He lay back on the twin bed that someone had found and put in the shack. The bed, mattress, and pillow were other reasons to take a turn waiting for the radio to hum. It was a strong and honored tradition that whoever slept in it was responsible for cleaning the sheets and pillowcase. Jake thought that was getting off cheaply.
So what would happen if their efforts failed and they were discovered? He would have to kill himself to keep the secret of Magic from falling into Japanese hands. He also felt that a number of others, Alexa included, would take their own lives as an alternative to what would happen if they were captured. After all, hadn’t the men on Lanai been prisoners who’d been executed because they were considered outlaws? As more and more was found out about conditions in Japanese prison camps, there were those who thought the victims of the Lanai massacre had been the lucky ones.
On the positive side, Brooks and Hawkins ran their respective units well enough, while the new guy, Charley Finch, seemed competent enough to help out coordinating supplies. Hawkins was a jewel, and Brooks had shaken off his depression caused by the massacre in Hilo.
Jake didn’t quite trust Finch yet, and Alexa seemed to dislike him, but there was nothing they could hang the guy for. Maybe he was one of those unlovable people who just did their jobs. After all, since when had this become a popularity contest?
Alexa had volunteered to observe Finch, and Jake had accepted her offer. This was something she could do without being obvious because she was a civilian, and because she was in charge of those supplies unique to women problems. Jake chuckled when he thought that his command had to be concerned with sanitary napkins. There were only a dozen women in his group, but they had to be cared for, Alexa was perfect for the job, and it got her close to Finch. Sergeant Finch got his ass all puckered up when either Jake or Brooks came by, and he almost ignored Hawkins. Alexa watching Finch removed one problem from Jake’s plateful.
Jake was satisfied that the Charley Finch problem would resolve itself, presuming that there even was a Charley Finch problem.
I’m getting paranoid, he thought with a yawn. He pulled the top sheet over his body and closed his eyes. If anything came in over the radio, a bell had been rigged to ring and wake him. The mattress felt like the lap of luxury and reminded him of a world long gone. It was so comfortable he wondered if he would be able to sleep.
He grinned in the night. If he did fall asleep, maybe he would dream of Alexa. She and he had grown remarkably close since her arrival, and he wondered what direction the relationship would ultimately take. He hoped to find out before too long. Or too late, he thought grimly. Damnit, let something happen.
CHAPTER 19
Commander Joe Rochefort strode into the conference room and plopped a stack of papers on the table. As usual, he was the antithesis of a smart-looking officer. He looked like he’d slept in his uniform, which had often happened. At his own office, he frequently wore a robe and slippers.
“Morning, Jamie,” he said genially. “Catch up to me yet?”
Lieutenant Commander Jamie Priest grinned back. “Not yet, sir, but I’m working on it.”
Despite many more years of devoted service to his country, Rochefort was only one grade higher than Jamie, and very likely to stay there. If it galled him, however, he didn’t show it. Joe Rochefort had more important things to do.
“You’ll be at the meeting?” Rochefort asked.
“Yes, sir.”
Jamie had only recently been cleared to get Magic information. His new rank had nothing to do with it; a number of people with far lower rank, even enlisted men, had Magic clearance because, as Rochefort said with a sarcastic laugh, “If they didn’t, then a lot of damned admirals would actually have to do some work.”
He was right, of course, and there were many admirals and generals who hadn’t a single clue that Magic existed, while sergeants and petty officers, possessors of knowledge that could change history, passed them in the hallways.
Having the information provided by Magic had been both a blessing and a curse. It had been a blessing because Jamie now knew so much more about what was going on with the Japanese. It was fascinating to read not only their minds but their mail.
The curse part was twofold. First, it further hammered home the fact that he would never get into a position where he might be taken prisoner and the information extracted from him. Only a handful of key people with Magic clearance had been permitted to leave the States, and none into positions of danger.
The second part of the curse brought him back to the nightmare of the Pennsylvania. He’d found and read the intercepts in which Yamamoto had tried to stop the execution of the American survivors. The Japanese admiral had apparently failed, and that meant Jamie truly was the only survivor of that disaster. The knowledge brought a numbing feeling, and he wished Suzy was there for him to talk to.
But she wasn’t, and it was something he had to resolve by himself. Jamie’d received a handful of letters in the short while she’d been gone and sent some himself. They loved each other and missed each other.
He also found that Suzy had received Magic clearance. She’d never even hinted at it. It did mean that they could talk about the Pennsylvania and other things when she finally returned to him. Magic clearance also meant she wouldn’t be supervising a mess hall after she finished training.
Admiral Nimitz arrived and took a seat at the head of the table. Admiral Spruance wasn’t there, which puzzled Jamie.
Nimitz went straight to the point. “What do you have for us, Joe?”
Rochefort grinned. “In summary, the date of the Japanese arrival at Pearl and the makeup of the Japanese force.”
Rochefort went on to say that the Japanese fleet under Yamamoto was scheduled to arrive at Pearl Harbor on July 20. It would stay for two weeks while the islands were formally declared to be Japanese territory.
“There are six carriers in the First Air Fleet under Nagumo,” Rochefort said. “The Akagi, Soryu, Hiryu, Kaga, Ryujo, and one other. We don’t have the name just yet. There are two battleship divisions. The first consists of the Yamato and the Musashi, both of their giants. The Musashi is a surprise. I didn’t think she was ready, and she might not totally be. This could easily be her shakedown cruise.”
Standing in the corner of the room behind Nimitz, Jamie shuddered. Two like the Yamato’! How would the navy handle them?
Rochefort continued. “The second division consists of the old battleships Kongo, Haruna, and Kirishima.”
“I thought we sank the Haruna in the Philippines,” Nimitz said with some surprise.
“Apparently not,” Rochefort responded. “I guess we gave the Medal of Honor to a pilot for sinking the wrong ship.”
An American airman named Colin Kelly had been awarded the medal for having sunk a Japanese battleship by ramming her with his crippled plane. Either he hadn’t sunk the Haruna or he’d hit a different ship. An air force pilot could easily have mistaken a Japanese cruiser for a battleship.
Or, Jamie thought with dismay, the whole incident had been fabricated to make something heroic out of the catastrophe that had befallen the American army in the Philippines. He decided he didn’t want to know.
“There will be a number of cruisers and destroyers as escorts, and a brigade of infantry on transports who will depart after the ceremonies,” Rochefort said. “Right now it looks like the Japs will land them in the Aleutians, and then the fleet will foray down the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and California. The only thing possibly holding them back is their fear that our navy really hasn’t vacated the Pacific.”