For I know I shall find
My own peace of mind
For I have been promised a land of my own
Hogan spent a restless night,contemplating Norbert's motives, adjusting to his new physical appearance, and reading up on his new persona.
Morning found Hogan once again in the company of the SS Oberst.
"Here, put this on," Norbert handed Hogan a Luftwaffe Oberst uniform with a chest full of medals. "You've been discharged and we need to get moving. We have to be there by 11:00 and it will take 3 hours at least with the checkpoints. I'll brief you and answer your questions while we're on the road."
"Where are we going this time?" Hogan paused before dressing to look at Norbert.
"Not here – once we're underway, I promise. The walls tend to grow ears in these types of facilities."
"What's to keep me from escaping once we're clear of the hospital?" Hogan asked as he began putting on the clothes.
"Your curiosity, sense of duty and the realization that you'll never get your true identity back without me. If you show up at Stalag 13 or even back in London as you are, no one is going to believe you're Robert Hogan. It won't take them long to match your identity with a highly decorated German war hero. They'll either shoot you or put you in an Allied POW camp for the duration of the war. They certainly won't trust you."
Realizing the truth of Norbert's statement, Hogan quickly finished donning his new uniform and stopped to adjust his tie in the mirror. Can't get used to that face, he thought, although he'd spent most of the previous evening gazing at it. He'd worn disguises for several of the team's operations but never of this magnitude. The sudden thought that it might be permanent sent a quick shiver down his spine.
Once done, Norbert and Hogan headed out of the hospital to the waiting car. The driver cleared the facility security check and threaded his way through the local traffic. Norbert remained silent throughout the trip. Hogan waited, watching the streets go by as townspeople began opening shops to start the day. Clearing the city, the car headed east and Norbert relaxed enough to start to speak.
"We're headed to a top secret air field southeast of Coburg. It's been able to remain in existence due to reluctance by the British to bomb the home of Prince Albert who was married to Queen Victoria. Germany's brightest aeronautics engineers have been working on developing a new fighter plane and the prototype squadron is ready for its shake-down flights. The Luftwaffe is gathering its best pilots for the first crews. The tests are scheduled to begin the day after tomorrow. Von Richter is to be the squadron commander."
"There's got to be something really special about these planes for you to go to all this trouble of getting me here. You do realize that I was a bomber pilot, not a fighter pilot, when I was shot down?" replied Hogan, his curiosity piqued, yet starting to wonder how he was going to pull this off.
"True but your training over your Air Corps career has been quite extensive. I am sure that you'll be able to 'get the hang of it' as you say. After all, you have logged air time in Spitfires, Mustangs and Hurricanes, just not combat time.
"As for the planes, the prototypes are 4 times faster than any plane in existence right now and are incredibly agile in the air. They are also capable of a greater range of distance. The Fuehrer is expecting your report in 2 weeks and based on that, he'll decide if the program is a go or not. Of course, the Allies wish it to be 'or not'. You can imagine how devastating these new planes will be. In initial testing, the regular Luftwaffe could hardly catch up with them, let alone bring one down. Put a couple of full squadrons up there and it could turn the tide of the war – and not in the Allies favor."
"Wait a minute – I have to make a report to Old Scramble Brains himself?"
"Rest assured it's only a paper report. Oh, one more thing. London would like a copy of the schematics, test reports, etc. – anything they could use to get some planes of this caliber in the air themselves."
"Right – I'm sure they'll just hand those over to me in a snap! Yeah, I'll figure out how to get those later." Hogan waved off the impossibility of the request. His head was swimming with details and he could feel a headache coming on.
"You should be happy – you get to fly again," commented Norbert as he shifted to relax more in the seat. "And not in some patched-up old bomber either. I think I would envy you, if I was a pilot."
"Yeah, it'll be sweet to be airborne again. Didn't think I'd get a chance to fly again before the war ended. Although it does bother me a little that it's for the other side."
"Only partially. You are gathering incredibly important information for the Allies that could stop the Germans from winning the war. You're undercover, not turned traitor." Norbert paused and looked at Hogan, "So you're accepting the mission?"
Hogan snorted. "Like I had a choice after all this?" He waved a hand in front of his face. "You know," he continued, "I would have accepted if you had of brought this information to me ahead of time. You didn't need to go to such lengths to force me into it."
"It had to be believable – your reactions, the justified removal from Stalag 13 – this is so hush-hush that only half a dozen people in London even know about it."
"At least I could have prepared my men."
"The less they know the better."
"Humph. That's your opinion." Switching topics, Hogan asked "So what happened to the original Von Richter?"
"I just received word yesterday that we've got him safely under wraps and on his way to England. You won't have to worry about running into him."
"Just yesterday? That's cutting it a little close don't ya think?"
"Von Richter was on leave for two weeks prior to reporting to this new assignment. We captured him as he was beginning his trip to Coburg so that your arrival times would appear correct."
"What about acquaintances of his? Any chance of running into anyone on base that he knows?"
"No. We did a thorough background check and transferred out anyone that might have had a chance to know the Oberst."
"One thing I still don't understand. During the interrogation, what was with the questions about my parents and childhood?"
"Even though you didn't respond out loud, asking the questions caused you to think about the answers. I realize that home and your loved ones are never far from your thoughts but I wanted you to actively remember before we took your identity away from you." Norbert paused and grinned a little, "Besides, I was running out of questions…"
Norbert lapsed into silence for a few minutes as the car entered the outskirts of Bamberg. The car weaved its way through the city streets, finally stopping in front of a massive3 storey building that served as SS Headquarters.
"This is where I take my leave," Norbert said as he started to get out of the vehicle. "The driver will carry on taking you to the air field. Showing up with an SS escort might seem more than a little suspicious."
"How will I contact you?"
"This has a radio contact on it, plus identification code. I trust you will see to its proper disposal?" At Hogan's nod, Norbert stepped out of the car, turned and, just before closing the door, poked his head back in to add "Good luck."