Dave Dawson on Guadalcanal
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
_Devil Eyes_
A good fifteen minutes of silence settled over the two battle-scarredyouths before it was broken. And when it was, it was not by either ofthem. On the contrary, it was broken by a third party. By an unusuallytall, and well built Japanese Navy officer who opened the door of theempty cabin and came striding inside. Both boys were startled by hissudden approach, they were amazed by his huge size, and they alsonoticed that he was unarmed save for the samurai sword hung at his belt.But when they looked at his face, at his eyes, they both gulpedimpulsively.
The newcomer's eyes were plenty Jap. They were also even more than that.The first impression that came to Dave was that he was looking into apair of devil's eyes, if ever a pair existed. They were more black thanbrown, and they had the sagging double upper lid that distinguishes aJap's eyes from those of a Chinese. But there was still something elseabout them. A certain something that was in their depths. Call it allthe hideous cruelty in the world reflected there. Or call it the truelook of a born killer and savage. Or call it what you will. There wassomething there that made Dawson catch his breath, and go hot and coldall over. It was like looking down the muzzle of a rifle and watchingthe finger crooked about the trigger tighten slowly. In the next splitsecond--
"Come with me, please!"
The words that fell from the Jap's lips were like rifle shots. Hardlyrealizing that they were doing so, both youths sprang quickly up ontotheir feet. The big Jap smiled broadly.
"Good," he said, and bobbed his close shaven head. "I can see that youhave learned a little of the lesson you should have learned a long timeago. Come with me, and do not let there be any trouble, please."
As a warning gesture the big Jap patted the hilt of his samurai sword,and then stepped aside and jerked his head in a silent order for Dawsonand Freddy Farmer to step by him and outside. They stepped out into afairly wide companionway, and as the Jap motioned for them to move offto the right, they saw that the far end of the companionway opened upinto what was obviously one of the hangar decks of the carrier. Theycould see Zeros and Nakajimas, and a couple of other types that theycould not make out at that distance.
They didn't have much time to study the parked planes they could see farahead, however. The big Jap soon ushered them into a much narrowercompanionway off to the right, and then up a ladder. They came off thetop of the ladder onto the broad flat flight deck of the carrier. Itseemed covered from bow to stern with planes, with a narrow runway lanedown the middle. Gazing at it, Dawson couldn't help but think of what amess it would make if just a single plane taking off should skid toeither side and lock wings with the long rows of parked planes.
"Or just a couple of well placed incendiary bombs!" he murmured absentlyto himself. "Boy! What a bonfire that would be!"
"Eh, Dave?" Freddy Farmer whispered at his elbow. "What was that?"
"Nothing, pal," Dawson sighed. "Just a little wishful thinking!"
At that moment the big Jap gave them a gentle push and nodded along theflight deck in the direction of the flight bridge and ship controlturrets. The two youths obeyed at once, and as Dawson weaved his way inand out among the parked planes, close cropped Jap heads seemed to popup from all sides and grin and leer at him. He paid them littleattention, however. He was more interested in getting a look at the restof the Jap force spread out over the surrounding waters. It wasdifficult, however, because folded wings and parked fuselages keptcutting off his line of view. He did sight the two other carriers for abrief instant--and sort of wished he hadn't. A three-carrier task forcemeant at least fifty other ships of different descriptions. And asurprise force that size could cause a lot, an awful lot, of trouble ifit got the breaks. In fact, it might well change the entire course ofthe war in the far flung Pacific.
Fortunately for Dawson, he wasn't allowed much time in which to broodover that possibility. He and Farmer soon reached a point directly belowthe flight bridge. There the big Jap ushered them through a door andalong a companionway, and up a couple of more deck ladders. Their little"walk" finally terminated in the well appointed quarters of none otherthan Admiral Suicide Sasebo himself. And the mad killer was there in theflesh, too, flanked on both sides by his runt-sized staff officers andaides. Short, overfed, bandy-legged and squint-eyed, the whole lot ofthem. At first glance they looked like a bunch of cross-eyed streeturchins dressed up for a cops and robbers masquerade.
If Dawson were to have seen that same picture flash across the screen ina movie theatre he would have fallen out of his seat with laughter. Butthere was no laughter on his lips now. Not even in the back of histhoughts. Not one single giggle, for each pair of those eyes fixed uponhim were not the eyes of a street urchin, but of an inhuman savage whowould gladly carve him to shreds for the sheer joy of it all. No, therewas no laughter in Dawson, or Freddy Farmer, as the big Jap pulled themup to an abrupt halt. Truth to relate, there was only a lot of coldfear, and twice as much worry.
Suddenly to Dave's tensed senses there came a sound akin to that ofsomebody putting sheets of tin to a buzz saw blade. He jumped inwardlyand then realized that the ear-rasping sound was the Jap behind himaddressing his commanding officer in their native tongue. Impulsively helooked at the row of Jap figures to make sure his guess as to which wasAdmiral Sasebo was correct. And it was correct. The little runt in themiddle of the row, wearing fewer decorations than any of the others,made movements with his head, as though somebody were working it withstrings from behind, and then made some reply in a soft sing-song note.
As the echo of the sounds he made died away, he looked at Dawson andFarmer. And to their dumbfounded belief he smiled broadly, and executeda slight bow.
"Welcome, Honorable Enemy Gentlemen," he said in fairly good English."It is a pleasure to have you aboard my ship. Be seated, please. I amabout to dismiss my officers. Then we will discuss your little problem."
The Jap Admiral bowed slightly again, then half turned and looked at theofficers on one side. He said a few words, bobbed his head, and thenturned to the officers on his other side and spoke to them. All of thembowed way over, murmured something, and went single file outside. Andsoon the cabin was empty save for the two boys, the Admiral, and the bigJap officer.
With an effort Dawson tried to shake the cobwebs out of his brain, andget himself on the alert. But it was like trying to wake himself up outof the middle of a crazy, cockeyed dream. In fact, that's just exactlywhat all this business seemed like. Like part of some dizzy dream inwhich nobody acts his correct part. "Then we will discuss your littleproblem." What was going on here, anyway? And, "Welcome, Honorable EnemyGentlemen!" Where did the guy get that welcome stuff? For fair, somebodywas just plain nuts. And Dawson was worried not a little that maybe hewas the one.
"Be seated, Honorable Enemy Gentlemen, please. We have plenty of time.And in war it is a good thing to relax and be comfortable whenever onegets the chance. Yes, in those chairs behind you, please."
If Dawson and Farmer had been under a complete hypnotic spell theycouldn't have obeyed more mechanically as they backed up until the chairedge hit them behind the knees, and then sat down. And like a couple ofdazed puppets waiting to be moved around, they just sat there with eyesfixed on the Jap Admiral. He seated himself, and stared at them for along time before he spoke.
"So you have very interesting news for me?" he suddenly said with arising inflection of voice. "Well, I am interested. So tell me all aboutit, please?"
Dawson gulped slightly and tried desperately to bat his brains off themerry-go-round on which they were riding, and get them to functionproperly. If he ever was to play a game of wits, this was the time. Butat that precise moment he couldn't have spoken his own name correctlyfor the life of him.
Freddy Farmer, however, rushed to his rescue. The English youth lookedthe Jap Admiral straight in the eye, and shook his head.
"Too late, now," he said quietly. "Neither of us knows where our forceis now. It may still be up north off your Japanese coast, or p
erhaps itis now steaming back to Pearl Harbor."
"That is too bad," the Jap said without a single change of expression."I was hoping that perhaps I could detach one or two of my destroyers togo meet them and sink them."
Both boys got the full meaning of the "one or two destroyers" crack, butboth refused to rise to the bait. They simply shrugged and waited forthe Jap Navy big shot to take the lead again. They thought they saw afaint flicker of anger cross his flat, shiny face, indicating that hewas a little annoyed. But that's all the sign he gave. He stared at themeach in turn for several more minutes, then seemed to fix his gaze onDawson's face.
"You say there are _five_ carriers?" he asked.
"Yes, five carriers and--" Dawson replied, and then stopped dead as thewalls of the room seem to come tumbling down around his ears.
He heard Freddy Farmer's startled gasp, and wished in that moment thathe possessed a gun so that he could shoot his brains out. Of all thestupid, dumb fools, he took the prize. With his bare face hanging out hehad walked straight into the Jap Admiral's trap, and had been caughtcold. In short, the Jap had suddenly addressed him in _German_, andwithout thinking, fathead that he was, he had started to reply in the_same_ tongue.
"And you Americans boast of being so very, very clever!" the Jap Navybig shot was now sneering at him. "Fools! Little children! You are allsoft, and eaten away in the brain. You are finished. Do you not realizethat?"
Dawson didn't say anything. He was mentally kicking himself too much tobother about speaking words. And God knows he had spoken too many wordsas it was--in the wrong tongue. Fathead of fatheads. Of course that Jappilot rat had reported the entire conversation aboard the U-boat. Hadmentioned, no doubt, that he and the Nazi had spoken in German so thatthe two prisoners wouldn't understand. But they had understoodeverything spoken. And now the Jap Admiral _knew_ that they hadunderstood. In short, he had only to add two and two to make a prettysure guess that they hadn't spoken a word of truth aboard the U-boat,and had played dumb in an attempt to pick up information they might useif they ever managed to escape. And, to put it another way, the JapAdmiral had checkmated them cold when they had barely begun to sell hima load of phoney goods.
"Yes, Japan's enemies are so cleverly foolish!" the slant-eyed onecontinued amidst hissing sounds. "However, you are here under mywatchful eye now. And no real damage has been done. So we will forgetall else that has been said, and start over again."
The Jap stopped suddenly, and leaned forward a little over the desk atwhich he had seated himself.
"You were shot down after having flown from an American carrier," hesaid. "Now, what was the name of that carrier?"
"The Tokyo Express," Dawson replied quickly. "And the first stop isTokyo, too, believe it or not."
The faint attempt to wisecrack was completely lost on the flat-facedJap. Which was of course to be expected, for included in the countlessthings that the Japanese people do not possess is a sense of humor. Evena joke that would send an Englishman into fits of laughter would sailright over a Jap's thick-boned head. So the Admiral simply wagged hishead from side to side gravely, and made a little shaking motion withthe index finger of his right hand.
"That is not the truth," he said in his soft sing-song voice. "The nameof your carrier was either the Carson, or the Hawk. They were both in atask force sighted two days ago. You come from one of those carriers, soit is proved that that force has moved up into waters considerably northof where it was two days ago."
"That's what we've been saying," Freddy Farmer shot at him. "The Carson,the Hawk, and you can guess how many _other_ carriers. But much, _much_farther north than you suspect."
The Jap started to wag his head again gravely, but at that instant aninspiration which might enable him to regain a little of the beans hehad spilled clicked in Dawson's brain. He held up a hand to checkwhatever the Jap Admiral was about to say.
"Just a minute, Admiral Sasebo!" he cried out. "Think what you like, butdo some _thinking_. The war for my pal and me is all over. Ten to onewe'll never leave this ship alive. And how! The whole darn world knowswhat you Japs _do_ to pilots you capture. Okay! We took our chances,and we lost. So all that's left is the chance to rub it into you a bit,because you're headed for a loss, too, see? Think I'm kidding. Allright, then, get _this_! Get hold of that double-crossing flying ape ofyours who shot us down, and ask him--_what direction was our planeflying when he shot us down!_ Go ahead, ask him that, and he'll tell you_south!_ And if he had his eyes open he probably saw us dump our gashoping that the empty tank would keep us afloat longer. But it waspunctured, so the plane sank in a hurry. But here's the point. Ask himabout how much gas he saw us dump to empty the tank. If he can't tellyou, _I can_. It was practically _a full tank!_ So figure it out,Admiral, figure it out. We were flying south with practically a fulltank. Flying _back_ to our carrier? Not a chance! We were scouting outfrom our carrier trying to find out if your force, this force righthere, was _trailing us up north!_"
Dawson emphasized his words with a violent nod of his head. And then headded just one more word jab for good measure.
"Okay. Throw us to the sharks. We're all washed up. But at least we'vehad the satisfaction of having the horse laugh on _you_. And what ahorse laugh, as you'll soon find out!"
As Dawson got the last off his lips he instinctively steeled himselfand waited for the Jap Admiral to start screaming his head off. However,if he expected the Nippon killer to fly into a tantrum he was doomed todisappointment. Suicide Sasebo simply stared at him expressionlessly fora long, long time. Then he spoke in his native tongue, but his wordswere addressed to the big Jap standing just in back of the two air aces.Yet he held them with his eyes all the time he spoke.
A few moments of silence followed his words, and then the big Jap spoke.A flicker of light, or something, seemed to pass across the Admiral'sface. And then he spoke for the second time. The big Jap made hissingsounds, bowed low, and then took hold of Dawson's arm and FreddyFarmer's arm with fingers of steel, and turned them around and led themout into the companionway.
Bewilderment and a faint sense of uneasiness welled up in Dawson, for hehad no idea what the two Japs had spoken to each other. And if only he_did_ know! It would save so much for Freddy Farmer and himself. Thefirst time Sasebo spoke he had ordered the big one to take the twoprisoners down onto the flight deck, shoot them, and toss their bodiesover the side. But he had only spoken thus to see if either of theprisoners understood Japanese. And when he realized that they did not,and the big Jap had made a polite suggestion, he had agreed at once,given the necessary instructions, and then ordered the two air aces tobe taken away.