Lowell asked when he had read it. “Whatever it is, it’s not good news,” Felter said. “The least that will happen is that the Chinese will provide arms. That’s not good news.”
Lowell grunted his agreement, then smiled.
“Well, for a change, I am the bearer of good news,” he said, and tossed Rangio’s envelope on Felter’s desk.
“What’s this?” Felter asked as he took the two sheets of paper from the envelope. He raised his eyes to Lowell when he had read it.
“I got it from Johnny Oliver yesterday in Florida. He got it the night before in Buenos Aires from one of Rangio’s men, who got on their Aerolineas plane to tell them they had a free upgrade to first class.” He paused. “And earlier that day, the day they left Argentina, Rangio went with them to Córdoba, showed them where Señor Guevara lived, was an altar boy, where he played soccer, and introduced them not only to Guevara’s next-door neighbor, but to the SIDE guy in Córdoba and the chief of the Policía Federal for Córdoba.”
“Sounds too good to be true. ‘Beware of the Argentines bearing gifts’?” Felter said.
“Both Oliver and Portet believe the affection between Rangio and Zammoro is genuine.”
“As a result of which Rangio will happily arrange a clear shot at Guevara for Zammoro? Or vice versa?”
“According to Oliver, Zammoro takes being an officer seriously. . . .”
“Hang around him, maybe it’ll be contagious,” Felter said. “How did you get up here, anyway?”
“In a T-37,” Lowell said. “I have developed a close relationship with my Air Force peers at Strike. They let me fly their airplanes.”
“I don’t want to know how you’ve developed that close relationship, ” Felter said, and chuckled, and then grew serious. “This Rangio/Zammoro thing really sounds a little too good to be true.”
“Oliver said that when he ‘counseled’ Zammoro about not having told anybody about knowing Rangio, Zammoro said something to the effect that he had taken an oath before God to obey the orders of those appointed over him, and he would obey those orders . . .”
He paused and took a slip of paper and read from it:
“. . . ‘even if those orders are not to kill the Antichrist sonofabitch who has my wife in a cage on starvation rations.’ ”
“You wrote it down?”
“Johnny Oliver did, he wanted to remember it exactly. And he gave it to me.”
“And Oliver was taken in by this melodramatic announcement of loyalty and obedience to orders?”
“Yeah, Sandy, he was. And so was young Portet. And from the way they tell the story, and the way that Rangio came through with the names—which is more than the names, it’s an admission he’s got people close to the top in Havana—so am I.”
“Well, it’s moot,” Felter said. He tapped Rangio’s list of Cubans. “Between you and me, this will help my credibility with the President.”
“Is that getting to be a problem?”
“There’s one of me and—what’s that sailor’s prayer? ‘My ship is so small and your ocean so big’?—and so many CIA people with convincing mannerisms.”
“You’re pretty convincing yourself, Sandy,” Lowell said, very seriously. “You have been right so many times when the Agency has been wrong.”
“I feel like a tightrope walker working without a net,” Felter said. “You only get to make one mistake under those conditions.”
“I’ll buy you lunch to cheer you up,” Lowell said.
“No, but thanks anyway. I’m on my way to Camp David.” He paused. “I’m glad to have this from Rangio.”
“Anything special going on?”
Felter looked at him for a moment, then handed him a radio teletype message. Paper-clipped to it was a small sheet of crisp notepaper:
THE CHIEF OF STAFF
I didn’t know if you would get this in
time for this afternoon’s session.
OPERATIONAL IMMEDIATE
SECRET
1535 ZULU 7 FEBRUARY 1965
FROM: HQ US MILITARY ASSISTANCE COMMAND
VIETNAM
TO: DEPT OF THE ARMY WASH DC
IMMEDIATE PERSONAL ATTENTION C/S US ARMY CONFIRMATION OF RADIOTELECON THIS HQ AND DUTY OFFICER SITUATION ROOM HQ DEPT OF THE ARMY 1455 THIS DATE.
1. AT 1035 ZULU 7 FEBRUARY 1965 VIETCONG FORCES ATTACKED CAMP HOLLOWAY, A FACILITY FOR US MILITARY ADVISORS TO ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH VIETNAM. CAMP HOLLOWAY IS SITED IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF THE RVN, NEAR PLEIKU.
2. INITIAL REPORTS INDICATE EIGHT (8) US MILADV PERSONNEL KILLED IN ACTION; ONE HUNDRED (100) US MILADV PERSONNEL WOUNDED IN ACTION; AND 10 (TEN) US AIRCRAFT DESTROYED.
3. THE VC ATTACK ACHIEVED SURPRISE AND THE VC WERE ABLE TO WITHDRAW AFTER THE ATTACK WITH MINIMAL LOSSES.
4. THE KIA, MIA, AND AIRCRAFT LOSSES, GIVEN IN (2) ABOVE,