Chapter 2

A Chapter by Calibaster

Same as before. Good luck.

It was a nice warm evening. Well most would find it nice if it wasn't for the mist, but that was of Cort's doing. Cort was supposed to be in his room, but he didn't really feel tired. So instead he was quietly walking through palace grounds, careful not to be seen. He had paused for a moment when he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. The next moment he was surrounded by lights from fires. He looked around in disbelief. Where was he?

"Halt, don't move!" Cort heard a strangely accented voice command, "Put your hands up!"

Through the mist, he could see men pointing strange things at them, and recognizing a foreign weapon, he slowly rose his hands in the air. So much for a quiet private walk.
The men came towards him and roughly forced his hands behind his back. That was when he became aware that there was someone next to him being handled in the same manner, who looked even more bewildered than him. He had red hair was illuminated in the fire light, but it was to dark to see much else.

The men forced them to march forward, exchanging some foreign words, all he was able to make out was "Stalag 13", but he had no idea what it meant. They made him duck into an odd contraption on wheels. There was a loud sound and the contraption seemed to come alive and started rolling forward.

"There's no horses," Cort hadn't meant to say that aloud, but the boy next to him answered.

"It's called a car. I'll explain more later if you'd like. My name's August, how about you?"

"Cort. So do you know what's going on?"

August chuckled, "We seem to be in Nazi Germany." Cort gave him a questioning look. "Don't worry, I'm more confused than you are, well maybe not more since you still have no idea how we're moving, and what Germany is let alone the Nazis, but I assure you it would be more confusing if you knew."

"I can do with more 'confusion'," Cort said a little sarcastically, "so what's Germany and the Nazis?"

"Germany is a country on earth, in Europe. The Nazis were an organization during WWII, that followed Hitler, and did a lot of awful things really."

"What you just said makes no sense at all," Cort said rubbing his head.

"Yeah? Well how about this? WWII was like... I don't know, seventy years before I was born," August frowned.

"Quiet you two," one of the men barked.

August was tapping his figures nervously, seemingly fighting a small internal battle. 'I can show you.'

Cort somewhat jumped, hitting his head on the roof, the words seemed to be spoken in his head. He looked at August, "How did you-"

August held a fingure to his lips, 'I'm, um, telepathic, my twin sister too. Just think whatever you want to say. You're the only one whose thoughts I can really understand anyways.'

Cort wasn't sure how he felt about someone else being able to read his thoughts, but finally decided that he had no choice, 'What can you show me?'

'I can send images.' August explained, 'and knowledge, to sorta explain what's going on, er, not that, but where we are if you get what I'm saying.'

'I think so.' Cort frowned, 'It won't hurt, will it?'

'It shouldn't.' August smiled. The strange contraption they were in went over a large bump, and that decided it.

'I'm ready. Tell me.'

A few black, grey, and white images of men with what August had called cars, and kids with hollow faces, and odd shaped things in the sky, passing over cities, leaving bright flashes in their wake, passed through Cort's mind. Cort was a little taken aback, everything around him seemed to be very vivid when lit up in the strange lights around him. August picked up on his confusion quickly, 'They were taken by a camera, which takes in light and uses it to capture an image of something. During WWII they only could take black and white pictures, which I've seen a few of in history books and old news clippings at school.'

Cort nodded, although he wasn't quite sure what August was talking about, 'So... the whole world was involved in the war?' Cort inquired.

'Well there were a few countries that remained neutral, but pretty much. Although America, where I'm from, stayed out of it for a while. They didn't join until Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, then we declared war on Japan, and of course their allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on us... I think Russia was allied with them too for a while, but then they joined our side.'

Cort would have been completely lost if it hadn't been that while August was telling him that he also felt memories come to mind of August sitting in a room full of kids with a teacher in front showing them pictures, he also saw images of colorful maps with countries names written on them with large block letters.

'How many casualties were there during this war?' Cort asked nervously.

August licked his lips, reluctant to answer. 'Somewhere in the millions... but then there were countless civilians who died... I've never really cared to really think too much about it. But hopefully we'll be fine. They're probably taking us to a prisoner of war camp. I don't think those were as bad as concentration camps.'

Cort could tell the image following was from August's imagination, because it was in color. And whatever August knew about it was enough to create a very disturbing image.

'Not as bad doesn't rule out bad.' Cort replied as the stream of disturbing images abruptly ended, 'So they think that we're ... American?'

'They think I'm American, ...' August considered, 'But you ... I don't know, you have the right accent, but you're obviously not from there.'

'Nope.'

'Didn't think so.'

'Well, we're dressed strangely, so I guess we're stuck in this world to play something out. This must've happened for a reason. It seems almost... Thought out.'

'I agree.' August frowned as the truck slowed, 'We'll probably have to escape.' The back flap on the truck was pulled open by the guards and they were prodded out.

'We'll need a plan.'

'Agreed, but what?' August was pulled alongside Cort towards the biggest building in the barren compound. There were others walking through the cold snow collected at what Cort could only describe as barracks.

'I have a few tricks up my sleeve, and you have telepathy ...'

'Yeah, but I don't speak German next to the occasional gesundheit!' Cort frowned at August's reply, wondering how to get around it, but his mind was taken off of the problem when he spotted a couple of prisoners leaning against the barracks labeled two. One was tall and all in blue, small thin streams of smoke coming from his mouth and the cigarette he was smoking. Beside him stood a small man, half his face buried in a red scarf and his hands hugging his brown jacket to himself. Cort watched with fascination as he said something to the blue one, and they both walked into the barracks after giving he and August deciphering looks.

'Could you read their thoughts?' Cort turned to August as they were marched up the steps.

'Whose?' August had obviously had his mind on something else entirely.

'Never mind.' Cort glanced at a pretty looking lady at the desk when they walked in, 'It's not important.' Finally, they were marched straight across the small room, and into an office holding a balding German at a paper covered desk.

"Welcome to Stalag 13!!" He got up with ,what seemed to Cort, far too much bluster, "I am Kommandant Klink, and I am in charge around here!!" He picked up a riding crop from the desk in front of them, and tucking it jerkily under his arm, began strutting back and forth in front of them, recited what seemed to be a well practiced monologue. "There has never been an escape from Stalag 13, so you can just forget about trying! For instance-"

"Hey Kommandant!!" The door banged open and a man with a completely different accent and uniform walked in, "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" He smiled at them next, and fired his mouth onward, not giving Klink the chance to reply, "Oh hey! New prisoners?!! Why didn't you say anything?!!" Hogan leaned in to whisper, "Name rank and serial number, that's all." Then said louder, "We'd better give them the Stalag 13 welcome!!" The man's face suddenly fell, "And you wouldn't let us plant begonias ... now how are these men supposed to feel at home?!"

"Hogan!!!!!" Klink's face had turned red, "We do not need flowers in prison camps! And when are you not interrupting?! These men were found about 3 miles from here, I was interrogating them!"

"C'mon, there's nothing they're gonna tell you that their dog tags don't already say!"

"Then what do their dog tags say?!! They haven't even told us that!!" Klink looked like he was going to throw a tantrum, and Cort guessed that it wasn't the first time. The American (Cort guessed from the accent) Colonel (It said his name on his jacket) turned to them.

"They didn't?" He looked at them, surprised, then smiled, grabbing a small chain at August's neck and reading what it said on the end, "Corporal August O' Riley, U.S. air force, ..." He let the tags drop, "Irish blood huh? Me too!" He then smiled, his eyes twinkling as he moved to Cort, and as Cort held his 'dog tags' out to the American, he was distinctly reminded of Kett. "Private Cort Cassell, U.S. air force." He turned back to Klink, "That was all you wanted right?"

"HOGAAAAN!!! Klink was obviously enraged, "I did not ask for your help! I want to know what they were doing out in the woods earlier!!"

"Just goin' for a walk, am I right fellas?" Cort was happy that this man was getting them out of an interrogation, so playing along was a no-brainer. He and August nodded.

"All right, all right fine!!" Klink was obviously done trying, and he rubbed his face exasperatedly. Cort watched with surprise as Hogan took that moment to pull the hinge bar out of the humidor on the Kommandant's desk, opening the locked box from the wrong direction and pocketing at least four cigars. He then quickly replaced the bar, Klink looking up no wiser. Yup, this guy was a lot like Kett. "If you want them so badly, you can keep them in your barracks!"

"Thanks Kommandant, I admire your iron will!" The American said with fake sincerity and a mock salute, "Dismissed?"

"You come in without permission, I don't see why you can't go out the same way." Klink groaned as Hogan led them out of the office, Cort definitely didn't miss his wink to the woman. Kett to a T ... er, two T's.

'You can hear this guy's thoughts too right?' Cort turned to August hopefully for an explanation.

'I can understand English, but this guy is ridiculous!' August's reply came sharply back, 'I can't make head or tail out of half of his thoughts! The most I got out of that was that Hilda is a great kisser, London's checking us out, and Klink is a pushover. He jumps from one incomplete thought to the next too quickly. If only I already knew what was going on here.'

'This just got a whole lot more complicated.' Was all Cort could think as they were led towards barracks two.

'You got that right,' August agreed with a groan.

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