The voice snapped Pitt from his thoughts, and he found himself standing under the white glare of floodlights that were perched on top of the guard's shack at the main gate. The shack sat on a curb-lined island that divided the incoming and outgoing traffic and was just large enough for one man to sit in. A short, burly looking Air Policeman stepped from the doorway and eyed him closely.

"I couldn't sleep." As soon as he said it, Pitt felt foolish for not being more original. But what the hell, he thought, it's the truth.

"Can't say as I blame you," said the AP. "After all that's happened today, I'd be real surprised if anyone on the base was sound asleep." The mere thought of sleep triggered a reflex, and the AP yawned.

"You must get awfully bored, sitting out here alone all night," said Pitt.

"Yeah, it gets pretty dull," the AP said, hooking one hand in his Sam Browne belt and resting the other on the grip of a .45 Colt automatic, clinging to his hip. "If you're going off base, you'd better let me see your pass."

"Sorry, I don't have one." Pitt had forgotten to ask Colonel Lewis for a pass to get on and off Brady Field.

A swaggering, tough look crossed the AP's face. "Then you'll have to go back to the barracks and get it." He swatted at a moth that flapped by his face, toward a floodlight.

"That would be a waste of time. I don't even own a pass," said Pitt, smiling helplessly.

"Don't play dumb with me, buddy. Nobody gets in or out of the gate without a pass."

"I did."

The AP's eyes became suspicious. "How did you manage that?"

"I flew in."

A surprised look hit the AP. His eyes beamed in the brightness of the floods. Another passing moth lit on his white cap, but he did not notice it. Then it burst from him. "You're the pilot of that Catalina flying boat!"

"Guilty as charged," said Pitt.

"Say, I want to shake your hand." The AP's lips opened in a big tooth-displaying smile. "That was the greatest piece of flying I've ever seen." He thrust out a massive hand.

Pitt took the outstretched hand and winced. He had a strong grip of his own, but it seemed puny compared to the AP's. "Thank you, but I'd have felt a lot better about it if my opponent had crashed."

"Oh hell, he couldn't have gone far. That old junk pile was smoking up a storm when it crossed over the hills."

"Maybe it crashed on the other side?"

"No chance. The colonel had the whole Air Police squadron chasing all over the island in jeeps, looking for it. He searched until dark, but didn't spot a thing." He appeared disgusted. "What really pissed me off was getting back to the base too late for the chow line."