And Lieutenant Sessions was clearly a little surprised to find, on this momentous occasion, the Intelligence Staff Officer of the 4th Marines sitting with his feet dangling like a small boy rather than solemnly behind a desk.

Sessions was not only fresh off the boat from the States, but he was fresh from Headquarters, USMC, and he was on a secret mission. All of these, Banning decided, had perhaps naturally made him just a little bit impressed with his own role in the scheme of things.

Fuck him!

Captain Banning was not awed by Lieutenant Sessions (whom he now remembered having once met years ago at Quantico), nor by the fact that he was fresh from Hq, USMC, nor by his secret mission. And he believed, in fact, that the secret mission itself was a little insulting to him, personally. Not only had he been in China four years and earned, he thought, a reputation for doing his duty the way it should be done, but his own man had been the reason why this whole secret-mission business had started.

Killer McCoy not only returned undetected from his second trip by motor convoy to Peking, but he came back with six rolls of 35-mm film. The Japanese 22nd Division had then been in the process of exchanging its horse-drawn transport for three kinds of trucks-a small truck, smaller even than an American pickup truck; a Japanese copy of a Ford ton-and-a-half stake-body truck; and a larger Mitsubishi two-ton, which was capable of towing both field pieces and ammunition trailers.

Banning had had the film processed, and then sent the negatives and a set of prints by the fastest means available (via the President Wilson of U.S. Lines to Manila, where it had been loaded aboard one of Pan American Airways' Sikorsky seaplanes bound for Hawaii and San Francisco) to Headquarters, USMC.

The first response to that had been a cryptic radio message:

HQ USMC WASHINGTON DC VIA MACKAY RADIO FOR COMMANDING OFFICER 4TH MARINES SHANGHAI FOR BANNING REFERENCE PHOTOS WELL DONE STOP THE MORE THE MERRIER STOP MORE FOLLOWS COURIER STOP FORREST BRIG GEN USMC

Brigadier General Horace W. T. Forrest, Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Headquarters, USMC, was not only so pleased with Killer McCoy's photographs that he wanted more, but he was sending additional information (which he was reluctant to send via Mackay Radio) by courier.

That communication had taken nine days to arrive:

There are several possible ramifications to the Japanese motorization of divisional-strength units which should be self-evident to you. Among these is the possibility that, considering the road network of China, it is the intention of the Japanese to employ these units elsewhere. It is therefore considered of the greatest importance that you continue to furnish this headquarters with the latest information available concerning actual, or projected, motorization of Japanese formations.

Additionally, intelligence gathered in this area will serve to reflect the Japanese industrial capability.

It has been learned from other sources that Germany will furnish to the Japanese an unknown quantity of so far unidentified field artillery. It is considered of the highest importance that information regarding the specific type of such German field artillery, the quantity of such artillery and ammunition stocks, and the identity of troop units to which such German artillery has been assigned be developed as soon as possible.

Lieutenant Edward Sessions has been detached from Hq, USMC to assist in the gathering of this intelligence. He will be traveling to, and within, China, bearing a passport identifying him as a missionary of the Christian Missionary Alliance. He will bring with him an encryption code, which, after the intelligence he develops concerning German artillery in Japanese hands is compiled with information you will have generated concerning Japanese motorization of tactical and logistical units, you will use to transmit refined intelligence data to this headquarters. This encryption code will be used for no other purpose, and you will continue to transmit data you generate as in the past.

You will furnish to Lieutenant Sessions such support as is within your capability. Disbursal of confidential funds in this connection is authorized. Although Lieutenant Sessions will be functioning as a staff officer of this headquarters, he will be under your orders while in China.

Why it was considered necessary for them to send an officer to China to see if any German artillery pieces were in Japanese hands was interesting. Finding out what equipment the Japanese had was something that Banning had been doing all along. So Sessions's arrival meant one of two things: Either they didn't like the way he was handling things, or Lieutenant Sessions had friends in high places, and a secret mission to China would look good on his record when the next promotion board sat.

When Lieutenant Sessions walked into the office, Captain Banning was not surprised to see on his finger the ring signifying graduation from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. The conclusion to be drawn was that Sessions indeed was well connected politically.

"Lieutenant Sessions, sir," Sessions said, standing to attention.

Banning pushed himself off the windowsill and offered his hand.

"We met, I think, at Quantico in 'thirty-five," he said. "Nice to see you again, Sessions. Nice voyage?"

"Yes, sir," Sessions said, "I remember meeting the captain. And the trip was first class, long, but with first-class food and service to make it bearable."

"I came out here on the Shaumont," Banning said. "And I have good reason to believe that she'll be back here just in time to take me home."

Sessions was sure there was more to that statement than was on the surface. It was a dig at him for being ordered to China on a passenger ship rather than on the Shaumont, one of the two Navy Transports (the other was the Henderson) that cruised around the world, stopping at every Naval base or port with a sizable Navy or Marine detachment from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Shanghai.

If I were in his shoes, Sessions thought, I would be more than a little pissed-off myself. If I were the S-2, and they sent a major to "help" do what I am supposed to, it would be insulting. And I'm a lieutenant.

"The President Madison was part of the plan, sir," Sessions said, "so that no questions would be raised if I suddenly joined the Christian Missionary Alliance people here."

"I thought it might be something like that," Banning said dryly.

"There are seven Christian Missionary Alliance missions in China," Sessions explained. "Six of them are located between here and Peking. They are regularly resupplied twice a year with both stores and personnel. That will be the cover for this operation. We will visit each of the six missions on the route. We'll drop off supplies and replacement personnel and pick up some missionaries who are due for a vacation in the United States. It is believed that I can simply blend in with the other missionaries and not attract Japanese attention."

"Well, you could pass for a missionary, I'll say that," Banning said.

"Sir, do I detect some sarcasm?"

The people in Washington who dreamed up this operation, Banning thought, have apparently spent a lot of time watching Humphrey Bogart and Robert Taylor spy movies.

"The people who dreamed up this idea, Sessions," Banning said, "left one important factor out of the equation."

"Sir?"

"With your passport and in civilian clothing, I have no doubt that the Japanese will indeed believe you are an American missionary," Banning said. "The trouble with that is that so far as the Japanese are concerned, all Americans, including missionaries, are spies."

"I don't know what to say, sir," Sessions said.

"In my judgment, Lieutenant Sessions," Banning went on, "this brilliant Washington scheme is tantamount to hanging a sign from both sides of the missionaries' trucks, 'CAUTION!!