A few hours went by, and Hogan had summoned everyone into his quarters for a meeting regarding the ball bearing plant mission London had now assigned them. Hogan lay in his bed, Newkirk stood next to him, as he leaned against the window, Carter sat on the corner of Hogan's desk, Kinch sat in the desk chair, and LeBeau stood on the right side of Kinch.
"What are you thinking, Colonel?" LeBeau asked.
"We need to be careful in how we execute this; by how important London seems to make this assignment, I can already guarantee that it'll be heavily guarded." Hogan answered, trying to think. He got to his feet, put on his blue bathrobe, and started pacing. He could not think sitting still, and he felt well enough to get around, again. His breathing was still shaky and rattled from still having fluid inside his lungs.
"Nothing more than wearing our black suits and throwing over some dynamite on the other side of the fences should be necessary." Newkirk said.
"Yes, but we might have to get closer..." Hogan continued pacing back and forth across the floor, as he thought to himself. "Where would be the place where the guards would least likely have a lot of security around?"
"A bathroom?" Carter questioned, unsure of himself.
"Oh really; and how are you gonna get into the bathroom, Andrew? Tell the guard you need to get past 'em, so you can take care of business?." Newkirk remarked.
Carter was silent, before he replied softly and innocently. "Just a suggestion,"
"What about near the back of the plant, Colonel?" Kinch asked.
Hogan stopped, turned around to face Kinch, and smiled. "Kinch, there's a reason why I have you as second in command." Hogan said, smiling.
Kinch chuckled hanging his head, as he blushed. "Well, Colonel...you don't have to compliment me." Kinch laughed.
Hogan smiled then went back to thinking. He turned to Carter. "Carter, how many explosives can you line up besides a fence in under two minutes?" Hogan asked.
"About fifteen with one other person helping me, Colonel." Carter answered.
"Do we have fifteen explosives?"
"Oh, do I ever, Colonel! I got a whole batch of them in the tunnels. Why, while you were gone I," Hogan cut the young sergeant off.
"That's enough, Carter." Hogan said, holding up a hand. He turned to face LeBeau. "LeBeau, how quick are you?"
"As fast as a leopard, Colonel. I'd be done helping Carter under a minute and thirty seconds." LeBeau responded, full of pride.
"I'll give you an extra thirty to be on the safe side. Tomorrow night, we leave after evening roll call. Carter, get those fifteen explosives ready. LeBeau, you'll help in assisting Carter in anything he needs." Hogan ordered.
"Yes, sir," Carter said.
"Oui, Colonel," LeBeau added.
"Kinch, you and Newkirk go over a map of the plant and find the back of it. We'll enter down from that way." Hogan said to his second in command.
"Yes, Colonel," Kinch answered.
Hogan nodded. "You're all dismissed."
Kinch followed the rest of them out, when Hogan started having another coughing fit. Kinch came back, helped his commanding officer to sit down on his bed, and poured him a glass of water. Hogan drank it down and put the glass back on his footlocker.
"Thank you, Kinch." He said, sighing with relief.
"Need a cough drop, Colonel?" Kinch asked.
"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think it'll do much for me."
"Nasty bug you got there."
"I'm just glad no one else caught it. According to what Klink told me, when he came by to see me yesterday evening, almost every prisoner in Stalag 9 is suffering from a case of pneumonia."
"Just glad that it's gone, Colonel. It made you pretty sick there for a while."
"That it did, indeed."
"Well, we have planning to do, and you need all the rest you can get before tomorrow night."
Hogan nodded then yawned.
"Come to think of it, a nap doesn't sound bad, right now." Hogan said, growing sleepy.
"Don't worry; we'll keep the noise level down." Kinch said, with a wink.
Hogan smiled, as he lay his head on his pillow and spoke tiredly. "Sounds good to me."
Soon the commanding officer was asleep, and Kinch smiled, as he closed the door quietly. He silently made his way over to the table, where Newkirk, LeBeau, and Carter were talking with one another.
"How is he, Kinch?" Carter asked, worried.
"He's fine; he's asleep, now, so make sure you guys and everyone else keeps the noise level to a minimum." Kinch answered, friendly.
"You think Colonel can handle tomorrow night?" LeBeau asked, concerned.
"I think he can handle it; you know how tough the Colonel is." Newkirk said, smiling.
"Then why do I have this horrid feeling that something terrible is gonna happen tomorrow night?"
"I know what you mean; I'm feeling it, too, Louis." Carter commented.
"Oh, come on, guys; we've done missions like this before. Nothing's ever happened to any of us nor Colonel." Kinch said.
"The Gov'nor and all of us will be just fine." Newkirk added.
LeBeau sighed.
"Alright, mon ami; if you think so." LeBeau said, softly.
The next day came and things were normal, as usual. Hogan had felt well enough to once again attend roll call like everyone else. He still had more recovering to do, however, before taking back his position as Senior POW Officer. Besides, he felt Kinch was doing a well enough job he did not need to interfere for a while, yet.
Evening fell with a clear sky, the moon shining bright, and stars twinkling above from the heavens. After evening roll call had taken place, Hogan in his usual everyday attire, and his men in their black suits snuck out of camp using the fake tree stump and went west to eventually end up at the ball bearing plant. Everyone hid behind a tall, thick oak tree, as Hogan went over the plan one last time before letting his men go free.
"Okay; Carter, you and LeBeau will take the explosives down to the fence and line them up one by one. You both have two minutes to finish the job." Hogan began.
"We'll get it done, Colonel." Carter said, softly.
"No worries, Colonel; it shall be done." LeBeau added.
Hogan turned his head to Newkirk and Kinch.
"You two are to hide behind those two trees near the fence and keep watch for any guards coming close by. If you see any at all, you give Carter and LeBeau the signals immediately to get them out of danger." The American colonel ordered.
"Yes, Colonel." Kinch said, softly.
"Don't worry about a thing, Colonel." Newkirk said.
"Colonel, what are you gonna do, sir?" Carter asked, curious.
"I'm gonna hide behind those bushes and keep watch out for all of you. If I see any danger near by that none of you pick up on for some reason, I'm gonna order your immediate returns, got it?" Hogan asked, more like ordered.
"Yes, Colonel." A chorus sang out.
Hogan nodded.
"Alright…" Hogan looked down at his watch, then at the gate, then at his men, again. "Go."
All four men vigilantly made their ways to their posts and began carrying out their orders. As Carter and LeBeau set out the explosives and timers, Newkirk and Kinch stood guard behind the thick, masculine oak trees and kept watch on their friends. Hogan knelt behind the bush and watch over all his men.
After what felt like forever, everyone had finally finished their jobs altogether and met back with Hogan in his hiding spot. The commanding officer turned to face Carter and looked at him firmly.
"How long did you put for the timers, before the bombs go off?" Hogan asked.
"Three minutes, Colonel." Carter answered.
Hogan nodded.
"Alright, everyone move out, and make it quick." Hogan ordered softly.
The four men nodded and followed Hogan's orders. The American colonel followed them behind shortly afterwards. He stopped after a bit and began suffering a vicious coughing attack. Thankfully, no one, not even his own men, heard him being too far away. After it passed, Hogan continued walking, when he felt as if he were forgetting something. Thinking it was nothing much, he continued walking then stopped, again. He felt his head suddenly, and realized his hat was not there on his head. Knowing it was a major concern, he turned around and went back to go searching for it. Having the whole coughing spell taking him by surprise, he had forgotten entirely that there were explosives that would soon go off in another minute or so.
Farther ahead, Carter, LeBeau, Kinch, and Newkirk had made it back to safety to watch the explosion take place. Kinch turned around to make sure everyone was there, and began to worry, when he did not see Hogan nearby. He remained calm, knowing he had to check quick with everyone else. He turned to Carter and LeBeau, who had been walking ahead of him and Newkirk.
"Carter, LeBeau, is Colonel up there with you guys?" Kinch asked.
"No," Carter answered, innocently.
"We thought he was behind you and Pierre." LeBeau said, beginning to worry.
Kinch looked back at Newkirk, who had just made his way towards everyone.
"Newkirk, is Colonel following you?" Kinch asked.
Newkirk turned back to see if his commanding officer was behind him. He turned back to face Kinch after checking.
"No, is he up there by Andrew and Louis?" Newkirk asked.
"No, mon ami." LeBeau answered, worried.
"We thought he was behind you, Newkirk." Carter said, growing scared, too.
"If he isn't up there with you mates...and he's not behind Kinch and I...then where is he?" Newkirk asked.
Kinch was about to make a guess, when the four of them all heard a massive parade of explosions go off. All four of them snapped their heads back to where they had just walked from and stared wide-eyed.
"Oh, please say it isn't so!" LeBeau gasped.
Carter was fighting back from beginning to cry, but he was so in shock, he could hardly do anything.
Newkirk began running back to where they were, when Kinch tackled Newkirk and grabbing hold of him from running any further.
"Kinch, get your hands off of me!" Newkirk cried.
"Don't go back, Newkirk!" Kinch ordered.
"I need to go back! I promised him!" Newkirk snapped back, shoving against Kinch's firm grip.
"It's too dangerous!"
"I'm not gonna leave the Gov'nor there to die!"
"He wouldn't want us to risk our lives for him!"
Newkirk found enough strength to shove Kinch off of him and darted back down through the trees and hills back to where they had been and where he had last seen Hogan. Kinch, Carter, and LeBeau soon followed after Newkirk.
When Newkirk returned to where they had been, he saw the whole ball bearing plant engulfed in flames. It was obvious that none of the guards had survived, but he was determined to find and save Hogan from being another casualty.
"Colonel," Newkirk hollered over the roaring of the flames. No response came to him. "Gov'nor, where are yah?" Nothing. "COLONEL!" Newkirk hollered. He scanned out every possible area of land and found a body laying on its side a few yards away from the bushes where Hogan had been hiding and resting near another part of the forest surrounding the area. Newkirk ran to it and knelt besides it, then he turned it flat on his back and recognized who it was instantly. "Colonel," Newkirk quivered.
Hogan was unconscious, covered in tar, smoke, dust, and sweat. His bomber jacket, shoes, and pants were covered with dirt and smoke powder. There was a big splotch of red on his belly seeping through his khaki shirt. Another pool of blood was coming from the lower part of the back of Hogan's head. Newkirk took a handkerchief from his pocket and applied pressure to the back of Hogan's head to clot the bleeding. He would have done the same for his belly, but was too concerned about possibly pushing in any shrapnel that came off from the bombs or the fences.
Kinch, Carter, and LeBeau found Newkirk and rushed to his side. LeBeau and Carter all shuddered at the sight, and Kinch got down to help Newkirk aide with Hogan.
"Colonel," Carter whimpered, fighting back from crying.
"Mon Colonel," LeBeau barely spoke. He knew if he spoke any louder, he would start bawling, like Carter was about to.
Kinch held the handkerchief that Newkirk had been applying pressure to Hogan's head with and began to do it himself.
"Newkirk, help me carry him. We've gotta get him to a hospital, now!" Kinch ordered, trying to remain calm. He was just as scared as everyone else.
"Kinch...is he...is he alive?" Carter croaked, shaky.
"Yes, but he won't be for long, if we don't get him to the hospital." Kinch answered, more frantic than he intended to sound.
"Do any of you know where the closest hospital is?" LeBeau quivered.
"There's one a mile down the road. We can make it there in thirty minutes, if we run." Newkirk said.
"We can't go to the hospital; not dressed like this! Two of us should go back to camp and get gestapo uniforms." Carter exclaimed.
"We won't need a hospital, if we do that! Colonel could be dead before we came back to him here. Dr. Klaussner works at that hospital; he'll cover for us." Kinch said out loud.
LeBeau, Newkirk, and Carter all nodded in agreement. They knew who the man was and trusted him greatly.
"Come on, guys; let's go!" Kinch ordered.
Newkirk and Carter helped Kinch lift up Hogan's body gently and dashed through the forest to the road with LeBeau following close behind them. As soon as they made it to the road, they started running even faster towards the hospital, and they would not stop until they arrived to their destination.