“You will think us both maniacs, initially, Admiral. But we have come as saviors. If we speak falsely, let the spirits of our ancestors bear the shame.”

“Oh, they shall bear a heavy burden of shame, believe me, Hidaka.”

“I believe not, Admiral. You were steaming toward defeat and catastrophe. We can avert that, if you will just hear us out.”

“I am listening. No doubt the Americans are listening, as well. The whole world is waiting on you, Lieutenant Commander Hidaka.”

“Here we are now, entertain us,” Moertopo sung under his breath.

Hidaka shot him a withering look. The reference meant nothing to him, but the potentially disastrous effect of that one line of English did not bear thinking about.

“Admiral Yamamoto, begging your pardon, but we shall not even attempt to explain ourselves over the radio. It would be futile. We shall be over your position in approximately twenty minutes. We shall maneuver to land in front of your forward eighteen-inch turrets. I am informed it will be a very dangerous approach. The pilot requests that you adjust your heading in order to place the wind across your decks.”

“It will be more than dangerous,” exclaimed Yamamoto. “It will be fatal. You cannot land a seaplane on a battleship. I am warning you. I will have you shot down if you approach the Yamato.”

“We are not in a seaplane, and we can land without damaging the Yamato. Please do not shoot us down. You will soon understand. Hidaka out.”

He drew his fingers across his throat, motioning Moertopo to sever the link.

The commander in chief was cut off mid-rant.

Admiral Kakuta stared at him as though he had just lost his mind. Nobody spoke to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto like that.

Hidaka gestured helplessly.

“From what I have heard, the Admiral is a gambler. So am I.”

Yamamoto’s mouth opened and closed. Opened and closed. But no sound emerged.

Perhaps they could land on the Yamato after all. That thing, that giant insect in which Kakuta had so quickly navigated across fifteen hundred kilometers of fog-shrouded sea—and at night!—it seemed to hang in the air as if suspended from a thread. No. No it didn’t seem to hang in the air. It simply did hang there.