1942

Jake was both shocked and impressed by the cold-blooded callousness of the act. He decided he wanted neither Toyoza nor Akira as his enemy. “If I get you weapons, you must swear to follow my orders. I don’t know exactly what is going to happen or when, but it will be soon, and whatever you do must not be premature and jeopardize it.”

“We understand,” Akira said. “Now, what and where are the weapons?”

Jake grinned. During the Japanese siege and invasion, he’d cached away quantities of army supplies in the wild hope that they’d someday be useful. Now his foresight was going to be rewarded.

“I can get you several dozen Springfield rifles and several hundred rounds of ammunition. There are a couple of crates of grenades and a dozen. 45 automatics and ammunition. You’ll have to clean the weapons because they’re in the ground, and I’m sure they’re rusted pretty badly. If that’s not enough, you’ll have to get other guns from what you referred to as our common enemy.”

“Magnificent,” Akira said. “How far away are they?”

“They’re in several places,” Jake said, “one of which is only a mile from here. Now”-he paused-”I would like a favor from you, Toyoza.”

“What is it?”

“When you sent the woman, Alexa Sanderson, to me, she left a close friend behind. The friend’s name is Melissa Wilson, and Alexa is concerned about her and her small son. Can you check on her?”

Jake thought he caught a wariness in Toyoza’s eyes. It passed in an instant, if it had existed at all.

“I will do that,” Toyoza said and stood up. “Now let us get to the rifles.”

Colonel Shigenori Omori was repelled by the utter lack of secrecy in Admiral Iwabachi’s headquarters. Everyone and his proverbial brother appeared to know the timetable for the arrival of the great fleet and Admiral Yamamoto. How could they keep the Americans from finding out?

Iwabachi was unimpressed by his concern. “Let them find out, Colonel. Let the Americans come and we will defeat them. Let their sympathizers here rise up, and we will squash them like the insects they are. I am confident that our navy can handle theirs, and I am doubly confident that you know everything that is going on in the islands. Surely you can’t be afraid the little band of Americans on Hawaii will try something.”

Omori had to concede the point. He knew of absolutely nothing amiss on Oahu, and the situation on Hawaii, while an aggravation, was contained. So why did he feel uneasy?

Iwabachi laughed. “Yamamoto will see what we have accomplished in so short a time and be pleased. Perhaps it will even mean a promotion for us.”

Omori smiled and nodded. He was not as impressed with Iwabachi’s efforts as the admiral was. While the fuel tanks had been reconstructed, only half of them were full. Nothing had been done regarding clearing the wrecked American ships from where they’d been sunk, and the antisubmarine boom had not been repaired. Shore batteries that had been smashed by the bombardment remained that way, and the antiaircraft batteries were less than half effective. Pearl Harbor had a long way to go before it could be considered a fortress.

Of course, there were reasons for this situation. Iwabachi’s orders had been to concentrate on the fuel storage tanks and, when that task was complete, to develop the defenses. It had been stressed that Oahu without fuel was useless. Iwabachi had not been given adequate resources to do much more than the first job, and the remaining tasks had been pushed further and further back. Omori did not think Yamamoto would be pleased, regardless of what Iwabachi thought.

He and the admiral ate in what had been the American officers’ club, and it still disturbed Omori to see American Negroes moving about in the kitchen and cleaning the tables. This was another area in which he and the admiral disagreed. Despite the fact that the Americans were technically civilians and certainly not white, Omori considered them a possible threat. Iwabachi had laughed at him and asked him how a handful of shambling, ignorant people with black faces could ever threaten Japan.

After the meal was over, Omori returned by car to his office. With the removal of the remaining American prisoners to Japan, he had moved his operations to Honolulu. Only the Japanese naval air section remained at Wheeler Field. That consisted of two score Zeros and a handful of reconnaissance craft, along with their pilots, mechanics, and a small number of guards. This was something else that Omori felt was inadequately done. The islands needed more planes and more soldiers. Perhaps that lack would be corrected after Yamamoto arrived.

He sighed as his car neared the hotel where he kept a suite. There would be liquor and the pleasure of watching the Korean woman, Han, perform with another American woman. The hell with it. If Iwabachi wasn’t concerned, why was he?

CHAPTER 20