Chapter 24: Fingers on triggers

Thursday, October 25: Day 10

In the morning, I awakened to find Frankie on one side and Marcyne on the other. Before long, I realized that both were using fingers on each other’s bottoms, but also on mine. When she became aware that I was awake, Frankie took me in her mouth, with Marcyne watching closely but not yet ready to participate. I was impressed by the way that Marcyne was challenging assumptions.

We were falling into a routine where the most detailed briefing usually was around dinnertime, so the day’s news, overt and clandestine, were available. The day became a time of bonding, learning, and sometimes recreation. At breakfast, though, we did have some stand-up instruction on useful topics.

At breakfast, I enjoyed watching Marcyne, who had briefly visited Vox’s lair. Marcyne made me happy by dressing pleasantly, and even getting some makeup from Vox. Let me be clear. If Marcyne never makes it with a man, I still love her. My suspicion is that she will become bi, but still focused on women. In our culture, physical attractiveness, and for that matter height, helps people be successful. Marcyne is no raving beauty, but has enormous brown eyes, thick smooth hair, and an athletic body.

“Troops,” I told them, “There are conflicting reports about the position of Soviet ships vis-a-vis the quarantine line. Some, which reconnaissance strongly suggests may be carrying prohibited cargoes, have stopped or even turned back, 24 to 48 hours ago. The ships moving toward Cuba have no surface escort; we aren’t sure about subs, but we can account for a reasonable force and are confident that there aren’t enough to do what they are doing, and operate escorts as well.

“We can afford to trade our IRBMs, because our land-based ICBMs, as well as submarine-launched ballistic missiles, are working well. The Jupiter IRBMs, in Turkey and Italy, and the Thor IRBMs in the UK, are obsolete.

“The two principals, Kennedy and Khrushchev, do seem to understand Murphy’s Law, and the risk of some nuclear war precipitating event happening due to the Fog of War. After the crisis, Kennedy mythmakers like Arthur Schlesinger suggested that he used more “mathematical precision” than he really did.

She’s going down...

Because submarines do go down, deliberately. Arlene laughed. “So we’ve seen a lot of stuff going down? Wonder if a Foxtrot-class sub can get as deep as I can with my throat?”

“Silly person. Come here and be a submarine in front of me.” She hooted at that, but walked to me with an exaggerated hip-swinging gait, emphasized by her flaring short skirt, sat on the floor, not especially submissively, opened my pants, and indeed went down on me. The skirt rose to reveal stocking tops and a bit of bare pussy, an erotic sight in and of itself.

The pleasure made it difficult to speak. I did realize that she sensed that I still wanted to talk, so she wasn’t as intense about it as she could be.

“On our side, American nuclear forces added to the effectively invulnerable deterrent at sea, with the sailing today of the USS Sam Houston (SSBN 609) from Charleston, SC, adding a boat with 16 more Polaris A-2 missiles to the six already at sea.” I looked at Arlene and groaned.

“The Russians redistributed the “Submarine Surfacing and Identification Procedures” to their boats at sea. That’s a good sign, I think. Their sub captains have gotten some ways to minimize confrontation. Our Navy has made lots of submarine sightings. Still, there are at least four in the operational area, and we have to assume that we haven’t detected all.”

Arlene, in the sweetest of voices, paused to observe “I may have captured a periscope. Or is this a snorkel?” She pulled off her trademark ribbed white sweater, to capture my cock between her boobs. I was already wet from her oral attention, and somehow, she had oiled the valley of the breasts. It didn’t take me long to climax.

With a decided effort, I turned my attention back to speaking. “Periscope, I think. Seriously, Robert should get into rapport and give you and someone else some submarine and missile knowledge.” I thought a little, and realized that our gender balance didn’t quite work for rapport, if we couldn’t put men into rapport. For now, I’d plan on having women get the additional knowledge, and then do a second-generation rapport with women. “Margaret, how about it?”

Margaret looked at us, and recalled from movies, “Ahooga! Ahooga! Dive! Dive! Yes, I’m ready.”

“OK, you three do it a little later today. There may need to be another session on IMINT and photoreconnaissance.”

Warnings

“Appropriate of what I just mentioned about a field of rapport, now comes the really dangerous part. There are times when intelligence collectors get information that doesn’t make its way up the food chain.” Thoughts of the 9/11 attack flashed through my mind, although I could not mention it.

“A couple of Navy reconnaissance aircraft were on a mission, called Blue Moon, to get low-altitude photographs of ballistic missile sites. One pilot saw a military installation outside their planned mission parameters, and broke away and photographed it.

“He came back with pictures of Luna short-range, nuclear-capable, cruise missiles. The existence of these didn’t get too high in American awareness. Tomorrow, DIA will warn the Joint Chiefs about them, but the JCS won’t take them seriously.

“I can’t tell you how I know what I’m going to say about them, but I know, with certainty, that the senior Soviet commanders in Cuba have been preauthorized to use those weapons. They also have nuclear bombs for the Il-28 tactical bombers, again with preauthorization.”

Faces were tense.

“This is our #1 priority: to prevent an invasion against which these would be used, killing thousands of Americans. There’s no question that would cause us to go to all-out war with the Russians.

“I’m less sure about the risk of war if we launch major airstrikes against the ballistic missiles. The cruise missiles don’t have the range to reach Florida. The bombers would have a very hard time penetrating our air defenses.

Separate from the Soviets, the Cuban high command began dispersing their troops.

Unknown to American intelligence, this was the day on which all nuclear warheads and bombs, except for the IRBM warheads that had not yet arrived, were distributed to their operational storage areas. The warheads for the R-12 medium-range missiles were located in the Bejucal region, the warheads for the operational-tactical “FROG” were in the region of Managua, the warheads for the front cruise missile (FKR) in the region of Santiago de Cuba; there were nuclear warheads in other places as well.

“Reasonably enough, the Soviets kept tight control of warhead movement. Even though it was strictly done in daylight, we were unable to find all of the storage areas, which is of major concern if we launch an air strike. Anyone who is in contact with Naval Aviators and other air attack people need to reinforce the idea that we don’t know where all the targets are located.”hey were at was written at my last visit but was in sea

Congressional relations

“Senator Keating, in a Senate speech, claimed that he had information that the Soviets were emplacing ballistic missiles in Cuba. Internally, the intelligence community told State that they did not, as yet, have confirmation.

“My clansmates, I wish I knew how Keating gets his information. In this case, he’s anticipating the observations reaching the President, although he may be overestimating some part of the threat. What we need to know, first, if he’s likely to be irritating Kennedy enough such that the President might take premature action. Edie and Frankie, assuming you go back, keep reassuring him, but try to judge his reaction to Keating. Again, stay on an emotional state; don’t try to get too specific.

“We also should be connecting with Andy and Diane. Andy is close to being in the clan, and Diane certainly is sympathetic.”

The submarine group, Robert, Arlene, and Margaret went off to his bedroom. Arlene, still cracking wise, informed the others “We’re all submarines, and have to go down. To start with, enjoy the naughtiness of making it while mostly dressed. She raised her skirt to give Margaret access to her mound, and opened Robert’s trousers. He, laughing, pulled Margaret to his face while Arlene pleasured him.

It was my turn to teach Greta and Vivian about photoreconnaissance and imagery interpretation.

Lois accompanied me to bed.

Friday, October 26: Day 11

Wake up and enjoy the experience. I had been quite deeply asleep, and appreciated James letting me appreciate the incredible pleasure of Lois’ mouth on my penis. Most Companions were learning from Terry, so Shelley arrived with coffee, bagels, and English muffins, with an assortment of smoked fish and cheese, the former more being an offering to James Bong.

Assuming we would have a pleasant shower, Shelley found a way to look hot, prior to her full dressing after the shower. She had found a wet-look jumpsuit with a zipper from neck to crotch, with additional zippers above her breasts. It was not an outfit that a mechanic would wear to fix a car.

Lois looked at her and said, in a low voice, “I want that outfit, for me. Maybe more stretch than yours.”

During the day, we updated maps, monitored news media, did sleep teaching, and had workshops on what had been learned.

Secret channels

At the evening briefing, I had some unusual good news. “Today, John Scali, a diplomatic reporter for ABC News, was contacted by Alexsandr Fomin, officially a Counselor of the Embassy, and actually the KGB Station Chief (i.e., rezident). Scali had used Fomin as a source, and apparently trust built between them. Today, Fomin called Scali, and asked him to meet at the Occidental Restaurant, on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House, to ask him to convey, in a deniable way, a Soviet proposal to end the crisis. Rather than report it, Scali decided his role was that of a loyal American citizen who could help end a world crisis. He recused himself from reporting during the crisis.

While only one American died in action, a fair number of escargot gave their lives in the interest of peace. Over a fine meal of snails, hardly a proletarian repast, Fomin proposed the basic solution: The Soviet Union would remove the missiles under United Nations inspection if President Kennedy made a public promise not to invade Cuba.

EXCOMM meeting

“Today, there will be the widest-ranging EXCOMM meeting. It began with the quarantine, addressed covert operations and SIGINT collection, then the missile status. I see it as an opportunity to try to target certain policy influencers, as part of our plan of keeping things calm.

“First, there’s the quarantine, which is a good thing that we want to support. Even aside from the military operational aspect, the rules are evolving. McCone also pointed out that the current quarantine rules applied only to Soviet or Soviet-bloc ships, but “ ... non-Bloc ships could be used to carry military materials if they had been chartered on a bare boat basis by the Russians.” If we project current course and speed, the first ship to reach the quarantine line was the tanker Bucharest. Under the present rules, a tanker will be allowed to pass.

“The Defense Department”, McNamara said, “was authorized to release information on the boarding of the Lebanese ship, the Marucla, the first dry cargo ship which had been loaded in a Soviet port. In the event that comparisons were made between stopping the Lebanese ship and permitting an East German ship to go through the quarantine line, the point will be made that the East German ship carried only passengers. He read a list of Bloc ships and their locations and noted that there would be no intercepts at sea today.

“Under current rules, tankers won’t be stopped. EXCOMM members had different opinions. The tanker Graznyy is apparently moving but will not cross the line today. McNamara suggested that shortly we should embargo fuel used by bombers and substances from which airplane fuel is made, i.e. petroleum products. The President suggested that if we decide to embargo bomber fuel, we should also mention the fact that we were embargoing fuel which was contributing to the operational capability of the strategic missiles. Secretary Rusk asked that petroleum products not be embargoed for at least twenty-four hours in order to avoid upsetting the U Thant talks now under way in New York.

Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon said “I have concerns over this course of action. Thus, a confrontation with the Russians would not be over the missiles, but over Soviet ships. We should go for the missiles rather than force a confrontation with the USSR at sea.”

“Dillon was one of the Republicans that JFK had brought into the Administration, for unity, and, in Dillon’s case. reassuring Wall Street. He had a long history of strong anti-communism and initially sided with the hawks that wanted to attack, but Robert Kennedy convinced him to support quarantine. Still, this was a meeting in which he could be completely frank. I thought the idea that attacking the missiles rather than stopping ships, to use the technical term, was nuts.”

Left hand being aware of the right hand

“McCone reported that he had stood down a CIA operation which involved sending into Cuba by submarine ten teams involving fifty people. He said he did not believe this should be done by CIA unilaterally. The President agreed and asked that the proposal to put ashore the ten teams be discussed by the Special Group today. The President further suggested that the MONGOOSE operation be reconstituted, possibly as a subcommittee of the Executive Committee, and oriented toward post-Castro Cuban problems.

The President stressed that covert actions needed to be consistent, whether originating with MONGOOSE, CIA, or other organizations such as emigre groups with which the U.S. government was in contact.

“If we possibly can, we want to get in contact with some of the secret groups.”

Intelligence collection

“Director McCone, speaking for the intelligence community as a whole, not just CIA raised the question of the location of the USS Oxford (AGTR-1), a SIGINT collection ship that was operating ten miles off Cuba, outside the three-mile limit that we officially recognized, but inside the twelve-mile that Cuba might claim. The ship was under the broad authority of NSA, but reported directly to the Naval Security Group. The Cubans might have gotten used to her presence, not knowing her missions. For several months, she had been intercepting Cuban telephone communications transmitted over microwave radio. More recently, she was intercepting radar as well as command and control.

“McCone said she was doing valuable things and must not be lost. The President said that it was the Navy’s responsibility, but he would emphasize the concerns of the intelligence community. Later, Anderson would order a new destroyer, USS Charles F. Adams (DDG-2) to escort the Oxford.

“A comprehensive reconnaissance program, using aircraft, needed to operate in the day and at night. Secretary of State Rusk, however, asked to avoid the night missions, because the flares that they dropped, in his mind, were provocative and could have bad effects on the negotiations with UN Secretary General U Thant. McNamara thought that one way of avoiding reaction to night reconnaissance was to inform the Cubans and the Russians in advance that we were initiating such flights.

There was argument about acknowledging our photographic reconnaissance, although SIGINT would remain in deep black status. Ambassador Stevenson opposed announcements of reconnaissance, but the President supported it as a means of dramatizing the missile buildup. He authorized daylight reconnaissance measures but decided to delay night flights.

Diplomacy

“McGeorge Bundy reported that three subcommittees are at work--one on Berlin, chaired by Paul Nitze, one on forward planning, chaired by Walt Rostow, and one on worldwide communications problems, chaired by William Orrick, who is working closely with the Defense Communications Agency. He referred to the amount of sensitive information which has been leaking to the press and urged that information about future actions must be more carefully guarded.

“Secretary of State Dean Rusk praised Ambassador Stevenson’s UN performance. He urged that USIA keep the pressure on the Cuban people and mentioned the dropping of leaflets over Cuba. For that purpose, the President authorized USIA to receive virtually all reconnaissance photos.

“Rusk said the object of the talks with U Thant today was to set up some form of negotiations with the Russians in New York. The objective would be to obtain a commitment from the Russians that there would be

• no further construction at the missile sites in Cuba

• no further Soviet military shipments

• the defusing of existing weapons in Cuba

• UN inspection of all nuclear-capable missiles,

• an observer corps on the ground in Cuba of 350 technically able inspectors.

The U.S. quarantine would continue until a UN quarantine is in place. UN teams would be put into specified Cuban ports. U.S. Navy ships would stay close to all Cuban ports to ensure that there were no landings unknown to the UN inspectors and no cargoes anywhere which UN inspectors did not see.

John McCloy, an experienced diplomat and troubleshooter/negotiator working for the EXCOMM, said that our quarantine was vital and should be kept in place until the Russians had accepted all of our conditions.

I looked up. “McCloy started out as a super-hawk, but he is open-minded. He aligned with quarantine rather than invasion, although he certainly wanted to pressure the Soviets. In general, he aligned with State Department folk.

“Secretary Rusk pointed out that we must make clear to U Thant that the quarantine is related to the Soviet missiles rather than to Soviet military shipments to Cuba.

Ambassador Stevenson discussed the immediate negotiations now under way with U Thant and the longer talks which would follow if agreement can be reached with the Russians in New York. He said the immediate talks were aimed at getting a 24-48-hour standstill on the missile buildup in Cuba. He acknowledged that in these talks it would be impossible to obtain an agreement to make the weapons inoperable. He wanted to know whether he should seek a standstill on all Soviet arms or only offensive weapons. He would seek to get a commitment that there be no further construction, but it would not be possible to set up a system to ensure that the weapons were made inoperable and kept inoperable. In addition, he needed to know whether in return we would be prepared to suspend the quarantine.

With respect to the proposed atomic-free zone in Latin America, Secretary Rusk said that Puerto Rico and the Canal Zone would be exempted, but that possibly we might have to accept a ban on the storage of nuclear weapons in the Canal Zone. Conceivably, the proposal would hinder the transit by air of nuclear weapons in Latin America. Secretary McNamara said the Joint Chiefs were very cool toward the proposal of a Latin American atomic-free zone, but, personally, he favored the idea if it was conditioned on the elimination of Soviet missiles in Cuba.

General Taylor said the Chiefs had no formal position on the proposal, but they were very skeptical as to its efficacy. He felt that discussion of this proposal would divert attention from the Soviet missile program. He was also concerned about its effect on the defense of Panama and on our submarine defense system. He added that, if, as a result, a proposal was made for an atomic-free zone in Africa, the French would have real problems in connection with their weapons testing program. Secretary Rusk said this last point could be met by telling the French they could use our nuclear weapons test sites if their African sites were put off bounds.

The President said work on the missile sites has to cease and we have to verify what is going on at the sites every day during the talks in New York. As to the message to Castro, he agreed in general, but wanted to have another look at it. He doubted that it would do any good, but it might be undertaken if done now with the greatest urgency.