Chapter 24

The following morning, both Hogans and the other men fell out for roll call and stood in formation. Schultz counted each prisoner and paused in front of Hogan number two giving the man a look of disdain.

"What are you looking at?" hissed Hogan number two, eyes flashing dangerously, and a sneer on his face.

"Noth-ing," Schultz replied calmly. "Absolutely…positively…noth-ing." He then counted Hogan number one who only shrugged his shoulders, and turned when hearing Klink's booming voice. The guard exchanged salutes with the Kommandant. "All prisoners present and accounted for, Herr Kommandant."

"Excellent, Schultz," Klink replied. "And what about Corporal Newkirk?"

"Sergeant Wilson and I checked on the Englander before roll call. He is in the cooler and recovering nicely. Sergeant Wilson said the Englander should make a full and complete recovery."

Klink nodded at this information; then, his blue eyes meet the brown ones of Hogan number one. The two men simply stared at each other with no words being spoken. Privately, the Kommandant was glad the Englander would make a complete recovery, and his feelings could be seen in his eyes. Hogan number one slightly nodded to indicate he understood what Klink was unable to say out loud.

"Very good, Schultz," Klink remarked tightening his grip on his riding crop held tightly under his arm. "You may dismiss your men."

Schultz saluted. "Jawohl, Herr Kommandant." He then turned to the prisoners. "All prisoners, diss-missssed."

Klink started back to his office as he saw the prisoners disperse out of the corner of his eyes. He stopped and turned. "Colonel Hogan number one, a moment if you please in my office."

Hogan number two was halfway to the door of the barracks when he heard the Kommandant call out to the other Hogan and his interest was peaked. He watched the two men walking in the direction of the Kommandantur, and immediately wanted to know what they would be discussing. He also saw Hogan number one glance over his shoulder at the men but didn't notice Hogan catching the eyes of Garlotti specifically. He waited until he saw both men enter the building before he started towards the Kommandantur himself, but was stopped by Garlotti who gently grabbed his arm. The man turned and looked first at the hand holding his arm, and then raised his eyes to stare at Garlotti.

"Whatever you want can it wait a bit? I have something I need to do first," Hogan number two said trying to pull his arm free; but Garlotti held on tightly.

"Carter said I could talk with you," Garlotti said in a low voice. "I…I'm starting to have doubts about Colonel Hogan. It's just that…well…I need to talk with you and hear your side. Carter says you make some valid points and I'd like to hear more."

Hogan number two tilted his head slightly as he narrowed his eyes and studied the prisoner suspiciously. "And just why do you suddenly doubt Colonel Hogan if I may ask?"

Garlotti shrugged innocently. "I'm not really sure. I guess maybe it had something to do with him refusing to get Newkirk outta the cooler. He plans on leaving him there and that's not fair. I mean, it wasn't right that he hit you like he did, but he doesn't deserve thirty days in the cooler. He's always been a bit of a hothead. Besides, Andrew told me if I started having doubts I could talk with you."

Hogan number two glanced over at the Kommandantur then looked back at Garlotti. He searched the man's eyes for any indication that he might be lying and didn't see anything. But still, an inner voice was telling him something didn't feel right. But he had no indication yet that anything was amiss. He folded his arms and stared at Garlotti.

"Okay then, let's talk. What do you want to know?" he asked.

Garlotti looked nervously around the compound and spotted several prisoners eying him from nearby barracks. He swallowed hard. "Not here," he said. "Can we talk somewhere private like the gym, or maybe behind another barracks? Some of the guys have been giving me funny looks lately, and I don't want to be seen talking to you in the open." He noticed Hogan number two watching him intently, so, Garlotti glanced over at the men staring at him again and looked at the officer. He licked his lips nervously. "Please?" he said begging.

Sighing wearily, Hogan number two glanced at the Kommandantur then quickly decided turning another of Hogan's men who would do his dirty work for him was too enticing to let pass by. He gently pulled his arm out of Garlotti's grasp and draped it around the man's shoulders. "Let's talk," he said with a grin. "But not in the gym. Where would you like to go so we won't be disturbed?"

Garlotti thought for a minute as he looked around again, and noticed Kinch and LeBeau standing outside barracks two glaring at him and the phony. He turned back to Hogan number two. "I don't want to be anywhere near barracks two. Let's use barracks seven. It's empty. Nobody will bother us there."

"Okay," Hogan number two replied with a smirk and walked beside Garlotti until they disappeared from sight.

Watching them from their position outside barracks two, Kinch opened the door of the barracks and looked inside. "Olsen? It's clear."

Seconds later, Olsen appeared outside beside Kinch and LeBeau. "Wish us luck," he said with a grin.

"Bonne chance, mon ami," said LeBeau; Kinch gripped Olsen on the shoulder before the Sergeant hurried away in the direction of the dog pen. Kinch then looked at the diminutive Frenchman. "Nervous?" he asked.

LeBeau smiled faintly. "Non. But I will be glad when this entire mess is over."

Kinch sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "So will I."

Hogan number one tossed his crush cap on top of Klink's humidor and sat down in the chair facing the desk, waiting. He watched the Kommandant standing at the liquor cabinet pouring two glasses of what Hogan suspected was the cheap stuff, but right now it didn't matter.

Klink turned, approached Hogan, and handed him one of the snifters before sitting down behind his desk. He raised his own in a salute before taking a sip; Hogan duplicated the action.

"What's going on, Kommandant?" Hogan asked suspiciously. "You didn't ask me here just to have a drink. So, what's up?" He crossed his legs.

Klink finished his drink, sat the empty snifter aside, and clasped his hands on his desk. He took a deep breath and tried to put his words in order plus figure out how he was going to break the news to the man seated in front of him.

Hogan was unable to explain why, but he suddenly felt a chill run up his spine. And the look on Klink's face did little to ease that feeling. He shifted slightly in his seat. "Kommandant? Is there something you want to tell me but are having trouble finding the right words?"

Klink swallowed. "Hogan, I have some news that's going to be as difficult for you to hear as it will be for me to tell you."

Hogan swallowed the growing lump that had been forming in his throat, then, he swallowed the remainder of the alcohol letting it burn his throat on its way down. He slowly leaned forward and placed the now empty glass on the edge of the Kommandant's desk before leaning back in his seat. "Then let me save you the trouble, Kommandant, and venture a guess," Hogan said. "The Gestapo is coming to remove either me or me and our friend from this camp."

"It's worse than that, Hogan," Klink admitted softly. "Before roll call this morning, I received a phone call from General Burkhalter. I told him some progress had been made in deciding which of you is the real Hogan. But he was adamant in his decision. I believe he is getting heat from his superiors. Today is Monday. He is giving me until this Friday to resolve the situation. And if by Friday a decision has not been made, he has ordered me to…to have both you and the other Hogan turned over to the Gestapo for them to do what they want." Klink bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Hogan."

Hogan couldn't believe his ears. "He can't do that, sir," he said in a raised voice. "You know what that'll mean. One of us or both of us will be executed. And if it's only one of us, I can guarantee you I'll be at the top of Hochstetter's list for the firing squad."

Klink raised his head. "Don't you think I know that?" he replied. "I begged him to give me more time, but he wouldn't hear of it. He said the decision was final and that the Gestapo would be here Saturday morning and remove both of you, and if I refused to comply, I'd be sent to the Russian front. I am truly sorry, Hogan."

Shaken, Hogan didn't even hear Klink's apology. He just sat, dazed, at what he had been told, his mind furiously trying to process the information and come up with some sort of plan. But right now he couldn't even think. All he knew was he had five days to clear up this mystery or he would have to shut down the operation and get everybody out before then. Sighing, he looked at Klink. "Is that all, Kommandant?" he asked grabbing his crush cap and starting to get to his feet.

Klink started to reply when there were suddenly a lot of loud voices heard through the slightly open window along with the barking of many dogs. "What is happening?" the Kommandant asked getting to his feet and looking through the window with Hogan just to the side of him, looking out as well. The guards and prisoners were chasing the dogs from the dog pen around the compound with the dogs occasionally snapping and growling at the guards. It was at that precise moment that the door to Klink's office opened, and an out-of-breath Schultz hurried inside, closed the door behind him, and leaned against it heavily.

Klink closed the window and looked at his obese guard. "Schultz, what is going on out there? How did those dogs get loose from the dog pen?"

"I know nothing, Herr Kommandant. Noth-ing!" Schultz kept his large bulk pressed against the door.

Klink started towards the door but his arm was grabbed by Hogan. "I wouldn't go out there, Kommandant," he said. "Those dogs are vicious killers. They're liable to tear you to shreds."

Klink paled and nodded nervously. "You could be right." He turned and pulling away from Hogan, proceeded to open the window and yell out his orders, but Hogan spotted one of the dogs he recognized as Heidi, charging in the direction of the open window and quickly slammed it shut and locked it. He then watched the dog sit down, stare upward at his face, and wag her tail. Klink, not seeing the animal sitting down, looked at his American counterpart. "Why did you close the window, Hogan?"

"Kommandant, in case you hadn't noticed, there was a vicious snarling dog charging straight for this window and might have gotten inside the office if I hadn't closed it."

"That was very wise of you," Klink replied sitting down behind his desk again chewing on his thumbnail. He didn't notice Hogan still looking through the frosted window and spotted one of his men chasing two of the guard dogs whom he knew wouldn't hurt any of the prisoners, in the direction of the radio detector truck. As the dogs leaped inside the truck, Hogan smirked watching the Gestapo agents trip over each other getting out of the truck and run as fast as they could to get away from the snarling dogs. He watched as the confusion continued, as Kinch and LeBeau approached, unnoticed by anybody, the rear end of the truck. Kinch kept lookout as LeBeau stuck the potato inside the exhaust pipe.

"Don't push it in too far," Kinch reminded the diminutive Frenchman. "We need to be able to get it out before the truck leaves the camp. We don't need the mechanics to find it."

"I know, mon ami," LeBeau agreed wiping his hands on his thighs. "Hochstetter would come directly here and arrest the Colonel."

Inside barracks seven, the sounds of dogs barking and prisoners shouting caught the attention of Hogan number two and Garlotti. Hogan number two's eyes narrowed as he slightly turned his head towards the door.

"What the hell's going on out there?" he asked the open air around him.

"Sounds like dogs," Garlotti replied looking nervous as he got to his feet and followed Hogan number two to the door. The man opened the door and looked out to see guard dogs running around barking and growling and guards chasing them trying to catch them, and prisoners running around trying to avoid the animals. Garlotti, in a panic, reached out and slammed the door shut. "Those dogs are killers," he said anxiously. "We should be safe if we remain in here until the guards catch them all."

Hogan number two studied Garlotti's face suspiciously. "I wonder just how did those dogs get loose anyway?"

Garlotti shrugged. "I've heard some of the guards talking about the lock on the dog pen needing to be replaced and that it might not hold up if one of the dogs leaned against the door. Guess the Kommandant never had it fixed because the dogs got loose."

"Uh-huh," was all Hogan number two said as he cracked open the door to observe what was happening in the compound. And Garlotti was grateful that from their position, the truck and the Kommandantur were blocked from their view.

About forty-five minutes later, things had quieted down outside. Hogan, who had been staring out the window the entire time, glanced over at Klink who had been sitting with elbows on his desk and his chin resting on balled fists. "Looks like the guards have gotten all the dogs back in the pen, Kommandant," he said.

Klink looked up and in the direction of his Sergeant-of-the-Guard who, with head covered, was still leaning against the door. "Schultz, go outside and see what's happening. Make sure all the dogs are back in their pen."

Schultz looked up, pale, and swallowing hard. "Me, Herr Kommandant?" he squeaked.

"Yes, you," Klink said with a bit of authority as Hogan was present. "What do you want to be known as, Schultz? A coward or a hero?"

"Would being a coward be so bad, Herr Kommandant?" the guard stammered.

Klink got to his feet and pointed to the door. "Go outside, you coward, and see what is going on, then report back to me immediately." He sat back down.

"Ye…ye…yes, sir." Schultz then cracked open the office door, peeked outside, and saw nothing. Only then did he exit the office slowly, closing the door behind him.

Hogan walked away from the window, heading for the liquor cabinet. "I'm proud of you, Kommandant," he said as he poured two snifters of Schnapps. He handed one to Klink and raised his in a salute.

Klink, puzzled, did the same. "Proud of me? Why? What for?" he asked holding his snifter up as he looked at Hogan who sat slowly back down.

"Well, I mean the way you sent Schultz to face whatever unknown danger might be out there while you stayed here inside your nice safe office." He took a sip of the alcohol. "Yes, sir, that takes real guts. I can't wait until General Burkhalter finds out about this and comes out here to investigate. I'll be proud to tell him how you stayed safely inside while sending others into danger. I'm positive you'll make at least General for this, sir." He saw Klink stiffen at the mention of Burkhalter's name. He watched Klink down his drink in one gulp and then got quickly to his feet, grabbing his riding crop and cap off his desk. He marched towards the door.

"Going somewhere, Kommandant?" Hogan asked innocently.

"Yes. I can't have General Burkhalter thinking I'm afraid to confront any problems in Stalag 13 personally." He pulled open the door.

"Wait for me, sir," Hogan said eagerly downing his drink quickly and getting up. "I can't wait to watch the Iron Colonel in action." He followed Klink through the door. Reaching the porch, he spotted Kinch and LeBeau peeking out from behind the side of the Kommandantur. Hogan nodded at them and mouthed the words 'thirty minutes or less.'

Nodding in response, as soon as Hogan and Klink walked away, Kinch and LeBeau hurried inside the building to carry out their assignment.

Now that all the dogs had been corralled and returned to their pen, the two Gestapo guards returned to their truck to resume their duties. But to their horror, they discovered everything in the truck was shorted out including the radio detection equipment.

"Major Hochstetter is not going to be pleased to hear this," one guard remarked as he kept turning the key hoping the engine would turn over, but nothing happened. "I wonder what happened? Everything was working before those dogs got inside the truck." He finally slammed his hand on the steering wheel in frustration.

"I bet those dogs did something while in here," said the other. "Probably chewed on a wire or something and shorted out everything."

"Regardless," the first agent said. "We have to let the Major know so he can get another truck out here even though it'll take three days to do it. But what else can we do?"

"Nothing," his partner replied grimly. "Absolutely nothing."

Klink stood beside Schultz and Hogan number one outside the dog pen. Schultz was examining the lock on the door.

"Well, Dumnkopf?" asked Klink impatiently. "Is the lock broken or not?"

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant," Schultz admitted after he and two other guards managed to attach a temporary lock on the pen door. "It looks like it was broken by the dogs jumping up against it as they do."

Hogan feigned anger. "You better get that thing fixed quickly, sir," he demanded. "Those dogs are vicious and as long as they can get out, my men are in danger of being injured or worse. According to the Geneva Convention, prisoners are not allowed to be chased around the camp by guard dogs as a form of exercise, and I will protest to the protecting power…"

Klink gave Hogan an annoyed look. "Hogan, the Geneva Convention says nothing about dogs chasing prisoners. And the lock will be fixed as soon as possible."

Hogan folded his arms and sighed. "I wonder what General Burkhalter will have to say? You'd just better hope one of those dogs doesn't get loose and bites the General right in his medals."

Klink stiffened then turned to his rotund Sergeant. "Schultz, see that the lock on the dog pen door is fixed immediately."

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant," Schultz replied with a salute.

While Klink and Schultz continued talking, Hogan glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of Kinch and LeBeau heading in the direction of one of the other barracks. Kinch gave the 'thumbs up' sign to Hogan who kept his face impassive. He then turned back to Klink and Schultz. Hearing a whine, Hogan looked down and saw Bruno poking his nose through the fence nuzzling the Colonel's hand. Making sure nobody was watching, Hogan scratched the dog's muzzle for a few seconds; then, Bruno licked Hogan's fingers in return before turning and moving away. Suddenly, Bruno turned and faced Schultz and Klink, baring his teeth as a loud growl emitted from his throat.

Both Klink and Schultz stepped back while Hogan, wrapping his arms around himself, smirked. "At least Bruno knows who the enemy is," he told himself.