Chapter 28

Newkirk unplugged the coffee pot once they heard Hochstetter and shortly later Burkhalter leave, and congratulated themselves. Hogan's 'hare-brain' scheme, as Newkirk had called it, had worked. They were laughing among themselves as they left the Colonel's office and entered the common room just as the door of the barracks opened and several of the prisoners entered excitedly with Hogan limping behind them assisted by Wilson. A smiling Schultz stood in the doorway with his hand on the doorknob.

"It's good to have you back, Colonel Hogan," he said. "Things were no fun here without you."

After helping Hogan sit down at the table, the Colonel turned and looked at Schultz with a weary grin on his face. "Thanks, Schultz," he said tiredly. "And thanks also for interceding on my behalf with Hochstetter outside the gate."

"You don't have to thank me, Colonel Hogan. I couldn't allow that man to mistreat an injured prisoner. I'll look in on you later." He glanced at the other prisoners who had gathered around the Colonel. "Make sure you take care of him," he said softly.

"We will, Schultzie," Newkirk replied with a grin. "you can count on it."

"Right, Schultzie," replied an excited LeBeau. "Now that we have Colonel Hogan back, we are not letting him go again."

Patting Hogan on the back, Wilson picked up his medical bag from the table. "I'd best get going. I'll check back on you later, Colonel. And make sure you rest or else."

Hogan smirked. Wilson, stop padding your part, he told himself. "Sure, Joe." He watched the medic leave the barracks.

Still smiling, Schultz closed the door leaving the prisoners inside to celebrate the miraculous return of their commanding officer.

After waiting a few minutes to be sure Schultz didn't return, Hogan let out a deep breath and stood up. "Thank God. I thought he'd never leave," he said as he began removing the beard he had put on. "This thing itched like hell." That remark caused the men to laugh. After removing the false beard, Hogan noticed LeBeau standing beside him with a damp washcloth. "Thanks, LeBeau," he said as he wiped the dirt, sweat and spots of fake blood off his face. After a few minutes, Hogan handed the washcloth back to the Frenchman and began smoothing his unruly hair back into place until he again looked like himself.

There were choruses of 'welcome back, sir,' 'glad to have you back, Colonel,' along with pats on the back. Newkirk suddenly shoved himself in the middle of the crowd.

"All right, gentlemen. Let the man have some space. There will be plenty of time to celebrate later." His green eyes looked into Hogan's brown ones. "Right, Colonel?"

Hogan, grinning, shook his head. "Who am I to put the brakes on a party?" There were cheers from the men. Any excuse for a party, Hogan thought. He came out of his reverie when he felt a cup of hot coffee placed in his hands. Looking up, he was met with the smiling face of LeBeau. "Thanks, Louie."

"You are welcome, mon Colonel." He, Carter, Kinch and Newkirk all sat down at the table as the Colonel took a drink of coffee. He raised a curious eyebrow.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"Not really, Colonel," Kinch answered. "We were just a bit nervous when Hochstetter confronted you at the front gate."

"You and me both, Kinch," Hogan replied. "I thought for a moment he was going to ruin everything. I'm just grateful Schultz stopped him when he did even though he took a big risk."

"Boy, he sure did," Carter said with a grin. "Who'd ever think Schultz would have the nerve to confront Hochstetter."

"Not me, that's for sure," answered Newkirk. "Never knew the ole barrage balloon had it in 'im. But he did save the day as far as I'm concerned."

Hogan looked at LeBeau. "LeBeau, when all the guys have their party tonight, make sure Schultz is invited."

The Frenchman frowned. "Have a heart, Colonel. There won't be any food left for anybody else." He saw Hogan's face. "Just kidding mon Colonel. Just kidding."

"I thought you might be," Hogan said softly before taking another drink of coffee.

Later that evening, after roll call which Klink mercifully kept short, the welcome home party was in full swing. Hogan, with help from Newkirk, had changed into a clean uniform and a spare bomber jacket. He'd have to find a way to finagle another one from the Red Cross later. There was even champagne which had been 'borrowed' by Newkirk and LeBeau from Klink's private stash. Schultz had been invited and after two helpings of LeBeau's coq au van, finally was 'urged' to leave as Kinch had been down in the radio room and had signaled to come upstairs by tapping on the pipes.

"What was that?" asked Schultz as Newkirk and Carter began shoving him out the barracks door which Hogan held open.

"Doorbell," Hogan replied with a smirk.

"What doorbell? Colonel Hogan, there are no doorbells in prisoner-of-war camps."

"Now he tells me," Hogan replied as he shut the door behind the obese guard. He then walked over to the double bunk and struck the hidden mechanism. He watched the lower bunk rise and ladder drop, and waited as Kinch climbed up. Once back in the barracks, Kinch struck the mechanism and as the ladder rose and the bunk dropped, handed Hogan a slip of paper.

"I just heard from the underground, Colonel. Greta and her family made it to the sub and are on their way to England."

"Good. Thanks, Kinch." Hogan smiled faintly for a moment then seemed, to Kinch, a bit sad. The change in his commander didn't escape Kinch's observant eyes.

"You miss her, don't you, sir?" he asked softly.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Greta. She reminds you of what you don't have and wish you did."

"Kinch, sometimes I wish you didn't know me so well." Hogan let out a deep sigh. "In a way I do. She did remind me of what I don't have and wish for. Don't you?"

"Sure I do. So does every man in this camp. But we're not talking about me or every man in this camp, sir. We're talking about you. That's why I made a phone call."

Hogan's eyes narrowed, not sure if he should be angry or upset. "Phone call to who? Kinch, what did you do?"

"Colonel, Tiger's back in Germany. I spoke with her. She knows what happened. She wants you to contact her tomorrow and set up a rendezvous for tomorrow night. Oh, she said to tell you she'll bring the wine she brought with her from France."

Hogan's face was unreadable for several long minutes and for a moment the radioman thought he might have overstepped his authority. Then, he saw a smile appear on his commander's face and the twinkle back in his eyes. Hogan put a hand on Kinch's shoulder.

"Thanks, Kinch. Somehow you always seem to know what I need and when I need it."

"You're welcome, Colonel."

"Oh, before I forget. Tomorrow, after roll call, I have two orders of business to handle. One involves transfer of authority of SPO back to me. The other will be for you to contact London. I have to let them know I'm alive and staying here even though they had ordered me back home."

"Yes, sir," Kinch replied with a wide grin.

Newkirk suddenly appeared with two cups of champagne, handing one to Kinch, the other to Hogan. "That's enough talk, gentlemen. It's party time." He grinned at the Colonel. "And that's an order…sir."

LeBeau appeared from out of nowhere and shoved a plate of food into Kinch's other hand.

Hogan shrugged. "Kinch, I guess we'd better follow our orders."

The next day when Schultz pushed open the door of barracks two and shouted for the prisoners to fall out for roll call, his orders were met with grumbling voices and bleary eyed prisoners. The party had ended sometime in the wee hours of the morning and the men, including Hogan, had gotten less than four hours sleep. But despite the exhaustion and need to sleep along with the pounding headaches in everybody's head, the men fell out for roll call with Hogan taking his regular place beside Newkirk and in front of Kinch.

The men grumbled even more when Klink appeared and yelled for Schultz's report. For a moment, Hogan felt like the drums he enjoyed playing were being played in his head. Please, Kommandant. Make this the world's shortest roll call. Hogan got his wish. He wanted desperately to go back inside and crawl into his bunk and pull the blanket over his head, but there were still two orders of business that had to be addressed. Kinch must have sensed what the Colonel was thinking because he immediately stepped forward after the prisoners had been dismissed.

"Oh Kommandant," he said.

Klink turned. "What is it Sergeant Kinchloe?"

"Sir, could Colonel Hogan and I speak with you? It's rather important."

"Very well. Follow me to my office." Klink abruptly turned and walked away with Kinch and Hogan following.

Minutes later, they were all seated in the Kommandant's office.

"I understood Sergeant Kinchloe, that you and Colonel Hogan wish to speak with me?" Klink noticed Hogan looked more like himself; clean shaven, hair neatly combed and clean uniform. If it wasn't for the cast, sling and the bandage on his head, Klink would never have known there was anything wrong with the American.

"Yes, sir," Kinch began. "Kommandant, now that Colonel Hogan's back, I request that the duties of Senior POW be transferred back to him."

"I see," Klink, leaning back in his chair, folded his arms. His eyes shifted from Kinch to Hogan. "How are you feeling, Colonel Hogan? Do you feel well enough to resume your duties as Senior POW officer?"

"Yes, sir, I do. And Sergeant Wilson has no objections as long as I rest whenever I'm tired."

"I see. Very well. As of this moment Colonel, you are once again the Senior POW officer at Stalag 13."

"Thank you, sir."

Klink looked at Kinch. "Sergeant Kinchloe, you are dismissed. Unless there is something else."

"No sir. Thank you, sir." Kinch got up, saluted the Kommandant, and exited the office leaving Hogan to handle the other piece of business. He wished he could have stayed and watched, but he knew this was Hogan's moment and he would let him have it.

Alone now with the Kommandant, Hogan let out a deep breath. "Kommandant, now that I'm back, we have a problem."

"Already? You just got your duties back. How could there be a problem?"

Hogan sat up in his chair. "Colonel Crittendon."

Klink slowly got to his feet and walked to his liquor cabinet. "You're right, Hogan. We have a problem. He's been in the cooler so long I forgot about him." Klink poured two glasses of brandy and handed one to Hogan who, while Klink's back was turned, had pilfered two cigars from the humidor. God it felt good to be back, Hogan told himself with a smirk. He and the Kommandant clinked glasses and each took a sip of the brandy which, Hogan had to admit, tasted better than the cheap stuff Klink usually had.

The Kommandant sat down again. "Hogan, I can't have two Senior officers in camp."

"I know that, Kommandant. That's why I have a solution that will make everybody happy I think."

"What is it?"

"Well, since you were transferring me to Stalag 15, I suggest you send Colonel Crittendon there instead, sir. I mean, it would be in your best interest to do so unless you don't mind having the Gestapo come back." He took another sip of the brandy.

Klink, who been sipping on his brandy nearly choked when Hogan mentioned Gestapo. He stared at Hogan, wide-eyed. "Gestapo? Why would the Gestapo come back here?"

"Well, from the way I understand it, the prisoners were quite upset with him when they thought I was dead and they blamed him causing quite a bit of tension here in camp. The way I see it, if you decide to keep him and send me to Stalag 15 as originally planned, the prisoners are gonna probably revolt because they're going to blame him and blame you for keeping him here. Therefore, you're going to be right back at square one and have to lock him in the cooler again, or the Gestapo will come out here again because of the prisoner revolt, and Hochstetter's already upset after the General blasted 'im. I'm sure he'd love to come back out here again and this time have a go at you and make sure everybody knows you had a prisoner revolt in your camp proving to him your incompetence." Hogan shrugged. "But then again, maybe you don't mind happy Hochstetter coming back here." He took another sip of brandy and waited.

Klink paled as what Hogan said registered. He nervously swallowed the rest of his brandy. The thought of the Gestapo and especially Major Hochstetter back at Stalag 13 was not a pleasant thought. And Hogan wouldn't be here to help him. The decision was obvious.

"Colonel Hogan, I will have Colonel Crittendon transferred to Stalag 15 within the hour. There's no place here for anybody who will cause a riot in my camp."

Hogan smiled. Hook, line, and sinker, he told himself as he raised his glass to Klink. "Thank you, Kommandant. Very wise decision." He finished the remainder of his brandy and got to his feet. "Unless there's anything you wish to discuss with me, sir, I'll be heading back to the barracks. I don't want to overdo it my first day." He gave Klink a sloppy salute.

"No, Colonel, there's nothing else. Diss-missed!" He returned Hogan's salute. Still smiling, Hogan walked out of the Kommandantur and strolled casually back to barracks two. Entering, he was greeted by his team, all with grins on their faces.

"I gather you heard then?" he asked.

"We had to, Colonel," said Carter. "It's been awhile since we heard your golden tongue manipulate Klink." That brought a chuckle from Hogan and smirks from the others.

Within two hours two things happened. The first, Hogan had contacted London and informed them he was alive and that he decided to stay despite their orders that he return home for reassignment. And as Hogan expected, London acquiesced even though they weren't happy. And Hogan didn't care whether they were or not; they owed him big time. The other, true to Klink's word, after one hour, a freshly shaven Colonel Crittendon was on a truck heading for Stalag 15.

"Well, if anything," Hogan said with a smirk. "They got Crittendon to shave that horrible looking beard." He and his team were watching from the doorway of barracks two. Hogan then closed the door and headed over to the double bunk.

Striking the hidden mechanism, he waited as the lower bunk rose and the ladder dropped. Stepping over the bed frame and onto the ladder, he started to slowly climb down.

"Colonel, why are you going below?" asked a puzzled LeBeau. "Is there something you need? One of us can get it for you."

Hogan paused. "Sorry, LeBeau, but this I have to do myself." He noticed that except for Kinch, the others looked puzzled. He smiled. "I have a date to make with a tiger."

Slowly, what their commander was saying registered with the men. To them, this was a sure sign things were definitely back to normal in Stalag 13.

THE END