The prisoners who had found themselves hidden at a prisoner of war camp of all things were getting worried. Sargent Collins had heard the man on the radio talking to the submarine and knew that Colonel Hogan and his men could miss the scheduled pick up. There was some general now at the camp and the men had to be very careful.
As Andrew Carter came down to the tunnel to work on the demolition equipment, he was approached by Sargent Collins and the rest of the men. He had to reassure them once more that everything was going to be all right. The submarine was not due in the area for another few days. Carter knew that it was hard sitting in a dark cold tunnel waiting for a rendezvous with a submarine, but the men were going to have to patient.
The men of the barracks were just about ready for the bombing of the plant and now they were going to have to wait for the General to make his move. They knew that Albert Burkhalter was trying his best to get rid of his sister Gertrude. She was very bossy and he already had to contend with his wife and the other generals. Then of all things he had to put up with men like Colonel Klink.
As the General went into town to tell his sister about the Colonel's interest he laughed to himself. 'What on Earth was he thinking ? The last thing that he needed was to have that idiot Klink as a brother in law. The first thing he was going to do once the man was married to his sister was to send him to the Russian front. That is what he had done with her last husband.
Gertrude was in the parlor of the home that her brother had provided for her, when she heard his car pull up. 'I hope he hasn't found someone for me to date again. It is such a pain in the neck having all these men trying to make points with her brother. The last thing she needed was Colonel Klink coming over.' She knew that he had been at Stalag 13 and she cringed at the thought.
As Albert walked up the stairs to his sister's home he looked around. The house was a nice house with a large floral garden. It was peaceful and far from any war. If you did not know there was a war going on, you would not be able to tell by the house. She had servants and a car at her disposal at all times. Soon, he would be leaving the area once again and he looked forward to that.
They had not been close as siblings when they had been growing up, but now that she was a widow Albert's mother insisted that he take care of her. Gertrude was a very determined woman and fully capable of taking care of herself. She did not need his help, but he felt obligated to his mother and so he did take good care of her. That is why he needed to find her a husband and find her a husband fast.
The trouble was that every able bodied man who was between the ages of fourteen and sixty-five was now out fighting for the father land. There was very slim pickings in the area. Gertrude insisted on having no less than a major for a suitor , which was near impossible for him to find. Except for the occasional officer that came through town for a short time, there were just a very few men. Unfortunately for her and him Klink was about all of the men in the area who were eligible to date her.
As Albert took a seat in the large chair next to the door he smiled at Gertrude. She looked up at him and recognized the look. He wanted her to do something for him, and he did not have the courage to ask her. She looked at him and smiled. It was a mean smile, she found it quite comical that here a big General, a man who spoke to Hitler himself, was nervous to ask something of her. She asked him "What is on your mind today Albert?"
Albert cleared his throat and told her "Colonel Klink would like to come and see you this evening if that is acceptable." He watched for any signs of what his sister was going to say for an answer, but she looked at him stoically. There were no words for a matter of what seemed hours, but in reality was probably just a few moments and then his sister spoke. "Albert, that nervous stuttering man makes me nervous. But, since he is just about all that is available in all of Germany at this time, he will be welcome to come for a visit."
Albert Burkhalter breathed a sigh of relief and told her "The Colonel will be by this evening. I will ask him to call you as soon as I speak to him." With that Albert got up and got back into his private staff car. He was genuinely glad to get back to work.
Colonel Hogan and his men always made an attempt to listen to the conversations on the phone with the coffee pot. Because of their situation, that was not always possible. But, they were waiting for the Colonel to leave the Stalag so that they could do their mission and so an extra effort had been made to listen to all of the calls.
The call finally came through at two o'clock. The General told Klink that his sister Gertrude had agreed to meet with him and that he was to call her at this number. The men noted the number for future reference and the Colonel wrote it down too. After the call there was silence in the office for several minutes. They could picture Klink pacing back and forth in the office, not knowing what to do. Colonel Hogan was getting ready to go to Colonel Klink's office and give the Colonel a good old fashioned push . He wanted to make Klink go into town and meet with Gertrude.
But as Hogan headed out of the door, they heard Klink on the phone. He was calling Gertrude to make a date. He really was a blubbering idiot and they thought that Gertrude must have been very desperate to even agree to meet with Klink. After just five minutes though, the date was set and now it was time for Hogan and their men to get ready for tonight.