I´m sorry that it took me so long to write a new chapter, but I have been quite busy lately. Hope you enjoy it anyway :-)
Klink walked over to the photograph on the wall. Hitler, standing in front of a massive amount of people, shouting one of his famous speeches. Disgusted, Klink turned away. It was him, that person who was causing him al this trouble.
It is your duty to the Fatherland to sign the paper, if Hogan is really a saboteur... and you know he is Wilhelm, don´t deny it any longer. There are things going on of which you not know, but you can feel it. There is to much coincidence between the recent events. Since Hogan came intot the camp, sabotage numbers in this area have more than doubled and how do you explain things like Hogan always knowing when something is going to be blown up? Because he IS the saboteur.
Klink sighed. He knew more about Hogan, than Hogan would think in his wildest dreams, but on the other hand, Hogan was Klinks only way to survive the war and not ending up at the Russian front. A second later, Klinks face brightened as an interesting thought trickled into his mind.
If I do not sign the permission for execution, Hogan is not going to be executed. If he isn´t shot, he can protect me from Hochstetter, as he has done before.
Besides this obvious self-interest in Hogans life, Klink also knew, that there was more in this thinking than self preservation.
It is my duty to save him, not my duty to the Fatherland, but my duty to a friend, to myself. Besides that, the Fatherland as it is now is not Germany, it is not the Germany I loved and to which I was devoted in the First World War. Come on Wilhelm, fight Hochtsetter, because Germany´s got a war to lose.
He smiled at this thought, but he suddenly realised the meaning of this words: treason. He, as a proud German officer should fight for his country and help them to win the war and yet he wished to lose the war.
How strange it is, to win a war. There is nothing to win in a war, just tears and pain, so much to lose, so little to gain. Is Germany worth fighting for?
The moment he looked at the person entering the room he knew the answer: No, this Germany is not worth anything, leats of all fighting for.
Hochstetter rushed in, his head wearing a reddish color.
"Klink, I haven´t got time, where´s the permission for execution?". Turning pale, Klink handed over the form. In his head he counted, one... two... thr-
"AAAAAARGH! Klink, why didn´t you sign this paper!"
Meanwhile, in Barracks two, Kinch, Carter, Lebeau and Newkirk were seated around the coffee pot, eager to hear what Hochstetter would say if he found out, that Klink had not signed the paper.
"Hochstetter, I want you to know, that you are not going to shoot any of my prisoners and least of all my senior POW. I believe, that he is not guilty and therefore, I will not accep-".
"Klink, you silly person. You will sign this paper, Hogan is a saboteur, a spy, a danger to the Third Reich! You are abandoning the Fatherland by defending this inferior person! This is treason. The Führer will hear of this and you will find yourself in front of a firing squad side by side to your little allied friend.".
Hochstetters face had turned deep purple during this speech, now, speechless with anger and breathing hard he faced Klink and pushed the form into his hands.
"Klink, I will give you one last chance to rewind the biggest mistake in your life. One last chance...".
The last words echoed in Klinks head, but he couldn´t get himself to sign the paper.
Wilhelm, you have done the first step, now don´t take a step back, go forward, show him who you are.
He shook his head. "No, Hochstetter, I am not going to sign this paper. This is my last word."
Surprisingly Hochstetter went away without a word. Klink, relieved that he had managed to stand the Gestapo for one time sighed and sat behind his desk. Then it finally dawned on him what he had done.
Wilhelm, you did it! You stood up against the Gestapo, the almost allmighty police apparatus to save an allied flyer. Isn´t that suspicious?
He shook his head. The fear of the last hours had vanished and for once he was sure to have done the right thing. Was it like this to be brave?
"He did it! He really did it! He saved the colonel!". Carter was jumping around Barracks 2, out of his mind with joy.
"Ol´fella don´ get satisfied that easy. Ya think this was everything ol´ Wolfgang had up his sleeve? He´ll have some tricks behind.".
Then, Newkirk laughed out loud, because Carter had frozen in mid-air and thereby had fallen over one of the beds.
"Mon Dieu, Newkirk. C´est quoi ca? It´s not nice to tease Carter like this. Don´t mind Carter, ´e was just jokin´weren´t you.".
Newkirk grinned. "Of course I was, Wolffie can´t do anythin´ he hasn´t got that form, he hasn´t got any proff besides what stupid ol´ Crittendon told ´im. And that´s no proof, because the man is out of ´is mind, anybody could see that by just bein´ in one room with ´im for a minute.".
The only one who had not spoken was Kinch, because he was looking out of the window, to make sure Hochstetter was leaving. When Hochstetter did not come out immediatly after he ended his talk with Klink, he grew suspicious.
"Newkirk, fast. Run down to Klinks office and listen carefully. I think Hochstetter is having a chat with Klinks secretary and I don´t think he´s just flirting with her, ´cause she loaths him. Come on, quick.".
Lebeau and Carter looked at Kinch, not understanding Kinchs concern, but Newkirk rushed out, without a word.
Slowly he strolled over to the Kommandant´s office and reached the window, just in time to hear Hochstetter shouting at Klinks Secretary.
"Give me something Klink has signed, quick!". Newkirk heard Klinks Secretary protest, but an angry growl from Hochstetter ended al protest. He heard paper rustling and then Hochstetter laughing. "Haha, that stupid idiot Klink thinks he´s a smart one and can protect this little Hogan friend of his. Idiot.".
Just in time, Newkirk stepped away from the window, because Hochstetter was rushing outside. While he rushed past, Newkirk looked at the form in his hands. On the bottom, there was Klinks signature, a false signature, but still a false signature which looked like Klinks.
Newkirk could do nothing but stare at Hochstetter, who felt the gaze and turned around. He smiled, but it was not a pleasant smile. It was a cold and devilish smile, a smile in which lay hatred and satisfaction at one time. Newkirk could not turn away. It seemed like hours, before Hochstetter turned around and walked away and Newkirk could do nothing to stop him. The form moved in the autumn wind.
White, a white piece of paper. How could the color of pureness bear something so unjust? Was it possible that one of the bravest men Newkirk knew was about to die due to betrayal and an old hatred? There was more behind Hochstetters desire to shoot Hogan than just the suspicion that Hogan was a saboteur. It was the old hatred of a man, who knew that he would never be able to even stand in the shadow of Colonel Hogan. A man, who knew that he was nothing, compared to his enemy. And a man, who had realised this in his never ending fight against that enemy, against whom he would never stand a chance, when playing the game without breaking the rules of fairness (besides, were there any rules in war?). Why? Because Hochstetter was alone and Colonel Hogan had men behind him, who would risk their lives for him at any time. Hochstetter had nothing but hatred, Hogan had friends.
Newkirk watched the sky. It was blue, deep blue, no clouds, just blue. And birds, birds in the trees in the sky, singing as if nothing had happened as if the world had not turned three years ago, as if no human species had ever arisen.
We rose, our species rose from animal to yet nothing more but a different animal. A dangerous animal by al means, with the power to kill the entire species, the power to destroy everything once made by our ancestors, a destructive and evil power. And yet, we could turn the tide and rise far beyond the horizon we reached a time ago. The horizon, which is about to be our fall. We rose and we will fall, yes, fall. And fail to be, another species under the sun. May in the dark hour of our fall the birds sing as they do now, for then I will know, that we were nothing and nothing more than we have been.