Colonel Hans Gretchen was pleased with himself. It had all gone down without a hitch. Housalf would be happy, might even give him a metal. He hurried down the dank, torch-lit spiral staircase of the old chapel, now their base of operations. The smell of musty books and liquor filled the air. It was a lonely place, even though Hans’ whole regiment was stationed there.
He chuckled when he thought back to the capture of the British spy. What a fool that man was. No one can surprise the great Hans Gretchen. He chuckled again and pulled out some old whiskey from his pack. The taste warmed his body and he continued down to the catacombs.
He finally got to the bottom of the staircase and entered a small hallway. On the other end there was an old wooden door. In front of the door was a guard sitting on a stool. Hans approached, only to be stopped by the guard.
“The General does not wish to be disturbed. Come back later,” he said sleepily. Hans stared. “But I have a special message for him. I must pass.”
“It can wait until morning. He was very clear on his orders.” Hans fidgeted. He wanted to tell Housalf tonight, before any of the others did. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip away. He needed to be back on Housalf’s good side, especially after what happened last Thursday.
“I must see the General. It’s an emergency.” Hans looked around him, as if his enemies were creeping up around him. The guard sighed and said, “I said no visitors. Now leave and go to bed.” He ended with a wave.
“Now I’m warning you. When the General wakes up tomorrow and is wondering why this information hadn’t reached him as soon as possible,” he pointed at the guard, “he’ll be wondering who is to blame.” The guard just looked at Hans. “I’m not falling for that one. The General is in a bad mood, no thanks to what you did last week. I doubt he’d be happy to see you.”
Hans fidgeted some more. “Please. I need this. You know that, William. Look, I’ll give you some cigarettes if you let me pass.” William looked up suddenly. “Cigarettes? Truly? Well…” Hans smiled. Cigarettes were rare up here in the mountains. Everyone was upset that there wasn’t enough to last even a week. William shrugged. “Very well. You win. I just hope the General doesn’t hold this against me. It would be bad if he did.” He then glared at Hans and patted his rifle. Hans just chuckled and tossed him the pack of cigarettes he had in his pocket. He had plenty back in his quarters. “You won’t regret this.”
“Yeah, yeah,” mumbled William as he lit up. He unlocked the door and let Hans in. “Listen, Hans, don’t piss off the General more than he already is. He’ll make us all work double shifts and probably take away our rations.”
“Yeah, I’ll be careful,” said Hans as he walked inside the chamber. William closed the door behind Hans. It was dark in here, save for one light at the far side of the room, on a desk. He noticed a strong looking man sitting there, writing in a journal. He looked up at the sound of the door. “Colonel!” he said angrily. “What are you doing? I told the guard no visitors.” Hans walked up and saluted the Hail Hitler. “Sir! I have very good news. The British spy has been captured-by me, that is. We have interrogated him and he has told us the whereabouts of his camp.” General Housalf looked at the frightened colonel. “Hmm… you speak the truth?” Hans nodded vigorously. Housalf nodded slowly. “I see. Have you killed him?” Hans shook his head. “No, eh? Well, get to it. Unless, of course, you can get some more information out of him.”
“We could, sir,” said Hans, his spirit lightening. Housalf nodded again. “Then do that, and then kill him.”
“But sir, what about the enemy camp?” Hans said. The general began to write in his journal again. “I’ll take care of it in the morning. Dismissed.” Hans began to leave, then stopped. “What?” said the irritated general, looking up from the journal. “Well, um, sir,” stammered Hans, more fidgety than ever, “Did I, uh, do a good job?” He smiled as best as he could in this situation. Housalf was a time bomb, and Hans feared for his life at the moment. But, the general just said, “I said I’ll deal with it in the morning… along with you. Now get out of my chamber, you idiot!”
The frightened Hans nearly ran out as Housalf yelled that last order. When he left the chamber, he saw William laughing at him, cigarette in his mouth. He took out another one. “Nice job, Hans. Care for a cigarette?” Hans just growled at him and stormed up to his cellar.