The T.V. show Hogan's Heroes belongs to Bing Crosby Productions. No ownership of the Hogan's Heroes characters is implied or inferred, and no infringement is intended.

Weaving A Web To Freedom , Book 3: Fliegerabwehrkanonen Spells FLAK

Chapter 3
Where Do We Go From Here?

"Repooort!"

"All present and accounted for, Herr Kommandant," Schultz said saluting.

Klink stood in front of the prisoners looking up and down the rank, before beginning his announcement. His eyes lingered on Hogan as he began, "I want you to know that I have increased the guards patrolling outside the fence." Klink slid his gaze from Hogan down the line of POW's. "Any attempt at escape and the entire camp will be punished." Klink paced in front of the line up and stopped in front of Colonel Hogan, continuing in a loud voice. "In addition, the man attempting to escape will have my personal attention!" He looked at his senior POW and lowering his voice once again adding, "Is that clear enough, Colonel?"

Hogan had his hands shoved into the slash pockets of his brown leather bomber jacket and the collar of the jacket pulled up against the wind. He shrugged his shoulders, saying, "We wouldn't leave now, Kommandant!"

The rest of the men began agreeing, playing along with Hogan. They had no idea what they were agreeing on, but they were absolutely sure they agreed with their Commanding Officer.

Klink looked hard through his monocle at Hogan trying to read meaning into what he was saying. "No?"

"Nobody in their right mind would leave now. The finals in the bridge tournament are tomorrow night!" Hogan smiled. "I've got three chocolate bars and a bar of soap riding on that game."

Klink was listening to the American with a puzzled look on his face. As Hogan finished he realized his senior POW was toying with him. Klink's eyes narrowed into a squint. "Just don't try anything, Hogan, or I'll make an example of you."

"Dissmissssed!" Klink spun around and marched off.

Hogan's men gathered around him.

"Blimey, gov'nor, it's going to be a bit tricky getting out of camp," Newkirk commented. "Do you still plan to go out and look for those guns tonight?"

"We have no choice. London said to find them and to do that we'll have to leave camp. Kinch, get back on the radio and try to reach one of our contacts. We've got to find out what went on last night after that meeting broke up, and where we stand now. If you can't reach anyone, keep the channels open and see if anyone tries to contact us. We'll keep watch up here and let you know..."

"Mon Colonel, too late! Here's the radio detection truck," LeBeau nodded toward the gate.

Hogan watched as the truck pulled into the compound and came to a stop. "Great!" Without another word , he started toward Kommandant Klink's office.

"What're you going to do Colonel?" Kinch asked.

"I'm going to go pick Klink's brain. If I can find it.

ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

Hogan opened the door to Klink's office enough to stick his head in, "Hi, Kommandant, are you busy?"

"No, Hogan, this camp runs itself!" Klink answered sarcastically. "What do you want now?"

That's all the encouragement Hogan needed. He stepped into Klink's office and shut the door.

"I couldn't help but notice you didn't say anything about that Underground agent Hochstetter was looking for, I guess he didn't find him. What about the others? Did he catch them?"

"The glorious Third Reich always finds its..." Klink stopped and his expression changed to reflect the defeat he felt. "...no, they haven't found him or the others. Hochstetter will be back to tear this camp apart."

Hogan breathed an inward sigh of relief, "You're not going to let him push you around are you, sir?" Hogan walked up to Klink's desk.

Klink raised his head to look at Hogan. "Hogan, go back to your barracks and leave me alone."

"Come on, Hochstetter's just a Major. You're a Colonel!" Hogan proudly proclaimed.

"He doesn't seem to know that." Klink sighed "Besides, that 'skull and crossbones' he wears gives him the authority to come in here and search anywhere..." He paused and looked at Hogan. "...or anyone, he wants. Hogan, I'm asking you one more time. You and your men aren't hiding anything...or anyone... are you?"

"Kommandant, we've already been over this. Don't you trust me by now?" Before Klink could say, no, Hogan continued. "Besides, I'll bet Hochstetter just caught a couple of kids necking in the barn and is too embarrassed to admit he was on a wild goose chase."

Klink was thinking over Hogan's suggestion, as he leaned back in his chair and then just as quickly rejected it.

"I mean, why was the Major out roaming around the countryside anyway? Doesn't the Gestapo have anything better to do?" Hogan asked.

"Supposedly, he was protecting some new guns they're going to be testing." Klink realized the slip as soon as he made it. "Hogan, I told you to leave!"

"They're testing new guns?" Hogan perked up, feigned ignorance, and began his attack. "What is it some new rifle?" The American Colonel was playing Klink like a fish on a line.

"No, now get out!" Klink shouted, his demeanor changed drastically from just a few short moments ago.

"I'll bet it's a new tank gun,"Hogan rattled on, giving his catch more line.

"It's not a rifle and it's not a tank, get out of here before I call the guards." Klink stood and walked around his desk to chase Hogan out the door.

Hogan took a step backwards and said, "It's not a rifle and it's not a tank." He continued to step back toward the door and suddenly stopped. Klink, not prepared for the abrupt halt, found himself nose to nose with his prisoner. Hogan, unfazed, questioned, "No...it's not new anti aircraft guns?"

Klink threw his hands up in an "I give up" gesture, and turned around to go back to his desk.

"It is? It's new anti-aircraft guns! And they're in this area? No wonder Hochstetter was so jumpy last night. He's been assigned to keep those guns safe." Hogan advanced on Klink as the Kommandant again took his seat. "So how many of them are there?"

"Hogan, you're not even supposed to know they exist!" Klink exclaimed.

"Oh, come on, Kommandant, who am I going to tell? I'm a prisoner!" Hogan wanted...needed... more information.

Klink sat mutely at his desk with his arms folded, staring at his POW.

"Okay, fine, I'll ask Hochstetter!" Hogan turned to leave.

That threat raised the hair on Klink's neck and he warned, "My dear, Colonel, it may interest you to know that you are a prisoner here. And that as your Kommandant, I can have you thrown in the "cooler", away from Major Hochstetter." Klink definitely didn't want Hochstetter to know that he had told Hogan about the guns.

"You don't really think he would stay away if you told him I was locked in the "cooler" do you! The Major would only consider that to be an invitation to an afternoon's entertainment. Anyway, it looks to me like the Gestapo is already running this camp. Did you see the radio detection truck out in the compound? Not that they would ever find anything here, but the implication is pretty clear!" Hogan held his crush cap in his hands, dangling it in front of him, as he gently caressed the band and thought.

"A radio detection truck is standard operating procedure, when the underground is suspected of being in an area," Klink stated.

"Uh huh, sure it is, when it's driving up and down the countryside. This one is parked in your compound!" Hogan dropped his hat on Klink's desk and pointed toward the office door. "Care to bet who's going to be coming through that door saying he's taking control of your camp? This is just the excuse he has been looking for." Klink looked at the closed door to his office. "I can help you get rid of him for both our sakes." Hogan waited for Klink to catch up. He wondered how long it would take Klink to figure that out he had just offered to join forces with him in order to out smart the Gestapo.

Klink looked thoughtfully out the window at the radio detection truck. I should be helping Hochstetter not joining forces with Hogan. And I would if his goal was to stop the underground...but his only goal here is to discredit me and take over my camp. He's always wanted this camp under Gestapo rule even before Hogan arrived here. But now...he wants it even more.

"And what would you propose to do, Colonel Hogan?"

His fish had taken the bait. Hogan pulled up a chair and sat down. "What we need to do is divert the Major's attention away from Stalag 13."

Klink, leaned toward his senior POW. "How do you plan to do that?" Klink asked incredulously. "Ask him pretty please to look somewhere else?"

"If you're going to get sarcastic, forget it!" Grabbing his hat off of Klink's desk he began to leave.

The Kommandant stood. "No wait! What's your idea?"

Hogan turned back to face Klink and paused as if considering whether to continue. Taking two carefully measured steps toward Klink he said, "You send us out on some sort of work detail and we'll make it look like the Underground has been meeting someplace away from here. We'll leave information that clears us, set a few harmless explosives to go off when we are all in plain view and Hochstetter will have to take us off his list and pull out."

"There's only one small problem with your plan, Hogan." Klink walked around from behind the desk with purpose, and stopped not more than six inches in front of him. "I wasn't born yesterday. I'm not giving explosives to a bunch of prisoners!"

Hogan waved him off. "Okay, give it to a guard you can trust to keep quiet...give it to Schultz. But if you're going to do this, you better do it now before Hochstetter seals the camp." Hogan didn't want to give Klink time to change his mind. He counted on rash thinking when he was putting plans into action.

"Can you organize your men that quickly?" Klink asked. "Surely they'll need time to absorb the idea before anyone will volunteer."

Hogan felt some of his tension dissipate as he realized Klink was hooked. "My men are always ready," Hogan quickly responded, causing Klink to look intently at him. "It's not like we have a big social calendar, Kommandant," Hogan added.

Klink slowly relaxed and nodded. "I'll notify Schultz, you'll leave immediately. Let him know what you need. And, Hogan, I want your word there will be no escape attempts." Klink waited for confirmation.

"You have my word, Kommandant. I just want Hochstetter out of here the same as you do. We get along very well without his presence in camp," Hogan assured.

"Um hum, I'll accept that, but just know if you change your mind the remaining men in this camp will suffer for your actions, and you will be hunted down and not necessarily by my hand alone. Do we understand each other, Colonel?" Now, it was Klink's turn to threaten.

Hogan straightened, and pulling his shoulders back, answered, "Yes, sir! I believe I understand you perfectly."

ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

Hogan entered the barracks with a purpose. "Okay, I've got us a ride out of camp, but we need to move fast. Hochstetter is liable to be here any minute and put a stop to this whole deal." His men stopped what they were doing and gathered around their C.O. "Carter, go find Schultz, and tell him what you will need to be able to set off a couple of charges capable of taking out a bridge."

"Yes, sir! Um, do you want those set as time delayed or impact," Carter asked

"We'll need them to be pressure sensitive, with a safety. You need to hurry too," Hogan encouraged.

Hogan turned and placed his hands on LeBeau's shoulders, "Louis, grab some food and water, I don't know how long this is going to take."

"Oui, with Schultz along it won't matter if it's only a few hours, we're going to need quite a bit of food," LeBeau complained, as he turned to carry out his task.

"Newkirk, hide some binoculars in the back of the truck Schultz will be transporting us in." Hogan was pacing, trying to make sure he was covering everything.

"Right, gov'nor, I'll grab a compass, too," Newkirk added.

"Kinch come with me into the office, let's review the map and pick out some spots to begin our search."

"Be right with you, Colonel." Kinch grabbed a couple cups of coffee on his way. He knew that except for the short nap the Colonel caught in the tunnel waiting to talk to Dirk, he had gone from one thing to the next without sleep, or food and drink. Coffee wasn't much, but at least it would warm him until Louis could get him in the truck and feed him.

"Mike," Hogan stopped suddenly as one last detail popped into his head. "Wilson is in the tunnel with Dirk. Keep somebody on look out and make sure they let Joe know when he needs to be topside. He knows to come right away, when called."

"Okay, Colonel, we'll handle it." McLaughlin assured.

Hogan clasped Mike on the shoulder, "Thanks, and I'm sorry about the position I put you in last night." Hogan was referring to Hochstetter placing his gun to Mike's head.

"That wasn't your fault sir," Mike said, as he was moving toward the barrack door, to appoint some look-outs. "Hochstetter is responsible for his own actions!"

Maybe so, but I shouldn't have been pushing him so hard.