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Coonts, Stephen - Jake Grafton 7 - Cuba

Page 37

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.
/>   Everyone downwind for a couple hundred miles,

  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

 

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