Topaz - Leon Uris [125]
“The Americans tell you to get the hell out of Cuba and what do you answer? Your great and courageous chairman engages in writing love letters to a doddering, inept British philosopher and cries and weeps and moans about the Yankee piracy and tells us all ... let’s sit down and talk ... brotherhood ... peace for mankind.” He flung the paper away. “Where is all the goddam missile power you’ve been threatening to use on the Yankees? You’re yellow ... liars!”
“Enough! Enough! Enough!”
“Yellow!”
“I demand Juanita de Córdoba.”
“Demand your ass off. You see, my brave señor comrade resident, we are telling you we run Cuba and we warn you to start showing some spine.”
11
LONDON ... THE PRESIDENT ANSWERED the telegram from the aged British philosopher with the terse comment ... “I think your attention might well be directed to the burglars rather than to those who caught the burglars.”
KEY WEST ... low-level Navy P8U reconnaissance planes have now positively identified twenty-four Soviet bloc ships steaming toward Cuba and are keeping them under tight surveillance. All sources say that the confrontation at sea must take place within the next few days ....
WASHINGTON ... The President has ignored Walter Lippmann’s column which pleads for negotiation, as well as brushing aside U Thant’s United Nations appeal that both sides stop their collision course. In the face of swelling world criticism of the brazen American position, the President sent a telegram to each of the OAS members, with the exception of abstaining Uruguay, which read in part: “By your swift and decisive action we have shown the world and particularly the Soviet Union we stand united in our determination to defend the integrity of the hemisphere....”
In Moscow, the Soviet Premier in another of those paradoxes belied logic by summoning Pomeroy Bidwell, a visiting American industrialist, to the Kremlin. Bidwell was seated opposite a man who appeared on the brink of total exhaustion. The Soviet Premier was well aware that the beginning of the end of his reign of power might be taking place and that his bully tactics would never again effectively cow America.
Arguing with Bidwell as though he were an official representative of the United States instead of a visiting fireman, the Premier tried to convince him the weapons in Cuba were truly defensive. He debated in semantics using verbal gymnastics. Pomeroy Bidwell was not at all convinced and cited Sweden’s weaponry and proximity to the Soviet Union as an example.
The Russian tried to appeal his case as he had to the pacifist British philosopher. When unsuccessful, he launched a series of threats and swore that if the Americans boarded a single Russian ship his submarines would sink the American fleet.
And suddenly, the Soviet leader complained in almost a whimper. “How can I negotiate with a man who is younger than my son?”
Pomeroy Bidwell rushed to the American Embassy to arrange transportation to Washington. The Ambassador closeted him in.
“How did it go, Pomeroy?”
“Well, Mr. Ambassador, we were just sitting there, eyeball to eyeball ... and I could swear I saw the other guy blink.”
12
ANDRÉ’S DOORBELL RANG AS he took breakfast. It was an ININ colleague from the American Embassy.
“Got a cable for you. It just cleared the code room.”
“Thanks for bringing it, Ted.”
I AM EN ROUTE TO PARIS FOR TWO WEEKS OF NATO BUSINESS AND WILL BE LANDING AT ORLY SIX O’CLOCK PAN-AM THIS EVENING. I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO OPEN A NEW SOURCE OF INFORMATION INSIDE CUBA OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO YOU. PLEASE MEET ME IF YOU CAN. (SIGNED) Michael, NORDSTROM
André’s assistant sped toward Orly Field to meet Nordstrom. He sat beside the driver reading through the stack of the day’s newspapers.
Much of the attention was focused on a parade and rally in Havana. Castro had called in units of militia and army from all over Cuba and demonstrated his Soviet-made armor, artillery, and aircraft.
After the parade there was a rally in the square under