1942

It had been more than four months since the battle on the hill and the liberation of Hilo, and so many things had happened.

The agony of Hawaii had been far from over. Even though abandoned, Admiral Iwabachi had gathered several thousand Imperial marines and other naval personnel and then unleashed a reign of terror over Oahu and Honolulu. In a spasm of fury, he’d slaughtered thousands of civilians, even continuing when the American 24th Infantry Division landed under the command of Major General Joe Collins. Iwabachi had retreated to Honolulu and forced the 24th to take the city street by street and house by house. The admiral and the remnants of his army had finally taken refuge in the brick building and dock where the Lurline liner had once brought smiling tourists from California to the islands.

It had been a mistake. Naval guns had flattened the dock at point-blank range. No survivors had been pulled from the rubble. However, Honolulu was virtually destroyed.

While the fighting had raged, Toyoza Kaga had been executed by Iwabachi for what the Japanese said was treason. Akira Kaga had survived and begun to pick up the pieces of his father’s commercial empire.

No trace had been found of Melissa Wilson, but her son had been located in the care of a Japanese family who were very glad to give him back to the Americans.

Will Hawkins was in a hospital in San Francisco, while Ernie Magruder and Karl Gustafson had returned to other duties.

Jake and Alexa had been reunited quickly and flown to San Diego as soon as conditions permitted. While they waited, they found a place to stay, made love, and tried not to think about the future.

In San Diego, Jake had been greeted warmly by Admiral Nimitz, and both he and Alexa had been pleasantly surprised to see Jamie Priest. Their presence solved a small problem for Jamie; both Jake and Alexa stood up for him and Suzy Dunnigan at their wedding. Suzy was pregnant as a house and had been discharged from the WAVES, who, according to her, didn’t have a sense of humor about pregnant sailors. She said that, while she had wanted to honor her dead father by serving in the navy, perhaps it was a greater honor to give him a grandchild.

Since Jake was privy to the existence of Magic, Jamie got Nimitz’s permission to give him an update. Admiral Yamamoto had made it by sub to Japan, where he was calling for a negotiated end to a war that Japan could not win. This call had split Japan’s government down the middle, with hawks and doves fighting for supremacy. In short, there was chaos in Tokyo.

Colonel Omori’s whereabouts were unknown. Feeding the fishes was Jake’s thought. At least Lieutenant Goto was dead. The Hawaiians who’d captured him had finally put him out of his misery a week after taking him.

But then Jamie had dropped the bombshell. “The Japs have been screaming on their radio about the whereabouts of a ship called the Wichita Maru. Jackass name for a ship, but it is or was a freighter that left Honolulu at night just before the Japanese attempted their breakout and hasn’t been heard from.

“We all wondered just what the hell was so important about the Wichita Maru, and then we found out what her cargo was. She was carrying all the remaining Japanese pilots from the sunken carriers. We’ve checked submarine reports, and we’re reasonably certain she was sunk with all hands by one of our boats. Jake, the Jap pilots are even more important to them than the carriers. Ships you can replace, but the Japs do not have a system for replacing their pilots. Jake, they’re fucked.”

Jamie also told him that the late Toyoza Kaga was being hailed as the man who had headed up a spy ring in Honolulu and provided the United States with all the information regarding Japanese plans. Included in his ring were the colored staff at the various officers’ clubs, who, it was said, had overheard many Japanese talking about those plans, and could not imagine a Negro understanding Japanese. According to Magic intercepts, the Japanese had accepted the story as gospel; thus, the existence of Magic was still a secret.

Jake and Alexa left San Diego by rail and arrived in Washington, D.C., a week and a half later. The trip gave them a chance to find out more about themselves and the world about them. The invasion of North Africa under Eisenhower had occurred, and both England and Russia appeared to be holding out. Jamie had told them this meant the fleet would be returning to the Pacific, where Admiral Spruance and a rejuvenated Bull Halsey would lead attacks against a pair of lightly defended islands off the coast of Japan-Okinawa and Iwo Jima. With little in the way of a Japanese navy left, the Americans could roam the Pacific at will, and the two islands would be set up as bombing stations for attacks against Japan. General MacArthur was steamed because he wanted the Philippines liberated first, but the navy’s star was ascendant, and the Philippines would wait for a little while.