"Would those SEALs be involved in the murders?" Bellingham asked straight out.
"Not at all!" Joplin replied testily. "That group is made up of some of the best of the best. They are not the type to go postal and turn their weapons on unarmed civilians."
Bellingham was not convinced. "God! I hope we don't have another My Lai as in Vietnam."
"I will bet my reputation on Lieutenant Brannigan and his men," Joplin said. "They did not commit that atrocity."
"I hope you're right:' Bellingham said. "This story can't be held under wraps much longer."
A knock on the door interrupted the session, and Durwood Cooper stuck his head in. "Call for Ms. Entienne on line four."
She reached over and picked up the phone as Bellingham punched the corresponding button. "Hello," Entienne said. "Yes. This early, huh? All right, I'll inform the secretary of state." She hung up and glanced over at Bellingham. "That was the White House. The Bolivian ambassador has lodged a covert protest about the massacre. Reliable sources have informed them it was done by Americans."
Joplin gritted his teeth. "Did he say what Americans?"
Entienne shook her head. "Only that the perpetrators were American. We can be thankful that the crime is not yet out in the open."
"It's only a matter of time before some journalist is contacted by an unimpeachable source," Bellingham complained. He shot a glance at Joplin. "Call in your Bolivian connection. Find out what you can from him, then get back to me."
.
FUERTE FRANCO
0830 HOURS LOCAL
TWELVE more men arrived with the resupply chopper. They were evenly divided between Argentines and Chileans. All were noncommissioned officers from combat units, and their physical appearance gave stark evidence they were veteran field soldiers, not staff milquetoasts. Sargento-Mayor Arnaud Chaubere formed them up in front of the finished headquarters bunker. He called them to attention when Generalisimo Jose Maria de Castillo y Plato appeared.
Castillo gave the men an appraising gaze, liking what he saw. "Hacan disminuir--at ease! I welcome you to the Ejercito Falangista. We are at the beginning of our struggle to liberate the people of South America from their corrupt, uncaring leftist governments and bring them into a world of order, discipline and reward for hard work. There is no room for the indolent, inferior, cowardly and nonconformist under the Falangist philosophy. You men are showing you have the moral and physical courage to be in the vanguard of the greatest revolution in the history of mankind. Your names will be etched on a great memorial to be honored by countless generations to come. A man we all admire, Adolf Hitler, said that the German Reich would last for a thousand years. We Falangists will do much better than that. Our Reich will live on through eternity!
"Our strength grows continuously as more fighting men prepare to join us. Soon air force units will be added to our organizational charts along with ships of the Argentine and Chilean Navy. No one can stop us. We are invincible!
"Our spiritual leader is the Archangel Michael, who defeated Satan and hurled him into the pits of hell. He is also the patron of all paratroopers in the Western world. Pamphlets explaining this and how to seek spiritual encouragement from the archangel will be passed out to you along with weapons and ammunition. I will now turn you over to your instructors for some short training exercises to acquaint you with our methods of combat. Archangel Miguel vosotros bendiga--may Archangel Michael bless you!"
Chaubere ordered them to attention and rendered a sharp salute to Castillo. As the generalisimo returned to his bunker, the new men were marched off to join their combat units.
.
STATE DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON, D. C.
0930 HOURS
THE classified report from the Bolivian Federal Police on the massacre in the Gran Chaco was arranged in two neat piles in front of Carl Joplin, PhD. The larger stack was what he was still carefully reading, and the small were the pages he had already perused. A notebook off to the side contained the first draft of the official memo he planned to have properly typed up as a commentary on the document.
The task was interrupted by his desk phone buzzing. He picked up the receiver and was told that Arturo Sanchez, the envoy from Bolivia, had arrived as per Joplin's request.
"Send him in, please," the undersecretary said. He hung up the phone and waited a few seconds until Sanchez came into the office. "Sit down, Arturo. I've the official file from the report of the Bolivian police in regards to the killings at Novida."
"I am familiar with it," Sanchez remarked in a cold voice.
"The police don't name names of suspects or known murderers," Joplin said. "Do you have any views on the subject?"
"I can confidently state who did not do it," Sanchez said testily. "And that would be the Falangists. After all, those unfortunate people were being helpful to the fascists. It was a misguided kindness but understandable under the circumstances."
"I agree with you," Joplin said. "What about your Border Police?"
"If they had done it, the Federal Police would have found proof?'
"Perhaps they did find proof but declined to reveal it to anyone," Joplin suggested.
"That seems a wild theory," Sanchez said. "There is no indication that the Border Police were anywhere in the vicinity of the village."
"I requested the illegals be expelled," Joplin said. "You said your Border Police would take care of it. Perhaps when they arrived to arrest the Brazilians, something untoward occurred that set off the mass executions."
Sanchez shook his head. "I think there is a good chance that your special operations people did it. After all, they would have been angry to have the Brazilians giving aid and encouragement to the Falangists?'
"Our people are highly disciplined and well led," Joplin said. "It is not only preposterous but insulting to think they would commit so horrid a crime."
"I believe American troops committed such atrocities in Vietnam," Sanchez replied.
"There are atrocities committed by both sides in any conflict," Joplin said. "Certain people, including Americans, have made claims of war crimes by U. S. forces that have never been proven." Then he added, "And never will because the allegations are false."
"You and I are not going to get to the truth of this unfortunate matter this morning," Sanchez said. "So far Brazil has kept quiet about the murders, but eventually they will speak out in protest. This could cause Operation Falangist Fury to be compromised. That would be a great misfortune for all of us concerned when the story gets out. It will make it impossible to deal with future problems of that nature."
"Well, my friend:' Joplin said, "you had better prepare yourself. This situation is going to get a lot worse before it gets better."
FUERTE FRANCO
CENTRO DE MANDO
1345 H0URS LOCAL
CAPITAN Diego Tippelskirch went down the steps and through the doorway to where the generalisimo kept his desk. He walked into the earthen room and saluted Jose Maria de Castillo y Plato. "Mi generalisimo, I have just received yet another momentous report."
Castillo immediately forgot the ammunition inventory he had been studying. When Tippelskirch seemed happily excited, that meant good news. "Que pasa, capitan?"
"My source in La Paz tells me that it's been revealed to him that the massacre at Novida was carried out by the Bolivian Border Police."
"Por San Miguel!" Castillo exclaimed. "How can this be?"
"Evidently they were dispatched to the area to arrest the villagers for deportation," Tippelskirch explained. "The man in charge was Coronel Francisco Martinez, who is called El Garron by his men. He is an avowed racist who hates African people. The informer is one of the coroners men, and he said that everyone--men, women and children--were herded into a group outside the village then mowed down like stalks of corn."