Beside a Burning Sea

by John Shors

  “Wait about an hour and then join us back at camp. An hour ought to be enough.” Joshua handed Jake the machete and the airman’s binoculars. He then watched the engineer vanish into the nearby jungle. Before Joshua could offer to help, Roger slung the unconscious flier over his shoulder, and without a word, headed toward the distant banyan tree. Joshua picked up the two spears and followed.

  Not long after the airman began to moan, Roger dropped him behind the banyan tree, so that the tree shielded him from the beach. They hadn’t cleared this space, and Joshua pulled ferns from the ground and pushed rocks aside to give them more room. He whistled loudly, and soon Nathan and the others emerged from deeper in the jungle. Upon seeing the unconscious man, the three nurses stepped forward to inspect him. Roger started to block their way, but Joshua told him to leave them be.

  Isabelle found his head wound first—a quarter-sized contusion just above his hairline. “Did you do this?” she asked.

  “No,” Joshua replied. “He was dazed when he came ashore.”

  “We’ll have to keep a close eye on it,” she said, looking for other wounds, pausing only when the injured man groaned.

  Joshua was about to ask Annie to remove Akira’s gag when he noticed that it was nowhere to be seen. Stifling his frustration toward Nathan for not ensuring that his orders were carried out, he lifted the airman so that his back was against the massive boulder that supported the banyan tree. The man muttered, and Joshua looked to Akira. “What did he say?”

  Akira frowned, shaking his head. “Untie my hands first, yes? Then I will tell you what he says.”

  Joshua swore to himself, aware that he needed to lead for the sake of his family, and feeling that his authority was being usurped on multiple fronts. He moved behind Akira and quickly untied him. “Now, what did he say?”

  Akira rubbed his wrists. “A woman’s name. All he said was a woman’s name.”

  Away from the gentle breeze of the beach, the air was hot and teemed with bugs. Joshua slapped at a mosquito. He didn’t want to be unnecessarily hard on Annie, or even Akira, but he knew that he had to be careful. Two Japanese were now among them, and others could be swimming ashore.

  The airman opened his eyes. He blinked repeatedly, swinging his gaze from person to person. Finally, he looked at Akira and spoke in Japanese. Akira answered him, and the two briefly conversed.

  “What are you talking about?” Joshua asked.

  Akira noted how Roger was perched near the airman, a spear in hand. The American looked as if he hoped the prisoner would try to escape. “He asked me why you removed my bonds,” Akira replied.

  “Can you tell him,” Joshua asked, “that we haven’t harmed you? That we’ll treat him well if he answers a few simple questions?”

  Akira moved toward the prisoner, kneeling on the ground before him. Switching to Japanese, he said, “These people are from an American hospital ship. They are not bad people. But they’d like to ask you several questions.”

  The man grimaced, shifting against his bonds. “Tell them . . . tell them that my urine’s sweet and that they may wet their tongues with it.”

  “You’re unwise to—”

  “Tell them that yesterday I put a bomb through the deck of an American destroyer. It was a beautiful sight—more stirring than Mount Fuji. The cowards jumped off that burning ship faster than the sea would take them.”

  Akira straightened. “And yet you are here. Their prisoner.”

  “But my bonds are loose. Give me a moment and I’ll be ready. You surprise the leader and I’ll handle the one with the spear. We must act now, before the big black one returns.”

  “No,” Akira said quickly. “There’s no need for anyone to die.”

  The airman seemed surprised. “No need? Why not? Are you afraid?”

  “Not of death.”

  “Then help me. It’s pathetic to be a prisoner. Unforgivable. I’d rather die than live with the shame.” The airman’s tone was growing sharper and more menacing. “Do you hear me?” he asked harshly. “I’d rather die a thousand deaths than sit here in shame! Where is your honor?”

  “My honor is—”

  “You shame the emperor!”

  “I have been fighting the—”

  “We must move now!”

  “Wait!”

  “The spear! I’ll take the spear! And you do the rest!”

  In spite of himself, Akira glanced at the spear. And at that moment, he saw Roger’s fingers tighten about it, almost as if he understood what might happen. “The American’s ready for your move!” Akira said to the prisoner. “Please! There’s no need to die!”

  “We must all die someday,” the airman retorted angrily. “And today is as good as any and better than most.”

  “Wait!”

  “Attack now!” the prisoner said, leaning toward Roger.

  “His bonds are loose!” Akira suddenly shouted in English, stepping back.

  The airman tried to strike Roger but only managed to free his hands before Roger, Joshua, and Nathan jumped on him. He struggled mightily, screaming at Akira to help. But Akira only stepped away, positioning himself between those involved in the melee and Annie.

  Soon the prisoner was completely immobilized by ropes and belts. His hands and feet were bound tightly together and he was tied to a nearby tree. At some point during the fight, he’d managed to bloody Joshua’s lip and leave four scratches down the side of Roger’s face. As Joshua wiped his lip and spat blood, Roger walked over and viciously kicked the prone airman in the stomach.

  “Enough!” Joshua shouted.

  “I’m not done—”

  “By God, that’s enough!”

  Roger cursed and strode away from the unconscious man, vanishing into the jungle. Isabelle hurried to Joshua, looking at his lip. “We need to wash this out,” she said, eyeing the deep gash. We’d better cool it off or it’s going to swell up like a balloon.”

  Annie nodded toward the beach. “Go. Wash it in the sea.”

  Joshua started to protest but suddenly felt inordinately weary and was almost relieved when Isabelle took him by the hand and led him toward the water. With Roger and Joshua gone, the area behind the banyan tree was silent. Scarlet took the prisoner’s pulse and nodded to Annie, then handed Nathan a spear and told him to watch over the fallen man.

  Annie moved forward to touch Akira’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about the gag, sorry that—”

  Akira’s gaze abruptly left her, and Annie saw that Roger had returned. The four scratches on his face were red and inflamed, and without question he was enraged. “I’m going to bind you now, monkey. Bind you like the animal you are. And if you so much as twitch, I’ll spear you straight through. You got that?”

  “There’s no need to insult—”

  “Shut your mouth, fat man,” Roger said, interrupting Nathan. “I’ll deal with the Nip. I’ll nail his yellow hide to a tree.”

  “Get out of here!” Annie shouted as Roger stepped toward her patient. She tried to get in front of Akira, but he wouldn’t let her.

  Though Akira had recently grown used to the sound of waves and the rhythm of words, and though he felt reincarnated in such a world, he’d survived five years of ferocious fighting and was unafraid of Roger. As Nathan tried to convince Roger to leave, Akira watched the tip of Roger’s spear while simultaneously keeping his peripheral vision on his adversary’s face. “If you had a gun, you would shoot me, yes?” Akira asked. “But the airman had no gun, and so you will have to use your spear. So do your best with it, coward.”

  Roger dropped the spear and lunged at Akira. The big man’s speed surprised Akira, and he was barely able to deflect an open-fisted thrust meant to shatter his nose. Even as Roger’s attack was being blocked, he swept his foot toward Akira’s injured leg. Akira sensed rather than saw the kick coming and managed to twist his body so that Roger’s foot struck his knee. The blow caused him to stumble, and Roger pressed forward with his attack, chopping at him with a series o
f powerful and precise strikes. Akira blocked the blows with his forearms, looking for an opening through which to counterattack. Though Annie and Scarlet screamed for help, and Nathan tried to intervene, Akira was aware only of Roger.

  Suddenly, Jake and Joshua burst through the underbrush. Jake tackled Roger while Joshua grabbed Akira. When Akira made no effort to resist, Joshua helped subdue Roger. “It’s over!” he yelled, wrapping himself around Roger’s legs so that Jake was no longer in danger of being kicked. “Do you hear me? It’s over!”

  As deadly as he was, Roger couldn’t possibly throw two strong men from him, and ceased his efforts to do so. His chest heaving, he tried to slow his breath, tried to suppress his fury. “The Jap tried to kill me!”

  “That’s a lie!” Annie retorted, furious that Roger had attempted to kick Akira’s wound.

  Jake relaxed against Roger, and Joshua said, “Don’t move, Jake. Not yet.”

  “Sure, Captain.”

  Joshua started to swear and then stopped himself, slapping his open palm against his thigh. “What’s wrong with you?” he yelled, glaring at Roger and then Akira. “Don’t you think we have enough problems without you two at each other’s throats? You obviously don’t, so I’ll spell it out for you. The next person who breaks the peace on this island will be put in the lifeboat and set adrift! I’ll give him food and water, but so help me God, I’ll set him adrift with no oars and he’ll have to make do at sea!” Joshua paused to spit out some blood. “Is that understood?” When no one answered, he shouted, “I asked if that was understood!”

  Only after a series of affirmative responses did Joshua allow Roger to be released. “We’re done here,” he said, his voice hoarse. “No one else is coming, so there’s no reason to stay off the beach. Jake, kindly bring the airman into our camp. Scarlet, please see to it that he has food and medical care. And, Akira, join me by the water.”

  The group quickly dispersed. Limping, Akira followed Joshua to the sea. He watched the captain lean down and rinse his mouth out with salt water. Covered in sweat and grime, Akira knelt and began to splash himself. The water, though warm, felt refreshing in the rising heat. Not a single cloud floated above. The day was still—bereft of wind or pulse. Even the sea was little more than an endless blue mirror.

  “If you give him a reason to kill you, he will kill you,” Joshua said. “Isn’t that obvious?”

  “I have given him no reason,” Akira replied. “But he looks for one, yes?”

  Joshua nodded, rinsing out his mouth once again, wincing as salt water cleansed his cut. He took a deep breath, rising to his full height and studying the distant sea. He was still angry and made no reply, letting his emotions slowly settle. Eyeing Benevolence’s grave, he suddenly missed his rosary, missed how his fingers caressed its beads as he whispered Hail Marys.

  Finally, he turned to Akira. “I have no ill feelings toward you. None whatsoever. You saved Annie and Isabelle, and I don’t consider you an enemy.”

  “I am not your enemy, Captain.”

  “You are and you aren’t.” When it was clear that Akira didn’t understand him, Joshua continued, “My country is at war with yours, and you’re my prisoner. But I don’t want to bind you, don’t want to treat you poorly.” He glanced toward the banyan tree, ensuring that his orders were being carried out. “Isabelle tells me that you were a teacher,” he said, wishing that he was alone with her.

  “Yes. In another life.”

  Joshua turned to face Akira. “Do I have your word, your word upon all that’s sacred to you, that you’ll do nothing to harm or endanger any of my people?”

  “So sorry, but what of that man? He will cause trouble for me.”

  “That man I will handle. I’ve handled his kind before.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Now do I have your word? My wife is here. And her sister. Do I have your word that you’ll never endanger them?”

  “I want them to live, Captain. They have been good to me, and I want them to live. That is why I warned you about the airman.”

  “Then you’ll remain untied, and you’ll have free reign of camp. But don’t go out of sight.”

  Akira bowed slightly. “May I say something?”

  “Please speak freely.”

  “Our countries war. And as you say, we cannot change this unfortunate truth. But we do not have to war. There can be a peace between us, yes?”

  “I’d like that. I see no reason why there can’t.”

  Akira studied Joshua’s face, which was long and narrow. The sun had left his skin the color of sand, and wrinkles gathered near the corners of his mouth and eyes. His curly, dark hair was receding. His blue eyes could be hard, Akira knew, but they could also emanate friendliness. He found it unsettling that two weeks ago he’d have killed the American had they met upon the battlefield.

  Realizing that Joshua was staring at the spot where Benevolence disappeared, Akira said softly, “I also know of guilt.”

  “You . . . you do?”

  “I know how one moment you believe that you are free of it, and how the next moment you are reminded of your failings, and how those failings can almost . . . suffocate you. This cycle goes on and on. Like the rise and fall of the tide. And then one day you discover that you will never be free of the guilt.”

  “It becomes a part of you, doesn’t it?” Joshua asked, thinking of his dead crew.

  “Yes, so sorry.”

  “How big a part?”

  Akira gazed at the sea. “I used to think it was most of me. But recently, other parts of me have grown.”

  Joshua thought of his unborn child. Would his child mark a new beginning? “I hope the war ends soon,” he finally said.

  “It will. And you will win. After Midway, the emperor can only dream of victory.”

  “Were you there?”

  Akira nodded slowly. “They told us that Americans were soft. That you were spoiled by fast cars and easy lives and that you would flee at the first sight of blood.” He shook his head, pursing his lips. “But . . . wave after wave of your torpedo pilots came at our carriers. Came toward their certain deaths. They fell from the sky like snow and yet they still came.”

  Joshua thought about the dead of that battle, of how the unimaginable heroics of the doomed pilots might have turned the war. “And they finally got through,” he replied, saying a silent prayer for the airmen.

  Akira turned from the sea to look at Joshua. “I also want this war to end. Too long has it raged already.”

  Joshua watched a gull glide about the beach. “Isabelle told me about that night. The night you saved them. And more than you’ll ever know, I’m grateful for what you did.”

  “It was my honor.”

  “You . . . you saved my family. Which means that you also saved me. And because of that I’m going to trust you.”

  Akira turned back to the sea. “What, may I ask, will you do with the prisoner?”

  “I don’t know,” Joshua said, sighing. “Nothing, I suppose. Just keep him tied up and hope that he doesn’t cause any more trouble.”

  “He will not tell you anything.”

  “I agree. I’m through asking him questions.”

  Straightening his wrinkled shirt, Akira said, “I wonder what the emperor would think of this.”

  “Of what?”

  “An officer of the Imperial Army talking with an American naval captain.” Akira smiled, adding, “He would fall from his throne.”

  “Maybe we should send him a picture.”

  “Ah, I would like that. A picture, yes?” Akira grinned. “Thank you for that thought.”

  Joshua turned from Benevolence. “It was my pleasure,” he replied, his swollen lip forming a smile. “I like the thought as well.”

  WAIST DEEP IN THEIR swimming hole, Annie scrubbed her arms with sand. During the past few minutes she’d also tried seaweed and the husk from a coconut. She’d ultimately decided that sand worked best, that it actually removed the island’s grime f
rom her skin. A few feet away, Isabelle had come to the same conclusion. The sisters scrubbed in silence, each angry about the morning’s events.

  Not surprisingly, Annie was the first to speak. “It was wrong to gag him, Isabelle. You know that as well as I do.”

  Isabelle dropped the sand from her hands. “What was wrong was for you to openly debate Joshua.”

  “Debate him? Is he a king and I’m his subject? I was only trying to protect our patient. I was—”

  “Do you have to be so naïve? Is it really necessary, Annie? We’re at war, remember? We’re not on vacation in a tropical paradise, but at war. And in war unpleasant things happen.”

  Annie stepped toward her sister. “He saved us! He carried me on his back and almost died in the process!”

  Isabelle picked up a handful of sand and began to scrub her legs. “I know that. For goodness’ sake, don’t you think I know that? I’m grateful for what he did, but it still doesn’t change the fact that we’re at war. Joshua was just playing it safe.”

  “If Akira had played it safe we’d both be dead!”

  “Annie, that’s not—”

  “He’d be free on this island and we’d still be in Benevolence.”

  “Fine. I’ll grant you that. But would you rather that Joshua not play it safe? That he jeopardize lives just so a man’s feelings don’t get hurt?”

  “Of course not!”

  “He loves me. He loves you. He loves his unborn child. So he’s going to do his best to protect us. Just like you’re protecting Akira—a man, I should remind you, who you hardly know. Think about what you’d do if you were about to become a mother. Who would you protect then? What lengths would you go to so that no harm came to your child?”

  Annie started to speak, then stopped. “I’m not . . . I’m not angry at Joshua for protecting us. I just . . . I’m just not pleased with how it happened. Akira didn’t deserve that.”

  “He’s a soldier, Annie. He understands.”

  Sighing, Annie sank deeper into the water. Though irritated that Isabelle couldn’t see her point, Annie was mostly unnerved by the fight between Roger and Akira. “If Josh and Jake hadn’t returned, Roger would have killed him,” she said, glancing back toward camp. “That man’s a monster.”