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Hawaii May 8, 1942
Sue Lee could feel the humidity seeping through her summer uniform. A welcome breeze was coming through the open door, helped cool the stuffy room. She was with a group of other code-breakers in Hawaii, closely monitoring a battle in the Coral Sea. The objective was to seek out some new jargon to add to the cryptanalysis dictionary for future code-breaking.
The cryptanalysis results were working well. Teamed with code-breakers from Australia, they had learned that the Japanese forces were going to invade Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the southeastern Solomon Islands.
A carrier task force along with a joint American-Australian cruiser force was sent to stop them.
It was the second day of the battle; they had severely damaged the carrier Yorktown.
Carrier Lexington’s damage was far worse. A fire caused by an explosion had forced the evacuation of all personnel below the waterline. Shortly after that, there’d been another explosion; they had given the order to abandon ship.
The Japanese had had one light carrier sunk, one destroyer sunk, and three warships sunk. The carrier Shōkaku had been badly damaged—hit three times by bombs—could not launch or recover her aircraft. Now, she was running back to Japan.
Both sides were withdrawing with heavy losses. However, the Japanese invasion had been repelled, which was a victory.
Finally, code-breakers were told to stand down. Sue Lee leaned against the wall outside the stuffy building, breathing in the fresh air while waiting for her ride back to the hotel.
She was attracting the attention of a group of sailors nearby. Sue Lee was tall and slim-waisted, with black hair cut to shoulder length and green eyes. She had a distinct beauty, which had been passed down to her from her European heritage, French Polynesian mother, mixed with Asian from her Japanese father.
Usually, she would smile and strike up a conversation, but it had been a long two days, she was worried about Carl. Carl was Finn and Mary’s boy, who had been aboard the Carrier Lexington. It would be days before she knew who the survivors were.
Her car pulled up. A corporal jumped out to open the door.
After she’d settled in the back seat, she remembered the card in her pocket. A little old man approached her yesterday morning while waiting for her ride in front of the hotel. He’d handed her his card, saying, “Could I have a moment of your time when you are free, Sue Lee?” Before she could answer, her car pulled up. The dapper gentleman opened the door for her. “Your uncle Yoshi and I were partners. My number is on the card. Please call me when you’re free.”
The name on the card was Mr. Han. She shook her head. “Maybe tomorrow I need some sleep.” Her driver stopped at the entrance to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The last time she’d stayed at the Royal Hawaiian had been the summer before she’d graduated from Stanford University in 1940. She’d flown over with Yoshi on the Pan-American China clipper. Yoshi had been negotiating a new shipping contract; he’d wanted to teach her more about the business. She was part owner of the Walker Ono shipping lines after the death of her father. But knew that Yoshi really just wanted to cheer her up after her lover Tommaso had left.
In January, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel was exclusively leased to the United States Navy as a rest and transient center for those serving in the Pacific Fleet.
Sue Lee was waiting for her transportation orders to continue to Melbourne, Australia, to the HYPO listening station. Code-breakers throughout the Pacific were scrambling to anticipate Admiral Yamamoto’s next moves.
Sue Lee had become involved with army intelligence shortly after graduating from Stanford University. The war department had realized they lacked personnel fluent in the Japanese language.
In the event of war with Japan, they needed to train translators and field interrogators. This had entailed the starting of a school for teaching the Japanese language.
She’d been told that any time war was declared, they could conscript her into the army. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, that had become a reality. Her skills and fluency in languages had pushed her deeper into intelligence work; now, she was a leading code-breaker, interpreting enemy information. At the moment, she was exhausted as a doorman opened her door, welcoming her to the Royal Hawaii Hotel.