Chapter 3

Captain Hiroshito was not at all certain it was wise to actually land a force of his men on the reportedly deserted island sitting outside the normal trade route because he had no intelligence on enemy activity in the area. It all seemed like a terrible waste of time when he had the business of the Emperor uppermost on his mind. His heart was filled with sorrow at the losses in the homeland from the American bombers and he wanted revenge on the round eye barbarians more than life itself.

Still, it was an opportunity for his men to stretch their legs on the sandy terrain and actually run and exercise instead of just doing stretching exercises in place on the limited deck space. They had taken a strafing from one of the Yankee fighters only a few days ago and the flying metal had caused a number of casualties to the crew despite the heroic efforts of his gun crews to rip the stinging insect from the sky. They had been buried at sea with appropriate honors but he was the one that had to write the letters of apology to the families for his inability to protect them whilst they were under his command.

The shouts of the men landing their small boats on the sandy shore grated on his nerves but he knew it spoke of their spirit and passion to win this war against the westerners that had insulted the Emperor with their superior acts of pride and the bias they had against all Asian people but mainly against his country because of their success in the business world.

He had taken the entire port section ashore with him.

That meant almost seventy able bodied seamen not counting the officers were consolidating their beachhead on the narrow sandy beach. He had made certain they were all armed with the standard long gun of the infantry and each one had the mandatory bayonet affixed to the end of their weapons. The Captain was not expecting any resistance but it never hurt to be cautious in such situations and it was good practice for the men.

The group assigned to collecting the available fruits and coconuts from the island had already moved inland fanning out in a familiar maneuver to clear the way and push any opposition to one side preventing any chance of an ambush. The men were better suited to their sea duties but it was one of their rules that all the crewmen were trained to operate in a combat role on the land as well. It was their answer to the American need for Marines to perform that function for the sailors of the Yankee fleet in most land operations. Every time the thought of the accursed "Marines", Captain Hiroshito spat on the ground in front of him as if to rid his body of the very thought of the monsters that preyed on the honorable warriors of the homeland forces. They were an affliction on the balance of the world order and when his country won this war, he would be one of the justice-seeking military men that would insure they were all executed for their vicious style of fighting during the conflict and he might even extend that to their families as well.

The Captain had no idea that he had both a live Marine and a round-eye female hiding on the island at that very moment or he would have sent all the men searching with determination to find them and make an example of them in honor of the Emperor and the subjects of the Empire that had already fallen to the western barbarians.

Corporal Patrick knew the island was crawling with the already landed Japanese fighting forces but he had no idea of the hatred that flowed through Captain Hiroshito's heart to all western people that opposed the righteous might of the Emperor. He directed Sister Passionata to cover all signs of their presence and they slowly worked their way back to the entrance to the hollowed out cave and relative safety mostly underground. I helped their cause that they had been circumspect in leaving the footprint of their residence absent in almost every regard because Patrick had a premonition of just such a situation sometime in the future.

They both held their breath and watched the Japanese sailors move through the clearing and heading to the nearby coconuts to add them to their collection. Sister Passionata gave a heartfelt sigh of relief at seeing them return to the beach and she spent precious moments kissing her protector with a sense of gratitude for still being alive and uncaptured by the enemy force. She knew she would have been dead a long time ago if it wasn't for his careful mentoring.

The sailors were in no hurry now to return to the ship because it was a change of routine to stretch out on the solid ground and feel the sand between their toes. Some of the men went into the surf and spearfished with native skills bringing their harvest to the pit fires for cleaning and cooking using the wide green fronds for dishes and pans for their freshly caught delights from the sea.

The Captain allowed a ration of sake to be distributed to stir their spirit of joy at surviving the war at least to this point. He wished they had been able to capture some of the island women at their last port of call to give them some solace at their forced separation from their loved ones for so lengthy of a time. The tiny brown ones were usually high-spirited and fought off male advances with resistance that was entirely the opposite of the females of his homeland. The girls of his country were indoctrinated from their earliest ability to think constructively to obey male commands instinctively without question. That was especially beneficial to the future husbands but it left the womenfolk more vulnerable to male predators using their docile natures against them.