Chapter 15

Michael Prust and Albert Szell were in Hogan's room together as Szell examined the unconscious American. Mara and Rachel stood nearby watching and waiting. The body of Fredrick Stengel had been removed and the orderlies had since cleaned the blood that had been spilled on the floor by the late underground operative. The guard who had been sedated, Corporal Schneider, had also been found and revived. With Prust's and Mara's help, the corporal was cared for but not allowed to return to duty at least until the following morning. Prust had wanted him to get a good night's sleep okaying him for duty in the morning. He also secretly informed both Wasserman and Schneider that Dieter would be replacing Corporal Stengel plus assigning two additional guards, two of which would be inside Hogan's room. While Szell continued examining Hogan, Mara and Rachel pulled Prust aside to talk. The two nurses explained their suspicions regarding Alice.

As soon as he was finished, Szell walked over to join them. Prust looked at the other doctor. "How is he, Albert?"

"Lucky to be alive, I'd say. From what I heard from Rachel, Colonel Hogan would've been stabbed directly in the heart and would've died instantly. Otherwise, he is fine, except for needing a new hospital gown. Mara, please get a new hospital gown for Papa Bear. We will still be here when you return. Once you and Rachel have changed his gown, I do not want this man left alone under any circumstances until Dieter brings the new guards here." He turned to Prust. "So, Dieter is going to have two more guards posted inside Papa Bear's room as well, Michael?"

"Yes," Prust replied. "Sergeant Kinchloe thought it would be best in addition to having three guards posted outside. This way we hopefully won't have a re-occurrence of what happened. The extra guards inside will prevent trouble should somebody again get past the guards outside." He looked at Rachel. "From the description you gave us the man who got in here doesn't sound like Sergeant Wilson, Stalag 13's medic. My bet would be that man you saw, Rachel, was the man responsible for Colonel Hogan being here." Prust looked at Szell again. "Albert, we have kept Colonel Hogan heavily sedated for one-and-a-half weeks so far. How much longer do you feel is required that we keep him that way before we can bring him around?"

Szell sighed. "I'd say to be safe at least until the end of the week. Then we'll bring him out of his sedation. But he'll have to remain at least one additional week in order to clear his system of the sedatives he's had before we can release him."

Prust sighed. "I agree. All right." He looked at Rachel and Mara. "So, you both suspect Alice may be somehow involved in the attempt on Colonel Hogan? What makes you say that?"

"I'm not sure really, Michael," Rachel explained. "I guess I'd have to say the way she looked at me when I commented on the extra security the colonel was to receive. She looked, I guess you could say, disgusted almost."

"Plus she does not like Americans anyway," Mara continued. Prust and Szell exchanged concerned looks.

"Go on," Prust encouraged softly.

"Well, she got upset while Judith and Jana were giving Colonel Hogan a sponge bath earlier. Felt they were spending too much time with him. Jana told me she didn't care that the orders came from you, and that you seemed to have forgotten she was the head nurse."

Just then, the door to Hogan's room opened and Dieter, dressed in his uniform of a Gestapo Captain, followed by two guards, one a sergeant and the other a corporal, entered. Dieter introduced the guards to Prust and Szell, and the nurses.

"This is Sergeant Emrick and Corporal Lehmann. They will be assigned inside the American's room. I have replaced Corporal Stengel with Corporal Dakers. He and Sergeant Wasserman will be posted outside for tonight. In the morning, Corporal Schneider will join them outside the colonel's room." Then in a low voice, he looked at Prust. "How is he, Michael?"

"He's fine. In fact, he should soon be able to return to Stalag 13."

"But we'll need to keep a tighter watch on Alice," Prust advised. "If what you suspect is true," he addressed Rachel. "Then we're going to have someone stay close to her and watch her without her knowing it. But we have to be careful how we go about it." He scratched his chin in thought. "I think I'll have to talk with Sergeant Kinchloe about it as-soon-as-possible."

Carter shifted his position but didn't stir. From the moment he sat down beside his best friend's bed, Carter had folded his arms on the table beside the bed and laid his head down on top of his arms. He was so tired he couldn't keep his eyes open. He had tried to keep watch on Newkirk but slowly his eyelids began to flutter closed. Besides, Newkirk won't mind if I catch a few winks of sleep. So, Carter did just that. And soon, he was softly snoring. He was so soundly sleeping he never even stirred when Wilson wrapped a blanket around his shoulders making sure he didn't awaken the exhausted sergeant.

"Thanks, mom," Carter murmured sleepily causing Wilson to chuckle and smile. That was three or four hours ago.

"Andrew, wake up," a tired voice said.

Carter didn't move; he was sound asleep. He never heard the voice speaking to him.

"Wake up, Carter," the tired voice said again; but this time it was accompanied by a hand on Carter's knee, shaking it gently. "C'mon, mate. Wake up."

Carter adjusted his position again but still didn't stir. "Lemme alone, Newkirk," he said still sleeping. Suddenly Carter's eyes shot open and he bolted upright in his chair causing the blanket to fall on the floor. "Newkirk?" Looking down, he saw the tired green eyes of his best friend looking at him, a tired smile on his face. "You're awake!"

"Course I am. Takes more than a bleedin' Kraut to keep ole Peter Newkirk down for long." Newkirk's eyes suddenly narrowed. "How long you been here, Andrew?"

"He's been by your side since we found you unconscious in the barracks," Wilson replied having quietly walked up behind Carter, not wanting to interrupt the two men. With a hand on Carter's shoulder, the medic stood behind the young sergeant with a smile on his face looking at the Englander's swollen and bruised face. Even the medic had to admit during the twenty-four hours since his beating, the ugly blackest-purple bruises on his face gave Newkirk a bit of a ghoulish appearance.

Newkirk's eyes shifted from Wilson back to Carter. "Blimey, Carter, you didn't have to do that." He suddenly winced from the pain he felt. "Blimey, I hurt all over. What's the tally, mate?" he asked the medic.

Wilson sighed. "Other than the numerous cuts and bruises on your face and upper body, you have three cracked and one broken rib and your right wrist is fractured. All-in-all, you were fortunate. Sergeant Dietrich could've hurt you a lot worse than he did. In fact, he could've killed you."

"I feel like me head's about to explode. You said Dietrich did this to me?" Newkirk saw Wilson nod. His eyes then went back to Carter, full of concern. "Now I remember. He was gonna torture Carter when I went into barracks seven after 'im. You all right, Andrew? Did the bloody bastard hurt you in any way? 'Cause if he did…" He suddenly winced again.

Carter put a hand gently on Newkirk's chest, mindful of his injuries. "He didn't lay a finger on me, thanks to you. That was one reason I had to stay at your side, buddy. I owed you for that. Besides, I wanted my face to be the first one you saw when you woke up."

Despite his pain, Newkirk allowed a small smile to appear. "Well, now I've seen your ruddy awful face so you go back to sleep."

Wilson patted Carter's shoulder. "Newkirk's right, Carter. You should head back to the barracks. Besides, I have to examine Newkirk so I can give the Kommandant and Kinch an update."

"Bloody charming," Newkirk muttered with a roll of his eyes.

Also," Wilson checked his watch. "You only have ninety minutes before roll call."

Carter jumped to his feet. "I'd better go then. Kinch asked me to return to the barracks before roll call." He glanced over his shoulder at the Englander. "I'll come back later and visit. See ya later." He then hurried out of the infirmary.

"Bye, Andrew," Newkirk said softly as he watched his best friend hurry out the door. His moist eyes looked up at Wilson as he prepared to examine him. "Y'know, Joe, there goes the best mate a bloke could have."

Wilson smiled as he put the earpieces of his stethoscope in his ears. "You don't have to convince me, Peter. Now, close your mouth and let me examine you."

After roll call, Kinch joined the two teams outside and had the men meticulously searching every inch of ground outside barracks two as well as the building itself. He even joined in the search himself. He was positive the bullet from Schultz's rifle was lodged either in the dirt around the barracks or somewhere in the wall itself. The radioman had made a promise to himself that if the teams he had outside searching didn't find anything, he would then send out other teams to search the same areas. Finding that bullet was paramount. Kinch pointed out to them that finding that bullet would prove beyond any doubt that Schultz's bullet wasn't the one that injured Colonel Hogan. But Kinch also knew that unless they could convince Klink to stand up to Dietrich and accept what they were telling him, Schultz would face a fate worse than death, Colonel Hogan was still in great danger, as was every prisoner in the camp.

I wish the colonel was here, Kinch thought to himself. I have no idea how he does this day after day in addition to his Senior POW officer duties plus whatever else may arise. Colonel, when you get back and fully recovered, you can have this job back.

They had been searching over an hour, mindful to be aware of Sergeant Dietrich who seemed rather ill-tempered during roll call. Hogan's team suspected it was because the colonel was still alive and the German had failed to silence him. But to Kinch, LeBeau and Carter, Dietrich's failure to kill the colonel just made him more dangerous to them because he was taking out his frustration on them.

Carter was on his knees, feeling along the ground where it met the bottom of the barracks, was also worried about his friend, Newkirk. Dietrich had nearly beaten him to death and Carter was scared. Scared for Newkirk, Colonel Hogan, and all the other prisoners in camp as long as that psycho was still in charge. They had to find a way to get rid of him before he killed someone else other than Corporal Sanger. Carter became sad recalling the young corporal. Sanger was a nice, decent kid who was a few years younger than Carter, but despite his youth, the corporal was as tough as they came. But beneath his exterior, after talking with him, Carter discovered he had a heart of gold and would give someone the shirt off his back. And prior to finding out about Dietrich assaulting him with his rifle, Carter had seen the sudden and subtle changes in Sanger's personality. Where the kid had been outgoing and friendly, he was now moody and morose. He kept pretty much to himself, and only Colonel Hogan had managed to get the truth from him when the colonel had noticed Sanger's reaction whenever Dietrich was around. Carter remembered how outraged Hogan was after talking with Sanger even though he never disclosed what he had been told. All Hogan had asked of his men was to do their best to keep away from Sergeant Karl Dietrich. Then Hogan had confronted Dietrich and shortly afterward had ended up being shot and nearly killed. And now Sanger was dead at Dietrich's hand. Carter sighed wearily. Would this nightmare they were trapped in ever end?

Suddenly, his fingers felt something hard. His expression changing, Carter became excited as he dug his fingers a bit further into the dirt.

"Hey, Kinch! I think I found something!" he exclaimed eagerly over his shoulder. The others gathered around him chattering among themselves.

"What is it, Andrew?" asked Kinch with LeBeau leaning forward, hands on knees, looking over Kinch's shoulder. "Did you find it?"

"I think so. I mean, there's something hard buried here…." Carter said as he tried getting a grip on what his fingers touched. Suddenly, a wide grin appeared as he held up the cartridge. "I got it! I got it!" he said excitedly holding it up showing it to everybody. He handed the bullet to Kinch.

"Good going, Andrew," Kinch replied. "There would be no reason for this bullet to be buried in the dirt outside barracks two. It shows that there were two shots fired. The one by Dietrich that struck Colonel Hogan, and this one that was fired by Schultz that went wide and hit the dirt."

"But how do we get Klink to believe it?" asked LeBeau, worried. "He hasn't believed anything we've told him so far. Why should he believe this?"

LeBeau's question momentarily put a damper on the finding of the bullet fired from Schultz's rifle. Gripping the bullet tightly in his hand, Kinch pursed his lips as he thought. He knew the Frenchman was right. Colonel, I really wish you were here right now. I could really use your input on this. I feel like I'm in over my head. What would you do? Suddenly, Kinch's face brightened.

"You've thought of something, didn't you?" LeBeau said knowingly with a grin on his face. "I can see it in your face."

"Yeah, I did, Louie," Kinch replied. "We're gonna bypass Klink and go directly to Burkhalter." He began to smirk like Hogan. Everybody looked at Kinch as if he had lost his mind.

"Go directly to Burkhalter?" LeBeau exclaimed, incredulous. "How do we do that? Burkhalter's not going to believe us much less meet with us prisoners."

"LeBeau's right, Kinch," Carter agreed, puzzled. "How are we gonna get General Burkhalter to listen to prisoners-of-war about Dietrich? You can't get a Kraut to listen to prisoners complain about another Kraut."

Kinch, still smiling while clutching the bullet in his hand, placed his good arm around Carter's shoulders. He looked Carter directly in the eyes. "Because Colonel Klink is going to contact the general and ask him to come to Stalag 13 and tell him all about it…isn't he Kommandant?"

Carter chuckled before it finally hit him what Kinch was suggesting. With a look of horror, he looked around at his friend. "You want me to pretend to be Colonel Klink and call General Burkhalter?" He asked, his eyes wide. "I'll never get away with it. Burkhalter'll know I'm not Klink."

"C'mon, Andrew," Kinch said encouragingly. "You've impersonated German officers before; even the Fuhrer. And you've done it over the phone and in person. This'll be no different."

"But…but…I can't sound like Klink."

"Sure you can, Carter," LeBeau added. "After impersonating Bosche officers, it should be easy to impersonate a chicken with a monocle. Burkhalter will never know the difference."

Carter seemed to blush a bit at the compliment. "You really think I can do it?" he asked Kinch.

"We all do," the radioman said. "Besides, just keep in mind this is not only for all of us, but for Corporal Sanger, Schultz, Newkirk and Colonel Hogan. We've got to get rid of Dietrich. We need you, Andrew."

Carter grinned. "I'll do it then," he said. He looked at Kinch who gave his shoulders a friendly squeeze while the others all patted him on the back.

Derrick sat outside of his barracks thinking about Dietrich. He was smiling to himself. The minute he had noticed most of the prisoners from barracks two searching outside the barracks, he took the opportunity to use the tunnel entrance in his barracks to go below and make his way to the tunnel room where he knew Hogan and his team kept their arsenal, and managed to remove a pistol and two full clips and leave before he was detected. He had the weapon and the clips in his jacket pocket. He was just biding his time before he got rid of Sergeant Karl Dietrich.

Removing a pack of cigarettes, Derrick removed one and stuck it in his mouth before putting the pack back in his pocket. He then removed a lighter and lit the cigarette taking a long drag on it. He watched the puff of smoke disappear. That sick, twisted bastard is gonna pay for what he did to Sanger. I gave Kinch his chance to do something about him and he's still here. So now it's now my turn to get rid of him. He patted the pocket with the weapon and clips in it and before taking another drag on his cigarette. You're gonna pay, Dietrich. And there's not a damn thing you can do to stop me. Your reign of terror at Stalag 13 is comin' to an end. I promise you that!

Prust was walking past the nurses' station talking with Rachel and Mara when from the corner of his eye he noticed Alice looking at him oddly.

"Something I can do for you, Alice?" he asked innocently.

Alice did her best to hide her feelings, although it was no secret she had no love for Americans. "Nothing really, Doctor Prust. I was just wondering how the American Colonel is? Is he all right after everything's that happened?"

"Fortunately he wasn't hurt in any way." Prust's eyes narrowed. "I'm surprised you asked, Alice. I thought you didn't like Americans?" he asked.

Alice feigned embarrassment. "I don't," she readily admitted. "But I am a nurse obligated to help anybody brought to this hospital no matter what nationality they are. Just because I don't like the Americans means I want anything to happen to the American Colonel." Alice was well aware Prust, Rachel and Mara were scrutinizing her carefully and would probably still not permit her into Colonel Hogan's room for any reason whatsoever. And that was all right with her. She already had something in mind how to kill the American without herself being suspected at all. But first, she needed to watch for an opening before she could make her move. As she watched Prust and the two nurses walk away, she sneered at their receding backs.

Your Colonel Hogan will never leave this hospital alive. And once I dispose of him maybe Karl will leave me alone and not come back here again. I have to do this for myself and as payback for that Gestapo soldier who's death he caused by being here. But mostly for me.