Rising Sun

began their dance. At twenty miles, they opened fire. Again the brightly colored splashes guided the shells until they too smashed into what had been the massive symbol of Japanese might.

There was no response and the American ships continued to move in closer until they were firing at only a few miles, point-blank range. The three American ships formed a line so their shells wouldn’t hit each other, and prepared to launch torpedoes.

“The damn thing won’t sink, won’t stop,” muttered Green.

Oldendorff heard and nodded. “We may be pumping shells into a corpse. If the torpedoes don’t kill her, we’ll just pull back and let her steam in circles for all eternity. For all we know, her engines are so well protected we haven’t done a thing to them.”

They moved closer, now only a couple of miles away. Through binoculars, Green and others could see the utter destruction on her deck.

Wait! Was that motion? Green stared at the sternmost turret on the ship, the “D” turret. Yes, it was slowly turning and her guns were rising. The sons of bitches had been lying low. The three guns pointed directly at the Pennsylvania like three massive eyes and then fired.

All three giant shells slammed into the Pennsylvania. The American battleship was well-armored but not against this. Two shells penetrated her hull and a third struck her superstructure. The ship reeled from the titanic shock. One, the shell that struck her superstructure, obliterated all traces of life there, while one of the shells that pierced her hull found one of her magazines. A few seconds later, the Pennsylvania exploded. She broke in half with the two pieces floating briefly before slipping beneath the waves and taking her entire crew with her.

In a vengeful fury, the crews of the two remaining American battleships ships first pounded the surviving turret into rubble and then fired every shell and torpedo they had, reducing the Yamato to a burning hulk. After an eternity, she rolled on her side and sank.

They had redeemed the Pennsylvania and sunk the mightiest battleship in the world. But at what cost?

CHAPTER 23

FARRIS FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO PUSH THE WHEELCHAIR WITH HIS left arm in a sling, so he let Nancy Sullivan help out, enjoying the slightly erotic feel of her body against his as they pushed along the long corridor.

Once again the hospitals were full. What the newspapers were calling the Battle of the Baja or the Miracle of the Baja had been a complete American victory, but there still had been many casualties. Farris pushed past wards full of heavily bandaged men, some of whom were terribly maimed. Farris could not help but think of his good fortune in surviving so much fighting with nothing more than a bum shoulder that was going to keep him out of combat. Instead, he would be assigned to a training command in the Fourth Army, an assignment that he’d requested instead of a discharge and was fine by him. He’d had enough combat for several lifetimes. Besides, he’d just found Nancy and didn’t want to leave her.

All of America was enjoying the incredible, almost miraculous victory. Five Japanese carriers were confirmed sunk and two more were badly damaged and probably out of the war for good. The battleships Yamato and Kongo had been found and sunk, at the cost of the Pennsylvania. A huge relief convoy was en route to Hawaii stuffed with supplies and medicine. Was the end of the war in sight? Based on his firsthand experiences with Japanese fanaticism, he thought it unlikely.

“Would you mind hurrying?” Dane asked.

Farris declined to answer. This had been a daily ritual for a couple of weeks now, complaints and all. Dane was still in a brace while his broken back and fractured ribs healed, but at least he was no longer in that massive and ugly-looking cast that had confined him to bed. He’d been informed that his war was over too, and that he would be given a medical discharge. Numerous doctors said he was damned lucky he wasn’t paralyzed. The debris that had hit him on the Saratoga had broken his back. Just as the army couldn’t take a chance on someone with a bad shoulder going into combat, the navy couldn’t do the same for a man whose back would take a very long time to return to normal.

“Are we there yet?” Dane mockingly whined in a kid’s voice.

Farris laughed. “Be still.”

“In a couple of weeks I’ll be able to walk and then I’m going to kick your ass.”

“I look forward to it,” Farris said, meaning it.

“I still outrank you.”

“Screw your rank,” Farris said genially while Nancy giggled.

They pushed open the double doors to the cafeteria. It was between meals and only a handful of people were present. Dane took control and pushed his wheelchair toward another one. He parked alongside, and he and Amanda embraced as best they could under the circumstances. Both her legs were in casts from foot to mid-thigh. They kissed and others in the cafeteria either watched approvingly or turned away to give them a semblance of privacy.

After a moment, Amanda completed the ritual by awkwardly hugging Nancy and again thanking her for finding her under the rubble and staying with her until she could be dug out. Both of Amanda’s legs had been badly broken but were healing, and she would be out of the casts in a couple of days. It would be a while before she and Tim could resume life together, but it was on the horizon. They’d already discussed just how they’d manage sex when they were released, and decided that, like porcupines, very carefully would be it for a long while. That was fine by them. They just wanted to be together.

“Guess what?” Amanda said, changing the subject. “Grace came back from San Francisco with everything we wanted to know about Mack’s safe deposit box.” She and Sandy had give Grace power of attorney and she’d gone north to meet with Zuckerman, Goldman, and a rep from the State of California.

Dane didn’t really care. That was part of her life, not his. Still, he was more than a little curious. “Are we rich?”

“I really don’t know. They found only thirty thousand dollars, which is below what the State of California said they’d tax, so it belongs to us. They also found some stock certificates, and Zuckerman suggested that I keep the stocks while Grace and Sandy split the cash. Apparently they really need the money while I don’t. He thought the company was a good one doing a lot of work for the government. He says International Business Machines should be worth quite a bit some day. He said that we should hold on to it and wait. Regardless, we now have a thousand shares of IBM.”

Tim thought he approved. “We’ll have plenty of time to think about it. First, we have to get out of these things, and then we have to learn how to walk again.”

Amanda nodded solemnly. “And we’d better figure out how to make love without breaking anything. At least we’ll have a place to live when that time comes.”

After Merchant had been killed, Farris had continued making rent payments on Merchant’s apartment, on Dane’s behalf. The landlord didn’t care who rented as long as someone paid, and Tim had the feeling that Steve and Nancy had spent some intimate time there as well, and why the hell not? Grace hadn’t wanted to live there. Too many memories, she’d said and, after a few drinks, wondered why the men she liked kept getting killed.

Nancy nudged Steve and they walked away to give the newlyweds some more privacy. “I think we have a couple of hours before the two lovebirds have to be back in their wards. Any idea how to spend that time?”

Steve almost leered, causing Nancy to blush and laugh. “I can think of a few,” she said.

* * *

The ride from Fairbanks to Anchorage was depressing. First, Ruby and Bear had to wait for a convoy to form up. Even though the army was reasonably confident that any remaining Japanese were either dead from wounds, starvation, or exposure, there was always the nagging possibility that one or two were lying in wait for an opportunity to kill themselves and anybody else in the name of the emperor.