The Saboteurs by Clive Cussler (top 10 best books of all time .TXT) 📗

than any officer. He saved a lot of us that day, me included. I was the one who put him up for a battlefield commission and fought the rest of the war at his side.

“I’d spent four years at West Point learning from the finest military minds our country has ever produced and they all pale in comparison to Court’s tactical and strategic thinking.”

Talbot looked embarrassed by such high praise and mumbled his thanks.

Densmore continued. “Don’t get me wrong, George Goethals is a fine man, a brilliant engineer, and a hell of an administrator, but he doesn’t have the combat experience or the kind of situational awareness that Court has. If Court says there’s a new danger to the canal that Goethals is overlooking, I plan to give him my full attention and endorsement if warranted.”

“Thank you, Senator,” Bell said. “Now I understand the full picture. Mr. Talbot, please continue.”

“Over the past few months an insurgency has arisen on the isthmus. They call themselves Viboras Rojas. It means ‘Red Vipers.’ Overly dramatic, but effective. In parts of the world where people live alongside jungles, children are taught to fear even harmless snakes because the poisonous ones are all so deadly. I saw it myself in the Philippines, and it’s the same in Panama. The local population was at first fearful of the Viboras, but now they are viewed as true Panamanian patriots.”

“What do they want?” Bell asked.

“Nothing short of a Marxist takeover of Panama, and they advocate for Vladimir Lenin’s form of totalitarian Bolshevism. Are you familiar with him?”

“Russian revolutionary currently in exile someplace in Central Europe,” Bell replied.

“Kraków, to be precise,” Talbot said. “He’s a dangerous character and one I’d hate to see topple the Tsarist regime, even if that group is a corrupt anachronism these days. Viboras Rojas want all foreign influence out of Panama and a Communist system of government installed where all labor is collectivized and all capital is controlled by the state. They especially renounce the Monroe Doctrine, which gives the United States unprecedented influence over Central American affairs.”

Densmore grunted. “That’s some irony for you. Panama wasn’t a country until just a couple years ago. Without the United States, it would still be a backwater province of the nation of Colombia.”

“That is true,” Talbot conceded. “But because Panama was cut off from the bulk of Colombia by the Darién Gap’s impenetrable jungle, they’ve always maintained a high level of local patriotism and a fierce sense of independence.”

“The what?” Elizabeth asked.

“Bitsy, please,” Densmore grumbled.

“No, it’s okay,” Talbot said. “There is an area south of the Canal Zone called Darién that consists of rivers, mountains, and jungle so thick that even the native Indians don’t live there. A few expeditions have been able to cross it on foot, but more have simply vanished.”

“Back to the Red Vipers,” Bell prompted.

“Ah, yes. They want the Americans out of their country, as well as the thirty thousand or so Caribbean islanders working as laborers all along the canal’s forty-mile length. ‘Panama for the Panamanians’ is their motto.”

“What kind of insurgency is it?” Bell asked. “Are they targeting civilians?”

“No. They want to win over the hearts of the people, so they are raiding depots belonging to the Canal Authority for supplies that they turn over to villagers and distribute throughout Panama City on the Pacific Coast and Colón on the Atlantic side. That is why the people no longer fear the Vipers but are starting to see them as heroes.

“Few outside Panama realize that the average Panamanian’s life has not improved since the canal was first begun. Labor comes from Barbados and Jamaica, and all the skilled workers hail from the United States. The locals get nothing. They don’t even sell to the Americans because the Canal Authority limits its workers to commissaries and dining halls they themselves operate. Panama will soon have a path between the seas, as they say, but it has done little for people’s lot. Many feel like they’re second class in their own land. Therefore, a group of insurrectionists distributing stolen food and fuel are well regarded by the local poor.”

“Is that all they’ve been doing?” Bell asked. “Playing Robin Hood?”

“No,” Talbot admitted. “They have begun sabotaging machinery, the big steam-powered excavators and rail lines mostly. The Authority has instituted twenty-four-hour guards in the Culebra Cut, where most of the steam shovels are deployed, and extra sentries along the railroad.” He leaned forward to emphasize his next point. “That said, several workers have been injured as a result of their sabotage, and I feel, at best, that this is emboldening them. There are rumors swirling around Panama City that they have something large planned, something that will galvanize the people and garner international support.”

“Do they have outside backing now?” Densmore asked.

“Not yet, but I have heard whispers that trade unionists from Europe have been seen in Panama City, so it might be only a matter of time.”

Elizabeth raised a finger. “May I ask something, Uncle Bill?” He nodded, and she continued. “Why don’t the people building the canal hire more security?”

Bell suggested, “The Army could get involved. Hell, send in the Marines. It wouldn’t be the first time in that part of the world.”

“That’s what we most want to avoid,” Talbot said. “Insurgencies are fragile at the early stages, but also so malleable that a crushing force causes them to disperse and then re-form once the Army has moved on. You don’t stop them but actually make them stronger. I saw it myself in the Philippines. The war with Spain ended quickly enough, and we took possession of the islands, but ever since we’ve been fighting the Moro insurgents. That’s fifteen years of fighting, and there is no end in sight. We’ve lost at least five thousand American soldiers. Who knows how many civilians have died. I’ve heard upward of a million, when you factor in famine and disease.”

Densmore wiped his mouth and tossed the soiled napkin on the empty plate in front of him. He