"I'll bite," he said. "Just what are we waiting for? Go ahead, old thing. Anything is better than this, what?"
Dawson hesitated, and shot Freddy a keen look, as though he was trying to check up and make sure that his pal was definitely in favor of the plan. Then he nodded silently, turned and walked over to the cabin door with one fist raised to pound against it.
But, miracle of miracles, before his knuckles had so much as touched the cabin door, he heard the key grate in the lock, and the door opened in his face to reveal the huge Jap officer who had conducted them to Sasebo's quarters that other time. Eyes popping, and mouth hanging open, Dawson stared at the huge Jap. The son of Nippon smiled, nodded, and made a faint gesture with one hand.
"Come with me," he said. "Honorable Admiral desires to talk with you again. Come please."
For a moment Dawson could hardly believe his eyes and ears. He gaped at the Jap and then looked at Freddy Farmer. A look of astonished disbelief was stamped on the English youth's face. Dawson looked back at the big Jap, and nodded.
"Okay," he said. "Lead the way. It so happens that we want to see the Admiral, too."
The big Jap smiled, and a funny look suddenly gleamed in his double-lidded eyes. It struck Dawson as though the man were enjoying some little secret—at their expense. However, he didn't give the Jap's expression more than a passing thought. Lady Luck was indeed smiling on Freddy Farmer and him. Things were working out even better than he had hoped. Just one more break and everything would be perfect. Just the chance to suddenly duck away from this big Jap and pile into the pit of one of those Jap planes up on the flight deck. Once Freddy and he were in the pit the rest would be a cinch. They'd go scooting down that narrow take-off lane before the dumbfounded Japs realized what had happened. Right! Just one little more break, and then it would be the Japs' turn to receive some knockout surprises.
And so, with a fervent prayer in his heart, Dawson shot a last second warning look at Freddy Farmer, and then stepped through the cabin door, and out into the companionway. A couple of minutes later he was leading the way up the ladder to the flight deck. His heart was doing wild outside loops in his chest, and the blood was racing through his veins. And as he neared the top of the ladder he heard the glorious sound of Jap aircraft engines warming up. That made it better and better. Maybe ten minutes more and Freddy and he would be streaking away on a bee-line course toward where they believed Admiral Jackson's powerful task force to be!