Roy J. Snell

“ Scout planes would cut the sky into a great four-hundred-mile-wide pie and each would take its own sector of air and sea for a close search. Lucky the scout-ship pilot who could announce, “Enemy task force a hundred miles north by east.” Even the discoverer of a Jap snooper, a huge four-motored flying boat, would receive his reward, and besides, with luck, might send the air giant flaming into the sea. Little wonder then that Jack’s fingers trembled as he gripped the controls and waited for the flight officer’s signal for the take-off. ”

“ Ensign Jack Steel sat on the edge of a life raft whittling a stick. A strange place to whittle, one might say, on the deck of a great U. S. aircraft carrier in mid-Pacific. But Jack loved to whittle.
“What do you make when you whittle?” someone once asked him. “Shavings—just shavings—that’s all,” had been his prompt reply. Then, feeling that this was not a real answer, he went on to say, “I whittle and think. Thinking is what really counts.” ”

“ Only sound could tell them the story, for the rain squall still hid that battle from their sight.
“Our radio is gone,” he said to Stew. “We’re headed for an unknown island. No one will know where we are.”
“That’s right,” Stew agreed soberly. “Even those three torpedo planes have gone to join the attack on the carrier. We’re in the sky alone.” A strange wave of loneliness swept over him. “It may be months before we know how that battle ended.” Jack nodded in the direction from which came a continuous roar of motors, machine-gun fire, bursting shells, and exploding bombs. ”

“ Jack agreed. “Biggest and best.”
“‘Remember Pearl Harbor,’” Stew quoted. “How can we forget? We’ve just got to get off this island—even if we have to borrow that propellerless plane or walk right in on the natives and say, ‘Here! Give us a lift in your canoes.’”
“We’ll have to make haste slowly,” Jack replied thoughtfully. “We probably couldn’t fly that plane if those fellows gave it to us as a present. Imagine a plane that flies without a propeller!” ”

“ When he was out late playing with some neighbor boy and had to brave the dark roads alone, Jack had gone on tiptoe. But that didn’t always help, for more than once he saw weird white things moving in the hedge or the willows.
“Ghosts!” he would think, scared to death. But he never ran. A ghost at your back is much more terrible than one you can see. Jack always walked straight toward the ghosts, and always they vanished into thin air. ”

“ Jack’s words came slowly. “Besides, we have no boat, no plane, nothing.”
“You forget the native canoes,” she said.
“Say! That’s right!” Jack exclaimed. “Would the natives help us?”
“They’ll do anything I say. Besides, it will be a good thing to put them to work just now.”
“Why?” Jack asked in surprise.
“I’m trying to keep them from knowing there are Japs on the island,” said Mary. “They hate the Japs worse than snakes. Not long ago a Jap torpedo boat came across a big canoe loaded with these natives and killed every one of them, for no reason at all.” ”

“ Ted exclaimed. “A lot can happen in a few days, sir!”
“Quite right, my son. But this is war. In war we must all face the consequences.” The Commander rose. “I appreciate your interest in your friends. You, yourself did splendid work today. It shall not be forgotten.”
“Oh, that!” Ted waved a hand. “Add it to Jack’s share of glory, sir.”
“In the Navy,” the Commander smiled, “there can be no reflected glory. Don’t be too greatly disturbed by the plight of your comrades,” he added. “They’re probably eating native-fried chicken at this very moment.” ”

“ Ten seconds later the plane let out a low squeal, then started gliding over the blue sea. The squeal rose to a howl. Faster and faster went the propellerless thing until at last it left the water to sail away at tremendous speed.
“What do you know about that!” Jack stood staring until the plane was a mere speck in the sky. “That’s something I won’t believe—a plane without a propeller that squeals and howls and goes faster than any plane you or I ever saw. Come on! Let’s go down there for a better look at those fuel drums.”
“But there might be more men.” Stew hung back. ”

“ The jet plane began its predawn song. Jack and Stew were off.
The fog was gone, and the moon bright. Jack was astonished as he climbed into the sky. As far as he could see there were white dots telling of ships plowing their way through the dark sea.
“More fighting ships than the world has ever seen in one place,” he said to Stew.
“Sure—carriers, probably a dozen of them; big battle wagons, cruisers, destroyers, cargo vessels, transports, oilers, tankers, repair ships, PT boats—everything. We’re going back to the Philippines, boy! And we’re going back to stay.” ”

“ The old Black Bee had been tied to the repair dock at Pearl Harbor for three days. Ted, who was practically himself again, and Mary, who was enjoying a new lease on life, had been making good use of the Hawaiian moonlight. One morning Jack and Stew were taking in the sights, when Jack was called back to the ship by his commander.
“Get your things together,” the Commander ordered. “You’re going back to the States by plane.”
“What’s that, sir?” Jack stared. “What have I done now?”
“Plenty!” The Commander smiled. “It happens you’re the only living man who has flown a jet plane in actual combat! ”

“ When his eyes fell on Jack, he said:
“Ah! There you are!” Staring, Jack made no reply. Then suddenly he recognized the men. They were the British pair he had first seen with the jet plane.
“We’ve come for our jet plane,” the man explained, advancing. “Those bloody Nazis and Japs stole her from us. We went after them with a boatload of fighting men, only to find that they were all dead and that you had gone off with our plane. But now here we are. Thanks for saving our plane, old boy! That was bully!”
“Oh! Gee!” Jack exclaimed. “Somebody’s always taking the joy out of life! ”

“ Jack laughed happily. “That’s all I ask of any plane.”
220
“It’s all anyone can ask,” said the Commander. “But let me tell you one thing, son, if a cannon ball or even a slug from a machine gun ever penetrates the wall of the combustion chamber in this plane, with all that heat she’ll burn like a match!”
“It’s protected partially, at least, with steel plate, sir,” Jack replied soberly. “But why let the enemy get a crack at you when you’ve got a ship like this?”
“Why, indeed?” agreed the Commander. “All you have to do is turn on the oxygen and climb for the stars. ”

“ Jack groaned. “We’ll never find him now.”
“You don’t know these natives.” Mary Brown settled back in the stern. “They can find any living thing on the sea.”
“It will be keen if they find Ted and his plane in this rain,” said Stew. “That way, if his plane is still afloat, we can tow it ashore and hide it in some cove without being seen by the Japs or the Germans. And then! Boy! If that plane can be made to fly we’ll leave your little old island, Mary Brown, and we’ll take you along!”
“That sounds wonderful to me,” she laughed. “I’ll become the mascot of your carrier, or maybe its jinx.” ”

“ Jack sang. He was in fine spirits. The feel of violin strings under his fingers had done things to him. And besides, there was much more involved in that simple ceremony of swapping a cheap radio for a priceless violin than the onlookers realized. He and the fighter Ted Armour had a secret all their own.
The two boys in their scout plane flew straight away for some time. Fighter planes would guard the air close to their task force. At last they began crisscrossing the sky. Each time, as they went farther out to sea and their sectors widened, their crisscrosses increased in length. ”

“ When Jack and Stew emerged from their cloud none were in sight, nor were the islands that Stew had seen.
“A rain squall has hidden the islands. They’re there, all the same,” Stew insisted.
“It’s our only chance.” In vain Jack tried to get more power from his disabled motor. It coughed, sputtered—all but died—then carried on.
Heading due east, he started to climb. He had gained a thousand feet or more when he began losing again.
“Look over your parachute,” he said to Stew. “Be sure you can get hold of our rubber raft at a second’s notice. This motor may die at any moment.” ”

“ He wanted to tilt her nose and aim at the stars, to try out the plane in the stratosphere, but he could not be sure of the oxygen, and besides, he did not wish to lose contact with Ted. Ted had the chart showing the course the task force was taking. It would be easy to become lost on the vast Pacific, to run out of gas and fall into the sea. What a climax to an exciting adventure that would be! ”

“ Mary said in a steady voice. “Three Japs came on that plane last time.”
“Why you not tell me? I go kill them!” There was an angry and puzzled look on the aged native’s face.
“That’s just it.” Mary smiled soothingly at the old man. “You would have tried to kill them. They would have killed you. They have machine guns. You must not die, for you are my father.”
“By-um-by I kill ’em.” The old man settled back in his place. “They not kill me. You see.”
By this time Ted was looking from one speaker to another and then back at Jack. ”

“ Like catbirds after hawks, four Zeros followed the torpedo planes, but as yet were too far away to count.
“Man! Oh man!” Jack exclaimed. “Suppose those Zeros come after us!”
“Let them come!” Stew looked to the loading of his gun. “We’ll be waiting for them. We can’t run, but we still can fight.”
Two destroyers lay between the torpedo planes and the cargo ships. Their pom-pom guns began throwing up shells. The boys could see them explode in mid-air. Disregarding these, the torpedo pilots came sailing straight in, dropping rapidly as they approached their target. ”

“ You see, Jack, you’ll be living under difficult conditions, enduring hardships, and facing great dangers together. Your souls will be tried as by fire and you’ll be welded together, the way steel is welded.”
Yes, Jack thought now, Uncle Dan was right. We have grown closer and closer to one another. There’s Stew and Ted, Kentucky, Red, the Commander, and all the others. We’ll never forget one another. That’s one reason why I’m so eager to get back to the Black Bee. ”

“ In the air close to earth, it takes lots of fuel, but in the stratosphere, where other planes can’t travel because there’s no air for the propeller to bite into, this jet plane goes like the wind on just about no fuel at all. ”

“ Stew sat up.
“Those natives have some swell outrigger canoes that would take us to some other island in less than an hour,” Jack confided. “I saw them. They’re really fast.”
“And then we’d just be on another island,” Stew drawled. “What I want is to be sitting on the flight deck of our ship hearing the engines warming up. Or I’d like to be down below where jazz music and radios make night hilarious on the old Black Bee.” ”

“ They began climbing steeply. The Zero pilot came after them. They left his plane far behind.
“Not so fast!” Stew warned. “He’ll get discouraged.”
As if experiencing high altitude blues, Jack slowed his plane down to a crawl. Encouraged, the Jap put on full speed and came on for the kill.
But Jack, as if by some miracle, put on a burst of speed to climb higher.
This was repeated four times. Jack was beginning to wonder whether he was playing the game too long with a plane he did not entirely understand, when something appeared to go wrong with the enemy plane. It began to wobble, then to smoke. ”

“ One by one they cleared the deck to soar away into the night.
The night was not all dark. The moon came out at times, but not for long. Clouds went scudding across the sky.
“We’re not a moment too soon,” Ted thought as in a brief period of moonlight he caught sight of a dark bulk against the night sky.
“There they are!” came in a quiet tone over his radio. It was Kentucky speaking. “Let’s bear down on them. Can’t hold formation. Every man for himself. Choose your targets carefully. We can’t have lights on. They’d get us sure. But let us not shoot one another up.” ”

“ He laughed uncertainly.
“Some Jap trick,” Stew muttered.
“I’m not so sure,” Jack said thoughtfully. “I’ve got a brand new notion about that thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Makes one want to be in an air-raid shelter.”
“Well, you won’t. We haven’t even got a cave. But there’s no need really. It’s got the whole island to strike, and it must be five miles long. The law of averages gives us one chance in a million of being hit.”
At that Stew settled back.
“That law of averages is mighty comforting sometimes,” Jack went on. “Take this war. We’ve eleven million men in uniform. ”

“ When the belly tank had been rigged and the jet plane fueled, they took off.
“If I were sure of the oxygen equipment, sir,” said Jack as he set the jet plane climbing, “I’d take you to the stratosphere. There we’d really have distance aplenty.”
“That can wait,” was the answer. “Climb to five thousand, level off, then follow the course the task force has just covered. Our fighters are maintaining a night watch for snoopers, but if our fuel holds out we’ll cover a much greater distance than they.” ”