No ownership of the Hogan's Heroes characters is implied or inferred.
Copyright belongs to others and no infringement is intended.
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After an outburst from the others that could have woken Klink in his quarters across the compound, Kinch fully explained his plan. The four then set about to quickly make things ready. Le Beau grabbed the Colonel's clothes and gave them a thorough dressing down. "He will never forgive me for tearing his coat," he mumbled to the others as he sat at the table, making a shambles of a perfectly good leather bomber jacket.
"Just rip it on the seam, Louis," said Newkirk, the tailor of the operation. "I can sew it back up later and he'll never know."
"He will know," pouted Le Beau. "He always knows everything." Le Beau realised he was being contrary just to be contrary, not a mood he was normally in, but one which, whenever he thought of Hogan and his pale stillness, he felt too strongly to quell.
Kinch was in Hogan's room, having just administered a dose of hard-to-come- by penicillin. Newkirk approached with a cool damp cloth, which Kinch ran across Hogan's forehead and pressed gently on his face. Hogan stirred in discomfort but did not awaken. Kinch shook his head, and the two of them went in to meet the others.
"How is he?" asked Carter, who was keeping watch out the window.
"I'd be happier if he could beat this fever," Kinch replied. "But he'll get the help he needs soon enough." ~~I hope.~~
"They're here," Carter announced suddenly. Everyone leapt into action as the truck approached the barracks. Kinch and Newkirk stayed by Hogan's door. Le Beau folded the clothes, ready to hand over, and Carter moved away from the window. Knowing they were now at the mercy of whoever entered, the men kept their eyes glued to the entrance to the barracks. Soon a man in a Gestapo officer's uniform stepped in. For a moment no one spoke, as they all took stock of each other.
Then Newkirk stepped forward. "Little Red Riding Hood, I presume?" he said, extending his hand.
The man looked at him curiously as he took it. "How do you...?"
"I was out there watching when you picked up Colonel Hogan," the Corporal answered.
"I can't tell you men how badly I felt when I found out what had happened," the man said in an accent Le Beau was surprised to place as French. "I didn't know the operation had been cancelled until I returned back to the Underground base. So when they said someone needed to come here, I knew I had to volunteer. How is the Colonel?"
"Not good," said Kinch. "But that's why we need you."
Le Beau came forward with Hogan's clothes. "He will need to be in these when he returns."
"Very good. I will present myself to your commandant as a Gestapo officer. I will tell him that we are taking Colonel Hogan for questioning, so when we return him later today there will be no doubt in his mind about the how the Colonel's injuries were sustained," said the man. "Where is Colonel Hogan now?"
Kinch led him to Hogan's room. The man shook his head in amazement. "How did he survive?" he asked, staring in shock.
"Let's get moving, eh?" urged Newkirk, suddenly uncomfortable.
He and Carter moved Hogan's stretcher to the truck that had been backed up to the doorway. Lifting it into the back, Newkirk warned, "Now make sure if he wakes up he doesn't think he's REALLY in the hands of the bloody Nazis."
"We will assure him he is perfectly safe," said the man. And, closing the back of the truck, he tapped the side so the driver would pull away. "Show me to your commandant's quarters. And don't forget to make a fuss about how we whisked your Colonel away in the middle of the night, will you?" he reminded them.
"Don't worry; we're really good at complaining," said Carter.
Kinch shook his head and clapped Carter on the shoulder. "Come on, guys; we'd better get cleaned up. There's nothing we can do now until the Colonel gets back."
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"Is THIS how you greet an officer of the Gestapo?" barked Little Red Riding Hood.
Colonel Klink was struggling with his monocle, stumbling out of his warm bed and blinking, bewildered. "N-no, no, Herr Oberst," he fumbled. "I must have fallen asleep-after all, it is... four o'clock in the morning. I-I don't remember receiving a call to expect your visit today," he said.
"That is because the Gestapo is not in the practice of announcing itself when it comes to take saboteurs away for questioning. They tend to try to avoid us when we do that," sneered the agent, menacing with his pristine uniform. His accent and his command of the German language were impeccable.
"Sab-saboteurs?" Klink stuttered.
"Yes. We are taking your Colonel Hogan into Gestapo Headquarters for questioning, Klink," he said. "It is believed he is part of an Underground operation to sabotage German efforts to bring a swift and victorious end to this war."
~~Not again. Is Hochstetter behind this?~~ "I assure you, Herr Oberst Schoreit, Colonel Hogan has been thoroughly questioned in the past, and the Gestapo have come up with nothing to connect our senior prisoner of war with any covert activities."
"Then the right people have not been speaking to him. Either that," he said, cracking his knuckles, "or no one has asked him properly."
Klink gulped. No, not again. When would they leave Hogan alone? "I will take you to the barracks, Herr Colonel," said Klink. "I don't usually get the prisoners to roll call for another ninety minutes-"
"No need, Klink. I have already gotten Hogan myself." ~~So you can't see what condition he's already in.~~ "He will be returned when we are through with him if he is innocent. IF there is anything to return," added Little Red Riding Hood, cackling at his joke.
~~Poor Colonel Hogan. How can I stop this?~~ "Surely with all the prior questioning, the Gestapo would be satisfied that Colonel Hogan is not-"
"The Gestapo will be satisfied only when it has found and stopped everyone with ideas contrary to those of the Fatherland!" shrieked Riding Hood over Klink's protests.
Klink worried that this man could be worse than Hochstetter if left unchecked. But he was unsure of what to do. As the Gestapo already had Hogan there was no chance of him talking the officer out of taking him. Perhaps he could persuade him to go easy..
"Colonel Hogan is very popular with the prisoners here, Colonel Schoreit. He inspires them to do the right thing here. Since he came to Stalag 13 there has not been a single escape! If anyone were going to get out it would be Colonel Hogan, yes, but he would certainly have no reason to come back. Any man in his right mind would stay out if he escaped, and Hogan is no different. After all, he is still just a man."
"I am beginning to doubt that, Klink," was the curt reply. "But we shall find out how human he is today. Guten Tag, Herr Oberst Klink. Heil Hitler."
Klink's hand flew up in automatic but disbelieving response. "Heil Hitler." And he sank back on the bed as his visitor left him.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
After an outburst from the others that could have woken Klink in his quarters across the compound, Kinch fully explained his plan. The four then set about to quickly make things ready. Le Beau grabbed the Colonel's clothes and gave them a thorough dressing down. "He will never forgive me for tearing his coat," he mumbled to the others as he sat at the table, making a shambles of a perfectly good leather bomber jacket.
"Just rip it on the seam, Louis," said Newkirk, the tailor of the operation. "I can sew it back up later and he'll never know."
"He will know," pouted Le Beau. "He always knows everything." Le Beau realised he was being contrary just to be contrary, not a mood he was normally in, but one which, whenever he thought of Hogan and his pale stillness, he felt too strongly to quell.
Kinch was in Hogan's room, having just administered a dose of hard-to-come- by penicillin. Newkirk approached with a cool damp cloth, which Kinch ran across Hogan's forehead and pressed gently on his face. Hogan stirred in discomfort but did not awaken. Kinch shook his head, and the two of them went in to meet the others.
"How is he?" asked Carter, who was keeping watch out the window.
"I'd be happier if he could beat this fever," Kinch replied. "But he'll get the help he needs soon enough." ~~I hope.~~
"They're here," Carter announced suddenly. Everyone leapt into action as the truck approached the barracks. Kinch and Newkirk stayed by Hogan's door. Le Beau folded the clothes, ready to hand over, and Carter moved away from the window. Knowing they were now at the mercy of whoever entered, the men kept their eyes glued to the entrance to the barracks. Soon a man in a Gestapo officer's uniform stepped in. For a moment no one spoke, as they all took stock of each other.
Then Newkirk stepped forward. "Little Red Riding Hood, I presume?" he said, extending his hand.
The man looked at him curiously as he took it. "How do you...?"
"I was out there watching when you picked up Colonel Hogan," the Corporal answered.
"I can't tell you men how badly I felt when I found out what had happened," the man said in an accent Le Beau was surprised to place as French. "I didn't know the operation had been cancelled until I returned back to the Underground base. So when they said someone needed to come here, I knew I had to volunteer. How is the Colonel?"
"Not good," said Kinch. "But that's why we need you."
Le Beau came forward with Hogan's clothes. "He will need to be in these when he returns."
"Very good. I will present myself to your commandant as a Gestapo officer. I will tell him that we are taking Colonel Hogan for questioning, so when we return him later today there will be no doubt in his mind about the how the Colonel's injuries were sustained," said the man. "Where is Colonel Hogan now?"
Kinch led him to Hogan's room. The man shook his head in amazement. "How did he survive?" he asked, staring in shock.
"Let's get moving, eh?" urged Newkirk, suddenly uncomfortable.
He and Carter moved Hogan's stretcher to the truck that had been backed up to the doorway. Lifting it into the back, Newkirk warned, "Now make sure if he wakes up he doesn't think he's REALLY in the hands of the bloody Nazis."
"We will assure him he is perfectly safe," said the man. And, closing the back of the truck, he tapped the side so the driver would pull away. "Show me to your commandant's quarters. And don't forget to make a fuss about how we whisked your Colonel away in the middle of the night, will you?" he reminded them.
"Don't worry; we're really good at complaining," said Carter.
Kinch shook his head and clapped Carter on the shoulder. "Come on, guys; we'd better get cleaned up. There's nothing we can do now until the Colonel gets back."
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
"Is THIS how you greet an officer of the Gestapo?" barked Little Red Riding Hood.
Colonel Klink was struggling with his monocle, stumbling out of his warm bed and blinking, bewildered. "N-no, no, Herr Oberst," he fumbled. "I must have fallen asleep-after all, it is... four o'clock in the morning. I-I don't remember receiving a call to expect your visit today," he said.
"That is because the Gestapo is not in the practice of announcing itself when it comes to take saboteurs away for questioning. They tend to try to avoid us when we do that," sneered the agent, menacing with his pristine uniform. His accent and his command of the German language were impeccable.
"Sab-saboteurs?" Klink stuttered.
"Yes. We are taking your Colonel Hogan into Gestapo Headquarters for questioning, Klink," he said. "It is believed he is part of an Underground operation to sabotage German efforts to bring a swift and victorious end to this war."
~~Not again. Is Hochstetter behind this?~~ "I assure you, Herr Oberst Schoreit, Colonel Hogan has been thoroughly questioned in the past, and the Gestapo have come up with nothing to connect our senior prisoner of war with any covert activities."
"Then the right people have not been speaking to him. Either that," he said, cracking his knuckles, "or no one has asked him properly."
Klink gulped. No, not again. When would they leave Hogan alone? "I will take you to the barracks, Herr Colonel," said Klink. "I don't usually get the prisoners to roll call for another ninety minutes-"
"No need, Klink. I have already gotten Hogan myself." ~~So you can't see what condition he's already in.~~ "He will be returned when we are through with him if he is innocent. IF there is anything to return," added Little Red Riding Hood, cackling at his joke.
~~Poor Colonel Hogan. How can I stop this?~~ "Surely with all the prior questioning, the Gestapo would be satisfied that Colonel Hogan is not-"
"The Gestapo will be satisfied only when it has found and stopped everyone with ideas contrary to those of the Fatherland!" shrieked Riding Hood over Klink's protests.
Klink worried that this man could be worse than Hochstetter if left unchecked. But he was unsure of what to do. As the Gestapo already had Hogan there was no chance of him talking the officer out of taking him. Perhaps he could persuade him to go easy..
"Colonel Hogan is very popular with the prisoners here, Colonel Schoreit. He inspires them to do the right thing here. Since he came to Stalag 13 there has not been a single escape! If anyone were going to get out it would be Colonel Hogan, yes, but he would certainly have no reason to come back. Any man in his right mind would stay out if he escaped, and Hogan is no different. After all, he is still just a man."
"I am beginning to doubt that, Klink," was the curt reply. "But we shall find out how human he is today. Guten Tag, Herr Oberst Klink. Heil Hitler."
Klink's hand flew up in automatic but disbelieving response. "Heil Hitler." And he sank back on the bed as his visitor left him.
