1942

“And our carriers?” Marshall asked.

“One of my staff,” Nimitz said and nodded toward Jamie, who flushed as he realized why he was there, “pointed out that a light carrier escorted by destroyers looks from a distance just like a fleet carrier escorted by cruisers. We are preparing a decoy force of escort carriers and destroyers to cruise at a distance off Spain and Portugal and then turn north. Along with a few discreet leaks at cocktail parties in Madrid, we hope the information will be passed on to the Japs that we have conceded the Pacific to them while we take on the Germans. In the meantime, our fleet carriers and their escorts will rendezvous around Samoa. They will wait for the signal that the Japs are corked and then attack. If a landing is feasible, we have a division of infantry, the newly constituted 24th, ready to depart at almost a moment’s notice.”

“Jesus.” King sighed. “It would be great to pay the bastards back for what they did to us at Pearl Harbor by killing them right there at Pearl Harbor.”

Nimitz agreed. “They tricked us because we were overconfident.

We hope they are just as overconfident and can be tricked just like we were.”

Little more of substance was said before the meeting adjourned. There would be further discussions after lunch. Neither Jamie nor any of the other junior officers would attend. The afternoon would be free. He finally caught Suzy’s eye, and she nodded.

King turned toward Nimitz as they left the room. “God damn, I hope it works. Operation Cork? Not exactly heroic, but I hope history records that we shoved a cork right up their asses.”

Shortly after arriving at Jake’s base camp, Alexa informed him that she needed time alone. He didn’t ask for a reason and permitted her to go into the interior with a couple of local women as companions and protectors. While it tore at him to see her so tormented, he accepted that there were times when people had to be alone with their thoughts before they could share them.

When she returned after several days, Alexa smiled tentatively at him and suggested they go for a walk after dinner. It was still light when they got to a spot that Jake thought she would like. There was a small pond, and they could sit on a flat rock that looked down on the clear water, where fish about the size of minnows flitted in apparent joy in their search for food. The place was almost totally hidden by sheer cliffs, and, without being ordered, Sergeant Hawkins had discreetly placed guards around the tops. Jake knew this and was glad that they were out of sight.

Carefully and completely, Alexa told him everything that had happened to her and to Melissa. She spoke of the backbreaking work in the fields, of watching Father Monroe being tortured, and of her finally agreeing to speak treason for the Japanese. She told him in detail of her night of sex and drugs with Omori and Han, and then of Kami’s rape and suicide. “Somehow I will get over it. I’m not certain how, just yet, but I will,” she concluded.

When she was finished, he held her hand tightly. “You didn’t have to tell me this. Omori used you and raped you, and then you got away from him. You did what you had to, and I’m glad, really glad, because that means you’re here. You’re with me and you’re safe. And I’m glad you tried to save Kami. You’re not responsible for her death, Goto and Omori are.”

She smiled tentatively. “I did have to tell you. If I didn’t, you’d always wonder just what happened, and I think it would eat at you. Now you know, and you can judge for yourself whether I did the right things or not.”

“There was nothing else you could have done, Alexa. Everything was out of your control. You were his pawn. If you hadn’t done what he wanted, you’d be dead or wishing you were. Life is too precious; I’m glad you didn’t give it up.”

“I know. Did you know the women you sent with me while I was out thinking were also assaulted by the Japs?”

“No,” he said. “Frankly, I never gave it a thought.”

“We talked about it. One of them was raped only once, the other by a dozen soldiers. We told each other everything, and then we cried. It helped to realize I haven’t been alone. In fact, I may have been fortunate. I wonder if there will be any women in Hawaii who weren’t attacked by the time this all ends. If it ever ends,” she added. “The Japs use sex as a weapon, a tool, to achieve their ends. And we’re supposed to respect them?”

Alexa took a deep breath and looked up at the darkening sky. Some of the larger stars were already visible. “Just think. In six months, I’ve gone from a docile, wealthy, college graduate navy wife to a widow who’s been assaulted by a Jap officer, who’s betrayed her country, and who’s now a refugee in a guerrilla camp. What’s the saying? That which doesn’t kill me, strengthens me? I guess I must be getting terribly strong.”