passed it on to one person after another, had already reached Fuentes before he saw 'her.' As she had said to Salluca. they had to take as many defen- sive measures as they could to protect 'her' for as long as possible until her inevitable discovery.

Irena, however, had looked so demure and so beautiful as she sat gracefully at the table and opened up the report with her newly painted nails that Consuela was sure that Fuentes, by the look in his eyes, would try to isolate her sooner later. But now it was up to Salluca to keep both Figueroa and Fuentes at bay while 'she' made the Vice-President's risky plan of action take effect.

or

Even while Irena sat so quietly, only Salluca seeing the quiver at the hem of her skirt as she tried to keep her pretty, stockinged legs together, Con- suela was outside the Junta prowling up and down, smoking one cigarette after another, a thing she never did, while she prayed that the pretty girl she had helped to create would be as authentic a female as she knew he could be.

"When will the reactionaries be pushed out of El Chaco?" asked Salluca. His question hung in the air, unanswered for a short time. The Eagle already knew the answer to his own question, but the acknowledg- ment of the military was essen- tial to the little 'surprise' he had planned.

"Without further replenish- ment of our losses, particularly in weaponry, perhaps never,' stated Aguilar bluntly when all eyes were finally turned to him.

"And what are the chances of our replenishing our current war losses? How soon can we re-arm?" Salluca asked, looking expectantly at Francisco Fuentes.

Fuentes was a man with wide interests beyond the Revo- lution itself. Gregarious, he was well respected in and out of the

Party. He was sure to be Presi- dent one day in the future, many thought and hoped. He was usually very cool to Salluca whom he sensed as a rival for the leadership of the moderate or pragmatic faction of the Revolution, the Regulars, now led so erratically at times by Irena Varga. He might have been more openly opposed to Salluca but for the fact that he hated Figueroa even more. He curled the ends of his handsome, black mustache as he spoke. He waxed them regularly and was inordin- ately proud of them.

"The Great Powers," he pronounced each word as if he recited a litany of Saints, "have agreed with the U.N. resolution on the invasion. They won't supply arms to either side. I've spoken to our friendly contacts and I'm assured that they've agreed to abide by this one. There'll be nothing for us, neither overt nor covert.

""

"Then," Figueroa's voice was a shrill, barrio-bred whine, "we are deserted by the very people who call themselves Revo- lutionaries."

Fuentes' shrug was a deli- cate thing. Combined with the expression of distaste on his face, it clearly conveyed that, while he didn't think so, the other could think what he liked.

"Senora Presidente." Fig- ueroa's thin, feline head was held high on his thin stalk of a neck as he spoke. With de- liberate, slow grace, Irena raised her highlighted eyes to look directly at the militant. Her long, painted fingernails tapped lightly and nervously on the paper before her. While Figueroa had never been her lover, he had made it quite clear that he wanted to be. While barely tol- erant of Salluca, Fuentes, Jean Augusto Gonzales, the Minister of Defense, who so often sided. with the 'Regulars,' Figueroa always treated Irena with great respect, even when she totally opposed him. His cohorts, Nunez

35

and Franco, were as embarrassed by his distraction in face of Irena's femininity as the rest of the Junta was amused by his actions.

""

"I propose, the Interior Minister said, his voice rising with emotion, "that we imme- diately commit the Vanguard and Ramirez Divisions to the El Chaco War. Also, I propose that the three Marine divisions at Sabre be placed under Army command and reassigned to the war on the plains." He looked expectantly at Echevarria, the Minister of the Navy and its only Admiral, as if waiting for an argument. But none was forth- coming. Gaetano Franco auto- matically nodded his seconding of the motion.

"It can't be done," said Juan Augusto Gonzales, his face reddening as he blustered on, saliva flecking his lower lip. "The Marines are the only forces east of the Cadunes. If they move to El Chaco, the road to the the capital is open. The Ramirez armor holds the Degar Pass and the coastal roads to Paloma. The Vanguard,' his

"

eyes darted to Aguilar, "is

needed to keep order and secur- ity about the capital."

It was an academic argu- ment really, Salluca had told 'Irena' earlier. The disposition of its forces was something the Army would not let anyone else decide. And the Vanguard would never be pulled out of the capital or the neighboring cities, not when that would leave Figueroa's Interior Police a free hand. The Army might never get back in, once they had pulled out of the cities.

"My men will preserve the order and security of the cap- ital." snapped Figueroa, jerking forward in his chair. "We lose El Chaco because you do not commit sufficient forces to expel them. You preserve pre- cious fighter-bombers for an advance you're too scared to make!"

The flush on Gonzales' face