Voyage to Tobalai

First published in Thrilling Adventures, July 1942. Reprinted in the collections With These Hands and The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour, Vol 4.
"Racing against time, the Semiramis is headed east from Cape Town, South Africa with a load of torpedo planes destined for Balikpapan, in the Netherlands East Indies. After following a course that crosses the southern Indian Ocean Mayo turns the Semiramis north; slipping through the Linta Strait on the east side of the island of Komodo, taking the narrow passage closest to the Flores coast. His course is being kept a secret; the passengers and some of the crew believe that they are several hundred miles to the west, nearing Makassar. When the truth gets out, an enemy agent takes a risk to alert the Japanese so they can revise a deadly plan."