Chapter 4:

Bäumle circled around the chair Yamamura sat in, guarded by the two Gestapo officers that had brought him in. The new kommandant eyed him like a hawk, trying to study him from the inside out. His physical features, the way his eyes looked, he wanted to make sure that this American officer knew his exact place in enemy territory and would not try anything with him. If he seemed like trouble even in the slightest bit, Bäumle would have him thrown into the cooler and make arrangements for Yamamura to be transferred to another camp. Unfortunately for him, he was not sensing any fear from his new prisoner like he wanted there to be. Either Yamamura was very good at covering up his anxiety, or he felt no sense of anxiety at all.

Yamamura stared right back at Bäumle, his dark eyes flashing with determination and courage. He refused to give the German any sense of pride in his capture. The two Gestapo officers that guarded him and the burly Luftwaffe general that stood underneath a picture of Hitler may have been adequately scary, but he clenched his jaw shut and kept his mind as empty as possible. The less satisfaction he gave this yutz of a kommandant, the better of a chance he had at protecting his men and his current assignment with London. So far Bäumle had done nothing but talk big, appearing to just want the general's approval and possibly a chance at a promotion.

"Major Daisaku Yamamura," Bäumle finally said, still circling his opponent with his hands clasped behind his back. "You have made quite a name for yourself in Berlin, you know that?"

Yamamura gave no response. He merely gawked at the colonel with disgust.

"Known as the Rising Warrior among the German High Command, successfully accomplished 24 espionage assignments for the 605th Fighter Squadron, and currently assumed to be taking notes on one of our new rocket facilities. Am I correct so far?"

Again, no response came from Yamamura other than a cold stare.

Bäumle let out a low growl as he swung his fist down in frustration. He was getting absolutely nowhere with this man. If he was lucky, he got an occasional eyebrow raise or frown. How was he supposed to break this man, let alone get a promotion from Burkhalter, if all his methods ended with the same result. He narrowed his eyes at Yamamura and decided to take a different approach. A more intimidating approach.

"Fine," he hissed. "If you wanna play hardball, then I can play it as well, my friend. If you keep refusing to answer any of my questions, perhaps my lovely Gestapo colleagues here can get you to squeal. A little torture chamber back at Headquarters maybe?"

"Actually, Herr Kommandant," Heinrich said, hesitantly butting in as he feverishly took notes. "I think it might be against the Geneva Convention to torture a POW for information they're no…"

"Heinrich," Bäumle began coldly. "Shut up, or I will stuff the Geneva Convention down your mouth."

Heinrich slid down a bit in Klink's chair, burying his neck into his shoulders, and went back to silently taking record of everything happening.

The new kommandant gave his assistant one last warning glance before returning his gaze to Yamamura, whose blazing eyes continued to flicker furiously and with tenacity.

"Byōki no nezumi ni watashi no meirei to ninmu ni tsuite nani demo iu yori wa, 100-kai uta reta hō ga īdesu! Yamamura Daisaku. Mejā. Shiriaru bangō C674217!"

"You will speak English when discussing important matters with me, do you understand?" Bäumle remarked fiercely, wagging his finger at the major. He opened his mouth to continue, when a knock on the door interrupted his train of thought. "WHAT?!"

The door to Klink's office opened, and Hogan and Kalina stepped inside without permission. "Sorry to disturb you, Kommandant; I just saw one of my men brought into camp and wanted to see if he wished to be informed of his rights," Hogan said, a grin of mischief playing at the corners of his mouth.

"NO! You may NOT! Now get out of this office, or I'll have you sent to Gestapo Headquarters and tortured as well!" Bäumle barked, his face turning a bright shade of red.

"Herr Kommandant," Kalina said softly, making sure she did not sound rude or disrespectful. "According to the Geneva Convention, it's mandatory that the Senior POW Officer be present with any interrogation regarding one of his men. I don't mean to sound like I'm overstepping my boundaries or anything, Herr Kommandant, but I would hate to see you get in trouble with the Red Cross and the Allied High Command. You don't want to be reprimanded for a stupid violation, do you?"

The rising temper in Bäumle seemed to slowly fade away as he dropped his finger and turned to Burkhalter. He already knew who the general was siding with on this one, and he could not fight it either. The colonel let out a sigh of surrender. "Fine," he finally said, his eyes again turning hard as stone. "But he better be quiet."

Hogan and Kalina turned their gazes to Yamamura, who slowly turned his head to face them, and his facial expression softened slightly.

"Who are you?" The major asked inquisitively.

Hogan gave his comrade a firm salute. "Colonel Hogan, Senior POW Officer of Stalag 13. Name, rank, and serial number; that's all you need to give him."

Yamamura pointed at Kalina. "And her. Who is she?" He asked.

"Kalina Klink, daughter of Kommandant Wilhelm Klink," Kalina said respectfully.

It was then Yamamura furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. "Kommandant Klink," he repeated. "This man is named Bäumle; who is Kommandant Klink?"

Kalina eyed the temporary kommandant out of the corner of her eye before focusing back on Yamamura. "Papa wa nyūin-chū de, dai shujutsu kara kaifuku shite imasu. Kommandant Bäumle wa koko ni ichijitekini imasu. Kare o mushi shite kudasai. Kare wa Berurin kara no ōmonodesu." She explained.

Yamamura looked at her completely wide-eyed. "Nihongo ga hanasemasu ka?"

"Mmmm, tariru."

The major's fiery glare returned, and he gave a soft 'humph' before he responded. "Kono hito wa hito shusabetsu shugi-sha no ushi ni hoka naranaito watashi ga itte yoroshīdesu ka?"

Kalina giggled softly and shook her head. "Īe, soreha watashiniha mondai arimasen."

While the two conversed in fluent Japanese, Bäumle stood there with his jaw hanging ajar, his eyes bugging out of his head. He turned to Burkhalter for an explanation, who seemed just as baffled as the colonel was. Bäumle finally made his gaze to Hogan and pointed at Kalina. "She can speak Japanese?" He asked.

"Well, Colonel Klink wanted Kalina diverse in many cultures growing up, so she took a few Japanese language classes when she was little. Part of her aristocratic upbringing, you know." Hogan explained, internally grinning at Bäumle's growing distress.

Bäumle turned his eyes back to Klink's daughter, still taken aback by the shocker. "Amazing," he gasped. "Fraulein Kalina, what did he just say to you?"

"He asked if I could speak fluent Japanese, Herr Kommandant. I told him I knew enough," Kalina said, with a short nod.

"That means you could probably get him to tell you what he was doing flying around Hammelburg last night, my dear," Burkhalter said, his arms behind his back.

"Mm mm," Kalina answered, shaking her head. "He said he would rather be shot than give that information out."

"I can have that arranged very quickly."

An idea suddenly came to Hogan, and his eyes twinkled with glee. A perfect way to get rid of Bäumle and get Burkhalter to temporarily take over for Klink. And with Bäumle out of the way, he could get Yamamura back to London before the Krauts got him to talk about his assignment. He just wondered why he had not thought of it sooner. He cleared his throat and looked back at the German colonel. "Uh, Kommandant," he began. "As much as I hate to interrupt this little discussion and all, Sergeant Schultz, Corporal Newkirk, and I promised Kalina that we would take her to the hospital to visit with Kommandant Klink, and we should probably get going before visiting hours are over."

Bäumle went completely blank for a long moment before he bursted out laughing. It came to an abrupt end, and a cold glare quickly replaced the glee in his dark irises. "Forget it," he snapped, then crossed his arms. "I take two prisoners to the hospital, and you try to make an escape the minute Sergeant Schultz looks the other direction. No, if Kalina wants to visit with her father that bad, she can call his room and talk to him over the telephone."

Sensing that Hogan was onto something, not to mention the strong urge to see her father and make sure he was doing alright, Kalina played along and decided to stroke Bäumle's ego in order to convince him. "Then...why don't you come with us, Herr Kommandant?"

"Come with you," Bäumle spat. "And why would I do such a thing like that?"

"Oh, Herr Kommandant, Colonel Hogan and Corporal Newkirk wouldn't dream of trying to make an escape if you were there with Sergeant Schultz and I. I mean, why would prisoners of war dare to do such a stupid thing like that? Besides, you're so firm and strict, and you don't put up with any kind of monkey business. Certainly if Colonel Hogan and Corporal Newkirk are wise, they won't try anything under your watch."

Something seemed to flick like a lightswitch inside Bäumle, for the colonel's demeanor lightened a bit as he thought on that thought. The child did make an excellent point. Why would Hogan and Newkirk do such a stupid thing like trying to escape with two armed Germans at his side at all times? Well...three armed Germans, but Heinrich could not fire a gun even if one was pointed at his head. He nodded. "Very well then," Bäumle said. "I shall assign Major Yamamura to barracks three, then I will grab my jacket, and we will be on our way."

Kalina's little blue eyes twinkled like sunlight in a pool, her face lighting up like a Christmas tree. She looked up at Hogan with excitement, who looked back down at her with a smile, then rubbed the back of her head.

Bäumle snapped his finger and turned to look back at his assistant. "Heinrich," he sat, making the younger man shoot to his feet and give Bäumle a proper salute. "Bring me the staff car."

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant," Heinrich answered, with another salute. He hurried to the door, tripping on his feet once, then paused as he reached for the doorknob and made his gaze back to Bäumle. "Where's the staff car?"

"In the motor pool, dummkopf!"

"Right." Heinrich opened the door and was about to exit the office, when he again paused and looked back at his commanding officer. "Where's the motor pool?"

Bäumle began muttering inaudible German curses under his breath as he grabbed his cap and stormed out of the office. "Why must I have to do everything myself?" He paused in the threshold as a thought came to him and turned to Klink's daughter. "Fraulein Kalina," he said.

Kalina looked up at the colonel innocently. "Jawohl, Herr Kommandant," she replied.

Bäumle pointed at Yamamura, who was getting to his feet and ready to go to his new barracks. "He said something to you earlier, something that made you laugh. What was it?"

Kalina shifted uncomfortably in her spot as she bit her lip. She turned her eyes down to her feet for a moment before looking back up at her father's temporary. "Um…" she began hesitantly. "He uh...he called you a rabid cow."

Burkhalter's eyes widened with rising anger as Hogan hung his head and coughed to cover up the laugh trying to escape him. Bäumle simply stared back at the girl both in shock and in attempts to keep himself from blowing up at her, but the sound of Heinrich snickering from behind him proved too much. He snapped his gaze back to his assistant and let his temper get the best of him. "WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?!"

Heinrich promptly shut his mouth and shook his head with a fearful expression to his face.

Bäumle let out a groan of misery and ran a hand down his face. "This is going to be a long eight weeks."

A/N: Sorry for no translations on the Japanese. I tried to translate it through Google, and it kept coming up with sentences that made no sense. If anyone on here knows fluent Japanese (I only know elementary level), please leave the translations in the comments below. Otherwise I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Next one to come soon! :)