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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Kinch closed the bunk over the tunnel as the others went outside to be seen among the other prisoners for a while. While he wanted to join them, he knew there was business to take care of first, so he crossed the room and knocked on the door of Hogan's private room. About the only privilege of rank the man gets, and he winds up using it as both quarters and an office. So much for privacy.

"Come," came the almost weary voice from inside. Kinch slowly opened the door and looked in. Hogan was lying on his bottom bunk, hands clasped behind his head, staring thoughtfully at the bunk above him. He didn't bother looking when Kinch came in.

"Colonel, I've got the information about the train job for tonight." Kinch paused, taking note of Hogan's detachment. "But I can come back later with it if you want me to."

Hogan shook his head only slightly. "I'll take it now, Kinch," he said, flicking his eyes toward the Sergeant for the briefest second.

Kinch nodded and handed over the scrap of paper on which he'd written the time and location. "This is the furthest out any of us have gone before, and you guys are gonna have to leave right after lights-out in order to get to the tracks in time, sir. Le Beau and I can wait almost a half hour after that before we leave to meet Townsend."

"Good," Hogan said, quickly perusing the paper and sitting up. "The less time you're out of camp, the better. We'll just have to move fast. I don't think Klink's going to want to loan me his car for the night." He looked again at the paper, then crumpled it and put it in his jacket pocket.

"The way I figure it, we can get Townsend and meet you right about the time you're ready to set off the charges. I'll get the exact location worked out on the map and have it ready in a couple of hours."

"That's fine."

"Did I leave something out, Colonel?"

Hogan looked up at Kinch in surprise. "Leave something out?" he repeated. He shook his head. "No."

"Then what's wrong? It's not like you to be so upset at the stunts London pulls on us, and it's not like this Group Captain's gonna find anything wrong here, no matter how much poking around he does. We do good work and we produce results, and he's gotta see that."

Hogan shrugged and lay back on the bunk. "And I'm sure he makes a lot fewer waves in the way he operates, too," Hogan said flatly. "A nice boy, one of those good RAF chaps who does what he's told when he's told—and within the budget they want him to."

"Well, we can play along while he's here. I'll talk to the fellas, and make sure they're on their best behavior for the duration." Kinch shook his head briefly. "Newkirk included." I hope.

"'The duration' could be a lot longer than you think, Kinch," Hogan said.

"What do you mean by that, sir?"

Hogan paused. Then, staring back at the bottom of the upper bunk, he said quietly, "Maybe he's here to take over the operation."

Kinch stared at Hogan, speechless as the Colonel's words hit home. No chance! If London tries to put Townsend in charge, there isn't gonna be an operation because there's gonna be a mass mutiny first! Getting his mind back on track, the Sergeant shook his head emphatically. "London's sent down some crazy orders since this all started, but that would be insane! We may have had the tunnel and the radio organized when you showed up here, Colonel, but you are the one that got it all going, sir. You're the one that pulled us together and gave us a reason to stay here instead of being the first ones to go home. You're the one that's taken those crazy orders and made them work." Kinch gestured around the room, somehow including the entire camp and the setup below ground in his motion. "You are the operation, Colonel, and that's all there is to it."

Hogan had turned his eyes to Kinch at the man's outburst, his quiet fears soothed by the Sergeant's fervent loyalty. But Kinch's words also led to another possibility that up to then Hogan had never considered. "Then maybe he's here to shut us down."

Kinch just blinked at him.

Hogan sat up again with a heavy sigh. "There's more to it than you know about, Kinch," he admitted, staring at the floor in front of his feet. "I've had a few angry exchanges with London lately about the operation. The unorthodox methods we use. The way we ask for unusual things at unusual times—and with very short notice, no less. The fact that all of this goes over their indecipherable budget is just the icing on the cake." Hogan shook his head. "More than once they've told me they wonder what it would be like if someone without quite so much imagination was in charge." Hogan stood up and went over to his window. He opened it up and looked out to the barbed wire fence beyond. "Maybe this is their way of telling me I've overstayed my welcome."

Kinch didn't respond as he thought it over. Finally, he nodded to himself and spoke. "Don't get me wrong here, Colonel, there's not a one of us that wouldn't like to see you get home. Heck, we'd all like to get home, the sooner the better. But we all agreed to stay here with you and do whatever we could to help defeat the Germans." He gave Hogan a long look. "Maybe London has forgotten that this is a volunteer assignment, but none of us have, sir, and I guarantee you this camp will become a ghost town overnight if you're sent back like this."

Hogan listened to Kinch's quiet testimonial and swallowed hard, continuing to stare intensely out the window. Finally he looked away and toward his bunk. "We all agreed to fight the Germans, and that's a battle that goes on whether I'm here or not." He squinted, trying to keep the burning behind his eyes from moving into them. "I'd expect you to follow orders for the good of the war effort. You don't need me to do what you do best."

"I'm not so sure, sir. We're all ready to quit if London tries to replace you." Already worried about the idea of Hogan being ousted, Kinch was concerned even more about the man himself. It's just not like the Colonel to take anything like this so quietly. I'm really starting to wonder what else London told him that he's not telling me.

"No one can keep you here, not even me," Hogan said, finally turning to the Sergeant. "But if you've been in this for the right reasons, then it'd be important to you to keep the work going no matter whose command you're under." He shrugged. Kinch saw a man trying desperately to keep his fears to himself and put on a brave face for his subordinates. It was distressing, since to Kinch it meant that Hogan had no one he felt comfortable unburdening to. "Kinch, London hasn't given me any real indication of what Townsend's coming here for. I want you to keep this to yourself, okay?"

"Sure, Colonel. No problem." Kinch nodded, then put on a small smile for Hogan's benefit. "I'll go get started on that map, but before I do, is there anything I can get for you? Like about five pounds of aspirin, maybe?"

Hogan laughed weakly. "Only if one of the waitresses from the Hofbrau can give it to me." He shook his head and his small smile disappeared. "Thanks, Kinch. I'll be fine. We have a lot to do; it won't give me much time to think about it. I hope."

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Newkirk leaned against the wall of the Recreation Hut, looking across the compound but not seeing it. All morning, his thoughts had been occupied with plans to get out of camp and into Hammelburg to pick up some needed supplies. Now, all he could think about was the impending arrival of Group Captain Townsend. I don't like it, not one bit. Sending an officer of the same rank as Hogan has got to mean only one thing: London's gonna replace him. That happens, and I'm gone before the gov'nor's got time to pack his bags. The Englishman reached into his pocket, sighing when his hand found only matches. Looks like I'm thinking so much about this whole rotten mess that I've managed to forget I'm out of cigarettes until the next Red Cross packages get here. Lovely. What else is gonna go wrong before it's all over?

Kinch suddenly came around the corner and casually sidled up to him. "We're all set for tonight," he said in a low voice.

"Righto." Newkirk spoke quietly in reply. "Might be our last mission, so let's make it a good one, shall we? A nice little going-away present for the gov'nor, you could say."

Kinch shook his head. "We don't know what this guy's coming for," he said, thinking of Hogan's own fears but not mentioning them. "For all we know, he's coming with a supply drop for us. Stranger things have happened. Don't write the Colonel off so fast."

"Come off it, Kinch. You've seen the shoddy way London's treating us lately, and I know you heard the Colonel on the radio. Throw in the fact that this Group Captain's the same rank, and when you add it all together it comes out to one thing: Hogan's done here, and so's this operation." Though he spoke quietly, Newkirk's voice was cold and hard.

"You don't know that," Kinch insisted, his tone beginning to match Newkirk's. "And I suggest you don't talk that way in front of the Colonel, either."

"Talk what way?" Carter's voice startled them both when he came up from behind them. "Hi, guys," he greeted them.

"Never mind, Carter." Kinch shot Newkirk a warning look. "Newkirk was just saying he doesn't like the idea of this Group Captain coming here to look us over."

"That's right." Newkirk met Kinch's eyes as he continued speaking. "And I'm thinking of all the supplies the plane could be carrying instead of him."

"Y-You don't suppose he's really here to spy on the Colonel, do ya?" Carter asked hesitantly. "I mean the Colonel said London didn't tell him anything!"

"Who knows why he's coming, Carter?" Kinch replied with a shrug. "All we know is we don't have time for him right now. We'll have to fit him in with everything else we're doing around here."

Le Beau came up beside of Kinch, frowning as he looked at the group. "Let me guess, we are all talking about our visitor."

"That's right," Kinch answered. "I was just saying we're going to have to make the most of his visit, that's all." He sighed. "He sure picked a bad time."

"I think he is here to cause trouble for mon Colonel," Le Beau said crossly.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Newkirk looked down at the Frenchman. "We've asked for some pretty crazy stuff from the beginning, and we've usually gotten it, at least until lately. Now this is the first time we kick up a fuss, and all of a sudden London's sending someone down to 'ave a look round the place. I don't know about the rest of you, but it adds up rather neatly to me."

"Newkirk," growled Kinch warningly.

"Well, I don't like it," Carter said. "Colonel Hogan's always done his best for them, a-and for us. And if London's gonna cause any trouble, they're gonna have to go through me first!"

"Oui, me, too," Louis added.

Newkirk gave Carter a look of surprise, then suddenly grinned as he turned back to Kinch. "Well, I think that makes it pretty clear how we feel, and I think it's safe to say that you agree, even if you are tryin' to keep a lid on things."

Kinch grimaced. "All right, all right. But don't say any of this in front of the Colonel, okay? He's got enough to worry about right now. Let's just concentrate on tonight, and let this Townsend guy see how things really are here. And once he sees how much we stand behind Colonel Hogan, maybe he'll go away." He paused. "But don't be too rough on him. Maybe he really is just here to deliver supplies. You know?"

"Maybe," Le Beau said. "But I will bet you a plate of crepes Suzette that Monsieur Group Captain isn't about to bring me the herbs and spices I have asked for."

Carter gave Le Beau a puzzled look. "What's a grape suzi-whatever it was you said?"

Le Beau shook his head and pulled Carter away from the wall of the building. "Crepes, Carter, crepes." He sighed. "I will have to take you to see Schultz. There is a man who can explain any form of food to anyone. Over, and over, and over again."

Newkirk waited until they were out of earshot before turning to Kinch. "I won't say anything in front of the Colonel, but if this Group Captain's coming just to bring supplies, then I'm the ruddy Duke of Buckingham."

"I hope to have the pleasure of your acquaintance, Duke," Kinch replied with a small smile. The attempt at lightness disappeared. "I sure hope I have the pleasure of your acquaintance."