Whispers of a New Dawn (25 page)

Harrison eased his jeep forward down the line. “This is the
Tennessee
. Anchored alongside is the
West Virginia
.”

Becky looked back and forth between the
Arizona
and the
Tennessee
. “Is it possible that the
Tennessee
is larger than the
Arizona
?”

Goff snorted. “Not by much.”

Harrison smiled. “The
Arizona
’s about 608 feet long but the
Tennessee
—I boned up on all this for y’all—is 624.
Tennessee
displaces almost 41,000 tons but
Arizona
only a bit over 37,000. So you have a sharp eye, Miss Whetstone. Glad you’re an aviator.” He pointed. “
West Virginia
,
‘Wee-Vee,’ is one of our three Colorado-class battlewagons. Those are our newest and best. Sorry, Goff.”

Goff folded his arms over his chest. “Matter of opinion.”

“Wee-Vee was launched in ’21 at Newport News in Virginia. Fourteen hundred officers and men—like
Arizona
. Incredible armor protection. Different lines than the ships built in ’14, ’15, or ’16, like the
Nevada
and
Arizona
. Her sister ship is the
Maryland
, astern of the
Tennessee
—see how similar she is to the
West Virginia
? Built in Newport News too, launched in ’20, exact same length. And anchored alongside her—
Oklahoma
. ’Member I mentioned it was sister to the
Nevada
that’s at the top of the row? Same class, same lines, launched in 1916, New York.” He pointed. “Glance back at the
Nevada
and compare the two. Both of them are a lot smaller and shorter than ships like the
Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland
.”

He glanced around. “Have I lost you? The guys call me the Professor. How’s everyone doing?”

Raven gave him thumbs-up.

“Waiting to see a sailor’s hornpipe,” said Wizard.

“Or some swabbie swabbing the deck,” added Whistler.

“It’s like driving beside great tall buildings.” Kalino craned her neck. “With men all over them.”

“Forget the Navy men,” grunted Lockjaw. “The Army’s all you need.”

“I like to fly, Lockjaw.”

“The Army Air Forces, I mean.”

“But aren’t those Navy planes beautiful?” Kalino pointed. “Wouldn’t you like to fly one of those?”

Six aircraft painted dark blue zoomed over them, motors snarling.

“They’re from the Naval Air Station here on Ford,” said Goff. “Grumman F4F Wildcats.”

“Yeah, we know.” Shooter put on his Ray-Bans. “We’re on the same side.”

“The paint’s all wrong,” grumbled Lockjaw. “You need green or silver.”

Kalino smirked. “A plane is a plane.”

Harrison inched ahead with his jeep. “Okay, take a look—we’ve
got
California
here. And right across the water from it—there on the main shore, moored to the quay—that’s
Pennsylvania
. The
California
was built in California—yeah, really—at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, launched in 1919, and was once flagship of the Pacific Fleet.
Pennsylvania
is another old girl, putting on the years but still sturdy, launched in 1915 at Newport News—hello?”

The occupants of both jeeps were staring at the huge ship that loomed up astern of
California
.

“Which carrier is that?” demanded Batman. “I don’t see them that often.”

“The
Enterprise
,” Harrison said. “The Big E.”

“What kind of planes operate off it?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Dive bombers like the Douglas Dauntless. Douglas Devastator torpedo planes. Wildcat fighters.”

“All those?”

“Yes, sir. The
Enterprise
can handle almost eight dozen aircraft—ninety on the nose.”

Batman stood up in the jeep as it continued to move toward the huge carrier. “Ninety planes? Taking off and landing out at sea? With all the ammo and fuel and chow the aviators would need?”

“Yes, sir,” responded Harrison. “All that and more.”

Another formation of Wildcats swept by overhead. Wizard squinted at them. “We’ve been at Wheeler too long. No one ever talks about the Navy planes up there.”

“Or the carriers.” Lockjaw tapped Goff on the back. “Can’t we get any closer?”

“No, sir. She’s taking on supplies. What’s today—Monday the twenty-fourth? Thanksgiving’s over and they could weigh anchor anytime. Scuttlebutt has them heading out for a training exercise soon. A longer one.”

“When?”

Goff shrugged. “Pick a number. The boys on the
Arizona
say by the end of the month. Some say December.”

They watched supply trucks pulling up and sailors busy on shore
and on deck with cargo. Officers marched about giving orders and sometimes lending a hand.

“You know, y’all are pretty lucky,” said Harrison. “The ships are in port at the same time because we’re here on a Monday. They haven’t been at Pearl together on a weekend since July fourth. Either there are six battlewagons out at sea as Task Force One on a Saturday and Sunday or there are another three out with Vice Admiral Halsey’s carrier task force. They trade weekends back and forth.”

“Ha.” Lockjaw rolled a pair of Chiclets around with his tongue. “So what’s the skinny on the
Enterprise
, Harrison?”

“Another Newport News child. Commissioned in ’38. Just over 824 feet. Top speed about thirty-two knots. Twenty-two hundred in the crew. That includes the aviators.”

Lockjaw slipped three more Chiclets into his mouth. “I wouldn’t mind trying that. I wouldn’t mind at all.”

“Not much of a runway,” grunted Wizard.

“That’s all the room I need.” Lockjaw glanced at him. “You’re just worried the wind on deck would mess up your hair.”

“Where’s the
Saratoga
?” asked Jude.

“Not in Pearl. Not today. And not for a while.” Harrison pointed with his chin. “But the
Lexington
’s on the east side.”

Harrison steered the first jeep south of the landing strip as three Dauntless dive bombers came in over their heads and touched down one after the other. Goff followed. Lockjaw remained standing as the
Arizona
sailor drove, his eyes glued to aircraft that flashed through the sky. He spotted the
Lexington
and slapped Goff on the back.

“Willya look at that?” he almost shouted.

She was tall and long and gray. Unlike the
Enterprise
she was not taking on supplies and sat silent and grim in the water. Harrison and Goff pulled over and stopped. Everyone except the two drivers got out to stretch their legs and look the carrier over.

“
Lady Lex
. Almost 900 feet in length.” Harrison draped his arms over the steering wheel. “Handles seventy-five aircraft. Started out as a battleship. They changed her over during construction. Just shy of
50,000 tons for a deep load. Launched in ’25 and commissioned in ’27. Quincy, Massachusetts. Over twenty-seven hundred in the crew.”

“What kinds of airplanes?” asked Lockjaw. “Since you’re a walking naval encyclopedia.”

“Same as the
Enterprise
. She has the Devastator and the Dauntless—but no Wildcats. The
Lady
carries Brewster F2A-3 Buffalos for fighters. The battleship in front of her is the
Utah
. She’s the Old Girl, launched in 1909. She’s been refitted and rearmed. They do a lot of gunnery training with her.”

Lockjaw looked from one ship to the other. “Maybe not a Navy man. But a Navy pilot.”

“Aviator.” Harrison held out his hand for some Chiclets and Lockjaw gave him two. “Naval aviator.”

“Bite me,” grunted Batman.

Jude stared at the
Lexington
. “No news of deployment?”

“Not that I know of,” replied Harrison. “Maybe Dave’s heard something.”

Goff shook his head. “There are always rumors. Once the supply trucks roll up we’ll hear more rumors.”

“You thinking of jumping ship, Lockjaw?” asked Whistler.

“Dunno. What do you think I should do, Kalino?”

“Jump.” She squeezed his hand.

They wound up back at the Whetstones, where Ruth and Lyyndaya had prepared a supper of hamburgers and potato salad. Manuku immediately went to Ruth’s side.

“Can I help you with anything?” he asked.

“Yes. You can help eat all the food.”

“No, really.”

She smiled at him. “No, really. I don’t need your help with anything right now. But you can give me a hand with the cleanup later.”

“I’d like that.” He jabbed over his shoulder with his thumb. “I’m going to pull up a couple of chairs outside by the banana plant. Join me?”

“Yes. I will as soon as everyone is served.”

“Great.”

Nate came over to Raven. “How was Pearl?”

“It was swell. We got close to the ships. You have no idea how huge they are until you’re standing next to them like that. Especially the carriers.”

“Did you hear?”

“What’s that?”

“Nomura presented another proposal from Tokyo. He’s told Washington it’s the final one.”

“When was this?”

“Back on Thanksgiving Day—the twentieth.”

Raven handed him a plate with a burger and potato salad. “You eating?”

“Yeah, thanks. Where’s Becky?”

“In the kitchen.” Raven took his own plate and salad and a bottle of Coca-Cola and sat down on a couch. “Tell me about the Japanese terms.”

“They said they’d cease operations in China. All military operations.”

“And withdraw their troops?”

“I guess so.”

“In exchange for what?”

“A million gallons of aviation fuel.”

Raven whistled and bit into his burger. “That will put a lot of Zeros and Vals into the air.”

“Do you think Roosevelt will give them what they want?”

“Maybe. If they think the Japanese are serious about pulling out of China. If they think it will avoid a nasty armed conflict.” He looked across the room to where Ruth was just stepping outside with Manuku. “Hey, Ruth. This hamburger is terrific.”

“I didn’t make all of them, you know. Becky’s mother did quite a few.”

“I’ll thank her as soon as I see her.” Raven turned back to Nate. “The bigger question is whether the Japanese want to avoid war or if they think it’ll help them get what they want—places they can capture that will furnish them with the oil and iron and rubber they need.”

Nate had hardly touched his food. “Sometimes I think I’ve shaken the old bugbear. But things bring it back.”

“It’s not just you, Nate. I have memories of my kid brother that can
come on so strong it makes me wince at the controls. I swear I’m going to break the stick in two, I squeeze it so hard. So go easy on yourself.”

“Maybe I won’t make it back.”

“You’ll make it back. Beck mentioned you’d asked about going up with her.”

“Yeah. She said I’d be better off with Mom or Dad. I told her no, I needed to get back in the air with my wild flying sister.”

Raven finished his Coca-Cola. “When?”

“Next week.”

“I think it’s a great idea. We’ll get you into a P-40 in no time.”

Nate shook his head and nibbled at his hamburger and bun. “I don’t think so.”

“Unless you want to go Navy and fly a Wildcat. Lockjaw’s got his blood up about that all of a sudden.”

“Navy?”

“Aw, he saw the Grummans and the Douglases tearing air when we were at Pearl. The idea of heading to sea and taking off and landing from the
Enterprise
or the
Lexington
got him going on all cylinders.”

Nate looked out the patio doors to the palm trees and the sky. “I used to love flying. More than Mom or Dad. As much as Beck. Now I freeze up when I think about it.”

“So did I. If Becky could point me in the right direction she can point you there too.”

Nate half laughed. “I used to do a corkscrew and a barrel roll at the same time when we were barnstorming. Wouldn’t that make her jump in the cockpit if I pulled one of those off again?”

“Do it.” Raven got to his feet. “Can I get you a Coke? I’m going to get myself a spoon for this salad. And another burger.”

“Sure. Thanks. That would be good.”

The sun vanished and stars appeared in the warm velvet dark as Nate and Raven sat together. People continued to eat and talk. Finally Raven went looking for Becky. He couldn’t locate her anywhere in the house so he wandered outside, hands in his pockets, and found a spot where he could get a good view of Pearl Harbor. Lights gleamed on the quays and on the battleships and carriers. He wondered what it would
be like to try to land on the
Lexington
or
Enterprise
in the dark with a storm howling about your plane and oil leaking from the engine back over your canopy. He saw himself at the controls, lights on the flattop giving him something to shoot for, coaxing his Wildcat or Dauntless down and down, wings swinging from side to side, trying to match contact with the deck with the pitch and roll of the sea.