Chapter 1: The Radio Message

It was a beautiful day at Stalag 13. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the men were outside enjoying themselves. It had been a busy day with messages of all sorts coming in from London. Mostly routine- downed flyers that had to be whisked out of Germany, plus the usual supply depot that had to be blown up. Kinchloe was manning the radio in the hidden tunnel as usual, while Hogan sat nearby. All of a sudden, a most unusual message came in:

"Colonel, we just got a message—for Carter," Kinch said with slight disbelief. "It's a rather long message too- and I can't make it out, sir."

"Carter? That's funny—he never gets a message," Hogan replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I'd better go tell him he got one anyway. What's the code name of the sender? Is it Goldilocks?" He looked over the message, but figured that if he was supposed to know what was written, it would be in plain English. It wasn't- it was written in code.

"No, a new person with code name Wings."

Hogan proceeded to go up through the trap door that opened up through the bunk beds, stretched, and proceeded to go outside. He found Carter outside, who was joking around with the other three men and Schultz. After Hogan replied that no, he didn't have any chocolate for Schultz, he waited until the Sergeant of the Guard had returned to his duties before proceeding to give Carter the news.

"Apparently, a message came for you from Wings. Kinch didn't tell me what the message said, except that it was top secret and for your eyes only." Hogan tried his best to hide his surprise. He could imagine practically anybody receiving top-secret information, but Carter, his youngest man under his command? Klink would have to defect to the other side before that happened. Hogan suspected that he saw a slight glimmer of worry in his sergeant's eyes, but since he wasn't sure he didn't want to say anything. However, he definitely noticed Newkirk glancing away briefly for a split second. He thought about asking what his corporal was up to, but thought better of it. He didn't want this Wings to wait forever for a reply, especially since it seemed extremely important.

Carter began to walk at a brisk pace towards his Barracks, and as soon as Newkirk noticed that Hogan and the others had wandered off, ran to catch up. Both men could only guess why Wings had contacted them, especially when she had been given STRICT orders never to do so, especially while they were at Stalag 13. All three officers knew that Kinch, Hogan, and possibly others would immediately find out that a message had been sent through to Carter- which only made Newkirk wipe his brow, and Carter concentrate on how to best blow up the depot that Hogan had also informed him about. Newkirk could only hope that neither his commanding officer nor LeBeau or Kinchloe would find out that the message was intended for him, also. As a way to keep suspicion off of Newkirk, and avoid further complicating matters, Newkirk agreed to wait on his bunk for Carter to relay the message to him, after going downstairs to hear what Kinch had to say. As Carter reached the radio, he was relieved to find that Kinch displayed no sign that anything was amiss by the expression on his face- at least no noticeable sign. He read the message quickly first, then bought it upstairs to the barracks where he could work on deciphering it. Fortunately, after he had climbed up the ladder, he saw that all of the men were still outside. At least that was one thing they were glad of- that Wings had been smart enough to use a code that only the three of them knew, and not to say anything outright in plain English. They were also glad that Wings was smart enough that if she sent a message to Carter, she didn't have to mention Newkirk's name—that he would be there to read the message anyway. Without anybody else knowing about it, of course. That was to be of the utmost importance.

…

Back outside, Hogan leaned against the wall of his barracks, trying to figure out what the contents of the message could be, and why on earth Carter would have received it. Also, he had turned towards the barracks after Carter had left just in time to see Newkirk slip in after him. That's odd, he thought to himself. There was no mention of Newkirk's name in the message. Clasping his hands behind his head, he stared at the Kommandantur's office that was across the way. He knew that if Carter and Newkirk wanted to talk about the message, that they would in due time. A slight wrinkle ran across his brow as he thought of the one possibility that he knew in his heart was impossible- the idea that Carter and Newkirk had either turned on the operation, or had been spies all along and were biding their time. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that one of his men had turned on him, as he remembered the ugly incident with Williams that had happened just a few weeks previously. [1] But Carter and Newkirk-traitors? Klink has a better chance of voluntarily moving to the Russian Front. That image made him smile to himself, and he felt better knowing that whatever the message was about, it would not be a danger to the operation.

…

Back inside their barracks, Carter had finished deciphering the message and read it to Newkirk.

"This is bad. I mean- Really bad!" Carter began

"What is it Carter? You don't think Wings has finally gone off her rocker, do you?" His voice dropped as he continued, "Of course, you can't really blame the girl, being 'ounded all 'ours of the nights. Bloody nosy officers- caring about more than just the end results. I mean, what do they think the Angels are? A bloody training camp for the Gestapo?"

"You don't think the Colonel would think that way- do you?"

"Nah mate, the gov'nor knows he can trust us with his life. … And he with ours."

"Well, I don't know- because it seems like Wings needs more people like Hogan on her side. Listen to this-

For Carter's eyes only. That means you Hogan!

Carter began reading the part of the message that, until then, had only been a series of letters: Stanley, Benjamin, you both need to know that I'm VERY sorry for having to talk to you like this, since I know I'm never, ever supposed to. Anyway, we've been found out. Again. I managed to burn most of the paperwork (fortunate that we keep so little)- but I know for a fact that your names were released. Not your fake code names either- that wouldn't be a problem, as you know. But your real names- in case your Staff Sergeant or Colonel decodes this before you do, I dare not even print your real last names. If you say they're trustworthy, they're trustworthy- but goodness knows what should happen if they're forced to talk. Anyway, we already took apart our offices, and we'll be down for the usual four months. Just wanted to tell you to be extra-careful now, especially if anybody should start acting suspicious. But I know you're both smart people- (especially you Benjamin, or I wouldn't have assigned you to where you are now.)

Wings

Newkirk sat in silence for several minutes, running his real name "Benjamin" over and over again in his mind. As a safety precaution he had made himself forget it, and for good reason. Now he didn't even want to pronounce it out loud, knowing how foreign it would sound on his tongue- exactly like how German or French sounded to him in the beginning.

"Bloody 'ell!" was all he could respond with. "Just bloody 'ell! I suppose it's only a matter of weeks or days before the Colonel finds out."

"But he's not gonna find out! I don't care if Hochstetter himself gets suspicious and interrogates us. We're taking this secret to our grave."

"To our deaths, mate," Newkirk agreed. "To our deaths." They shook on it, and even though they knew they had each other to rely on, they couldn't have been more fearful about the future now that their names were out. They also knew "to our deaths" was quite improbable.

[1] This is a reference to the episode "There's One in Every Crowd."]