"Sorry, I should have got into that. When they landed from the sub, they decided that Wallace could make better time to Ferdinand Six traveling alone. So Lieutenant McCoy stayed with Sergeant Hart."
"Did you say McCoy?" Pick Pickering asked.
"Yes, I did."
"Is he one of your people?" Pick asked.
"As a matter of fact, Lieutenant, no, he is not. He's sort of a rubber-boat expert they sent from Washington."
"Is that Killer McCoy?"
"Yes, but when you meet him, Lieutenant, I strongly suggest that you do not so address him."
"Aye, aye, Sir," Pick said.
"You know this guy?" Charley Galloway asked; they were sitting together.
"We went through OCS Quantico," Pick said.
Galloway shrugged.
"If I may continue?" Felt asked sarcastically. "As I was saying, if the battery-powered radio is working, the beach will communicate with the aircraft. if it is not working, McCoy has two signal panels, one red, meaning Do Not Attempt Landing, and one blue, meaning the beach is Safe to Land. If they display the red panel, the Hallicrafters aboard will be kicked out of the airplane into the water. If we're lucky, their packaging will float them and they will be washed ashore. The aircraft will then return here."
"I'm willing to jump in, Commander," the sober-sounding sergeant said.
"We all are," the other sergeant said, the one who obviously had had one or two more bottles of beer than his metabolism could handle.
"We considered that and decided against it," Feldt said.
"You will return here so we can try this again. Clear? I don't want any heroics out there." There was no reply.
"What I am waiting for, gentlemen, is an acknowledgment of that order."
"Aye, aye, Sir," the two sergeants said. Feldt looked at the other three members of the team and waited for them to say, "Aye, aye, Sir."
"If the green panel is displayed, the aircraft will land," Feldt said. "The radios and other supplies will be off-loaded, Reeves, Howard, and Koffler will be taken aboard, and the aircraft will depart."
"What happens to the two guys on the beach?" one of the Marines asked, "if the airplane can't land?"
"They're fucked," the drinking sergeant said.
"They will remain in position for seventy-two hours if they wish," Feldt said matter-of-factly. "In case we can restage the landing. At the end of seventy-two hours they will make their way to Ferdinand Six."
"Like I said, they're fucked," the drinking sergeant said.
"That will be quite enough, thank you, Sergeant," Feldt said. "If the people from Ferdinand Six are on the beach, they will of course lead everybody back there. If they are not there, the landing team, plus Lieutenant McCoy and Sergeant Hart, will carry one of the Hallicrafters and the equipment in bags marked with red tags and make for Ferdinand Six. The other equipment will be concealed somewhere near the beach for pickup at a later time. We've been over all this, of course, in great detail before.
"Are there any questions?" There were none.
"There is one case of beer left, plus a few other bottles. When that's gone, that's it. My advice is try to get some sleep. We'll wake you at 0100. There will be breakfast, the rest of the steak and eggs, and then you will board the aircraft. I remind you there is only a bucket aboard the aircraft for bowel movements, and that can get messy. So try to take care of that before you get on the airplane.
"I thank you for your kind attention, and please be generous when the hat is passed." There was more laughter. This time some of it seemed genuine.
[Five]
NORTH PHILADELPHIA STATION
PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
0915 HOURS 9 OCTOBER 1942
"That must be him, Lieutenant," Sergeant Howard J. Doone, USMC, said to First Lieutenant J. Bailey Chambers, USMC, discreetly pointing down the platform to a Brigadier General of The U.S. Marine Corps who had just stepped from the train.
Lieutenant Chambers moved quickly down the platform, saluted, and inquired, "General Pickering, Sir?" Fleming Pickering returned the salute.
"Admiral Ashworth's compliments, Sir," Lieutenant Chambers said.
"My compliments -to the Admiral," Pickering said. "We have a car?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Do you know where to find Tatamy, Sergeant?" General Pickering asked.
"Yes, Sir. It's a small town just north of Easton. About sixty-five, seventy miles, Sir."
"Let's go, then," Pickering said. "Where's the car?"
"The General's traveling alone?"
"My aide is otherwise occupied, Lieutenant. Let's go."
"Aye, aye, Sir."
Mrs. Ellie Stecker heard the car door slam. She pushed aside the lace curtain and watched a Marine brigadier general get out of the backseat before the driver could run around the front and open it for him.
Oh, dear God, please no!
She heard footsteps on the narrow wooden porch of the row house, and then the twisting of the doorbell.
If I don't answer it, it won't be happening.
The Brigadier General had his cover tucked under his arm when she pulled the door open.
"Mrs. Ellie Stecker, please. My name is Pickering."
"I am Mrs. Stecker."
"Mrs. Stecker, I'm afraid I-"
"Dick? Or my husband?"
"Dick. He's been in a crash."
"Is he alive?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Pickering said.
Thank you, God!
"How bad?" she asked.
"He's rather badly hurt, I'm afraid," Pickering said.
"What, exactly, General, does that mean?" Pickering reached in his pocket and handed her a sheet of paper.
URGENT
FROM HQ FIRST MARDIV 1130 6OCT42
TO COMMANDANT USMC
WASHINGTON DC
FOLLOWING PERSONAL FOR BRIGGEN FLEMING PICKERING USMC
REGRET TO ADVISE THAT 2ND LT RICHARD J STECKER USMC SERIOUSLY INJURED PLANE CRASH TODAY X OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION WILL FOLLOW X IF POSSIBLE WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR RELAYING ELLIE MY DEEP REGRET AND OFFER ANY HELP NEEDED X JACK SAW HIM BEFORE AIR EVACUATION ESPIRITU SANTO THENCE NAVY HOSPITAL PEARL HARBORX PROGNOSIS FULL RECOVERY X YOUNG STECKER AND YOUR BOY BOTH ACES AND FINE MARINES X REGARDS X VANDERGRIFT
END PERSONAL GENERAL VANDERGRIFT TO GENERAL PICKERING
"That was very kind of General Vandergrift," Ellie Stecker said, "and of you, General, to come here with this."
"Jack and I are old friends," Pickering said. "And I'm fond of Dick, too."
"Oh, my God, I didn't put that together. You're Pick's father, of course. But I thought you were a captain in the Navy?"
"That was a mistake that was straightened out," Pickering said. "By the time you get to California, we should have more specific word for you on exactly what happened."
"I don't understand."
"Arrangements have been made to fly you to Pearl Harbor," Pickering said.
"How can that be done?" she asked.
"It's done," Pickering said. "One of my officers will have the details worked out by the time we get back to Philadelphia."
"It wouldn't be fair to the other wives and mothers-"