Griffin W.E.B. - The Corps 08 - In Dangers Path

«He's out of his mind,» Dawkins said. «No one can accuse that kid of being a shirker.»

«You know Admiral Sayre?» Williamson asked. «His daughter?»

«The one who married Culhane? Who we lost at Wake?»

«Uh-huh.»

«Until Weston—he was the best man at their wedding—showed up at P'Cola, they called Martha Culhane 'the Ice Princess.' One look at Weston and she melted. And the Admiral thinks Jim is the answer to his prayers for the Ice Princess, too.»

«Really?»

«He told me to give him a Cat check-ride, and since I was already going to do that, why didn't I do it by flying up to the Greenbrier—You know about the Greenbrier?»

Dawkins nodded.

»—and give him the check-ride while flying back and forth to P'Cola?»

«Then he really is a goddamn fool!» Dawkins said angrily.

«No, Dawk,» Williamson said. «What he is is a damned good Marine. Duty first.»

Dawkins looked at Williamson for a long moment. «Just because you're right, Dick,» he said, «doesn't mean I have to like it.»

«No, but you have to admire him,» Williamson insisted.

«I admired him already,» Dawkins said sadly, and then raised his voice: «Captain Weston!»

Weston came back into the office.

«Yes, sir?»

«Captain Weston,» Dawkins said, «on behalf of the Commander in Chief, Pacific, permit me to thank you for volunteering for this mission. Your selfless dedication to duty is in keeping with the highest traditions of the officer corps of the Marine Corps. That's official. Off the record, Jim, I think you're a goddamned fool, and if you give me the word, I'll do my damndest to get you out of this.»

«With respect, sir, I'd like to fly the operation.»

«You don't even know what it is, for Christ's sake!»

«Sir, I know the operation needs experienced Catalina pilots. I have a good deal of experience in the Cat.»

«So Major Williamson informs me,» Dawkins said. «Okay, Jim. Your decision.»

«Thank you, sir.»

«I'm going to send you two over to Muku-Muku…«

«I think you'll like Muku-Muku, Major,» Weston said, smiling.

»… where you will find another heroic Marine who volunteered to fly this operation, immediately after he was offered his choice of doing so or being court-martialed.»

«Really?» Williamson asked, amused. «For what?»

«It's not funny. I know this officer. Seven kills, DFC, flying Wildcats for Charley Galloway on Guadalcanal. Fine pilot. Lousy officer. Did you ever meet General Pickering's son, Jim?»

«No, sir. But I heard about him,» Weston said. «That's who you're talking about?»

Dawkins nodded.

«How did he fuck up, sir?»

«As far as I'm concerned, by failing to do his duty. He was at Memphis, where he was supposed to be training Corsair pilots. The best way to train is by example. The example this Marine ace with the DFC set for the people he was supposed to be training was that it's all right to be grossly irresponsible. But the straw that broke the back, that almost got him court-martialed, was his personal life, his love life.»

«What did he do?»

«He was having an affair with the wrong female. For all I know, more than one. But I do know about one. A prima facie case of Conduct Unbecoming An Officer And A Gentleman.» Dawkins let that sink in a minute. «I believe in a clean sheet,» Dawkins went on. «This is not known to anyone involved with this operation, and I don't want you to let him know I told you about it.»

«I understand, sir,» Weston said.

«Okay,» Major Williamson said.

«The only reason I'm telling you this is because he doesn't have much time in a Catalina—I think thirty hours, something like that. The admiral commanding Memphis got him a quick qualification course just before throwing him off the base. So he's going to need some more Catalina time, as much as we can get him, and you two are the obvious people to give it to him.»

«Aye, aye, sir.»

«And there may be one more student for you,» Dawkins went on. «One of Charley Galloway's fuckups, according to Charley, has decided to salvage his fucked-up career by volunteering for this idiotic operation. That's not for sure; I'll make up my mind in the morning, after he comes to see me. But you might as well plan on it.»

«Aye, aye, sir,» Williamson and Weston said almost in unison.

«This 'gentleman's' name is Stevenson. First Lieutenant. I had a look at his record again this afternoon. Another sex maniac, apparently, who regards screwing any female —without regard to the consequences— as a sport. This sonofabitch, believe it or not, was screwing two women at the same time, both of whom he promised to marry.»

«Well, there are some guys like that,» Major Williamson said. «They just don't know when to keep their trousers buttoned. And we joke about it, but it's not funny.»

«No, it isn't,» Colonel Dawkins said.

Captain Weston did not comment.

Chapter Twenty-Two

note 85

Headquarters, 32nd Military District

Yümen, China

1730 13 April 1943

The aircraft provided by the United States 14th Air Force to transport Brigadier General Fleming Pickering, USMCR, Brigadier General Sun Chi Lon, Nationalist Army, and their entourages from Chungking to Yümen was a well-worn Douglas C-47. That morning it had been equipped with four airline-type seats, to accommodate the general officers, Colonel Banning, and Major Kee. They were mounted behind the bulkhead that separated the cockpit from the rest of the cabin. The entourages, General Sun's two orderlies, Second Lieutenant George F. Hart, USMCR, and Captain Jerry Sampson, USA, were obviously expected to make themselves as comfortable as they could on aluminum pipe and canvas seats that folded down from the bare walls of the fuselage.

Captain Sampson had been a last-minute and not entirely welcome addition to the party. When General Pickering had told Lieutenant Colonel Platt that he was headed for Yümen to see if he could assist McCoy, Platt took Pickering by surprise and immediately offered to send Sampson with them. «He might prove helpful.»

Pickering was unable to immediately think of a good reason Sampson shouldn't go—he'd already told Platt that Stillwell had arranged for the airplane to take him to Yümen and back—so he smiled and said, «Thank you.» Pickering had no doubt that Sampson might indeed «prove helpful,» but he was equally certain that the primary reason Platt had so generously offered the Captain's services was to make sure he learned what Pickering was up to in Yümen.

Pickering was not exactly eager at the moment to make that information available. Because McCoy and Zimmerman were running around Yümen in Chinese uniforms, Pickering was very much afraid that the whole mission was likely to go down the toilet.

General Sun, Major Kee, their two orderlies, and a dozen pieces of luggage were waiting for them at the Chungking airfield when they arrived—Pickering, Banning, and Hart had one piece each. Sun greeted Pickering courteously but did not mention the McCoy problem, and Pickering decided this was not the time to bring it up.

It turned out to be a long flight.

Before they took off, the pilot explained to Pickering that while Yümen was within the C-47's range, flying directly there was unwise. If the field was socked in—very possible this time of year—there was no alternative airfield they could reach with the remaining fuel aboard.

So they flew to Lanchou, a six-hundred-mile leg that took them almost four hours, refueled there, and then taken off for Yümen, which was a slightly shorter leg.

Twenty minutes out of Lanchou, General Sun turned to Pickering and offered him a cigarette from a gold case.

«No, thank you,» Pickering said. «I'm a cigar smoker.»