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Weaving A Web To Freedom

Book Three: Fliegerabwehrkanonen Spells FLAK

Chapter Two

What Happened?

"Who is it, Kinch?" Hogan called out as he hurriedly caught up with his men in the tunnel.

Kinch, Newkirk, LeBeau and Carter turned toward the familiar voice.

"Colonel, your jaw is swelling." Carter announced as he stepped around Newkirk to get a closer look.

"Thanks for telling me, Carter," Hogan again turned his attention to Kinch.

"It's Dirk, Colonel. Wilson's got him in there." Kinch nodded toward one of the excavated rooms used for transient guests. "He's been shot in the left shoulder and lost a lot of blood. What did Klink want?" Kinch asked.

"Just wanted to ask me point-blank if we were hiding anybody," Hogan answered, as he peered around the corner at Wilson and the medic's assistant. They were bent over the underground agent working wordlessly.

"What kind of line did you give him, Colonel?" Newkirk asked.

Hogan turned back to face his men. "In a round-about way I told him Hochstetter was jealous of his no escape record."

Hogan peered around the corner again and looked at his watch. He wanted to walk in and get a better view of what was going on. But everyone knew to stay out of Wilson's way when he was working, no matter what your rank.

Wilson was not your average medic. He had just finished Medical school when Pearl Harbor was attacked. His two younger brothers and he enlisted right away. His presence in camp had been a blessing.

"Did Dirk say anything while you were waiting for Wilson to get down here?" Hogan asked, still watching intently the drama taking place a few feet away.

"No, sir, he was out cold, slumped at the bottom of the ladder at the emergency exit," Carter answered.

"Oui, Colonel, he was lucky to have made it this far before he blacked out," LeBeau added.

Hogan took another quick look at his watch before spewing out orders. "Kinch get on the radio and see if you can find out anything about a meeting tonight. Be careful, you might be talking to the Gestapo. Don't stay in contact with anyone to long. If they don't have a radio detection truck here yet, they will shortly." Shoving his crush cap further back on his head he rubbed the back of his neck and quickly glanced once again into the room where the injured man laid.

"Don't worry, Colonel, I know the drill. If I make contact, do you want to talk?" Kinch asked.

"Not unless I'm needed. I really want to talk to Dirk if he regains consciousness." Kinch nodded and disappeared.

"Carter, go topside and keep your eye on the perimeter. Let us know fast if you see anything suspicious, especially if it's a radio detection truck," Hogan ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Carter was gone in a flash.

"LeBeau, you and Newkirk go out the emergency tunnel and lay a path away from camp. We want the Gestapo to think that their suspect moved on. Look over the tunnel entrance thoroughly, for any traces of blood that would point to us. Be careful; Hochstetter may already be searching the woods, and if he isn't now, he will be soon. After that go get some sleep and, one of you, relieve Carter in an hour. Do one-hour watches and let me know if anything unusual happens."

"Oui, mon Colonel," Louis answered.

"What are you going to do, sir? I mean if Hochstetter returns while we're gone," Newkirk asked. Hogan's earlier encounter with Hochstetter was left unfinished in the Brits eyes. And he would not be surprised if the Gestapo Major came back to finish it.

"Hochstetter won't be back anytime soon. He'll be busy looking for missed clues, and trying to figure out who his suspects are. I'll wait here for Wilson to finish and try to talk with Dirk. I need some answers." Hogan turned back around and cautiously slipped into the room where the injured man lay, hoping Sergeant Wilson wouldn't notice.

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The disrupted meeting sent the Underground agents scattering in different directions. The men had left in a hurry in order to elude the Gestapo. Now, Hochstetter returned to the barn to search for any clues carelessly left behind. Make-shift seating made from hay bales were still arranged in a circle next to a back exit. Hochstetter sat on one of the bales picturing in his mind what took place here. After a few minutes, he stepped outside the barn and was just about to turn his flashlight off, when a small object caught his eye. Bending down to pick it up, he saw it was a partially smoked cigarette.

Must have belonged to their sentry, he thought, while letting it roll across his gloved palm. American cigarette. We'll search the surrounding woods. I doubt we will find anything. I wonder how badly we wounded the man we chased? The injury must not be too bad if he was able to keep going. IF he kept going. If it was a serious wound he would have had to have been helped by somebody. But we searched the prisoners at Stalag 13, the barracks, and the ancillary buildings and turned up nothing.

Hochstetter clenched his fist around the cigarette butte as he turned and sprang into action.

"Corporal Schinner, take half of the men and comb the woods, look for a trail or any tangible evidence that might have been dropped. I'll take the remainder of the men and pick up the search outside of Stalag 13."

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Sergeant Wilson sat with his feet resting on a stool watching his patient. It had been a couple of hours since he finished tending Dirk's wound and he was concerned about the amount of blood lost. His patient had not regained consciousness since he passed out, not even while Wilson was removing the bullet from his shoulder.

"Uugh," Dirk moaned.

Wilson was out of his chair and at the wounded man's side before the moan subsided. "Shh, you're safe, just rest. You've been shot," Wilson said, trying to lay the man's fears aside. Dirk's eyes fluttered open and then closed once again. The medic pulled the blanket up under the man's chin and turned to see if he had awakened Colonel Hogan, who lay on another cot on the opposite side of the room. The Sergeant had tried to get his Commanding Officer to go to his room and sleep, but he would have none of that. Hogan still wanted a chance to talk to the Underground agent even though he was told to let Dirk rest. Bull-headed!

Dirk stirred again, moaning louder. Wilson turned back to his patient and felt his skin for fever. "You're at Stalag 13; you came in through the emergency tunnel. Lay still and rest," Wilson advised.

"How is he?" Hogan asked standing next to the medic looking on and rubbing the tightness out of his injured jaw.

Wilson flinched as the voice registered. Turning, he met Hogan head on and announced, "He's weak, Colonel, and in a lot of pain. He needs to rest."

Hogan locked eyes with Wilson but was interrupted before he could respond.

"Colonel?" Dirk whispered.

Hogan dropped to one knee and grabbed Dirk's hand out of the air where it was searching for contact. "Here, Dirk, what happened?"

Wilson stepped back and crossed his arms impatiently.

"Gestapo." Dirk exhaled the word.

"Yes, I know. What was the meeting about?" Hogan asked, softly.

"Germans have new anti…aircraft guns…need location." Dirk grimaced.

Hogan patted his hand, "All right, we'll get it. Do you…"

Dirk's hand went limp and his eyes closed once again. Wilson immediately moved in on his patient.

"That's it, Colonel. He's passed out again," Wilson took the hand Hogan was still holding and placed it under the blanket.

Hogan slowly stood and began pacing. New guns, but where? Germany's a big place!

"I'm going to see if Kinch has had any luck yet. Let me know if he comes around again." The Colonel started out of the room and paused when he realized he didn't get a response from his medic. Turning he added, "Did you hear me, Sergeant?"

"He needs to rest, he shouldn't be talking. I don't want that wound to start bleeding again," Wilson informed his C.O.

"I want to be told when he wakes up again. Is that clear?" Colonel Hogan didn't demand all the military courtesy that went with his rank, in fact he kept things fairly relaxed, but he did expect his orders to be followed.

"Yes, sir!" Wilson saluted impatiently.

Hogan started to comment on the man's lack of decorum and decided against it, instead he returned the salute, and continued out of the room. He had to stay focused on the problem at hand. Wilson would have to deal with his attitude on his own for now.

Entering the radio room he found Kinch still sitting at the radio with his headphones on, trying the emergency frequencies.

"Still no luck, Kinch?" Hogan asked.

"No sir, not yet, they're probably afraid the Gestapo has radio detection trucks out." Kinch didn't want to say what they were both thinking, that maybe they had been captured. If that were true, how much time did they have before the Gestapo returned here with enough information to end this operation?

Hogan paced while running different scenarios through his mind.

We need to find out more about those anti-aircraft guns. A lot of our boys will lose their lives, if we don't knock those out. It's too late to do any reconnaissance now. It will be light soon and roll call is only a few hours away. Who else would have that information? Klink?... Maybe, but it's doubtful, at least not yet. What if they thought the Underground already knew where they were? They might beef up their security. Send in more troops. The other thought is how much does the Gestapo know about the Underground's operation. Did they capture or kill any of the other Underground members at that meeting? If captured, how do I get them out of Gestapo headquarters before information is pried out of them?

The Colonel stopped pacing and ran his hand through his hair before turning to face his radio operator. "Kinch, get London on the radio. Then give me the headset and go on up and get some sleep."

"Yes, sir."

After contacting London and handing the headset over to Hogan, Kinch slipped out but decided to check on Dirk before going to the barrack.

"How is he?" Kinch asked peaking around the corner.

"Did the Colonel send you to spy on me and make sure I'm following orders?" the medic shot back, trying to keep his voice low.

Kinch took a step back. "Whoa, what's up with you? Who put that burr under your saddle? Never mind, I think I know." Kinch took the plunge and entered the hornets' nest, standing just inside the door.

Wilson crossed to the doorway, carrying the conversation away from his sleeping patient. "This man doesn't need to be answering questions right now! He needs to lay still and let that wound clot. I don't have a lot to work with here. I can't stand by and let him bleed to death!" Wilson's concern came pouring out. Death was always a close companion without adequate medicine and equipment.

"You're doing the best you can, Joe. We all know that." Kinch laid his hand on Wilson's shoulder.

Wilson pulled away, his voice rising slightly with emotion. "Yeah, well the Colonel asking this man to talk is adding unnecessary risk."

"Joe, the Colonel doesn't want to put Dirk's life at greater risk. Believe me. He is only trying to prevent more lives from being lost. There is a lot at stake here. In addition to Dirk's life, we don't know if or how many more Underground members have been injured or captured. Add to that the life of every man in this camp and the Colonel has a lot to consider," Kinch said in a louder whisper.

"Don't go telling me how risking one life may save hundreds of others. I don't want to hear it. This is the life that's in my hands at the moment." Wilson's temper and voice were both heating up.

"Well, aren't you the lucky one? Save one life and your conscious is clear! What makes you think your patient would even want that, if it costs hundreds of lives?" Kinch asked, losing his "famous" composure and raising his voice slightly.

"Kinch is right," Dirk whispered. "I wouldn't want to live…if it meant family and friends had to die.' Dirk stopped to let the pain pass. "I have to do what I can." The injured man strained to get the words out.

Upset that their arguing had disturbed his patient, Wilson glared at Kinch. "I'm not a soldier," Wilson said, going over to Dirk and examining his dressing. "They put me in a uniform, taught me how to shoot, and told me to go out and save lives, and that is what I intend to do."

Now that he had released his pent up tension, Wilson thought about what Kinch had said. I know the Colonel carries a heavy burden. But can't he give this man a little time to-" Wilson stopped himself as he answered his own question "No…he can't…I know that. Kinch is right; I deal with the lives of one or two men at a time. He deals with the burden of hundreds of lives…mine included. Sometimes my frustration just gets the best of me. "Looking at the Sergeant, he answered "…I will try to see both sides…as best as I can, Kinch."

"Is there a problem?" the Colonel asked stepping into the room. "I thought I sent you topside to get some rest, Kinch. I think you better head out. There's not much time before roll call," Hogan ordered.

"Yes, sir, I'm on my way." Kinch looked at Wilson, nodded, and headed for the ladder.

"I just spoke with London; they're very interested in those guns. They had heard rumors that they were being tested. We've been ordered to find them."

Wilson frowned, and thought to himself The Nazis love to test things…guns…men…

Hogan seeing that Dirk was awake went down on one knee and knelt next to him.

"Dirk, I'm taking over. All you have to do is rest. We haven't made contact with any of the Underground. We assume they have gone to radio silence." Looking at the injured man, he added, "I'll try to make this brief. Who was at the meeting and were they caught? Also, do you know the location of the guns? Any information you can give me will help."

"Not…a lot…to tell…Colonel." Dirk answered, grimacing with the pain. "One of our…contacts known as Black Paw, called the meeting to… let us know of the guns existence in the vicinity…and that they would start testing immediately. That's as far as we got…before our sentry ran in yelling that the Gestapo was pulling up." Dirk closed his eyes and breathed. "Lutz and Horace were with me." There was a pause, Dirk caught his breath. "Black Paw sent a man named Daniel to give us the information. Bernd was patrolling outside." Another short pause, "We scattered…don't know what happened…to the others."

"Do you think the Gestapo was tipped off?" Hogan asked.

"No, I think…they got lucky." Dirk closed his eyes grimacing.

"Okay, that's enough. You rest and do what Wilson tells you. We'll talk more later." Hogan patted the man's arm and stood to look at the medic. "Sergeant, do what you can to make him comfortable and then get back to your barrack. It will soon be time for roll call." Looking back at Dirk, he explained, "Sorry, but we'll have to leave you alone for a bit, while we go play prisoners. We'll get back as soon as we can. Don't go throwing any wild parties," Hogan quipped, trying to mask his concern.

Wilson watched his Commanding Officer. It's a hard juggling act isn't it Colonel…caring, but not letting it show. You even fool me…sometimes.

Dirk attempted a smile. "No parties…last…time I come here…after I've been shot," Closing his eyes, Dirk drifting back to sleep.

Hogan stepped back and leaned against the dirt wall, while watching Wilson check his patient. When the Sergeant had finished, they both stepped out of the room to head for their respective barracks.

"Colonel," Wilson began.

Hogan turned to face Wilson. "Yes, Sergeant?"

"Sorry for that show of disrespect, sir. I guess I was a little stressed."

Hogan nodded. "We all are. And for good reason. I won't make unnecessary demands, Joe, remember that."

The Colonel nodded toward the doorway they had just exited. "After roll call, get back down here, but if we call you, return immediately." Hogan turned toward the route to his barrack and then turned back. "I do appreciate your concern for your patients, Wilson."

"Yes, sir, I know." Wilson nodded, and headed down the tunnel.