The Battle of the Abaco Reefs by Hilbert Schenck

Author:Hilbert Schenck
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2019-07-25T22:00:00+00:00

At almost ten that night, three huge Cuban VTOLs settled down out of the dark to crouch on their tails at the Marsh Harbor airport, their jet-prop engines whining shrilly. Susan and Ravetz stood in the floodlit landing area, in front of two dozen Abaco civil police who held back a mass of gaping Marsh Harbor residents, come to catch a glimpse of the terrible old man.

“It’s like the three-shell game,” said Ravetz. “You never know which one he’s in until they open the doors.”

But only in the first, upthrust fuselage did a door slide back and steps swing down, and Susan saw Major Martino start down the ladder. In that instant, Frank Albury was at their elbow. “Susan! Jerry! We got it off the diplomatic wire ninety seconds ago, and now it’s coming over the commercial channels! President Childers has been assassinated! His helicopter was attacked by some kind of missiles, wire-guided or heat-seekers, they don’t know which yet, just after he took off from the White House!”

“Oh, my God, Jerry,” breathed Susan and she began to shiver. “I’ve never been so scared, never!”

“Look! said Ravetz tensely. ”They’ve just gotten the news too!“ Major Martino had been followed down the ladder by the old man himself, white-bearded and wearing an O.D. baseball cap, but then two more Cubans ran down the steps shouting and all four clustered at the bottom of the ladder.

“Jerry,” said Susan suddenly. “They mustn’t go back! Not now!” And she ran across the asphalt waving and shouting, “José! José!”

The dapper thin Cuban turned and watched her come up. “Ah, Susan, how fine…”

“José! You’ve heard about Childers? Do you see now how it’s happening? José, the cycle will diverge. We must all talk!” The shadowy figure behind Major Martino stepped up beside him and Susan suddenly gulped. Close up, Fidel Castro looked like an aging Ernest Hemingway, the same round beard and shape of face. She blinked and shook her head.

“Dr. Castro! Within an hour, Vice-president Demarest will be sworn in. He is mad, sir! A manic-depressive who can barely be stabilized on lithium!”

The old Cuban looked at her coolly.“Dr. Peabody, José has told me about you and your call this afternoon. But, sane or mad, what is that to us?”

Susan pushed a strand of hair back. “Dr. Castro, have you ever heard of the Last Mile Study?” The old man shook his head. “Sir, the study was kept very secret because of its monstrous conclusions, but basically, Last Mile proved a number of things, all based on defective, single-vector analysis. First, they showed that the U.S. total-war capacity could only slip, was slipping, with time in relation to Russia and the Third World. Second, they claimed that in any all-out nuclear war, and especially a rapidly opening one, the Russians would be revealed as far weaker than believed. Third, that the longer the war continued, the greater would be the U.S.‘s relative strength at the end.” She paused and swallowed to moisten her dry throat.

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