After the whaleboats transported them from the seaplane to the quai, and he climbed the stone stairs set in the face of the quai, he was met by a Marine staff sergeant.
He looked like a child, and Macklin wondered what fool of a commanding officer had agreed to his promotion.
"Captain Macklin?" the boy-faced sergeant asked.
"Yes, lam."
"Staff Sergeant Koffler, Sir. If you'll point out your gear to me, I'll get it."
"The two bags with my name on them on the steps. Make sure they don't get away from you."
"No sweat, Sir. The Major's over there, Sir," Koffler said, and pointed.
"What did you say, Sergeant?"
"I said the Major's over there, Sir. In the Studebaker."
"I meant before that. Did you really say 'no sweat' to me?"
"Yes, Sir, I guess I did."
"The correct response to an order, Sergeant, is 'Aye, aye, Sir.' "
"Aye, aye, Sir," Koffler said.
He looked amused.
"Did I say something amusing, Sergeant?"
"No, Sir."
"Then wipe that smile off your face."
"Aye, aye, Sir."
As he approached the Studebaker, a very large Oriental-the largest Macklin could ever remember seeing-in the uniform of an Army Signal Corps major, stepped out of the front passenger seat.
Macklin saluted. The Major made a vague gesture toward his head that only generously could be interpreted as a salute.
"You must be Macklin," the Major said, in a heavy Bostonian accent.
"I am Captain Macklin. May..."
"Where's the Major?"
"Excuse me?"
"Where is Major Brownlee?"
"You mean he's not here?"
"If he was here, Captain, I wouldn't have asked where he is," Pluto re-plied.
"Sir, may I ask who you are?"
"My name is Hon," Pluto said. "Have you any idea, Captain, where Major Brownlee is?"
"With all respect, Sir, I am on a classified mission, and until-"
"I know all about your mission, Captain," Pluto cut him off. "And I asked you where Major Brownlee is."
"Sir, Major Brownlee, to the best of my knowledge, should be in Aus-tralia. He was under orders to report to General Pickering."
"Well, I don't think he did, or General Pickering wouldn't have sent me down here in his car to meet him. When was the last time you saw him?"
"In Hawaii, Sir. At Hickam Field. He obtained passage for himself on a Flying Fortress."
"When was that?"
"Three days ago, Sir."
"Before or after Sessions left?"
"Several hours afterward, Sir."
Staff Sergeant Koffler, carrying Macklin's luggage, walked up.
"Steve, how fast is a B-17 compared to a Coronado?" Pluto asked.
"About eighty miles an hour faster. Why do you want to know?"
"Major Brownlee left Hawaii on a B-17 a couple of hours after Sessions, and he's not here yet."
"That doesn't sound right," Koffler said.
"I didn't think so, either."
My God, this Oriental major calls this sergeant by his first name, carries on a personal conversation with him, and seems blissfully oblivious to the fact that he hasn't said "Sir" once to him.
"You are some sort of expert, are you, Sergeant, on aircraft?"
Koffler shrugged modestly.
"Oh, yeah," Pluto said. "Steve is our resident expert. If it flies, he knows how fast and how far. And he's also a pretty good radio operator."
"Tell that to the General, please," Koffler said.
"You're not going, Steve," Pluto said. "Give it up." He turned to Macklin. "You might as well get in, Captain, since Brownlee's not here."
"My orders are to report to General Pickering," Macklin said. "Would you take me to him, please?"
"My orders from General Pickering are to set you up in the SWPOA BOQ. When he wants to see you, he'll send for you."
=TOP SECRET=
PROM: SUPREME HEADQUARTERS SWPOA
0925 26N0V42
BY SPECIAL CHANNEL
TO: CINCPAC HAWAII
EYES ONLY-CINCPAC
DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN
ORIGINAL TO BE DESTROYED AFTER ENCRYPTION AND TRANSMITTAL
FOLLOWING PERSONAL FROM BRIG GEN PICKERING TO ADM NIMITZ
DEAR ADMIRAL NIMITZ:
MAJOR JAMES C. BROWNLEE m USMC EN ROUTE USMC SPECIAL DETACHMENT 16 TO PARTICIPATE IN
FERTIG OPERATION BELIEVED TO HAVE DEPARTED HICKAM FIELD AS SUPERCARGO ABOARD USARMY
AIRCORPS B17 APPROXIMATELY 1830 21 NOVEMBER 1942 HAS NOT ARRIVED HERE.
REQUEST ANY AND ALL INFORMATION REGARDING THIS OFFICER'S LOCATION BE FURNISHED VIA SPECIAL
CHANNEL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
RESPECTFULLY PICKERING
END PERSONAL FROM BRIG GEN PICKERING TO ADM NIMITZ
BY DIRECTION:
HON SON DO MAJ SIGC USA
T O P S E C R E T
[SEVEN]
Headquarters, U.S. Forces in the Philippines
Davao Oriental Province
Mindanao, Commonwealth of the Philippines
0705 Hours 28 November 1942
Second Lieutenant Percy Lewis Everly, USFIP, walked down the dirt trail through the bush very slowly, followed by the other nine members of the pa-trol.
His loose-fitting dirty white cotton blouse and trousers-cut off at the knees-were sweat-soaked and filthy. His calves were bloody where they had been scratched by thorns; flies and other insects were feeding on the suppurat-ing wounds.
He carried a Thompson.45 ACP submachine gun in his hand. The leather straps of three Japanese Arisaka rifles and their leather accoutrements crossed his chest.
Behind him came two Filipino soldiers, carrying between them what at first looked like a body suspended from a pole on their shoulders. It was not a body, but the tunic and trousers of a Japanese soldier, stripped from his body and pressed into use as makeshift bags. The tunic held two five-gallon tin cans of gasoline (a total weight of seventy pounds). In the trousers was an estimated fifty pounds of rice, twenty pounds of Japanese canned goods, perhaps ten or fifteen more pounds of ammunition for the Arisakas, and an even dozen gre-nades. The load bearers also carried U.S. Army Caliber.30-06 Enfield rifles.
Behind them came three more pairs of what Everly somewhat unkindly thought of as coolies-two more Filipinos and four Marines, also carrying captured food and equipment suspended in Japanese uniforms converted into bags.
How the slight Filipinos managed their loads, Everly had no idea. It seemed to be a matter of pride with them to carry at least as much as the Ma-rines. Bringing up the rear was a Filipino making his painful way using a forked stick as a crutch. He had sprained-Everly suspected broken-his ankle in a fall just before they ambushed the Japanese vehicles. Somehow, he had managed to keep up with the others. They had been walking all night, in the light of a half-moon.