Shadow Flight

Wasp continued on course, reducing speed to allow Essex and Nassau to close the gap. Her escort ships moved closer as the assault carrier approached Cuban waters. Supported by F-14D Tomcats from Kitty Hawk, S-3B Viking antisubmarine aircraft patrolled around the Wasp assault group.

Each minute increased the danger and tension aboard the amphibious aircraft carrier. Every crew member knew that they were sailing toward a Communist country that had declared war on the United States.

SAN JULIAN

Gennadi Levchenko, seething and shouting commands, stormed into his office. He had been informed only minutes earlier that he had a double agent in his midst — an agent who had relayed live pictures of the B-2 bomber to Washington.

Levchenko, absorbed in ferreting out the spy, yanked his telephone across the desk and sat down heavily. "Who the hell am I supposed to call?" he bellowed at the skinny clerk/medical technician

The gaunt, hollow-eyed man flinched. "President Castro — Fidel Castro, comrade dir—"

"Bullshit!" Levchenko raged, eyes bulging. The director had a moment of pure panic, then attempted to recover as his racing heart pounded. He was boxed in between KGB chief Golodnikov and Castro. Levchenko knew that he would face a firing squad if he could not isolate the traitor under his command. Now, with his life on the line, Fidel Castro was meddling in the Stealth operation.

"I don't report to Castro," Levchenko continued, breathing heavily. "Who took the call?"

"I did, comrade director," the frightened man answered. "He said immediately. That's why the lieutenant chased after you.. comrade director."

"Get out!" Levchenko yelled as he scribbled notes on a scratch pad. "Get out!"

The clerk hurried through the door, knocking papers off a low filing cabinet.

Levchenko's mind raced. Shit, what does Castro want? Does he know about the security leak? Levchenko picked up the receiver, adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses, then looked at the phone number on the message.

He placed the call. If he could only capture the treasonous member of his contingent. Who the hell was the bastard? Levchenko waited, fidgeting, while the phone rang three times. He yanked out a cigarette pack and snapped open his lighter.

"President Castro's residence," the pleasingly mild male voice said. "May I have your name and the purpose of your call?"

Levchenko, glancing over the rim of his glasses into the hangar, fought frustration and disdain. "Gennadi Levchenko, director of KGB operations in Cuba, returning President Castro's communication."

"Yes, comrade director. The president will only be a moment."

Levchenko, drumming his stubby fingers on the desk, did not acknowledge the comment. His thoughts were concentrated on retaining control of the situation at San Julian.

The KGB agent had met Fidel Castro on two occasions. He knew how quickly the Cuban dictator's personality could change from charming and hospitable to belligerent and raging.

"Levchenko," Castro's voice was loud and abrupt. "Have the American bomber ready to fly by the time my brother arrives at San Julian."

Levchenko was stunned by the order. "Comrade president, you cannot make such a demand."

"Have the B-2 ready to fly!" Castro ordered in a highly agitated voice. "Raul is on the way to San Julian."

Levchenko sat staring into the hangar after Castro had terminated the conversation. "Goddamned fanatic," Levchenko growled in disgust. He loathed the Cuban dictator, as did the majority of Russians remaining on the island, but he knew he had to be careful around Castro.

Levchenko's stomach churned as he considered his options. First, the director reasoned, he had to contact KGB headquarters in Moscow. Vladimir Golodnikov, the volatile chief of the KGB, would be incensed when he received word that Castro had assumed command of the Stealth bomber.

Levchenko sat quietly, pondering other options and thinking about Castro. He recalled clearly Castro's annual national holiday speech at Camaguey, Cuba. The Cuban dictator, accused by many of becoming an aged museum piece, had ranted for more than three hours to a throng of thousands. Clinging to Stalinist-style communism and ideology, Castro had delivered a bitter and emotional discourse to the sweltering crowd. The Cuban leader, yelling loudly, had stated that he would never surrender his brand of communism. Speaking on the anniversary of the revolution he had led, Castro talked about the civil conflict and national strife in the Soviet Union.

Levchenko could hear Castro's words clearly in his mind. "Cuba, our great and wonderful country, can expect serious shortages in Soviet economic aid."

Levchenko, like most Soviet officials, paid little attention to Castro's agitated, lectern-pounding speeches, in which he generally spotlighted past triumphs and focused on the 1953 Moncado barracks attack that had launched his revolution.