explosion, the floor beneath him shook more violently and the

telephone rang shrilly on a table that was bouncing on the tiled floor. Paris kicked his chair back, picked the telephone up, and was

listening with widening eyes when the anti-aircraft batteries outside

started firing. 'G.o.dd.a.m.n!' Paris exclaimed. 'Right.' Then he slammed

the phone back down and stared at the three of them. 'We're being

attacked by the G.o.dd.a.m.ned j.a.panese,' he said. 'They've already

attacked Wheeler Field and Schofield Barracks. Dammit, those sons of

b.i.t.c.hes caught us napping. Their planes are bombing us right now.' Even as he spoke, a plane roared low overhead and away again,

making the house shake. Bradley glanced at Joan, saw her wide,

confused gaze, then he followed Paris out of the house, to stand on the

porch.

A black pall of smoke was already billowing over Pearl Harbour

and a frightening number of j.a.panese dive bombers, fighters, and

torpedo planes were flying in from the sea, their wings glinting in

brilliant sunlight, to swoop down in waves and bomb and strafe Ford

Island and the harbour.

Bradley saw the bombs dropping, tumbling over like black birds,

and heard the awesome blast of the explosions even as fierce b.a.l.l.s of

fire were lifted up on clouds of billowing, oily black smoke over what

he knew were the battleships near Ford Island and the defenceless,

parked planes on the airfield nearby.

'Oh, my G.o.d!' Joan exclaimed softly behind Bradley. He felt her

fingers tugging at his shirt, as if to pull him back into her.

'Dammit!' Paris exclaimed. 'I've got to get back to my ship!' He

glanced at his wife. 'You better get the h.e.l.l off the base, Marisa. Go

with Bradley and Joan. Go back to their place up in the hills and I'll

call you later. Okay?'

However, even as he spoke, some j.a.panese Zeros roared in low

overhead, through the black puffs of smoke from the American antiaircraft batteries, to pa.s.s on and strafe downtown Honolulu and the

lush hills beyond. A series of explosions tore through the greenery,

blowing palm trees apart, setting fire to the foliage, filling the air with flames and smoke between the houses dotting the hills, as the planes, their machine guns still chattering viciously, ascended gracefully and

circled back toward the sea.

'No,' Marisa said. 'I'm staying right here.'