Jesus Christ...

Bobby gives him a look: told you things got worse.

THE PRESIDENT

Dean?

RUSK

It doesn't necessarily mean there's been

a coup. Khruschev's name is signed to

the letter.

MCNAMARA

Aw, come on, Dean!

RUSK

But at the very least... It does suggest

he's been co-opted by hard line

elements.

MCNAMARA

Which at the end of the day is the same

thing as a coup. A puppet Khruschev,

and a hard-line Soviet government

pulling the strings. No deal. And the

missiles are almost operational.

Bitter silence. They all look to the President. Imminent

victory has turned to ashes. The President studies his own

folded hands. Ball and Thompson enter, take seats. One by

one, throughout the scene, other EXCOM members join the

group.

THE PRESIDENT

You know, the problem we have is that

this is latest offer of theirs will seem

reasonable to everyone. We remove our

missiles, they remove theirs.

Our Jupiters were scheduled for removal

anyway. They're obsolete, after all.

Kenny shakes his head in mute anger. McNamara and Rusk seem

to sense the President's feelings, too.

RUSK

Mr. President, agreeing to such a trade

would be tantamount to paying ransom.

They'll put a gun to our head again, and

expect us to pay again.

Kenny looks the President in the eye.

KENNY

We can't sell out one of our friends for

our own safety. NATO wouldn't trust us

anymore, and they'd be right not to.

The President sighs in the face of the stern advice. He

nods, expecting as much. Bobby still can't look at anyone.

THE PRESIDENT

So which one of you geniuses can tell me

how to explain ourselves to the world?

How do we work with them if there's been

a hard-line coup?

GENERAL TAYLOR

Mr. President, there is another

possibility we haven't considered. This

may not be a coup at all.

Everyone of Kenny's instincts jumps. His head snaps up to

listen to Taylor. Taylor pauses.

GENERAL TAYLOR (CONT'D)

It's possible that the back-channel

overture, last night's letter, and this

letter today, along with everything the

Soviets have said all along, is nothing

more than a lie -- disinformation.

MCNAMARA

Designed to keep us from taking action.

Kenny hears the fatalism in McNamara's voice. A long beat.

Everyone stares at McNamara.

MCNAMARA (CONT'D)

I hate to say it, but if I had to bet,

I'd bet Max is right. What if they have

no intention of honoring this deal,

either?

Then tomorrow they add another

condition. Meanwhile, the quarantine

isn't working and they're continuing to

work on the missile sites.

(beat)

I think we have to consider issuing

warning orders for our forces.

They were so close last night... and suddenly Lundahl and

LeMay enter the room with the day's briefing boards.

LUNDAHL

Mr. President...

Lundahl stands there at the end of the table, gray. He

almost can't say it, can't look the President in the face.

LUNDAHL (CONT'D)

This morning's photography is in. It

appears the Soviets have commenced a

crash program to ready the missiles.

SMASH CUT TO:

EXT. MISSILE SITE - CUBA - CONTINUOUS

The missiles site is now more than just dirt and clearing

equipment. It's an armed camp, with missiles, fuel trailers,

erectors spaced every few hundred yards. MISSILE TECHNICIANS

service the towering SS-4s.

LUNDAHL (V.O.)

The first missiles became operational

last night.

With a barrage of shouted orders in Russian, and a whine of

the ERECTOR's engines, THE MISSILE BEGINS TO RISE.

LUNDAHL (V.O.) (CONT'D)

We expect they'll all be operational in

36 hours: Monday morning.

It stops, vertical.

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. CABINET ROOM - CONTINUOUS

The news hits the room like a thunderbolt. Kenny looks to

Bobby and the President. The blood is gone from their faces.

MCNAMARA

Then we're out of time. We have to go

in.

LUNDAHL

That may not be as easy as we thought

either. We've gotten confirmation that

the Soviets have also deployed

battlefield nuclear weapons to Cuba.

A pall falls over the room as LeMay explains.

LEMAY

FROGS, we call 'em. Short range

tactical nukes. It's possible they've

delegated release authority to their

local commanders for use against our

invasion troops. It'd be standard

doctrine.

(beat)

Our capability to get all the missiles

has eroded during our delay with the

quarantine. The good news is that for

the moment we know where the FROGS are,

and we can target them, too. But the

longer we wait, the hard it's going to

get.