Chapter 25 Chapter Twenty-Four

It was known that Tudsbury lived in the presidential suite; it was known that there was a large sitting room filled with overstuffed modernist sofas and armchairs, but there was no way of knowing in advance. Yes, the walls are actually covered with wallpapers of galloping red stallions.Tudsbury told Pug that the suite's best feature, blocked by floor-to-ceiling blackout curtains, was a wide balcony facing the sea and Diamond Point. "It's a lovely view in moonlight," he said, as he and Pug entered the apartment, and Pamela went down the hall to her own room. "What would you like, Victor? Brandy? Or a whiskey and soda without ice? There's one in the fridge, but it doesn't work. It's like Singapore everywhere."

Pug hadn't had a drink of spirits since he commanded the Northampton until this evening.He asked for brandy.He tasted it, and he vaguely recalled the intense pain he felt when he received the letter from Rhoda asking for a divorce.Tudsbury slumped into an armchair, sipping a dark whiskey-and-soda. "What a great dinner, Victor, really. Love your two sons very much. Rarely do you see such a deep family bond these days. Well, how do you feel, man? Any real news? Tell me ! We're preparing for a sea battle, aren't we?" "What was that shocking thing about Esther?"

"You really don't know? Oh, my dear fellow, the second ship the Squid sank was a hospital ship." Pug sat up straight, pointing his index finger at Tudsbury's face. "He couldn't have told you such a thing." "But he did, brother." "You heard me wrong." "Easy, light. Turns out it was a camouflaged ammunition ship. He's got pictures to prove it. The ship crackled and exploded for half an hour before sinking like a pyrotechnics factory. And it was loaded with tons of munitions." Raw rubber. He got the sample back." "Was Esther very drunk?"

"No. Maybe Pam keeps him talking. She likes him quite a bit, I think." "Forget everything you've heard." "Why? Disguising an ammunition ship with a Red Cross is nasty business. A classic example of the Japanese's blatant disregard for the norms of civilized warfare. They're savages, Pug." A fat fist waved in the air. "Major Esther is a white fighter who can be as brutal as they are, a judicious young American with the heart of a murderer. A croaking manuscript." "Do you want him to keep killing people?" "Of course."

"Then don't keep it in your head. It's all drunken nonsense. What's your plan, Talkey? Where are you going next?" "San Francisco. Washington. Then back home in England, and from there to the Army in the North African desert." He leaned forward, his good eye wide open, his belly stretched tight in his yellow silk.He whispered through his teeth: "Say, Pug. Henry, what's going on? I'll ask you straight up. What's going to happen? Damn, I'm your friend and your country Oh my friend." Drank the pleasant brandy: Pug felt like a puff of smoke in his head.The battle was coming, he thought, and Tudsbury happened to be here, and it would be a loss to the Confederacy if he went away.Under such circumstances, it is advisable to accommodate and change the deep-rooted concept of absolute secrecy. "Okay. You forgot about the hospital ship, and I'll tell you something." He held out a hand. "Ok?"

"But you are yelling all the time, and you don't show off the goods." "good." "Okay, just this once, I'm willing to trust a Yankee." Tudsbury clasped his fingers tightly. "Okay! Let's talk now." "Don't leave Honolulu." "Don't go? Well! Why don't you go? Go on, go on, tell me all about it, old friend. I can't breathe." Tudsbury was really out of breath. , a bit like a leaky bellows, the whistling sound is quite loud. "That's what happened." "what happened?" Henry used a flat, monotonous and emphatic tone, as if it was coming from an electronic loudspeaker on a warship, and repeated every word: "Don't...leave...Honolulu."

"Just that one sentence? You bloody liar!" Tudsbury was so angry that his face changed. "I know I shouldn't be leaving. Your Pacific Fleet Headquarters is bustling like an anthill, and I've seen it with my own eyes! What did you tell me?" "Confirmation," Pug said. The angry gleam in Tudsbury's eye slowly faded, and he squinted with sly resignation. "Okay, buddy. But this time it's you, you know, not me. He's only telling me because I promised Esther my honor that I wouldn't publish it. None of the Confederate reporters could cover this. A message. Hee hee. You gullible fool." He leaned forward and patted Henry on the arm. "Preparing for a big battle, isn't it? The Battle of Trafalgar in the Pacific, isn't it? Already dispatched, those yellow-skinned devils? Planning to invade Hawaii?"

Pamela walked in.The hair on her forehead and temples was beaded with water.She was pale, almost sickly.Pug stood up, and her father waved his glass at her. "Ah, my charming girl, here comes my right-hand man. No one will know, Victor, how much I have been helped by this girl. For six months I have taken her to the fire. In the water. She never hesitated or complained. Pour yourself a glass, Pam, and get me a whiskey and soda, more whiskey." "Taoji, go to sleep." "Sorry, what did you say?" "You've been tossing around all day, you're tired enough. Go to sleep."

"But Pam, I want to talk to Victor." "I want to talk to him too." Staring at her daughter's cold, tense face, Tudsbury reluctantly rose from the armchair. "You're being mean to me, Pamela, really," he grumbled. "I've got to bandage his eyes," she said dryly to Pug. "It won't be long. Go see what we have here." Victor.Henry stepped lightly through the floor-to-ceiling black curtains of windblown blackouts.Stars twinkle in the night.The low moon lit a golden path across the calm sea.The full moon was still eight or nine days away; the Japanese battle plan clearly required taking advantage of the full moon night.Here is a false picture of peace.There was a gentle splash of lapping waves that shimmered like phosphorous fire, scents of flowers wafted from the gardens below, and behind the blacked out Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the moonlit Diamond Point volcanic cones.Under this same moon--all the way west, lower in the sky thousands of miles away--the Japanese fleet was even now advancing on Midway, with big waves a few hundred miles away. The first steel ship of a warship cracked, and the waves splashed—a battleship with a tower mast, a crudely crafted aircraft carrier, the flight deck on which was supported by bare iron pillars, and a large transport ship filled with The landing force, as well as the accompanying ships of the brigade, were densely packed like water lice, from one end of the horizon to the other.

"So you're here." He felt someone touch his shoulder.It was Pamela's voice, calm and low. "Hey," he turned to her dark figure. "Quick hands and feet. Is his eye disease serious?" "Your Navy doctors say it's an ulcer. They say it's going to be fine." There was a pause. "Your wife asked for a divorce, which is a big blow." "Well, it was overshadowed by other things at the time, Pamela, for example, the sinking of the 'California'. And the sight of Pearl Harbor from the plane, a smoky dump." "It's kind of like the last Singapore I saw."

"I heard your radio over there. About the oval grenade." "Ah, did you hear that?" He stopped awkwardly again.She folded her arms and gazed out to sea. "The last time we stood on the balcony like this, the view was completely different," he said bravely. "Yeah. Dockyards burning by the Thames, searchlights in the dark sky, air-raid sirens, thumping flak, German planes shot down..." She turned to him. "Later, you took a bomber plane and took a flight over Berlin." "This thing pissed you off." "Exactly. See, I don't like tropical nights anymore. The Southern Cross only arouses in me now—perhaps forever—a terrible revulsion and fear. Let's go in." She led him across the landing The floor-to-ceiling black curtains for sir and rattling blackouts.A yellow light shone from under the bedroom door. A muffled call came, "Hi, Pam, is that you?" "Yes, Taoji. Why don't you sleep?" "Revising the manuscript. Is Victor still there?" "He's leaving soon." "Ah, leaving? Well, see you tomorrow, Victor." "See you tomorrow, Talky," cried Pug. Handsome B Mila, can you bring me a notebook and record some words for me? " "No, I'm not coming. Turn off the lights. You're tired." "Oh, since you want to go to bed so badly, fine," the ray of yellow light was gone. "Have a pleasant dream, Pam," cried Tudsbury in a charming voice. "Like a child," murmured Pamela, "come into my room." The corridors are completely hotel-like.The electric lights were blindingly bright.When she was taking out the keys from a small gray purse, the elevator door opened and someone came out. Henry saw that it was his son Warren, and his heart jumped with fright.This uneasiness lasted only for a second or two.It was not Warren, but a tall young man in a white uniform with gold wings.He walked past them and glanced at Pamela enviously. She opened the door and they walked in.The rooms are small and shabby.As Pug had expected, this was what the rooms on the land side of the hotel looked like: the gray paint was faded and peeling, the red curtains needed a good dusting, and the double brass bed was covered with a strip of burnished down. carpet. "I suppose it's the chambermaid's room," said Pamela. "I can't decide.The hotel was packed, and they had given him the most expensive suite.Anyway, I didn't intend to entertain guests. "She tossed her keys and wallet aside and held out her arms." But I guess it's time for the guests now. " Pug took her in his arms. "Oh, Almighty God, it's about time," panted Pamela. She kissed him hard enough to set him on fire with love. There was something in Pug that he had forgotten since the honeymoon. Feeling, forgetting everything else--what war conference, the coming enemy, son, wife--all; he just felt in his arms a woman who expressed her love with lips and flesh And that unique and exhilarating thrill that a first-time woman feels. The disheartened, lonely, suffering man held her tightly in his arms and kissed her back.They kissed furiously, spoke a word or two intermittently, and fell in love with each other for a long time, until at last they calmed down.They are no longer out of breath.Shabby little room, a big bed, same old. "That's a real surprise to me," he muttered against her eager kissing mouth. "Unexpected?" She leaned back in his arms, her eyes sparkling with joy. "How? Why? Didn't I openly express my heart to you in Moscow?" "Tonight, seeing your attitude, I thought everything was over." "My dearest, your sons are here." "I thought you liked young Esther." "What? He happened to be beside me." She caressed his face with her fingers. "My difficult situation was not being able to keep my eyes on you. Hey, what the hell was going on with that meeting tonight?" "I had to stay half an hour and go." "Half an hour! My God! Can we spend a day together tomorrow?" "Pam, the fleet is leaving early in the morning." "No! Damn it! Oh, damn it! Damn it!" She pulled herself out of his arms, and waved excitedly to a small battered armchair. "Too bad luck! Sit down. Damn it! Tomorrow morning! There's never time! Isn't it? No! As soon as we get here, I should come to you as soon as possible." He touched the copper bed frame with his fist. "I've thought of doing it, but I'm not sure what you think. It's been half a year, you know, and I've never heard from you. What was in that letter you wrote me?" "I want to get this over with you," said Pug bitterly. "Did you get that letter from your wife when you wrote it?" "No." "She temporarily exempted me. How could this misguided woman do such a thing? Do you know who that man is?" "You saw him in our house. The tall engineer. Fred. Kirby. He's not a bad guy." "I don't remember him. Half an hour! Ah, damn it! Ah! Damn it!" She curled her legs up, hugged her knees, and leaned her back against the bedstead.The girlish gesture upset Pug.Madeline sometimes sat like this.Pam looked sweet and loving, but young, young, sitting hunched up, her slender white arms hugging her curled thighs and silhouetted by gray silk. calves. "Listen, dear," she said quickly, "before I left London, I went to inquire about options for a long-term stay in Honolulu. Our chief military liaison officer here, Commodore Alexander Pike, quite liked me. I I have also brought a very powerful letter from Lord Burner-Walker. The lord is a bloody bore and would do anything for me. In short, my dear, someone has promised to give I have a job. Just today, I sublet a small apartment and paid a month's rent. You see..." She seemed to be an administrative officer, speaking methodically, but when she saw him shaking his head , she stopped and grinned. "Am I being a little too radical, my old man? My plan is to serve you myself on a silver platter, all set up, no problem at all. I can't foresee that we'll have nothing but this tonight." A little time. Couldn't foresee your wife getting into trouble with you. How's it going, Pug?" He memorized a few paragraphs of the letter from Rhoda proposing divorce that was etched in his head, and then he mentioned that the tone of her letters had become lighter since then, and mentioned the two anonymous text messages. "Hey, don't take that dirty behavior to heart!" Pamela shook her head in disgust. "Only what Rhoda wrote herself counts." "She's lying to me, Pam. I feel it strongly. Maybe she feels it's her duty, because I left home to fight here. Or, maybe She's not done with that other guy. There's a phony tone to her letter." "You're not sure. She's got something on her mind, Pug. She's putting herself in an awkward position. Can't you see that? Don't jump to conclusions about her." Pamela looked around. own watch. "Damn, how time flies, like a burning fuse. You're going to sea, and Taoji is going to go to America. Rhoda has made such a big mess! This is my big chance, don't Say, but will I complicate your poor life if I stay?" "Taoji is not leaving. I advise him to stay." "Are you persuading him?" She waited for him to continue.He didn't say anything more. "Oh, that's interesting! I'll let Alexander know I've found a job, though. Well done Pike." This lovely woman is no dreamer, thought Pug.She was almost as strong-willed and active as her father.There she sat, within reach, as real as a rock, pale and pressing, demanding his decision.After long, sluggish, blank months, their relationship progressed like fire and tea. "It turned out the ball was hitting my side of the court," he said. She straightened her face all of a sudden. "No ball, no court. No ball at all." She sat upright, her legs dangling to the floor. "I'm here. If you want me, I'll stay. If you don't, I'll go. Isn't that crisp enough? I can't wait to be with you. I love you. To me, you are life. You Worrying about Rhoda, I can't blame you for that. Well, come up with your rules and regulations, and I'll follow them. But I've got nowhere to go when I'm out of here, Victor, unless you send me away. Do you understand , still don’t understand?” How many men would give their all to hear such words from such a woman?It was a godsend opportunity to rebuild his ruined life.He stood up and pulled her up into his arms.He thought that this woman was completely at his mercy, and she was actively pursuing him, and he was so happy that he almost didn't know what to do. He only choked out a sentence: "For you, I'm fucking old." "I've got to tell you something," she said, leaning against him, her head drooping, her face pressed against his white blouse.He spoke quickly, his voice muffled and muffled. "In Singapore, I got on with Phil Ruhl again. He was there. I don't know why. It was like the end of the world. He was still such a stupid pig. But I got on with him again. That's all Once. I didn't mean to. I still feel sick." She looked up.His face looked as pale and haggard as before. Fighting back bitter anger and grievance, Pug said, "You don't owe me anything. Well, you just asked me to make the rules. Listen, that's the first one. Don't make me go to the Late for Navy meeting." "Oh my God, that damn meeting! Is it time?" Her voice was shaking. "Then go. No, wait a minute. Take it." She rushed to pick up the wallet, took out a white card from the bag and put it in his hand. "When you get back, meet me at this place. It's a furnished apartment." "Dillingham Court," he read, "is it still there?" "Yeah. Worn out, but convenient, and...why are you smiling so queerly?" "Rhoda and I stayed there once. There were no babies then." She looked directly into his eyes. ' "When are you coming back? Do you know?" His face became serious. "I'm just telling you one man. We're off to a bloodbath, Pam. Things aren't going our way. I'm going to Admiral Nimitz's headquarters now." Her face was tense, her eyes were wide and gleaming, and she held his head in both hands, kissing his lips reluctantly. "I love you, Pug. I'll never change my mind. When you come back, you'll be back, and I'll be here." She opened the door for him. The "Northampton" had weighed anchor and was ready to sail, and there were wisps of brown smoke wafting from the funnel.The morning sun shone through the smoke and cast speckled shadows on the deck; the deck was alive with sailors scurrying here and there under the long cannons and seaplanes mounted on catapults, doing this Preparations for a heavy cruiser to go to sea.Victor.Henry wolfed down his breakfast of fresh pineapple, oatmeal, ham and eggs, and chips in his stateroom.His orderly watched in amazement as he poured cup after cup of steaming hot coffee. "I have a good appetite this morning, Colonel." "Good food," said Pug. The sunlight streaming in through the porthole, an oval of light on the starched white tablecloth, seemed to penetrate his soul.He had only slept two or three hours, but he felt very refreshed; half a year's depression vanished, like a fresh sea breeze blowing away a dense fog.Instead of jumping out of his bunk immediately after waking up, doing gymnastics and taking a cold shower, he lay in the dark and mulled things over: a peaceful settlement with that poor Rhoda who had gone wrong, a second marriage, perhaps a second Second Parenthood – Why Not, Why Not?He knew men his own age who lived happily with young wives (who could beat Pamela!) and even had children.Fantasy is over; reality looks lovelier. His spirits were lifted so that he was no longer worried about the battle, but excitedly interested in it, and he knew how it might play out--that is, if the cryptanalysts at the Pacific Fleet Headquarters hadn't engaged Wrong words.Despite being fortunate enough to receive this information, the Pacific Fleet's chances of surviving the battle were estimated to be very slim.However, Japan's offensive plan is strange, and it seems that there is an opportunity to take advantage of it.Their forces will be distributed along the line from the Aleutian Islands to the Mariana Islands.Although the damaged "Yorktown" and the "Hornet" which had never been baptized by war were stronger than the enemy and weaker than the battle-hardened Japanese aircraft carriers, at least in the first stage, the aircraft carrier-to-aircraft carrier contest, at least perhaps Still able to withstand it.Anyway, this time he was going to the front to fight, and he was a soldier; besides, Pamela's love made him feel able to cope with any adverse situation. The ringing of Ding Lingling's phone interrupted Pug's contemplation. "Sir, I am an officer on duty. Your son is on board." "Call him." Warren emerged through the doorway, in his everyday khaki uniform, with gold wings on his faded shirt. "Oh, Dad. If you don't have time to see me, just say so." "Come in. Eat something." "No thanks." Warren held up a hand and sat down in an armchair. "Janice prepared a good farewell meal for me. Breakfast was steak and fried eggs." He glanced around the sunny stateroom. "Hmm! I haven't seen your pomp yet. What a place." "Oh, don't you often come here?" "I know. It's my fault." "Has Byron gone?" "Ah, he's in San Francisco by this time. Attended a historic banquet and left hungover, needless to say." Pug glanced at the orderly, who nodded and went away.Warren lit a cigarette.Said calmly, "Go to Midway, don't you, father? To deal with the whole goddamn Japanese fleet?" "Where did you hear that?" "One of Halsey's staff." "It is a pity that Halsey's staff leaked the secret." "How about Rear Admiral Spruance? You've been around him for months." "how is he?" "Well, first of all, he's a battleship guy, isn't he? I heard he's an electrical engineer, from the Military Academy. Unlike Halsey, he's not qualified to fly at all. They say he's from Halsey." That's why he got the job, old friend. The staff are worried." "It is not your business, nor the staff's business, to select the commander of the task force by the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet." Warren confronted his father, his tone hardening. "Father, the foreman of this play has to know pilots. Halsey's not too well qualified to fly, but at least he's done it himself. In fact, he and the pilot never thought of going together. When we hit the Marshall Islands, he Ask the unescorted bomber to take off at a distance beyond the range so that he does not need the navigation of the staff headquarters. Half of us will fall into the sea when we fly back to the selected point. We pilots almost hold a sit-in The strike made him change his order." His father shook his head solemnly in disapproval.Warren threw up his hands. "Oh, that's what happened. You can't fire dive bombers out like sixteen-inch shells. They have to turn around and come back. It's quite different, but it's a big deal for admirals to remember. difficulty." "Spruance will remember." "Well, I'm glad you said that.If he'd let us fly closer to the enemy and give us a chance to fly back, we'd do it for him. "Warren spit out a thick smoke ring." Two aircraft carriers fought the entire Japanese navy.really interesting. " "Three aircraft carriers." Pug added, a little annoyed, "and about nine cruisers, Warren." "Three? The 'Sarah'? It's in California, isn't it?" "'Yorktown'." "Dad, the inside of the 'Yorktown' is blown up. It'll take six months to fix." "The shipyard promises to be back in action within seventy-two hours." Warren whistled once. "I've got to see it to believe it. By the way, did you hear the news this morning—about the fighting around Kharkov?" "No." "Largest tank battle ever. Both sides say so. Have you ever been to Kharkov?" "When I was in Moscow, the Germans had already occupied Kharkov. It was fought over and over again and changed hands several times. I can't figure it out." Warren nodded. "Rommel fought another tank battle in Africa. Where did the Germans get so many tanks? Didn't the RAF allegedly blow up their factories?" Pug felt that the chatter was hollow and far-fetched, unlike Warren's. "Listen, it's fourteen past eight. I'm sailing at nine. Shall I take you to Ford Island in my cutter?" "Wait a minute." Warren snuffed out his cigarette and exhaled a puff of gray smoke audibly. "Look, I was going to give this to Byron, but he's gone." Warren pulled a white envelope from his hip pocket. "This is a financial statement of the family. Janice is a smart and beautiful girl, as you know, but she is dumbfounded when asked to settle accounts." Victor.Henry took the envelope silently and threw it into the drawer. "Father, every time I come back from a sortie, I fly over the Northampton and shake my wings. If I don't, it's probably all right. Maybe I'm flying in formation, or I'm low on gas , or something else. But I'll try to do it." "I totally understand. That's all very well, Warren, but I don't expect you to do it every time." Warren's eyes avoided his father's and fixed on a picture of Rhoda on the table, next to pictures of himself, Byron and Madeleine when they were very young. "Mum and Madeleine weren't there last night, I missed them so much." "The family will be together again, Warren. You'll be hula-hooping us again." "Hula hoop! Ha! Then it's time for something else." They walked all the way down the corridor, Victor.Henry couldn't help asking: "What's your impression of the Tudsbury father and daughter?" "He kind of blows. I like that daughter of his." "Oh, you like it? Why?" "Oh, she's so dedicated to working for her daddy. Besides, even though she doesn't talk much, she's arousing my sensuality intensely." This review makes Victor.Henry felt a long-forgotten masculine satisfaction, the joy a Naval Academy student feels when someone compliments his girlfriend. On the main deck in the sun, Warren squinted and put on his sunglasses, looking from bow to stern, looking at the six hundred-foot-long deck, which was packed with people busy at work. "It's a fine ship, father." "This is not an aircraft carrier." "Stand at attention!" The officer on duty shouted an order.The sailors running back and forth suddenly stopped.Victor.Henry and his son shook hands at the gangway, and Warren looked into his father's eyes and smiled.He had never smiled at his father like this: a strange, reassuring smile that almost patted him on the shoulder and said, "I'm not your little boy anymore, though you still don't quite believe me." .I'm a dive bomber pilot and I'm going to do a good job." Pug.Harry suddenly thought of Harry in his mind.That quote from Hopkins: Changing of the guard. "I wish you well, Warren." The son shook hands tightly, turned around, and saluted the officer on duty. "Please allow me to leave the ship." "Please, sir." Warren walked down the gangway triumphantly, shaking his hands and feet. "Keep on working," said Handsome B. G., and let the sailors who stood still stand free. He stood at the mouth of the gangway and watched the clipper pull away from the ship's side for Ford Island, his tall son with both hands With hips akimbo, standing at the stern of the boat, despite the ups and downs of the waves, the person stands firmly. Destroyers of the screen fleet of the task force dispatched along the channel, signal flags fluttering in the wind.The long gray hull of a destroyer passed right next to the cruiser, blocking Warren's view.He felt ashamed to linger on the quarterdeck just to get another look at his son.He stepped onto the bridge to direct the "Northampton" to sea.