"You don't act as if you're afraid."
"An officer's first duty is to take care of his men. Don't tell me it's any different on a submarine."
"Meaning what?" Lewis challenged.
"If I look scared, then Zimmerman and Koffler get scared, OK? The one thing I can't afford is to have Zimmerman and Koffler thinking they're in the deep shit because their officer is pissing his pants." He looked at Lewis for a moment, and then warmed to his subject. "Or are you trying to tell me the officers on a submarine don't break their asses to make sure the white hats don't see how scared they are?"
"What makes you so sure submarine officers are frightened?"
"They're either scared or mentally retarded," McCoy said. "Don't bull-shit me, Lewis. I've been on two of the goddamned things. The worst part of the Makin raid was getting there and back, in that steel underwater coffin. And the worst part of the Buka Operation was getting there in a submarine. When I saw the Gooney-bird coming in to take us off of Buka, the first thing I thought was, 'Thank Christ, I don't have to get back in that fucking submarine.' "
"Some of them aren't frightened," Lewis argued.
"OK. In any group of ten officers, you can count on two being stupid. You can also count on those two getting you in trouble. But you were scared. You're too smart not to have been scared," McCoy said. "But you were obvi-ously a good enough officer to keep the white hats from seeing it. Otherwise, they would have thrown your ass out of the submarines."
"The point Mr. McCoy is making, Lieutenant Lewis," Sessions said, "is that what he has against Captain Macklin is not that Captain Macklin has far less then the normal issue of testicles, but that Captain Macklin considers his first duty is to take care of Captain Macklin, and fuck anybody else."
"That's a pretty harsh judgment, wouldn't you say?"
"I associate myself fully, Lieutenant Lewis, with Mr. McCoy's somewhat obscene, but right on the fucking money, assessment of Captain Macklin. I've seen the sonofabitch at work."
"What would you two say if I told you that I never spent a minute in a submarine that I wasn't afraid?" Lewis asked, and was immediately horrified to hear what he had blurted.
Neither McCoy nor Sessions seemed surprised to hear the confession.
"Did you let the white hats see it?" McCoy asked.
"I hope not," Lewis said.
"Take it from me, you didn't. If you had, the other officers would have seen to it that you never went down in one again."
Jesus Christ, Lieutenant Chambers D. Lewis, USN, thought. Can he be right?
"May I ask a question, gentlemen?" Sessions asked. "What the hell are we arguing about?"
"Who knows?" McCoy said. "Who cares? Slide the bottle over here, will you?"
[THREE]
Office of the Director
Office of Strategic Services
National Institutes of Health Building
Washington, D.C.
0930 Hours 13 December 1942
What could have been a smile crossed the lips of L. Stanford Morrissette, Dep-uty Director, Special Projects, Office of Strategic Services, as he read the mes-sage contained in the manila folder with TOP SECRET stamped across it.
"One moment, please, Colonel, if you don't mind," he said to Colonel F. L. Rickabee, Deputy Chief, USMC Office of Management Analysis, "I be-lieve this should be brought to the attention of the Director."
"My time is your time, Mr. Morrissette," Rickabee said.
Morrissette picked up the receiver of a red telephone-one of three tele-phones on his desk-and dialed 0.
"Mo, Bill," he said. "Colonel Rickabee, of the Marine Corps, is in my office with something I thought you'd like to see. Can you spare us a minute?"
The reply of the Director was obviously in the affirmative, for Morrissette stood up as he replaced the red handset in its cradle and gestured toward the door.
"He's right down the corridor, Colonel," he said. "I think I should warn you the Director thinks the savages of yore, who killed messengers delivering bad news, had the right idea."
"In my line of work, you get used to that," Rickabee said.
Morrissette opened Colonel William J. Donovan's door without knocking and waved Rickabee in ahead of him.
"Colonel Donovan," he said. "I believe you know Colonel Rickabee?"
"Yes, of course," Donovan said, rising behind his desk and putting out his hand. "I see the chickens, Fritz. Well deserved, and long overdue."
"Thank you, Sir."
"What have you got for me?"
"This, Sir. Captain Haughton, Secretary Knox's assistant, hand-carried this to me this morning, with instructions to make it available to you."
He handed him the manila folder stamped TOP SECRET.
Donovan waved the two of them into the two red leather chairs in front of his desk, sat down, and opened the folder.
T O P S E C R E T
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS SWPOA 1515 HOURS 11DEC42
EYES ONLY -THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY WASH DC
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF PACIFIC PEARL HARBOR TH
VIA SPECIAL CHANNEL
DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN
ORIGINAL TO BE DESTROYED AFTER ENCRYPTION AND TRANSMITTAL
RADIO FROM BRIQGEN FLEMING PICKERING USMCR REPORTS SSN SUNFISH DEPARTED ESPIRITU SANTO 0505 LOCALTIME 11 DEC 1942 CARRYING ABOARD FERTIG CONTACT TEAM. FURTHER DETAILS WILL BE FURNISHED AS AVAILABLE. SUPREME COMMANDER SWPOA HAS BEEN ADVISED.
BRIGGEN PICKERING DESIRES CONTENTS THIS MESSAGE BE FURNISHED COL F. L. RICKABEE USMC OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS IMMEDIATELY AND STATES HE HAS NO OBJECTION TO THIS
INFORMATION BEING MADE AVAILABLE TO DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES:
A. PERSONNEL OF FERTIG CONTACT TEAM ARE AS FOLLOWS:
MCCOY, KENNETH R FIRST LIEUTENANT USMCR 489657 OFFICER-IN-COMMAND
ZIMMERMAN, ERNEST W GUNNERY SERGEANT 18909 USMC DEPUTY COMMANDER
KOFFLER, STEPHEN M STAFF SERGEANT USMC 504883 USMC RADIO OPERATOR
B. IN ADDITION, BRIGGEN PICKERING STATED SUNFISH ALSO CARRIED ABOARD LIEUTENANT CHAMBERS D. LEWIS, USN, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE ADM NIMITZ. LEWIS WILL NOT GO ASHORE.
C. IN ADDITION, BRIGGEN PICKERING STATED CAPTAIN ROBERT B. MACKLIN, USMC, OF OSS QUOTE
OPERATION WINDMILL ENDQUOTB WITH WHICH HE IS NOT FAMILIAR IS ALSO ABOARD SUNFISH AND MAY
GO ASHORE AS OBSERVER. THE DECISION WILL BE MADE AT TIME OF LANDING BY LIEUTENANT MCCOY
BASED ON HIS ASSESSMENT AT THAT TIME OF MACKLINS POTENTIAL VALUE AND/OR THREAT TO MISSION.
D. CAPTAIN EDWARD SESSIONS, USMC WILL DEPART BRISBANE FOR WASH DC VIA PEARL HARBOR AND SAN
FRANCISCO 0900 12DEC42 AND IS PREPARED TO BRIEF INTERESTED PERSONNEL ON ARRIVAL.
BY DIRECTION BRIGGEN PICKERING USMCR
HON MAJOR SIGNAL CORPS USA
T O P S E C R E T
Donovan smiled as he began to read the message. By the time he was fin-ished, the smile was visibly strained.
"First rate, Fritz," he said. "We're moving."
"Yes, Sir."
"This lieutenant, McCoy. And the others. Are you familiar with them?"