The China Clipper bobbed at its moorings at the wharf, its engines were shut off and its normally bright aluminum skin was dulled from the pelting of an incessant rain. The large seaplane had just come from Manila that morning and was awaiting orders at the Pan Am reserved birth at end of a long pier. A man in a white cap looked anxiously out the window of the cockpit and gazed at the lines of people on the pier standing in the rain. He then glanced down at the dirty river covered in mist as the heavy raindrops pounded it. The Wang Poo was busy today with dozens of sampans and launches buzzing about, all of them full of people, all of them desperate.
The whole port area of Shanghai was a dangerous place to be at this time in history just before the Japanese were about to invade. Inside the gates, long lines of people boarded their assigned ships, yet the Clipper was expecting only a few passengers. On orders of the State Department it was reserved for the US Consul and his family and aides, but something was wrong. Captain Jack Flynn pulled his head back inside, wiped his face, and looked at his watch.
"There're late," he said. He could hear the mass of people at the gates not far away. Myra Hendon, the second officer, looked at her watch too. They exchanged anxious glances.
"Jack, we have to leave in a half hour or we won't make our rendezvous with the refueling ship," Myra said.
"I know Myra, but we have our orders." Jack looked again and wondered how long before that crowd burst the gates and came for them.
At the front gate harried customs officials were trying to stamp exit visas as fast as they could to get as many people on the steamships as possible. The atmosphere was tense; the Japanese had dropped leaflets telling the city to surrender and reports from the north said there were warships in the Yangzee and an army in ships heading their way. This news scared the city badly and hundreds of desperate Westerners with papers and thousands of Chinese without papers were trying to enter the harbor, however they were blocked by what remained of the Shanghai police force. It was an anxious time for everyone, especially those outside the port gates milling about in the nervous crowd.
Sam and Adeline were among those outside, hemmed in by the thick crowd plus they were being knocked back and fourth by the mass of panicky people. Adeline looked around anxiously. The mob was growing angrier and more desperate by the minute. They had to get through that gate!
Echoing Adeline's thoughts, Sam shouted over the noise and the hiss of rain hitting pavement, "The situation is almost out of control, we've got to get past or the plane will leave without us!"
"I know! I'm trying to hold on to our cases, but I'm afraid they will be torn loose in this mess," cried Adeline as another hand grabbed her coat sleeve and her hat was knocked away. She stood out in the crowd, a pretty blond haired American in a sea of dark-haired Chinese. Sam was even taller than Adeline and was somewhat protected from the elements by a trench coat and slouch hat.
"Do you have the letters of transit in your coat pocket?" shouted Sam over the din.
"Yes, but I don't know if I can even keep that on!"
"Do your best honey, if we can get to the Clipper I know the co-pilot and she'll let us on."
