Chapter 2: Cowboy and Indian

A few minutes later, Carter and Shultz entered Barracks 6. A tall, sturdily built man came over to meet them. Standing at attention before Carter and saluting, the man said, "Staff Sergeant Alexander Miller reporting, Sir." Carter returned the salute and the man continued, "Welcome to Barracks 6. Corporal Langenscheidt told us you were coming. I've already removed my things from the private quarters in the back. As senior ranking officer of the barracks, the room is yours."

"Boy, thanks," acknowledged Carter with a smile.

Leading the way to the private quarters and opening the door, Miller explained, "Once you've had a chance to unpack, I'll call the men together for inspection and formally turn command of the barracks over to you.."

Carter sounded very enthusiastic, as he said, "Thanks again, Miller. It shouldn't take me too long."

"Call me Sandy," Miller invited. "Everyone else does."

Carter's grin grew larger. His situation was definitely improving. "All right, Sandy."

Shultz interrupted them. "Carter, it doesn't look like you require protection any longer. Therefore, I shall return to duty."

Carter nodded. "Thanks for your help, Shultz." Then, as an afterthought, Carter added, "Oh, and Shultz, don't be a stranger. Drop in any time."

"Jawohl," acknowledged Shultz. "I may do just that."

Shultz left and Miller went back to the table and picked up the western he was reading. Carter entered his new quarters and began to unpack.

- - -

Once he had finished unpacking, Carter returned to the main room. Miller was still at the table reading. A photo on the wall caught Carter's attention. He walked over for a closer look. A man on horseback was roping a longhorn calf and the man was obviously Sgt. Miller.

"You're a cowboy!" exclaimed Carter.

Miller looked up from the book he was reading. "Yep. Got me a big spread in Texas. Over twelve hundred cattle. Thirty seven horses. Oh, and I've got a couple of wells on my property, too."

"Yeah, with that many animals, you probably need lots of water."

Miller laughed. "Not water, oil wells. I've got ponds for the critters. Now, how about you? Where you from?"

"I was born and raised in North Dakota. My family belongs to the Sioux Nation. My great-grandfather fought with Sitting Bull. After graduating high school, I attended business school. Then, I moved to Muncie, Indiana where I ran a pharmacy till I joined the army." Then, Carter beamed. "Hey, we're cowboy and Indian."

Miller put his book down and grinning, said, "Okay, Chief, how about meeting the rest of your tribe? I'll call the men in for inspection."

"Sure, thanks," Carter eagerly responded.

- - -

The POWs of Barracks 6 stood in a straight line along one row of their bunks. In front of them stood Carter and Miller. Standing at attention, Miller faced Carter and said, "All men present and accounted for. If it's all right, Sir, I'd like to address the men."

"Go ahead," agreed Carter.

Pacing back and forth in front of the men, Miller declared, "First, I would like to say that it has been a pleasure to have each and every one of you under my command. As you know, I am no longer senior officer of this barracks. I am now turning my command over to Sgt. Carter. I hope that you will serve him with the same dedication you have given me." Turning towards Carter, Miller prompted, "Sgt. Carter."

"Thank you," Carter acknowledged. Then, Carter addressed the men. "Sgt. Miller will be staying on in the barracks so you will not be losing him. He will serve as my second-in-command. Now, first order of business. Roll call is at five thirty. I expect everyone up at five fifteen. You are to be properly dressed and lined up at the door by five twenty five. When we are ordered out at five thirty, I expect everyone to file out in a quick and orderly manner. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir," agreed the men in unison. Then, one mumbled something to another.

"What was that, Montgomery?" snapped Miller.

The tall, slender transgressor squirmed a little under Miller's glare and replied, "I was just telling Nelson that Barracks 2 doesn't exactly have the best record for roll call. We all know that they're about the sloppiest unit at falling in for roll call and you can almost count on at least one of them being late--including him."

"Laundry duty for one week for insubordination."

Carter gave a small chuckle and smiled, "It's all right, Sergeant. He's right. Those of us in Barracks 2 were sloppy. That's why I want to make Barracks 6 a highly efficient unit. Show them how it can be done. My next goal is to improve morale. I know that being a prisoner in a POW camp can be difficult so I want all of you to feel free to speak with Sgt. Miller or myself about any problems you may have. I can't promise to resolve all of them, but we'll do the best we can. I'm looking forward to learning more about each of you. That way, I can assess your talents and capabilities and decide how you can best serve our mission."

"Permission to speak, Sir," requested one of the men. Only slightly taller than LeBeau, he was older than the others, in his late forties with a tinge of grey in his hair. The glasses he wore kept sliding down his nose. He stood to Montgomery's left and was obviously the prisoner called Nelson.

"Go ahead," Carter prompted.

"What kind of mission could there be in a POW camp?"

"You'd be surprised," laughed Carter. "But we'll get to that later. For now, just bear with me with the changes I make. I think you'll all come to realize it was worth it in the end. Thank you. Dismissed."

Once they had been dismissed, Nelson came over, saluted Carter and said, "Corporal Philip Nelson, Sir. But you can call me 'Doc.' All my friends do."

"You're a doctor?"

"Veterinarian. Taking care of farm animals in Colorado. I put in for a job at the Denver Zoo but then decided my country needed me more. I enlisted and here I am."

Carter thought about it a moment, then asked, "In an emergency, you would be able to step in as medic, wouldn't you?"

"I suppose so, if no on else was available. There are similarities. But there are differences, too. I wouldn't want to put any one at risk."

"Under those circumstances, you could be saving his life," insisted Carter.

Nelson agreed, "I suppose I could if no other doctor was available. But let's hope it doesn't come to that, Sir. Agreed?"

"Agreed." confirmed Carter. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to have few words with Sgt. Miller." Carter glanced at Miller, who had been standing nearby and said, "In my office, Miller."

"Yes, Sir," acknowledged Miller, following Carter to the quarters at the back.

Carter closed the door, and then stated, "Sgt. Miller, I'd like to formally apologize for what happened out there. I'm sorry about undermining your order like that. I know you meant well and I appreciate it. But I'm trying to improve morale, not destroy it."

"I'm sorry, Sir," declared an abashed Miller.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," insisted Carter. "This is not a reprimand. I'm apologizing, and I hope you'll accept it."

"Okay, apology accepted," Miller confirmed.

Carter brought his hands together into a single clap and smiled. "Good. Now that that's settled, we don't have to be so formal. Sit down, Sandy," he offered.

"Okay, Chief, thanks," Miller acknowledged, sitting in one of the chairs.

Carter took a seat opposite Miller and said, "I meant what I said about improving morale. Maybe we could throw a party. I don't know. I want it to be something different."

"How about a campfire?" suggested Miller.

Carter was enthused. "Like in the Boy Scouts?"

"Like in cowboys, Chief."

"Yeah, that'd be great. We could cook hotdogs and roast potatoes--well, we can figure out the menu later. Then, we can all gather round the campfire and sing afterwards. That sounds like fun."

Miller thought a moment, then stated, "I could bring my guitar."

"You play the guitar?"

"Yep." After a moment, Miller added, "Wait a minute, Chief. What makes you think Klink will agree to all this?"

Carter smiled, mischievously. "He will if we invite him."

"Now, why did you have to go and spoil all the fun," said Miller in a mock pout.

"In this business, you do what you got to do."

"For the sake of the mission?" Miller prompted.

"Something like that," Carter agreed.

Leaning back in his chair, arms folded across his chest, Miller asked, "And our mission. Just what exactly is it, if you don't mind my asking?"

Carter thought about if for a while. Finally, he replied, "I haven't quite figured it all out yet. When I do, I'll let you know." Carter paused a moment, then continued, "As a former Barracks Leader, you do have a basic understanding of Hogan's operation, don't you?"

"Yep. But you're no longer a part of the operation."

"That doesn't mean we can't use the tunnel system," suggested Carter.

Aghast, Miller protested, "Hogan will have our heads!"

"Not if he doesn't know about it," Carter assured him.

"And how do you plan to do that, Chief?"

Carter furrowed his brows contemplatively and declared, "THAT is one of the things I'm still working on."

- - -

Hogan, Newkirk and LeBeau sat around the table in Hogan's office. They were looking through the records they kept on their fellow prisoners. "Here's another one, colonel," said LeBeau, handing Hogan a file.

Newkirk threw the file he was holding onto the discard file. "Well, that's the lot of them. How many we got, Gov'nor?" he asked.

Hogan counted the files in front of him, then replied, "Nine. Tomorrow, we'll start speaking with them and see if we can filter out any security risks. Then, I want to conduct a thorough interview with those remaining. We need to make sure we pick the best man for the job."

"You'd better make it fast," said Kinchloe, walking into the room. "We just got a message from London."

Kinch handed Hogan the message. After reading the message, Hogan stated, "They want us to blow up a weapons factory Thursday night. Top priority."

Kinch frowned. "Carter picked a fine time to leave."

"Good riddance, I say," declared Newkirk.

"Yeah. Maybe now we can have some peace and quiet around here," agreed LeBeau.

Newkirk smiled. "No more stupid ideas. No more--"

Hogan interrupted them. "Guys, this doesn't solve our problem with the weapons factory. Kinch is right. We have to move quickly. We have two days to select and train Carter's replacement."

"If it would simply matters, Sir, LeBeau and I could drag Carter back. Me fist can pretty persuasive," suggested Newkirk.

"And we can keep him confined if necessary," added LeBeau.

Hogan countermanded them. "No. Carter insisted on this transfer. He went to Klink. We'll let him keep it. But Newkirk, I want those bugs planted right after roll call. Then, we'll start checking up on our prospects. I want to start interviewing by 14:00 tomorrow."