“I remember it . . .”
“You remember which side your bread is buttered on,” Williams said
sharply. “Nothing else matters right now. You blow this, and every
shipbuilder in your district is going to be screaming for your ass.
You got that?” His voice was pitched low, and did not reach to bee
pollen advocate who continued to drone on. “It’s the Arsenal-ship
show. JCS has already bought off on it, so get with the program.”
Dailey nodded uneasily. He got it. And he hoped the only result would
be the tarnishing of his own opinion of himself, that one more small
compromise to political inevitability that he’d sworn he wouldn’t
make.
0900 Local (+5 GMT) United Nations Ambassador Wexler surveyed the faces
arrayed at the round table. A wide range of colors were represented,
ranging from the deep, purple-black of the Bahamian ambassador through
the light, coffee-colored ambassador from Antigua to the barely diluted
coffee color of the Cuban. So many cultures, so many nations and all
gathered with one purpose in mind. Or, she amended silently, at least
the majority of them were. None of the small nations that dotted the
Caribbean wanted conflict between their northern patron, the United
States, and their cultural kin, the Cubans. If pushed, they would come
down on her side, she decided.
But the cost would be high. Too high, perhaps.
“We have two points to make. First, we must be allowed to inspect the
wreckage of the fishing boat,” she said firmly.
Behind her, her aides rustled nervously, passing back and forth the
reams of paper, documents, and incomprehensible multinational studies
that were the lifeblood of the organization. “Our deep-diving rescue
resources have the capability to recover parts of the wreckage if we
move quickly, before the currents carry it too far away from the
original site. Given the events of the last weeks, we are not prepared
to accept Cuba’s unilateral assertion that our forces were responsible
for the loss of the fishing vessels, particularly not when we show that
no weapons have been extended by any of our aircraft. Without
independent verification, it is difficult to arrive at a final analysis
of the situation. Second, we will not recognize Cuba’s illegal and
provocative no-fly zone and we require the return of the American pilot
being held there.” She paused and waited for the storm to break over
her.
“Independent? You claim that role for the United States?
You are the ones responsible. No one else.” The Cuban ambassador
paused to suck in a deep breath and glare at her.
“The very audacity is” “Entirely within our rights,” she interrupted
calmly.
“Under circumstances such as this, we have opened our records at all
times to United Nations scrutiny. It is more than reasonable to expect
you to do the same.”
“As though you need to inspect it,” he shot back bitterly.
“How many years of study has the United Nations devoted to determining
the best way to decimate our poor nation?
We, who only want to be left alone to reach our own glorious future .
. .”
And who desperately need new trading partners, she noted.
“. . . to pursue our own great destiny and historic traditions of .
.
.”
Tyranny and oppression, building a nation of poverty by stripping out
its national resources for the exploitation of the already rich.
“. . . our role in the Caribbean is one of . . .”
Fomenting hatred and dissension among your neighbors.
“. . . peaceful coexistence with the other island nations.
We would extend that same offer of friendship to the United States, but
your politics have …”
Prevented you from growing rich on the backs of your wretched workers
while simultaneously providing sanctuary to the dregs of your
society.
Thugs, criminals, the diseased and insane. All dumped on our shores.
There were, she decided, studying him carefully, advantages to having
the United States as a close neighbor, no matter the posturing of
Cuba’s ambassador.
“… a truly independent commission, one not tainted by American
influences and interests. Composed, perhaps, of nations strong in the
rest of the world, areas in which the United States does not bully and