Okay, next chapter.
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"Carter? We can get him back? But how? I mean... he is dead, we can't get a dead person back! The only thing of him we can get is his body and we saw him in the fire, so how do you want to get his dead body if it was burnt?", LeBeau asked in a rush and didn't really think about his words. He regretted them right after they had escaped his mouth, but there was no way he could take them back. He saw the horrified look in Newkirk's eyes, the shocked face of Kinch and an irritated Colonel, and that made him to regret his words even more.
"LeBeau's right, in that case there is no hope, but as I told you, there is hope, so he can't be dead, can he?", Hogan said sighing and his words made the whole situation a lot easier. He caught a thankful look of the Frenchman who really seemed to feel sorry for his words.
"You mean, he really is alive?", Newkirk asked and felt quite strange. A part of him wanted to believe Hogan, but the other part told him that it couldn't be true. How could Carter be still alive after an incident like the explosion?
"Of course I'm not completely sure about it, but let me tell you what happened: When I entered Klink's office, I got to know that it wasn't him who wanted to talk to me, it was Hochstetter."
"Hochstetter? But how...?", LeBeau interrupted.
"Easy, Corporal. He told me that he survived an explosion and caught the saboteur who caused it. He is now holding him captive at the Gestapo headquarters and is going to question him. I think he wanted to threat me when he told me between the lines that he knows that we have something to do with this and all of the Underground activity, but do you understand what he did? He changed the worst into something better for us!", Hogan told them and let out what now troubled him. How could he and his men get Carter out of the Gestapo headquarters and back to the prison camp without getting suspicious? It was no question that they would rescue Carter, but how?
"And Carter was the saboteur... but it can't be true. He couldn't survive an explosion like this?", Newkirk wasn't still believing it absolutely.
"I don't know, but he did! If everything goes right, you may ask him yourself!", LeBeau said and smiled a huge smile. Fortune was on their side again!
"LeBeau, did you burn anything?", Kinch asked, smelling something.
"What! A French chef can't burn anything! How could you...?", the little man shouted.
"And what's this then?", Newkirk asked and pointed on the huge black clouds which were coming from the direction of the stove.
"Mon dieu!", was all the French said before he tried to rescue the meal.
While LeBeau throw his Ratatouille into the bin, Hogan sat down on a chair next to the table and began to thought. He had to work out some plan, and this nothing could go wrong. It was too much at risk, but was it it worth? Should he risk the lives of his men to a rescue someone they maybe wasn't able to rescue because he was dead? Again Hogan felt the burden of responsibility. He had to decide whether he should ignore the risks and rescue Carter or whether he wasn't able to bear the risk.
"So, what's goin' to happen now?", Newkirk asked and looked at his commanding officer.
Hogan didn't respond.
"Uhm, Colonel? Are you with us?", the Corporal tried again.
"Of course I am", Hogan mumbled, not even listening to Newkirk. The only thing he wanted to do now was to go to his office, but he would feel like a coward if he did it.
"Ah, okay, so what we're gonna do now?", Newkirk asked.
"I'm not sure", Hogan answered.
"What about dressing up as some gestapo officers and demanding to get Carter out of the prison?", LeBeau said, giving it a try.
"Too risky. Hochstetter's paying attention", Hogan mumbled.
"What about simply getting him out? I mean, without uniforms and dressing up and somethin' else?", Newkirk tried.
"Risky as well, but maybe the only chance, huh?", Kinch said.
"Maybe, but what about dressing up as some simple Gestapo men so nobody would pay attention?", Newkirk had the next idea.
"Sounds good", LeBeau commented.
"I know", Newkirk smiled.
"Can't think on something else", Kinch said and gave a grin in the Corporal's direction.
"What do you think, Colonel?", Newkirk asked and almost felt a bit proud because the others had agreed to his idea.
"To be honest, I haven't got another idea", Hogan finally said and now faced his men.
"So what stops us?", LeBeau asked and had already forgotten his failed Ratatouille.
"Are you really willing to risk your lives to save someone you aren't sure to save?", Hogan asked.
"Of course", Newkirk said immediately and his comrades nodded in silent agreement.
"Are you aware of the chance that you may not survive this?", Hogan went on.
His men nodded all together.
"Then I think nothing's gonna stop us", Hogan said and caused them to smile. Now they had a task, something to work on and a hope which made them to do it. Maybe they could make the impossible possible, perhaps they could save a supposedly dead man.
In the evening when Schultz had to put the light out, they had everything ready. After the big Sergeant went out, Hogan, Newkirk, Kinch and LeBeau left their beds, already dressed in German uniforms. They disappeared in the tunnel and got out in the woods. There they met an underground agent who took them near the Gestapo headquarters by car. The man told them that he would wait at this meeting point for them to return. Kinch stayed with him to make sure nothing would happen to him. Hogan thanked the agent and then they went on to the huge building.
"Everybody knows his part, right?", Hogan whispered at LeBeau and Newkirk.
They nodded silently, but determined.
Then they went to the front door and opened it.
Hogan went in first, dressed as a Hauptmann, and had the expression of authority on his face.
Newkirk followed, dressed as Feldwebel as well as LeBeau, and they both looked like they knew nothing, like a well known German Feldwebel always did.
"Guten Abend, Herr Hauptmann", a German soldier greeted them in German.
"Guten Abend. Ist Major Hochstetter bei dem gefangenen Untergrundagenten?", Hogan asked. (Good evening. Is Major Hochstetter with the caught Underground agent?)
"Nein, er hat sich einen halben Tag freigenommen. Ihm war nicht gut", the man responded, working again on whatever he had to. (No, he took half a day off. He didn't feel well.)
"Ich verstehe. Wir kommen aus Berlin, um den Gefangenen zu befragen", Hogan said and was not sure whether this would work. (I see. We came from Berlin to question the prisoner.)
"Jetzt? Es ist schon spät", the man responded and shot Hogan a short look with raising an eyebrow. (Now? It' s late.)
"Denken Sie, wir sind den langen Weg von Berlin bis hierher gekommen, um uns dann von etwas Unwichtigen wie der Uhrzeit hindern zu lassen?", Hogan barked, hoping his plan would still work. (Do you think we traveled all the way from Berlin to get hindered by something unimportant like the time?)
"Nein. Leider können Sie den Gefangenen nur mit Erlaubnis von Major Hochstetter befragen. Es tut mir leid, aber ich habe direkte Anweisungen bekommen", the man said, now facing the Colonel with a glimpse of fear in his eyes. (No. I'm afraid you only could question the prisoner with the permission of Major Hochstetter. I'm truly sorry, but I got direct orders.)
"Zweifeln Sie an meiner Autorität oder der meiner Vorgesetzten in Berlin? Dann kostet es mich bloß einen Anruf, Sie aber vielleicht Ihren warmen Arbeitsplatz hier. Ich habe gehört, dass es in Russland zur Zeit sehr kalt ist", Hogan said with a unspoken threat in his voice. (Do you doubt my authority or the one of my superiors in Berlin? Then it would cost me just one phone call, but it probably could cost you your warm job here. I heard that it's really cold in Russia nowadays.)
"N-nein. Ich werde jemanden rufen, der Sie zur Zelle des Saboteurs bringt", the man said, fear now evident in both his eyes and voice. (N-no. I'm going to call somebody who takes you to the cell.)
"Das ist nicht nötig. Sagen Sie uns, welchen Weg wir nehmen müssen und wir kommen zurecht", Hogan offered, now sounding very politely. (This isn't necessary. Tell us the way and we get along with it.)
Without another question the soldier told them the way to the cell where they hoped Carter would be. After they went down some stairs, Newkirk breathed loudly.
"That was a close thing. I can't believe it worked", he said then.
"Me, too. It's a miracle", LeBeau whispered, afraid that someone might hear them speaking English.
"Where did your trust go? I told you it would work", Hogan tried to joke, but they were all too stressedto laugh. In fact, it even wasn't the truth because Hogan himself couldn't believe that it had worked.
"Sure, Colonel. Which way now?", Newkirk said quickly and looked a bit helplessly at the two ways they had the chance to go: the right one and the left one.
"Left, and then right,and then we have to look after a cell with the number 24", Hogan mumbled and went straight in the left direction.
On their way to the corridor where Carter's cell hopefully would be, Newkirk whispered in LeBeau's direction: "I still think that everything is a little too easy."
"Me, too, mon ami. But we can't help it, non?", the little Frenchman responded.
"You're right. I wonder whether the Colonel has a plan B", Newkirk said quietly, still having a bad feeling.
Then they didn't say anything more because the had gotten where the cell should be. Colonel Hogan checked every door for its number and stopped when he reached the one he had been looking for.
"We're there", he breathed and tried to steady himself for something that easily could be a disappointment.
"Open it", Newkirk said without any patience anymore. He knew that the chance that they had found Carter wasn't a big one, but he hoped with his dear heart that they just did.
"LeBeau?", Hogan asked.
"Oh sorry, mon Colonel. I forgot. The key", LeBeau said hastily and handed Hogan a small key which would open the door to the cell.
Hogan slowly opened the door with the help of the key, but for what they saw no one was ready to face.
Okay, I hope you enjoyed at least a bit... and I hope that my translations aren't that bad...wanted to add some German to a story which takes part in Germany^^
Ifi^^