The Bohemian

by Bill Bowler

Chapter 14: The Prize

Young Walter Wobble quits school to go out into the world and find the People. With no money or prospects, he works as a busboy while writing poetry and dreaming of success. Through his tenement window, he watches from afar a young woman who lives across the street until, one day, they meet. Unfortunately there is already another man in Cynthia’s life, a man Wobble knows: he is Josef Mrak, and he has some very bad karma.

In the ensuing days, I withdrew completely from society. The outside world seemed a monstrous joke. Nothing I could do would bring Cynthia back. I was trying to sort things out and waiting for time to pass so I would start to feel better.

Cynthia’s funeral was a small affair, maybe twenty people. Her mother was on the verge of hysteria. Her father, stone-faced in grief, supported the mother. Cynthia’s two sisters were there and a few friends from NYU. Mrak was absent, called to Washington on urgent government business. I wondered if he’d had time to talk to the cops before he left.

Cynthia lay in the open coffin, as beautiful as if alive. She seemed to be sleeping and about to open her eyes and waken. It was impossible that she was dead! Her soft hair fell away and framed her face though, strangely, it was not quite the way it usually looked, and I could tell someone else had combed it. I flew into a rage and wanted to kill Mrak.

The professor had conveyed his deepest condolences to the bereaved but, regrettably, was unable to attend the funeral. Disturbing and volatile developments in Honduras, threatening U.S. vital interests, demanded his immediate attention. He flew to Washington to preside over an emergency session of the National Security Council in the Crisis Room, the heavily fortified bunker in the 2nd sub-basement of the White House, three floors down from the Oval Office.

According to news reports, the Communists had organized a strike of truck drivers in Puerto Cortes. The strike dragged on, choking commerce in the port and giving rise to street violence and abuses on both sides, polarizing Honduran society. Civil strife began to threaten the stability of the Honduran government, one of our closest allies in the Caribbean, a country of great strategic importance in the Central American theater, and one of the few functioning democracies in that troubled region.

A policy was implemented in conjunction with the local Honduran authorities. It was decided to use Honduran paramilitary militia forces to quell the strike and open the port. The American attack carrier Ponderosa, from the 6th Fleet, was brought in close to the harbor entrance to lend the authority and firepower of the American military to the Honduran militia and to provide air cover. The strikers were thought to be a disorganized and vacillating bunch who would readily be dispatched with the arrest of the ringleaders. The militia, armed with M16’s, was authorized to use deadly force.

Unfortunately, there were extremists among the strike leadership, including a number of Cuban advisors. Worse still, violent radicals among the strikers were carrying sidearms, and when the militia approached the picket lines, someone began firing.

The militia returned fire ferociously. In the resulting melee, the commander of the Ponderosa was informed that the situation on shore was deteriorating rapidly, that it might result ultimately in the strikers’ occupying the capital and causing the fall of the Honduran government.

Sonar from the escort destroyer indicated the presence of what could only be a Soviet submarine in proximity to the American carrier, and a battle group of six Soviet warships was reported steaming towards Puerto Cortes from Cuban waters.

It was necessary to scramble fighters from the carrier. They strafed the docks and bombed a warehouse where intelligence indicated the strikers had stockpiled ammunition. Because of this decisive action taken on orders radioed to the Ponderosa from the Crisis Room in the White House basement, the insurgency was quelled. The ringleaders were arrested, and order was restored. Fifteen militiamen were injured, one in a collision in the harbor not related directly to the fighting. Thirty strikers were wounded and five Communists were killed.

The mother of Carlos, the waiter, called him from home, hysterical with grief. His twelve-year old brother had been caught in crossfire while running from the combat zone. He was shot in the head by a bullet ricocheting off a metal lamp post. He was killed instantly and dropped into a pool of his own blood.

* * *

The President, his Chief-of-Staff, the Secretary of State, and a famous comedian were standing on the 16th green as the Secretary of State attempted a twelve-foot putt for double bogie. The putt fell short.

“Maybe you can negotiate that last foot, Al,” quipped the famous comedian. Everyone chuckled. A golf cart pulled up to the green as the party was moving off towards the next tee.

National Security Advisor Mrak approached the President’s party, followed by newsmen and photographers. He drew the President aside to brief him on the most recent developments from strife-torn Puerto Cortes, as the press photographers flashed away.

The suppression of the Honduran truck drivers’ strike was considered an important victory for American foreign policy and a serious setback for Castro and the Kremlin. The New York Times reported that the appearance of the American aircraft carrier at the harbor entrance had been sufficient to demoralize the leftists and Communists among the strikers, and allowed the Honduran militia to quell the disturbance without a single casualty among their ranks.

The operation was considered to have been performed in a highly professional and surgical manner, and was compared to the Israeli mission at Entebbe. Moreover, the President had achieved an important media victory over his dovish opponents in Washington.

National Security Advisor Mrak, the principal architect and tactician of the Honduran operation, had grown in stature and influence in the eyes of the President, whose popularity had risen 30 points in the most recent national opinion polls as a result of the American victory.

Professor Mrak’s strategy of using controlled force to subdue greater violence, like rebellion or anarchy, had resulted in only a limited number of casualties in a situation so explosive it had threatened to drag the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. into a direct military confrontation of the most dangerous kind.

Mrak was hailed as a hero for having avoided bloodshed and saved countless lives. It was therefore no surprise when the Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on December 10 that Dr. Josef Mrak had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as a result of his heroic and selfless efforts to limit bloodshed in international confrontations.

Doctor Mrak called the award “the greatest honor of my career,” alluded to previous laureates like Henry Kissinger as having played an inspirational role, and traveled to Oslo to accept the prize.

However, his triumph and glory were mixed with fear and uncertainty. Mrak was known to have authorized the air strikes against the Honduran dock workers; he had now become a potential target for terrorist reprisals.

Proceed to chapter 15...