1945

"We'll do our best, General."

Monck gave Parker's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I know you will. I'll go and throw some general-like weight around and see if I can scrounge up some fresh radio gear from someone. You organize what men we have here and start salvage and cleanup."

Parker snorted. "Salvage? Ain't nothing to salvage, sir."

Monck agreed with that observation. "Well then, gather what flammable debris you can and see if you can get some fires going. It's not all that warm and we don't want these men coming down with pneumonia. Get them dried out and under some kind of cover. If you can," he added softly.

Lt. Col. Don Parker threw him a salute and took off to gather heads. Brig. Gen. John Monck looked again at the moonscape that had been an impressive military facility only a few hours earlier.

It was October 9, 1945, and in only three weeks the U.S. forces on Okinawa were to commence attacking and land on the Japanese island of Kyushu. With what? Monck thought harshly.

CHAPTER 20

Tonight was the night, Dennis Chambers decided. He could no longer live with the thought of two Jap planes and four Jap airmen being so close to him. He would have to do something about it. He knew he wasn't being terribly logical, but he was also driven to distraction by the bags of rice that the four men had stashed in their tent. If he could only get ahold ofthat food, he stood a chance of lasting for months, and perhaps the war would be over by then.

While the weather was still mild, the night air had a definite chill, and he could visualize his source of vegetation and insects literally drying up. If that happened and he had nothing to fall back on, he'd starve.

Desperately trying to be quiet, he crawled over the crest of the hill and down through the grasses and small evergreens to within a few yards of where the two pilots and the two mechanics sat facing each other. They had not lit a fire. The glow of fires might attract unwelcome visitors from the sky, but the Japanese had cooked and eaten during the day, and the scent of the cooked food was almost overwhelming to Dennis.

The four Japanese were jabbering on about something that Dennis couldn't understand. At first he thought it was a dialect that his limited knowledge of Japanese didn't allow him to comprehend. But then it dawned on him and he thought that his foray might not be as risky as he had first thought. The four Japs weren't speaking an unknown tongue; they were shit-faced drunk.

He crawled to a point that was almost insolently close to them. They had several bottles of what looked like American whiskey that they passed around and swallowed with abandon. Obviously they felt they would not be called upon to fly this night. He chuckled as he realized he could stand up and they wouldn't even notice him in their alcoholic stupor. Dennis's only fear was that one of them would fall over him on his way to relieve himself. He grasped the sharpened piece of metal that was his only weapon and waited.

After a couple of hours, the drinking bout ended and the four men staggered to sleeping mats that had been laid on the ground. As they snored loudly and occasionally belched or made other noises in their sleep, Dennis crawled up to the closest of the four. Cautiously, he took the piece of metal from his belt and, grasping it as firmly as he could, leaned over the sleeping enemy. Then, with strength and quickness he'd forgotten he had, he slashed across the Jap's throat. The man's eyes opened and he convulsed, but made no sound other than a gurgle as his blood spouted out all over the two of them. The first Jap was dead.

Dennis looked at the others and saw no sign of their awakening. Then he checked his victim. The dead man's eyes were wide-open and looked to the sky in disbelief. The Jap had bled profusely on Dennis, and the sticky feel of the liquid sickened him.

He steeled himself to his task and crawled to the next mat. Again, the makeshift knife slashed and blood poured out. This time, however, the second victim's death throes included a wild swing of his arm that hit Dennis across the face and knocked him back. Dennis tried to get up, but the world began to swim and he realized he was hurt and at the end of his strength. He tried to will himself to stay conscious but it was futile and he sagged to his knees.

As darkness enveloped him, he saw the silhouette of another Japanese soldier standing over him and he groaned. Somehow he had miscounted. There were five, not four. Where the hell had the fifth man been hiding? He could only hope they would kill him quickly and not torture him to death as he knew he deserved from them.