CHAPTER ONE

      THE NOISE HAD CHANGED. The steady drone of the engines had taken on a new pitch. Avery lifted his hat from over his eyes and sat up a little. Every bone in his body ached; muscles he hadn’t even known he had were protesting. Three plane journeys over twelve hours would do that to a man. It didn’t help that he’d been on duty for twenty-four hours before that.

      He’d expected to have a few days’ rest before shipping out to Italy from Utah. But plans in the US Air Force often came unstuck.

      His orders had changed overnight. A fellow physician who’d been scheduled to come to Japan had been struck down with a mystery illness. So, instead of flying over the boot-shaped coast of Italy, he found himself looking at the emerging coastline of Japan. The change of noise was due to the flaps moving and wheels coming down on the aircraft. His stomach growled loudly and the serviceman sitting next to him gave him a smile and passed over a packet of crisps. They weren’t flying on a commercial jet—there were no air hostesses, no bar and no food. They were flying on a military jet and it wasn’t exactly built for comfort. Avery couldn’t wait to find his accommodation and get his head down for a few hours. Sleep was all he cared about right now.

      The plane landed with a bump. He pulled open the packet of crisps and started eating—the quicker he ate the sooner he would get to sleep. The jet took a few minutes to taxi to a halt. The rest of the servicemen were grabbing their packs, ready to disembark.

      Avery kept looking outside, trying to get a better feel for the base. It housed nineteen thousand servicemen and servicewomen and contained one of the biggest military hospitals. Set in the outskirts of Tokyo, the base was a home away from home. Most of the staff stayed on-site. There were stores, cafés, schools for the kids, places