Against the Sun Page #4

Where are we?

1,900 miles to Hawaii.

Samoa's 1,000.

- South America, 6,000 at least.

- That's a lot of zeros.

But we are moving. Flat-bottom craft

like this will sail along smartly,

and we've been getting

some 12-knot winds.

Six-knot wind will give us

a drift of one.

I bet we can get a 2.5 out of 12.

She sure does like

to change her mind, though.

- So Hawaii?

- Yep.

How come you didn't point that way?

- Dead ahead?

- West?

That's right, the way

the wind's blowing us now.

The Phoenix Islands, the Gilberts,

Tarawa, 600 miles or less.

- Tarawa? Ain't there Jap subs out there?

- Great.

Not just subs. Jap army is crawling

all over those islands right now.

What happens if we land on a Jap island

or a sub finds us?

For all we know, there could be

a sub underneath us right now.

We would certainly be a prize.

But we have a chance. All we need is

some favorable winds to blow us south.

There are islands between us

and Samoa 600 miles away.

Two knots or so,

- I'd say a couple of weeks, give or take.

- Couple of weeks?

- Be lot more accurate if I had my chart.

- We'll starve to death first.

Well...

plenty of fish in the sea, right?

If only I had a hook and a line.

All right, Aldrich, there's your line.

Some braided cord in that pocket.

And here. Maybe if I can get

one of these magazines open,

we can use one of the springs as a hook.

- That could work just fine.

- All right.

You know what I could go for right now?

Fish fry, nice deep fried basket of cod,

side of slaw and some potato salad,

whole thing smothered in cheese.

Really? Cheese on fish?

Hey, there ain't nothing that can't

be improved with a good slab of cheese.

There we go.

All right.

That ain't half bad.

We need a sinker.

Kind of looks like a piece of meat.

- Well, let's cast 'er off.

- All right.

Watch your eyes. There she goes.

That was quick.

Give me a hand with this.

- All right.

- Come here.

That's the way, boys.

I guess something down there

is hungrier than us.

Sweet Mary.

Here, put this on your head.

Suit yourself.

- Hey.

- What is it?

It's nothing.

For a second there, I thought

we might be in line for a medal,

Navy Cross or something.

Then I realized there's not much heroic

about sitting in a raft

and starving to death.

Navy Cross.

We'll be lucky we don't get charged

the cost of a new plane.

Heck. Wasn't anybody's fault, right?

Perfectly good torpedo bomber

lying on the bottom of the ocean.

Sounds like it's gotta be

somebody's fault.

Damn fish aren't biting.

- Where are you going?

- There ain't no fish.

Which means there ain't no food.

I can't take the heat no more.

Come on in, boys! The water's fine!

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