AN EASY WAY TO DIE

An Easy Way To Die

by

Fiona McKenzie (Lonely Walker) - Nighthawk Commando


"Well, this sure is a different take on things." Face said as he and
Murdock found their way to the lift shaft.
"Yup. I start acting sane and they think I'm seriously ill. Geez, I think
I'll let them have my room." Murdock muttered and pressed the required
button. The doors immediately opened to reveal the visage of Colonel Decker
and a few armed soldiers.
"Peck!" Decker yelled.
"Decker!" Face yelled back. 
"Gangway!!!" Murdock pushed into the elevator, sending Decker sprawling to
the floor and hitting the 'up' button. The doors closed before Decker could
right himself. "You crazy fool! That's one of the A-Team!" 
"Uh, yeah. I already got his autograph." Murdock righted his baseball cap.
"You're Murdock!" 
"I know. What floor're you going to?" Murdock surveyed the buttons.


"This is becoming very tedious." Face hopped into BA's black van. "I just
ran into Decker again."
"Where's Murdock?" Hannibal asked, lighting up a cigar.
"Playing bellboy." Face said as Murdock charged around the corner yelling
"Go!!!".
BA started up the van and it started to move as Murdock's long legs caught
him up to the van. He dived in through the open door and landed on his
stomach on the floor.
"Good morning to you too, Captain." Hannibal said as Face shut the door and
gave the pilot a hand up. 
Murdock collapsed into his chair, head in his hands.
"You okay, Fool?" BA twisted around.
"I just ran down five flights. Don't ask me if I'm okay!" Murdock replied
between gasps for breath. "And, by the way, the lift won't be working for a
while. I'm hoping Decker didn't get out, but..."
"Good work, Captain. Uh, you think you can handle a German fighter?" 
Murdock's eyes brightened. "Depends on what you want me to do with it." He
looked around. "Why German?"
"We've got a contract in gut alt Deutschland. There's a private airbase
there being terrorised. Usual stuff."
"Aw, no. Does this mean we're knocking BA out again?" Murdock groaned. 
"Don't worry about me." BA growled. 
"And you want me, a Texan, to masquerade as ein Deutscher fahrer?" Murdock
shook his head. "Only if they're very stupid. My German is sehr rusty."
"Well, you've got about ten hours to perfect it." Hannibal looked at his
watch. "And don't worry about it. You can fool anyone."
"Only cause he is a fool." 
"Right! That's it! Stop the van!" Murdock screamed at the roof. "I've had
enough of being nice to you, BA! We'll settle this here and now!" 
"Shut up, Fool." BA replied, driving on.
Hannibal thought he could see steam coming from the pilot's ears. "Calm
down, Murdock. We have work to do."
"Uh, Hannibal, how exactly are we planning to get to Germany if our
passports are extinct?" 
"Yeah, we can't go." BA added, pleased with the turn of affairs.
"Well, either you can get us some forgeries, Face, or we allow Murdock to
steal an airplane and fly us over." 
Face gulped. "I'll go with the forgeries, Colonel, except it could take me
a while to get them." 
"It's a problem." Murdock mused. "I'd need to find a flight that was
already flying to - where? Berlin? Right - and had already logged in his
flight plan. Also, it might be pretty good if it wasn't a cargo plane cause
you guys would be debris by the time we got there."
"The odds of us finding something like that - and it would need to be on a
private airfield somewhere around here - are pretty close, no, I would say
below, zero." Face said.
"Captain?" Hannibal questioned him.
Murdock replied with his best inane grin. "There's an airfield about twenty
miles away, BA. Take the next turn off on the left."
"What you doin', Fool?" 
"Calling in an old favour. I'm just hoping he doesn't know I currently
reside in a mental ward." Murdock replied. "Uh, Faceman, you think you can
do some doctoring on my pilots license in twenty minutes?" The pilot tugged
it out of one of the many pockets of his jacket and handed it to the scam
artist. 
"Murdock, this thing is way out of date." Face examined it.
"You mean we let him fly us everywhere and he ain't even qualified?" BA
said, his fear of flying growing visibly.
"You aren't dead yet, are you?" Murdock replied.
"Huh."


Murdock, looking slightly more presentable than usual owing to the overalls
Face had scavanged for him a few minutes ago, wandered in through the open
gates of the airfield. There were several planes on the tarmac, but it took
him a few minutes to reach the first. Without hesitation, he ran up the
stairs and into the main section of the plane. The door to the cockpit was
slightly ajar, so he opened it and poked his head inside. No one there, but
a hand placed itself on his shoulder. "Hey, what're you doing here!"
Murdock pulled away and sat down in the pilot's chair. "Nice plane you got
here, Tommy. Using it for anything?" 
"Murdock?" The other man, Tommy, sat down beside him. "What the hell are
you doin' here?"
"Uh, in what sense?" Murdock surveyed the controls and figured that he
could fly the plane without too many problems. 
"Last I heard you were discharged from the USAF." 
Murdock inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. If Tommy had no idea about his
A-Team connections, this would be easier. "Yeah, I got shot up a bit."
That, at least, was true. He had been shot more times with the A-Team than
in Vietnam. "Had to get away." 
"Well, good to see you. Why did you decide to come see me?"
"Was wondering if you have any flights going to Germany in the next couple
of days."
"Uh, yeah, actually. We have to fly an empty plane, as well. The Germans
want to fly over some students for work experience. That'll be
interesting."
"You flying?"
"Yes, everyone else is either too inexperienced or down with the flu. It's
a really bad time. Say, Murdock, you doing anything this week?"
Murdock looked up, a broad grin on his face. "No, why?"
"Well, you could fly this thing, right? I know I can trust you, and I
really need to stay here, sort out things at the base. I could give you my
co-pilot." Tommy said eagerly.
"You don't need to, there's a guy I'm hanging out with who's looking for a
job. He's pretty good." Murdock said, praying that Face wasn't just
boasting about his flying ability. 
"Okay, you're doing me a big favour, HM. You're scheduled for take off
tomorrow at noon. See you later."
"Sure." Murdock sped out of the cockpit and jumped down the stairs. The
familiar black van was waiting for him outside the gates. He walked up to
itand hopped in. "Am I good or am i good?"
"You're crazy."
Murdock rolled his eyes. "Thank you, BA. I have us one flight to
Deutschland at noon tomorrow. Faceman, how'd you feel about being my
co-pilot?"
"Uhh, Murdock, you aren't planning to set one of the engines on fire, are
you?" Face said.
"Course not. Uh, Colonel, you'd better be my third crew member. We can just
ditch BA in the hold." Murdock said, deadpan. 
"I am not going up in an airplane! Especially if he's flying!!!!" BA folded
his arms in defiance. 
Face shrugged. "I think it might be time for the two-ton mallet again,
Hannibal." 
Murdock looked up from the ground he had been studying. "Uh uh. I need to
crash this plane. There is no way I'm having an unconscious guy on board,
especially when he weighs about 300 pounds. No, sorry, more like a ton with
all that gold. Mind you, we could probably use the ballast..." 
Face stepped up. "Uh, Murdock, what's this about crashing?"
"It's a turnaround. Unless you want to be in Berlin for all of two hours,
we're crashing the plane." Murdock explained.
"I suppose you know what you're doing." Hannibal said, resigned.
"Now wait a minute, Hannibal! I am not going on a plane that's
intentionally crashing!" Face said, in a panic.
"Yeah." BA was glad to have someone on his side for once. 
"Would I ever let anything happen to you?" Murdock smiled, showing white
teeth. 
"I know you would." BA replied. "That's why I'm not flying."
"Fine." Murdock shrugged and wandered back to the airfield. "I'll go on my
own."
The guys watched him go. "We can't let him go alone!" Face whispered
urgently.
"Why not? Murdock's been flying since he was a kid. He'll be okay."


Murdock scrambled around underneath the plane. "Hey, two engines! Wow! The
hi-techness of it all!" 
"Ah, Captain." Face, out of his usual suit and in messed-up overalls,
ducked under the plane. "Looking for a co-pilot?"
"Looking for a decent plane. I tell you, Faceman, commercial airlines
really are the pits. This plane'll be pretty easy to crash and not so easy
to fix. Just what I need." Murdock smiled. 
"Uh, Hannibal said you'd need these." Face threw a box of explosives at
him. 
"Oh, yeah. I think a minor exposion would do - take out an engine. I'll try
and make it spectacular."
"I'd prefer if we made it out alive, Tommy Danger."
"I'll do my best. Uh, so, where's the Colonel and how'd he convince you to
come along?" Murdock came out into the open air. 
"Hannibal is dealing with BA. And as for the convincing, you really don't
want to know." Face replied, pulling a face.
Murdock glanced at him and ran up the stairs to the cockpit. "Takeoff in
ten minutes!"


"How to die in three easy steps." Face muttered under his breath, seated in
the co-pilots chair. "One - join up with the A-Team."
"Okay, Murdock, BA is safely unconscious and strapped in." Hannibal stepped
through the partition to the cockpit. "He'll wake up once we're off the
ground."
"Two," Face continued. "Let HM Murdock fly a plane."
"Right, Colonel. We've got clearance for takeoff. Hold on." Murdock said,
running the plane down the small airstrip.
"Three, make sure the plane is rigged to explode over Berlin." Face moaned
and sat back in the seat. Murdock, as always, was ice cool and would
probably have been singing opera if it hadn't been for the presence of his
friends, both of whom were likely to thump him if he got started. They took
off smoothly and continued on. After half an hour, the pilot locked in the
auto pilot and wandered into the main section of the plane where Hannibal
sat with BA, who was having a quiet tantrum, but hadn't gone to outright
panic yet. Yet. 
"Hi Murdock." Hannibal looked up. 
"Colonel. Faceyman's making sure we don't bump into anything up front. And,
anyway, I refuse to fly a plane for eight hours straight. Even if I did
have a license..." Murdock flopped down into an empty seat and pulled out a
German phrase book. "Kannst du Deutsch sprechen, Colonel? Ich muß, uh,
practice." 
Hannibal shook his head. "Never been there, Murdock. Sorry."
Murdock, deprived of any German-speaking company, slouched backwards into
his seat and started to flick disconsolately through the pages until he
finally relieved Face up front. Face hurried out of the cockpitto get away
from the unfamiliar controls. Hannibal leaned close to him. "Something's
going on with Murdock."
"Murdock? I thought he was acting fairly normal for him." 
"He's a crazy fool, just like always." BA muttered from his chair.
"Something's up. He hasn't acted this sensible and serious since, well,
ever. Has anything been going on at the VA, Face?"
Face shrugged. "How would I know? But he hasn't mentioned anything. Want me
to go talk to him?"
Hannibal shook his head. "No, leave it. I'm probably imagining it." He
stood up and went through to the cockpit. 


Murdock was there, humming along to some pop tunes. "How're we doing,
Captain?"
"By my standards, good. Meaning we haven't crashed yet." Murdock took off
his headphones. "We're flying pretty low, so there isn't an awful lot of
traffic. I'm trying to follow another plane, cause I've never flown over
the Atlantic before."
"You're doing good, Murdock." Hannibal nodded.
A crooked smile came to the pilot's face. "Maybe I should get a job in
commericial airlines when we get back."
"I don't think so, Captain, there aren't enough parachutes." 
Murdock laughed briefly at the Colonel's joke. "You guys wanna get some
sleep back there or anything? It's a long way to go and we don't serve
peanuts."
"Why not?" 
"Thunder ate them all. I told him no, but, you just can't control these
guys!" Murdock grinned.
"See you later, Captain." Hannibal went back to the others. "Maybe he is
okay."
"Murdock never been okay, man." BA grumbled. 


Murdock popped his head through the partition. "Hang on, we're, uh, going
in to land." He went back through as BA erupted. 
"He's not gonna crash this thing! Fool! If you crash this thing, I'll!!!!!"
Hannibal promptly hit him over the head with a fire extinguisher. 
"Sorry, Captain, but I'm afraid our engineer has tragically suffered a
heart attack." Hannibal yelled through to him.
"Again? Great." Murdock answered, unconcerned, and twisted around to get a
look at the rigged engine, which exploded right on cue. "Holy tequila!
Engine on fire, I repeat, engine on fire. Peck, get up here!" He added for
the benefit of his little black box which would no doubt be analysed. 
Face rushed in. "What's happened, Captain?" He said, doing his best
impression of one of the pilots of the television world.
"Uh, the engine went up, just like that! Never seen anything like it."
Murdock wrestled with the controls. "I guess we're going down a little
sooner than planned. See any wide, big empty spaces?" 
Face looked around. "We're not that far from the airfield. Can you keep it
going for five minutes?"
"Sure, but it won't be a nice landing. Get the other guys strapped in." 
Face charged back through, and found Hannibal and BA already tied to their
seats. "Landing in five. Hold on!"


The plane skidded down the airstrip and came to a halt. Murdock
disentangled himself from his headphones and headed for the exit. "Everyone
out!!! I dunno, but this thing might blow!" 
Hannibal and Face dragged BA clear, Face yelling something about a heart
attack to the ground officials, who were there in their dozens, armed with
fire extinguishers. All three got into the ambulance. Murdock stood
outside. 
"Get to a hotel called the Schwarzer. We'll meet you when we can." Hannibal
told the pilot. 
Murdock only had time to nod before the doors closed and the ambulance sped
away. A short German stood at his side, wanting to talk to him. "Hi."
"Hallo. Are you the pilot?" The German asked, indicating the foamy plane.
"Yeah, I don't know what happened. My engine just blew, suddenly." Murdock
put on a look of complete disbelief. 
The German nodded, seeming to understand, if not all, at least part of what
the American was trying to say. "Okay, there will need to be, uh, an
investigation. You can stay here?" 
Murdock shrugged. "I have to. I've got a job to do."
"Okay. You can come to the main building. We will give you money for a
hotel room?"
Murdock beamed. "Hey, great. I hope you can fix my plane okay."
"It will take time."
"Hey, man, as long as you're paying, it can take a year."


"This is the last time I try to chat anyone up in German." Face muttered.
"There's obviously a language barrier." 
The three men walked out of the hospital and Hannibal flagged down a taxi.
"Der Schwarzer, bitte." He said to the driver.
"Hey, man, you said you didn't speak German." BA pointed out.
"I prefer to keep my talents secret." Hannibal smiled. 
The Schwarzer hotel was small, with few guests, but in fairly good
neighbourhood. It was, primarily, a place where few questions would be
asked. At the desk, Face (operating in full scam mode) found that Murdock
had already checked in. He quickly got another room the other side of the
hall from the pilot and went to see him. 
Murdock had obviously just had a shower, he was in bare feet, although
otherwise dressed, and his hair was dripping carelessly over the carpet.
"Hi guys. Nice place, huh?"
"Where'd you get the money for this, Fool?"
"I'm being paid by my good friend Herr Schultz from the airport. Says
something about German hospitality." Murdock smiled. "I see you're fit and
well, BA. Fast recovery."
"Why you behaving sane, Fool? What's goin' on?" 
Murdock looked at them quizzically. "Oh, great, now both the VA and you
guys think something's wrong with me. I thought you might be pleased." 
"Are you really okay, Captain?" Hannibal looked uncharacteristically
worried.
"Sure. I'm trying out my sane personality this week." Murdock looked around
the room. "Uh, just to let you know, I am no way sharing this room with all
three of you."
"Don't worry, Murdock, I got us another room." Face grinned. "Colonel, you
shacking up with me again?"
"I quite like it here, Face. You and BA go right ahead." Hannibal answered
without looking at the lieutenant.
The look on Face's face was one of pure horror, but he disappeared to grab
the best bed without argument. BA stomped off after him soon after. Murdock
and Hannibal were left, staring at each other. Murdock smiled and executed
a salute. "Going in search of a hairdryer, Colonel." He disappeared back
into the bathroom. "Uh, Colonel, what time is it, anyhow?" 
Hannibal checked out the clock on the wall. "About 4 am."
"Aw, man. The one disadvantage of flying - major jet-lag." Murdock
reappeared, yawning. "Uh, I'm grabbing some sleep while I can, Colonel.
Cause there's no way I'm going out to some terrorised airfield at this
time!"
"All right, Murdock." Hannibal nodded. "I'll probably join you. I don't
think our Germkan friends operate at night, anyway." 
Murdock pulled off the sweater he had appropriated from the hotel staff
along with his trainers and socks. This done, he tumbled into bed otherwise
fully clothed. "So much for being well prepared." He grinned.


Hannibal woke up at around noon, local time. After a bleary-eyed look
around the room, he realised that Murdock was missing. Probably getting
lunch, he reckoned, and proceeded to pull on all the clothes he wasn't
currently wearing. They would probably need Face to scam up some new
clothes for them, if he hadn't already. The answer to this was supposedly
'no' as he knocked on the door of the other room. BA answered, fully awake
and alert. Face was unconscious - asleep amid blankets on the floor. 
"Hi BA. Seen Murdock anywhere?" Hannibal entered the room and proceeded to
prod Face into a state of consciousness. 
"No, I ain't left this room." The big man answered. 
"Wha?" Face shook his head. "Where am I? What are you two doing here?"
"We're in Germany, Face. I don't suppose you've seen our errant Captain
Murdock?" Hannibal gave him a hand up from the floor.
"No...I had this weird dream, though, I was at a Springsteen concert and,
there was this rabbit..." Face mused. 
"Good, uh, afternoon." Murdock swung around the door, looking at his watch.

"Murdock, where were you?" Hannibal asked. 
Murdock stepped fully into the room and shut the door. "Getting myself some
clothes." He indicated his brand new blue jeans and bright white T-shirt
which were covered by his ever-present leather jacket and blue baseball
cap. "By the way, it's raining cats and Billys out there. So much for
European weather." 
"Great, Murdock, but how'd you get new clothes?" Face asked, trying to get
dressed himself. 
"You're not the only scam artist in town, baby." Murdock grinned. "Nah, I
happen to know a very nice and very cheap shop in the vicinity. It's run by
a very nice young woman, too."
"I'd better check this place out." Face replied. 
"Not now, Face. We need some food." Hannibal said.
Murdock rubbed his hands together. "I can get us takeout. Meet me
downstairs in five." He sped out of the room.
"That man just keeps on getting stranger." Face shook his head.


"You know, it doesn't get much worse than this." Face moaned. "I'm in the
middle of Berlin eating takeout in the rain wearing yesterday's clothes.
The only guy who speaks German is a crazy pilot. We can't go on cause no
one knows where this airfield is and we can't go home because we
intentionally crashed our only plane." 
Murdock looked up, but continued to munch on his chips. 
"Have you been here before, Murdock?" Hannibal asked. 
The pilot nodded. "Yeah. Before Nam, though. Me and some of the guys went
out here for a holiday. We were here for a couple of weeks."
"Thanks for the fries, brother." BA said, his mouth full. 
"Another scam?" Face asked.
"I do have some money, Faceman." Murdock replied. "What about this
airfield, Colonel? What we doing?"
Hannibal shrugged. "The man who contacted us, his name was Wolf Möller. I
checked up on him with a few people I know, they confirmed all the info he
gave me. But now we're here, I can't find any references in the phone book
or anything. The number he gave me is a payphone in Strasbourg." 
"Strasbourg? We're in the wrong country, Colonel." Murdock said.
"Something's going on with this mission." Face said. "It was pretty weird
to begin with." 
"What we gonna do, Hannibal?" 
"I suppose we just go back to the hotel, watch some TV and enjoy ourselves
until something happens." Hannibal replied. "If this was a con to get us
out here, I think I'm right in assuming that we'll be paid a visit soon." 


"Man, Hannibal, this stuff is all in some funny language!" BA flicked
channels.
"Yeah, BA, I think it's called German."Hannibal replied. "What was that?"
He said, suddenly.
"Huh?" 
"I thought..." Hannibal crept over to the door and opened it. Murdock's
jacket was unmistakably heading down the corridor. "Where's he going?" He
closed the door. "Face, Murdock's taken his leave. I want you to tail him,
don't make a sound." 
Face grabbed his jacket. "Okay, Hannibal, but he's probably going to the
corner shop." He disappeared out the way Murdock had gone. 
Murdock was definitely not going to the corner shop. Instead he disappeared
behind the hotel. Face followed ten seconds later, but found nothing until
he discovered a hidden alley leading into another area of rundown, seedy
shops. One, which looked very much like a bar, now played host to an
American pilot. Face slid in after him and stood in the shadows near the
door. The bar was otherwise opoulated by locals, none of them tourists.
There were perhaps too many for this time of day, even though the rain was
still belting down. Murdock walked up to the bar.
"My name's Hank. I think you're expecting me." He said loudly in the
barman's direction. 
The barman stared at him. "Scheißkopf. You should have stayed away."
"I'm stupid like that, aren't I?" Murdock replied. "Besides, I think your
employers made sure I came back." 
"Richtig." The barman said quietly as a club came down on Murdock's head,
sending him into darkness. "Sehr richtig."
Face waited long enough to make sure that they weren't going to take
Murdock anywhere, then quietly left.


"I'm telling you, Hannibal. These guys knew he was coming." Face reported.
"Did they ambush him?" Hannibal lit up a cigar. 
"No, that was the weird thing. He just walked straight in, said his name
was Hank and they clubbed him."
"Hank? That ain't his name!" BA looked around. "Right?"
"Hannibal?"
Hannibal looked surprised. "No, I don't know what he's called either, but I
don't suppose it matters much."
"We have to go get him, that crazy fool." BA said.
"Is this one of those 'let's charge in and beat everyone up' deals?" Face
inquired.
"That should about do it." Hannibal grinned.


Face took them to the place behind the hotel, but found the entrance to the
alleyway guarded by four large Germans. The way they had come was soon
barricaded by four more. "Hi, know any good bars?" Hannibal said brightly,
punching the first man in the face. The German doubled over, but Hannibal
was swiftly grabbed by two others. Face was dealt with in a similar way,
while BA was thrown against the wall and fell over, unconscious. The three
men were taken to the bar and thrown in the cellar where Murdock lay, tied
up, half-naked and bloody. The remaining members of the A-Team were swiftly
restrained with tough rope around their wrists. The guards filed out of the
entrance, the last man saying: "We have no argument with you., aber er ist
tot." He finished in venom-filled German, slamming the door. They heard it
click into a lock soon after. 
Face was bent over the semi-conscious body of Murdock. It looked as if he
had been severely beaten since Face had left the bar - his head and torso
were bruised and bleeding. Hannibal crawled over to them. "Captain?
Murdock?" 
"Hannibal?" Murdock's eyes blinked open. "Oh, man... This is not going to
plan."
"Why? What was the plan?" Face asked. "You knew they would do this to you."
"I thought they would just kill me." Murdock gasped and tried to sit up,
his injuries giving him pain. 
"Great plan." Face answered.
"Like to tell us about it?" Hannibal put an arm aroun the shoulders of the
shivering, injured man. 
Murdock swallowed. "There isn't much else to do. Okay, when I first came
here, I was with two other guys: Joe Gough and Hank Miller. Our plan for
the holidays was to slouch around all day and party all night. This went
fine until Joe and I found out that Hank's a mean drunk. I got into an
argument and a fight with him, but Joe dragged me out of it and took me
back to the hotel." Murdock paused for breath.
"What happened?" Face ask
ed.
"Hank stayed in the bar. The next girl who came in he liked the look of, he
attacked and raped. Hank really could pick them - turns out that she was
the fiancée of the big drug dealer in this area. Hank left her really beat
up and got in his rental car. But, he's so drunk he doesn't know where he's
going, and crashes into a bus. There's no one except the driver on the bus
and he's okay, but Hank's dead."
"Talk about a bad day." Face muttered.
Murdock nodded. "It gets worse. This dealer, guy called Möller, puts the
word out on the street he's looking for an American called Hank Miller.
Some guys hear Joe called me HM. They put two and two together and,
unfortunately, get six. Joe and I run for it and get on the next plane
home. We think: end of story."
"But it's not over for them." Hannibal concluded.
"They want me dead, Colonel, but not a nice way. Hence their nice forms of
torture." Murdock winced. 
"So this whole job was a fix to get you here. But don't they know you're
really HM Murdock?" 
"You explain it to them, Colonel. I've tried, but they're so angry at me,
they don't seem to care."
"Why didn't you tell us? We didn't need to come here." Face said in
desperation.
Hannibal shook his head. "They could have got you anywhere, right?"
Murdock nodded dumbly. 
"What we gonna do, Colonel?" BA said. 
"We're not going to let them get you, Murdock. BA, can you get us untied?"
Hannibal asked.
BA strained against his ropes and finally broke them. He set to untying the
others, including Murdock. "You okay, Fool?" 
Murdock got shakily to his feet. "Man, I'm never coming to Berlin again."
"If we get out of here alive." Face rubbed his wrists.


The door to the cellar flew open and a light shone down. "Wer ist da?" A
female voice asked.
Murdock's eyes brightened. "Karla? Es ist mich, Murdock. Und mein
freunden." The light went out as a woman in police uniform darted down the
steps to see the prisoners. 
"Murdock? I thought you were dead." She took his hand and looked at the
others. "I have to take you in for questioning, all of you."
"I ain't answering no questions!" BA stated firmly.
"It's okay, BA, Karla's a friend." Murdock took a step towards her. "I
didn't think you'd come." 
"Was? And leave such a nice American in danger?" Karla's grin matched the
one which usually adorned Murdock's face. "Actually, the powers that be
decided to raid this bar anyway. And, as you happened to be here, it was
all I could do to rescue you."
"So, you two know each other!" Face said in an effort to get a word in. 
"I'm a police officer." Karla told him. "Murdock asked me for help this
morning."
"This morning?"
"When I was out getting clothes." Murdock explained. "Uh, did you see my
jacket anywhere?"


Murdock escaped into the washroom of the local police station and took a
look at himself in the mirror. A thin cut on his forehead stood out where
they had first hit him. His jawbone was bruised, but otherwise there was
nothing seriously wrong with him, at least from the neck up. He suspected
that they had done some damage to his ribs, but there were no injuries he
was likely to die from. 
Giving a sigh, he turned on the taps and drenched his head in the water.
Hannibal opened the door. "Feeling better, Captain?" 
Murdock wiped the water out from his eyes. "I'm okay, Colonel. What's the
situation?"
Hannibal closed the door and leaned against it. "Karla says she can't help
us to deal with your drug dealer friend. They know about him, of course,
but they have no evidence to take him down."
The pilot closed his eyes. "Hannibal, I don't need to take him down, just
get him off my back." 
Hannibal walked over and placed a reassuring hand on Murdock's shoulder. "I
know, Captain, but chances are he isn't going to be the forgiving type and,
besides, we owe these cops a favour." 
Face opened the door and looked in. "Hi guys." He joined them inside and
held out Murdock's discarded t-shirt, sweater, jacket and baseball cap. "I
finally convinced them that your clothes weren't vital pieces of evidence."
Murdock managed a smile and took them from his friend. "So, Colonel, you
got a plan?"


"Man, I wish I had my van." BA said loudly as they walked down the steps
outside the police station. 
"Problem solved." Face handed him some keys. 
"What's this?" Hannibal asked.
Face led them around to the back of the station, where all vehicles were
stored. "I persuaded our police lady to let us have one of the vehicles
they have here. They've got a lot of stolen vehicles they're waiting to try
and trace. So we've got this." He patted a large dark green van. "As long a
we return it in the same condition."
BA's face lit up. "No problem." He opened up the bonnet . "Looks okay." 
The four men piled in, Murdock now fully dressed. "So, Hannibal, we're
going to raid this drug guy's place, right?" Face asked. "But we have no
weapons or, in fact, any idea where he lives." 
"Good point." Hannibal twisted around to look at their pilot. "Uh,
Murdock?"
Murdock shrugged. "I don't know about weapons dealers, Colonel. When I came
here I was just your normal bad-behaved boy, remember?" The faces of his
friends fell. "I do, however, know the whereabouts of Mr. Möller." 


"Wow." said Face, staring out at the huge building. "This is obviously the
business to be in." 
"We're never getting in there, Colonel." Murdock summed up what they all
thought.
Hannibal lit up another cigar. "Sure, the A-Team aren't, but a tragically
wronged young pilot and his lawyer are." He turned to Face. "Face, you and
BA are going to have to find some other cover. Find some incriminating
evidence, if you can. I suspect we'll be needing backup anyhow. Ready,
Captain?"
Murdock flashed him a smile and the two climbed out of the van and walked
over to the main gate where two guards were standing in uniform, carrying
rifles. "Are guns legal here, Hannibal?" Murdock inquired.
"I have no idea, but I'm sure we're about to find out whether they're
carrying blanks or not." Hannibal stepped up to talk to them. "Hi there,
I'm looking for a Wolf Möller?"
"Who are you?" One asked in thickly-accented English.
"My name's John Smith, this is my client, Captain Murdock." Hannibal
indicated Murdock, who was trying to look as if he might still be trusted
with a fighter squadron. 
"I don't know you." The guard said, suspiciously.
"Well, that's funny, because your boss seems to have a contract out on my
man's life here." 
The other guard picked up a telephone and conducted a swift conversation in
German with whoever was on the other end. "Herr Möller says you can come
in." He pressed a button which made the black gates slide back. The two men
were immediately frisked, but they found nothing except Hannibal's cigar
supply and Murdock's knick-knacks. 
"Nice people." Murdock remarked, righting his jacket.
They were taken up several floors by three more guards who deposited them
in a huge office with a view of most of the surrounding country. The only
man in the room was a tall dark German, who stood up as they entered. "Good
afternoon. I am Wolfgang Möller. I believe we have already spoken, Mr.
Smith." He said in good English.
Hannibal smiled back. "Yes. I'm afraid that things got a bit mixed up along
the way. For instance - the absence of any airfield and your men kidnapping
my pilot!" 
Möller's pleasant expression turned to one of distaste as he glared at
Murdock. "Your pilot is not the man you think he is, Mr. Smith. I have no
argument with you."
"Aber er ist tot. Right. I got it the first time, thanks." Hannibal stated.
"But, look, you do have the wrong guy. You're looking for a Hank Miller,
who died a long time ago." Hannibal handed the German a file he had brought
in with him. "This is the police file on the case. You've been after the
wrong man."
Möller looked at the file in mild annoyance. "True, this claims that Hank
Miller died. A fact which I do not believe. Miller had two friends with
him, either of them could have died and Miller could have taken his
identity. It's all a little convenient, Mr. Smith."
"Man, you're the most shortsighted guy I ever met!" Murdock exclaimed. "Why
don't you just get the girl here and ask her if it was me who raped her!
Then we'd know the truth."
Möller smiled, but it was hollow. "My fiancée is dead, Miller. You killed
her - now I want my vengeance. Guards!" 
The three rushed in, but were stopped short by the attack of the two A-team
members. Hannibal took the first two that came at him. Murdock dived at
Möller and took him to the ground. Before the third man could reach him, BA
knocked down the door and rescued his friends. Face stepped through the
wreckage. "Hmmm, nice job, BA. I'll call you next time I'm working as a
demolition man." 
BA set to work tying the guards up as Murdock kept a hold on Möller. Face
gave Hannibal some documents. "From what I can tell, these are pretty
damning." Hannibal reported. "You're in big trouble, Wolf." 
"You'll never get out of here alive." Möller spat at him. 
Hannibal grinned at Face. "I love it when they say that."


The four men burst out of the front entrance to the building and found...
Karla and her cohorts from the police station holding the guards at
gunpoint. "We must stop meeting like this." Face remarked.
"Karla! Why'd you come?" Murdock asked.
"I did a major convincing job on my superiors. But I think that your
friends should leave now. My boss might want to bust up a drug dealer, but
he might not stop there when it comes to the A-Team."
The referred to members reacted in surprise. "You knew about us?" Face
asked.
"I'm a cop, Face, it's my job to know about you. Captain, I think you'd
better stick around." Karla told him.
Murdock nodded. "Okay, guys, I guess you could check out the airport. I'll
meet you there?" 
"Right. Karla - here're some files you might like to take a look at."
Hannibal handed her the documents Face had found and quickly disappeared
along with Face and BA. Behind them, Wolf Möller was being led away,
handcuffed. Murdock hurried over to talk to him. "Mr. Möller, I'm very
sorry about what my friend did to your fiancée. I know what it's like to
lose someone you're very close to." Murdock stared at the ground. "But my
friend wasn't me. Hank Miller's dead, you can't hurt him anymore. Besides,
he's been hurt enough already. Let it be." 
Möller's face remained impassive, but he seemed to nod in acceptance as he
was led away into one of the police cars. 
Murdock felt a hand on his arm. Karla stood there. "Come, Murdock. I need a
statement. And then I think I'll let you take me out to dinner."
The pilot thought briefly about the men waiting for him at the airport, but
only for an instant. Then he let Karla lead him away through the rain.


Murdock stood at the graveside and blinked up into the sun. "Thanks,
Hannibal."
"For what? You're a friend, Murdock and I know you would help me out of
anything." Hannibal replied.
"What is friendship, I wonder? Can be over in an instant, like my
friendship with Hank was, all those years ago. Or people just part ways."
Murdock met Hannibal's eyes. "Hank Miller and Joe Gough were the only two
really close friends I had before Nam. The three of us practically grew up
on airstrips. Once Hank died, Joe and I were assigned to different places.
Only thing I ever heard after that was that he had been killed in Nam. And
I'm in a mental institution. Three lives over like that. Where're we gonna
end up, Colonel? What happens when one of us dies?" 
Hannibal smiled at him. "I think I preferred the insane Murdock."
"My problem, Colonel? When I'm sane, I'm too sane." Murdock sighed. "I
guess what happens, happens, right? But thanks for believing me, Colonel.
There're a lot of guys who wouldn't have."
"They're not friends." Hannibal led Murdock away from Hank Miller's grave.
"One thing, though, Murdock." He stopped, leaving Murdock to walk on a few
steps. "What is your first name?"
Murdock half-turned, an evil grin on his face. "Why, Hank, of course." 

END