Toward Night's End (30 page)

***

Johnstone could hear Carl’s shouts for Beckner and watched as George moved nervously toward the door. C’mon, thought Johnstone. C’mon. Then George did as they thought he would. He pulled open the barn door just a few inches. Suddenly it crashed into him with a tremendous force, and he was knocked off his feet. Four U.S. soldiers instantly landed on him, and the others already hidden in the barn fanned out, their guns aimed at the Japanese soldiers.

“Drop your weapons!” Matthew said in Japanese, his heart pounding. “Put your hands up!”

“Light!” One of U.S. soldiers cried out. “I need light over here!”

A flashlight suddenly illuminated the far wall. Seven Japanese soldiers were huddled together. But they had done as they were told, their hands were raised. Several still had their machine guns draped over their chests, and a U.S. soldier stepped forward and took the guns.

Johnstone watched as U.S. forces engulfed the barn and quickly secured the area. They tied the Japanese soldiers’ hands behind their backs and bound their ankles. He saw Merrick approach Matthew and went over to join them.

“You okay?” the commander asked. Matthew nodded.

“Got it!” one of the Americans suddenly called out. He had a Japanese soldier on his stomach, revealing the radio pack on his back. Matthew and Merrick quickly approached as the radio pack was unstrapped from the Japanese soldier’s back. The soldier sneered at Matthew and spat in Japanese, “You’re dead! Everyone here will be dead!”

“Including you,” Matthew retorted in Japanese.

“What’s he saying?” asked Merrick.

But Matthew ignored the commander. Kneeling next to the soldier, he said, “The code word to abort. What is it?”

The man glared at Matthew. “We never abort.”

“Of course you do. What’s the code word?”

“We never abort,” the man repeated.

“Goddamn you,” Matthew said in English. Then in Japanese he said, “What’s the code word?”

The man then cursed him in Japanese. Matthew hadn’t heard the words for years, since his mother caught him practicing the words when he was just a boy. A few choice words his grandfather had taught him on the sly. But he remembered them now and stood.

“What’s he saying?” Merrick asked.

“Says there’s no abort code.”

“Can’t be. Every operation has a contingency plan.”

“He’s lying,” Matthew agreed.

Merrick reached for the soldier next to the radio operator and pulled him to his feet. The man stumbled a bit because his ankles were bound together. The radio operator quickly spoke to his comrade in Japanese, and Matthew kicked him in the ribs, hard.

“What’d he say?” Merrick asked again.

“‘You will die with honor.’”

Merrick took out his pistol and aimed it at the man’s knees. Looking at the radio operator he said, “Give us the code word.” Matthew repeated it to him in Japanese. The radio operator retorted in Japanese, and Matthew translated, “He says, ‘Go to hell.’”

With that Merrick fired the gun and the radio operator’s comrade screamed out in pain, crumbling to the floor. The gun blast brought other soldiers into the barn, their guns ready. Merrick waved them off. “It’s all right.”

Blood spurted from the man’s shattered knee as he lay on his side unable to even stop the bleeding because his hands were still tied behind him.

The radio operator screamed at Merrick in rage. Matthew was about to translate, but Merrick waved him off. The man’s words needed no translation. Merrick said to the sergeant, “Bring another over here.”

The sergeant hesitated for a moment, then dragged another Japanese prisoner toward Merrick. The man knew what awaited him and yelled at the radio operator. Matthew quietly said to Merrick, “He says to tell you.” The man kept berating the radio operator and Matthew translated. “Says it’s over. He has a responsibility to his men.”

The radio operator gave a defiant answer, and Matthew translated, “Country first.”

“Real loyalist, I see,” Merrick noted calmly. He said to the sergeant, “Let’s put him right in front of our friend here.”

The sergeant hauled the trembling prisoner in front of the radio operator. Again, Merrick aimed his gun at the man’s knee. “Tell him,” he said to Matthew.

“He’ll do it again,” Matthew said in Japanese. “It’s up to you.”

The radio operator cursed at him again, and the prisoner erupted, looking down at his comrade and yelling at him. Matthew said to Merrick, “He’s begging him to tell us.”

They waited a beat. Waiting for the radio operator to reveal what he knew. But he simply glared at them.

“Doesn’t seem too motivated,” Merrick said. He cocked the gun. Placed it flush against the man’s knee.

Suddenly another Japanese soldier cried out, his words frantic. The radio operator chided his comrade, and a shouting match ensued between them. Matthew held up his hand to stop Merrick, then walked over to stand in front of the other Japanese soldier. “If you’re lying—” he started in Japanese. But the man cut him off, talking rapidly for some time.

Merrick walked over. Matthew explained, “He says he’s in charge of the radio, in the event something happens to his superior.” They both looked at the chief radio operator. “He says it’s ‘Cherry blossom.’”

“Cherry blossom?” Merrick looked skeptical.

“Japan is famous for their cherry blossom trees.”

The radio operator turned as best he could in his restraints and sharply rebuked his comrade, but the man just kept talking to Matthew.

Matthew translated, saying, “Cherry blossom and they don’t come. No bombing.”

Merrick looked to Matthew. “Could be a trick.”

Matthew was surprised. He looked down at the second radio operator. Finally, he said, “I think it’s true.”

“Tell him, I don’t believe him.” Merrick walked away.

Surprised, Matthew watched in horror as Merrick walked back to the man the sergeant still held in place. Matthew noticed the man had urinated in his pants. Merrick pressed the gun against the man’s knee.

Matthew told the second radio operator that they thought he was lying, and the man struggled against the ropes holding him, speaking rapidly. Matthew looked at Merrick. “He swears! It’s ‘Cherryblossom!’ That’s it. Say ‘Cherry blossom’ and they won’t come!”

“Ask how they’re getting out of here? By submarine?”

Matthew asked the man. After listening to the lengthy reply, Matthew said to Merrick, “They say they are to secure the island after the bombing. Others will arrive by boat. They are to stay here.”

Merrick still held the gun on the man’s knee. Then slowly he took it away. Relieved, the second radio operator buried his face in the dirt floor. The sergeant still holding the other soldier pushed him away, and with his ankles bound, he fell near the wounded man who lay whimpering.

***

Outside, in the chilled air, Johnstone asked himself why he was even here. It was an Army matter. Or a Navy matter. He was a policeman. But as he walked with the sergeant, he kept his thoughts to himself. Then Commander Merrick hurried to catch up with them, saying, “Told the guys in the barn to keep the prisoners quiet, using force if necessary.”

“I’d say there has been enough force,” Johnstone remarked, unable to contain himself.

“For the next part of the plan to work, we have to coordinate all movements, including any and all sounds that can be picked up by the radio.” He could see the detective wasn’t pleased, so he added, “We’ve made our point. I’m sure they’ll do as instructed.”

“You may have maimed him for life.”

“Agreed,” Merrick said.

“Wasn’t necessary,” Johnstone argued.

“There,” the sergeant said, pointing, as the three walked toward the cove bluff.

“Maybe not,” Merrick said to Johnstone. “But we’re at war.”

Johnstone dropped the matter as they approached Matthew and several other soldiers huddled over the Japanese radio. Commander Merrick looked at Matthew. “You ready?”

Matthew nodded. Johnstone could see that the young man was nervous, which was understandable since he now had to convince the voice on the other end of the radio that he was one of them. If the Japanese didn’t buy it, they all knew that the submarine was just a few miles away and could fire upon them at will.

“Cherry blossom,” Matthew said, not speaking to anyone in particular.

“Right, but not in English, eh?” Merrick joked, trying to break the tension. But Matthew just nodded solemnly.

One of the soldiers turned to his sergeant. “Got the two teams ready when you are.”

The sergeant looked to Merrick. Technically, it was an Army operation, but the sergeant still deferred to the commander. Merrick looked at Matthew again. “Okay, when it starts, you get on the horn with them, okay?”

Matthew nodded. Merrick nodded to the sergeant who then returned to his position with his men to resume firing, leaving Matthew, Merrick, and Johnstone alone. A moment later, Johnstone noticed a soldier twenty yards away turn a flashlight on and off several times. Through the dense fog, a corresponding flash of light blinked from the cedar woods.

“Ten seconds,” Merrick warned them.

Then there was an eruption of gunfire and some shouts and screams from the forest. Matthew quickly flipped on the radio and spoke rapidly in Japanese. Two of the soldiers close by fired off several rounds, and Matthew had to raise his voice to be heard.

Johnstone, Merrick, and Matthew waited. The gunfire drowned out the noise from the radio, and Merrick waved his arms at the sergeant. There were a few more flashlight flickers, then the machinegun fire abruptly ended.

Matthew quickly relayed the abort code again, his voice frantic. But all they could hear was static. Merrick covered Matthew’s hand with his own, so the transmit button couldn’t be depressed accidentally. “Hear anything?” he asked Matthew.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“So we don’t know if they heard you or not?”

“No.”

“Shit!”

The sergeant came running up. “What happened?”

“Can’t tell if they heard or not. They didn’t respond.”

Matthew now spoke. “Maybe it’s the wrong frequency.”

“You asked,” Merrick reminded him angrily. “Nothing like that.”

“I know, I know.” Suddenly they heard a Japanese voice cutting in and out above the static. Everyone froze. Matthew shook off Merrick’s hand and said in Japanese, “
Cherry Blossom! Cherry Blossom! Cherry Blossom
!”

He released the transmit button, and the men tensely waited in silence. Johnstone looked out to the Pacific, as if he could see the submarine just off shore. Waiting. Merrick nodded to Matthew who repeated the abort code several times. They again waited. Then they heard the Japanese voice again, a sing-song sort of rhythmic utterance that seemed to go on forever. Matthew looked at Merrick, clearly startled.

“What?” Merrick asked, frustrated by the language barrier.

“He’s asking for names. Wants to know who’s hurt.”

“Tell him you can’t see because of the fog. Explain that it’s an ambush.”

“I asked him if that was all – just the abort code, and he said —”

“Never mind!” Merrick said. “You can’t see who’s down, it’s too foggy.”

The sergeant nodded to several of his men who, again, fired their weapons. Matthew relayed Merrick’s message, shouting to be heard over the gunfire. Merrick motioned at his men, and once again the gunfire abruptly stopped. Again they waited. Static erupted. Then cryptic Japanese words echoed over the radio. Matthew answered then snapped off the radio.

“What?” Merrick demanded.

“They confirmed ‘
Cherry Blossom
.’” Matthew stood now and looked toward the Pacific. “They confirmed.”

“You did just fine, son,” Merrick said. “Just fine.”

***

On board the
Viking II
, Captain Drogel felt mixed emotions as he and the two seamen monitored the sonar equipment. He felt immense pride as they observed that the Japanese sub wasn’t waiting around. It was moving west at over twenty knots. The U.S. mission had been a success. No attack on the mainland. However, he also felt a stab of regret now. His orders were to wait until daybreak to move the fishing trawler back to Seattle. This meant he would not be on any of the Navy ships heading out to catch up with the escaping sub. And he very much wanted to be a part of that. In fact, he would love to be on the ship that sank her and put her on the bottom.

The mess hall was filled with people – most eating their noon day meal, while some were trickling in, and a few others departing. Taking a few minutes between her chores to spend time with her family, Kumiko took a seat next to Daniel who was eagerly eating a hotdog – a food he had never tasted before coming to Manzanar. She smiled to herself. He had a slather of mustard across one side of his face. Other than that, at least now his face looked close to normal.

“Mama, where is your lunch?” Julia asked, sitting across from her mother.

“I’ll eat a little later.” Kumiko watched as Ido ate his food. He always diced up his hotdog and ate it with his rice. He struggled using a fork and she felt a pang of guilt. She had accidentally left their chopsticks behind. She could still picture them in her mind – on their kitchen counter, wrapped in a bundle.

Suddenly, Julia let out a startled screech. Attempting to quickly extricate herself from the long bench seat, she caught one foot and toppled over to the floor.

Kumiko immediately rose to her feet. “Julia..!”

But her daughter was already up, running for the door with another squeal.

Then Kumiko saw, and she couldn’t move. Her hands covering her mouth, she simply stared in disbelief. A hush had fallen over the crowded mess hall, all eyes on the two men standing near the door. Both wore U.S. Navy uniforms. The commander she had met before. The other man was her son. Matthew. Julia leaped into his arms, still shrieking with delight. Matthew spun her around in a circle, laughing.

“Ido, it’s Matthew,” Kumiko said calmly, as if she was telling him that today’s lunch was rice and hotdog. “It’s Matthew.” She saw that Daniel was impatiently grabbing Ido by the arm, so she left their table, tears streaming down her face.