Banning didn't reply. He went to the door and opened it as Hon bounded onto the porch.
"I gather you've heard about Moore?" Banning greeted him.
"Yeah," Pluto said. "Take a look at this."
He handed Banning a sheet of onion skin, walked into the room, and nodded at Ellen Feller.
"Major Banning and I have been talking about what to do about Sergeant Moore," she said.
"And?"
"We've decided the best thing is to do nothing," Ellen said.
"What is this thing?" Banning asked, confused.
"The Signal Corps monitors the Navy frequencies when they can," Hon explained, "and they copy what they think might be interesting. Operational Immediates, for example. The crypto officer handed me that the moment I walked in. Before he told me that he had to fill in for the missing Sergeant Moore."
"But what the hell is this?"
"Read the signature," Pluto Hon said.
Banning did so.
"I'll be damned," he said.
"May I see that?" Ellen Feller asked, rising to her feet and walking to Banning. Banning handed her the Operational Immediate message radioed from the USS Gregory to CINC-PAC after the Emily attack.
"Well, we knew that Mr. Knox told CINCPAC to take him off Guadalcanal," Ellen Feller said. "He was apparently on this ship, and I suppose that as the senior officer aboard, he would naturally take command if the captain was killed."
Banning ignored her.
"I don't suppose you know off-hand what Baker XRay Mike is. Or where?"
"Espiritu Santo," Hon said. "With great reluctance, the Navy Liaison Officer told me."
"Well, thank God, Captain Pickering is all right," Ellen said.
Banning looked at her but said nothing.
"Lieutenant Hon," Ellen said. "As I was saying, Major Banning and I have been discussing Sergeant Moore."
"What do you mean by that?" Hon asked.
"We can't let it get out that Moore knew... more than a sergeant should have been permitted to know... can we? I mean, the greater priority is to protect Captain Pickering, isn't it?"
He looked at her for a moment before replying. Then he asked, "Are you suggesting that we should not do whatever the hell has to be done to get Moore the hell off Guadalcanal?"
He looked at Banning, who met his eyes, but said nothing. Hon looked back at Ellen Feller.
"The only way," she said, "we can, as you put it, get Moore the hell off Guadalcanal is to make it known that he has had access to MAGIC. That will get Captain Pickering-for that matter, all of us-in a great deal of trouble."
"Your discussion, I'm afraid, Mrs. Feller," Pluto Hon said, coldly, "is academic."
"What does that mean?" Banning asked.
Hon handed him a sheet of paper.
URGENT
TOP SECRET
SERVICE MESSAGE
FROM: OFFICER IN CHARGE SPECIAL COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY JKS-3 SHSWPA BRISBANE
TO: OFFICER IN CHARGE SPECIAL COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY JKS-1 CINCPAC PEARL HARBOR
1. FOLLOWING TOP SECRET EYES ONLY TO BE RELAYED URGENT TO CAPTAIN FLEMING PICKERING USNR
SOMEWHERE ENROUTE VIA BAKER XRAY MIKE TO OFFICE SECNAV WASHINGTON: BEGIN MSG ONLY ENLISTED MEMBER JKS-3 ENROUTE VIA AIR GUADALCANAL ON ORDERS ACOFS G2 HQ USMC SIGNATURE PLUTO END MSG.
2. IMPORTANCE OF DELIVERY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE CANNOT BE OVEREMPHASIZED. HON lSTLT SIGC USA
Ellen Feller stepped behind Banning and read the message over his shoulder.
"You had no authority to do that!" she flared.
"This has gone out, Pluto?" Banning asked.
"Yes, Sir."
"If you did so in the presumption that I would agree with it, you were absolutely right, Lieutenant," Banning said.
"It's insane," Ellen said. "The people in Hawaii aren't stupid. They are going to know exactly what this means."
"I hope so," Pluto said. "MAGIC is too important to risk being compromised."
"I can't imagine what Captain Pickering is going to think when he gets that," she said.
"He's probably going to wonder why we let it happen," Banning said.
"What could we do? How could we stop it?" she snapped.
"Since Pluto and I were gone, obviously, we couldn't."
"You're not suggesting that I could have stopped him from going?"