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

«What you should do, you know, is not be at Pearl Harbor tonight, and not tomorrow night, either. You need a couple of days off,» Denny said.

«You sound like my wife.»

«I got my orders from Mrs. Pickering. You show up here, I'm supposed to keep you for a couple of days.»

«I really wish I could stay a couple of days, Denny.»

«We'll lose the whole war if you do, right?»

«Absolutely,» Pickering said. «Could you broil a piece of fish for lunch, Denny? Maybe with a salad?»

«Yes, sir, Captain. Anything special for you, young man?»

«That sounds good to me, Denny.»

note 25

Admirals Nimitz and Wagam arrived in separate cars at almost precisely four p.m. Nimitz was riding in a black 1939 Cadillac sedan, from the front fender of which flew a blue flag with four stars. Wagam was in a Navy gray Plymouth, which carried a blue plate with two stars where a license plate would normally go.

A portly captain Pickering did not recognize was in the Cadillac with Nimitz. Lieutenant Chambers D. Lewis III, whom Pickering and Hart had last seen in Brisbane, was in the backseat of the Plymouth with Wagam.

Pickering, who had been waiting on the mansion's wide verandah, walked down the shallow flight of stairs in time to meet Nimitz's Cadillac when it stopped. Nimitz stepped out, Pickering saluted, and Nimitz returned it, then offered his hand.

«Thank you for finding time for me, Admiral,» Pickering said.

«I'm a little embarrassed about inviting myself out here, Fleming,» Nimitz said, «but I've learned that the only way to keep people from interrupting a conversation is not to let them know where I am.»

«You're always welcome here, sir,» Pickering said.

«I don't think you know Groscher, do you, Fleming?» Nimitz said, indicating the captain.

I

know that name from somewhere

, Pickering thought,

but I have never seen this fellow before

.

«How do you do, General?» Captain Groscher said.

By then Admiral Wagam and Lieutenant Lewis were out of their car.

«Good to see you again, Admiral,» Pickering said, offering his hand, and smiled at Lewis. «Back on the gossip-and-canapè circuit, I see, Chambers.»

«No thanks to you, Fleming,» Wagam said, smiling. «He quickly let me know he'd rather have stayed on Mindanao.»

«Come on in the house, and we'll see if Denny can't find us something to drink,» Pickering said.

«I was hoping you might have something like that in mind,» Nimitz said.

They walked through the house to the patio in the rear, where Denny had set up a bar.

Nimitz accepted a Famous Grouse with a little water and no ice, stirred it, and took a sip. Then he looked at Pickering and smiled. «How is Mrs. Pickering?» he asked politely. «Well, I trust?»

«She's doing such a hell of a job running Pacific and Far East, I may not be able to get my job back when the war's over. I tried to call her when I got here.»

Patricia Pickering had taken over the management of the Pacific & Far East Shipping Corporation when her husband entered the service. In her husband's judgment—quickly proven— she was the best-qualified person to do so.

«And couldn't get through? I know what the commercial phone service is these days. I think we could bend the rules a little and give you a couple of minutes on one of my lines.»

«That's very kind of you, sir,» Pickering said. «But P&FE has a dedicated line from the Honolulu office to San Francisco. The switchboard patched me through on it from here.»

«And she was delighted to hear you're coming home?»

«They weren't sure whether she's in Boston or Savannah, but they promised to do their best to get the word to her.»

Nimitz chuckled. «Remember that song from the First War, Fleming? 'How are you going to keep them down on the farm, after they've seen Paree'?»

«Sure.»

«How are we going to get our ladies back in the kitchen after they've proved they can do anything we do at least as well as we can?»

«It may take whips and chains,» Pickering said.

«You've heard there are now lady Marines?» Nimitz asked.

Pickering nodded.

«And how do you feel about that?»

«I decline to answer the question on the grounds that it may incriminate me,» Pickering replied.

Nimitz chuckled, and then something in his manner told Pickering the small talk period was over. «Following the hoary tradition that the best way to know what a junior officer is really thinking is to make him speak first, Fleming, what's on your mind?» Nimitz asked.

«Sir, I wanted to pay my respects,» Pickering said. «And to thank you for providing the

Sunfish

.»

The submarine

Sunfish

had carried McCoy and his team into Mindanao, and then it had brought him and the others out.

«Thank you for understanding why I didn't want to give you the

Narwhal»

Nimitz said. «I was under orders to give you anything you thought you needed.»

«The

Sunfish

worked out well, Admiral,» Pickering said.

«I had the idea you might have wanted to talk about your new appointment,» Nimitz said.

«I'd hoped we could talk about that, too, sir,» Pickering said.

«Good, because that's the reason I wanted to see you. I have an ax to grind, Fleming.»

«Sir?»

«What time's your flight to San Diego?»

«Nineteen forty-five, sir,» Pickering said.

«Chambers,» Nimitz ordered, «get on the horn to Flight Operations at Pearl, and tell them… No. Just get me the duty officer at Flight Operations.»

Lieutenant Lewis walked to the telephone, dialed a number from memory, then carried the telephone to Nimitz.

«Commander, this is Admiral Nimitz,» CINCPAC announced. «General Pickering and his aide may be a little late arriving at Pearl Harbor. Make sure the

Coronado

flight scheduled for nineteen forty-five doesn't leave without them.»

He handed the telephone back to Lieutenant Lewis.

«Doing that is probably spinning wheels; but I like to err on the side of caution,» Nimitz said. He turned to the portly captain. «Okay, Groscher, here's your chance to make your pitch to the OSS's Director of Pacific Operations.»

«Yes, sir,» Captain Groscher said. «General, I'm sure that you're aware that timely weather information is of great value to the Navy.»

«You can skip that, Groscher. General Pickering has spent as much time on the bridge of a ship as I have,» Nimitz interrupted. «He knows how important weather forecasting is.»

«Yes, sir,» Groscher said, flushing. It took him a moment to collect his thoughts, and then he decided his duty required him to disagree with the Commander in Chief, Pacific. «Admiral, with respect, I'd be more comfortable if I took General Pickering through this step by step.»

Nimitz looked at him coldly for a moment.

«Fleming, intelligence officers are like lawyers,» he said finally. «You either take their advice or you get yourself another one. Go ahead, Groscher.»

Intelligence officer

? Pickering wondered. I

thought he was Nimitz's aide

.

«General,» Groscher began again, «the movement of arctic air masses across Russia through Mongolia and China into the Pacific…«

My God, he's talking about that Gobi Desert weather station operation. I thought I was through with that!

That quick suspicion proved correct. For nearly ten minutes, Captain Groscher, speaking entirely from memory, explained in great detail why the Navy was now handicapped, and would be even more handicapped in the future, by a lack of accurate and timely weather information from the area around the Russia-Mongolia border. Throughout the briefing, Pickering was impressed with Admiral Nimitz's detailed knowledge of the situation. The pertinent questions CINCPAC asked indicated how important Nimitz considered the establishment of a weather-transmitting radio station.