Special Ops - By W.E.B. Griffin Page 0,92

on my hands at the moment. . . .” He paused. “Did you mean what you said to Fosterwood? The odds are five to one the Brazilians will not allow him to come here?”

“I was gambling from a position of ignorance, General,” Lowell said. “If I were the Brazilians, that’s what I’d do.”

“Do they teach ‘never underestimate your enemy’ in the U.S. Army, Colonel?”

“Yes, sir.”

“If you and Major Lunsford are free for dinner tonight, Colonel, I would be pleased if you would dine with Coronel Rangio and me.”

“We would be honored, sir,” Lowell said. “Where and when?”

“Probably about ten,” Pistarini said. “I think I should have some word as to how things are going in Brazil by then. Is ten too late for you?”

“No, sir. Dress?”

“This will be very informal,” Pistarini said.

“Yes, sir.”

“And as to where, the driver will know. If you wouldn’t mind, if you would either be in the Círculo Militar from nine-thirty—or in the car, there’s a radio in the car—it would make things easier for me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Pistarini got quickly to his feet.

“And if you will excuse me before I give in to the temptation to have the rest of the champagne?”

Lowell jumped to his feet.

“Thank you very much, General,” he said.

“I will send another of my aides up here with the Major and Colonel Stumpff, and you can finish it,” Pistarini said, and walked off the balcony.

Both of the soldiers with the automatic rifles followed him.

[ TWO ]

Círculo Militar

Plaza San Martín

Buenos Aires, Argentina

2105 3 January 1965

“Would you please see who that is, Major Lunsford?” Lieutenant Colonel Craig Lowell asked. “Your beloved colonel’s ass is really dragging.”

Lunsford pushed himself out of his armchair and walked to the door of the suite. An elderly steward in a white jacket extended a silver tray to him. It held a calling card. Lunsford picked it up.

“Beloved Colonel, sir,” he called. “Mr. J. F. Stephens is downstairs and seeks audience with you.”

“Who?”

“According to his card, Mr. Stephens is the administrative officer for housing and medical services of the United States Information Service.”

“Jesus!” Lowell said.

“He probably wants to ask you about hog belly futures.”

“Let him come up,” Lowell said.

When he stepped into the suite, it was impossible to tell if Mr. Stephens was an old-looking twenty-five-year-old or a young-looking thirty-five-year-old. He stood about five feet seven in his mussed seersucker suit, was pale-skinned and starting to bald, and his shoes needed both heels and a shine.

“My name is Lowell, Mr. Stephens,” Lowell called from what he thought of as his overstuffed red leather chair of pain. “You wanted to see me?”

Stephens walked to Lowell and handed him a curling sheet of paper from a photo transmission machine.

“I was asked to get this to you, Colonel,” he said. His voice sounded as he looked: soft, inoffensive, and more than a little tired.

Obviously, Lowell thought as he started to read it, a secure photo transmission machine.

SECRET

Central Intelligence Agency Langley, Virginia

FROM : Assistant Director For Administration

FROM: 3 January 1965 1005 GMT

SUBJECT : Guevara, Ernesto (Memorandum #11.)

TO: Mr. Sanford T. Felter

Counselor To The President

Room 637, The Executive Office Building

Washington, D.C.

By Courier

In compliance with Presidential Memorandum to The Director, Subject: “Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara,” dated 14 December 1964, and in consideration of the fact that SUBJECT holds Argentinian citizenship by birth, the following information is furnished:

1. (Reliability Scale Five) (From CIA Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Under threat of loss of Brazilian landing rights for non-compliance, the pilot of the Iberian Airlines aircraft which carried Former Argentine President Juan D. PERÓN to Rio was ordered by the Brazilian Air Force authorities to fly nonstop to Madrid with PERÓN and party aboard.

2. (Reliability Scale Five) (From CIA Rio) PERÓN and party were placed aboard Iberian aircraft by Brazilian Air Force authorities, and denied access to the more than 100 members of the press who had gathered at the airfield, apparently informed of PERÓN’s presence by party or parties unknown. The aircraft took off immediately, with PERÓN and party, three of whom were armed, the only passengers.

3. (Reliability Scale Two) (From CIA Rio) Brazilian military aircraft (possibly a DC- 8) will accompany Iberian aircraft over Atlantic Ocean until the Point Of No Return.

4. (Reliability Scale Five) (From CIA Buenos Aires, Argentina) Borders remain closely watched by Army augmented authorities. ARG Foreign Minister Miguel A.Z. ORTIZ stated PERÓN travel was “a maneuver in a campaign of provocation and subversion.”

Howard W. O’Connor

HOWARD W. O’CONNOR

SECRET

“Thank you, Mr. Stephens,” Lowell said, handing the document to Father Lunsford. “Can we repay your courtesy by offering you

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