Em’s retreat and assured him he would not need his gear. He said they would only be outside long enough to go from the plane to inside the hangar. He made his way from the plane to the ground. He felt like he was heavier.
He looked around and decided it must be morning here because the landscape did not seem to be awake. He could see a barren field beyond the runway. In the distance, he saw snow-covered peaks. He felt as if he had landed on another planet. This could not be more unlike home, he thought. The only other thing visible was a lone structure, which stood a couple of hundred feet away. It looked like every other hangar he had ever seen. Yet somehow, this one looked foreboding as it stood alone with its doors closed tight.
They followed the two members of the flight crew across the frozen ground and entered the hangar from the side. Directly inside the door was a small room where cold weather gear was apparently stored. Boots were piled in the corner and parkas hung, overlapped, from nails on the wall. Since none of the airmen had any clothing to be removed, they proceeded through the next set of doors. Em thought he would be walking into a cavernous hangar, but the door led to a long hallway. He felt as though he were in one of the administration buildings back in Texas. Morton led the way and seemed to know exactly where he was going.
“What about Cannon, Jack? Do you think he is here?” Em spoke in a whisper. He was not sure exactly why.
“No. I don’t,” Jack whispered back. “I think too much has happened in the past few days. I think everybody’s plans got screwed up.” As soon as he said this, he sprinted ahead to catch up with Morton. “Hey. How long are we going to be here?” Jack asked him.
“Couple hours. We’re waiting on a couple of things. You guys are going to wait in here. You can get something to eat if you want. We’ll be back to get you when we’re ready.” Morton led them into one of the dozens of doors that opened off the hallway.
The room was full of tables with a small kitchen area to one side. There were dishes on some of the tables and dirt on the floor. It was clear that this was the cafeteria; however, Em was not so sure he wanted to eat here. He and Jack made their way to what turned out to be the only clean table. Morton walked past them into the kitchen. He began to talk to an old woman who was standing by a sink. She had a towel and a large pot in her hands. She glanced at Em and Jack and then began drying the steel pot in her hands. Morton stood behind her and massaged her shoulders. He said something to her that made her laugh, revealing a toothless grin.
Over an hour later, he and Jack still sat at the table where Morton and Smith had left them. The old woman remained the only other person in the room. She continued with washing pan after pan along with several handfuls of silverware. Every now and then, she would go to the stove and stir something, which Em thought smelled heavenly. Never did she acknowledge the two airmen. Em and Jack were discussing their situation once again. Both remained clueless as to what they were actually going to be doing. Each of them had come to their own conclusion about Sergeant Cannon. Neither one thought that he would be joining them here. They felt rather confident about this. Whether or not he was to become part of their crew remained yet to be seen. Em believed that the previous couple of weeks’ events would have certainly changed a few agendas.
Em looked at Jack, sitting opposite of him at their table. His back was to the old woman. He was very surprised when she walked up behind him. “You eat now,” she began. She carried two overflowing plates. Food of many different colors was upon them. Em recognized the corn, but the rest of the plate was covered with what must be some sort of stew. The old woman sat the plates in front of them. She then turned quickly around and began to clear the other tables. Jack and Em picked up their forks and began to eat. It was obvious that they were eating seafood of some sort. There were white chunks of fish surrounded by vegetables and gravy. Both airmen were very hungry, so they spoke little.
As the old woman loaded her arms and began to make her way to the kitchen, they heard her say, “Two boys eat. Sergeant Cannon say he want you two be happy. You eat now. He be here soon.”
Both airmen looked up from their plates and stared at each other.
“What you mean?” Jack began. He never realized he was using broken English but corrected himself nevertheless. “Excuse me, ma’am, but do you know Sergeant Cannon?”
“You eat. No time talk.” She grinned her toothless grin and continued on her way to the sink.
Em looked at Jack, and they both said at the same time, “He is here!”
You really think he’s coming with us?” Em spoke to Jack, but then he answered his own question. “I guess he really is. He’s probably here already.”
Jack continued to stuff food into his mouth. His cheeks were as full as Em had ever seen them. He was using a spoon, and it never seemed to cease shoveling the food in. When Em looked at his friend’s plate, over half of the food was gone. Em thought that Jack looked as if he did not care that Sergeant Cannon was probably here in Alaska. Em was always astonished at the way Jack could seem so detached from a situation. “Don’t you even care?” Em asked him.
“Nothin’ I can do about it whether he’s here or not, so I figured I would just keep eating.” His food was almost gone now.
“But if he is here, then he is coming,” Em said.
“So?” was Jack’s reply.
They continued to eat in silence. Em continued to ponder their situation. Jack told him that he thought about things too much. Jack just looked like he was hungry. Em thought about Cannon. What is he doing here really? How did he get here? Where is he coming from? Why couldn’t he just have come by the same route as me and Jack? Another thing, what was his connection to Colonel Roth, other than being his brother-in-law? How had he saved Roth’s life? Em began to feel overwhelmed again and was astonished at Jack’s indifference. He returned his attention to the food on his plate. Jack had finished every morsel on his. He mindlessly moved his fork from plate to mouth while thinking about what lie ahead for them. Jack still had the unconcerned look on his face that Em had seen so many times before. Jack was now picking his teeth.
“I really need some answers soon, or I think I’ll go mad,” Em finally broke the silence.
“Let it go, Storybook,” Jack said. “Before you know it, we’ll be in paradise. And what else matters after that? Think about it. Blue ocean, beaches, island girls with grass skirts. What else could possibly concern you? Relax. Finish your meal. We’ll be back on that plane soon whether Cannon is with us or not. Then, in a few short hours, we will land in paradise.”
“Boom Boom be here soon.” They had not even heard the old woman as she approached. “He say you two his new crew.” Jack and Em turned to look at her. She was smiling. “Boom Boom say feed you, and he come get you.”
“How long has he been here?” Em asked the toothless woman.
“He come yesterday. I make him eat. He too skinny. He tell me. Wait for two more and feed them.” She carried an armload of dirty dishes into the kitchen.
Em and Jack got up and cleared their own table. They followed her to the sink. They began to bombard her with questions. “How do you know him? How did he get here? Where is he now? Can we see him?”
She just laughed and threw towels at them. “You here, you dry pans.” The airmen did not care as long as she answered their questions. They would dry as many pans as she wanted. She continued to laugh her infectious laugh and said, “He tell me you two ask questions. I know nothing. He be here soon. You ask him.” The airmen were perplexed and continued drying the pots and pans. Em’s mind was wandering again. He was making a list inside his head: (1) “Roth and Cannon are brothers-in-law”; (2) “Cannon saved Roth’s life. When? Where? How?”; (3) “The scar on Cannon’s back, did it happen when he saved Roth’s life?”; (4) “Why are they training in Hawaii?”; (5) “Why top secret? After all, they were only eighteen”; (6) “Why did the crew on the plane tell them to pay attention?”; and (7) “Why couldn’t their families know where they were going?”
His list could have gone on forever