Seven Days in May Page #4

we have a perverse habit of forgetting...

Operator, would you connect me

with the White House?

The President's expecting you, Colonel.

The study, second door on the right.

All I can tell you, pal,

is this better be damned important.

- How are you, Colonel Casey?

- Mr. President.

- Please, sit down.

- Thank you, sir.

Ever been up here before, Colonel?

No, sir. It's a big room.

Too big for living and too small

for conventions.

- You want a drink, Colonel?

- Yes, sir. Scotch, please.

- Fine. I'll keep you company.

- Thank you.

- How about you, Paul?

- No, no, thanks.

And now, Colonel,

that matter of national security.

Mr. President, have you ever heard

of a military unit known as ECOMCON?

What?

I'm sorry. E-C-O-M-C-O-N. ECOMCON.

No.

What does it mean?

I'm not sure, sir.

In formal military abbreviations...

...it could stand for Emergency

Communications Control, but...

I've never heard anything like that.

- Have you, Paul?

- No, I haven't.

Mr. President, have you ever authorized...

...the formation of any type of secret unit,

regardless of it's name...

...that has something to do with preserving

the security of things like...

...television, telephone or radio?

No, I haven't.

Do you know of

any secret Army installation, sir...

...that's been set up somewhere

near El Paso recently?

The answer is no again.

Why?

Sir, this is something very difficult

for me because...

...it concerns a superior officer

whom I admire and respect.

Let's get on with it, Colonel, huh?

Yes, sir.

Yesterday I learned from a friend of mine,

Colonel Henderson...

...that he's the exec officer of ECOMCON.

His commanding officer is

an Army colonel named John Broderick.

They're both from Signal Corps,

which indicates communications.

They've had 100 officers

and 3,600 men training secretly...

...at a desert base near El Paso

for six weeks or so.

Well, then Henderson said

an odd thing to me, sir.

Something that, well,

I can't shake quite loose of.

He said they were spending more time

training for seizing than for preventing.

Who set up this outfit?

Henderson and Broderick

reported directly to General Scott...

...so, I assume General Scott did, sir.

You assume? You work directly

under General Scott, don't you?

Yes, sir, but, well, I guess I'd been

cut out for some security reason.

Go ahead, Colonel.

Mr. President, this is

General Hardesty's writing.

I know it pretty well.

That paper came from

the Joint Chiefs' meeting room.

I can't make much out of this scrawl.

"Airlift ECOMCON 40 K 212s

at Site Y by 07:
00 Sunday.

"Chi, New York, LA, Utah."

K 212s?

Air Force jet transports, sir.

What do you make of it?

They're obviously scheduled to lift

this command out of Site Y...

...that's the base near El Paso,

before the alert, Sunday...

...and take those troops to Chicago, LA,

New York and Utah.

Why Utah?

The phone company has big relay facilities

for its long lines there.

Precisely what are you leading up to?

I'm not certain, Mr. President, but...

Well, let me tell you the other things

that have happened the past two days.

General Scott has a kind of pool

going on the Preakness race...

...which runs on Sunday.

He sent messages to every important

field commander...

...talking about getting their bets

in on time.

Admiral Barnswell was the only one

who sent in a "no bet" message.

Your General Scott's interest in horses

isn't classified, Colonel.

I don't think those messages had anything

to do with horses, sir.

I think it was some kind of code.

That's a fair-sized assumption.

General Scott wanted those messages

kept under wraps.

- Under wraps?

- Yes, sir.

A J.G. Who decoded those messages

is being shipped out to Hawaii.

There are other things, Mr. President.

Last night at a party

at Stewart Dillard's house...

- You were there, Paul.

- Yes.

Senator Prentice indicated to me

a knowledge of the alert.

No one on the Hill is supposed

to know about it.

Senator Prentice knows.

And General Scott knows that he knows.

- That's quite an assumption.

- How do you know?

The General lied.

He said he was in bed last night at 8:00.

I went to his quarters

after the party because...

...I was concerned that Senator Prentice

had found out about the alert.

He wasn't in bed. He was with Prentice

who arrived at his house at 11:45.

And that's all?

Well, Congress recessed yesterday.

Vice-President Gianelli is in Italy

on a goodwill tour.

This Sunday, you'll be

at an underground command post...

...on Mount Thunder, completely alone.

You won't even have press people

in attendance.

That's true.

General Scott asked that I come alone.

All right, Colonel.

Let's sum it up, shall we?

You're suggesting what?

I'm not sure, Mr. President,

just some possibilities...

...what we call "capabilities"

in military intelligence.

You got something against

the English language?

No, sir.

Then speak it plainly if you will.

I'm suggesting there's a military plot

to take over the government.

This may occur sometime

this coming Sunday.

You realize you could be broken out

of the Service for what you've said?

I've thought about the consequences.

I've been a Marine for 18 years.

Comment, Paul?

With all due respect to Jiggs,

it's just incredible...

...that a secret base could've been

constructed without our hearing about it.

Sir, when you think of the people

and the supplies involved...

Frankly, sir, it doesn't seem logical.

It can be checked out, though.

Yes, I'll call Bill Condon

at the Bureau of Budget. Right now.

I know what Scott's attitude is

on the treaty. What's yours?

I agree with General Scott, sir.

I think we're being played for suckers.

I think it's your business. Yours and

the Senate. You did it and they agreed.

I don't see how we in the military

can question it.

I mean, we can question it

but we can't fight it.

We shouldn't, anyway.

- Jiggs? Isn't that what they call you?

- Yes, sir.

So you stand by the Constitution, Jiggs?

I never thought of it just like that,

Mr. President.

But that's what we've got,

and I guess it's worked pretty well so far.

I sure don't want to be the one to say

we ought to change it.

Neither do I.

Do you have any bright ideas

on what else I can do?

No, sir, not a one. I'm just a buck passer.

I remember what Harry Truman said:

"Inside this room, the buck stops."

Thanks for coming to see me, Colonel.

Yes, sir.

I'd appreciate it if you'd call my secretary

in the morning.

Tell her where you'll be.

- Thanks for coming.

- That's all right, sir. It was...

A pleasure, Colonel?

To get it out of my gut, yes, sir.

I don't know whether you believe this,

but I hope I'm wrong.

Colonel, I hope you're wrong, too.

Good night, sir.

- Good night, Jiggs.

- Good night, Paul.

It is, huh?

Okay, Bill. Thank you.

Condon says there's never been

any money cleared for anything called...

...ECOMCON or whatever it is.

So your conclusion is negative?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes