“Ann to Mary! Ann to Mary!” Stew repeated in a strained voice, talking into his mike. “Enemy task force southeast, hundred and eighty miles. One carrier, five cruisers, eight destroyers, and three cargo ships.”
He waited ten seconds. He, you have guessed, was Ann. The operator on the carrier was Mary. Twice, at brief intervals, he repeated the messages.
“Watch it!” Jack exclaimed, banking his plane so sharply it stood on a wing. In his excitement he had come so close to the edge of the cloud that he had sighted a shadow. The shadow had a voice, a sudden rat-tat-tat that made small round holes in his right wing. A Zero had nearly winged them.
“Close,” he murmured. “Got to have a care.”
They circled about in the cloud for fully five minutes. “What’s your idea about that screamer?” Stew asked.
“I know what it can’t be,” was Jack’s reply.
“What?”
“It can’t be a meteor. You can see a meteor.”
“Probably a rocket from a plane. The Jerries have them.”
“I wonder!” Jack said once more. “Well, guess we’ll slip down for another look. Tell you what—we’ll zoom out of this cloud full speed. That’ll take the Zeros by surprise. By the time they close in we’ll be safe in another cloud.”