Page 118 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

By this time Dimka was asking himself questions. What did he think Monday night meant? What did he want in the future? If any of them were alive in a week's time, did he want to spend the rest of his life with Natalya, or Nina--or neither?

By Thursday he was desperate for some answers. He felt, irrationally, that he did not want to be killed in a nuclear war before he had resolved this.

He had a date with Nina that evening: they were to go to a movie with Valentin and Anna. If he could get away from the Kremlin, and keep the date, what would he say to Nina?

The morning Presidium normally began at ten, so the aides got together informally at eight in the Onilova Room. On Thursday morning Dimka had a new proposal from Khrushchev to put to the others. He was also hoping for a private talk with Natalya. He was about to approach her when Yevgeny Filipov appeared with the early editions of the European newspapers. "The front pages are all equally bad," he said. He was pretending to be distraught

with grief, but Dimka knew he was feeling the opposite. "The turning back of our ships is portrayed as a humiliating climb-down by the Soviet Union!"

He was hardly exaggerating, Dimka saw, looking at the papers spread on the cheap modern tables.

Natalya sprang to Khrushchev's defense. "Of course they say that," she countered. "All those newspapers are owned by capitalists. Did you expect them to praise our leader's wisdom and restraint? How naive are you?"

"How naive are you? The London Times, the Italian Corriere della Sera, and Le Monde of Paris--these are the papers read and believed by the leaders of the Third World countries whom we hope to win to our side."

That was true. Unfair though it was, people around the world trusted the capitalist press more than Communist publications.

Natalya replied: "We cannot decide our foreign policy based on the probable reactions of Western newspapers."

"This operation was supposed to be top secret," Filipov said. "Yet the Americans found out about it. We all know who was responsible for security." He meant Dimka. "Why is that person sitting at this table? Should he not be under interrogation?"

Dimka said: "Army security may be to blame." Filipov worked for the defense minister. "When we know how the secret got out, then we will be able to decide who should be interrogated." It was feeble, he knew, but he still had no idea what had gone wrong.

Filipov changed his tack. "At this morning's Presidium, the KGB will report that the Americans have massively stepped up their mobilization in Florida. The railroad tracks are jammed with railcars carrying tanks and artillery. The racetrack in Hallandale has been taken over by the 1st Armored Division, thousands of men sleeping in the grandstands. Ammunition factories are working twenty-four hours a day producing bullets for their planes to strafe Soviet and Cuban troops. Napalm bombs--"

Natalya interrupted him. "This, too, was expected."

"But what will we do when they invade Cuba?" Filipov said. "If we respond using only conventional weapons, we cannot win: the Americans are too strong. Will we respond with nuclear weapons? President Kennedy has stated that if one nuclear weapon is launched from Cuba he will bomb the Soviet Union."

"He cannot mean it," said Natalya.

"Read the reports from Red Army Intelligence. The American bombers are circling us now!" He pointed at the ceiling, as if they might look up and see the planes. "There are only two possible outcomes for us: international humiliation, if we're lucky, and nuclear death if we're not."

Natalya fell silent. No one around the table had an answer to that.

Except Dimka.

"Comrade Khrushchev has a solution," he said.

They all looked at him in surprise.

He went on: "At this morning's meeting, the first secretary will propose making an offer to the United States." There was dead silence. "We will dismantle our missiles in Cuba--"

He was interrupted by a chorus of reaction around the table, from gasps of surprise to cries of protest. He held up a hand for quiet.

"We will dismantle our missiles in exchange for a guarantee of what we have wanted all along. The Americans must promise not to invade Cuba."

They took a few moments to digest this.

Natalya was the quickest to get it. "This is brilliant," she said. "How can Kennedy refuse? He would be admitting his intention to invade a poor Third World country. He would be universally condemned for colonialism. And he would be proving our point that Cuba needs nuclear missiles to defend itself." She was the smartest person at the table, as well as the prettiest.

Filipov said: "But if Kennedy accepts, we have to bring the missiles home."

"They will no longer be necessary!" Natalya said. "The Cuban revolution will be safe."

Dimka could see that Filipov wanted to argue against this but could not. Khrushchev had got the Soviet Union into a fix, but he had devised an honorable way out.

When the meeting broke up, Dimka at last managed to grab Natalya. "We need a minute to discuss the wording of Khrushchev's offer to Kennedy," he said.

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