“Mmm. I don’t know. But we’ll have to slow down some day. Can’t do this sort of thing forever.”
He snorted. “You’re right about that. I guess when the time is right we’ll know.”
Tommy and June joined his parents standing by the stone and gave them the biggest hug of his life. Sean wondered if he’d ever let go.
“Well, I’m glad it’s over,” Adriana said.
Sean kept his thoughts to himself.
Not quite.
36
Pyongyang
General Min-Woo walked into his apartment and locked the door behind him. He wasn’t afraid someone would try to break in. No one would be foolish enough to do that. He was one of the Chairman’s most trusted advisers. If a criminal tried to enter his home, that person would be put through their own personal hell before dying.
Min-Woo stepped into the kitchen and switched on the lights. He pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and poured half the contents down his throat.
It had been another long day of ridiculous meetings, war room briefings, and more meetings, followed by watching soldiers perform military marching drills for two hours.
Min-Woo made his way over to the living room and turned on the television. State-approved television was pretty awful, but it beat sitting around in silence. He eased into his big vinyl chair and put his head back, taking a moment to relax and forget about the stupidity of all the things he’d done over the course of the day.
Maybe after he rested for a few minutes he’d call one of the girls on his list. While Min-Woo hated much of the way the Chairman ran things, he had to admit that being one of Dear Leader’s most trusted advisers did have its privileges.
After sitting in his favorite chair for ten minutes, Min-Woo realized he was still wearing his full uniform. He shook his head and got up, walked into the bedroom, and started taking off the medals from his jacket. He kicked off his shoes and was about to remove his pants in favor of some sweats when his phone started ringing in the living room.
It wasn’t his burn phone, the one he used to keep in contact with Han-Jae. It was his day-to-day phone.
He hurried back into the other room and pressed the green button. “Hello?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, General. Something has come up.”
Min-Woo didn’t recognize the voice on the other end, but that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He got calls from different people all the time. As soldiers were promoted up through the ranks, new ones came in under them to take their place.
“What is it?” Min-Woo asked.
“The Chairman requires your presence. Something has come up, and your expertise is needed.”
The answer was cryptic, but again, nothing out of the ordinary. North Korea was a place full of paranoia. Citizens knew not to say anything stupid on the phones because the government was always listening. Every now and then, the secret police would go out and pick up random people just to reinforce fear in the minds of the people.
Fear led to respect. Respect led to following the rules.
Min-Woo also knew better than to ask if whatever the Chairman needed could wait. Dear Leader was soft. He couldn’t make decisions on his own, like a kid in a candy store unable to choose which sweet to buy.
“Very well,” Min-Woo said. “I’ll put my shoes back on and head that way.”
“Not the usual place, General. We’re afraid there might be a security breach. The Chairman has requested to meet you at backup headquarters.”
“Security breach? What kind of security breach? I wasn’t aware of anything like that.”
“I’ve been asked not to discuss the details on the phone, sir.”
Min-Woo sighed. “Very well. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
He ended the call and slid the phone into his pocket. As he put his clothes back on, he glanced over at the burner phone sitting on the glass table. He’d not heard from Han-Jae in days, which either meant his operative was still in pursuit of the sword, or something worse….
He pushed away the second thought. Han-Jae and his men were some of the best North Korea had to offer. They knew how to move in and out of the shadows, keep a low profile, and avoid security checkpoints in every country in the world.
Still, it was unlike Han-Jae not to check in.
Then Min-Woo remembered the last thing he’d told his asset. He’d told him not to call until he had the sword in his possession.
Easy enough explanation. Han-Jae was still looking.
Min-Woo left the apartment and walked down the stairs. The elevators would be shut down by now to save power, just one more irritation brought about by the current leadership.
At the bottom of the stairs, he made his way through the empty lobby and out the glass doors in front. A black sedan was sitting there with the engine on and the back door open. A soldier stood next to the door.
“General,” he said with a quick salute. “The Chairman sent his car to pick you up.”
Min-Woo was surprised by the act, but it wasn’t the first time something like that happened. He got into the back seat without thanking the soldier, who closed the door and rushed around to the front.
In his years of serving the Chairman and his father, Min-Woo had only been to Headquarters 2 on three occasions. One was when they believed an assassin had infiltrated the country. It turned out to be nothing more than a hoax, probably instigated by the south.
The driver pulled the car out onto the empty city streets and did a U-turn, heading out of town toward the mountains.
Pyongyang was a ghost town. No lights burned in any of the apartments, though some citizens had circumvented the power rationing by lighting candles after dark. No one walked on the sidewalks or drove on the streets, partly because of strict curfews, partly because there was nothing to do anyway.
Ten minutes after leaving the city, Min-Woo noticed the secret road to Headquarters 2 pass by on the right.
“Excuse me,” he said. “Where are you going? You just missed the road.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, General. I got word that the Chairman has another location in mind. He’s very concerned about this security breach.”
There it was again. More worry about a security breach. Min-Woo had been in contact with his contemporaries all day. Whatever this breach was, it had the leader concerned enough that he wanted to meet in the middle of nowhere.
Another ten minutes passed before the driver made a left turn onto a worn-out gravel road. It was more dirt than gravel now, filled in by years of erosion.
The car bumped and jostled in the ruts and holes, causing Min-Woo to wonder if the vehicle could finish the journey.
“Maybe the Chairman should have sent a truck,” he half joked.
The driver said nothing and maneuvered the vehicle around a left-hand curve, then a right. When he straightened out the wheel, he drove the car straight ahead into a grove of trees. The canopy blocked out the starry sky above, leaving nothing to look at but the skeletal trunks passing by on either side.
Finally, more cars appeared in a meadow directly ahead. Soldiers were standing around at attention. In the middle of them was the Chairman in his usual suit.
When the car came to a stop, Min-Woo didn’t wait for the driver to come around and get him. He opened the door and stepped out, anxious to find out what was going on to cause such a panic.
He walked toward the Chairman and stopped a few feet short to salute him.
“What’s going on, sir? I heard there was some kind of security issue.”
The Chairman stared at Min-Woo for a long moment and then put his arm around him. “Thank you for coming. I’ve heard some troubling news, and I wanted to have your opinion on it in person. I’m afraid over the phone wouldn’t do.”
“It’s no problem, Chairman. What’s going on?”
“We have a traitor in our midst. Someone is plotting against us.” The Chairman kept his arm around the general, walking away from the cars toward
the darkness of the forest. “I need your advice on what to do.”
The general raised an eyebrow and looked at his leader. “This traitor, he’s involved with the security breach?”
“Yes. And I need to know what you would do. I need your counsel. You have always been one of my most trusted advisers.”
“Understood, sir. Get me the details on this traitor. Who is he? Where does he live?”
“What would you do to him if you found him?”
“What we do with any traitor, sir. Execute them like the dog they are.”
The Chairman nodded. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
His arm slid off of Min-Woo’s shoulders. The general felt something press into his back. Before he could react, the gun fired.
Min-Woo felt the bullet pierce his skin and come out of his abdomen. It severed his spinal cord on the way in, and instantly he lost all feeling in his legs. With no control over his lower extremities, he dropped to the ground and clutched the wound in his gut with both hands.
“I received word,” the Chairman said, “from an outside source. They told me that you assigned a team to find the sword called Excalibur and that your plan was to use it to overthrow me.” His voice swelled with every word until he was yelling. “I trusted you! This is how you repay that trust and the generosity I’ve shown you!?”
“Please,” Min-Woo said. He coughed several times before he could speak again. “Please, sir. You’re mistaken.”
“Mistaken? I’m mistaken? How then did I receive this picture of one of our operatives in captivity?” He held up an image of a man Min-Woo knew was a part of Han-Jae’s team.
“Sir, please. You don’t understand.”
“Enough, Min-Woo. You betrayed me. And you have condemned yourself with your own words.”
The Chairman raised the weapon and aimed it at Min-Woo’s head.
“Sir, please. Don’t do this. I was only working for the glory of our—”
The muzzle erupted, and Min-Woo fell instantly silent.
The Chairman stuffed the gun back in his jacket and motioned for two of his soldiers to dispose of the body.
He returned to one of the big cars sitting in the meadow and looked at the officer standing next to it.
“They didn’t say anything about the location of where the other operatives were, did they?” the Chairman asked.
The officer shook his head. “No, sir. They didn’t.”
“Just as well. They’re all traitors. Perhaps now we can put this foolishness about a mythical sword behind us.”
37
Mount Nebo
Seven Months Later
Sean stood close to the camera crews shooting video and snapping hundreds of pictures.
The decision to leave Excalibur in its hiding place had, at first, seemed to be the right one, but after a day or two of reflection Tommy felt his parents at least deserved to see the relic they’d worked so hard to find.
They protested, of course, telling their son that it wasn’t important. Part of him wondered if they feared the location on the mountain wasn’t where the sword was hidden. There was an odd comfort in not knowing for certain.
After a discussion with Sean, Tommy knew what he had to do.
Getting the permits from the Jordanian government had taken time. Fortunately, the king of Jordan was swelling with pride at learning one of the most sought-after artifacts of all time was in his country.
Tommy promised that if they were to find the blade, it would be well cared for and presented to the government.
After weeks of working through red tape and months of carefully running the excavation, the crews finally found something: the corner of a stone box.
The workers toiled around the clock, in shifts to allow for rest. Tommy and his parents barely slept once the box had been found. They spent more time on site than anyone else.
Finally, the slender container was opened. Its lid was sealed with wax to prevent intrusion of air and water, a measure that managed to preserve the weapon in nearly perfect condition.
When Tommy’s parents laid eyes on the blade, their faces reddened as they tried to force back the tears. Twenty long years they’d waited to see this, never knowing if they would or not.
Now, they stood by their son as he spoke to the crowd from behind a podium. He was saying something about the research involved. He thanked everyone involved with the project, including the Jordanian government.
Security surrounded the area around the overlook to make sure the king, who was determined to be at the event, was safe. Soon, Tommy would present him with the sword, which would then be taken to a museum.
Sean watched the whole thing with a smug grin and crossed arms.
He’d been gone for the last few months, working on a different project, but there was no way he was going to miss this.
Tommy’s stage presence for public relations was top notch. While he came off as lacking confidence in many areas of his life, speaking to a crowd of people seemed to be natural for him. He spoke clearly and with a kind of confidence Sean rarely saw from his friend.
“I present to you…Excalibur,” he said at the end of his speech.
Two assistants carried a long sword cradled in red cloth and encased in glass. They propped it on a table next to the podium as the crowd erupted in applause. The blade’s metal glimmered in the bright sunlight as if on cue.
When the speech was over and the sword presented to the king of Jordan, the crowds dispersed, and soon the only people left were Sean, Tommy, his parents, and a shadowy figure lingering near the shade of the trees near the inner wall of the overlook.
Sean had noticed Baldwin earlier, but the man from the Brotherhood wasn’t there to cause trouble. He’d been involved with the decision to dig up the sword and had agreed with it. Baldwin suggested that something as powerful as Excalibur shouldn’t be left for someone else to find.
While his thoughts on the matter had surprised Sean, he agreed with the mysterious monk.
Tommy finished shaking hands and chatting with the dignitaries and media on hand, then made his way over to where Sean stood.
He stopped a few feet away from his friend, and they both looked over at Baldwin. The man gave them an approving nod and then made his way around the corner, disappearing behind the little forest.
“You really are good at those speeches,” Sean said.
Tommy snickered. “I’m surprised you’re not giving me a hard time about a slip of the tongue or something.”
Sean grinned. “Me? Give you a hard time? That doesn’t sound right.”
Tommy faked a laugh.
“No, seriously. You were great. Being in front of a crowd is your bag. I mean it.”
Tommy blushed.
“Your parents must be on cloud nine right now.”
“Yeah,” Tommy said, looking over his shoulder at them. “They’re still recovering from the ordeal of being imprisoned for two decades. But they’re doing better than I would be if I’d been the one captured.”
“That generation is just tougher than ours, I suppose.”
“Indeed.”
Sean looked his friend up and down, then changed the subject. “Speaking of tough, have you lost weight? You look stronger. Slimmer.”
Tommy tilted his head forward to check himself out. “Yeah, well, I got tired of you giving me grief over being out of shape. Plus, falling over that fence didn’t help.”
“Hey, I hope I never hurt your feelings with any of that. You know I was kidding, right?”
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, but you weren’t wrong. Plus, I have other motivation to stay in shape, too.”
Sean’s lips creased into a smirk. “How is June?”
“She’s good. She couldn’t make it down for this whole shindig. Work calls, it seems. Oh, that reminds me: my parents are probably going to want to be involved with things at the agency once they get acclimated to things.”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
Sean rolled his shoulders. “I have a few. Going to head back to the States and visit New England. I’ll let you know what I find.”
“Tommy?” his mother said, interrupting the conversation. “Could you come over here for a picture?”
“Duty calls,” Tommy said. “I’ll catch you later.”
“Go do your thing. I’ll be in touch soon.”
Sean turned toward the pathway and started walking back up toward the parking lot.
“Sean?” Tommy said.
Sean stopped and spun around.
“Thanks for coming. Thanks for always being there for me.”
Sean gave a curt nod. “I always will be.”
Thank You
I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for choosing to spend your time reading my work. I put one of these little notes at the end of all my books because I know that you could have spent your money and time on something else, but you chose this book.
I am honored and hope you enjoyed it.
Please swing by one of your favorite online retailers and leave an honest review. Those reviews help authors because they let other readers know if the book is something they might enjoy. Plus, reviews help readers decide on what to read next. It's a win-win.
So thank you once more for reading me. I appreciate it and look forward to entertaining you again.
Ernest
Author Notes
This story was an absolute blast to create. As with all of my Sean Wyatt tales, Excalibur Key takes us on a journey through history and mingles it with speculation, theories, and fiction.
Everything about the kings and great leaders from the sculpture of The Nine Heroes is true.
The Sean Wyatt Series Box Set 4 Page 54
