Chapter 2:
"Schultz! Reeepoooooooort!" Klink bellowed, walking down the steps of his office and towards his sergeant-of-the-guard. When he arrived, Schultz gave his commander a strong salute, getting one back from the man himself.
"Herr Kommandant, all prisoners present and accounted for." The fluffy sergeant reported.
"Very good, Schultz. Gentlemen, General Burkhalter is coming later today for an important meeting, and I do not want any funny business to go on during his visit." Klink began.
"Kommandant, you've been listening to Schultz too much," Hogan said, giving a smile filled with mischief.
"Colonel Hogan, I want you especially to behave. If my orders are not followed to the fullest, the entire barracks will lose two weeks worth of recreational activity!"
All fifteen men moaned and became upset at the threat.
"Kommandant, that's cruel and indecent punishment! It's a violation of the Geneva Convention!" The American officer argued.
"My threat withstands, Hogan. You can't change my mind this time. General Burkhalter will be here soon, and I expect complete cooperation. Got it?" Klink replied, his tone more serious than usual.
The men of barracks two gave another moan, but one of surrender.
"Diiissssssmiiiiiiiissssed," the kommandant said, with a salute, then turned on his boot and made his way back to his office with Schultz following behind him.
The prisoners disbursed to their morning routines, while Hogan's men gathered around the colonel himself and looked in the direction Klink had gone off into.
"Hey, Colonel. What's Klink's problem?" Carter asked.
"Yah heard 'im, Ol' Burkhalter is paying a visit," Newkirk said.
"And you know just how worked up Klink gets when Burkhalter comes to visit." Kinch added.
"Why do you think Burkhalter's coming anyways, Colonel?" LeBeau asked, with curiosity.
"I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it sure has Klink shaking," Hogan said, crossing his arms.
"What do you want us to do, Sir?" Kinch asked.
"For the moment, all we can do is wait for Burkhalter to arrive." The colonel answered.
Gustav Klink, or Silvermist known as in the underground, kicked one of the two flat tires he had on his car in slight fury. He was on his way to Dusseldorf for a family reunion and now was stranded on the side of the road. His only companion was his 15 year old great niece, Kalina, who also was an underground member and the daughter of Stalag 13's Kommandant Klink. (1)
Kalina stood near the rear of the car and watched her great uncle, as he grew increasingly frustrated with their situation.
"Can you fix it, Uncle Gustav?" The girl finally asked, with hesitance.
The old man sighed heavily and looked back down at the deflated wheels.
"Not unless you got two spare tires, bud. This old hunk of metal isn't going anywhere otherwise," Gustav said.
"What do we do, then?"
The man in question was silent for a brief moment, turned his head to the direction ahead of him, then back to Kalina.
"You think you might be able to make it to Stalag 13 from here?"
"Yes, but what about you? Won't you come with me?" The young girl remarked.
"I'm going to stay here and wait for someone to get me to the nearest car garage. You go to Stalag 13 and stay there until I come get you. Use this as your excuse for getting into camp. You know your orders from Otto on what to do from there." (2)
Kalina had been assigned to help Hogan and his men with another assignment and needed to be stationed in her father's POW camp until it was completed. She had urgent news to get to the American and could possibly be a make or break for his operation.
She nodded, knowing her orders, and would follow through on them to the fullest.
"Yes, Sir. Be careful, Uncle Gustav," she said sincerely.
Gustav smiled and patted her shoulder gently.
"Viel Glück, mein Lieber," he said, his eyes sparkling like stars.
Kalina gave her great uncle a kiss on the cheek, nodded once more, then started her trek towards Stalag 13. She was going home once again.
The walk took about an hour to complete, but she finally stood less than 50 feet from the gate entrance to the toughest POW camp in Germany. She could see guards aimlessly wandering around, prisoners participating in various activities, and several more guards keeping post at the gate.
Kalina beamed with joy at the sight. She had missed Stalag 13. She was excited to see Hogan and the gang, Schultz, the other guards, and her father most of all. Her father. The thought of him only made her smile more. Her kind, gentle, humorous father that knew exactly how to make her day. Seeing him again was the icing on the cake.
With all the people she loved in mind, Kalina ran to the front entrance and stopped once she was less than two feet from the gate. She looked up at how tall it was, scanned who was guarding it, then called out a command in German.
"Lass mich rein! Ich muss mit dem Kommandanten sprechen!"
The guards at the gate turned to see what the commotion was, recognized who the visitor was, and immediately permitted her entrance into camp.
Kalina saluted the two guards, received the same in return from them, then continued walking further into the compound. She felt her muscles tense when she saw both a Luftwaffe staff car and a Gestapo staff car parked outside her father's office. She knew the one was Hochstetter's car, but was unsure of who owned the second one. It looked like a car someone sent from Berlin would own. Then it dawned on her: General Burkhalter. Her father's commanding officer must be here as well. And Hochstetter and Burkhalter both present in camp was not a good sign for anyone.
Taking an uneven breath in, she hurried up the stairs of the kommandantur and made her way quickly into her father's office. She made a bolt to the door, when the young girl was unexpectedly stopped by a Gestapo officer, a lieutenant, standing guard from the outside.
"Entschuldigung, Herr Leutnant. I must see Kommandant Klink, bitte. It's very urgent," Kalina said, using all her energy to remain calm under the man's stare.
"I'm sorry, Fraulein, but I cannot permit you inside. Orders of General Burkhalter and Major Hochstetter," the man said gently.
"I must see my father, Herr Leutnant. It is very important."
"Your father," he gasped. " Who is your father?"
"Kommandant Klink. I must see him, please, Herr Leutnant."
"You're the daughter of Herr Kommandant?"
"Jawohl."
Still a bit suspicious, yet completely stunned at what he was hearing, the lieutenant snapped his eyes to the door behind him and back at the small teenager before him.
"Wait here, kleines Fraulein," he ordered.
The man turned around, grabbed the doorknob, then made his way inside the kommandant's office.
"400 pounds of ammunition, Klink! Completely destroyed!" Hochstetter ranted, before the presence of both the camp kommandant himself and General Burkhalter, who was standing on the left of the short Gestapo officer.
Klink's gentle blue eyes grew in size with horror. 400 pounds of ammo? That was near impossible to replace in this time of the war.
"Completely destroyed!" He gasped.
"Sabotaged by members of the underground." Burkhalter added, no expression to his face.
"General Burkhalter, that's terrible!"
"I already know that, Klink," the general said, a hint of a growl deep in his voice.
"Yes, Sir, I know," the colonel answered, nodding his head with a grim look on his face.
"Then shut up and listen."
Klink nodded and said nothing. He turned his attention back to Hochstetter and proceeded to listen on to what the Gestapo major had to say.
"The railroad the train was taking is approximately seven miles from this camp. Not only was our ammunition demolished, but everyone on that train were killed in the explosion."
"Those on it were either Luftwaffe or Gestapo personnel assigned to guard the ammunition on its way to France," Burkhalter added.
"Klink," Hochstetter said, starting to make his way towards the kommandant's desk. "Where was Colonel Hogan last night between midnight and 2AM?"
"Major Hochstetter, surely you don't think one of my prisoners sabotaged the train," Klink said, growing a smile on his face.
"Colonel Hogan is not an average prisoner, Herr Kommandant. Where was he, Klink?" The major growled, slamming his fist down hard on the desk.
The German colonel jumped in his seat and stared at Hochstetter like a deer in headlights.
"Major Hochstetter, I…" Klink never got to finish his thought, when the door to his office opened, and Hochstetter's man entered.
"Herr General, Herr Major, there is someone here to see the Kommandant," the lieutenant reported.
"I am in the middle of an important conversation with General Burkhalter and Major Hochstetter! Tell them to go away and come back another time." Klink demanded, but with caution. This was a Gestapo lieutenant after all.
"She says it is very urgent, Herr Kommandant."
"I don't care what they said! I want them to leave immediately and not to...did you just say she?" The Luftwaffe colonel grew worried at the hearing of his visitor being a female. There was only one female that ever visited him on occasion: General Burkhalter's sister.
He was about to ask in hesitation for the woman's identity, when the lieutenant stepped aside and allowed the small figure to enter the room. Klink went from worried to shocked like the flick of a light switch: it was his daughter, Kalina.
"Kalina!" Klink gasped.
The young teen ran to her father and held him tight in her arms. The kommandant held his daughter close and checked to see if she was injured or ill.
"What are you doing here, süßling? Are you alright?" Klink asked, with frantic.
"I'm fine, Papa. Uncle Gustav's car broke down a mile back and said to come here for safety until further notice." Kalina answered calmly.
Klink looked up from his daughter to General Burkhalter.
"General Burkhalter, I assure you my daughter will not repeat a word of this conversation to anyone, I swear!" He promised.
"Very well. She may stay." The general granted.
The lieutenant saluted, then made his way back out into the outer office and closed the door.
Kalina looked at the big general tentatively. So this was her father's commanding officer. He had a vibe of authority and strictness to him. It made her hesitant to even speak to the man. Then there was Hochstetter. She was familiar with the man from her previous visit to Stalag 13, but he still scared her to death. The lieutenant, who she assumed was one of his men, did little to comfort her in the major's presence.
Kalina continued to hug her father and remain as close to him as possible. She felt safer with him around.
Once things had settled down, Klink turned his attention back to the Gestapo officer before him.
"As you were saying, Major Hochstetter," he said, a hint of fear in his voice.
"I want to know where Colonel Hogan was last night, and I want to know now!" The major demanded.
"Major Hochstetter, you can ask any one of my guards, and they will tell you the exact same thing. Colonel Hogan was in his barracks asleep last night. I had their barracks guarded by my toughest, most superior guard here at Stalag 13."
"I was not aware of Sergeant Schultz leaving camp." Burkhalter commented.
"Sergeant Schultz never left camp, Herr General. He was the one I was referring to," Klink said.
"Of course he was…" The general answered, unamused.
"Papa, what would one of your prisoners have to do with a train explosion? No one has ever escaped your camp." Kalina questioned, acting confused. Of course she knew Hogan was behind the explosion, though. It was the exact reason she had come to Stalag 13: to warn him he was in possible danger of being compromised.
"He doesn't need reminding of that, my dear...he knows that already himself." Burkhalter grumbled, highly irritated. It was like he was looking at an exact replica of Klink. Except this one was a female, smaller in size, and actually had a brain and hair on her head.
"He better hope none of his prisoners were involved," Hochstetter said. He started to make his threatening way towards Klink, making the kommandant back up a few steps. "If I find out that Hogan had anything to do with this, he will not be the only that serves consequences. I will take you, Klink, to Gestapo Headquarters and interrogate you so intensely you'll collapse from exhaustion."
Kalina's mouth dropped and held on to her father tighter. Take him? To Gestapo Headquarters?! Where she would never see him again?! That was the worst nightmare she could ever face. She couldn't face it. Without her father, Kalina felt as if she was nothing. She simply would not be able to live anymore.
"No...no, don't take him away! He wouldn't do anything to hurt Germany! My papa's the most loyal German officer there is, he wouldn't do such a thing!" The small teenager pleaded, terror filling her voice.
"Major Hochstetter, you may ask me any question you like, but my answer will remain the same. Colonel Hogan was here last night and asleep in his barracks," Klink said, with a sudden burst of bravery in him. When it came down to his little girl, the kommandant had nerves of steal. He was still shivering slightly under Hochstetter's stare, but he stood tall and had a more intimidating look to his face.
"BAH!" The major bellowed, then stormed towards the door. "I'll be back later with more of my men! Anyone caught entering or leaving this camp will be shot!"
"Yes, Major," the kommandant said, with depression.
On that note, Hochstetter slammed the door behind him.
Now in tears, Kalina buried her face into her father's side and began sobbing softly. Klink held her close, ran his fingers through her soft hair, and hushed her gently.
"I'm alright. Major Hochstetter will not take me away, I promise," the colonel said sincerely.
"General Burkhalter…" Kalina wept. "Don't let him take Papa away."
"Of course not, my dear. I have complete faith in your father's word. I'm sure this thing will blow over very shortly," the big general said soothingly.
"As do I!" Klink added, cheerful.
"I was talking to your daughter, Klink," Burkhalter said, frowning again.
Klink cleared his throat and gave a frown himself.
"So was I," he sad, nodding his head once.
After a few more sobs and a couple hushes from her father, Kalina lifted her face from being buried in her father's chest and looked at Burkhalter, pleading for reassurance with her wet, red eyes.
"You think so?" She quivered, still holding tight to Klink and resting her head against him.
"Absolutely. In fact, we can discuss it more over dinner. I'm sure your father would not mind lending a couple of prisoners to serve us." The last part Burkhalter said while looking at Klink.
"No problem, Herr General," the kommandant answered, his face beaming.
The general looked disapprovingly at his subordinate, then turned back to Kalina. The young girl sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She released her father, the exception of her right arm around him, then looked up at the man she admired and respected so dearly. Her response from him was a gentle smile filled with comfort and ease.
"I'll be alright, süßling. General Burkhalter will keep his word," he said.
Kalina nodded, then spoke in a meek voice.
"Can I go wander around and watch the other prisoners, Papa? Give you and Herr General some privacy."
"You can do whatever you wish," Klink answered, then kissed the top of Kalina's head. He got a small smile and a big, warm hug in return, then his daughter slowly and quietly made her way out of his office.
Once outside and in the compound, Kalina scanned the area briefly to re-familiarize herself with the camp. She recognized several prisoners and guards, but did not know most by name. She continued observing everything going on around, when her eyes laid on her target: barracks two.
Knowing what she had to do and what her assignment was, she took in a deep, silent breath, then confidently made her way over to the barracks of where Papa Bear resided.
(1) Kalina and her great uncle first appeared in my story "Hogan's Heroes: The Eaglet".
(2) Otto Heidleman is one of the leaders of the underground and a character I created. He first appears in my story "Coming Into the Light".