No ownership of the Hogan's Heroes characters is implied or inferred. Copyright belongs to others and no infringement is intended.
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Kinch pulled out the converted coffee pot listening device as soon as Le Beau saw Feldkamp's car drive into camp. Huddled around it in Hogan's quarters, the group listened carefully as the Gestapo officer ranted and raved about the events of the night before, with Klink trying desperately to get a word in edgewise to find out how he was supposed to be involved in this.
"And where were your prisoners last night, Klink?" Feldkamp spluttered angrily. "I suppose you are going to tell me that they were all nestled all snug in their beds?"
"Of course, Colonel Feldkamp. Our guards do a bed check every night; everyone was here."
"I suppose you think that means all your men are innocent?"
"Colonel Feldkamp, everyone was present at roll call this morning. I cannot understand why a prisoner who did escape last night would come back!"
Hogan nodded. "That would make sense—if he wasn't talking about us," he shrugged.
"Feldkamp's pretty riled up," Kinch said.
"Wouldn't you be?" Newkirk answered.
Hogan shushed them and kept listening. "Someone went out last night and committed two acts of sabotage. We lost tons of ammunition and a very important bridge! So far we have no idea who is responsible. But we will not rest until we track down the perpetrators and give them the punishment they deserve. We need to know if this was a one-time event, or if it is part of something bigger. Where is your Colonel Hogan this morning?" Feldkamp was saying.
"He's confined to barracks with the rest of the prisoners," Klink replied. "I know you have your suspicions about Hogan, Colonel, but he is just a prisoner like all the others—cowed under my command. Oh, he can be quite a handful when he wants to be, but I rule this camp with an iron fist, and he succumbs just like the rest of them."
Hogan raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Oh, brother."
"I wish to speak with him, Klink," Feldkamp said.
Kinch looked carefully at his commanding officer. Hogan didn't react openly; only his eyes flashed with anxiety for the briefest of seconds.
"Of course you may speak with Hogan. But I assure you, he is completely innocent of any wrongdoing here, Colonel," Klink was saying.
"Do you make it a habit of defending the enemy?" Feldkamp asked.
As Klink fumbled a reply, Hogan sighed and unplugged the coffee pot. He broke away from the others and headed for his bunk. "Well that settles that. Sounds like we pulled it off. No one knows what happened last night. We're going to have to play tonight by ear."
"Do you think we should wait awhile, sir? I mean the heat's turned up pretty high, gov'nor," said Newkirk.
"Yeah, if we go out tonight they might be waiting for us," Carter added.
Hogan nodded grimly. "I don't want to make Ludwig and Alida wait any longer than they have to. But if we try to bring them in now, they might get caught—we might get caught. I'm gonna have to think about it. And it sounds like I'll have plenty of time."
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
"Colonel Klink, I protest!" Hogan exclaimed. "How can Colonel Feldkamp think I'm involved in sabotage—you counted me last night, and you saw me this morning. Does he think I have my own private tunnel or something?"
"In this case, I tend to agree, Hogan," Klink said, turning pleading eyes toward Feldkamp. "But if you would just talk to the Colonel—"
"Talking was the last thing he wanted to do the last time he was here," Hogan said, flaring.
"You were not terribly cooperative the last time I was here, Hogan," Feldkamp said.
"Hard to be when you've got goons beating you up," Hogan sneered. "And I told you already, I don't know anything."
"I think perhaps you just need some help jogging your memory."
"Kommandant, help me out; I'm fighting for my life here!" Hogan said, playing it up to keep the others off balance. True, he wasn't interested in having another "discussion" with Feldkamp and his thugs, but he also figured that an innocent man would be putting up a bigger protest than one who had something to hide. The balance was precarious—methinks thou dost protest too much, Hogan quoted to himself—and he knew he had to be careful. "You're the Kommandant of the camp; it's your duty under the Geneva Convention to protect prisoners from undue hardship and unjust punishment."
Klink raised his arms in a gesture of frustration and defeat. "The Geneva Convention!" he despaired, his head already spinning at the clauses and phrases that the senior POW was likely to throw at him.
"Bah! The Geneva Convention does not apply to spies and saboteurs," Feldkamp declared. "Klink, I want to talk with Hogan privately. You may leave and come back when I am through."
Hogan silently steeled himself as Klink bowed to what was apparently the inevitable and left the room. He took in Feldkamp's determined expression, and prayed this would be a short visit.
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Le Beau tried not to notice when Hogan turned away from him to splint the muscles of his abdomen with his arm and choke out an agonized cough. He bit his lip when Hogan drew in a jagged breath and winced painfully. But he had to speak up when Hogan started swaying and grabbed for his bunk to steady himself.
"Colonel, let me get Sergeant Wilson," Le Beau said, helping Hogan to sit.
Hogan shook his head but accepted the aid. "I'll be all right in a minute," he managed, still panting.
Le Beau straightened angrily. "Filthy Bosche. Cochon. Serpent."
Hogan reached a hand up to Le Beau's arm to stop the stream of invectives. "Enough, Louis; it's all right," he said breathlessly, still holding his abdomen. "Feldkamp was just letting off some steam. He's had his kicks; now he'll leave me alone."
"That's a fine thing—to have a human punching bag," Le Beau said angrily.
"He suspects something's going on. He has nothing to go on, but he's read my record from the Dulag Luft and he doesn't trust me. But he won't get anywhere, Louis. He hasn't got a leg to stand on. It'll be okay."
Le Beau shook his head. "And in the meantime, whenever he wants to have a workout, he comes to Stalag 13."
Hogan sat quietly for a moment, continuing to compose himself. Then he looked up and said, "I have a feeling the Gestapo is going to stay with us all the way through the war. The more we do, Louis, the more irritated they're going to get. We can only hope to throw them off the trail and make sure we stay one step ahead of them. They can't all be as aggressive as Feldkamp." Le Beau looked askance at his superior officer. "But I'm not counting on it."
"Feldkamp told Klink he will call him tomorrow to make sure he has been having the guards patrol the woods near the camp." Le Beau took in Hogan's questioning look and added, reluctantly, "We were listening when you left Klink's office, Colonel."
Hogan looked away, nodding. He hadn't wanted his men to hear his encounter with Feldkamp. It wasn't vanity; it was the feeling of helplessness that bothered him, and he didn't want to share that with anyone. Hogan looked regretful as he made his next decision. "Tell Kinch to get a message to the Underground. The woods are crawling with Gestapo patrols. Ludwig and Alida will have to wait until the heat's off. We can't go out there tonight; it'd be suicide." He closed his eyes and rubbed his sore jaw. "For everyone."
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
"Colonel Hogan, it's my brother," Schultz said to Hogan when he came into the barracks for bed check that night.
"What is it, Schultz?" Hogan asked, immediately on the alert. He had been ready to turn in, grateful for the rest after a long day of reflection and self-berating for under-anticipating the Gestapo's reaction to their sabotage activities, but the mention of Ludwig brought him to attention.
"You know how I said Ludwig seems to be hiding something," he reminded Hogan.
Hogan shifted uncomfortably. "Yes?"
"I visited him tonight when I got off duty. I had asked Kommandant Klink for special permission to go, after the explosions. I wanted to make sure he and Alida were all right." Hogan nodded. That thought had crossed his mind momentarily as well, until he had heard back from the Underground that the parcels had been pulled from the post as he had ordered, with a very angry "Return to Sender" note that made it quite clear to Hogan that the couple was not pleased. "He seemed very agitated, Colonel Hogan. He would not talk to me. He always tells me what is happening, but this time he would say nothing!"
Hogan nodded. He knew all too well why the man was agitated. "He was probably just on edge because of the explosions, Schultz. It would have frightened his wife, and his animals, and kept them all awake."
Schultz considered this, then nodded his head in agreement. "You think so?"
"Sure," Hogan reassured him.
"Well, then, why did he not tell me?"
"Do you think he wants his big brother to know he's been worried? Worried about his wife, worried about you? You're a soldier, Schultz; he probably thought you had been caught in the blasts, and when you showed up, he was relieved—and what man wants his brother to know that?"
Schultz nodded his head in agreement, then chuckled lightly. "You are right, Colonel Hogan. Ludwig would not want to admit that he worries about Hans." He chuckled again. "He even told me that the explosions were enough to make him want to run away! Jolly joker." He turned to the door, still smiling. "A fine brother, Colonel Hogan. I hope you are so lucky with yours, when you are older."
Hogan smiled thoughtfully. "I hope so, too, Schultz."
"Perhaps we will all get together after the war, and trade stories."
"There'll certainly be a lot to talk about."