Dave and Freddy grinned, and then Dave nodded.
“That’s right, sir,” he said. “It was two other fellows. We’re joining Ninety-Six to take a couple cracks at U-boats in the Caribbean.”
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe, whatever it is,” Major Larkin laughed. Then, as his face became just a little grave, he said, “But I wish you all the luck in the world with those—U-boats. I’m not connected with Intelligence, but rumors get around, you know. It’s an odds-on bet that something is going to pop down there. I only hope and pray that you and the others will be able to slap the cover on pronto.”
“We’ll do our best, sir,” Dave repeated mechanically. “But as you never can tell what will be a help, I’d like to ask, what about the rumors you’ve heard, sir? Anything special about any of them?”
The Albuquerque Base Commandant scowled out the window of his office, and absently cracked the knuckles of his left hand with his right.
“Nothing that isn’t public property,” he said. “Just the usual rumors about an impending attack on the Canal.”
“Why, sir?” Freddy asked. “Why an impending attack on the Canal?”
“An obvious military operation,” the Major replied with a gesture. “And impending because it hasn’t been made long before this. That Canal isn’t closed up for the duration, you know. We’re making twenty-four hour a day use of it. And it isn’t a bunch of canoes that are going through it on their way to Australia, and India, and the Middle East.”
“Then you think the Japs are planning another Pearl Harbor in the Canal Zone, sir?” Freddy pressed.
The Major looked at him and grinned.