by Cuba (lit)
was an oasis of calm. Toad led them to a corner
of the room and introduced them to Rear Admiral
Jake Grafton.
Grafton was a trim officer about six feet
tall. The admiral's gray eyes captured
Tommy's caret attention. The eyes seemed
to measure you from head to foe, see all there was to see,
then move on. Only when the eyes looked elsewhere
did you see that Grafton's nose was a trifle
too large, and one side of his forehead bore an
old scar that was slightly less tan than the skin
surrounding it.
Toad Tarkington was several inches shorter
than the admiral and heavier through the shoulders. He was
a tireless whirlwind who dazzled a person meeting
him for the first time with quick wit and boundless energy, which
seemed to radiate from him like the aura of the sun. He
smiled easily and often, revealing a set of
perfect white teeth that would have made any dentist
proud.
Jake Grafton and William Henry Chance
stood behind Toad watching him work Alejo
Vargas's computer. Toad stared at the screen
intently while his fingers flew over the keys.
Soon they were plotting positions on a chart. "Those
missiles have to be at these locations,
Admiralea"...Toad said, pointing at the places he
had marked on the chart, "or the data in the computer
is worthless." He looked over his shoulder at
Chance. "Could this computer be a plant?"
Chance glanced at Carmellini, who was sitting in a
chair against the wall studying the layout and furnishings
of the planning space and the knots of people engaged in a
variety
STEPHEN COONTS
of tasks. The roar of conversation made the place
seem greatly disorganized, which Tommy realized was
an illusion. Charts on the wall
decorated with classified information, planning tables,
file cabinets sporting serious padlocks,
battle lanterns on the overhead, copy machines,
burn bagsthe place, reminded him of the inner
sanctums of the CIA'S headquarters at
Langley.
"Very doubtfulea"...Chance answered, and bent over to study
the chart Toad was marking.
"I make it six sitesea"...Toad said.
"Could there be more missiles"..."...Jake Grafton
asked. He too glanced at Carmellini, then
turned to Chance. "You see the pitfalls if there are
missiles we don't know about?"
"Yes, sir. I can only say we have seen
evidence for at least six."
"Six silosea"...Toad mused, studying the locations.
"There is a warhead manufacturing facility
someplace on that islandea"...Chance said. "The viruses
would have to be dried out, put in whatever medium the
Cubans believe will keep them alive and virulent
and dormant until the warhead explodes, then the
medium sealed inside the warheads. The facility will
not be large, but it will have clean rooms, ah-
scrubbers, remote handling equipment, and I would
think a fairly well equipped lab on
site."
"Any ideas"..."...Jake Grafton asked.
"I was hoping that the satellite reconnaissance people
might be able to find the site if wejtell them what
to look for."
"We'll have them look, certainly, but ypu have no
independent information about where this facility might be?"
"No."
Jake motioned to Carmellini, who leaned in so that he
could hear better. "Here is the situationea"...the
admiral said. "The White House has ordered us
to go get those missile silos as soon as possible.
Bombing the silos is outwe are to remove the
warheads and destroy the missiles. What my staff
and these other folks here tonight are trying to decide
is how best to go about doing what the president wants
us to do. Obviously, if we had enough time we could bring
in forces from the States and assault the silo
locations with forces tailored for the job. If we had
enough time we could even do a dress rehearsal, make
sure everyone is on the same sheet of music.
Unfortunately, the White House wants the
silos taken out as soon as possible."
"How soon is possible"..."...Chance asked.
Jake Grafton took a deep breath,
then let it out slowly. "That's the sixty-four
dollar question. We must find out what's there before we go
charging in."
He stood, walked over to a chart of Cuba that was
posted on the bulkhead. He was looking at a
penciled line on the chart that went through the Windward
Passage and along the northern coast of Cuba*
all the way to the narrowest portion of the Florida
Straits. The cruisers should be in position by six
o'clock this evening.
Jake turned from the chart and gestured at the people at the
planning tables. "These folks are just looking at
possibilities. We must assemble sufficient
forces to do the job, yet we run huge risks if
we take the time to assemble overwhelming force. There
is a balance there. When we see the latest
satellite stuff we'll have a better idea."
"I would be amazed if there are any troops around
these silos," William Henry Chance said.
IT-HEIR existence has been overlooked by two
generations of photo interpretation specialists. The
Cubans know that the whole island is painstakingly
photographed on a regular basiswe've been
looking at those damned silos for forty years and
didn't know what they were. They must be
underground and well camouflaged."
"I'm not sending anybody after those things until I
know what the opposition isea"...Jake said bluntly.
"I don't launch suicide missions."
"Are the silos your only target"..."...Chance asked.
Jake Grafton examined the tall agent with
narrowed eyes. "What do you mean?"
"The Cubans grew the viruses for their warheads in
a lab in the science building of the University of
Havana. If we walk off with the warheads in the
missiles, there is nothing to prevent the Cubans from
cooking up another batch and putting it in planes
to spray all over Florida and Georgia and
wherever."
"You are suggesting that we target their lab?"
"I highly recommended it. Chances to step on
cockroaches are few and far between: we better put
Alejo Vargas out of business while we have the
chance."
"All I can do is make a recommendation
to Washingtonea"...the admiral said.
"And the processing facility. If we are going
to take Cuba out of the biological warfare
business, we should do it right."
"Can we bomb any of these
places"..."...Toad Tarkington asked.
"Oh, noea"...Chance said. "A bomb exploding in a
lab full of poliomyelitis virus would be the
equivalent of a biological warhead detonating.
The virus would be explosively liberated.
maybe even farther, would probably die. No, the
only way to destroy the virus is with fire."
Jake Grafton scratched his head.
"The temperature would have to come up really quickly
to kill the viruses before the place started venting to the
atmosphereea"...Chance added. "A regular old house
fire wouldn't do it. We need something a lot
hotter."
'The fires of hellea"...Toad said, and his listeners
nodded.
The first batches of satellite imagery began coming
off the printers within an hour after the suspected silo
locations were encrypted and transmitted. The air
intelligence specialists were soon bent over the
images, studying them with magnifying glasses. Before
long Jake Grafton was shoulder to shoulder with the
experts.
"This first location looks like it's smack in the middle
of a sugarcane fieldea"...the senior Air
Intelligence officer groused.
Jake Grafton didn't have to think that over very
long. "Let's assume that our global positioning
is more accurate than the Cubans"."
"You mean they don't know the silos' exact
latstlong locations?"
"Precisely."
"Well, the nearest building to this sugarcane field
is this large barn, which is about three-quarters of a
kilometer away."...The specialist pointed. Jake
used the magnifying glass.
"That could be itea"...he muttered. "Let's see what
we can dig out of the archives. How long has this barn
been here, have there ever been any large trucks
aroundlet's look in all seasons of the yearand are
Cuban Army units nearby? I'm really
interested in army units."
"Power linesea"...the senior AI officer mused.
"Strikes me that there ought to be a large power feed
nearby."
"It sort of fitsea"...Toad Tarkington said
to Jake. "If they built the barn first, then they could
dig the silo inside the barn and truck the dirt out
at night, pour concrete, do all the work at
night."
"Install the missile at night when the thing is
finishedea"...the AI officer said, continuing the thought, "and
if they had no unusual activity near the barn,
no one would ever be the wiser."
"Prove to me that that is what they didea"...Jake said.
"And prove that we won't be sending troops into an
ambush."
The admiral stood amid the banks of computers and
watched the operators trade data via
satellite with the computers at the National Security
Agency in Maryland.
The CIA agents were fed and given bunks to sleep
in. They went without protest. Someone brought Jake
Grafton a cup of coffee, which he sipped as he
walked around the intel and planning spaces thinking about
intermediate-range ballistic missiles with
biological warheads.
STEPHEN COONTS
Dawn found Ocho Sedano still afloat, still hanging
grimly on to the milk jug and treading water. He
had stopped thinking hours ago. Hunger and
exhaustion had sapped his strength and thirst had
thickened his blood. He was not asleep, nor was he
awake, but in some semiconscious state in between.
He found himself looking into the glare of the
rising sun as it rose from the sea. The realization that
he had made it through the night crossed his mind, as
did the certainty that today was the last day.
Today, someone must find me
today....
The television lights were on and the cameras running
when Alejo Vargas walked to the podium in the main
reception room of the presidential palace in
Havana. For forty years Fidel Castro had
used this forum to speak to the Cuban people and the worldnow it was
Alejo's turn.
"We are hereea"...he began, "at a desperate hour
in our nation's life. The greatest Cuban patriot
of them all, Fidel Castro, died here five days
ago. Everyone listening to my voice knows the
details of his career and the greatness of the leadership he
provided for Cuba. I was with him when he died"...here
Vargas wiped tears from his eyes"...and I can tell you,
it was the most profound moment of my life.
"Yesterday the Council of State elected me
interim president, to hold office until the next
meeting of the National Assembly, which as you know
elects members of the Council of State and
selects xs'president. I swore to the ministers
and the Council of Stare that I would uphold
the Constitution and defend Cuba with all my strength.
Now I swear it to you."
He paused again and gathered himself. "Today there are people
on the streets who accuse me of murdering Fidel.
May God strike me dead if I am guilty of
that crime."
He paused, took several deep breaths, and since
God didn't terminate him then and there, continued:
"Fidel Castro died of cancer. His body shall lie
in state for the next three days. If you love
Cuba, I invite you to pay your respects to this
great man, and to look at his corpse. See if there
is a single mark of violence on the body. My
enemies have accused me of many things, but the murder of
Cuba's greatest patriot is the most vicious
cut of all. I too worshiped Fidel. Look
at the body carefullylet the evidence of your own
eyes prove the falsity of these accusations against
me."
Here again he had to pause to wipe his eyes, to steady
himself before the podium.
"I have been accused of other crimes, so I take
this opportunity to bare my soul before you, to tell you the
truth as God Almighty knows it, so you will know the
lies of my enemies when you hear them. My
enemies are also whispering that I killed Raul
Castro at a meeting of the Council of State
yesterday, when the facts of his brother's death were first
announced. The truth is Raul was murdered as he
stood at the table discussing the hopes and dreams of his
dead brother, by Hector Sedano. Raul Castro
was shot down before a dozen eyewitnesses, myself
included. I swear to you this day that Hector Sedano
will pay the price the law requires for his crime."
He paused again here, referred to his notes.
Someone had to take the fall for shooting Ratil, so
why not Hector?
"The story of our country is a story of struggle,
a struggle between the socialist people of Cuba and the evil
forces of capitalism, forces controlled and
dominated by the United States, the colossus to the
north. The struggle was not won by Fidel, although he
fought the great fightit continues even today. For
example, while they are representing to the world that they
are destroying their inventory of chemical and
biological weapons, the United States has
introduced these weapons to Cu
ban soil."
The camera panned to the artillery shell resting on
its base on a table beside the podium. His
"Here is an American artillery shell
loaded with the bac-
teria that causes anthrax, one of the deadliest
diseases known to disman. This shell was stored in a
warehouse at the American naval base at
Guantanamo Bay, which is sacred Cuban
soil. The Americans were unwilling to keep
thenpoisonous filth in their own country, so they
exported it to ours.
"I have this day asked the ambassadors of five of the
nations who keep embassies in Havana to send their
military attache's to inspect this warhead. Here is
a sworn document these officers executed that states
the shell is as I have represented, a biological
warhead."...He fluttered the paper, then held it up
so the camera could zoom in.
"The revelation here today of the United States's
perfidy will undoubtedly provoke a reaction from the
bandits to our north. Fidel always knew that the day
might come when we would have to defend ourselves again from
American aggression, so he installed a- battery
of intercontinental ballistic missiles in Cuba
for defensive purposes. These mis-. siles are
operational and ready now to defend our sacred soil.
Rest assured, my fellow Cubans, that we shall
resist American aggression, that we shall
fight to defend Cuba from those who would destroy her,
and we shall make her great for the generations to come.
"Thank you."
As a speech to a Cuban audience accustomed
to Fidel's six-hour harangues full of baroque
phrases and soaring rhetoric, Alejo's little
effort seemed underdone. He had actually made a
conscious effort not to sound like Fidel. Watching the
tape of the speech, he thought it went well.
"Air it immediatelyea"...he said to the television
producer, and walked back toward Fidel's old
office.
Alba and Delgado were there to meet him. They had
known that Vargas intended to blame RauTs murder
on Hector Sedano when he made this speech:
indeed, they had already signed eyewitness affidavits
swearing that they saw Hector shoot the man. That
Alejo Vargas had the cojones to make the big
lie stick meant a lot to these men who had
spent their lives in an absolute dictatorship
and knew that the man at the top had to be completely
ruthless, without scruple of any kind, to survive.
Fidel had been willing to crush his enemies any