‘You missed one,’ Hogan said. ‘Oh, you missed a beaut. Tits like footballs and an ass which could move. I had her all lined up for you, boy. You sure struck out.’
Walt didn’t tell him about the two sisters.
*
‘The situation couldn’t be more grim,’ Commander Larter told his officers that night. ‘Last Friday, in the Java Sea, the Allied fleet was wiped out.’ He looked over their faces. ‘I meant that, gentlemen. Wiped out. The Dutch lost two cruisers and all their destroyers, the British lost Exeter and their destroyers. The Australians lost Perth. And we lost Houston; she escaped the battle and was making south, came across another Jap invasion fleet and attacked, even though she was badly damaged. They called up air support, and down she went. And at least six destroyers. This means there is at the present time no allied seapower in the South Pacific.’
Once again he looked over their faces. ‘And only yesterday the Japs tried to attack Pearl again, as some of you may have learned. They used flying boats, refuelled by subs. While you should also know that just after we left the mainland, a Jap sub actually shelled Santa Barbara. These guys are throwing everything they possess into this war, and it’s up to us to do the same, and with the same gallantry as those buddies of ours. So they want us down there just as fast as we can get there. The real bad news is that the starboard engine has to be replaced, and it’s going to take a couple of days. So let’s get to it.’
For the next two days they worked round the clock in a welter of grease and curses. The deck had to be opened to winch the defunct engine out, and the new one in, and then there were all the connections to be made, and the engine trials to be carried out: they couldn’t risk a breakdown in the middle of the Pacific. But at last they were ready, and Commander Larter gave them a last six hour pass; they would sail at dusk.
‘You coming back to Annie’s place?’ Hogan demanded.
Walt hesitated. ‘No,’ he said.
‘You know what? You’re a God damned queer,’ Hogan said, and stamped off.
Walt caught a cab at the dock gates, to the house in Pearl City. He wanted company, but it had to be decent company. He had never felt so lonely in his life.
‘Why, Mr McGann,’ Mrs Te Hota said. ‘How good to see you. I thought you would have gone to sea by now.’
‘Tonight,’ Walt said, and bit his lip; he wasn’t supposed to give that information to anyone. ‘I just came to say goodbye.’
‘Oh, how nice,’ she said. ‘Johnnie will be sorry to have missed you. He’s on the other side of the island. But the girls are here.’
Which was why he had come, mainly. Exactly what for, he didn’t know. But Melanie and Janice seemed very pleased to see him. ‘You have six hours?’ Janice cried. ‘Oh, how splendid. Why don’t we go to Waikiki?’
Walt looked at Mrs Te Hota in alarm. But she smiled. ‘Of course. It will do you good. You have to swim at Waikiki before going off to war, Mr McGann.’
Did he know what he was doing? His mind was such a jumble of emotions. Fear for Joan and Clive, disappointment at having missed Dad and Brenda, longing for Linda, envy of Hogan for the way he could sashay into a brothel … and here were two intensely pretty girls who couldn’t do too much for him. Mrs Te Hota obviously felt that the pair of them would chaperone each other, and he assumed she was right. So the three of them rode off on a bus and he lay on the beach after being rolled up in the surf and watched the soft brown flesh over-flowing at breast and buttock from their white one piece swimsuits, hardly listening to their chatter. Until the sun started to droop. ‘Heck, I’ve got to get back to the ship,’ he said.
They all got up together, and went off to change. He waited for them to return, but only Janice emerged. ‘Melanie has found a friend,’ she said. ‘She’ll come on the next bus.’
‘Won’t your mom be mad?’
‘Mom’s never mad,’ Janice said, seriously. Walt believed that, just as he suddenly realised he had been the victim of a plot; he wondered if they had tossed for him. The strange thing was, after three hours of watching them, he so wanted to be the victim of such a plot.
‘There won’t be a bus for half an hour,’ Janice said. ‘Let’s walk a bit.’
They left the beach and strolled through the trees. Janice obviously knew where she was going, because suddenly they were quite sheltered from any direction behind a hibiscus hedge. Here she stopped. ‘I have enjoyed your visit, Walt,’ she said, gazing up at him.
‘I have too. I never expected to, with my folks gone.’
‘And now you’re going too. Oh, Walt!’
She was in his arms, and kissing him with an almost ferocious anxiety. But he was kissing as well, and his hands were moving over her back, finding their way inside her blouse as it came out of her skirt and then inside the skirt as well. He wanted, so very badly. Linda, of course. But Linda wasn’t here. He had never expected to find another girl who would want it as well, and so quickly.
They were kneeling against each other, and her hands were inside his pants as well, seeking and holding. ‘Oh, Walt,’ she said, and was lying on the grass. When he stared at her, totally uncertain of what happened next, she raised her skirt and eased her knickers down her thighs. He had never seen anything as beautiful as her silky pubes; he had never suspected anything as beautiful to exist.
‘Make love to me, Walt,’ she said. ‘Make love to me, and come back to me, safely.’
*
‘So that was Pearl,’ Hogan remarked as Diamond Head dropped astern into the gathering dusk. ‘You may never come this way again, sonny boy. You’re gonna regret that.’
Walt came to the decision, which had been growing on him, that he didn’t really like Hogan. But he could afford to feel contempt for the poor bastard. All Hogan knew were whores. He had lain on a real woman, and learned what life was all about.
Trouble was, he also felt contempt for himself. Because after all he had betrayed Linda. And Mr and Mrs Te Hota as well, after they had been so kind to him. And Janice? He couldn’t feel any sense of betrayal there. She had wanted it as badly as he. So she had told him to come back to her. That was a whole war away, and he was damned sure she hadn’t been a virgin. Which probably meant her sister wasn’t one either. Did the Te Hotas know that? In which case he needn’t feel sorry for them, either. Only Linda lay on his conscience. But if men at war had to have women, which seemed pretty generally accepted, then Linda would have to be pleased that he had gone to someone like Janice Te Hota rather than a whore.
Anyway, Linda would never know.
But would Linda be as good? She had to be. The thought of Linda lying beneath him, of being able to touch Linda’s naked buttocks and breasts, made him feel giddy. Just as the thought that she might not like those things, might not move and moan with pleasure as Janice had done, haunted him.
But it was a time to forget personal problems. Because now he was, at last, going to war. Tempest made south west, accompanied by two other subs which had just arrived from the mainland, into an empty ocean and an oily sea. They stayed on the surface to achieve their best cruising speeds, but this necessitated a constant look out being kept for many planes, although for the first couple of days they were outside the range of any possible land based aircraft — they were well aware that the huge Japanese carrier fleet of eleven ships was also at sea, and could be anywhere, even if, apparently, not in the vicinity of Hawaii.
Three days later they were off the Christmas Islands. ‘They were cannibals down to only a little while ago,’ Crossby said, staring at the just visible palm trees through his binoculars.
‘Reckon the Japs have got there yet?’ Hogan asked.
‘Maybe they’ll all be eaten,’ Walt grinned.
‘Heck, if they’re there, they have the whole God damned Pacific sewn up,’ Crossby grunted.
The submarines were maintaining radio silence, but they could listen, and that night news arrived that all the Allied forces in Java had surrendered, while further north, R
angoon had also fallen to the Japanese.
They now turned more to the south, and after three days left the Phoenix Islands well to starboard.
‘Samoa,’ Crossby said. ‘That’s where we’re going. Good old Pago-Pago.’
‘Shame it ain’t Tahiti,’ Hogan commented. ‘Now, in Tahiti, they have women!’
They made Pago-Pago on March 17, ten days after leaving Pearl. In all that time they had cruised mostly on the surface, seeing not another ship or aircraft. ‘Christ, you wouldn’t think there was a war on,’ Hogan grumbled. ‘Maybe they’ve made peace and we don’t know about it.’
But in Pago-Pago they learned the grim news that General MacArthur, on orders from Washington, had left Bataan, where American and local forces were still holding out, to go to Australia and take command of Allied forces there; this could only mean that there was no hope of saving the Philippines, either. ‘Say, we ever gonna stop those yellow shits?’ Crossby asked, plaintively.
‘Australia’s next,’ Larter told them. ‘That’s where we’re headed. Everything we have is being concentrated there to stop that threat.’
Pago-Pago also felt under threat; the Japanese weren’t all that far away to the west, going on latest reports. But although the American garrison were ready for anything, there was no heavy stuff available. If it came to the crunch, Samoa would have to be sacrificed in the effort to defend Australia. This left the islanders feeling somewhat betrayed, and the few members of Tempest’s crew who got ashore — they stopped only long enough to refuel and replenish with fresh food — reported that they had not been welcomed.
From Samoa the submarines made south west again, passing between the Fiji and Tonga groups, before turning west for Brisbane on the Queensland coast, where they were due to receive fresh orders. They were skirting the known limits of Japanese occupation, but were certainly within range of search aircraft, and spent most of each day submerged. Their speed was thus much reduced, and it was the end of the month before they finally arrived in Brisbane, escorted through the Barrier Reef by both destroyers and planes, but hardly noticed in the accumulation of shipping in the port, the hustle and bustle. The Australians were preparing for a fight; Darwin had already been savagely bombed, and it was known the Japanese were in both New Guinea and New Britain, just to the north. ‘That’s where we want you people,’ said the British admiral in charge of the port. ‘Up there at the top end of the Coral Sea. Do what damage you can, but also observe and signal any large troop or ship movements you may see. There can be no doubt that enemy intend to keep on coming south.’
Larter nodded. ‘It’ll be a pleasure. When can we sail?’
‘Just as soon as you’re ready. It might be an idea to give your men a night ashore, though. After a month at sea.’
Larter agreed with that, and issued orders that they would depart on patrol the following day.
‘Now, these Aussie girls,’ Hogan said. ‘Are big, bronzed and beautiful. Let’s go find some.’
‘They also have some fucking peculiar licencing laws around here,’ Crossby told them. ‘You guys watch out.’
Walt had no desire to sample any female after Janice Te Hota, but he did want to explore Brisbane even in Hogan’s company. In fact, judging by the smiles bestowed on them by the various young women they saw — few of whom were either big, bronzed, or beautiful — it was going to be easier to find a woman than a beer. And when the bars did open, it seemed all of Brisbane headed for them. Walt and Hogan found themselves crowded against the counter in one establishment, surrounded by both officers and enlisted men, from, it seemed, several different armies and navies and air forces. ‘God damn,’ Hogan growled. ‘God damn.’
The barmaid gave them each a pint of foaming beer. Hogan drank deeply. ‘Holy Jesus Christ!’ he complained. ‘The fucking thing’s hot.’
‘Never had beer before, lover?’ the girl inquired.
‘Listen, you lousy tart,’ Hogan began, and the girl threw her next beer into his face. He staggered back, and cannoned into an Australian soldier.
‘Blimey!’ the affronted man exclaimed. ‘A God damned drunken Yank.’
‘Why, you Limey bastard … ‘ Hogan threw a punch before Walt could stop him. He connected, just, and being off balance, fell into the man he had struck. The pair of them in turn fell into two more men, who also took offence. Fists and bottles flew, the barmaids began to scream, and someone blew a police whistle.
Walt stepped into the fray, his size arresting several of the would-be brawlers. Using his huge strength he lifted men and threw them right and left until he found Hogan at the bottom of the pile. He lifted his superior up, and made for the door, leaving the melee behind him, and pushing men to left and right as he escaped. He reached the street just as a police squad car drew up. ‘What’s happening in there, sir?’ the sergeant demanded.
‘Some guy insulted one of the girls,’ Walt told him. ‘You want to lock the lot up.’
‘We’ll do that,’ the sergeant agreed, and led his men through the door.
‘I would’ve killed the bastard,’ Hogan insisted.
‘And got yourself sacked,’ Walt told him. ‘Let’s get the hell out of here.’
‘My cap!’ Hogan rubbed his head. ‘I’ve lost my hat.’
‘I’m afraid you have,’ Walt told him. ‘But you’re lucky at that.’
Commander Larter was not amused, especially as five seamen from Tempest had also been in the bar, and he had to go down to police headquarters and bail them out. ‘We came here to fight the Japs, not the Aussies,’ he told the crestfallen men. ‘And if we weren’t sailing tomorrow I’d leave you to rot in that gaol. As for you, Lieutenant,’ he told Hogan in the privacy of the wardroom, ‘I’ll deal with you when we get back.’
‘And not a single dame to show for it,’ Walt grinned.
‘If you were my size, I’d bust your ass,’ Hogan growled.
*
From Brisbane they had again to penetrate the Great Barrier Reef before turning north for the Louisiade Archipeligo off the south eastern tip of New Guinea. The Australians were still holding Port Moresby, but the Japanese had occupied the northern part of the huge island, and it was expected that an attack on the port would be launched very shortly; this would be part of the build-up for the anticipated invasion of Australia itself.
Tempest proceeded submerged both by day and by night once she was through the Reef, surfacing only to charge her batteries. She was also separated from her consorts, as they were to operate singly. It thus took them just a week to sight Tagula.
The news, when they could pick it up, remained unfailingly bad. The Japanese Navy and air force were apparently running riot in the Indian Ocean, carrying their attacks as far west as Columbo, while the day before the island came into sight they learned that the American and Filipinos on Bataan had surrendered, which left only the island of Corregidor holding out.
‘God damn,’ Crossby said. ‘We gotta get one of these guys.’
Tagula was sighted at dawn, and they immediately submerged again, to make their way into the Solomon Sea. Next morning Woodlark Island was on their port bow, and the day after they sighted the mountains of New Britain in the distance. ‘Here we are, and here we’ll stay for a couple of days,’ Larter said.
Tension had mounted steadily throughout the voyage north, and increased as they sank into the depths, returning to periscope level every second hour for a sweep. The heat was intense on the surface, and inside the submarine even at depths; Doc Wrightson was now giving each man salt tablets every day to counter the effects of heavy sweating.
They cruised slowly to the north east, closing New Britain, but also Bougainville, the large, French owned island which topped the Solomons, although it remained out of sight. Thus far they had seen only a few reconnaissance planes, but at five on the second afternoon, which happened to be 13 April, Larter gave a low whistle as he peered into the eyepiece of the periscope. ‘We have custom,’ he remarked.
All th
e heads on the bridge deck turned as one.
‘Four Jap transports,’ he told them. ‘Making for Bougainville, I’d say.’
‘Escorted?’ Crossby inquired.
‘I guess they will be, but I don’t see it. Not to worry, they’re the reason we’re here. Action stations, gentlemen.’
Walt’s responsibility were the stern tubes, and he hurried aft, where his squad was already assembling. They gazed at each other with a mixture of excitement and apprehension; they were all totally green when it came to actual warfare. But so, Walt realised for the first time, was the commander; he wasn’t old enough to have served in the last one.
‘Load,’ Larter said.
The huge, gleaming silver fish were winched into the tubes, the outer doors opened. Then the submarine angled as she went down, below periscope depths, to approach closer without being seen. The minutes ticked by, the only sound the hum of the electric motors, louder in the stern because the tubes were just behind the engine room. Walt wiped a trickle of sweat from his temple, and grinned at the enlisted men. One or two of them grinned back.
The ship was rising again. ‘Stand by bow tubes,’ Larter said. Walt cracked one of his knuckles.
‘Range three miles, bearing zero three three.’
They waited.
‘Skipper means to see the whites of their eyes,’ said Petty Officer Kowicz.
‘Range two miles, bearing zero one seven. Fire.’
The submarine trembled slightly, and again.
‘One and two gone, sir,’ Hogan reported.
‘Fire three and four.’
Again the slight tremble. Now they could hear the hiss of compressed air as the torpedoes sped away.
‘Company,’ Larter said. ‘Take her down, Mr Crossby.’
The submarine sank. As she did so she shook violently, and a moment later they heard, even beneath the waves, the rumble of a distant explosion. ‘Looks like we got … ‘ Walt was interrupted by another bang. ‘Two of the bastards,’ he said exultantly.
The Passion and the Glory Page 8
