“And now,” said the Commander as they reached the bridge, “there’s your Navy task force on a moonless night. Have a seat. Take it all in. I’m going to do a little meditating on the reality of the Absolute.” He laughed, and Jack laughed with him. Jack didn’t know who or what the Absolute might be, but he did know that the Commander was giving him a real treat, and that was enough for him.
It was strange sitting up there feeling the throb of the ship’s mighty engines, looking away at the blacker-than-black sea, and knowing that they were racing along at twenty knots an hour toward some sort of real trouble.
“Spooky,” he thought.
And indeed, it was just that, for they were definitely in Jap waters. Everyone expected a fight at dawn. If some Jap snooper plane or submarine sighted them now, there would be a mighty battle.
To the right and a little ahead he caught a white gleam on the water. “That’s the Black Knight,” he told himself. The Black Knight was a fast and powerful cruiser. Three other cruisers, always close to the carrier but not too close, sped along with them. Six destroyers lay farther out.
“What a lot of power, sir!” Jack said aloud as the Commander strode past him.
“What? Yes, a lot of striking power,” the Commander agreed. “We’re likely to need it, too. They say the Jap navy won’t come out and fight. You can’t count on that. They’re sly rascals, those Japs. They might pounce on us with double our striking power any time. They....”
“What’s that, sir?” Jack broke in.
“What’s what?” The Commander paused.
“Don’t you hear it, sir?” Jack asked. “It’s like the howl of a dog, or a train whistle far away.”