Stephanie Walker was married to an RAF fighter pilot “temporarily, for eight damned months” posted to Singapore, but by the time Ed learned that, they were already in the apartment.
He got out of bed and found Canidy naked and entwined with the redhead in another bedroom. Then he walked on tiptoe to the bed and shook Canidy’s arm. The obvious thing to do was get out of the apartment as quietly and quickly as possible.
Canidy was hungover, he announced quite unnecessarily, and before he did anything he wanted a good breakfast and a lot of coffee. There was no sense in rushing off to get it, since they had been invited to eat right here.
Breakfast was actually rather pleasant, and Stephanie Walker was neither as coarse nor as crude as he thought he would find her when he was sober.
He would, he thought, telephone her in a day or two.
Then he thought, Good Christ ‘ I’m getting as amoral as Canidy.
When they stopped by the CAMCO house to change clothing, there was another radio message for them, taped to Canidy’s mirror:
CANIDY BITTER RELIEVED RANGOON STOP REPORT ME WITH PERRY GE-AR STOP CROOKSHANKS There was a penciled note on the bottom of the teletype paper: I’ve got a truck going up there this afternoon. Your gear would probably make it OK on it. Dolan.
“Shit,” Canidy said. “I knew this was too good to last.”
They packed their clothing, then drove out to Mingaladon Air Base.
Canidy, without making any kind of preflight examination of aircraft, climbed into the cockpit and put his helmet on. Bitter was at first surprised that he was taking chances like that, then angry that he was probably still drunk and didn’t know what he was doing. But finally he was angry with himself when he realized what Canidy was actually doing.
It was folklore among pilots that the best cure for a hangover was oxygen. Since Bitter had never flown hungover, he had had no chance to test the theory. But that was clearly what Canidy was doing.
Two minutes later, Canidy climbed out of the plane and handed Bitter the mask and the oxygen bottle.
“It’s leaking Canidy announced blandly. “You might as well use the rest. I’ll go check the weather and get another bottle.”
Ed Bitter was very surprised at how good the cool oxygen felt in his nasal passages, and how quickly it seemed to blow the cobwebs away.
When Canidy returned from Operations, he had two.45 Colt Model 1911AI pistols.
“This should make you happy, Admiral Farragut,” he said. “We are now officially armed to make war.” And then he had a second thought. “Speaking of which,” he said, “don’t push the red button. They’ve put ammo aboard.”
Five minutes later, they lifted off. The hip-holstered automatic got in the way, : and Bitter resolved to get an aviator’s shoulder holster just as soon as he could. But having the pistol was comforting. Even more comforting was to be in control of an armed fighter plane. This is what he had been trained for, at the Naval Acadern Y and at Pensacola. He was indeed going in hanii’s way in the defense of his country, even though he was an employee of the Chinese govermnent in a uniform without insignia.
There were no other aircraft in the bright blue skies between Rangoon and Toungoo.
Deal, NOW Jersey 4:30 pm., December Sy 1941
Donovan found Barbara Whittaker in the breakfast room.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to be going, Barbara,” he said. vere driving and.
,I’m glad you could come she said. “It was a nice funeral, I thought. Just his friends, really.”
“The President wanted to come,” Donovan said.
“He telephoned just a few minutes ago,” she said. “After what Chesty called him, and to his face, I thought it was a nice thing to do’ ”
4 6Franklin forgives those of us who don’t agree with him. He’s convinced we’re just not capable of understanding his noble inotives,” Donovan said.
“I wonder if Jimmy knows yet,” she said. “We’re trying, ” Donovan said. “Communications to the Philip-Pines are a problem.”
“Franklin said he was trying to help,” Barbara said.