AN: Sorry its been so long since the last update, uncooperative chapter and homework load, but this final chapter is longer to make up for it. Thank you everyone who has stuck with this story and continued to read it and commented! And if you like, feel free to tell me what you thought (or not, your choice).
PS: I recently realized that in the third chapter I said that Hogan's operation is codename "Goldilocks", it's actually "Papa Bear" (Goldilocks is the London contact). I don't feel like going back to fix it, sorry, so I'm addressing this typo here.
The next day a German staff car moved along a road toward Stalag 13. "Colonel, staff car approaching." LeBeau reported from the door.
"Time to make myself present for Hochstetter's arrival." Hogan made his way toward the exit. "He loves to see a friendly face." He added from the door with a sly smirk.
Once he had gone, Newkirk spoke shaking his head. "Someday, I swear, Hochstetter's gonna shoot him."
Hogan made his way to stand in front of the commandant's building to await Kink's arrival to greet the major. Klink soon obliged, rushing out and shrugging on his coat as the car came through the gates. Exiting the vehicle, Hochstetter was followed by two people in white coats, a man and a woman.
"Major Hochstetter, Stalag 13 welcomes you and the honored doctors." Klink welcomed in his bowing way.
"Where is this doctor of yours, Klink?" The major asked, trying to ignore the presence of the American colonel.
"He'll be in the infirmary. Done wonders with the place, you'll hardly recognize it." Hogan informed.
"Klink, what is this man doing here?!" The major demanded, in angered annoyance, pointing at the man in question.
"That's no way to treat the welcoming committee, Major." Hogan said in an offended, pouting tone.
Hochstetter's face was growing red with furious indignation. "Klink!"
"Hogan, that's enough."
"Well, how you like that? No gratitude, none at all." Hogan chided, shaking his head, as he returned to barracks 2.
"Now shall we go see the doctor?" Klink suggested, rubbing his hands together.
"We, Klink? You can back to your office now, you will not be needed." The Gestapo major dismissed the bumbling colonel.
"Yes, of course not." The colonel relented meekly and wandered off to sulk in his office.
"What a strange man." The female doctor commented as the trio made their way to the infirmary.
"Are all these places run by men like him?" The other asked.
"To the great relief of the Third Reich, no."
"Then why do you not replace him?"
"Because of his record, which has yet to be disproved. But it will be, I will catch Hogan one day!" Hochstetter fumed, stating the last sentence with pure frustrated assurance.
"This appears to be the place." She said coming to a halt in front of a placarded door. "'Doc Morgan's Infirmary for the wounded and war weary', seems that everything around here is a little odd."
Hochstetter opened the door and charged in, followed by the other two. "Doctor Morgan."
"Yes?" Henry replied to the summons, standing up from where he been attending to Lieutenant Gaines.
"Are you the doctor with knowledge of developments?"
"I'm the only doctor here."
"You'll be coming with us, then." The male doctor said.
"Doc? What's going on?" Gaines asked from his cot, concerned.
"Nothing, lieutenant." Henry answered and followed the three out and was seated in the back with his female fellow of medicine.
"Alright Carter. They're on their way. Get ready now, then give it ten minutes and get going yourself." Hogan ordered from his place, watching at the window.
"Yes, Colonel." Carter confirmed. Then descended into the tunnels via the bunk to collect the necessary equipment that he had prepared.
Kinch looked up at Hogan from his hand of cards. "Think it'll work?" He asked.
"It'd better."
"Well, I say good luck to him." LeBeau said.
After a mostly silent car ride to the nearby laboratory they all moved through the building to a small office room where he was seated.
"We've been told that you have certain information concerning the Allies' development of gas masks."
"Yes, I do."
"Would you be willing to share that information with us?"
"Absolutely."
"There are certain old warnings against questioning such good fortune, but in war one must be careful, Doctor Morgan. You have been very cooperative for an Englishman. Why?"
"I may be an Englishman but I am foremost a doctor. And aiding in anything that brings us closer to the end of human suffering, on all sides, is my Hippocratic duty." He replied as London's note had specified he should, 'something about duty to humanity'.
The doctors seemed to understand and accept this reasoning and Hochstetter complied to their judgement. "Major, your presence is no longer needed. You can return to your headquarters." Hochstetter nodded, and removed himself. "Very well then," the doctor continued, turning his attention upon Henry. "What can you tell us about these developments in gas mask technology?"
"Well you see it's not really a mask at all. They have the tendency to fail around the edges, as you know." The two nodded in solemn agreement. "But it is instead a preventative measure taken orally. A pill containing a compound that blocks nerve receptors sensitive to those chemical weapons which are in use."
"Extraordinary!" The female doctor marveled. "Are you familiar with the makeup of this compound?"
"No, I am not a chemist. Though I believe that the primary ingredient is some sub-byproduct of coal, it was an American contribution."
The other doctor now descended upon this topic. "How long does this means last?"
"According to our studies, it begins to lose potency after 23 hours." He making things up now but they seemed to be believing it, if only out of their hope that it was true.
A knock came at the door and when answered he heard the female doctor conferring with another white-coated figure about progress concerning blood transfusions. Henry stored what he overheard of this in his mind for relation upon his return.
The door had just been shut once more when a great thundering shudder rocked the building. Cracks appears in the walls and quickly traveled upward and webbed the ceiling. All were set in a state of confusion, only Henry knew that the cause was Carter's overestimation of the explosives necessary for the job. Suddenly the ceiling above them gave a groan of protest before collapsing in upon their heads bringing with it the furnitionings of the room above.
Henry could not tell what the fates befell the other two occupants of the room for certain through the cloud of dust. Although the male doctor seemed to have the fortune to be rained upon by a few light wooden chairs, likely suffering at the least a concussion. While he himself was given the misfortune of being seated under the trajectory of a descending desk.
He was spared the crushing of his skull beneath it, but instead found its weight more slowly crushing the breath from his chest. It took only a few moments for him to succumb to the fatal effects of pressing, ones with which he was not unfamiliar. And mere seconds later he was breaking the surface of a nearby small lake.
Carter looked on as the explosion went off. His expression quickly changed from satisfaction at the success, to nervous apology when it became quite clear that the job had been a bit over done. Fire now blazed among the papers of the lower record archives, as planned, but more of the building had been demolished than had been meant. He hoped that Doctor Morgan was safely out of the destruction's reach, as he began his return to the camp.
Left alone and naked in an unknown part of the forests of Germany, Henry was left with little choice but to simply walk in one direction through the trees and hope he would eventually meet either a road or friendly forces. A time passed as he walked, he would guess it was about an hour, the passing had been accompanied by his cursing of his poor navigating abilities, it was a shortcoming that had brought on some scolding from his father all those decades ago.
He was beginning to shiver violently as the cold winter air hit his bare, damp skin. And with that he began to hope in earnest for some sign that he was headed toward something. As the time passed by he suspected that death by hypothermia would soon send him back to where he had started.
Blessedly, however, he soon afterward came to an road, empty at the moment. Not taking any chances, he continued just within the treeline to one side. The road seemed familiar as the one he had watched recede behind the truck than had brought him and Gaines to Stalag 13.
"How'd it go, Carter?" Hogan asked as the younger man rose from under the bunk trap-door.
"Uh… I over estimated alittle. Some more came down than we hoped but most of it was still up. The file room was burned."
"And the doc?" Newkirk asked.
Carter shrugged, unable to say anything one way or the other concerning the doctor's fate. "We can only hope." LeBeau provided.
"With high hopes if his record can be any evidence." Kinch added, and Hogan nodded as the only other who had read it.
Kinch went down to inform London of the mission's success known thus far. Everyone went about business as usual, awaiting their most recent comrade's return.
When it was not quite afternoon, as the men roamed and 'exercised' in the spaces near their respective barracks, a commotion arose around the front gate.
"Who goes there?" Schultz could be heard demanding of the figure at the gate. Nor could those inhabitants of barracks 2 miss the confused pronouncement of, "Doctor Morgan?"
The question inquired not only of the doctor's presence there but also about his state of dress, or rather undress, which then became known to the prisoners with the view.
Through chattering teeth, Henry began to reply, not entirely sure what he was going to say. "I-"
"Ah ah ah," Schultz interrupted him. "I don't want to know." He said with a swiping motion of the hand, before moving to unlock the gate.
Standing near barracks 2, Hogan looked on as the naked man, appearing even from this distance to be turning blue from cold. "Newkirk, better get that extra uniform for Morgan set out, looks like he needs it. And bring a blanket."
"Right, sir." The answer came as the Englishman disappeared into the building.
Reacting to the commotion, Klink appeared and descended upon the gate entrance. "What is this about?" He asked generally of the two persons standing there, then he turned upon the doctor. "What are you doing back? And where are your clothes?"
It was then that Hogan came to join the trio, followed by Newkirk with the blanket. "Commandant, you can't interrogate him out in the cold in his state. It's cruel and unusual punishment." He immediately scolded. Ignoring the reply-less Klink, as he had upon Henry's first arrival, Hogan began pulling him away and towards the barrack. "We'll get him clothed and warmed up."
As they walked back, Newkirk placed the blanket over his shaking shoulders. "Good to have you back safe, doc." Henry could only nod thankfully.
"Yeah we were worried." Carter said, as he joined the retreating group.
"Particularly him, 'cuz he thought he'd killed you." Newkirk added.
"No harm done." Henry reassured the young American, finding some small ability to speak.
Inside barracks 2, Henry quickly dressed into the copy of his uniform then huddled close to the tiny stove for it welcomed warmth. The gang, which had congregated within, waited for him to talk.
"I much appreciated the rescue from that... uncomfortable situation, Colonel." Hogan nodded curtly in acknowledgement.
"Speaking of which… not that it's much of my business, but what exactly happened to your clothes?" Newkirk asked, curious.
"...Between the tears from debris and the singing they were falling apart when I got out of the building,... then you might say going through the forest ripped the very shirt from my back and more." He made up as reason.
"How'd it go then?"
"I would say perfectly from my end. They believed everything. And though the effects of the blast were stronger than I was expecting I am confident those to whom I revealed the infromation walked away from the rubble."
"Great. Pick up anything additional?"
"They're working on bettering their blood transfusion techniques. They're also, by the sound of it, approaching our own work on plasma."
Taking in this report Hogan looked to Kinch who was taking notes. "Relay that London."
"Will do." Kinch dismissed himself to the tunnels.
"Good work, Morgan, thanks."
"Nothing but my duty."
"You'd better go check on Gaines, he's been worrying about you. We've got some arrangements to make."
"Perhaps I might borrow one of your men Colonel Hogan. I wouldn't want to leave you utterly without medical service once more."
"Sure. Any takers?"
"I'll go." LeBeau volunteered and followed Henry out.
When the infirmary door opened, Gaines propped himself up on his good arm as much as he could to see the arrivals. "Hey doc! I was beginning to worry. I got you this far, wouldn't want to have lost you now."
"I'm perfectly fine, Lieutenant." For the next hour or so Henry walked LeBeau through some advanced first aid, uses of the few supplies they had, and how to care for Gaines's injuries across a length of time. "Are you going somewhere, doc?"
"I would wager so, in the near future. I don't think it's my place to reveal specifics, but LeBeau and the others will fill you in at a later date."
"Need to know." Gaines surmised.
"Something of that sort."
Less than a week later, Henry stood in civilian clothes, with forged papers, and carrying his uniform sewn into the lining of his baggage, at the entrance to one of the various tunnels under Stalag 13 with Hogan.
"Thank you, Colonel Hogan."
"Don't thank, Morgan, we owed you for that trick at the lab. Besides, though I'd love if we could keep you, we couldn't deprive the Allies of a doctor like you."
"For the hospitality then." Henry extended his hand and Hogan shook it.
"Goodluck. Safe journey."
"Bon voyage!", "Bye!", "Cheerio!", "So long!" Came the farewells of the others, as they listened from the trap door above.
"Goodbye all." Henry responded.
"Gaines will follow soon as he can get around on his own. We can pass him off as a wounded discharged soldier or something." Hogan informed and Henry nodded agreement, then set out into the tunnel to meet with a contact who would get him to another until eventually he would make it back to London to be reassigned.
The End