Chapter 4

Stalag 13, Barracks 2,
September 4, 1943, 1045 hours

When Colonel Hogan entered the barracks, he saw his men standing outside of his office door. He looked from man to man, studying the worried look on each of their faces. When he got to Kinch, he stopped. Kinch was staring at him with a determined look on his face.

"We're not going to let Hochstetter take him, are we, Colonel?" Kinch asked.

Hogan shook his head. "Not if I can help it," he said. "I just can't figure out how Hochstetter knew Vladimir was here."

"Klink?" asked Newkirk.

Hogan shook his head again. "No, I don't think it was Klink," he replied. "He was as shocked as I was when Hochstetter read Vladimir's name."

"Could Hochstetter have planted a spy in here?" asked Carter.

"It's possible," Hogan said. "But we haven't had any new prisoners arrive in a while. So if Hochstetter does have a spy in here, he's been busy for a while."

"What can we do to stop him from taking Sam?" LeBeau asked.

Hogan sighed and walked over to the stove to pour a cup of coffee. "I don't know," he said, sipping the strong liquid. Rob old boy, if there's ever a time to pull a rabbit out of your hat, now's the time to do it. Think! What can we do to get Hochstetter out of our hair and leave Vladimir alone? He took another sip of the coffee and sighed again. His next chore was not going to be easy. "Where's Vladimir now?" he asked his men.

Kinch spoke up. "He's in the tunnel with Marya and Zagoskin," he said. "I'll go and let him know what's happened." He started towards the tunnel.

As Kinch passed, Hogan put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "No Kinch," he said. "There are some responsibilities that belong on the commander's shoulders, and this is one of them. I'll tell him. But I think you all should be there too. We have to figure out what we're going to do to help our friend out of this mess." He smiled at his men when he noticed that all of them were nodding their heads with a determined look on their faces. This team will stick together. Whatever Hochstetter has in store for Vladimir, he's going to have to deal with all of us as well.

The men followed Hogan down the bunk entrance to the tunnel and into the larger room where the Russians had been staying. The three Russians looked at the men as they entered the room.

"Hogan, darling. When do we get out of camp?" Marya asked. "This damp tunnel is so depressing."

"I don't know," Hogan replied. "We've got some complications. Hochstetter has ordered Klink to patrol the woods around the camp looking for you and Zagoskin."

Vladimir frowned. "Why would he think they would come here?" he asked. "The route to Russia from the rocket facility is a totally different direction."

Hogan shrugged. "He's suspicious of this camp, as usual," he replied. "And we've certainly given him every reason to be." Hogan paused, thinking how best to tell Vladimir about the more serious complication. "But that's the least of our worries at the moment."

"What do you mean, Colonel?" Vladimir responded.

"Somehow, Hochstetter found out that there is a Russian prisoner in this camp by the name of Vladimir Ivanovich Minsky," Hogan said slowly. As he said it, he noticed that Marya's head jerked around to look at him, and then quickly looked away.

Hogan cleared his throat before continuing. "And he's ordered Klink to turn you over to him tonight," he said. "I'm sorry, Vladimir, but in two hours, Schultz will be by to take you to the cooler to wait for Hochstetter's men."

Vladimir was silent. He stared at Colonel Hogan blankly. Then his gaze shifted over to the rest of the men. After a moment, he said, "I'll die before I let them take me away."

"We'll not let it come to that," Kinch said as he stood next to Vladimir. "We'll figure out something to do to prevent this."

Vladimir didn't hear his friend speak. His mind was swirling with confusion. He thought back to when he was captured; the beatings by the SS men, starving for days before being given a small piece of moldy bread and some dirty drinking water. He remembered the sounds of the screams from the other cells, where the SS were torturing his fellow Comrades. He remembered the American bombs dropping when he was being transported deeper into Germany – for more torture and punishment. Yes, he thought, death would be much better than the treatment that Hochstetter would give him.

Vladimir's thoughts were interrupted by Hogan's voice. The Colonel had his back to the rest of the group; his armed folded. He was thinking out loud. "I still don't understand how Hochstetter knew Vladimir was here," he said. "It was too specific – he knew his name, not just that there was a Russian prisoner."

Marya spoke up. "I told him," she said as she looked over at Vladimir. Vladimir met her eyes, and saw a pained expression as she made her admission. He immediately knew that she was sorry for what she had done. He felt an unlikely sense of satisfaction that he had finally proved to the Smersh agent that he was not the coward that she had thought he was.

When Hogan heard what Marya said, he stopped and turned. "YOU WHAT?" he yelled.

"I told him back at the rocket facility," she said. "I'm sorry, Vladimir."

"You're sorry?" mocked an angry Hogan. "Is that all you can say? You're sorry?"

Marya finally met Hogan's angry stare. "What would you have me say, Colonel Hogan?" she asked. "At the time, I had the impression that Tovarish Vladimir was a predatel – a traitor - and a coward, content to spend the war safely away from the heavy fighting. It is my job to take care of predately."

"And so now you have changed your opinion of him?" Hogan asked, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Marya nodded. "Yes Colonel Hogan, I have," she replied. Turning to Vladimir, she said, "I am truly sorry Tovarish Vladimir." Vladimir saw the hurt in her eyes and knew that she meant it. He also understood why she had done what she did.

During the exchange between Marya and Hogan, Kinch was staring at the Russian woman, his anger growing with each second that passed. Finally he exploded. "HOW DARE YOU!" he screamed. "Do you know what you have done? What gives you the right to condemn a person to the treatment that Hochstetter will dish out?" Everyone in the room was staring at Kinch. The normally calm sergeant was livid. Nobody had seen him act like this.

Marya met his gaze. Outwardly she remained calm, but she flinched internally at the intensity she saw in Kinch's eyes. "I am a Smersh agent," she said. "That gives me the right to take care of Russians who betray their rodina or fail to defend it." She said the words, but they rang hollow in her ears. She knew she had made a big mistake this time.

"And this time, your traitor turns out not to be what you thought," Kinch said angrily. "And all you have to say is 'I'm sorry' like that will solve everything. But it doesn't solve ANYTHING." Kinch took a step towards Marya. It took a split second for Hogan to notice that Kinch was moving towards Marya, and less than that to understand what he meant to do.

Before Hogan could move, he saw Vladimir step in front of Kinch. "Nyet Vanya," Vladimir said to his friend. "Nyevozvratnoye proshloye – It's done and it can't be taken back. There's nothing to be gained by being angry at the moment."

Kinch was breathing heavily, his eyes blazing with fury. He was pushing against Vladimir, still trying to get to Marya. "Vanya," Vladimir said again. "Back in the barn, I wanted to do the same as you do now. You stopped me then, and I'm stopping you now. It's the right thing."

Kinch blinked, trying to regain the focus in his eyesight. "But Sam, she told Hochstetter about you," Kinch said.

Vladimir looked at his friend. "Kinch, I know. But I also know why she did it," he said. Then Vladimir surprised himself. "I would have probably done the same thing in her shoes," he said, loud enough for all in the room to hear. Vladimir noticed that Marya was staring at him in surprise.

Kinch was also surprised. "Sam, you can't be serious," he said.

Vladimir nodded. "Vanya, you have learned my language well," he said. "That was easy for me to teach you. But I can't teach you the Russian heritage and culture." Vladimir knew that he was talking to everyone in the room, but he focused on his friend Kinch. If anyone needed to understand the situation, it was Kinch. "There is no greater crime than being a traitor to the Rodina. Smersh agents are supposed to eliminate traitors who managed to leave Russia. Marya was doing her job."

"But ..." Kinch started to say.

Vladimir cut him off. "Nyet Vanya," Vladimir said. "It is no longer a question of why it was done. It is now a question of what will we do about it. I have no desire to go through what Hochstetter would want to do." Vladimir paused, then taking a deep breath, he continued, "I have always been ready to die during this fight, ever since my country was invaded. I do not wish to die, and I am very scared of dying. But I am even more afraid of the slow, painful death inflicted by the Gestapo." He paused again, and smiled at his friend. "So now let's turn our energy towards what will be for me, the most important mission of the war." Vladimir looked over at Marya and said, "All of us."

Kinch managed to smile back at his friend. He knew that Vladimir was right. Being angry wouldn't help them figure out a way to keep Hochstetter from taking Vladimir away.

Finally Colonel Hogan spoke up. "Vladimir is right," he said. "We've got to come up with a plan for this."

Vladimir cleared his throat. "Colonel," he said. "When I first got here and wanted to escape, you said that it could be arranged for me to be transferred to another camp."

Colonel Hogan nodded. "Yes, but it's a little late for that now," he said.

"No, Colonel," Vladimir replied, shaking his head. "Major Hochstetter is my transfer. Let his men take me out of the camp. The other part of that plan was to arrange for the truck to be intercepted on the way to the other camp," he said, knowing Colonel Hogan would understand the implied meaning.

Colonel Hogan grinned. "Yes, that's it," he said snapping his fingers. "We'll stop the truck, get you out and bring you back here into the tunnels."

"But Colonel, we're dealing with the Gestapo here," said Newkirk. "It's not going to be as simple as dealing with Klink's guards."

"I know Newkirk," Hogan replied. "But Hochstetter said that only two guards were being sent with the truck. We just have to be convincing enough to get them to stop the truck and then we can overpower them."

Since the tension in the room was easing, Marya felt she could speak up. "Would you dress up as Gestapo yourselves?" she asked.

"No," Hogan replied. "Even better."

"Abwher, Colonel?" Kinch asked.

"Why not?" Hogan responded. "It worked once before. Hochstetter seems to be intimidated by the Abwher, and probably won't check up on things."

"Hochstetter is already suspicious of you Colonel," Kinch replied. "Wouldn't he assume that you were responsible and come here to check?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Hogan said. "We'll just have to make sure we give ourselves enough time to get back here and in our bunks before he can get here." He turned to Vladimir. "I guess you'll be heading back to Russia after all," he said, with a glance over at Marya.

"Yes, it does look like I have no choice in the matter now," Vladimir replied. The men started to file out of the room, confident that they had the beginning of a plan to help their friend, and ready to start implementing it. Now it was time to map out the details of the plan.

"Colonel Hogan," Marya said. The men stopped and Colonel Hogan looked back at Marya. "I'm going along with you when you intercept the truck."

Hogan shook his head. "No," he said. "I think you've done enough. We have to do this because of you."

"And that is why I am going along with you," she said insistently.

"Marya," Hogan said, "We are going as an Abwher squad. I don't think they have any Russians in Abwher."

"Don't be so sure of that, Hogan darling," Marya cooed, slipping into her persona briefly. Then she laughed. "You might be surprised. Anyway, I can help you. You say that Hochstetter is intimidated by the Abwher, but don't think that he would check with them once he finds out Tovarish Vladimir was taken. Are you sure about that?" she asked.

"He might check," Hogan responded warily. "What are you getting at?"

"Two things," she said. "First, you need a way to stop the truck, no?"

"We need a way to stop the truck, yes," Hogan responded. He was wondering where this was leading and wishing that Marya would hurry up and get to the point.

"What better way to stop a truck than a woman stranded alone on a dark road with a broken automobile?" she said.

"I can think of several," Hogan replied, though he did have to admit to himself that this was a good way. "But the Gestapo guards might be suspicious of that. It will be late at night."

"This is true," she replied. "But I'm confident that a truck driven by men will stop for me." She smiled at Hogan, and slipping back into character said, "You know what I mean, Hogan darling?"

Colonel Hogan rolled his eyes. "Oh brother," he sighed. "Yes, I know what you mean, and it might work. But what if it doesn't?"

Marya smiled again. "How can it fail when the car will be blocking the road? They will have to stop and help me move it so they can pass," she said.

"OK, so they stop and we take Vladimir," Hogan said, thinking. "Explain to me what a woman would be doing with an Abwher squad."

"That is the second thing. Hochstetter will check up," she said. Then seeing Hogan's skeptical look, she continued, "This is too important for him. So we have to make sure that when he does call to check up, he calls the right person and hears the right thing."

At this point Carter spoke up. "Hey Colonel, maybe we could contact ..." he started to say. He was silenced by a quick shake of the head from Colonel Hogan.

Marya laughed again. "Ah, you know someone in Abwher," she said. "Let me guess, would it be a Major Teppel?"

Hogan looked surprised. "Major who?" he asked, trying to look as if he didn't know the name.

"Come now Hogan darling," Marya said. "You know Major Teppel, he took several of you to Berlin for 'interrogation' not so long ago." She laughed. "As I said Hogan, you might be surprised. We know about Teppel, and we are pretty sure he knows about our man too. But if I can send one radio message, we can be covered. We just make sure the Gestapo guards know that we were sent by Major Kurt Wagner so that Hochstetter will call him."

Hogan was surprised. So the Russians have a spy in Abwher too. I'll have to pass that information along to London and make sure that our friend Major Teppel knows. "What would your man Wagner tell Major Hochstetter when he called? How would Abwher know that the Gestapo was picking him up from Stalag 13 at that time?" Hogan asked.

"Wagner is very good Colonel," Marya said. "He will make sure that Hochstetter believes that either there is a spy among his men, or his office is bugged. And then at the proper time, Wagner will regretfully inform Major Hochstetter that the Russian prisoner was shot while trying to escape from the truck on the way back to Berlin. He will also be able to explain a woman in Abwher if necessary."

Hogan rubbed his chin in thought. "It just might work," he said. "But there's still the issue of Hochstetter thinking that you would be headed to Stalag 13. If you are seen by his men when we stop the truck, Hochstetter would immediately suspect that was you."

Marya smiled again. "One more radio message, and Major Hochstetter will get the idea that the Russian known as Marya and the Russian rocket scientist Zagoskin are in the vicinity of Leipzig and appear to be heading east."

"And the source of this information will be credible to Hochstetter?" Hogan asked, barely hiding his amazement.

Marya just looked at Hogan, smiling. "As I said Colonel, you would be surprised," she said after a moment.

"But how would someone from Leipzig know to call Hochstetter about you?" he asked.

"The Gestapo in Leipzig will stop and question a pair of suspicious people, apparently Russians, who are carrying a travel authorization signed by Major Hochstetter," she said. "They will call him to confirm the authorization."

Colonel Hogan's eyes grew wide. "But ..." he started to say.

Marya pulled a slip of paper from a pocket and waved it at Hogan. "He gave them to us before we left. In fact, I think he is trying to find us so that he can retrieve the authorizations that have his signature on them before someone else stops us and finds them," she said.

Colonel Hogan started pacing and muttering to himself. His men had seen this before. He was going over all the pros and cons of the idea, letting it work itself out in his mind. He needed to be satisfied that things would work out before going ahead with this plan. After a few minutes, he stopped in front of Vladimir. "Vladimir, you are the one with the most at risk in this," he said. "This plan is better than any other one I can think of, and we haven't yet worked out all of the little details, but I'm leaving it up to you to decide."

Vladimir thought for a second before answering. "Colonel Hogan, you may think it strange that I say this after what has happened, but I trust Tovarish Marya on this," he said. Then he looked around the room at the men he had been his friends for the past year and a half. "And I have all the confidence in the world in this little band of merry men." He smiled. "Yes Colonel, I think we should go with this plan."

The room was buzzing with excitement now that the decision had been made. It even seemed like the tension that had been directed towards Marya had eased since Vladimir had given her his vote of confidence. After a few seconds, Colonel Hogan spoke up. "There are a couple of important things," he said, getting everyone's attention. "First, Hochstetter will still come here after he finds out Vladimir has been taken from his men. He might not be able to check with Marya's Abwher contact until tomorrow. So we need to be prepared for that. He'll be madder than hell and want to rip the camp apart, so we need to make sure nothing can be found. LeBeau, you take care of that. Spread the word that everyone must be on good behavior tonight." LeBeau nodded his acknowledgement.

Hogan continued working on the checklist he had in his mind. "Newkirk, we'll need Abwher uniforms. We still have the ones we used before, right?"

"Yes sir," Newkirk said. "How many will we need?"

Hogan thought a second. "Four. One officer and three enlisted, for you, Carter and LeBeau." Hogan saw Kinch begin to protest. "Kinch will be keeping out of sight, ready to take care of the truck if we can't stop it. He doesn't need a uniform." Hogan paused and looked over at Marya. "And Marya, you're fine the way you are."

"But of course I am darling," she purred back, raising a laugh from the men.

Hogan continued on, ignoring her comment. "Carter," Hogan said, looking at the American sergeant. "We'll need guns and ammunition. Round up enough for all of us" Carter nodded somberly. Even though he was in a war, and it was his friend's life, he hated the thought of having to kill another person.

"Baker, assist Marya with her radio transmissions," Hogan continued. "Marya, we'll want your man Wagner to be ready with his story tomorrow. He may need to respond tonight if Hochstetter is insistent enough, but I think he'll concentrate on this camp tonight since he already suspects me of every act of sabotage that's been committed since the dawn of time. And make sure that Hochstetter gets his call informing him that you and Zagoskin were seen in the area of Leipzig tonight. The call needs to be around the time his men will leave for camp." Marya and Baker both signaled their acknowledgement. "And Baker, you're going to have to stay here and mind the store tonight and let us know when they leave camp with Vladimir. And get in touch Oskar. We'll need a civilian vehicle left at rendezvous point C, and have someone report it stolen by a woman around 2100 hours this evening."

Then Hogan turned to Kinch and Vladimir. "Kinch, you see to it that Vladimir is ready to go when Schultz comes by. We don't have a lot of time before then, so make the best of it." Hogan smiled and met Kinch's eye. Kinch gave a small nod of thanks when he recognized that his Colonel was giving him the opportunity to spend as much time with Vladimir as possible.

Hogan stopped and took a deep breath. "There," he said. "Only a few more small details left. And tomorrow we'll have to figure out how to get our three Russian travelers out of camp." He looked at Zagoskin, who was sitting off to the side. In all the excitement that had been happening, everyone seemed to have forgotten that the original mission was to return him to Russia. The scientist looked a little dazed and confused by everything that had been going on around him. "Don't worry, that part is easy," he said to the Russian scientist, smiling. "We've done this many times."

Stalag 13, Barracks 2,
September 4, 1943, 1400 hours

Klink had been keeping to himself in his office ever since Hochstetter's visit in the morning. Colonel Hogan had tried to see him, but Helga told him that he had locked the office door and didn't want to be disturbed. When Schultz arrived to escort Vladimir to the cooler, Klink was with him.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Kommandant," Hogan said. Then he noticed the disheveled appearance of the German Colonel. "You look like you've been through a washing machine wringer."

Klink nodded absently. "I'm just here to make sure there are no problems," he said.

As Vladimir moved towards Schultz, he stopped and shook hands will all the men. Even though they knew otherwise, everyone made it look as if Vladimir was leaving for good. Finally, Vladimir stood in front of the Kommandant.

"I'm ready now, sir," he said pensively.

Colonel Hogan stepped forward. "Colonel, request permission to accompany you to the cooler and stay with Vladimir for a while," he said to the Kommandant.

"Request denied, Colonel Hogan," Klink replied.

Colonel Hogan was shocked. "But Kommandant, I protest!" he said forcefully.

Colonel Klink sighed and looked resigned. "Frankly Hogan, I don't care," he responded to the amazement of the American. "You've had your chance to say goodbye."

Colonel Hogan was incensed. He had not expected the Kommandant to forbid him from visiting. Vladimir needed to know some of the last minute details of the plan so that he could be prepared when the ambush came. "It's bad enough that you allow Major Hochstetter to kidnap your prisoners," he blurted out.

Klink's eyes snapped. "That's quite enough!" he said forcefully. "I do not allow, as you so eloquently put it, Major Hochstetter to take my prisoner by choice, Colonel. Maybe in your army you can disobey orders and get away with few harsh penalties. But in Germany, disobedience to the Gestapo invites serious consequences."

Colonel Hogan was too stunned to reply. He had not seen Klink this upset in quite a while.

"Do you think I don't know how Major Hochstetter treats his prisoners? Do you think I don't know how some Germans want to treat Russians? Do you think I'm that ignorant Colonel Hogan? Do you know what would happen if the Gestapo found out that I had falsified his record in the camp files to hide the fact that I have a Russian prisoner?"

Hogan felt his face redden at the rebuke. It was difficult for him to be reprimanded in front of his men.

Having released much of his pent up anger and frustration, the Kommandant softened his tone. "I am truly very sorry that I must release Vladimir to Major Hochstetter's men. But I have no other choice, and believe me, I have been trying to find one all morning."

So that's why he had locked himself in his office all morning. He really didn't want this to happen. Hogan had recovered enough to speak. I'm sorry, Kommandant," he said. "I didn't realize ..."

Klink stopped him. "No Hogan, you probably didn't realize that I am a human being and do have regrets about some of the actions I must take," he said.

Hogan cringed at the rebuke. He knew it was true. I rarely stop to think about how you feel as the result of my actions. As long as I can get what I want, it doesn't matter to me. But this is one of my men we're talking about, and no matter how bad you feel about turning him over to the Gestapo, it's going to bother me more. Sorry Kommandant, there will be no sympathy from me today.

The Kommandant continued, "You cannot see him before Major Hochstetter's men arrive, however you have permission to ignore lights out tonight to say goodbye as he leaves," he said. "But you'll have to remain by the barracks and will not be able to speak to him."

"You're all heart, Kommandant," Hogan said sarcastically. He stared at Klink for a few seconds then shook his head. "No thank you," he said. "I don't think anyone here wants to witness that." Not to mention the fact that I will be out of camp waiting for those goons to drive by. You may feel resigned to thinking that you have no choice, but I am not going to let this happen.

Everyone stood in the barracks doorway watching as Vladimir walked along with the two Germans towards the cooler.