Leipzig, Gestapo Headquarters, Office of Major Josef Freitag
July 21, 1944, 0810 hours

Everything was ready for Freitag to take his team to Berlin. As expected, he had been ordered by General Schlesinger to oversee the arrest of the conspirators that were being rounded up – however he saw fit. He could have stayed in Leipzig and directed the Berlin garrison over the phone. But since Michael was in Berlin and Marya would be bringing Colonel Hogan and his team to the capital, he decided it was best for him to actually be in Berlin in case he was needed.

That would be tricky – he had to watch the kind of help he provided. Anything obvious could leave him dangling at the end of a rope. But Marya and Michael were two of the biggest agents in their network, and he knew that their safety was more important than his position as General Schlesinger's right hand man.

He looked at his watch. By now, Marya would have reached Stalag 13 and briefed Colonel Hogan on her plan. Now the only thing left was to call the Kommandant of the camp and request Colonel Hogan and three of his men for interrogation. He didn't expect any problems with that – he had met Klink before, and the Colonel did not strike him as the kind of man who would – or could – stand up to the Gestapo.

He picked up the phone. "Get me Luft Stalag 13. I wish to speak to the Kommandant." He waited while the call was put through.

"Hallo, this is Colonel Klink," Klink said wearily. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes, I do Colonel Klink," Freitag replied. "Do you know who you are speaking to?" The phone was silent for a moment allowing Freitag to continue, "This is Major Freitag of the Leipzig Gestapo. We have met before."

"Ah, Major Freitag," Klink replied more alertly. "What I meant to say was how are you this fine morning?"

"Yes, I thought so," Freitag replied dryly. "Colonel, I am calling to request several of your prisoners for interrogation."

"My prisoners?" Klink asked. "Impossible!"

"Impossible, Colonel?" Freitag countered.

"Well, maybe not impossible," Klink groveled. "I meant to say unusual. Why do you want to talk to my prisoners?"

"Believe me Colonel, if it was up to me, I would not talk to any prisoners," Freitag replied. "I would simply shoot them and be done with it."

Klink laughed nervously. "Ah yes, I can see your point," he said.

"Did I have a point, Colonel Klink?" Freitag said.

"No sir, you did not have a point," Klink agreed. "I mean, you did not say anything important." Klink paused, realizing what he was saying. "I mean how many prisoners did you wish to talk to?" he groveled.

"I wish to speak to your senior POW officer and three of his men," Freitag said. "They are to be delivered to Berlin by tomorrow."

"Oh sir, I cannot possibly get away from camp at the moment," Klink said.

"I do not wish to talk to you," Freitag said.

"Why not?" Klink sounded surprised. "I mean, I thought an officer should accompany the men?"

"That is not necessary," Freitag said. "Send along your head Sergeant."

"But sir," Klink started.

"But what, Klink?" Freitag prodded.

"This is highly irregular," Klink insisted.

"Not to me," Freitag replied. "I do this all the time. Now, I wish to have your senior POW officer and three of his men put in a truck along with your head Sergeant and sent to Berlin. They are to report to me at Gestapo Headquarters by tomorrow, or I will personally send a truck to your camp … to bring you to Gestapo Headquarters. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Major Freitag," Klink replied meekly. "Perfectly clear. The men will be in Berlin tomorrow."

"Danke, Colonel Klink," Freitag replied. "Heil Hitler." He hung up before Klink could reply.

- - - - -

"Danke, Colonel Klink," Freitag replied. "Heil Hitler."

The line went dead before Klink could reply. He looked at the handset with a look of disgust before putting it back in the cradle. "Colonel Hogan and three of his prisoners along with Sergeant Schultz?" he puzzled. "This is most irregular."

He thought more about the situation. "Why would the Gestapo be interested in my prisoners?" he muttered. He shook his head. "This cannot be right. I better check with General Burkhalter."

He picked up the phone again. "Get me General Burkhalter," he barked. In a moment, the General came onto the line.

"Yes, what is it?" Burkhalter asked.

"Good morning, General Burkhalter. This is Colonel Klink," Klink said cheerfully.

"It was a good morning, Klink," Burkhalter replied. "But talking to you is like drinking curdled milk."

"Ha, ha, yes sir, curdled milk," Klink said.

"What do you want, Klink?" Burkhalter asked.

"Sir, I need some guidance from you," Klink began.

"Klink, you need more than guidance," Burkhalter growled. "You need wisdom and humility – not to mention a new personality."

"Ah, yes sir," Klink said. "So kind of you to point that out."

"Go on, Klink," Burkhalter said testily.

"Yes sir, I just received a very strange phone call from a Major Freitag of the Gestapo," Klink explained.

"Major Freitag?" Burkhalter asked. "That is General Schlesinger's aide if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes sir, I believe it is," Klink agreed. "He has requested that I send my senior POW officer and three of the other prisoners along with Sergeant Schultz to Berlin for interrogation by the Gestapo. Now I thought that this was a rather strange request, so I thought I would clear it with you first."

"Klink, the request came from the Gestapo," Burkhalter pointed out.

"Yes sir, it did," Klink replied.

"And you have to ask for my guidance before cooperating with a Gestapo request?" Burkhalter asked.

"But sir, sending four prisoners alone with Schultz to Berlin?" Klink asked.

"The way I see it, Klink," Burkhalter said. "You can send four prisoners and Schultz to Berlin, or you can go to Berlin yourself and question the order in person."

"I would not want to do that," Klink said.

"I did not think you would," Burkhalter replied. "Is that all?"

"Yes sir, that is all," Klink replied.

"Good. Heil Hitler," Burkhalter said. The line went dead before Klink could reply.

- - - - -

"Good. Heil Hitler," Burkhalter said. He hung up the phone before Klink could reply.

Burkhalter stared at the phone for a moment. "That is a strange request," he said to himself. "Sending Colonel Hogan and three of his men to Berlin … while all of this other mess is going on? It sounds very suspicious."

Could this be another of Colonel Hogan's plans? What could it be? Why would he actually want to go to Berlin now? Burkhalter shook his head. This plan seemed even too outlandish for Colonel Hogan. It was too easy to check up on.

Burkhalter smiled. "And I think I should do some checking just to satisfy my own curiosity," he said.

He picked up the phone. "Get me General Schlesinger, Gestapo," he said. "I believe he is in Leipzig at the moment." Burkhalter waited while the connection was put through.

"Hallo, this is General Schlesinger," Schlesinger said.

"Klaus, this is Albert Burkhalter," Burkhalter said.

"Albert, what can I do for you?" Schlesinger replied. "Are you having trouble with your local Gestapo man again?"

"Nein, nothing like that," Burkhalter said. "I have a question for you. Is it Gestapo policy to randomly interrogate POWs from the various camps?"

"Not in general," Schlesinger replied. "Only my office can do it. Why do you ask?"

"One of my camp Kommandants has received a request from your aide, Major Freitag, to send four prisoners to Berlin for interrogation," Burkhalter explained.

"Freitag is the one who would be making the request," Schlesinger replied. "He has my blanket authority to perform the random interrogations."

"He is based in Leipzig with you?" Burkhalter asked.

"Normally," Schlesinger answered. "But he will be in Berlin for a little while. As you might have heard, we will be busy for the next few days."

"I heard the news," Burkhalter said. "That is why I wanted to call and check. Sorry to bother you."

"Anytime, Albert," Schlesinger replied. "When are you due to report to the Führer next?"

"The end of the month," Burkhalter replied.

"I should be there around that time as well," Schlesinger said. "I will see you then. Auf Wiedersehn, Albert."

"Auf Wiedersehn, Klaus," Burkhalter replied, hanging up the phone.

Burkhalter shook his head. "So it was a legitimate request," he muttered. At least it all seems to be … unless Hogan has more connections than I realized!