by Len Levinson
Captain Eadie took a bottle of whiskey and some glasses from a cupboard and brought them to the table. Butsko couldn't help noticing the contrast between Captain Eadie and Jimmy Hughes, because Captain Eadie was sprightly and alert, a very proper officer, whereas Jimmy Hughes had the carriage and demeanor of a Bowery bum.
Captain Eadie sat and poured straight shots for all of them, and Butsko's perceptions were confirmed when Jimmy Hughes grabbed his glass eagerly and brought it to his lips.
“Just a moment, Jimmy,” Captain Eadie said.
Jimmy Hughes's hand stopped in midair. Captain Eadie raised his own glass high. “To our American friends: Welcome to the Segi Point Coastwatcher Station!”
“Thanks,” said Butsko with a grin. “It's good to be here.”
“Yes indeed,” added Lieutenant MacDoughal.
The men raised their glasses to their lips, but Jimmy Hughes won the race, gulping his liquor down before Butsko even started. This guy looks like a real fucking scumbag, Butsko thought.
“Well,” said Captain Eadie, “I suppose all we have to do now is call Guadalcanal and tell them to send a submarine to pick you and your men up.”
“When're you gonna do that?” Butsko asked.
“We make our regular broadcasts at night, so the radio frequencies will be clear during the day for emergency transmissions.”
“How long you been here?” Butsko asked.
“I've been here about a year, but Jimmy has been on New Georgia for ten years. He managed a coconut plantation before the Japs came, right, Jimmy?”
“Those fucking Japs,” Jimmy said, looking at the empty bottom of his glass. “How about another little snort, Captain?”
Captain Eadie poured two fingers of whiskey in each of their glasses, this time proposing no toast, and Jimmy gulped his down immediately again.
“Sorry for my bad manners, gentlemen,” he said, “but I'm a drunk and you might as well know it. I don't get a drink very often.” He licked the ends of his mustache with his tongue. “The good captain keeps the whiskey locked up, but I don't blame him. If he didn't, I'd drink it all up in no time at all.”
Captain Eadie shrugged. “Got to keep him sober, because he can talk with the natives and I can't. Don't know what I'd do without Jimmy.”
There was a commotion in front of the hut, and a moment later a tall native walked in with a young curly-headed boy.
“Sorry to bother you, sir,” the native said, “but something terrible has happened. The Japanese have killed the chief in the village that this boy is from, and they've taken all the other men—and two Australian missionary women—hostage.”
“Hostage for what?” Captain Eadie asked.
“The Japanese officer said he will keep them and kill one each day until they tell him where the Americans are.” The native looked at Butsko. “He said Americans made big trouble for him and he wants to kill them.”
“Where did he take them?” asked Captain Eadie.
“The big camp in the valley.”
“Does the boy know if the officer in charge was Major Uchida?”
“It was the other officer, the one with the funny mustache.”
“Lieutenant Karuma,” said Captain Eadie. “I might have known. I wonder what happened to Major Uchida?”
The tall native shrugged. “I don't know.”
“How many natives were taken hostage?”
“Twenty-four, sir, and the two women.”
“My God,” said Captain Eadie. “We've got to get them out of there. If Major Uchida has been transferred and Lieutenant Karuma is in charge, there's no telling what might happen to them.”
“Who's this Lieutenant Karuma?” Butsko asked.
“Oh, he's a bad one,” Captain Eadie said, “a real blood-thirsty son of a gun. He's always been very harsh in his dealings with the natives, but Major Uchida has kept a rein on him until now.”
“Are the hostages at the camp where we blew up the ammo dump?”
“Yes.”
“We killed quite a number of Japs while we were there. We might have killed the major you're talking about.”
“I hope not, because there won't be anybody to keep Lieutenant Karuma in check.”
“A good Jap is a dead Jap,” Butsko said. “I don't give a shit who he is.”
“Major Uchida was humane once in a while,” Captain Eadie replied. “But Lieutenant Karuma is a sadist and he hates natives.” Captain Eadie took a deep breath and sighed. “I doubt if I have enough armed natives to attack the camp.”
“You'll need a lot of them,” Butsko said. “I figger there must be at least eighty or ninety Japs left in that camp.”
Captain Eadie looked at Butsko. “You couldn't help us, could you?”
Butsko stiffened. “Me?”
“You and your men.”
Butsko shook his head. “I don't think so. We're supposed to leave here as soon as we finish our mission.”
“If you don't help us, those twenty-four native men and two Australian women will probably be killed.”
“Listen,” said Butsko, “I'm just an ordinary soldier and I follow orders. My orders are to get the hell off this island when I'm finished with my work.”
Captain Eadie scratched his head and smiled ruefully. “Actually I suppose I'm in command of all Allied troops on this island. You're under my jurisdiction now. I could order you to help me.”
“I don't think so, Captain. You'd have to clear it with Guadalcanal.”
“You think they wouldn't give me permission to use you? Do you have any idea of what this station has done for Guadalcanal and conceivably could do in the future? If I don't at least try to rescue the natives who've been captured, the other natives will never help me again, and I need them desperately. Without them the Japanese would have got me long ago. Without this station a Japanese convoy could sail down the Slot and the Americans on Guadalcanal wouldn't know about it until the convoy was right on top of them. And let's make no bones about it, Sergeant Butsko: This station wouldn't last long without the help and support of the natives.”
Butsko shrugged. “Maybe you should call Guadalcanal and get permission for me and my men to help out.”
“By the time they make a decision there, more natives may be killed, and I hate to think of what might happen to those two women.” Captain Eadie leaned toward Butsko. “Listen to me. Those natives outside this hut are waiting for us to do something, and if we don't take action immediately, they'll lose faith in us. They'll believe all the Japanese propaganda. It could jeopardize the entire coastwatcher network throughout this area.”
The tall native, who had stood silently during the conversation, bent over and rapped his mahogony knuckles on the table. “If you no help us, why we help you?”
Everybody looked at Butsko, who looked at his glass. “I need another drink,” he said.
Captain Eadie poured whiskey into his glass, and Butsko sipped some, letting it burn his tongue and gums before swallowing it down. He didn't feel like attacking that Japanese camp again, but he understood the logic of what Captain Eadie and the native had said.
“I'll do it,” Butsko told Captain Eadie, “but you'd better back me up if I have any trouble with my headquarters over this.”
“I'll back you one hundred percent, and so will the entire Australian navy.”
“Okay, it's settled. We might as well get moving as soon as we can, because the sooner we get this over with, the better.” He looked at Lieutenant MacDoughal. “You coming with us, champ?”
Lieutenant MacDoughal thought about it for a few moments, and it occurred to him that the natives of New Georgia had probably saved a lot of pilots. He didn't know how to be an infantry soldier, but he should help out. “Just give me a gun and tell me what to do,” he said.
Butsko slapped him on the shoulder. “Now you'll have a chance to find out what the real war is like.”
Captain Eadie stood up. “There's no time to lose,” he said. “We might as well sta
rt planning the rescue right now.” Walking to the table where the radio was, he picked up a large map of New Georgia and carried it back to the round table, spreading it out. “Sergeant Butsko, you're an infantry soldier. How would you go about this?” he asked.
“How many men will we have?” Butsko asked.
“I think we can round up about fifty natives.”
“That's not much.”
“It's the best we can do on short notice.”
“What kind of weapons will they have?”
“Your army's M 1 rifles and carbines.”
“No automatic stuff?”
“No.”
“What about hand grenades?”
“None.”
“Any mortars?”
“No.”
Butsko blew air out the corner of his mouth. “We won't have a hell of a lot to work with. Those Japs have machine guns and mortars. As soon as they realize they're being attacked, they'll hit us with everything they have, and they outnumber us two to one.”
“What if we get Henderson Field to bomb the camp before we go in?” Captain Eadie asked.
“You think you can get them to do that?”
“I think so.”
“Won't that take a lot of time?”
Lieutenant MacDoughal smiled. “Not if you tell them there's a captured American pilot in that village. They'll respond real fast to that.”
Captain Eadie nodded. “That's right. And we've got flares to guide the planes in.”
“Hey, wait a minute,” Butsko said. “You said it would take too long to get permission to use me and my men, but now you're telling me you won't have any trouble getting permission for a fast airstrike. What the hell's going on here?”
“Well,” said Captain Eadie, “your Air Corps bombs New Georgia all the time, but we've never had troops here before. You've set a precedent by coming here, and if I know military organizations, it'll take them a while to make up their minds about you. But maybe not. I'll ask them if you want.”
Butsko waved his hand. “Forget about it,” he said. “Just tell them we're going. We're supposed to be making trouble for the Japs here, and I guess this'll be part of our job too.” He looked at the map again. “How long will it take for us to get from here to the Japanese camp?”
“I think we can be there by midnight.”
“Then have the planes attack at oh-one-hundred hours. Will that give us enough time to get away before daylight?”
Jimmy Hughes cleared his throat. “The natives know this island much better than the Japs, and so do I, for that matter. If we can get a little bit of a head start, those Japs never will find us.”
“If you're gonna get a head start,” Butsko said, “somebody'll have to stay behind and fight a rearguard action.”
Jimmy Hughes wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “Seems to me like you infantry fellers would be best for that.”
Butsko groaned, because he knew he and his men were going to be in the soup again. “Yeah, I guess you're right about that,” he admitted. “But we'll need somebody to guide us out of there after we're finished. You gonna volunteer for that, Jimmy boy?”
“Why not?” Jimmy Hughes said.
“Good enough.” Butsko leaned over the map. “Okay, let's work out the details. We might as well bring Corporal Bannon in here, because he's good at stuff like this.” Butsko looked at Captain Eadie. “And you might as well call Guadalcanal right now.”
“Will do,” said Captain Eadie.
Captain Eadie stood and walked to the radio transmitter, and Jimmy Hughes took the opportunity to pour himself another shot of whiskey. Butsko walked to the door and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hey, Bannon!” he yelled. “Get your fucking ass in here on the double!”
TEN . . .
It was night in the prisoner compound, and Joanna Corby was pacing back and forth, her arms crossed underneath her breasts, thinking about the next morning and the murder of another native.
All the natives—Miss Brockway, too—were sleeping fitfully around the stockade, but Joanna couldn't sleep because she knew she could save a life the following day if she wanted to. All she had to do was come to terms with Lieutenant Karuma. Maybe if she agreed to have sex with him, he wouldn't kill any more natives.
But could she go through with it? she wondered. She considered him the most despicable man she'd ever met, hideously ugly, without a shred of decency in his body. And it wasn't just because he was Japanese. She'd seen attractive Japanese men in Australia before the war, but Lieutenant Karuma was a monster in every way.
I'll have to go through with it, she said to herself, grinding her teeth together. It'll be awful, but not as awful as seeing these natives get murdered one after the other. She believed she was morally obligated to save the natives if she could. I'll just close my eyes and pretend he's Johnny Burke.
Johnny Burke had been her boyfriend. He was drafted into the Army and was fighting in Burma under General William Slim. She hadn't heard from him for months. Sometimes she was afraid he'd been killed in action.
Joanna stopped and looked through the barbed-wire fence at Lieutenant Karuma's headquarters building. Light shone through the windows; he still was awake. She estimated that it was ten or eleven o'clock in the evening. If she was going to do it, she should act before it got too late.
“Guard!” she said, waving her hand.
The two guards at the gate looked at her.
“Lieutenant Karuma,” she told them, pointing at his headquarters. “Lieutenant Karuma.” Then she pointed to herself. “Me. Lieutenant Karuma and me. Do you understand what I'm saying, you filthy bastards?”
The Japanese guards looked at each other and shrugged. Two more guards came over and a conference was held. They looked at Joanna and then at Lieutenant Karuma's headquarters.
“I want to see Lieutenant Karuma!” she said to them. “Take me to Lieutenant Karuma!”
The guards discussed the matter for a few more minutes. Then one of them shrugged and walked across the open area to Lieutenant Karuma's headquarters. He climbed the four steps, knocked on the door, waited a few moments, and then went inside.
Joanna broke out in a cold sweat. I've done it now, she thought. There's no backing out now. A shudder passed over her as she realized the full implications of what she'd done. I have to screw him now, she thought. Oh, my God.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked around. It was Miss Brockway, and several of the natives had also been awakened by her conversation with the guards.
“What do you think you're doing?” Miss Brockway asked sternly.
Joanna looked away. “You know what I'm doing.”
“I'm afraid I don't. What do you want to talk with Lieutenant Karuma for?”
Joanna turned to Miss Brockway and their eyes locked together. “He wants to have sex with me, and I'll let him if he won't kill any more of the natives.”
Miss Brockway was horrified. “No!”
“Can you think of any better way to save these people?”
Miss Brockway didn't know what to say. Joanna turned to the headquarters building again and saw the guard reappear, jump down the stairs, and run toward the other barracks, disappearing in the alley between two of them.
“Joanna,” said Miss Brockway, “I don't know what to say.”
“Then don't say anything.”
“This is very noble of you.”
“Oh, stop it.”
“But it's true.” She wrapped her arms around Joanna and hugged her tightly. “You're a saint—that's what you are!”
“No I'm not,” Joanna said, “and besides, what I'm going to do is nothing compared to having your head chopped off.”
“You're very brave,” Miss Brockway said, releasing her hold on Joanna.
“Wouldn't you do the same thing if you could?”
Miss Brockway thought for a few moments, then nodded. “Yes, I suppose I would.”
“I think most women would, so there's noth
ing special about me.”
Across the clearing Joanna saw the guard running back toward Lieutenant Karuma's headquarters, and behind the guard ran Corporal Taguchi buttoning his shirt. Both of them ascended the stairs and entered Lieutenant Karuma's headquarters.
“I wish there was something I could do for you,” Miss Brockway said.
“Nobody can do anything for me now.”
Miss Brockway looked at the cut on Joanna's cheek. A long blackish-red scab covered it, but there was no infection. Miss Brockway had removed the bandage earlier in the day to let the air get at the gash.
The door of Lieutenant Karuma's headquarters opened again, and Corporal Taguchi, followed by the guard, hopped down the steps. They walked side by side toward the stockade, and Joanna's blood turned to ice.
“Joanna,” said Miss Brockway, “you don't have to go through with it if you don't want to.”
“I'm going through with it,” Joanna said with determination.
“My God . . . my God,” Miss Brockway said, closing her eyes. “How can things like this be permitted to happen?”
The guard and Corporal Taguchi approached the stockade. Corporal Taguchi looked half asleep; his hair was tousled and his cap on crooked.
“Miss Colby,” he said, “what is it that you want?”
“Tell him that I will do whatever he wants me to do, providing he doesn't kill any more natives.”
Corporal Taguchi thought for a few moments, his face showing no emotion. “Tell him yourself,” he said at last.
He shouted at the guards, and one of them opened the gate.
“Joanna,” said Miss Brockway, hugging her again, “God be with you.”
Joanna didn't reply; her insides were quaking. Miss Brockway released her and she walked toward the gate. All the natives were awake now and watched her go. One of the natives asked Miss Brockway what was going on, and Miss Brockway told him exactly what Joanna was going to do. The natives gazed at Joanna with respect, love, and awe. Joanna passed through the gate and the guards closed it shut. Corporal Taguchi took his position at her side, and together they walked toward Lieutenant Karuma's headquarters.
