1942

This time Yamamoto agreed. “Which is why it is your last priority.” He turned to Omori. “The existence of the American guerrillas on Hawaii is repugnant. What will you do about it?”

“To be candid, Admiral, there is very little we can do. We know they have a radio and communicate regularly with California, but we have been unable to locate it. We cannot triangulate in such rugged terrain. Right now, we place it in an area of over a hundred square miles, which, given the harshness of the land, means we could march ten feet away from it and not see it. The same holds true with the guerrillas themselves. They can stay out there forever until I get sufficient troops to mount a series of massive sweeps that would wear them down and cut them off from their supply bases.”

Yamamoto had seen the Philippines and other areas of the Hawaiian Islands. He knew precisely what Omori’s problem was. American guerrillas were still active in the Philippines and even on the relatively small island of Guam. Only time would wear them down.

“You would need a division,” Yamamoto said. “It must wait. Are they capable of disrupting the annexation proceedings?”

“They might try something,” Omori said. “But they are only a handful and could do little more than cause an embarrassment. They would also have to transport themselves from Hawaii to Oahu, which I do not consider likely as it would be suicidal.”

There was no more to be said, and Yamamoto dismissed them. On the deck of the battleship, Omori spent a moment gazing at the splendor of the Japanese navy. He swelled with pride at the force that had humbled the Americans and taken this jewel from them.

Now all he had to do was ensure that what he’d told the revered admiral was correct. He would contact Goto and make certain that he was doing all that could be done to keep pressure on the American guerrillas. If anything happened, Omori was confident it would be near Hilo, where the Japanese garrison was relatively small, which made it a potentially tempting target. Only a raving idiot would think of attempting anything disruptive with the fleet in the harbor along with a brigade of infantry on troop transports. No, any move by the Americans would be at Hilo.

So why did he have the nagging feeling of doubt that something was going to go wrong? He would double and redouble his efforts to ensure that the ceremony went off without a hitch. After that, did he really care?

Alexa watched from behind a tree as Charley Finch headed off in the direction of Hilo. He was alone and carried some rations in a field pack, along with a rifle across his shoulder. He lumbered more than walked, and it was obvious that the sergeant was not in good shape. Too bad, she thought.

It would take Finch a couple of days to get to either Hilo or the farms he was supposed to visit, and a couple more to come back. If he came back. She wondered if he would actually visit the farms. Perhaps she had misjudged him. After all, there was nothing definitive to hang on him, just the very strong suspicion that there was more to Sergeant Charley Finch than there should be. If he came back and if he had completed his assignment, she would have a lot of her suspicions allayed. But not all of them. She could not get the photograph out of her mind. How had he gotten it?

Jake walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder, massaging it gently. “Are you solving the problem?”

She felt his strength and drew from it. She pressed backward so that she was leaning against him. It was a very comforting feeling. What she was doing was so far removed from her previous life as a docile navy wife that it was terrifying. “Sure am, Jake.”

“We just got the word, Alexa. It’s going to be the early morning of August second.”

Alexa thought quickly. What the devil day was today? It was so easy to lose track out in the wild. Ah yes, August second was a week away. Perfect.

“Are you worried?” she asked.

“Damn right I am. I still don’t know everything that’s going on, and that’s the best way. But I do know that if our part of this fails, we could be running for our lives from thousands of angry Japs. We’ll have proven that we’re a lot more dangerous than they thought, and they won’t stand still for that. We’ll have a devil of a time hiding or getting away from here.”

She shrugged. It was easy to be fatalistic. “If that’s the case, Jake, then we run. And if we can’t run, then we die. Like I said before, I’m not going to go back as a prisoner.”

“Me neither,” he said gently as he hugged her and nuzzled the back of her neck. Soft hairs grew there, and he thought they were fascinating.

“We all have to die sometime, don’t we?”

“Yeah,” he answered with a harsh laugh. “I just don’t want it to be right away. I’d kind of hoped to spend more time with you. Like maybe thirty years or so.”