"That is it, exactly, Captain Dawson," the vice-admiral said, giving him a nod of approval. "You two, and you two alone, can block this thing. So until the force puts into port, which will be the day after tomorrow, you are marked men. At least we have got to assume that such is the case, until we know better. And that brings us up to the matter of the carrier force arriving, and you identifying this Nazi for us ... if you can."
The senior officer paused and stared at them both a little hopefully. Dawson grinned and nodded.
"We'll spot him, sir," he said with all the assurance in the world in his voice. "We didn't get much of a look at him, and nothing that we saw of him stood out in a noticeable sort of way. But I know very well, sir, that I'll recognize him when I see him again."
"And so will I, sir," Freddy Farmer echoed with a confident nod. "It's just one of those things that a chap can't put into words. I mean, I couldn't for the life of me tell you why I'll be able to recognize him, but I know that I will."
"Well, you'll both certainly get all the chance in the world to do just that," Vice-Admiral Stone said.
"And it will be a happy moment when we see your men take him in charge, sir," Dawson said grimly. "I'll er—no, sir?"
Dave stumbled, and mumbled the last as he saw the station commandant shake his head.
"No, we're not going to do it that way," the Navy officer said. "Oh, we'll grab him in time, but not the very next moment after you point him out to us. You're forgetting that address over in Honolulu, whatever it is. You will point him out to us, but in such a way that he'll never suspect. We plan to let him leave ship unmolested. It is our plan to trail him to his destination, and ... well, the rest is obvious, isn't it? We'll catch the lot of them. Instead of catching just one Nazi spy, we'll clean out an entire nest of them that is still causing us concern here on Oahu, almost three years after Pearl Harbor."
As Vice-Admiral Stone spoke the last he glanced over at Commander Drake, and nodded. The junior officer returned the nod.
"Let us hope so, sir," he said quietly, but with a certain grimness in his voice. "Nothing I'd like better than to smoke them out into the open."