that led to the bridge. No one seemed to notice them. Jack knew his way around better than Em did. When they approached the narrow passageway that was adjacent to the bridge, they looked around for a place to conceal themselves. Neither one of them thought they would be successful. Under the stairwell that climbed to the crow’s nest was their only option. Hearing from here would be difficult, if not impossible. They would, however, be able to see who was going in and who was coming out. It did not take long for something to happen. The door to the bridge opened.
Captain Murphy came out with two other navy officers. They walked right by the two airmen hiding under the stairs and stood in the doorway that led out to the torrential rain. They spoke loudly so they could hear over the noise coming from the open doorway. “Is he crazy? There is no way we can be successful in this weather. I don’t care if we have to follow them all the way into the rising sun; we can get them aboard in the morning.”
Em had never heard the Captain so animated. Em could see through the narrow gap in the stairs. Captain Murphy continued to pace back and forth. There was only about seven feet of space in the narrow passageway. The two navy officers were careful to stay out of the captain’s way. Then one of the navy guys told Captain Murphy that Captain McVay had no intention of being near this particular location at sunrise. They tried to explain to him that the Japanese submarine was stalking them. It was only a matter of time before he found them. Em felt his stomach turn. He willed himself not to become nauseated. Once again, this talk of a submarine chasing them made him feel uneasy. He decided then and there that he wanted off this ship. He knew that he felt much safer up in the air. He never felt happier about his decision to join the US Air Corps instead of the US Navy. He honestly never wanted to be aboard one of these floating coffins again.
When Captain Murphy calmed himself down enough to reenter the bridge, Em caught a glimpse of him. He noticed that his skin was red. It was never more evident that he was Katherine’s father. No wonder he chose flying over sailing, Em thought. He could not be in the sun any more than Katherine could. Em crouched in the shadows behind the stairs and waited for the captain to pass by him. Jack was behind him and squirming. Em poked him with his left elbow. Jack let out a grunt.
Captain Murphy abruptly stopped and turned around. The two of them made a feeble attempt to crouch lower, but they were as low as they could be. Captain Murphy had not heard them; he only wanted to say one other thing to the navy officers. “When we get close enough to signal the colonel, I want to be in the radio room.” He opened the door and reentered the bridge.
The two officers remained in the passageway. One of them walked toward the bridge doorway and then abruptly stopped and turned around. “Hey, I bet we can get them aboard with the boom. We’ll just pluck them off that little nips boat and sling them up on deck. I bet the captain would go for it. We could do it in minutes, and the storm will just make it fun. There’s only supposed to be four of them. Get me close, and in twenty minutes, we’ll be on our way.” He stopped talking and waited for the other officer to reply. When the other officer just looked at him and remained silent, he continued, “I don’t know what we’re doing out here anyway. We should be back in California by now. This new captain isn’t making many friends this way. These guys are tired, and they deserve a little rest. I’m going in there and let him know my idea.”
The other officer looked at him and said, “Yeah, go ahead. That’s a great idea. Tell the new captain that he’s not making any friends. I’ll be out here.” He snickered and walked past his friend and onto the bridge.
Em watched as the two of them made their way back through the doorway. When the door was shut and Em and Jack emerged from their concealment, they just looked at each other.
“Let’s get Sergeant Barnes up,” Jack said as he walked out into the rain.
Em followed because he didn’t know what else to do. They quickly made their way to their quarters to find that Sergeant Barnes was finally out of his bunk. Em and Jack waited for him to come out of the latrine.
When the sergeant came into the room and saw them, wet and dripping on the floor, he laughed the familiar laugh that Em had learned to ignore. “What the hell are you two doin’? Ja git lost again?” He laughed again.
“We have something to tell you.” Em knew that Jack would blurt out anything that they had heard. Jack continued, “We’re close to them. We heard the captain say by two a.m.” Jack told Sergeant Barnes everything that they had heard and even added a few things about the submarine. According to Jack, the sub was on their tail, and it was going to get hairy.
Sergeant Barnes did not get too excited. He calmly put on his uniform and sat down to tie his boots. “Listen, boys. When we talked to the colonel this morning, he said that things had not gone according to plan. We would need to find a way to get this job done. I hope he knows what he’s doing. I have a feeling that he is gonna take us into the belly of the whale. He did not pick up his cargo yet. If I know him, and I do pretty well, then I know he won’t stop until he finishes. Even I don’t know what he went after, but I know it was damn important. Something was going on with your friend Jeff, and I don’t mean Sergeant Cannon. That boy had his head set on something, and the colonel was backing him all the way. Whoever they went after had to be someone he was close to.”
Em’s eyebrows raised without him being aware of it. “How do you know it was a someone and not a something?”
Em thought that he had caught the sergeant revealing confidential information, but Sergeant Barnes just continued to talk. “I thought you boys knew. The colonel told us—you was there—that there would be an extra head when we picked them up.” Em could tell by the look on the sergeant’s face that he honestly thought that they did know.
Em and Jack just looked at each other and simultaneously asked, “Who?”
“I don’t know who. You guys were there. We…No, now I know when it was. Right before you two tried to sneak into camp. Yeah, Jeffrey told me. I guess I just thought you heard.” Now the sergeant finished tying his laces and stood and crossed the room. Em had more questions, but the sergeant was on his way out.
“Who in the world did they go get?” Em asked no one in particular.
“It had to be some high-ranking officer. No one else would be worth the risk.”
Jack looked like he was already going over some plan in his head. Jack was always thinking about how things would affect him. Em was glad that his friend was always thinking about the situation. He hoped that Jack’s instincts would always lead them in the right direction. “I bet he will have some secrets with him. That submarine is probably not supposed to come back without sinking this ship.” Jack had that look on his face that Em had come to know so well. “If this guy is coming aboard this ship, then that sub will never give up. I sure hope this new captain is as good as they say he is.”
An hour later, things had become a little clearer. Captain Murphy had come and got them and filled them in on the latest. He had just come from the radio room and had spoken to Colonel Roth. They had only spoken for a few brief minutes. Captain Murphy was hesitant to tell them what he now knew. He paused before he informed them that the plans had been altered. Now, instead of picking up the colonel and Sergeant Cannon and Jeff, the Indianapolis would be unloading a couple of passengers. Em could not believe what the captain was saying. Sergeant Barnes, Jack, and he would be hauled off the Indianapolis and dropped aboard the tiny boat. It would happen in the next hour. The colonel had told him that the plans had been altered. They would now have to take an alternate route. He had come up with a plan and needed all of them to pull it off. Captain Murphy would stay aboard the Indianapolis and coordinate some new transportation. Em started to panic. The only thing he wanted to do was ask questions, but the captain kept assuring him that he would be informed as soon as the details became clearer.
Em noticed the look on Sergeant Barnes’s face. He could tell the sergeant was nervous. “What the hell is Philip up to? He’s gonna get us all killed, goin’ into the nips nest. If he’s talking about goin’ all the way to Hiroshima, he’s crazier than I thought.” He did not laugh after he spoke. Em truly thought that this was the first time he could remember the sergeant with a