CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
_Satan Laughs_
When Dawson reached flight deck level he slowed up his pace as thoughwaiting for the big Jap to give him the order to continue on toward theflight bridge. As a matter of fact, though, that was not his realintention. He slowed up a little to give Freddy Farmer time to catch upcloser, and, also, to take a quick furtive look around. What he sawcaused his heart to pound harder than ever. Not thirty yards away, andright smack in take-off position, was a Jap Mitsubishi two-seater, longrange "Karigane" MK-11. And what's more, its prop was idling over! Andif that wasn't enough to make Dawson's heart sing with wild happiness,there was not a single Jap anywhere near it. Not even a member of thedeck crew.
"Hot dog, hot dog!" Dawson whispered inwardly. "Almost as though we'drequested these slant-eyed rats to set the stage for us, and they haddone it. An MK-11, no less. Boy, oh boy! Do Freddy and I know that Japcrate, and how! Lady Luck, you're my dream girl for life, and I don'tmean perhaps!"[B]
Hardly daring to risk it, Dawson shot a quick glance at Freddy Farmerjust the same. And that one quick look was enough to tell him thatFreddy had spotted the MK-11, and was simply waiting for him to make thebreak. In fact, Dawson was positive that he had seen his English-bornpal give a faint nod of his head in a signal as their eyes met.
"You will walk toward the flight bridge, please!" the big Jap snappedand pointed. "The Honorable Admiral is waiting."
Dawson nodded, shrugged, and turned forward to start walking a littlefaster. But he took only six or seven steps; then he suddenly halfwhirled, ducked down fast, and went under the wing of a parked plane. Ashe came out on the other side of the wing he shot a quick glance backover his shoulder and felt like yelling with joy. Good old Freddy Farmerwas so close behind that the English youth was practically running uphis back.
But even as he snapped a glance back to make e that Freddy was rightthere with him, Dawson was in high gear again. Like a broken fieldrunner going absolutely haywire he dodged this way and that, and duckedunder wings, or around parked planes. Every split second of the time heexpected to hear the big Jap let out a scream of rage, but if there wasa scream he didn't hear it. Nor, praise be to God, did any other Japspop up in his path.
As a matter of fact nothing popped up to stop either of the youthful airaces as they zigzagged through the parked planes at top speed, and thenreached the MK-11 and virtually hurled themselves into the pits. Nosooner was Dawson in the plane than he kicked off the wheel brakes, andhand heeled home the throttle. The one thousand horsepower engine in thenose roared out its song of mighty power, and the two-seater fairlyleaped forward along the narrow lane on the deck that permitted room fortaking-off. With every revolution of the prop the plane picked up moreand more speed, so that in no time at all the parked planes that formedthe two sides of the take-off lane were little more than blurred streaksrushing past either wingtip.
No wild cries from the Japs, and no bursts of machine gun or pistolfire? Dawson was surprised by the absence of fire from the Japs formaybe a whole split second. And then he forgot all about it. The MK-11had cleared the flight deck of the Jap carrier and was prop clawingupward. However, Dawson checked the climb instantly. In fact, heactually nosed the aircraft downward until the belly of the plane waspractically kissing the tops of the long blue-green rollers of theSouthwest Pacific. To climb for altitude would make him an even bettertarget for the shipboard anti-aircraft guns that were bound to go intoaction in another second or two. Also, to climb would mean to sacrificespeed, and speed with which to get away from the whole darn task forcein a hurry was what he wanted most. And so he hugged the wave tops,headed straight for an escorting cruiser, and went past it with hiswingtips almost kissing the cruiser's mast top.
"Hey, not so close!" Freddy Farmer shouted in a moment of wild alarm."Don't spoil our luck by ramming into one of these cursed things!"
"Just hold onto your hat, pal, and don't worry!" Dawson shouted backhappily. "Pretty good we are, huh, kid? Guess those slant-eyes arestill wondering what the heck happened. They haven't fired a single shotat us. Boy, we _are_ good, I guess!"
"Well, don't make too much of it, old thing!" the English youth shoutedwith a new note of alarm in his voice. "Three of the blighters aretaking off from the very same carrier we did. Fancy they think they canget us in the air, and save gun shells. So keep right on going, oldthing!"
Dawson gulped at that announcement and took a second or two off from hisflying to sneak a quick glance back over his shoulder. And, sure enough,Freddy Farmer hadn't been kidding him! Three Jap planes were taking offfrom the same carrier. And his heart leaped up into his throat when hesaw that they were Jap carrier Zeros. And the reason his heart leapedinto his throat was because he knew that a Zero can catch up with anMK-11 any day in the week.
"Hang on, Freddy, hang on!" he thundered, and turned front again. "We'vejust got to get away from those Zeros. If not, then you've got to keepthem at a safe distance with your rear guns. So I'll fly for us, and youfight for us. That's the way it has got to be."
"Right you are, Dave!" the English youth called forward to him."I'll--Oh, good gosh! Dave! How about your radio? Has it got a mike?"
Impulsively Dawson switched his gaze to his radio in the front pit. Andit was then that he had the queer feeling of lumps of cold lead bouncingaround in the pit of his stomach. There were earphones for the radio,but no mike. The little hook at the side was empty. And the wire thatran down into the set wasn't there. It had been removed completely.
"Sweet tripe!" he gasped. "This darn set's no good for sending. Not evena mike. Hey, Freddy, have--?"
Dawson didn't bother to finish the rest. He choked off his words andtwisted around in the seat instead. And when he saw the look on Freddy'sface, and saw his pal sadly shake his head, little fingers of ice seemedto clutch at his heartstrings. Freddy's radio set was the same as his.Okay for receiving, but not a darned bit of good for sending.
And so it was Satan's turn to laugh now. They had stolen a plane, andhad managed to get away from the Jap carrier, but what they had hopedand prayed for most had been denied them. They had been denied thechance to raise Admiral Jackson's task force on the radio and reveal tothe Admiral the position and course of Admiral Suicide Sasebo's carrierforce.
Yes, that hope was gone now. Their only chance of making any kind of asuccess out of this cockeyed venture was to find the Yank task forcewherever it was in that vast corner of the Southwest Pacific. They hadto find that Yank force somehow, but--but what about those three JapZeros that had taken off in pursuit of them? Yes, what about _them_?
As that heart-chilling question pounded and hammered around in Dawson'shead he turned in the seat again for another look at those three Zeros.They were in the air, now, but _climbing_. Yes, instead of comingstraight after the MK-11 the three Zeros were heading up for altitude asthough they were actually setting off on some routine patrol.Incidentally, were it not for the fact that the three Zeros were headingin the same direction as the MK-11, Dawson would have believed thatFreddy and he had made their escape one hundred per cent successful. Heknew differently, however. He knew darned well that the Jap pilot ineach of the three Zeros had his double-lidded eyes fixed on the MK-11,and was keeping them fixed on it, too. But why the thunder were theyclimbing? Why didn't they come flat out so as to catch up with thestolen MK-11 as fast as they could?
"There's something blasted funny about this, Dave!" Freddy Farmer'svoice cut into his thoughts. "We neither of us can use the radio, andthose blighters back there are making no effort to catch up with us. Idon't like it at all. In fact--but, good Heavens, that couldn't possiblybe, I'm sure!"
Dawson took his eyes off the climbing Zeros long enough to look at hispal.
"What now?" he barked. "What do you mean by that last, huh?"
Freddy Farmer didn't reply at once, and the dark frown on his face toldclearly that he was struggling with some very disagreeable thoughts.Eventually the English youth bit his lip and pointed at the
little hookin his pit that should have a broadcasting mike hanging on it, butdidn't.
"I--I wonder if the beggars _let_ us escape, Dave?" he finally spoke ina hesitant voice. "Yes, I wonder very much if they didn't let us getaway. After all, not a shot was fired. Fact is, I didn't see a singleJap on that flight deck try to head us off from reaching this plane. Andit _was_ square in position for a quick take-off, too!"
Dawson gulped, and his mouth seemed full of sawdust, and little coldshivers rippled through his body. He stared at Freddy, and then shookhis head angrily.
"Don't be nuts, Freddy!" he snapped. "Why in thunder _should_ they letus escape? You're crazy, pal!"
"Possibly," Freddy Farmer replied. "But you're forgetting that there aretwo sides to this business."
"And so?" Dawson echoed when Freddy stopped talking. "Out with the restof it! What do you mean, two sides?"
"What the _Japs_ want to know, of course!" the English youth flung athim. "Why do you suppose the Japs let us stay alive so long? Becausethey knew we were from some Yank carrier task force, and because theywanted to find out from us _where it is_. We made that thick-headed NaziU-boat commander believe something that wasn't the truth. But Sasebodidn't swallow our story, Dave. Not one bit of it. So they tried a trick_to find out for themselves_. You see?"
Dawson didn't. In fact, he didn't see any part of it. But he didn't sayanything for a while. He turned front, and gave half of his attention tohis flying, and mulled over Freddy's most unpleasant words. A couple oftimes he glanced back at the Zeros. They had leveled off at around fivethousand feet, and seemed to be coasting along a couple of miles behindthe MK-11. And each time Dawson turned front a few more cold shiversrippled through his body. And the lumps of lead in his stomach did somemore bouncing around.
And so little by little he was forced to admit that maybe there wassomething in what Freddy Farmer had said. Yet it still didn't make senseto him. Heck! How did the Japs _know_ that they planned to escape? Anddarn it, why did the Japs let them get away without a struggle? FinallyDawson turned around and caught Freddy's eye again.
"Okay, okay, maybe," he said. "But tell me this, kid? How the heck didthey know we would plan to escape? And why?"
"I can only guess, Dave," the English youth replied with a frown. "But Ihave a very strong feeling that it is the truth. Look at the facts,Dave. They had a pretty good idea that we knew where our task force was.They figured that we would head straight for it if we ever got our handson a plane. Fact is, Dave, they knew we'd do just that because they_heard_ us talking about it!"
"What?" Dawson exploded. "Heard us? What in thunder are you ravingabout?"
Freddy Farmer made a little impatient motion with one hand and leanedfarther forward.
"Look, Dave," he said, "right after you went to town on that Sasebo hesaid something to that other Jap. The other Jap answered him. ThenSasebo nodded, and spoke again. And _then_, with not so much as a how doyou do, or why, we were taken back to that empty cabin. There we talkedover our plans of how we might manage an escape. We agreed to give it agood try, and then what happens? Everything works out as smooth as canbe. We're not stopped, an aircraft is in take-off position practicallywaiting for us, and not a shot is fired at us from any of the task forceships. But now two things we didn't count on pop up. One, neither of uscan raise Admiral Jackson's task force because the speaker units havebeen removed from both sets. And, two, three faster Jap Zeros aretrailing us, and making no effort to catch up! Why? Because they hopefor _us to lead them_ to Jackson's force. Then they can send the newsback to Sasebo, and shoot us down. As the saying goes, old thing, deadmen tell no tales. Sasebo will know where Jackson is, but Jackson won'tknow where Sasebo is. And knowing _where_ the other chap is, so that youcan sneak up on him in surprise, is half the battle with aircraftcarrier task forces, you see?"
"That much, yes," Dawson replied with a frown. "Yes, you're selling mea fair load of goods, Freddy. But there's one thing you haven'texplained. How in thunder did they _hear_ us chewing over what we weregoing to do? Answer me that?"
"I can't prove it, unless you want to take us back to that Jap carrier!"the English youth replied in an exasperated tone. "But I'd bet anythingon it. And I'm amazed that you haven't thought of it yet!"
"Okay, wonderful one!" Dawson growled. "Folks call me Dummy Dawson. Sobe big-hearted, and tell me the answer."
"A _dictograph_, of course!" Freddy snapped at him. "A dictograph put inthat empty cabin while we were having our little chat-chat with Sasebo.Or maybe the confounded thing was hidden there all along. But it musthave been a dictograph, and--and the beggars made all the arrangements_we_ wanted!"
Dawson didn't say anything. He just sat stiff and straight as though hehad been shot. Then he gasped, and clapped his free hand to hisforehead.
"So help me, the guy must be right!" he mumbled. "The guy _must beright!_ A dictograph as sure as the earth grows little apples. And methinking that _we'd_ pulled off something very bright. Holy smoke! Wereally are in a jam now, Freddy!"
"Quite!" the English youth replied, and glanced back over his shoulder."If we lead those Zero pilots to within sight of Admiral Jackson'sforce, it might result in a terrible thing. Just the exact opposite ofwhat we really want to do. And that's why those devils are hanging backup there, Dave, instead of coming down to do us in. They are going tofollow us until Jackson's force is sighted. Then the beggars _will_ comedown, no fear!"
"What now, what now?" Dawson mumbled helplessly, and stared back at theJap Zeros himself. "If we let them trail us to Jackson's position, whoknows what may come of it? And if we lead them in the wrong direction,we'll run out of gas eventually, and be forced to sit down in the water.Then Jackson will not know that Sasebo's force is moving down onGuadalcanal by a roundabout course. And Jackson will not know thatSasebo _knows_ about the attempt to take Guadalcanal and Tulagi.Jeepers! A choice of two things, and both bad!"
[Footnote B: _Dave Dawson With The Flying Tigers._]