Author: Sam

Story: I Spy With My Little G.I.: 7 of 17

Series: The War Within

Feedback: Yes, please? Especially constructive. samwise_baggins@yahoo.co.uk

Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/samwise_baggins/index.html

Major Burns stopped, one foot raised in the act of stepping out. His eyes narrowed and his mouth thinned, his lips becoming almost non-existent. That wasn’t… it was! Colonel Flagg was leaving Colonel Blake’s office, escorted by the company clerk and trailed by Captain Pierce. Frank’s mind went into overdrive. Colonel Flagg worked for Intelligence. He was supposed to hunt down and dispose of enemies of the United States of America. If he was there…

Frank’s eyes nearly popped, his mouth gaped, and his hands made grasping motions he was unaware of. 'There’s an enemy at the 4077!' The thought started as shock but quickly shifted to disgust. 'And I know just who it is, the filthy, traitorous pervert!'

Burns determinedly headed for his Commanding Officer’s tent. It was his duty as a true blue, patriotic American to report the traitor to those in authority. There was proof, too… enough that even that ineffectual lay-about Colonel Blake couldn’t deny it.

Without knocking, or announcing as Radar was still out with Flagg, Frank walked directly into Henry’s office. He’d inadvertently interrupted the man’s private mail. “Colonel Blake, Sir, I have a matter of great importance to discuss with you, and I won’t take no for an answer.” He was ramrod stiff as he stood there.

Henry let out a sound between a growl and a sigh. Putting the pen down once more, he slowly raised his eyes and glared at the other surgeon. “Frank, this is a private office. You’re supposed to knock before you barge in here demanding…”

“I’m sorry, Sir,” Burns interrupted, not sounding in the least apologetic, just whiny and self-important, “but this is a matter of National Security. It can’t wait, Sir.” The last was said on a rather petulant note.

“Okay, I’ll talk to Hawkeye about…”

“It isn’t Captain Pierce, Sir!”

“MacIntyre?”

“No!” Burns was truly annoyed. 'Isn’t that just like… when I want to report the others, he won’t listen, but when I’m not here about them, it’s all he wants to talk about. Oaf!' “I’m here to report a Communist, Sir.”

Henry stood so quickly he knocked over his chair and half the things on his desk, including a half-empty glass and opened bottle of gin. “Aw, shucks! Now look what you made me do, Frank…” The Colonel bent down to start trying to clean the gin off his letters, not wanting Lorraine to think that all he did was drink over here, no matter how accurate an assumption it might be.

Frank took on a very annoying whine. “Sir!” He circled around the desk and glared down at his bumbling leader. “A Communist is in this camp, running around and contaminating everything and all you can do is play with your mail?” With a harrumph, the Major stepped back. “I knew I should have gone to Major Houlihan first!”

Looking up in exasperation, Henry snapped at his second-in-command, “Oh, will you shut up, Frank?” At Burns’ indignant, mouth-dropping look, Blake continued. “Just because Colonel Flagg is here does not mean that one of our patients is a spy. Now just relax and stop acting like a horse’s pattoot!”

“Well, I… I…” Frank’s mouth worked as he tried to come up with a snappy comeback. Finally he spat out “I’m talking about Standish!”

That did it. Henry stood almost as quickly as he could knock something over. He glared at the other man, anger emanating from every pore. That new doctor was a nice kid, and he was not going to have Frank Burns, or anyone else, wrecking the boy’s future just because of some imaginary slight. “Get out! Get out of this office… and stay away from Doctor Standish, Major! That’s an order!”

Equally angry, Frank Burns didn’t say a word. He turned on his heel in a rather impressive military about-face and marched his way directly towards Major Houlihan’s tent, without stopping even to hunt up Colonel Flagg. Margaret would know how to approach this; she always did.