CHAPTER THREE
_The Talking Shack_
"It's the next shack beyond this one, Freddy," Dawson murmured softly ashe laid a restraining hand on his friend's arm. "Just hold it a second,and see if we can hear anything. Somehow I like this even less. The doorshut, and every shade drawn, such as they are. Or am I just gettingjumpy?"
"Well, anyway, shut up, if you want us both to listen!" Freddy Farmerbreathed back at him.
Dawson grinned, made a face, and then with Freddy standing motionless athis side, he listened intently for any sounds coming from inside theshack just beyond the one behind which they crouched. And he did hearsounds. So did Freddy Farmer. The muffled and completely indistinctsound of two people talking. A tremor of excitement rippled throughDawson, and he squeezed Freddy's arm. A moment later, though, hefrowned silently and wondered if perhaps he and Freddy weren't justbeing a couple of fools. After all, this wasn't the war zone. Theyweren't behind the enemy lines, or even their own lines. This wasCalifornia, and what if they did see a soldier and a civilian go intoone of the crop pickers' shacks? So what? And maybe that gun wasn't agun after all. Freddy and he would certainly look awfully foolish if thepair inside that shack should suddenly come out and see them crouchedthere gaping wide-eyed like a couple of kids playing cops and robbers.
Those and other disturbing thoughts floated through his brain as hefrowned at the shack. He turned his head and looked at Freddyquestioningly. And the look young Farmer gave him in return indicatedclearly that the English-born air ace was entertaining pretty much thesame thoughts.
"Maybe it's stupid, huh?" Dawson formed the words with his lips.
Freddy nodded slowly, but at the same time a sort of half puzzled andhalf stubborn look glowed in his eyes. And then in the very next instantwhat indecision either of them may have had was wiped away by a cry ofanger coming from the shack beyond. At least it sounded like anger tothem both, although the sound was still too muffled to permit them topick out individual words.
"Well, that tears it as far as I'm concerned!" Dawson grunted. "I'mgoing to get a better look, whether it seems screwy or not."
"Me, too, and right with you," Freddy Farmer replied. "There are somebushes there against the back of the place. No window to peek through,but we can certainly hear clearly through those loosely fitted boards.Good grief, what places for people to live in!"
Dawson nodded, and said nothing. He simply left their place of hidingand eased over to the protection of a line of scrub bushes. Keepingbehind them, he swiftly made his way to the rear of the other shack.There he crouched down low and pressed an ear to the rough boards.Freddy Farmer quickly followed his move, and together they heard thehigh-pitched voice that was speaking inside.
"... must not fail!" it said. "What I have given you must reach itsdestination as quickly as possible. However, not at the risk of yourbeing suspected for one single minute. Do you understand?"
"Of course I understand!" a harsh voice replied. "Do you think I am afool? Do you think I am a baby playing at a man's game?"
"What I think is of no importance," the high-pitched voice replied."Both you and I are but cogs in a great wheel that will crush the world.There is a saying in my native tongue that describes it perfectly, but Iwill not bore you by repeating it, as you do not speak the Japaneselanguage. And when translated into your native tongue, German, it has nomeaning at all. So forget that I mentioned it. You have your work, and Ihave mine."
A moment of silence followed, and Dawson was filled with a terrible fearthat the thunder of his pounding heart could be heard beyond the looseboard wall of the shack. He didn't dare turn his head to look at Freddyfor fear that even that slight movement would create a sound that mightbe heard inside the shack. A Jap and a Nazi inside there? It seemedincredible! Like a crazy Hollywood concoction he had seen at the basemovie house only the night before. It was ...
But the one who was obviously a Nazi was speaking again.
"I was told that all my orders would come from Berlin."
"And so they have, in a way," the one of the high-pitched voice repliedsmoothly. "To be transmitted to you through me. Your country, and mine,fight this war together. It does not matter who gives the orders, or whoperforms them, so long as the enemy is defeated. Now, tell me, when doyou sail?"
"Tonight," the other replied. "I must be back aboard the carrier withintwo hours."
"And so you will be," the Jap assured him. "There is no need for us totalk much longer. Here is the address of the one you will call on inHonolulu. Show him this, and he will know you come from me. He willprobably give you additional information. Guard it well until you haveplaced it in the hands of Admiral Shimoda at Truk."
"But that is foolish, stupid!" the Nazi snarled. "My carrier force maynot go within a thousand miles of Truk! And ..."
"Do not worry about that!" the other cut him off. "The American dogshave met him with a few minor successes of late, and it has gone totheir heads. They will act boldly now, and that is what Admiral Shimodawishes. Yes, I am sure that your task force will steam to within easyflying distance of Truk. When your carrier reaches that point you willsee to it that you take off without creating _any_ suspicion and fly atonce to your destination. When you reach Truk you will be under thedirect orders of Admiral Shimoda. It may be that he will desire that youreturn to your carrier for future use. If so, you can safely leave it tohim to arrange matters so that your own force will pick you up as apilot who unfortunately has been forced down into the water, and hasfloated about in his rubber life raft for a day or two."
"I would rather be sent to China to work there!" the Nazi growled. "I amsick of these swine Americans, and pretending to be one of them."
"I can sympathize with you there," the Jap purred. "I am sick of livingunder their rule, too. But at least I have the chance to travel oftenacross the border into Mexico. There is a country that we will makegreat, once we have conquered the world. The Mexicans are ... But Iwander. Speak to Admiral Shimoda of your wish to go to China. Perhaps hewill agree with you. However, there is other work for you to accomplishfirst, before carrying information to Truk."
"Other work?" the Nazi asked sharply.
"Important work," was the instant reply. "And very important work. Whenyou go to that address in Honolulu you will be given a number of waterflares, so small that you could carry them all in one pocket and thebulge they made would not be noticed. But they give off a powerful lightthat burns for four or five hours."
"Water flares?" gasped the Nazi. "For what use?"
"An important use," the Jap replied. "Right now there are three Americancarriers in the San Diego Basin. You know that yours will sail tonight.Perhaps the other two, with their forces, will sail also. It may be,though, that only your carrier will stop at Pearl Harbor. Later it maymeet the other two carriers at sea. You do not know now, and neither doI. However, you can keep our Pacific patrol forces informed of your ownposition. The water flares. I will explain their use briefly, and theone in Honolulu will give you detailed instructions. It will be an easymatter for you to learn the position of your carrier, and its force. Anequally easy matter for you to learn the strength of your force, andwhether others have joined it. So! Each evening you will put all thatinformation down on special paper that you will be given in Honolulu,and put it in a watertight pocket attached to the flare. Then, unseen,you will throw the flare into the water. It is so constructed that itwill not break into light for three or four hours. That is so that yourcarrier will be far out of sight range by then. However, come darkness,all of our submarines will surface to re-charge their batteries. Perhapsone of them will see the flare. Or perhaps one of our long-rangepatrolling Kawanishi flying boats will sight the flare, and land besideit. Perhaps not the first night you are at sea, or the next, or thenext. But one night a flare will be picked up, and we will know all weneed to know to set our trap of destruction for a future date."
"That sounds very interesting!" the Nazi said eagerly. "I shall enjoydoing tha
t kind of work. Let us hope that a dozen of their swinecarriers make up the force of which mine will be a part!"
"Let us hope so," the Jap replied, with a little laugh that chilled theblood in Dawson's veins, "but let us not count on it. The American dogsare not fools, all the time. We have shown them what happens to fools.But if it be only your carrier, that will be enough. From theinformation you throw into the water each night we will be able toguess accurately the destination of the force. Then at the right momentAdmiral Shimoda's forces will destroy it completely. The victory will bejust what is needed in Japan, and in Germany, too. And the Americanswill cease to be so foolishly bold. They will hesitate, and that willgive Admiral Shimoda the necessary time he desires to re-enforce hisground forces and break the American grip on New Guinea and theSolomons."
"But if we could get several of their carriers!" the Nazi said fiercely."We ..."
"We will hope for that," the Jap stopped him, "but we will be contentwith one carrier force. It will be enough for the present. Now, beforeyou go I want you to look at this map of Honolulu. I will show you thequickest way to reach the address I have given you. Your carrier may notremain in Pearl Harbor long, so you must not waste time making thisimportant contact."
There was the crackle of paper, the faint shuffling of feet, and thennothing but silence. Dave Dawson took that moment to turn his headslowly until he met Freddy Farmer's wide, angry eyes. But he gazed intoFreddy's eyes for only an instant, for he suddenly noticed not fourinches from the end of his nose a long quarter-inch crack between twoof the wall boards. Young Farmer spotted it almost at the same time. Andholding their breath, the two air aces inched over until they each couldput an eye to the crack.
At first Dawson could see nothing but the shadowy interior of a filthyroom. Dust, dirt, and dried yellow mud were everywhere. Scraps of ragswere strewn all about. And there were several empty rusty cans lyingabout on the filthy floor. He gave all that but a passing glance,because as his eye became adjusted to the bad light inside he was ableto see the head and shoulders of a uniformed figure. His heart leaped upto clog his throat when he saw that it was the uniform of a NavalAviation Ensign. The man was standing side to, so Dave had only aprofile view of the face. And it was a very ordinary face. No singlefeature stood out prominently. He had seen thousands of faces just likeit. He could see, though, that the hair below the service cap wasstraw-colored, and he guessed that the eyes were sky blue. And the neck,perhaps, was just a little thicker than the average neck of a man ofthat height.
Of the other figure in the room, though, he could see nothing. No matterhow hard he pressed his eye to the crack, a sliver of wood on the otherside of the wall board blocked out everything else.
And then from out of nowhere, it came!
A sixth sense, more than his ears, told him that there was sound andswift movement behind him. He jerked his head around, caught a flashglimpse of Freddy Farmer turning his head, and then the California skyfell down on top of him. All the bombs in the world exploded inside hishead, and the whole world was made up only of dazzling white flashes oflightning. But unconsciousness did not engulf him at once. He knew thathe was lunging out with both hands, and clawing at rough coarse fabric.He even heard a snarl, a cry of pain, and the scream of a fiend gonecompletely berserk.
But whether that scream came from his own lips, or from another's, hedid not know. A split second later, he didn't know anything at all. TheCalifornia sky crashed down on him again and drove him deep into ayawning chasm of utter darkness and silence.
Dave Dawson at Truk Page 3