Wings of Destiny: A USS Enterprise Naval Adventure Novel (Fightin'est Ship in WWII series Book 1) by Scott Cook

Author:Scott Cook [Cook, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Spindrift Press
Published: 2022-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

* SIX *

USS ENTERPRISE – 180 MILES FROM PEARL

Halsey’s office door smashed open and a pale, visibly frightened Bart Aldridge stood framed in it, eyes bugged out of his skull. The admiral’s first instinct was to lace into the kid, but the obvious fright and shock on Aldridge’s face instantly erased any irritation and replaced it with a chill.

“What the hell’s—” Halsey began.

“Sir! Sir!” Aldridge all but shouted. “I just come from the radio shack, sir… it’s… it’s just awful, sir!”

“What’s just awful, man? What is it, for Christ?” Halsey implored sternly.

“The Japs! The Japs are attacking Pearl, sir!”

Suddenly the first cup of coffee he’d downed turned to acid in Halsey’s belly. His hairline electrified into a sizzle as the blood drained from his own face, “What!? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Sir! Radio reports are coming in from our scouts and we’re getting garbled comms and civvy radio signals from Oahu!” Aldridge stammered. “For Christ’s sake, sir! Come on!”

Halsey bolted from behind his desk and caught up to Aldridge just as he reached the ladder to the captain’s bridge, “Hold on! Forget the radio shack, let’s go down to Pri-fly!”

The rear admiral and the sailor all but plunged down the ladderway and burst into the flight control center where Archie Pangborn, Bill Townsend, and even George Murray were already gathered around the situation table. Around the room, techs were reviewing radar and radio sets, secondary to the primary units in main radar and radio.

“What the hell is it, George?” Halsey asked, seizing hold of the closest man which just so happened to be Enterprise’s captain.

“It’s a friggin’ madhouse, sir!” Murray gulped.

“We got any transmissions from our flight?” Halsey snapped.

“Overlapping and confused, sir,” reported Pangborn.

“Put the radio feed on the overhead,” Halsey commanded. “I need to hear what’s going on.”

The overhead speakers crackled, and a squeaky voice shouted: “This is Six-B-three… an American plane! Do not shoot!”

Another voice broke in, that of Earl Gallaher, VS6’s executive officer, “Enterprise! Enterprise! Pearl Harbor is under attack! This is no shit!”

“Jesus Christ!” Halsey snapped angrily. “Aldridge! Aldridge… there you are… they’re shooting at my own boys! Tell Kimmel! Get to radio and send a priority message to ComCincPac now, dammit!”

The kid fled, grateful both to be away from the chaos and to have something to do. One by one, Halsey met his officer’s eyes. In them he saw reflected what he himself felt… shock, worry, and a growing rage. They wanted this to be a false alarm, but each of the senior officers somehow knew it wasn’t.

The time had come.

It had finally come.

The Empire of Japan had declared war on the United States. Without warning or any formal notification, Tojo and his emperor had come to Hawaii with bloody intent.

This was confirmed not five minutes later when Aldridge rushed back into flight control and handed Halsey a message flimsy, “Just decoded, sir… it’s official.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.