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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Major Hochstetter walked briskly around the perimeter of the dig site and then came back to face off against Klink. "What is all this digging, Klink?"
"That's what you do in archaeology, Major," Hogan interjected, uninvited. "Most things from thousands of years ago aren't sitting on the surface. You have to dig for them!"
"What is this man doing here?" Hochstetter seethed. "You are letting prisoners dig, Klink! Doesn't that strike you as odd? It is like you are inviting them to escape! And with Hogan nearby, it is even more dangerous! He does not belong anywhere near here, or near Herr Smallwood, either!"
Klink continued to fumble in an attempted answer. Hogan shook his head and sighed. "Major," Hogan tried, "I think you'll find this was all authorized by Colonel Stigler."
"Hogan, keep out of this, you don't know what you are—" Hochstetter stopped, then looked at Stigler. "Is this true, Herr Oberst?"
Stigler came forward calmly. "Yes, Major, that is correct. Herr Smallwood has indicated a strong interest in this project, and so we are doing all we can to satisfy him." He smiled at the Englishman.
"Including allowing the most dangerous man in Germany near shovels and fences!" Hochstetter added. "Begging your pardon, Colonel, Hogan is not the kind of man who should be anywhere near here, much less near an important visitor like Herr Smallwood! Klink, I warned you about this—"
"Major Hochstetter, there is nothing to worry about," Stigler said. "I have it well under control." With a glance toward the senior POW, he added, "Your own men are watching Colonel Hogan very carefully. He doesn't seem like much of a threat to us. What can one man—a prisoner, no less—do to stop the Third Reich?"
"You'd be surprised," Hochstetter growled through his teeth. Hogan looked back innocently. "Nevertheless," he added in a louder voice, "I would recommend that we keep a close watch on Colonel Hogan. I believe he is capable of more than you give him credit for."
"I will leave that to you, then, Major," Stigler said. "I will concern myself with the happiness of Herr Smallwood, and you concern yourself with his safety."
"But the digging, the digging!" Hochstetter resumed. "This must not be happening here! Herr Colonel, surely you can understand why giving shovels to prisoners is a bad idea!"
Hogan watched the exchange carefully; their whole plan hinged on this project continuing. "You have guards, Major. And they have rifles. If the men try to use the shovels for anything but this project, I'm sure Colonel Klink would have no objections to having them shot on sight."
"That's right, Herr Oberst!" Klink said ingratiatingly. Hogan arched his eyebrow at him. Klink's nervous smile disappeared.
"Let me see what progress they have made so far before you decide, Major," Smallwood put in, anxious. "Hogan said they were close to making a monumental discovery!"
Did I say that? Hogan asked himself, bemused at how his words had been twisted into something even more fantastic.
Suddenly, excited shouts started coming from the digging area. "Colonel! Colonel Hogan!" Le Beau shouted.
Hogan looked over to see the Frenchman waving wildly, trying to get his attention. He wandered down to him, thumbs hooked in his pockets. "What is it, Le Beau?"
"These men—they have done it! They think they have found something important! Come and see!"
Hogan looked back to the Germans and, shrugging his shoulders, turned and headed into the secured area to where the downed flyers and the Underground agent were talking excitedly amongst themselves. Rhodes held out a large piece of pottery toward him. Hogan took it and casually turned it over in his hands, then held it up for the Germans to notice. "Looks like we might have something nice here," he called. As he heard rather than saw the flood of German feet flowing into the pit toward them, Hogan asked loudly, "Do they think they can find any more of this stuff?"
Le Beau turned to the "experts" and asked the question, to which he got several vehement, affirmative responses that even Hogan could understand. "Oui, Colonel. Now that this has been found they are confident there will be more."
Smallwood was the first to reach him. "Let me see that," he said breathlessly, his eyes never leaving the clay pot. He practically snatched it out of Hogan's hands and studied it with eager eyes. "Ah, look at that. Red, white, and black paint… probably wheel-thrown and made in a specialized workshop…. Notice the geometric designs on this piece—the diamonds, the crosses…See how the sections almost mirror each other but there are slight differences in the bottom section that make them each unique." Hogan exchanged looks with Le Beau and Kinch as Smallwood gushed, "This is exquisite, gentlemen. Exquisite!" He reluctantly handed the piece back to Rhodes. "There must be more of it. There must be!" Smallwood walked back to Hochstetter, who had quickly followed his charge down to the group. "Major Hochstetter, you must not forbid digging here. This site is too important!"
"Actually, digging might not be a good idea, not right here," Kinch said suddenly. Smallwood looked at the Sergeant questioningly. "We'll need to be very careful how we proceed from here on out. A couple of hard hits with a shovel here and we might destroy anything we come across!"
"So what do you suggest?" Hogan asked.
"Regular digging further down there, Colonel," Kinch replied, nodding toward where the pit was deeper and wider, "and excavating by hand in this area. These men must have some tools with them, Louis. Equipment we can use for slower excavation."
Le Beau turned to the assembled Frenchmen and asked the question. "Oui, Kinch, they do not travel without them."
"Then I suggest we continue that way," Hogan said agreeably. "That's much more detailed work, though, isn't it?" he asked.
"Absolutely," Kinch said.
"Then our price just went up five pfennigs an hour."
Klink started blustering. "Hogan, this is outrageous—!"
"When will this begin?" Smallwood asked Le Beau.
Le Beau translated, then turned back to the Englishman. "Right away, Monsieur."
Smallwood turned to Stigler. "I must take part in this. I must! It may be the only chance I have to be so intimately involved in such a project. You may have me every evening. But please, Colonel, during the day—please let me take part in this."
Stigler screwed up his face, obviously considering. "Herr Smallwood, I appreciate your great interest in this project. But we must start making progress. Berlin is most anxious to hear what you have to say." He stopped and fixed Smallwood with a stare. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?"
Smallwood recoiled physically from the suggestion. "No, Colonel Stigler, no. It's just that I—"
"Aw, come on, Colonel," Hogan urged. "Even a traitor is entitled to a hobby. These guys need the help, and it sounds like he knows what he's talking about. If he's as much of an expert as he seems to be, he'll only be adding to the glory of the Third Reich by being part of it, right?"
Stigler nodded thoughtfully. "Very well. The American has spoken well for you, Herr Smallwood." Hogan nodded slightly as Smallwood turned to look at him. "You may stay here for today. But tonight you will give us everything!"
"Of course, Colonel. Everything."
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"The detail, it is perfect! It is as though it were taken from the Heuneburg site itself!" Le Beau translated for the real Heuneburg expert, who could not hide a genuine smile.
Smallwood held another piece of pottery in his hands, proud and awed by the vessel he had pulled out of the ground on his own. "It is beautiful," he said.
Le Beau nodded and kept at the detailed work he was pretending to do on a small patch of ground. Ah, there was another of Newkirk's creations; he recognized his own work in the shape of the remnant. "It all looks the same to me."
Smallwood almost gasped. "Oh, but it isn't! Look how perfect, how perfect!"
Le Beau mimicked him under his breath. "Nothing in this world is perfect. Not even the Boches," he said with a trace of bitterness.
Smallwood paused in his admiration and looked long and hard at the Frenchman. "What are you trying to say, man?"
Le Beau shrugged. "Nothing," he answered casually. He continued working quietly, not looking up. Eventually, he said, "Colonel Hogan, he is a very smart man."
"He may be," Smallwood answered, still studying more than working.
"You will regret what you said to him."
Smallwood stood tall. "Are you threatening me?"
Le Beau dropped his tools and faced the Englishman, his face full of anger. "He is worth more than one hundred of you, you filthy traitor."
"I suggest you change your tone, Corporal," Smallwood said evenly. "You may not like the punishment that comes with crossing me."
Le Beau started to get feisty and loud. It wasn't long before he attracted the attention of both Hochstetter and Hogan. The pair made a beeline for the area of the pit where the two were working. "All right, what's going on here?" Hogan asked, eyeing Smallwood as he put a hand on Louis's shoulder to calm him down.
"Nothing, Colonel," Le Beau said, pulling away and turning back to his work. "I just have not gotten used to working alongside swine."
Hogan looked hard at Smallwood, then glanced at Le Beau to make sure the Corporal was back to his job; obviously, being with Smallwood was affecting him, too. "You'd think you'd be used to it by now, Louis," Hogan said with a touch of lightness; "look at how many times you've had to share the kitchen with the Germans!"
Le Beau smiled wanly, continuing his assigned task. Smallwood took the opportunity to push Hogan just a little bit farther. "Your Frenchman was defending you, Hogan," he explained. "It is not unexpected—after all, pathetic, fallen eagles attract weak creatures such as scavengers… and Frogs."
It was Smallwood's smirk that finally drove Hogan over the edge. Before anyone had a chance to react, the Colonel grabbed the Englishman by the lapels of his neat brown suit and drove him forcefully up against the crumbly, earthen wall of the pit. His fists clenched tightly, Hogan pushed with a reserve of strength he didn't know he had, pinning Smallwood against the dirt and leaving the older man gasping for release. Hogan's dark, flashing eyes bore straight into Smallwood, seeing nothing but the anger and the memories that haunted him, hearing nothing but the roar of the engines and the screams of the crew of his plane as she bore the brunt of an enemy attack that she could not survive.
Hogan's men—indeed, everyone in the vicinity—had stopped to watch the scene unfolding before them. Hogan's hands trembled, and his chest moved so very slightly that for an instant some of them wondered if he was even breathing. A trickle of sweat ran past his temple. He had done all he could on that terrible day. He had done all he could!
Hadn't he?
"Colonel—Colonel Hogan!"
He remembered his men calling to him as the fateful moment barreled toward them at horrible, breakneck speed. We've got a fire starting back here!
"Colonel! Are you all right?"
I can't stop her from heading down. Bail out. Do it now!
"Colonel!"
As though being abruptly sucked out of a tunnel and into the light of day, Hogan came back into himself, seeing what he was doing as if for the first time, and hearing the voices of those around him. He looked, almost bewildered, at his hands that were forcing Smallwood against the dirt wall. He let out a breath he had not realized he was holding, and took long, deep breaths as he recovered.
"Colonel Hogan. Please, mon Colonel, he is not worth it!"
Hogan tore his eyes away from Smallwood and stared down at the ground, still stunned.
"Colonel! Colonel, listen to me. You have to let him go!"
One of Hogan's hands let go of a lapel. He let his arm fall limply to his side.
"You will stop, Hogan, or you will be shot!"
Down came the other arm. Hogan looked up as though just released from a trance, to see a group of tense men surrounding him, including Le Beau, Kinch, and Hochstetter, who was holding a pistol aimed directly at his chest.
Hogan blinked and slowly straightened. Smallwood relaxed a little and brushed off his clothing, sidling away from Hogan cautiously. Hogan shook his head and took a staggering step away from him, taking in the worried faces of his own men. "I'm sorry," he said breathlessly to no one in particular. He glanced up at Hochstetter, who had not moved. "I'm sorry," he said again, this time to the Gestapo officer. "I don't know what came over me."
"You will have time to think about it when you are sitting in your cell, Hogan," Hochstetter said. He waved his pistol toward the guards who had moved in with him. "Take him to the cooler." Two guards moved in and grabbed Hogan by the arms. He heaved a sigh but did not resist them. "I will tell Kommandant Klink that you are temporarily indisposed. And you will remain indisposed until Herr Smallwood is safely out of camp. Take him!" he shouted at the guards, who had paused as the Major spoke to Hogan.
The guards prodded Hogan into walking. Hogan glanced at Kinch and Le Beau, who nodded in response to his silent instructions; then he let the Germans lead him away.
