Thirteen Days Page #25

KENNY:

Hey, sport. You winning?

KEVIN:

Yeah.

But Kevin sees the turmoil in his father's face.

KEVIN (CONT'D)

Is everything going to be okay, Dad?

Kenny's forced smile is answer enough.

KENNY:

Yeah, Kev. Everything's gonna be fine.

But Kevin knows. Together they know. The end of the world

is at hand.

KEVIN:

I guess you won't be coming home

tonight.

KENNY:

I, uh...

Suddenly a car HONKS. Kenny turns around. Bobby is leaning

out the rear passenger window of his limo. And he sees what

Kenny is doing. He doesn't want to cut in, but has to.

BOBBY:

Kenny! We need to talk.

Kenny looks back at his son.

KENNY:

Get back out there, kid. Remember to

hit 'em hard.

KEVIN:

What about you? Where are you going?

KENNY:

Back to work.

Kevin puts his helmet back on his head. Kenny watches as

Kevin jogs off to rejoin his team. Kenny turns his back on

his son, and strides for Bobby's limo, dying inside.

EXT. SANS SOUCI PARKING LOT - DAY

Kenny and Bobby stand by their car off to one side of the

restaurant's parking lot. Bobby's Secret Service Agents

maintain a discreet distance.

KENNY:

If we're going to make a deal, we're

going to have to do it fast. This is

only getting out of control. The only

reason we're not at war this very minute

is he's been able to stretch, bend and

break his own rules. He won't be able

to keep it up forever.

Bobby jams the last bit of sandwich in his mouth. A beat.

Kenny looks him in the eye.

BOBBY:

And?

KENNY:

And Jack wants to trade the missiles in

Turkey.

BOBBY:

The Jupiters are obsolete. They were

supposed to have been dismantled last

summer anyway --

KENNY:

-- Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I told you

how stupid it was to float the Lippman

article! But you wouldn't listen to me.

What if there hasn't been a coup at all?

What if it's you two who invited that

second letter by raising the possibility

of a trade?

Bobby is speechless with rage.

KENNY (CONT'D)

And if the two of you are thinking this

trade is your ace in the hole, you're so

wrong. It's a deuce.

Bobby's beyond furious. They catch their rising voices.

KENNY (CONT'D)

And it's not just me who thinks that.

Everyone on this so-called EXCOM is

telling you exactly the same thing: make

the trade, and they're going to force us

into trade after trade until finally

they demand something we won't trade

like Berlin, and we do end up in a war.

(beat)

Not to mention, that long before that

happens, this government will be

politically dead.

Bobby simmers for a long beat, thinking. And boy, does this

guy hate admitting he's wrong.

BOBBY:

All right, so maybe we overestimated how

reasonable this trade would look. Okay?

You happy? So now what?

KENNY:

So now you've got to talk him out of it.

And then we've got to figure out an

acceptable political solution.

BOBBY:

And if there has been a coup and there

is no acceptable political solution?

Kenny stares off at the city, agonized.

INT. OVAL OFFICE - NIGHT

Kenny enters from his office, finding Bobby, Rusk and

Sorensen talking with the President. The President gives him

a brief, meaningful look.

RUSK:

Whatever response we send, it will take

several hours for the wire to be

received by our embassy and delivered to

the Kremlin. So we're looking at early

tomorrow morning at the earliest before

Khruschev could respond.

As Rusk talks, Kenny passes close by Bobby. Bobby whispers:

BOBBY:

He gets it, but he's pissed.

THE PRESIDENT:

That's all well and good, but what do we

say to 'em?

SORENSEN:

It depends on if we really believe

there's been a coup.

That strikes a cord with Kenny.

KENNY:

I agree. If there has been a coup, and

there's a hard-line government in power

now, then it doesn't matter what we say.

The end of the day we'll either agree to

their terms, they'll agree to ours, or

we'll go to war. But what if there

hasn't been a coup? What if... what if

what is happening is a series of

accidents?

SORENSEN:

The second letter is an accident?

KENNY:

No. The letter is an intentional, but

it's having an effect far greater than

its authors intended.

(beat)

What if our Jupiter missiles are just a

last minute haggle to salvage something?

Maybe a bone Khruschev is throwing to

the hard line, not really caring if we

reject it or not?

(beat)

And then these accidents have happened.

BOBBY:

Making the second letter and the overall

picture look worse than it really is.

SORENSEN:

The Guns of August.

KENNY:

Exactly.

(beat)

If they're sane and human like we are,

then maybe we just refuse, and they'll

let it slide, like we've been letting

things slide.

SORENSEN:

So we reject the second letter.

And Kenny looks at Bobby. The world stops.

KENNY:

No. We don't reject it...

It hits Bobby like a lightning bolt.

BOBBY:

... We accept the first letter and

pretend the second doesn't exist.

The President, Rusk and Sorensen stare at him, mute.

INT. CABINET ROOM - NIGHT

HOLD ON the exact same mute reaction from the entire

assembled EXCOM. Finally McCone breaks the spell.

MCCONE:

It won't work --

Bobby, Kenny and Sorensen start to object, but McCone raises

his voice over theirs.

MCCONE (CONT'D)

-- because it's wishful thinking! It's

the same wishful thinking that blinded

us all these months while the Soviets

were sneaking those missiles in under

our noses!

McNamara shakes his head, intrigued but skeptical.

MCNAMARA:

Ignore the second letter, agree to the

conditions of the first...

GENERAL TAYLOR:

There's no reason to believe the Soviets

will let it go.

RUSK:

Max is right. Why will they accept it?

MCNAMARA:

It can work. If, IF they believe we'll

hit them.

Kenny, Bobby and Sorensen look at McNamara, grateful.

MCNAMARA (CONT'D)

We've only got time for one more round

of diplomacy. The first airstrikes

start in less than 36 hours.

RUSK:

But we have to make them agree to it.

So how do we do that?

The President leans forward. Sensing he's about to speak,

all eyes turn to him.

THE PRESIDENT:

We give them something. We tell them

we'll remove the missiles from Turkey

say, six months from now so that there

appears to be no linkage. We also tell

them if they go public about it, we deny

it and the deal is off.

KENNY:

And we do it under the table so we can

disavow any knowledge of it.

MCCONE:

It's transparent. The press'll be all

over it.

KENNY:

Six months from now, I'm not going to

care. Are you? We'll deal with it.

MCNAMARA:

At least it will expose whether

Khruschev has been overthrown. We'll

know what we're dealing with.

KENNY:

And if this is a move to appease the

hard line, then it may just be the bone

he needs to regain control of his own

house.

Most EXCOM is nodding, agreeing. McCone shakes his head in

disgust. Taylor sits in silence.

RUSK:

Whoever carries the message has to hit

the nail on the head. Come across as

too soft, they'll push us. Too hard,

they'll be cornered and even more

dangerous.

MCCONE:

They could pre-empt.

It's a terrible responsibility to bear. The room is silent.

At last Bobby looks up from his folded hands to his brother.

The President stares back. There is nobody else who can do

this. Only Bobby. His brother.

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