Vice-Admiral Stone saw the questioning looks that came to Dawson's and Farmer's faces, and he hastened to explain.
"Commander Drake is chief of Naval Aviation Intelligence, here on Oahu," he said. "During the last few months a couple of things have happened that shouldn't have happened. Sabotage, missing papers of importance, and that sort of thing. The commander has been in charge of breaking the thing, and has made some arrests. Japs every time. Born and raised here in the Islands, but still Japs. Didn't do any good, though. Every one of them killed himself rather than talk and save his life. They actually killed each other. A suicide pact. I'll spare you the gory details. All we were able to learn was that the root of the whole business, the main nest, is somewhere in Honolulu. But Honolulu is a fairly big place. So, naturally, we are hoping that your lead will take us straight to that spot, and make it possible for us to wipe out the menace once and for all."
"I see, sir," Dawson said after a moment's silence hung over the room. "But you spoke of pointing him out so's he wouldn't suspect. Just how, sir? He probably got a look at us, at the time that Jap was scared off before he could finish us. So when he sees us come aboard his carrier, whichever one it is, he'll know us instantly. I mean, even if no move is made toward him, he'll certainly know why we are there. And later he's bound to guess that we pointed him out so that he could be followed. Or am I getting this all mixed up?"
"No, you make your point clear enough," the vice-admiral said with a smile. "But we're not going to advertise it as much as that. You two will see him, I hope. But he certainly won't see you. I've got all that arranged, so don't worry. You'll get a good look at every fighter pilot in the three-carrier force, but not one of them will even know that either of you are aboard. Just leave that part to me, and don't worry. I'll explain my little plan later. Right now, I guess we've talked things over enough for the first meeting. You two could do with some rest and relaxation. So I'll say again that I'm very pleased to meet you, and express my sincere hope that we can clean up all this very dirty business within the next seventy-two hours. Meantime, I'm turning you over to Commander Drake. He'll act as the Navy's official host during your stay here on the Islands."
The vice-admiral stood up, and smiled. The other three stood up, saluted, and then went outside.
"Well, what will it be first, Captains?" Commander Drake asked when they reached the golden sunshine. "Feel like a sight-seeing tour about the Station, a little nap, or what?"
"Those eggs we had for breakfast, sir," Freddy Farmer said with a sheepish smile. "The way they were cooked. I've never tasted anything so delicious. I ..."
Dave Dawson groaned aloud and shook his head sadly.
"Here we go again, Commander," he said. "You might just as well get used to it. There are perpetually three things that Farmer always wants to do most. One is eat, two is to eat some more. And three is to eat again. It's a habit that will never be broken, I'm afraid. So we might just as well humor him, or we'll have a terrible grouch for company."
"Rubbish!" Freddy Farmer snapped angrily. But just the same, he looked hopefully at Commander Drake. And then grinned broadly when the Naval officer nodded, and started leading the way over to his quarters.