NIGHTMARE REVISITED
The inspiration for this story comes from several sources: "A Distant Thunder" (Hawaii Five-O), "He's Alive!" (The Twilight Zone, 1963), "Will the Real Adolph Please Stand Up" (Hogan's Heroes) and "Der Fuehrer's Face" (Academy Award winner, 1943, Walt Disney). As always, no copyright infringement is intended.
o-o-o-o-o
Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins
They crawled out of the darkness like rats from a sewer, spewing the old rallying cry of hate and violence that had its birth in the beer halls of Munich and grew into a war that engulfed the world. The courage of free men and women brought that conflict to a halt at tremendous cost and the world relaxed into an all-too brief time of peace and rebuilding. But the hatred still lingered, hidden underground, and it erupted here and there as small groups of followers arose once again, choosing new targets and spreading the seductive message of intolerance and violence . . .
o-o-o-o-o
Johan Mueller-alias Jack Miller-studied his small squad of brown-shirted men and women: disaffected college students, blue-collar workers angry at their position in life, runaways looking for something, anything. They'd done good work tonight. Windows were broken in several Jap-owned stores, swastikas spray-painted on doors, a few old folks (disposable at best) roughed up as they tried to defend their worthless little shops. He focused on one of the women, Lisa Hoffer. She was a true heroine of the Reich, acting as bait to lure a young Air Force officer into a trap in one of Hotel Street's sleazy back allies. His enforcers had beaten the guy mercilessly, leaving him unconscious and bleeding behind a disreputable bar. His crime: dating an Aryan girl, a member of the Master Race.
"The Fuehrer would be proud of you," he commended his followers. He turned towards a large framed painting on the wall and lifted his arm in a stiff salute. "Heil Hitler!"
"Heil Hitler!" the squad echoed. "The Fuehrer lives!"
o-o-o-o-o
Steve slammed his car to an abrupt stop. Another episode of neo-Nazi violence. Not just the usual broken windows and swastikas, a murder this time, an Air Force officer. He wasn't surprised to find General Hogan and Colonel Kinchloe, his second-in-command, already there, speaking with Doc Bergman and Danno. He moved quickly to the ambulance, growling "What have you got?"
"First Lieutenant Paul Takashima," Hogan's voice was tight. "Air Force Academy graduate. Fighter pilot, one of the best I've seen. He's only been stationed at Hickam a couple of months. He was top gun in his class." He shook his head ruefully. "It's bad enough to lose a man in combat, but this! My team will work with you on this one," the officer added forcefully. "Paul was one of ours."
Steve nodded his thanks as he turned to the shrouded figure on the gurney and gently lifted the blanket. He studied the battered face for a moment before turning toward the coroner. "Doc? Cause of death?"
"Looks like he was systematically beaten, I'd put the time of death as sometime after midnight, most probably around one or two," Bergman replied. "I can tell you more after the autopsy."
"Steve," Kinch broke in, "it almost looks like Gestapo tactics. We saw a lot of this during the war. Damned Nazis."
"Mr. McGarrett?" A soft, accented voice caught the detective's attention. He turned to see Danny ushering an older couple from one of the damaged stores.
"Mr. and Mrs. Matsuyama, Steve," Williams said. "They witnessed the attack. They called HPD."
Steve motioned the couple to a nearby bench. "Anything you can tell us would be of help," he began gently. "I'm sorry for the damage you have suffered. We'll send a crew to help you and your neighbors. This attack was unthinkable."
"Thank you," the older man bowed slightly. "We are very grateful. My wife and I were asleep upstairs when we heard shouting and glass breaking. We did not go down but we did look out the windows."
"We peeked around the edges of the curtains," his wife added softly. "They were throwing rocks, smashing windows with hammers, saying horrible things about us. How could they do such things?"
"And that young man, he was with a girl," Mr. Matsuyama continued. "They were outside a bar down the street-the kind young servicemen visit-this was before those others did any damage. The young man, he tried to kiss her and those thugs beat him. He fell and they dragged him away."
"Can you describe his assailants?" McGarrett questioned.
"Not well," the shopkeeper replied. "The streetlights are not that good. I can only tell you that they were young and wore some kind of uniform, brown or khaki shirts." He paused for a moment and continued, "I served in the Nisei Battalion during the war. My son is in the Marines. We're proud to be Americans. Why do they hate us?"
Steve shook his head sadly. He had no answer to their question.
o-o-o-o-o
"Why do they hate us?" Kinch mulled over the old shopkeeper's words. "I don't see a reason for a neo-Nazi group to target the Japanese community. Japan was one of the Axis powers during the war."
"Mainly involved in China, Southeast Asia, the Philippines and the Pacific theater," Steve added. He had vivid memories of some of that action. "They almost turned the Pacific into a Japanese lake."
"Hitler had other targets," Chin Ho noted. He'd served in Italy, won a Bronze Star. "He promised the German people the world and gave them Hell."
"So how do we flush this group out?" Hogan brought the conversation back on target. "What do we know about them?"
"They seem to be a relatively new group," Danny began. "So far, until last night, their activities have been confined to vandalism, mostly in and around Japan Town. Maybe we should check the backgrounds of the other victims." McGarrett and Hogan agreed. They'd give Newkirk and Chin that job.
Kono spoke up, "My cousin Malia-she goes to the university in Manoa-has heard talk about foreigners taking over dese Islands. Someone's invitin' kids to meetings. She don't know where."
"It's a start," McGarrett said. "Fringe groups like this one often recruit students. Find out what you can. We may need to send someone undercover. Danno, you up for this assignment?"
Williams nodded. Anything to stop this gang from spreading its poison throughout the Islands. "So how do I become a Nazi?"
"That," said Hogan, "is where we come in. And here's what we're gonna do . . ."
o-o-o-o-o