"How much in Wildcats?"
"Two twenty-eight, Sir."
"This is not, then, your first squadron assignment?"
`Yes, Sir, it is."
"How did you get so much time in Wildcats, then?"
"They had us ferrying them, Sir, from Bethpage all over the country."
"Both of you, you mean?"
"Yes, Sir."
"You answer this, Mr. Stecker. I want a straight answer. What was your last thought when you took off from the escort carrier?"
"Sir," Stecker hesitated a moment, and then blurted, "that had better run the engine as lean as possible, Sir, or prepare to take a swim."
"How much fuel remaining when you touched down?"
"About fifteen minutes, Sir."
"You, Pickering?"
"My fuel warning light was lit, Sir."
"And what was your reaction to that?"
"I was scared shitless," Pick said, remembering a moment later to add, "Sir."
"In other words, you're telling me that you knowingly took off with inadequate fuel?"
"It didn't turn out to be inadequate, Sir."
"You're not being flip, are you, Pickering?"
"Sir," Stecker said, "Mr. Pickering raised the question of fuel just before we were to launch and was told to man his aircraft."
"Sir, I think it was a question of getting the carrier turned around as quickly as possible."
In other words, I was right, there was an asshole on that escort carrier, probably wearing commander's boards.
"Where are you from, Pickering? Are you married?"
"San Francisco, Sir. No, Sir, I'm not married." Galloway looked at Stecker.
"No, Sir. I'm not married. I'm from eastern Pennsylvania, Sir."
"Philadelphia?"
"About seventy miles north of Philadelphia, Sir."
"My girl's from Philadelphia," Galloway said.
Why the hell did I offer that information?
"Yes, Sir," Stecker said.
"And just before I came over here, I was in San Francisco," Galloway said. A quick, entirely pleasant memory of Caroline came into his mind. They'd spent a fair amount of time together in their marble-walled, multiple-showerhead bath. "Had a hell of a time in the Andrew Foster Hotel. You know it?"
"Yes, Sir," Pick said. "We've been there." Galloway picked up on a look the two of them exchanged.
The Andrew Foster Hotel touched a nerve, he decided. They probably got really shit-faced there. In due course a report of conduct unbecoming officers and gentlemen will be forwarded through channels for my attention. I hope they had a good time.
"What we do here is try to protect the field and the area around it from the Japanese," Galloway explained. "Most of the time-nine times out of ten-we have advance knowledge that they're coming. When we do get it, we get in the air as fast as we can and try to intercept them as far from here as we can."
"May I ask how we get the advance knowledge, Sir?" Stecker asked.
"Primarily from the Coast watchers. They're Australians who stayed behind when the Japs occupied the islands to the north of us. Guys with real big balls. They radio Pearl Harbor and it's relayed to us here. Other times we get word from our own patrolling aircraft or from carrier-launched patrols. But mostly it's the Coast watchers who alert us."
"What are those funny-looking airplanes I saw when I sat down?" Pick asked. "The ones with alligator teeth painted on them?" He didn't say "Sir ",- he should know what a Bellfighter is; and those are shark teeth, not alligator teeth. But there's something about this kid I like.
"Those are shark teeth, Mr. Pickering," Galloway said.
"The aircraft are Army P-400 fighters, and the pilots who man them are as good as any I've ever known. Any further questions?"
"Yes, Sir. When will we go up for the first time?"
"Anxious to get into combat, are you?"
"No, Sir. I was just curious, that's all."
Hell, I'd ask the same question.
"Well, we'll get you a place to sleep and show you the mess.
In the morning either Lieutenant Dunn or myself will take you for a little ride and see how well you can fly. If that goes well, you'll go up for real very soon after that. If it doesn't go well, we'll wait until we're sure you won't kill yourself or somebody else."
"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."
Lieutenant Bill Dunn came into the tent.
"Sir, I took the liberty of asking Big Steve to put our squadron numbers on those airplanes."
"Good boy, Bill," Galloway said, and then introduced the newcomers to Dunn.