KENNY

                      Jesus Christ...

 

            Bobby gives him a look: told you things got worse.

 

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      Dean?

 

                                RUSK

                      It doesn't necessarily mean there's been

                      a coup¹.  Khruschev's name is signed to

                      the letter.

 

                                MCNAMARA

                      Aw, come on, Dean!

 

                                RUSK

                      But at the very least... It does suggest

                      he's been co-opted by hard line

                      elements.

 

                                MCNAMARA

                      Which at the end of the day is the same

                      thing as a coup.  A puppet Khruschev,

                      and a hard-line Soviet² government

                      pulling the strings³.  No deal.  And the

                      missiles are almost operational.

 

            Bitter silence.  They all look to the President.  Imminent⁴

            victory has turned to ashes.  The President studies his own

            folded hands.  Ball and Thompson enter, take seats.  One by

            one, throughout the scene, other EXCOM members join the

            group.

 

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      You know, the problem we have is that

                      this is latest offer of theirs will seem

                      reasonable to everyone.  We remove our

                      missiles, they remove theirs.

                      Our Jupiters were scheduled for removal

                      anyway.  They're obsolete⁵, after all.

 

            Kenny shakes his head in mute anger.  McNamara and Rusk seem

            to sense the President's feelings, too.

 

                                RUSK

                      Mr. President, agreeing to such a trade

                      would be tantamount to paying ransom⁶.

                      They'll put a gun to our head again, and

                      expect us to pay again.

 

            Kenny looks the President in the eye.

 

                                KENNY

                      We can't sell out one of our friends for

                      our own safety.  NATO wouldn't trust us

                      anymore, and they'd be right not to.

 

            The President sighs in the face of the stern advice.  He

            nods, expecting as much.  Bobby still can't look at anyone.

 

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      So which one of you geniuses can tell me

                      how to explain ourselves to the world?

                      How do we work with them if there's been

                      a hard-line coup?

 

                                GENERAL TAYLOR

                      Mr. President, there is another

                      possibility we haven't considered.  This

                      may not be a coup at all.

 

            Everyone of Kenny's instincts jumps.  His head snaps up to

            listen to Taylor.  Taylor pauses.

 

                                GENERAL TAYLOR (CONT'D)

                      It's possible that the back-channel

                      overture⁷, last night's letter, and this

                      letter today, along with everything the

                      Soviets⁸ have said all along, is nothing

                      more than a lie -- disinformation.

 

                                MCNAMARA

                      Designed to keep us from taking action.

 

            Kenny hears the fatalism in McNamara's voice.  A long beat.

            Everyone stares at McNamara.

 

                                MCNAMARA (CONT'D)

                      I hate to say it, but if I had to bet,

                      I'd bet Max is right.  What if they have

                      no intention of honoring this deal,

                      either?

                      Then tomorrow they add another

                      condition.  Meanwhile, the quarantine

                      isn't working and they're continuing to

                      work on the missile sites.

                          (beat)

                      I think we have to consider issuing

                      warning orders for our forces.

 

            They were so close last night... and suddenly Lundahl and

            LeMay enter the room with the day's briefing boards.

 

                                LUNDAHL

                      Mr. President...

 

            Lundahl stands there at the end of the table, gray.  He

            almost can't say it, can't look the President in the face.

 

                                LUNDAHL (CONT'D)

                      This morning's photography is in.  It

                      appears the Soviets have commenced a

                      crash program to ready the missiles.

 

                                                           SMASH CUT TO:

 

            EXT. MISSILE SITE - CUBA - CONTINUOUS

 

            The missiles site is now more than just dirt and clearing

            equipment.  It's an armed camp, with missiles, fuel trailers,

            erectors spaced every few hundred yards.  MISSILE TECHNICIANS

            service the towering SS-4s.

 

                                LUNDAHL (V.O.)

                      The first missiles became operational

                      last night.

 

            With a barrage⁹ of shouted orders in Russian, and a whine¹⁰ of

            the ERECTOR's engines, THE MISSILE BEGINS TO RISE.

 

                                LUNDAHL (V.O.) (CONT'D)

                      We expect they'll all be operational in

                      36 hours: Monday morning.

 

            It stops, vertical¹¹.

 

                                                           SMASH CUT TO:

 

            INT. CABINET ROOM - CONTINUOUS

 

            The news hits the room like a thunderbolt.  Kenny looks to

            Bobby and the President.  The blood is gone from their faces.

 

                                MCNAMARA

                      Then we're out of time.  We have to go

                      in.

 

                                LUNDAHL

                      That may not be as easy as we thought

                      either.  We've gotten confirmation¹² that

                      the Soviets have also deployed¹³

                      battlefield nuclear weapons to Cuba.

 

            A pall¹⁴ falls over the room as LeMay explains.

 

                                LEMAY

                      FROGS, we call 'em.  Short range

                      tactical nukes.  It's possible they've

                      delegated release authority to their

                      local commanders for use against our

                      invasion troops.  It'd be standard

                      doctrine¹⁵.

                          (beat)

                      Our capability¹⁶ to get all the missiles

                      has eroded¹⁷ during our delay with the

                      quarantine.  The good news is that for

                      the moment we know where the FROGS are,

                      and we can target them, too.  But the

                      longer we wait, the hard it's going to

                      get.

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