole time in the backseat, took a deep breath.  They both got out of the car and found the keys to their handcuffs.  Rubbing their wrists gingerly from all the chaffing, they began to grab for the guns that belonged to their captors.

++"Not so fast!"++ a voice said from behind them. A cocking of a gun could be heard.

Kinch and Indy didn't have time to grab the guns off the guards.  Indy had only come up with a wicked looking dagger.  They both turned, their hands raised in the air, with Indy clutching the knife.

++"Step away from the car, now!"++ the guard yelled.  They noticed his uniform was tattered and torn.  He looked as though he had leaped from a moving vehicle.  Raising his gun he aimed for Kinch and pulled the trigger.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A shot so deafening came from the gun, but it missed Kinch entirely.  Unknown to the guard, Newkirk had come up from behind him and threw his handcuffed arms around his neck, pulling him back by the chain.

The Gestapo Corporal dropped the gun, his face turning blue.  Kinch came over and picked it up.   "What took you so long?" his eyes grinning.

Newkirk tried his best to look offended "Whot?! We 'ad a bit of a ride, we weren't as lucky as you!" motioning towards the car that was still on the road.

"You call that luck?"  Indy said, coming over and pressing the knife against the Gestapo Corporal's throat. He spoke to the man in German.

++"Unless you want this thing shoved in your ear, your're gonna have to do what I say."++

Newkirk had released his hold on the man's neck, allowing him to cough and sputter.

++"Now, give me the keys!"++ Indy demanded to the guard.

"You mean these?"  Newkirk asked, dangling the set and grinning.

Indy didn't say anything, but wondered how he was able to retrieve the keys without him knowing.  And with handcuffs on even.

As if reading his thoughts, Newkirk said aloud while taking off his binds and tossing the keys to LeBeau. "Oh, I could pick your pocket wearing boxing gloves, I've been that way since birth."

Indy just shook his head at the Cockney Corporal.  Cocky was more like it.  He helped bind and gag all the Gestapo men, including the one who was being closely watched by Kinch.

When they were all finished, Kinch looked around.  "Where's Carter?"

"Here I am!" he called out.

"Is the driver comfortable?" LeBeau asked Carter as he came closer.

"Well, I don't know how comfortable you could get, being bound and gagged in the trunk of a car, but I would say..." he looked at the men, now all silent "Yeah, he's comfortable."

"Good." Indy said "Now where's the car you came in?"

"Down that way..." Carter pointed out the direction "Why?" he asked as Indy made his way down the small incline, towards the car.

"I gotta get my hat."

They all looked at each other, not understanding why that hat was so special.

Indy returned, a satisfied look on his face and a brown fedora on his head.

" 'ay mate, could I 'ave me 'pencil sharpener' back?."  Newkirk said to Indy, indicating the knife he held in his hand.  " I feel undressed without it."

"Same with this."  Indy said, adjusting the brim of his hat and returning the knife to Newkirk, who placed it back in his boot sheath.

They all stood there awhile as if not knowing what to do.  But they knew they had to do something.  There was no one they could turn to for help.  So they all piled in the surviving black sedan and began the long drive back to the old, rundown barn where they stashed their supplies.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Indy emerged from one of the stalls in the barn. Now dressed in his own clothes, leather jacket, and of course, his hat.  He was ready to go.  Or, as ready as he could be.

He checked his pistol to make sure it was loaded and started to wind up his bullwhip that he had brought along.  He looked up to see Carter staring at him.

"What are you supposed to be, some kind of lion tamer?"

He didn't answer the young man's question and finished winding up the whip. He joined the others all sitting on hay bales.  The morning sun was peeking through the dusty cracks of the barn, giving Kinch enough light to carefully study the map he had laid out.

"So, when are we going, Kinch?" LeBeau asked, trying not to sound too eager.

"It'll have to be tonight." he answered.

"Go where?" Indy asked "To Salzburg?"

"Kinch nodded his head, not looking up from the map.

"Oh...,what's the strategy?" he asked.

Kinch now looked up "Don't know,...any ideas?"

Indy turned the map around to face him.  The others encircled him as he pointed on parts of the map.

"We're going to have to park the car about...here.  Because they'll probably have roadblocks and patrols covering this area.  We'll have to hike through the woods about five miles until we reach the castle."  he stopped and sat back on his hay bale.

"Well...what do we do once we get there?" Carter asked.

Indy shrugged  "How should I know? I'm making this up as I go."

Kinch, with his chin in hand, thought about it. "He's right, you know.  That's the only possible way. We'll think of something once we get there, right?"

"Oh, sure..." LeBeau said, not very sure himself.

Standing up, Kinch folded the map. "Are we ready to go?" he asked.  He was met with affirmation. "Carter, where's the explosives and other knick knacks you got?"

"Right here." Carter picked up the small, wooden crate. "I just have to place these out in the car!--"he said before tripping over a pitchfork and flying forward with the explosives.

Everyone jumped into action and caught the clumsy sergeant before he sent them to Salzburg the hard way.

"Let me assist you, Little-deer-who-runs-swift-and-sure-through-forest." Newkirk said as he dragged the demolitions man to the car.

"How did he get to be an explosives expert?" Indy asked LeBeau and Kinch. They shrugged their shoulders.

"I think it started a long time ago, when he blew up half his high school, beginning with the chemistry lab..." LeBeau began as they exited the barn.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The forest was cold and dark as the five men lurked in the shadows of the trees, their only light was from the full moon in the cloudless sky.

They had come upon some underbrush.  Pulling the foliage aside, they looked at the  monumental stone castle where Hogan was supposedly inside.  This castle once belonged to a noble family, but the Nazis had taken it over to use for their own devilry.

"Well...there it is." Indy remarked.

"Yeah..." Kinch responded.

Studying the outside of the imposing chateau, Indy motioned to Carter.

"Hey kid..." he pulled him aside. "We're gonna need some of those grenades you've brought."

"Yes sir!" Carter said, handing out the explosives and disregarded the fact that Indy kept calling him "kid".

"You might want to keep these separate." Carter told Indy, handing him two sets of grenades.

"Why?"

"The one in your right hand is the one that goes 'boom!'  The one in your left hand just spouts smoke." Carter explained.

"Ok, I'll be sure to--" Indy stopped and quieted himself.  Everyone else did the same.  They listened as they heard someone trudging through the woods.

"Get down!" Indy hissed, and they all hid in some of the thick bushes.

Carter, with Indy lying breathlessly beside him, watched as three-no-six pairs of heavy boots marched towards them. The boots stopped just right in front of their bush.

Voices could be heard as the German guards talked amongst themselves.  Carter's foot started to fall asleep from laying on it wrong.  And he was starting to go numb from lying on the freezing, wet ground.

Indy was starting to twitch. Then shiver. Now he was sweating harder and breathing heavily.  Carter was wondering why he was acting this way, something was definitely bothering him.  It couldn't be the Nazi guards that were just within reach.  He might've hated them, but he wasn't afraid of them.  Carter could tell Indy was struggling to remain quiet and still.

Finally, after about five minutes, the guards headed towards the castle to be relieved of their post.  They all laid there for about five more minutes until everything was secure.

Relieved that the guards were gone, Indy jumped up from the bushes.  He tore off his jacket and pulled  out something that had crawled up his shirt and flung it towards the farthest tree.

Kinch, Newkirk, LeBeau, and Carter all noticed the slithering reptile.  Carter, suprised at Indy's panic looked over at him.

"It was just a harmless snake!"

Shaking off the incident, Indy was now under control.  He slowly turned his eyes on Carter and stated through heavy breathing.

"I...Hate...Snakes!"

Carter just decided not to say anything and joined the others as they drudged on towards the castle.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

From the edge of the forest, Indiana, Kinch, Carter, LeBeau, and Newkirk watched the guards patrolling around the castle grounds.

"Ok," Indy pointed out " The only way to get in is through that door, we're going to have to make it fast. Kinch, you take the guard on the right.

"Got it." Kinch nodded.

"Newkirk, you take the guard on the left." Indy directed.

"With pleasure." Newkirk smiled.

Indy turned to him "You watch yourself out there, I don't want to have to come back after you."

"Kid, you cover us from behind that tree." he told Carter.

"And Lebeau, you come with me."

LeBeau didn't question Indy's order, he just nodded his head and checked his gun.

"We all set?" Indy asked. "Ok, lets go!" he said before a reply could be made.  Slinking from tree to tree, they finally made it to the side door.  Peeking out from the alcove, Indy saw Kinch grab his guard from the blind side of the building and deliver a solid punch to the chin, knocking him out cold.

Newkirk grabbed his guard also and instead, slammed him against the stonewall.  Giving a thumbs up sign, he and Kinch dragged the uniformed men into the woods.

Indy cautiously tried the door and surprisingly, found it to be unlocked.  Hoping this wasn't going to be another trap, he and LeBeau crept warily into the building and found themselves standing in a great hall.

LeBeau pulled Indy against the wall, just as a couple guards rounded the corner and walked in the opposite direction.  LeBeau and Indy slunk along the wall until they came to some isolated steps, leading upstairs.  They practically crawled up the steps, watching each other's backs.

They made it to the top when they heard more guards approaching.  They ducked into a tight space of an alcove.  They saw that it was Major Kriegger and about five guards. Being dragged by those guards was the great papa bear.

"Colonel Hogan!" LeBeau whispered excitedly, but became enraged to see what they did to him.

"So that's papa bear..." Indy whispered back.  They became still as another man approached Kriegger.

++"So, where are the other prisoners?"++ he asked Kriegger.

++" I don't know, Stroegger.  They were supposed to arrive by now."++

++"If they escaped, I'm sending you out to retrieve them personally!"++

++"I assure you, we'll find them"++ Kriegger assured through gritted teeth.

++"What do you want done with him?"++ Stroegger gestured towards Hogan.

++"Ach, throw him in that room and post a squad of guards around the door. I'll finish with him later. As soon as we bring his men here, he'll talk."++ Kriegger said, and he ordered the guards to place the prisoner in the room he had signified.

The door to that room was of a heavy oak.  Many locks were placed on the door and many guards were placed around it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hogan steadied himself against the table in the small, yet well furnished room. From what he understood from the little German he knew, the rest of his team were about to join him or attempt to rescue him.

Sensing someone else was in the room, Hogan called out in a demanding voice.

"Who's there? Who are you?"

"If you're against the Nazis, I'm on your side." an older man said as he came away from the window.  Taking off his glasses, he placed them in his pocket and set down the valuable looking vase he had been studying earlier.

Recognizing him through the bruises and blood, the old man said to him.

"Hogan, is that you?"

Nodding his head, Hogan recognized the old man and said to him.

"Hello again, Dr. Jones."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Now what do we do?" LeBeau quietly asked Indy after the two Majors had left and the guards were posted.  Indy looked around and saw a partially concealed door behind them.  Checking it and finding it unlocked, they both entered.

Closing the door, Indy walked over to the only window in the room and opened it. Looking around, he saw the window to the prisoner's room a few feet over.  Seeing no ledge, he unwound his whip.

Noticing a cable nearby, Indy swung the whip and latched on to it.  Pulling hard, to make sure it was tight, Indy stepped out of the window.

"What are you doing?" LeBeau grabbed Indy's pant leg.

Carefully pushing the Frenchman away, Indy calmly assured him.

"Relax, this is child's play.  Make your way back outside and find the others. Tell them to find us some transportation."

"Right." LeBeau said, sneaking out into the hallway to find a more secluded way to make it downstairs.

Indy pulled on the whip one last time before hanging on to it.  Pushing himself off the edge, he swung around into the window of the room next door, shattering the glass.

Picking himself off the floor, he looked around before a heavy object came down on his head, knocking him back down to the floor.

The man who had hit Indy stepped forward, a broken vase in his hand.  Leaning in, he got a closer look at the man on the floor.

"Junior?" he called.

Indy, out of habit, stood up at full attention to address his father . "Yes sir?" he asked, blinking his eyes from the blow.

~~~Junior?~~~ Hogan thought.

Dr. Jones, seeing that it was his son, exclaimed. "It is you, Junior!"

"Daaaadddd, don't call me junior...!" Indy always hated being called that.  Noticing the vase in his father's hand, or what was left of it, Indy commented. "So it was you, huh?"

Confused at first, Dr. Jones Sr. finally looked at the shattered piece of pottery and set it down.

"I thought you were a nazi." he explained.

"Dad, they come through the doors." Indy said as he went over to the door and heard the commotion outside.  Knowing he would have visitors soon, he ran back to the window and grabbed his whip.

The door swung open and three guards rushed in with machine guns.  In three swift moves, Indy cracked his whip and flung the weapons out of their hands.  Indy grabbed a gun.

"What are you doing here?" Indy's father asked.

Turning around he gave his father the obvious answer "I came to save you!"

"Yeah, and who's going to come back to save you?" Hogan, who had been observant this whole time, spoke up as more guards were coming.  Hogan grabbed himself a gun anyway.

Indy turned to Hogan and back to his father as Dr. Jones addressed  him.

"Yeah, did you ever think about that  before jumping in to all this, Junior?"

"I told you--!" Indy said before delivering a round of ammo on the approaching guards.  Many of them went down and many of them backed away to take cover.

Facing his father, Indy finished what he was saying to him '---don't call me 'junior'!"

He followed Hogan out the door , with his father in tow.

"Look what you did!" Dr. Jones exclaimed, hardly believing it.

Running down the hallway, they dodged bullets as they bounced off the walls.  Indy returned fire a couple of times before making it to the stairs.

More guards were coming up the stairs.  Indy and Hogan started firing off more rounds to make them scatter.

Rushing down the stairs, they were halfway there when more guards came, blocking their escape.

"This is getting monotonous!" Hogan proclaimed.

"Tell me about it!" Indy returned, readying himself to open more fire.

But unfortunately, both their guns jammed.

Hogan, frustrated, looked down at his gun ,and noticed some writing on it "No wonder,.....made in Japan!!"

They threw down their guns and ran back upstairs, down another hallway.

Indy remembered the grenades in his pocket.  Pulling one out, he yanked out the key.

"Cover your ears!" he told them in haste before throwing the grenade in the direction of their pursuing enemies.  All the guards dove for cover as a mass explosion shook the  very floor they were running on. Huge chunks of debris fell everywhere.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"What was that?" Kinch exclaimed from outside, as a couple windows from the upstairs level burst open and flames spurted out.

"Whot are they doing in there?" Newkirk wondered aloud.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hogan, Dr. Jones,  and Indy were a bit more fortunate than their pursuers, as they brushed themselves off and started looking for another way to get out .

Jogging down the hallway, they passed a door.  It opened, and a woman came rushing out, wearing only a silk robe.

++"What happened? Is it an air raid!?"++ she shouted in German, but yet had a distinctive Austrian accent.

Hogan and Indy both turned around and recognized the woman.

"Rose!"   "Elsa!"  Hogan and Indy exclaimed at once. Turning to each other, they asked in unison.

"You know her?"

Indy held up his hand, "Ok, wait a minute. How do you know her?"

"She's an underground agent , how do you know her?"

"She's a colleague of my father's, right dad?"

"Was." Dr. Jones pointed out. "Now she's one of them."

"One of what?" Indy panted.

"She's a nazi." Dr. Jones stated.

"What!?" Indy and Hogan both cried out, not believing it.

"It's true." a male voice behind Rose/Elsa pointed out.  Keeping his gun trained on the men, Major Stroegger came out of the room and placed his arm around the nazi woman.

"You were stupid to come here.  What made you think you could pull it off?"

"We made it this far, didn't we?" Indy retorted.

"Ja, you did. Only to end it all right here." he revealed to them smugly.

"Well...you can't win them all..." Hogan started to say .

"Exactly." the major reasoned, taking his focus off of Indy.

"But you can try!" Hogan finished.

"Insolent American!" the Major screamed at Hogan.

"Hey Stroegger..." Indy called.

++"What?!"++ he asked irritated, turning to Indy.

"Catch!" Indy warned before tossing an activated grenade in his direction.

Dropping the grenade, the major, along with Elsa, ran back into the room from which they had exited.

Indy turned and noticed a flight  of stairs at the end of the hallway. "All right, I think I know a way out."

"Well, what are you standing around for?" Dr. Jones urged and started to pull them along.

Indy smiled. "If you're worried about the grenade, you have nothing to worry about."

"What?"

Jogging along casually, Indy grinned and turned around as the grenade puffed out clouds of smoke.

Smiling, Hogan remembered the look on the major's face as he rushed back into the bedroom.  Then his expression changed as he thought of how Rose betrayed him.

Picking up pace, they were now outside. Indy saw LeBeau and Kinch in the distance. 

"I think your men are waiting for you." Indy said to a distracted Hogan, bringing his attention back to the present.

Hogan looked towards his men and shook his head, secretly marveling at how they came all this way for him.

 They didn't get very far when two Gestapo guards stepped in their path.  Indy brought out his whip.

"Wait!" one of the guards pleaded.  "It's us!" They both pulled off their hats and turned down their coat collars.  It was Carter and Newkirk.

"Welcome back Colonel!" Carter said, greeting Hogan.

Hogan smiled."Thanks Carter, but let's wait until we get back to Stalag 13 before we celebrate."

LeBeau and Kinch now joined them.

"Mon Colonel!!" LeBeau said happily, greeting him with enthusiasm.

Kinch was relieved to see Hogan all right.

"We found a ride!" Newkirk mentioned.

"Great, let's get out of here!" Indy said, following the men.

They ducked in the shadows as many guards rushed by them.

Rounding a corner, the men produced what they found.

"Motorcycles?" Dr. Jones said uncertainly.

Shouting could be heard coming from behind them.

"There's no time for this, dad!" Indy pushed his father into one of the sidecars of the cycle.

Jumping on the seat, he revved it up, squealing the tires as he sped down the dirt road. The others were not far behind.

The Gestapo rushed out, just as the prisoners sped off, leaving a cloud of dust.

They quicky ran to the front of the castle to get their own motorcycles and chase after the escaping men.

All the tires of the motorcycles had been slashed. They started to curse,but then up the road,they saw an approaching truck. Running up to it,they commendeared the vehicle.

It wasn't a very fast truck,but they knew a shotcut that would bring them to the escapees.

* * *

Carter's  cycle was now ahead of the group as he  sped down the winding road. Rounding a tight corner, he was about to complete the turn when a large truck appeared out of nowhere.

No time to slow down,Carter banked to the left and he ran off the road.Hitting a ditch,he was thrown from his cycle.

Lebeau was not far behind Carter when he saw him fly off the road.  Slamming down on his brakes to avoid hitting the truck head on, LeBeau's cycle flew out from under him. 

Sliding with the bike, he saw the truck coming closer and closer, not slowing down at all.

He was able to untangle himself from the speeding torpedo and pass underneath the moving truck as the cycle hit the front fender, flipping up and smashing into the windshield.

Lebeau barely made it out the other side as the truck swerved and stopped suddenly down the road.

Kinch had avoided the swerving truck and sped up beside LeBeau.  Scooping him up, he placed him in the front of the seat, leaning him over the handlebars.

Hogan and Indy both stopped their cycles and ran over to the truck. Yanking the Gestapo men out, they held them up at gunpoint. One of the Gestapo prisoners cried out, with no hint of fear in his voice.

++" They're on their way."++

++"Who is?"++ Indy asked.

"What's going on?" Hogan spoke up. 

Realizing what was going on, Indy sprinted back over to the truck. He saw a radio inside the cab, still functioning. He yelled loudly and yanked out the wires.

"What's going on?" Hogan asked again for the second time.

"They've invited some more friends!" Indy exclaimed, holding up the smoldering wires from the radio.

"Oh great." Hogan intoned. "Get under the truck, schnell!" he ordered their captured men.

Keeping his gun trained on them, he ran back to his cycle.

Newkirk dashed up beside him, "Where's Carter? 'E wos ahead of us!"

Hogan scanned the area, worry creeping up on him.

"LeBeau says he ran off the road that a way!" Kinch shouted.

Hogan hustled, following the tire tracks untill they led him to Carter, who was practically wraped around a tree.

"KINCH!" Hogan yelled.

Kinch propped LeBeau up so he wouldn't fall off the bike. Running to the source of the voice, he slowed down as he saw the sight before him.

"Oh my-"

"Help me with him!" Hogan brayed.

Kinch grabbed the young man by his legs as Hogan wrapped his arms around Carter's middle. They swiftly carried him back to where the men were.

Newkirk's eyes widened when he saw Carter. Fearing the worst, he asked Hogan

"Is 'e...?"

"No."

"Blimey..."

"Put the young man in here." Dr. Jones offered, getting out of the sidecar.They gingerly placed him inside.

Keeping an eye on the men under the truck, Indy called out, "More Nazis are coming,so we're going to have to get moving!"

Just as he said that,the sound of roaring motors could be heard drawing near.

Hogan didn't have to order his men to get moving, they all jumped on their bikes and raced off as a squad of Gestapo arrived. Hogan and the men had a good head start, but the Krauts were catching up.

"Turn this way!" Dr. Jones ,who was with Hogan on his bike, directed.

Hogan, without question, turned down the narrow road that Dr. Jones had pointed out.

The heroes follwed behind him.

The trailing combatants soon caught on as they noticed the change in direction of their evading prisoners.They split up, half of the squad following them and the other half taking the high road to trap the men like rats.

Hogan and the others were practically flying down the dirt road, a small bridge was just ahead. Each man acclerated their bikes over the small wooden structure.

Newkirk was the last man over the bridge, reaching into his pocket,he found what he was looking for. Pulling out the pin of the grenade with his teeth, he flung the explosive at the  bridge just as their pursuing enemies were on it.

Chaos followed as the men on the bridge were thrown every which way. But before Newkirk could celebrate, they were stopped up ahead by some more men in black, who had taken another route to cut them off.

~~~Bugger!~~~

They were trapped. Indy looked behind him at the smoldering remains of the bridge, then back up at the wall of nazis in front of them.

Indy glanced down at Carter,who was unaware of what was going on as he lay slumped in the sidecar. Gritting his teeth, Indy stomped down on the gas and blitzed towards the Germans up ahead.

The blockade of men were caught off guard as Indy sped towards them. Taking aim with their machine guns, they fired at the kamikaze man.

Clouds of dust flew everywhere as the bullets pelted the road, trees and everything else that was in the way. When it all cleared, there was nothing left. Including the prisoners. They had all dissapeared.

Incredulity took over the men as they frantically searched for the elusive men.

A broken clove of bushes caught their eye, and they peered down the steep ravine that went on forever.

++"You don't think they went down there?"++ a nervous Gestapo Corporal asked his commanding officer.

++"Yes I do."++ he replied calmly. A little too calmly.

++"Well, what do we tell Stroegger?"++ the Corporal rasped.

++"Oh, we're not going back untill we capture or kill them."++ the officer spat, his voice growing more heavily. Taking his foot, he pushed the young man's motorcycle down the ravine, sending the unprepared Corporal screaming uncontrollably downhill.

The last sound that could be heard, was the deathly crunch of the motorcycle landing on a jagged boulder. Then silence.

Unfazed, the Officer turned to the remaining men. They quickly, yet cautiously, rode down the sloped hill.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hogan thought he had heard a noise, like screaming. He suddnely felt an emotion he never felt  for the enemy before. Pity.

Riding on in silence he thought of what just happend. Watching Jones speed forward towards the Germans, the bullets flying, Jones making a sharp turn through the bushes.

Hogan, for Jones' sake, hoped to God Carter was allright.

Hogan had led the men after Jones. When they cleared through the vegetaion and zoomed down the inclination ,for a moment he felt like he was in his bomber plane again.

Soaring through the clouds and coming down for another swoop through the endless sky, he never though he'd have that feeling again. The momentum he got every time he flew.

But reality kicked in again as he felt Dr. Jones Sr. giving him a death grip as he sat behind him on the bike. Hogan now had the bike in full control and they  reached the bottom of the hill.They were now on their way to meet some men who would get them back where they belonged.

~~~Well, not exactly where we belong.~~~ Hogan mused as he thought of Stalag 13 as a place of belonging.

Hogan felt a slight tapping on his shoulder. It was Dr. Jones. Turning around to ask what it was, he suddenly saw why his attention was needed. They were still being followed.

~~~ Don't theses guys ever give up?~~~  Hogan mulled with exasperation. He yelled up to Jones "jr."

Indy turned around at Hogan's cry to notice more nazis. "Don't these guys ever give up?!!" Indy yelled with exasperation.

Coming up to a fork in the road up, Indy turned right and continued onward. Kinch was behind him and follwed Jones as he drove off the road and made a full circle through the wooded area.

Picking up a heavy broken branch ,Indy tossed it to the ebony Sergent.

"You'll know what to do with it!" Indy yelled to Kinch, answering the puzzled expression  on his face.

Now Kinch and Indy were pursuing their pursuers. LeBeau was holding on to the tree branch as Kinch steered.

The Gestapo finally turned and realized they were being follwed, but it was too late.

Indy had his whip ready and lashed out at the nearest nazi. The whip coiled around the man's middle and Indy yanked back with all his might, pulling the man completly off his bike.

Kinch was now up on his man, right beside him actually. Allowing LeBeau to steer now, he took the branch from the Frenchman and thrust it through the spokes of his enemy's bike tire.

With the speed that the bike was going and the sudden impact of the branch, the motorcycle flipped up into the air and slammed against some trees.

Many down, two more men to go.

Newkirk and Hogan were still being chased by two cyclists. Wanting to end this once and for all, Hogan motioned to Newkirk. As is knowing what his Colonel was thinking, Newkirk nodded and they both went into action. Swinging their bikes into a half circle, their back tires joined to form a wall. The first guard lost control, hitting the tires and crashing onto the road. Newkirk leaped off his bike and pounced on the fallen man.

The second guard had avoided the collision and passed the human blockade. Turning a 360, he headed back.

"COLONEL!" Kinch yelled before tossing his tree branch, in which Hogan caught just in time. Positioning the branch, he raced forward on his bike. Holding the branch as if it were a lance, he ducked and swerved as the Gestapo man shot at him. Raising the lance, Hogan hit his target and soon the Black Knight was on the ground. Sir Hogan had won the joust.

Now that it was over (he hoped) Hogan wearily rode back to the men as they all gathered together. He almost forgot for a moment that Dr. Jones Sr. was still his passenger, and was gripping even harder onto him.    

"That wos bloody brilliant of you,sir!" Newkirk exclaimed, his eyes shining.

"Just like Sir  Lancelot, jousting for honor!"

Hogan just smiled, before he could say anything, a small voice slurred.

"Wha--what'd I miss?" 

Everyone turned to the small form crumpled up in Indy's side car.

"Carter!" They exclaimed.

Excited to see him awake,Newkirk gripped the young Sergent and shook him softly.He answered his question.

"You missed out on alot, Andrew! Whot with the chase an Colonel 'ogan jousting an all....!"

"What?" Carter asked, fully sitting up.

"Don't excite him so, Newkirk." Kinch said, putting a calming hand on Carter's shoulder. Yet the twinkle in his eyes matched that of the Englishman's.

"So,what do we do now?" LeBeau asked everyone.

 Indy spoke up "We're going to go back to that barn we were at before,then when it's good and dark we're going to take you guys back to Stalag 13 and we're going to go home."

"Home..." Carter almost sighed.

Breaking the silent moment, Dr. Jones spoke up, "We can't go home yet!"

Turning to his father,Indy asked "And why not?"

"We have to go to Berlin." his father answered matter of factly.

"Berlin?"  "What?" "Why?" many protests and questions revolved around Dr. Jones.

"Because..." he started, "That's where Elsa is."

"Dad...Why Elsa?" Indy probed.

"Well..." Dr. Jones cleared his throat "Maybe it's about time I told you everything."

"That would help." Indy said impatiently.

Looking from one man to the other,Dr. Jones began " Have any of you ever heard of the Ark of the Covenant?"