Topaz - Leon Uris [110]
“Yes, sir, I have thoughts.”
“They are?”
“General, I know what the Americans did to us. I know your feelings. For the most part they are justified. But America is a very young country, new on the international chessboard and, in our case, has made a bad mistake. Nonetheless, America has also inherited a world in ashes and despair. The only stabilizing force in the world today, the only thing that prevents collapse and chaos, is the power and the good will of the United States. Has America not rectified her wrongs to France through an unprecedented generosity that has allowed us to get up off our backs? General, I do not believe a smaller country such as ours can ever go it alone again. That is the one lesson I learned in Vietnam. We need the collective security of NATO.”
Pierre La Croix was particularly indulgent that day. He even managed a small smile for André as he came from his seat and leaned on the marble mantle. “Well spoken, but you are naïve, Devereaux. For the fact is that one day there has to be great war between the Soviet Union and America. My mission is to see that France is not caught in the middle and destroyed. We will not go down in flames because of an alliance we cannot control. France shall disengage from NATO at a time of our choosing, when we have rebuilt our economy and military strength and covered ourselves with a cloak of treaties.”
“General,” André continued, “if you will look honestly and deeply, perhaps you will admit your feeling about America is one of extreme jealousy and hatred. It can be used by men who understand this. I beg of you, sir, don’t let those around you distort and twist your feelings into a conspiracy against the democracies.”
André had struck a nerve. Pierre La Croix’s face grew taut with anger. “La Croix is not used!” the General said. “La Croix uses!”
There was no handshake as André rose. The General remained rigid, indicating a terse dismissal. André nodded and made for the door, then turned at the last instant.
“France needs order,” André said. “Only you can give us that. Return us to stability and honor ... and then ...”
“And then what?” the General demanded.
“And then, sir, heed the words of General De Gaulle when he spoke of Marshal Pétain: ‘Old age is a shipwreck.’ ”
A military revolt of the late fifties returned Pierre La Croix to power. Jacques Granville was one of the masterminds behind the plot. As his reward the multimarried, charming spendthrift was appointed a deputy to the Vice Administrator. This powerful position in the executive put him in charge of much of La Croix’s political empire within the government.
Of the three comrades, Robert Proust fared the worst. He had neither the ability nor ambition to remain at the top. Also enlisting in the rebuilding of SDECE, he settled as Chief of FFF, which dealt in the distasteful business of kidnappings and special underhanded operations. His slimy deputy, Ferdinand Fauchet, wielded enormous power as a colleague of the underworld. Robert Proust detested his job, but was a helpless plodder.
From the very beginning Devereaux won the respect of the Americans. At first he was aloof, but as he worked intimately with them in the building of ININ they gained his friendship. In the end, he became a devoted servant of NATO, even in the face of Pierre La Croix’s unfolding policies.
As the courier jet approached the European continent, a bleary-eyed Marshall McKittrick yawned a good morning to André and stumbled to the men’s room to tidy up.
Within a matter of hours, André would be facing President La Croix with news of the Soviet missiles in Cuba, but, even more importantly, with the letter from the American President on the Topaz network.
Topaz, the terrible price for the early alliances with the French Communists and the Soviet Union. Topaz, born of La Croix’s blind spot, his extreme abhorrence of the Americans. Perhaps now there would be an end to the evil of Colonel Gabriel Brune, when