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How do you do, Sir? Goldberg said. His surprise was evident. He had not ex-
pected to see a Navy Captain in Marine Corps utilities, carrying a Springfield rifle
like a hunter.
I think I ve just been sandbagged, as a matter of fact, Pickering said.
That boat is about ready to go back out to the Gregory, Captain Pickering. Don t
you think you had better get on it? I m sure her captain wants to get underway as
soon as possible.
Pickering didn t reply.
Major Stecker was good enough to pack your gear, Captain, Vandergrift said,
and pointed to the landing barge.
Pickering saw Jack NMI Stecker handing a bag to one of the Marines on the barge.
It was the bag he brought with him from the command ship USS McCawley when
he d come ashore.
I know I ve been sandbagged, Pickering said. I gather there is no room for
discussion?
274 / W. E. B. Griffin
Thank you for your services, Captain Pickering, Vandergrift said. They have
been appreciated by all hands.
Vandergrift handed Pickering the Ernest Leitz binoculars.
General, I would be honored if you would hang onto those, Pickering said.
Vandergrift looked at the binoculars and then met Pickering s eyes.
That s very kind of you, Fleming, thank you, he said. He put out his hand to
Pickering.
Pickering had to grab the Springfield rifle with his left hand in order to take
Vandergrift s hand with his right.
Then he held the rifle up.
I won t need this any more, will I?
Why don t you take it with you? Vandergrift said. If nothing else, you could
hang it on your wall. Then for the rest of your life, you could command attention
by pointing to it and beginning a sentence, when I was on the beach at Guadal-
canal&
Touché, again, General.
Bon voyage, Fleming, Vandergrift said. I look forward to seeing you again.
He touched Pickering s arm and then walked away.
(Five)
WATER LILY COTTAGE
MANCHESTER AVENUE
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
0815 HOURS 17 AUGUST 1942
Mrs. Ellen Feller had just about finished dressing when she heard the crunch of
tires on the driveway. A few seconds later, the double slamming of the front doors
told her that Sergeant John Marston Moore had returned to the cottage.
The slamming doors annoyed her. She was already annoyed. Lieutenant Pluto
Hon had been summoned to Townesville by Major Ed Banning for reasons Banning
had not elected to tell her. And that meant she was going to have to spend all day
in the dark, damp cell two floors underground at SHSWPA. And probably do the
same thing all day tomorrow, too. Someone had to be available to deliver MAGIC
intercepts to Generals MacArthur and Willoughby, and since Banning and Hon
were in Townesville, and Moore was officially not supposed to know even what
MAGIC meant, that left her.
When she looked at her watch and saw that it was only a quarter after eight, she
was even more annoyed. She had told him to pick Hon up at the Commerce Hotel
and deliver him to the airport; then to stop at the Cryptographic Facility, pick up
what had come in, and run it through the machine; and then, about nine, Baby,
come pick me up.
She decided she knew what was in his mind, the horny little devil, and while
that was flattering, now was not the time. She had just spent an hour washing and
doing her hair, and if that happened, as appealing as it was, she would have to go
through the whole process again, starting with the shower.
The door to her bedroom was flung open.
You ever think of knocking?
Sorry, he said, visibly unrepentant. Take a look at these.
There was something important in the overnights, she thought. He doesn t have that
delightfully shyly naughty look in his eyes.
She took the two sheets of onion skin from him, and read them.
Battleground / 275
URGENT
SECRET
HQ USMC WASHDC 2205 15AUG42
VIA: SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA
TO: COMMANDING OFFICER
USMC SPECIAL DETACHMENT 14
1. ON RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE SGT JOHN M. MOORE IS DETACHED FROM
USMC SPECDET 14, ATTACHED HQ FIRST MARDIV, AND WILL PROCEED
THERETO IMMEDIATELY.
2. YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO INFORM SHSWPA THAT AN URGENT
REQUIREMENT FOR JAPANESE-LANGUAGE LINGUISTS EXISTS WITHIN FIRST
MARDIV AND REQUEST OF THEM HIGHEST POSSIBLE AIR TRANSPORTATION
PRIORITY FOR SERGEANT MOORE.
BY DIRECTION: H.W.T.FORREST, BRIGGEN USMC
ACOFSG-2
URGENT
CONFIDENTIAL
HQ USMC WASHDC 2207 15 AUG42
TO: LT COL GEORGE F. DAILEY
CINCPAC LIAISON OFFICER
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA
INFORMATION: CINCPAC ATTN: CHIEF OF STAFF
COMMANDING GENERAL 1ST MARINE DIVISION
1. ON RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE YOU ARE DETACHED FROM PRESENT DUTIES
AND WILL PROCEED IMMEDIATELY TO HEADQUARTERS FIRST MARDIV FOR
DUTY AS ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF, G-2. THIS MESSAGE CONSTITUTES
AUTHORITY FOR AAAA AIR TRAVEL PRIORITY.
2. YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO INFORM SHSWPA THAT THE EXIGENCIES OF
THE SERVICE MAKE THIS TRANSFER NECESSARY AND THAT A LIAISON
OFFICER TO REPLACE YOU WILL BE ASSIGNED AT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE
TIME.
3. IF POSSIBLE, AND TO THE DEGREE THAT IT WILL NOT REPEAT NOT
INTERFERE WITH YOUR MOVEMENT TO FIRST MARDIV, YOU ARE DIRECTED
TO FACILITATE THE MOVEMENT TO FIRST MAR DIV OF SERGEANT J.M.MOORE,
PRESENTLY ASSIGNED USMC SPECIAL DETACHMENT 14.
BY DIRECTION OF BRIG GEN FORREST:
F L RICKABEE, LTCOL, USMC
I called Townesville, Moore said. They either don t know where Banning is,
or he doesn t want it known.
I wonder why Rickabee signed the one to Dailey? Ellen said, thoughtfully,
276 / W. E. B. Griffin
and General Forrest the one about you? And the one about you is classified Secret,
and the one to Dailey only Confidential?
What the hell difference does it make? Moore asked, but he took the onion
skins from her hand. Probably because everything about the detachment is classi-
fied Secret but the name, he said.
Obviously, you don t want to go, Ellen said. Is that why you tried to call
Banning?
I can t go, for Christ s sake, Moore said. I m privy to MAGIC.
Not officially, she thought out loud.
That s not the point, he said. I know about MAGIC.
The point is, they Rickabee and Forrest don t know that. That s why they re
sending you to Guadalcanal.
She thought: And if it comes out that Fleming Pickering compromised MAGIC by letting
you in on it, he s in trouble. I don t want to see that happen.
Banning is supposed to be clever. Let him see if he can find a solution to this.
I think the thing for you to do is make yourself scarce until we can get in contact
with Major Banning, Ellen said.
Too late. That was the first thing I thought of. But Dailey s caught me.
How?
His orders didn t have to go through crypto. So as soon as they came in, the
message center gave them to him& Christ, that s why they classified them Confid-
ential, so they wouldn t have to go through crypto&
Ellen thought about that quickly, and said, Yes. Probably.
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