That evening, after two late night roll calls, LeBeau and Newkirk played host to twelve different members of area underground groups. The dozen men and women sat uncomfortably in the largest room the tunnel system afforded, eyeing each other with distrust.
"Ladies and gents I know that this is making the lot of you uncomfortable, and most of you had other plans for the evening but bare with us. You'll understand the situation just as soon as our final member arrives." Newkirk piped, once again offering tea or coffee.
None of them were interested in beverages, and none of them initiated any conversation with their neighbors. It was a tight, awkward silence until they heard a shuffle of steps in the hallway and Hogan's bruised face appeared.
"Fellas." He greeted quietly, scanning the group as he moved to the front of the crowd.
Some of the members began to show signs of recognition, and after realizing who they were meeting with, looked with surprise at the others around them. A murmur of conversation began, but Hogan put up a hand to quiet it.
"Yes…you're all members of the underground, and I'm "Papa Bear". Yes, you're underneath a German POW camp, and yes we're prisoners here. So to speak. My men did a fantastic job of gathering you here, and we'll get to the why in a minute, but there are a few preliminary things we have to get out of the way."
The group fell silent and attentive and Hogan took a deep breath, ordering his thoughts.
"First of all it's important that you all get to know each other. In the past we've intentionally kept everything separate, the idea being to protect the organization should anyone be captured. That plan worked great up until the Gestapo captured the one person who does know everything. Me."
A chuckle burst out of an older gentleman seated near the back of the room. "You? You are captured by the Gestapo?"
"In their custody, as we speak." Hogan said, unable to hide the smirk. The group of resistance fighters joined in a low bubble of laughter at the expense of the German secret police, then fell silent.
"Now, I was well trained by the U.S. Army, but no man is perfect. Before I crack I wanted to give the underground in the area a heads up. Whatever plans you have in the works, best to lay off. If you've got people in hiding, get them to safety as quickly as possible. Pull up stakes, get your people out and consider Stalag 13 and the area around it a no man's land, period."
There was another burst of disgruntled disagreement, and Hogan took it in, in a way glad to hear so much resistance to closing up shop. He'd thought long and hard about it, and still hadn't fully decided if it was the right thing to do. Shutting down the complex network that they had built over the years was not a move he could easily reverse.
"Mr. Papa Bear.." A woman's voice cut over the noise, and Hogan nodded his chin at Gnadige Frau Offal, an older woman who ran a boarding house in Hammelburg. "You are telling us to, as ze Americans would put it, "Bug out" yah?"
Hogan gave her a curt nod.
"Is this move sanctioned by ze Allies?"
Hogan took in a breath and bowed his head, not surprised at the question. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and met LeBeau's gaze. He could feel Newkirk shifting uncomfortably behind his left shoulder and pursed his lips, then shook his head. "No…We've been unable to make contact with the Allies for two days. Our lines of communication may have been compromised, and for the time being we have no way of knowing how or why."
A male voice cleared his throat then spoke from the middle of the group, and after a minute Hogan recognized the pinched accent of Snitzer, the dog man. "Colonel Hogan, you are a fine commander. A talented officer. A good man. You and your men have risked your lives a hundred times over for complete strangers, even for the enemy." All around the group, heads were nodding in agreement. "But you are forgetting something, Colonel. What goes around, comes around. We too know how to risk our lives. We too can be creative and courageous in the face of the enemy."
Humbly, Snitzer got to his feet, holding his hat casually at his side, looking for all the world like nothing more than a bored businessman waiting for a train. His voice, however, filled the dank cavern completely, and dissuaded any argument. "You say we have been compromised? Fine…we will compromise, we will pick up where we have left off, and we will pull together. It is wise to bring us here. Let us see each other's faces. Unite us. This is good. It will make us stronger, Colonel." Snitzer broke off for a moment, looking down to the worn cap in his hands before he said, "I will not run. This resistance is the only reason I can get up in the morning."
His final statement brought an unexpected and vehement chorus of approval, leaving the three prisoners of Stalag 13 in stunned silence. Hogan found himself shaking, and not just because of what he had been through over the past few days. He felt LeBeau and Newkirk drawing a little closer to his frame and nodded respectfully at the collection of insanely brave people before him. He swallowed hard and said, "Thank you. All of you."
"What do you need done, Papa Bear?" A French voice asked, and LeBeau, Newkirk and Hogan jerked their heads to one of the tunnel entrances shocked to see a handsomely built French woman standing in the doorway.
"Tiger!" The three exclaimed, this announcement getting a rise out of the rest of the underground members as well. The blonde woman smiled softly, then quickly hid the reaction, nodding her head in greeting. "We lost contact with you and I was in the area. The French underground, too, is on your side, mon Cherie."
"Je t'aime belle femme. Vous etes comme le lever du soleil!" LeBeau exclaimed, and the colonel couldn't help but grin.
Robert Hogan once more took in the sight of a damp tunnel full of heroes and nodded his head. "Again…thank you. You all know how dangerous this is. It's even more dangerous now. I probably won't be seeing any of you again for…for a while. Til that time you can coordinate with my men. They'll tell you what you can do to help. And I promise…if we all survive this war, the first round is on me."
Only about half of the non-English speakers in the room understood the phrase, but the general goodwill prompted another chorus of celebratory chuckles that dissipated into quiet introductions. Hogan turned to his men and stuck his hand out to first LeBeau, then Newkirk. After a moment of hesitant confusion LeBeau shook the colonel's hand.
"Colonel, what do you mean you won't be-" LeBeau began, dropping his volume.
"Hochstetter has it in mind to take me to Berlin, even offered to introduce me to ol' bubble head." Hogan tried to force a light hearted laugh, but it fell flat. He didn't feel it, and his men didn't want to hear it.
"If I cooperate with Major Hochstetter, that cuts off the chain leading back to you guys." Hogan said, carefully explaining his reasoning as he had with a hundred other plans and schemes. "Once I'm outta camp and the heat is off you, I can think about protecting myself. Maybe I can even make a run for it and tie up Gestapo resources, leading a merry chase, but I can do none of that with my men scattered all over Germany, or risking their lives to protect me."
Newkirk stared at the proffered handshake with his knuckles on his hips for a few moments, not at all happy about it. When he finally reached a hand out he firmly said, "Whatever it takes, sir, I fully plan to bust you out at the first opportunity."
"I wouldn't have expected any less, Newkirk, but I'm ordering you not to. Your first concern is to get Kinch, Carter and those nuns to safety. From there on you know what to do." Hogan said. "I've gotta get back.
"When did Hochstetter say he would be returning?"
"Tomorrow." Hogan said, the word tasting like glue in his mouth.
"Bon chance." LeBeau said, his eyes blazing. "We will come for you."
Hogan smirked a little and warned, "You better not." Before breaking away from his men and heading for the tunnel back to Klink's guest quarters. He was not at all surprised when Tiger stepped into his path.
"You are going?" She asked, fear in her eyes, but a mild, playful smile on her lips.
"Seems I've got a one way ticket to Berlin."
Tiger drew in a surprised breath, suddenly understanding the exchange that had just taken place between Hogan and his men, and looked down to her hands. Hogan followed her gaze and reached out to take her fingers in his own, but instead stared in surprise at the ribbon bound box she held in her hand.
He jerked his head back up, looking askance and Tiger shrugged.
"We had an urgent message and could not reach you by radio. Just in case, I brought extra parts along."
"And the ribbon?"
Tiger smiled. "What woman delivers a present in a plain brown box?"
Womanhood. God how he missed it. It had been far too long, Hogan thought, and he leaned in to capture what might well be the last kiss he would ever receive or give. Tiger melted into him, and they stood in their own world for a blissful eternity until Hogan felt delicate fingers pressing ever so slightly against his collarbone. Pain flashed in his shoulder but he hid it, clearing his throat and pulling away.
"The uh…" Tiger, flustered, cleared her throat as well then said, "The message, I came to deliver. Do you want that as well?"
Hogan rested his hand just under her chin, his finger tips playing with the short spray of blonde hair near her ear. "No…no, the less I know about our…" He paused, glanced over his shoulder at the gaggle of warriors behind him then finished, "…new underground, the better."
"Je comprend." She nodded, pressed another kiss against his lips and pulled away. "I expect to see you again, Papa Bear."
Hogan smiled, and promised, "I'll do my best."
Stepping around the beautiful French woman he gave his men a final salute, which they returned with pride filled snaps to attention. Then Hogan was gone.
Tiger, overwhelmed with emotion and knowing that she herself had a timeline to follow, moved quickly into the room greeting Hogan's men.
She received a warm hug from Newkirk and smiled at his quiet, "Good to see ya, love."
LeBeau greeted her in the traditional French way, and she gave him a hug too, unsettled and vulnerable. She handed Newkirk the radio parts, explaining what they were and why she had brought them.
"And the message?" LeBeau prompted.
"Several days ago we received information about a new Gestapo headquarters near your area. It seemed peculiar that such local information would come to us, but we traced the information anyway, confirming it as best we could. When we tried to relay the information to you we could not get through, and our section head became concerned. I was dispatched to make certain you had not been compromised."
Newkirk and LeBeau glanced at each other. The Englander had felt his gut twist, and thought he knew the answer already, but asked, "Where was this Gestapo headquarters supposed to be, love?"
"Fifty miles south of-"
"Fifty miles south of Stalag 13." Newkirk finished.
"Oui, but how did you-"
"You weren't the only ones to get the message." LeBeau said.
"You've got it, Louie." Newkirk confirmed, then threw an arm around Tiger's shoulders and said, "Listen love, there's a big favor you could do for us…"
As the Englander and the French woman walked away Louie looked to the local underground members and with a few words gathered them together. The time had come to bring their lost brothers home.