Too Late the Hero Page #6

May not be too easy.

Might bounce against those screens.

Yeah. I suppose they might.

- Scott.

- Sir?

Do you think, I mean, given a chance...

that you could operate

the kind of transmitter they've got in there?

I'll have to have a look at it,

but it's probably basically the same thing.

Good. I think we might give it a try.

Give what a try?

If the three of us

could get in there unnoticed...

I could dispose of him...

and you two could send back

our fake message on their transmitter.

Rather a nice touch of irony,

don't you think?

What're you trying to pull, Captain?

That wasn't in our orders.

No, Lieutenant. It's evident that one of us

has to get in there in any case...

to make sure of destroying their transmitter.

So why not go the whole hog?

Our orders were damn plain, Captain.

We were to send

the message on our transmitter.

If that didn't work out,

we were to destroy theirs.

But nobody said a damn thing...

Do be quiet. I'm going over there

to deal with the operator.

When you see me come back to the window,

you and Scott will join me.

We'll send our message,

destroy their transmitter, and leave.

- Is that clear?

- Yes, sir.

No, sir. I'm having no part of it, Captain.

You're disobeying orders

and going beyond your authority.

You'll do as you're told.

What about that sentry, sir?

Keep him covered,

but don't shoot unless he does.

- Not even if he sees me.

- Even if he sees you?

I'm going to walk straight across there.

Even if he does see me, he's quite likely

to assume I'm one of his chaps.

- Sir.

- What is it?

You'd look a lot less English

without that hat on.

Captain! I'm telling you now.

You're going against

Col. Thompson's orders.

If you go in there, I'm not going with you.

You hear me?

I haven't got time to argue, Lieutenant.

You know what you have to do.

There he is.

What's the matter?

You heard me tell him

I'm not going in there.

We're running out of time.

What's the matter with you?

I told him.

Come on, Scott. Let's go!

- Are you ready to transmit yet?

- I think so, sir.

- Where the devil's the Lieutenant?

- I don't know, sir.

Lawson!

I told him.

I know you did.

But they're in there now, waiting for you.

Go on, get moving!

Come on, move!

Where's the Lieutenant?

How the hell should I know?

I haven't seen him. Have you?

Of course I haven't.

Then let's go.

I don't know.

You can please yourself, what you do.

I'm off.

I'm not waiting around for that rubbish sack.

Coming in, Hearne.

What're you doing? You're supposed

to be gone three minutes ago.

Yes, sir. I was only waiting for you

because I thought you...

Blimey.

This is a turn-up for the book.

Oh, God, looks like

the whole Japanese Air Force out there.

Look at that.

Like the swing shift at Lockheed.

I don't believe it.

Three rousing, great cheers

for American Air Reconnaissance.

Let's get the hell out of here. Come on.

Get me out of here!

What're you stopping for?

- Which way?

- To the right, go around.

- Come on.

- Go around.

To the right, come on!

Give us covering fire, Thornton.

- What's that?

- Scatter.

Good afternoon, gentlemen.

This is Major Yamaguchi...

who has the pleasure of addressing you.

No doubt you are quite amazed

to hear my voice.

In order to be sure...

that you are hearing me...

I was obliged to make this speech

five times today.

But tomorrow, as we close in on you...

you will hear only four such speeches.

On Saturday...

if you have not already

been killed or captured...

only two.

Captured?

If you look at your map, you will see...

that as you travel south...

towards your base...

your situation is like that of water...

in a funnel.

What's he on about?

Do you understand?

Like water in a funnel.

No matter where you may now be,

or which route you take...

you will eventually wish

to emerge at your base.

As the funnel narrows...

as you get closer to home...

we will have less and less area to cover...

in our search for you.

We have found

your abandoned radio transmitter.

We know our air power in this area...

came as a surprise to you...

and you must communicate

this information to your base.

But this will not happen.

Within three days...

you will all be killed or captured.

There is, however, an alternative.

You should consider it carefully.

If you will all surrender now...

just one week from today, by which time...

your plans and ours will be an open secret...

you will be released...

and allowed to return to your own base.

This offer is a reasonable one.

Certainly you should consider it carefully.

But, remember, it must be all of you.

There can be no exceptions.

I shall speak to you again tomorrow,

by which time...

I hope that good sense will have prevailed.

If you wish to take advantage of our offer...

you will fire a single shot as a signal.

Up your khyber.

That is all. Good day, gentlemen.

And good day to you,

you malignant yellow dwarf.

They must be right behind us.

If that amplification's strong enough,

they could be a helluva long way.

What do you think, sir?

About what?

It seems like they're on to us.

Do you think they mean

what they're saying?

Don't be bloody stupid.

He did say they'd treat us all right.

They'll chop your bloody head off.

Since when have you been an expert?

What do you know about it, bigmouth?

A sight more than you do, pig face.

I saw what they did

in the hospital in Singapore.

You were so busy running

you never even saw a Jap...

let alone what they did to our lads.

They won't take us to a rest camp

now that we know where that airstrip is.

He's right.

- Damn right. Now let's get out of here.

- Okay, come on.

All right, move out.

All right, get some sleep.

God, I'm tired.

Got to sleep.

Got to.

Good morning, gentlemen.

This is Saturday.

And the funnel in which you are trapped

is rapidly narrowing.

I anticipated that you'd accept my terms.

Instead, you evidently marched...

throughout the day,

and, perhaps, most of the night.

A remarkable effort.

Your leader must be

a man of great determination.

You have very little reason

to be pleased with him...

because his stubborn determination...

has inspired me...

to alter the terms of our offer.

This offer now has a time limit.

You have until sundown to surrender.

After that, you will be killed on sight.

In war, one must take harsh measures.

I'm sorry if you do not like these new rules...

but the responsibility rests with your leader.

Remember, you have only

to fire a single shot.

But please remember also...

that any surrender must include all of you.

You understand? All of you.

I will give you a few minutes

to consider your decision.

How about it now, Lieutenant?

What? Quit?

No way.

They're not getting their hands on me.

This time tomorrow,

I'll be back at that camp.

I don't think you know

what you're talking about.

Even the Jap said it was all your fault.

I think we should turn in.

- What do you say, Thornton?

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