Once Schultz had closed the door to their cell, Hogan helped Carter onto the lone cot. The sergeant grunted as he carefully tried to keep any weight off his one leg.
"All right, let me take a look at that leg, Carter," Hogan ordered as he knelt down in front of him.
"Gee, sir, I didn't realize you'd been a prisoner that long," Carter said with a wobbly smile.
"Funny," Hogan said flatly. "Come on lift up your pant leg."
"I'm all right," Carter argued, but started rolling up his pants anyway, obedient as always. He hissed partway through the process and faltered, but took a deep breath and kept rolling until it was to his knee. Hogan winced in sympathy as he looked over the damage. Carter's leg was deep purple and swollen. Hogan had no problem believing that Weiss' hand was big enough to envelop and crush the entire thing. Carter was lucky it wasn't broken.
"How does it look?" Carter asked.
"Well, you're no Betty Grable," Hogan said. "Wilson'll have to take a look at that."
"Yeah," Carter sighed. "Look, Colonel, I'm awful sorry about-"
Hogan cut him off. "Don't worry about it, Carter. You did the right thing." Well, maybe not. There were probably a hundred different things Carter could have done, but Hogan couldn't think of one. Carter had made a split second decision and had quite likely saved his fellow prisoners from a severe beating, or worse. Hogan couldn't say he would have done it differently.
Right or not though, that didn't change the fact that Weiss was dead. And since he had been brought in under the orders of the Gestapo and General Burkhalter that meant the Klink was in potential danger. Hogan groaned and massaged his forehead. If it was not one thing, it was another.
"We'll figure it out," Hogan said, more to himself than Carter.
"Sure we will. You'll think of something, sir; you always do."
Hogan resisted the urge to heave a sigh. Ah, yes, the burden of command. He always marvelled at how clever his men thought he was. The operation had only been going for a few months, and they had made such progress, done so many seemingly impossible things, that he supposed he couldn't blame them. But it was a lot to live up to. There would come a day, he was sure, when he just wouldn't be clever enough.
But today was not that day, Hogan decided firmly. He would figure something out. Not only would they save Klink, but they would also find whatever Frankenstein laboratory Weiss had hatched in, and burn it to the ground. After, of course, getting whatever information they could on the correlating Nazi experiment and sending it off to London.
Speaking of London, Hogan had yet to inform them of the situation. He had been so paranoid that Weiss had the power to hear their underground activities that they had barely been down in the tunnels since he arrived.
"Do you remember which barracks Kinch was in?" Hogan asked.
Carter thought for a moment. "Nineteen, I think," he replied.
"Sounds right," Hogan concurred. "Look, stay here. Prop your leg up. I'll send Wilson to see you. Meanwhile, I gotta make a call."
"Calling London?" Carter asked. Hogan nodded. "To tell them what, exactly?" It wasn't a challenge, just curiosity.
The truth was Hogan didn't really know what was going on. He strongly suspected that Weiss was the result of some Nazi experiment- no one could be that big naturally. But he didn't know how big the project was, where it was taking place, who, exactly, was behind it, and how close to completion it was. If Weiss really had had a heart attack it meant that, while the Nazis had managed to create a human juggernaut, his body hadn't been able to fully adjust to the results. He couldn't see any other explanation for his sudden death. All in all, Hogan didn't have a whole lot of information to relay to London, and what he did have sounded ludicrous.
Still, London was already steamed with him over the lack of intel on the Berlin Betty brainwashing experiment he had foiled not that long ago, so Hogan decided to err on the side of caution and send what information he could as this latest mission evolved.
"To tell them everything I know," Hogan finally said. "What did you call that stuff the Nazis were experimenting with?"
"Steroids, sir. Testosterone, specifically. But I can't be sure," he quickly added.
"Right. Well, that's start. London might already know more about it than we do; maybe they can shed some light on it for us. Okay, hang tight."
Carter nodded and started shifting to get himself comfortable. Hogan moved over to the entrance to the tunnel and pushed in the heavy stone block that hid it. Then he wiggled through the narrow passage to the main tunnels.
A sign on the dirt wall directed him towards Barracks seventeen through twenty so he headed that way. Quickly he climbed the ladder to Barracks 19, and tapped lightly on the trap door. A moment later, it opened and he poked his head up.
"Colonel!" It was Kinch, sounding relieved. The sergeant crouched near the entrance. "You're all right! We weren't sure what Klink was going to do after he hauled you into his office."
"Yeah, we're all right. Honestly, I think Klink was actually kind of glad to have Weiss out of his metaphorical hair."
"What about the Gestapo?" Kinch asked seriously. "I can't imagine they'll be too happy about it."
Hogan grimaced. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Until then, we need to get on the horn with London. Come on." Hogan beckoned Kinch to follow him. They quickly climbed down the ladder and hurried to the radio. While Kinch warmed it up, Hogan quickly climbed up the nearby ladder and knocked on the entrance to Barracks 2. The trap door opened with a clatter and Hogan climbed up. "Olsen," he called when he reached the top.
Olsen poked his head out from behind Carter's old bunk, apparently having been keeping watch at the door. "Colonel?"
"Go into my office and sit on the coffeepot. I want to know who Klink contacts and what he says about Weiss," Hogan ordered. "Garlotti." The young private straightened up. "Find out where Wilson is and send him over to the cooler to check up on Carter."
"Yes sir." Garlotti threw him a salute and quickly slipped out the barracks door.
Satisfied, Hogan climbed back down the ladder and hit the lever that would close the trap above him. "Do you have London yet, Kinch?"
"Just a minute, Colonel," Kinch said, shaking his microphone a little to show he was working on it. "Papa Bear to Goldilocks, come in Golidlocks."
There was a rush of static in response. Kinch repeated his call again and then once more before they received a reply. "This is Goldilocks, Papa Bear. Go ahead," a female voice said.
Kinch slipped off his head set and handed it to Hogan, who took it and the microphone. "Goldilocks, Big Bad Wolf potentially has a new, top secret project."
"What sort of project, Papa Bear?" Goldilocks asked.
"We can't be too sure yet. We don't have all the information, but it looks like they're trying to create some sort of... superman."
"A superman?" Goldilocks repeated.
Hogan nodded, though he knew Goldilocks obviously couldn't see the gesture. "That's right. We think they're experimenting with a chemical- a steroid of some sort- in order to turn average soldiers into super soldiers- giants with super-strength and hearing and a bad temper." He had been right, the whole thing really did sound ludicrous.
"Hold on a moment, Papa Bear."
There were a few moments of silence. Kinch and Hogan shared a look, wondering what exactly Goldilocks was going to say when she returned. Hogan wouldn't be surprised if she thought he had completely flipped and was recommending a replacement be sent immediately.
"Goldilocks to Papa Bear, are you still there, Papa Bear?" It was a man this time.
"I'm here, Goldilocks."
"Good. Now, listen, we think we might know what you're talking about here. A few months ago, we received a communiqué from one of our operatives in Berlin about a Project Stone Breaker, describing exactly what you've told us. Unfortunately our contact disappeared before he could collect any more information."
Hogan winced. Disappeared almost definitely meant he had been captured and/or killed.
"We sent another operative to look into it, but he disappeared as well. Whatever the Nazis are working on, it's serious and it needs to be stopped before it can be completed," Goldilocks said seriously. "Do you think you can handle that, Papa Bear?"
"We'll do our best, Goldilocks," Hogan replied.
"I certainly hope that will be good enough. If the scanty intel we have is correct and the Nazis succeed, they could amass an army that no one will be able to stop. The fate of the world could very well rest on the success of this mission."
"I understand, Goldilocks. We'll stop it."
"Good. Oh, and before you burn the project to the ground, be a good chap and get your hands on some research this time. We expect pictures at the very least, but papers and a scientist would be better. Something useful."
"Will do," Hogan ground out, feeling his hackles go up. Stopping Project Stone Breaker would be a feat in and of itself, but if they didn't to get the research, London would count the whole thing as a failure.
"Jolly good. Goldilocks over and out."
With a grunt, Hogan handed the equipment back to Kinch. "They're not asking much," Kinch said with a sardonic grin. "You think we can do it?"
"We aren't stationed here because of our good looks," Hogan replied. "We'll do it, somehow. First thing though is we've got to make sure Klink doesn't get himself sent to the Russian Front over all of this."
"How?" Kinch asked.
"Well-"
Hogan was cut off by the sound of the trap door above them opening. A moment later, Olsen came into view as he shuffled down the ladder. He hopped off with two rungs to go, straightened, and gave Hogan a quick salute. "Good timing, Olsen," Hogan said. "What have you got?"
"Major Hochstetter is on his way over, Colonel," Olsen said quickly. "Klink called him and told him that Weiss had a heart attack after leading the guards in rigorous calisthenics."
Hogan arched an eyebrow at that. Klink had outright lied to the Gestapo to save him and Carter? No. Hogan shook his head. More likely Klink had lied to save his own skin. What would the Gestpo think, after all, if Klink's camp was so undisciplined that the prisoners could start a fight with a guard that ended with that guard's death? Still, Hogan had to hand it to Klink with coming up with that story on his own.
"All right, get back up top. Kinch, you too. Did Garlotti get Wilson?"
Olsen shook his head. "I don't know. He hasn't come back to the barracks yet."
"Well find him and quick. I want everyone in their own barracks until Major Hochstetter has left. Who knows what he'll do when he shows up."
"Right. Do you want to put the camp on alert?"
Hogan checked his watch, trying to estimate how much time they had until Hochstetter arrived. "Good idea. Spread the word and have everyone standing by and ready for anything. For all we know, Hochstetter could be coming with a squad to shoot every one of us. Get going, both of you. I gotta get back to the cooler- Klink will probably call for me any minute now."
The two sergeants nodded before heading off. Hogan ran with Kinch part way down the tunnel before they split to go in their own directions. Hogan raced to the cooler. Once inside, he quickly closed the entrance and straightened himself out.
"Everything okay in here, Carter?" Hogan asked.
"So far, so good," Carter replied. "What did London have to say?"
"The usual. Stop the bad guys, get the information. You know the drill. Has Schultz come by?"
"No. Are you expecting him?" Carter asked, glancing at the door.
"Major Hochstetter is on his way to camp. No doubt either he or Klink will want to talk to me," Hogan replied.
"The life of a star," Carter said with a lopsided smile.
"I think that's supposed to come with more dames," Hogan lamented before managing a smile of his own.
It didn't take long for them to hear Schultz down the hall. "Colonel Hogan?" the guard called tentatively from outside the cell.
"Present, Schultz," Hogan replied. He heard Schultz sigh in relief and the key slide into the lock and turn.
"Colonel Hogan, you are here," Schultz said when he opened the door.
"Where else would I be, Schultz?" Hogan asked.
At the very least, Schultz was smart enough not to answer that. "Colonel Hogan, Kommandant Klink wants to see you in his office. Major Hochstetter from the Gestapo is on his way to camp."
"So what does Klink need me for?" Hogan asked nonchalantly.
"Puh-leeze, Colonel Hogan. The Kommandant would feel so much better if you were there to support his story."
"You mean that Corporal Weiss had a heart attack while leading the guards in calisthenics? That story?" Hogan asked.
Schultz's eyes widened. "How did you... never mind, I know nothing! Yes, that story. Will you come, please?"
"Lead on Schultz," Hogan said, gesturing to the door with his cap. Schultz nodded and started to leave when he stopped and poked his head back in and looked to Carter.
"You will be a good boy and stay here, won't you?" Schultz asked.
"C'mon, Schultz. It's Carter," Hogan answered before Carter could. "Besides, where would he go anyway?"
Schultz frowned a little and bobbed his head from side to side. "Good point," he said before starting off down the hall.
Hogan lingered for a moment. "But, really, stay put. I'll get Wilson to you after Major Hochstetter leaves," he ordered. Carter fired off a salute, and with that, Hogan closed the cell door and followed after Schultz.