Stalag 13, Tunnels Under the Camp
July 21, 1944, 0345 hours
It was Kinch's turn to man the radio, and he sat at the desk reading a book. He always enjoyed the solitude of the tunnels and had long ago learned how to occupy his mind enough to keep from falling asleep. He was so engrossed in the book that he did not see the woman appear from the emergency tunnel.
"Sergeant Kinchloe," she said.
Kinch jumped and whirled around at the sound of her voice. "Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed. He saw the woman standing there. "Marya! What are you doing here?" he asked. "You nearly scared me to death!"
Marya did not smile. "I did not mean to," she replied. "Is Colonel Hogan in camp?"
Kinch nodded. "He's upstairs sleeping," he replied.
"Please go get him," she said. "And get the rest of your team as well."
"It sounds important," Kinch replied.
"Very," she answered. "And we do not have much time."
Kinch scrambled up the ladder into the barracks. After a few moments, the men came down, one by one. Hogan was the last one down the ladder.
"Hello, Marya," Hogan said smiling. "I must say, this isn't the way you usually enter the camp."
"This is not a normal situation," she said without smiling.
Hogan looked at the Russian. She did not have the playful look in her eyes tonight. "What's the problem?" he asked.
"Have you heard about the attempt to kill Hitler?" she asked.
Hogan nodded. "General Stauffen came through here to pick up the briefcase packed with explosives."
Marya nodded. "I thought as much," she said. "Our contact – your friend Vladimir – told us that Stauffen had requested such a case from London. You would have been the best person to pass it along."
"We also heard that the attempt was unsuccessful," Hogan said.
"That is correct," she replied. "Hitler is still alive. But many other people are now going to pay for the failed attempt."
"Are you in trouble?" LeBeau asked quickly. "You can stay here as long as necessary. I'll be glad to cook for you."
"LeBeau, not now," Hogan ordered.
Marya allowed herself a small smile towards the Frenchman. "At some other time, that would be nice," she replied. "But it is not me who is in trouble." She turned to Hogan. "You have a friend in Berlin – Major Hans Teppel?"
Hogan nodded. "We've met," he replied. "You know that."
Marya nodded. "He is in trouble," she said.
"Was he involved in this plot?" Kinch asked.
"No, he was not," Marya replied. "But this attempt has given the Gestapo the excuse they need to begin rounding people up. Guilt will not matter - old scores will be settled. Anyone who has spoken out against Hitler or against the war will be rounded up … as will anyone who is a close friend of theirs."
"And Teppel is one of those?" Hogan asked.
Marya nodded. "Teppel's name was on a list of people to round up initially," she said. "He is listed as a friend of Admiral Canaris, who is not thought of kindly by the Führer at the moment."
"What list?" Hogan asked.
"Stauffen was followed after he set off the explosion, and he stopped to inform Vladimir of the assassination," Marya explained. "The SS Major who followed them had the list on him."
"How did you get to know what was on the list?" Hogan asked.
"Vladimir was able to take the list from the SS Major," she replied. Hogan looked at her quizzically and she added, "After he shot him."
Hogan's eyes widened at her statement. Vladimir shot an SS Major? "So Teppel is in danger, does he know it?" Hogan asked.
Marya nodded. "He does. And he will need our help to get out of Berlin," she said.
"How can we help 'im?" Newkirk asked. "We're bloody stuck here in this camp!"
"Hogan, I need you and your men to go to Berlin with me to get him out," she said.
Hogan laughed. "Oh sure, I'll just walk right up to Klink and ask him for a three day pass," he said sarcastically.
"How you get out of camp is being arranged, do not worry," she said.
"You seem to have this all worked out," Hogan said.
Marya shook her head. "No, just getting us to Berlin," she said. "Major Freitag will be calling Klink in the morning to request that four prisoners be sent to him in Berlin for interrogation."
"That sounds familiar, Colonel," Carter commented. "Teppel took several of us to Berlin once."
Hogan nodded. "And Klink had to go with us," Hogan said. "Can Freitag make that request?"
"Yes he can," Marya replied. "And it will not be questioned by his superiors. And he assures me that an officer does not have to accompany you – a simple guard will do. You do have a guard that you can depend on to not be any trouble?"
"Schultz!" was the reply from all the men.
"Okay, we're out of camp, then what?" Hogan asked.
"I also have papers from Freitag for a small team of SS men from the Hammelburg area to travel to Berlin to help round up conspirators," she said.
"A small team … you mean us?" Hogan asked. Marya nodded. "And you'll go along too? A female SS officer?"
"That is not unheard of," she said. "But I will be disguised – it will be five men."
Hogan laughed. "You don't exactly strike me as very masculine," he said.
Marya laughed for the first time. "I have been trying to get you to notice that for a long time, Hogan darling," she said.
Hogan thought about the situation for a moment. "Well, it's risky," he said. "But I'll be damned if I'm going to leave Teppel in Berlin."
Marya smiled. "I did not think you would," she said.
- - - - -
Preparations began immediately as the five SS uniforms were altered. Marya instructed Newkirk and LeBeau which insignia and ranks were needed, and the men set to work altering the uniforms they had.
"I still can't see how you are going to pass for anything but a woman," Hogan said.
"The uniform can be a little baggy to hide my, shall I say, assets," Marya said with a smile.
"I've never seen an SS man with long hair," Hogan observed.
Marya laughed again. "You have a barber in camp?" she asked.
"Now I know you're serious!" he shot back.