"When I get back to Pusan, and when I get to Tokchok-kundo, I'll see what I can do."
"Two questions," Dunn said. "If you can't answer them, fine. You're going to... What was it you said?"
"The Tokchok-kundo islands," McCoy furnished. "Yeah, but keep that to yourself."
"How can you find out?"
"I have some sources, maybe," McCoy said. "Money- gold-talks, and I have some gold. All I can do is play it by ear."
"How's the general taking this?"
"Like a Marine," McCoy said.
"What does that mean? This Marine wept like a baby when Hotshot Charlie went down."
"He got the message, and stuck it in his pocket, and we finished the business at hand-setting up this operation- and then he took me into his bedroom and showed me the message."
"Tell him I'm sorry, Ken. Really sorry. It's my fault."
"No, it isn't, Billy. It's nobody's fault except maybe Pick's. And if he got the train, then maybe there was ammo on it that won't be shot at the brigade."
Dunn met his eyes, but didn't say anything for a long moment.
"What happens now? You, I mean?"
"I don't suppose there's some other way except that Avenger to get back to Pusan?"
"You didn't find that fun?"
"It scared hell out of me," McCoy said.
Dunn picked up the telephone on his desk and dialed a one-digit number.
"Colonel Dunn for the captain, please," he said to who-ever answered, then: "Captain, Dunn. I'd like permission to take Captain McCoy back to Pusan to set up the photo delivery procedure." He paused. "Aye, aye, sir," he said, and broke the connection with his finger.
"That was quick," he said. "What the captain said was `Get that sonofabitch off my ship; I don't care how'."
He dialed another number.
"Colonel Dunn. Get a COD Avenger ready for immedi-ate takeoff. I will fly."
He hung up.
He turned to McCoy.
"There's an enlisted crew chief," he said. "He rides in the aft position in the cockpit. I can't order him out of there, but I can suggest if he lets you ride upstairs, he prob-ably won't have to clean puke out of the cargo hold."
[FOUR]
USAF AIRFIELD K-l
PUSAN, KOREA
2155 4 AUGUST 1950
The runway lights went off even before Lieutenant Colonel Dunn turned the Avenger onto a taxiway. There really wasn't much chance of a North Korean attack on K-l, but on the other hand, the possibility existed, and runway lights would be as useful to an attacking aircraft as they would be to one landing.
A Jeep, painted in a checkerboard pattern, and with a follow me sign and a large checkerboard flag mounted on its rear, came out and led the Avenger to Base Operations. Dunn parked the airplane and shut it down, and he and Mc-Coy climbed down from the cockpit.
The crew chief, a slim, nineteen-year-old, blond crew-cutted aviation motor machinist's mate, came through the small door in the fuselage.
"Thanks for letting me ride on top," McCoy said.
"Anytime, Captain," the Navy crew chief said.
"Thank you, sir, for the ride," McCoy said.
"I'll go see the Marine liaison officer with you," Dunn said.
"I've already spoken with him, sir," McCoy said. "But thank you."
"But you're a captain, and I'm a lieutenant colonel," Dunn said. "It has been my experience that Marine cap-tains pay more attention to lieutenant colonels than they do to other captains. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Yes, sir. I suppose that's true. Thank you, sir."
"This won't take long," Dunn said to the crew chief. "Why don't you see if anything important fell off, or is about to."
"Aye, aye, sir," the crew chief said, smiling.
As Dunn and McCoy walked to the Base Operations building, a Marine with a Thompson submachine gun stepped out of the shadows and walked up to them and saluted.
"Good evening, sirs," he said. "Captain McCoy, sir?"
McCoy returned the salute.
"I'm McCoy."
`Technical Sergeant Jennings, sir. Mr. Zimmerman sent me to meet you."
"Where is he?"
"In a warehouse on the pier, sir. With the others."
"You've got wheels?" McCoy asked.
"Yes, sir."
"I'll be with you in a minute," McCoy said.
There was someone else waiting for McCoy. When they entered the tiny room assigned to the Marine liaison offi-cer, there was a plump army transportation corps major sit-ting backwards in a folding metal chair talking across a small wooden desk to the Marine liaison officer, whose folding chair was tilted back against the wall.
Both got up when McCoy and Dunn entered the room.
"Captain McCoy?" the Army major said.
"Yes, sir."
"I'm Captain Overton, sir," the Marine officer said to Dunn.
Dunn nodded at him and looked curiously at the Army major.
"My name is Dunston, McCoy," the major said, and first handed McCoy a sheet of radio teletypewriter paper, and then before McCoy could unfold it to read it, extended a small, folding leather wallet, holding it so he could read it. It was the credentials of a CIA agent.
McCoy nodded, then said, "You better show that to Colonel Dunn."
Somewhat reluctantly, the major did so, while McCoy read the sheet of paper.
URGENT
SECRET
4 AUGUST 1950
FROM STATION CHIEF, TOKYO
MESSAGE TOKYO 4AUG50 05
TO STATION CHIEF, PUSAN
CAPTAIN K. R. MCCOY, USMCR, AND MASTER GUNNER E. ZIMMERMAN, USMC, OF THE PER-SONAL STAFF OF THE CIA ASSISTANT DI-RECTOR FOR ASIA ARE IN KOREA IN CONNECTION WITH A CLASSIFIED MISSION.
BY AUTHORITY OF BRIG GEN FLEMING PICK-ERING, USMCR, CIA ASST DIR ASIA, SHOULD EITHER OF THESE OFFICERS CON-TACT YOU FOR ANY ASSISTANCE IN CONNEC-TION WITH THEIR MISSION, YOU WILL FURNISH THEM WITH WHATEVER THEY ASK FOR FROM ASSETS UNDER YOUR CONTROL.
IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO PROVIDE WHAT THEY REQUEST, STATION CHIEF TOKYO WILL BE ADVISED BY URGENT RADIOTELETYPE, CLAS-SIFIED TOP SECRET, OF WHAT YOU ARE UN-ABLE TO PROVIDE, WHY, AND WHAT YOU HAVE DONE AND ARE DOING TO ACQUIRE THE UNAVAILABLE REQUESTED SUPPORT.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT OF THIS MES-SAGE WILL BE MADE TO STACHIEF TOKYO BY RADIO TRANSMISSION OF THE WORD SHOP-KEEPER REPEAT SHOPKEEPER.
LOWELL C. HAYNES
STACHIEF TOKYO
SECRET
McCoy handed the radio teletype to Dunn, then noticed that the major didn't seem to like this.
"Colonel Dunn is cleared for this operation," McCoy said.
"I don't even know what this operation is all about," the major said.
"Major, it looks to me that if you had the need to know, that would have been spelled out in that," McCoy said, nodding at the teletype message.
The major visibly didn't like that.
Dunn handed the major the teletype message.
"Have you seen that, Captain?" McCoy asked the Ma-rine liaison officer.
Marine captains are not required by protocol to use the term "Sir" when speaking with other Marine captains. But there was a certain tone of command in McCoy's voice that triggered a Pavlovian response in the liaison officer.
"Yes, sir," he said.
"Forget you ever saw it," McCoy ordered.