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The man on the dock asks if he can come along
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The Plot
Paul is in Tampa, Florida, about to board a private seaplane he's chartered to take him to the island of St. Andrews.
As he is driven up, he sees a plane about to take off, and races over to ask if it's his.
A man at the dock confirms that it's indeed the plane reserved for Paul, and asks if he might come along on the flight, and Paul says he welcomes the company.
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Paul finds his plane has been hijacked
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After a while Paul notices that the plane is flying in the wrong direction for his destination. The man accompanying him pulls out a gun, and announcess that they're headed for Cuba, having knocked out the regular pilot of the plane.
He claims to have spent five years in Castro's prisons, and tells Paul that Felipe, who is at the controls, spent two, Now they are going to pick up a compatriot, Ramon Diaz, who has escaped after being sentenced to 20 years.
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Paul says their plan won't work
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He says that Paul arrived at the dock just as they were about to take off, and so were forced to bring him along. He adds that he never would have survived prison without Diaz, and swore he'd get Diaz out of Cuba if his comrade ever managed to escape, which he did two days earlier. The local patrol boat has been put out of order by the underground, and they plan to fly under the radar. Paul says that's impossible, and suggests that they land five miles out at sea. When they arrive, there is a light signal from the shore from Diaz' wife.
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Anita Diaz apologizes to Paul
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She tells them that there is a rumor that Castro is going to be in the locale today, and with militia swarming the area, this must be the reason that her husband didn't meet his contact.
She asks Paul if it was his plane they took, and apologizes, saying that the men who knew her husband would risk their lives out of loyalty for her husband.
While she has prayed for their safety, she tells Paul that she knows what they've done to him is wrong
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Paul learns about why Diaz was imprisoned
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Paul says that he's heard of her husband, and thought he was a close friend of Fidel Castro.
Anita Diaz explains that her husband was his second in command when they were fighting in the Sierre Maestra, but when Castro decided to throw in his lot with the Communists, her husband expressed disapproval, and Castro gave him a 20-year prison sentence for protesting.
She puts this in context by telling him that when Castro led a revolt in 1953, Baptiste only sentenced him to seven years.
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Anita hands Paul a fresh shirt
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The group reassembles, and Paul is told to stay by the plane, but insists on going with the others who proceed to the Diaz house.
Ramon has not arrived, and the group plans to go into town. Again, it is suggested that Paul stay back, but he reckons,if they have to make a quick getaway, he might be left behind.
So Felipe, the pilot remains at the house instead, and Paul is given a gun. When they're gone, Felipe assembles a rifle.
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Another patron starts an altercation with Paul
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They drive into town, and the leader suggests they go in the bar separately while Anita waits in the car. In the bar Paul orders a beer, then realizes that he only has American money. Another patron comes over and starts making accusations at him, bringing Paul to the attention of everyone in the bar.
Paul doesn't respond, and the bartender tries to calm the man down, then the leader comes over and brings him away from Paul. Two militia men come into the bar and look around, then the leader leaves, and the bartender tells Paul to follow him.
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Paul is instructed to watch the street
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Outside, the leader beckons Paul to an upstairs room. He says that Diaz is hiding in the church, and gives Paul instructions to watch if anyone is following him when he walks in the street, and hands him a flash light to signal whether if it is safe. Then he will bring Diaz out, and they will all go quickly to the car, where the plane's fuse block is hidden.
Paul asks about why the man attacked him in the bar, and the leader responds that the patron thought Paul didn't look Cuban, and resembled a man who'd seduced his sister.
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Castro is within Felipe's gun site
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Meanwhile, the leader joins Felipe on the roof above Paul, and they take out rifles. Paul keeps his eye on the scene where much action breaks out in the street as the militia prepare for the entrance of Fidel Castro. Then the door of the room where Paul is waiting is locked by Fernando, the man who'd attacked Paul in the bar. Paul panics, and sees Castro step out of his car. Shots ring out from the roof above him, and the militia fires back. Castro's car drives away at speed, and from an opening in the ceiling, the assassins throw rifles they used into the room where Paul is locked in.
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At gunpoint the leader admits that Diaz is dead
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Already, the militia is banging on the door of the room Paul is in. He steps on a small case, and tries to reach the opening in the ceiling. Just to grab the catch is near impossible, but he finally manages to lever himself up and pull himself through the space and onto the roof just before the militia men get to him.
The leader gets to the car, and tells Anita that they have to leave. She asks about her husband, but is only told to get going when Paul suddenly appears, pointing his gun at the leader, and telling him that despite Felipe's best efforts, Castro is still alive.
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Anita can't find the fuse rack in the car
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Anita asks again about her husband, and the leader reveals that Diaz was killed in prison three months earlier. At gunpoint Paul also makes him admit that Fernando purposely drew attention to the foreigner in the bar, and the whole thing from the dock in Tampa was a set up to make it look like the assassin was an American. It also turns out that the fuse rack, necessary to get the plane running, is not under the back seat of the car as Paul had been told. He asks Anita if such a plan might have been devised by the underground, but she responds that they'd never create a plot like that against the United States.
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The leader asks to be left in Cuba
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The radio broadcasts no word of the attempt on Castro's life.
Back at Anita's house, the leader finally offers to give Paul the fuse rack if he can stay in Cuba. He tries to stall until Felipe and Fernando arrive, but Paul's threats finally get to him, and Anita is able to retrieve the device under a bureau.
Driving to the beach, Paul keeps asking who hired the group, but gets nothing but evasive answers until he says, “I'm still looking for an excuse to kill you. Now, one more lie, and I've found it.”
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Anita believes the leaders statement is true
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With Paul's gun cocked in front of his face, the leader says that he's a member of the Cuban Communist Party, and his group offered Castro a ready-made organization.
Anita confirms to Paul that there were no Communists fighting with Castro in the Sierre Maestra, and explains that he only joined with them later. She says that they were sure that they were using him, but he used them instead.
Anita insists that the Communists wouldn't dare assassinate Castro without having an American to blame it on.
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They wait in the plane for the patrol boat to leave
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On arrival at the beach, Paul tells the leader that he's taking him with them, though he imagined that Paul had promised to let him stay. Felipe and Fernando then drive up and fire shots at them.
The opposition is quelled, but the leader is shot, and Paul drags him through the water to the plane.
It is then a tricky matter of reinstalling the fuse rack into the plane with the patrol boat back in operation. In the end Paul decides to wait until it has left the area again.
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Paul ex0presses sympathy to Anita
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Paul tells Anita that he is sorry about her husband, then that she will like the United States
When the patrol boat has finally disappeared at dawn, Paul takes off
The leader says that Paul is bringing him back as proof of what happened, but the proof is going to die.
Paul tells him that he'll be in the hospital soon, and asks again who planned the operation.
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Puzzled, the leader asks, "who's Che Guevara?"
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“Who knows?” the leader responds, and admits that he lied earlier, meaning that he was not a Communist, but only a man for hire. Paul doesn't believe him, and asks who was supposed to take Castro's place.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” answers the failing man. Paul says that his own guess is that the successor was to be Che Guevara. Anita looks shocked, and Paul asks the leader if it was a good guess. Both eagerly await his answer, but the man looks puzzled, and then asks, “who's Che Guevara?”
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