January 14, 1945

A Tunnel is Discovered

At 9:35 PM, we discovered the tunnel. As Nick, Breuer, the Prime Minister, and I spoke about Dr. von Boch, as we discussed the wild machinations that brought us all here, and as we debated our next move, a guard burst through Loren’s door. Sgt. Tripp followed behind him.

“They’re gone, Captain.” Tripp was frenetic. He glanced over to Breuer, but Loren waived an assured hand.

We’ve notified the local police, sir and they’re,” the guard quibbled.

“You did what?” Captain Loren snapped his head at the guard.

Tripp moved between the Prime Minister and the Captain. “Sir, we,”

Loren pointed a finger in the guard’s face. “Solider, you retract that now. You retract that or there’s gonna be chaos in this town.”

Tripp spread his hands. “But sir, we can’t just let them escape.”

Loren spun. “No, Sargent, we can’t, but we will. If we know what’s good, we will and by-God I pray he’ll help us now.” The door burst open and another guard stormed in and spoke between breaths.

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“We found a tunnel.”

Our eyes darted among each other. Our minds deducing the inevitable conclusions. Our conclusions melded into one.

“Seal it off, god-damned-it!”, the Captain barked.

“Sir, yessir.” The guard spun and raced out of the cabin; the door followed his wake but did not shut.

“Captain, you don’t understand.”

“Understand what, Sargent?”

“They didn’t escape from the stockade, Captain.” He gestured frantically with his hands. “They escaped to the barracks.”

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