“We don’t know,” Heinz said. “But it can’t be good.”
On the viewport, people were scurrying back and forth between the warehouse and several trucks parked outside. In the red tint of the radiation filter, the men were hard to make out. The bomb was not. It had been moved from the back of the warehouse to the foot of the entrance.
“Switch to thermal,” Mitch said.
Watkins fumbled with the control in the commander’s seat for a moment, then got up and stepped away. “You better take over.”
Mitch did and switched the view with two quick taps of his thumb. The dots were suddenly replaced by the sight of at least two dozen soldiers. Half of them had formed a chain gang and were moving boxes from the warehouse into the back of one of the trucks.
“You’re right,” Mitch said. “This isn’t good. Has anyone called the others?”
“They’re on their way,” Heinz said.
“Where the hell did all these people come from?” Mitch demanded.
“They arrived about six hours ago,” Heinz replied. “Eight trucks entered the compound and drove straight into this warehouse here. We thought it was just more cargo at first, then two of them drove back out and they’ve been loading them up ever since.”
“And the bomb?” Mitch continued.
“They just moved it,” Watkins said. “We sent Naoko to find you as soon as we saw what was going on.”
“Well, it looks like the waiting’s over,” Mitch said.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Heinz asked.
“I have no idea,” Mitch said. “If I had to guess I’d say they were moving it to the mine. We need to get Jasper down here.”
Naoko returned a moment later. He took a moment to get his breath back and announced, “That guy’s flipped a switch.”
“He’s just in denial,” Mitch said. “It’s quite common among people who’ve lost a loved one.”
“He’s lost a lot more than that,” Naoko told him.
“Well he’s going to have to snap out of it soon,” Mitch replied. “I’m starting to think he may be the missing piece in this puzzle.”
“Speak of the devil,” Watkins said.
Francis and Titov were standing at the top of the gangway. Between them, looking more disoriented than insane, was Jasper. He was rubbing the side of his face where a large red mark was now forming. Richelle appeared behind them a moment later.
“Is he okay?” Naoko said.
“He’ll be fine,” Francis said.
“I ran into a wall,” Jasper said, looking self-consciously around. “At least I think I did.”
“Well, that was convenient,” Watkins said. He was eyeing Titov and Francis with clear disapproval.
“Nothing like a good head-on collision to clear the cobwebs in the attic,” Titov said, slapping Jasper on the back. “So, what’s going on?”
Mitch summed up the situation and pointed at the screen. “As for what it all means, your guess is as good as mine.”
“Show Jasper the mine,” Francis said.
Mitch brought up the valley on the screen and said, “Feast your eyes, Doc.”
Jasper stood looking at the site for a long time. Just as everyone thought he might have relapsed, he said, “Do you have any idea what they’re using to bore the tunnel?”
“As a matter of fact, we do,” Mitch said.
He climbed down from the seat and opened the laptop. For the next fifteen minutes everyone was reduced to the role of onlooker as Jasper moved between the screen and the information Mitch had collected. Mitch returned to his seat and began shifting the view as Jasper dictated, first in, then out, and back in again somewhere else. When he appeared satisfied, Jasper sat down at the laptop and began looking through figures on various websites none of them had ever heard of. Perhaps even more remarkable than his sudden recovery was the way Jasper seemed to take the system and everything it was capable of for granted. It was as if his incredulity had transformed into an uncritical acceptance of everything around him in the blink of an eye. When he finally looked up to deliver his verdict, everyone on the bridge was staring at him.
“Based on what you’ve shown me,” Jasper said, “I’d say this was an access tunnel of some kind. It’s obvious from the location of the structure and the blades being used that it runs below the river. Judging by the size of the operation and the amount of time you say it’s been going on, my guess would be that it’s somewhere between fifteen and eighteen kilometers long.”
“You can tell all that from here?” Richelle marveled.
“It’s only an educated guess,” Jasper replied. “Call it the most plausible scenario. The equipment they’re using is a tunnel boring platform. If they were excavating an underground structure of some kind the hardware required would be entirely different.”
“So they are digging a tunnel to the South,” Francis said.
“Am I right in saying that this is why I was in Dubai?” Jasper asked.
“It certainly looks that way,” Francis said. “Although why they needed you isn’t exactly clear.”
Jasper turned back to the laptop and brought up a map of Seoul. He studied it for a moment and said, “Would you like me to take another guess?”
“Please do,” Francis said.
Jasper pointed at a blue square with the letter M inside it and said, “Daehwa Station.”
“What about it?” Mitch said.
“This is the final station of the Seoul subway. It’s the largest subway in the world, by distance. It’s also one of the deepest.”
“You actually think—” Watkins began.
“A tunnel of this kind needs a level end point,” Jasper said. “You can’t just steer it toward the surface. Normally you would have a machine working from both ends. The calculations required to position the exit where you want it are complicated enough if you can guide the machine by surface sonar and GPS as it moves forward.”
“But they can’t do that,” Francis said.
“It would seem unlikely,” Jasper said.
“Assuming that’s what this is all about,” Francis said. “I still don’t see how they could get to the end unnoticed.”
Jasper typed something into the search engine and sat back. They all stepped forward to see what he was looking at. It was an article in the Asia Times dated only two days ago. The headline read: “Chinese Firm Wins Bid for Seoul Metro Extension.”
Chapter 96
Beijing, China
Tuesday 26 June 2007
0700 CST
The first sign Commander Duan received that all might not be going as well as he had thought arrived before he’d even had a chance to drink his morning tea.
As befit any intelligence organization, the directorate had a number of people in its service intended to provide an additional source of confirmation, especially in matters as sensitive as Project 38. One of these was the senior pilot of the transport helicopter moved to Nampo to ferry parts to the tunnel project. Using a satellite transponder built into the instrument panel, he had sent a message that morning informing Duan of the arrival of a large contingent of troops at the facility.
Although a little odd, this did not give Duan any cause for immediate concern. That came an hour later, after all efforts to reach General Rhee had failed. Duan, who spoke fluent Korean, talked to the duty guard commander at Nampo, only to learn that neither Rhee nor his assistant Pok were there. When asked when they were expected back the answer had been vague.
Still refusing to believe that anything was fundamentally wrong, Duan had used the secondary channel, Rhee’s satellite phone, to try and get hold of him. There had been no answer.
That had been an hour ago, and it was now close to noon.
Duan picked up the phone and asked his assistant to put a call through to the intelligence chief at the Chinese consulate in Pyongyang. But when his phone rang a couple of minutes later, it was not the intelligence chief but Minister Yew.
“Comman
der, we have a situation.”
“What do you mean?” Duan said.
“We believe Jasper Klein was apprehended in the United States several days ago.”
Duan did his best to sound surprised. “In the United States?”
“Yes,” Yew said. “The intelligence officer at the embassy believes he was taken to the offices of the federal police and may have escaped.”
This time Duan didn’t need to pretend. “Escaped? How?”
“We don’t know. But until we have confirmation, I want all ships bound for Nampo stopped. We can’t afford anyone making the connection.”
In a way, the news delighted Duan. If it was true, it would cause a serious delay on the tunnel project, but listening to Yew squirm was almost worth it. And the old shit knew he had lost the upper hand with the arrival of the warheads in Nampo. It was in his voice and the uncharacteristic calm he displayed.
“The Xilin Gol is due to arrive tomorrow evening,” Duan said. “I’ll see to it the ship is anchored right away. When can we expect to know more?”
“I’ll contact you as soon as I have any information,” Yew said. “In the meantime anything your office can do to assist would be greatly appreciated.”
He almost cooed with delight at the groveling tone of the old man. Only days ago Duan had been reprimanded for his actions in Goa. Now the shoe was apparently on the other foot.
“I’ll do what I can,” Duan said. “Although General Rhee will not be pleased about the delay.”
“Tell him whatever you need to,” Yew said. “Offer him an incentive if you must.”
“You’ll authorize a payment?” Duan said, barely able to keep the delight out of his voice.
“If it comes to that, yes.”
“Very well, I’ll see to it,” Duan said.
For a moment Duan forgot all about the report and his difficulty locating Rhee. He thought a cash withdrawal of twenty thousand US dollars might be just the thing to placate the general, none of which he would ever see, of course.
He lifted the receiver on his office phone to order the delay of the Xilin Gol as promised, then put it down again. Yew was panicking because, like the rest of the council, he knew few of the details surrounding Project 38. The Xilin Gol was a dry bulk carrier shipping only cement and a few remaining components of the tunnel train. There was no way to connect it to the Beixiang or any other vessel used to move supplies to Nampo.
It wasn’t the last mistake Duan would make, but it was certainly the biggest.
Chapter 97
Nampo, North Korea
Tuesday 26 June 2007
1530 KST
Rhee watched from the warehouse entrance as a group of soldiers lifted the frame from the ground and carried it to the bed of the truck outside. Beneath the canvas cover it looked innocuous: a playground carousel perhaps, or something equally innocent. As soon as it was tied down, the truck was driven back into the warehouse.
“Everything is in place, sir,” the major said.
Rhee looked up at the sky and offered a silent prayer, something he was making a habit of these days.
Had he been aware the moment was not as private as it appeared, he might have offered a wholly different prayer. But of course he had no way of knowing, and wouldn’t have believed it if he did.
Chapter 98
The Pandora
Tuesday 26 June 2007
0930 EEST
“He’s an ugly son of a bitch,” Mitch said. “I’ll give him that.”
Francis looked into the upturned face of General Rhee and felt the goosebumps rise on his arms. “Careful what you ask for, little man. You just might get it.”
“You think they’re moving it to the tunnel?” Naoko said.
“Most likely,” Francis said. “I guess we’ll know soon enough.”
They had to wait less than an hour.
The tension on the bridge of RP One was just beginning to ease when the gates were opened and a single truck drove out of one of the warehouses. It moved along the road toward the dock with obvious haste. When the truck was waved through the security checkpoint, it drove inside and came to a stop behind a row of shipping containers. The occupants—Francis counted over a dozen—quickly disembarked and began to fan out among the buildings and equipment that littered the dock. Mitch zoomed out, bringing both the dock and the Xilin Gol into view. In the thermal image a plume of purple smoke was rising from the stack above the superstructure at the stern. The men were now little more than blue dots moving collectively toward the water in short sprints. When they had come as close as the available cover would allow, two men on either end of the advance sprang from cover and ran toward the mooring bollards.
“Christ,” Richelle said, “They’re—”
“Hijacking the ship,” Francis finished. “And they know exactly what they’re doing.”
The men climbed the ropes with surprising speed. In under five minutes the entire team was on board. Half the men spread out over the ship as the rest clustered around one of the doors at the bottom of the superstructure and quickly disappeared inside. From the time they left the complex, the entire operation had taken less than ten minutes.
Mitch was about to shift the monitor back to the compound to see what else might be happening when a convoy of six trucks drove through the security gate and stopped next to the ship. The dock was suddenly awash with men. Most of them began unloading the trucks and making their way up the gangway with the cargo.
“What are they doing now?” Titov said.
“Settling in for the long haul, by the looks of it,” Francis said.
“I don’t get it,” Richelle said.
Before Francis could elaborate another truck approached the ship. Sitting on the back was an object they all recognized. It was joined a moment later by a small mobile crane. As they watched, the custom-made frame was gently raised from the bed of the truck and over the side of the ship where several men helped guide it into position between two of the closed cargo hatches. As soon as this was done the men piled back into their trucks, and the convoy left as quickly as it had arrived.
Mitch, who had been watching these events with a kind of stupid disbelief, now sprang to action. He placed markers on the trucks as they drove through the gate, then put one on the ship and zoomed out until the entire region was in view. Instead of returning to the compound, the trucks passed it and headed north up the main road toward the city of Ryonggang.
“So?” Richelle said. “Anyone care to venture a guess as to what the hell these people are up to?”
Francis stood looking at the screen for a moment and said, “I don’t know what they’re up to, but I have a feeling their cooperation with the Chinese may have just come to an abrupt end.”
Chapter 99
Beijing, China
Tuesday 26 June 2007
1530 CST
What pleasure Duan had derived from the debacle of Jasper Klein’s discovery and subsequent escape had quickly given way to renewed worry about the location of General Rhee. Every effort he had made to contact Rhee proved futile. Even his attempt to reach Vice Marshal Hwang, Rhee’s commanding officer, through the embassy in Pyongyang had failed. If that wasn’t bad enough, no report had arrived from the pilot at Nampo this morning. Concluding rightly that something had gone horribly wrong, Duan was in the process of removing the Project 38 files from his safe when his phone rang.
It was Rhee.
“Where the hell have you been?” Duan said, his anger only slightly tempered by the accompanying relief he felt.
“Things have been busy,” Rhee said.
“Where are you?”
“At Nampo.”
“Well, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t disappear like that again,” Duan said. “I’m not the only one around here whose nerves are on edge, you know. We’ve taken a great risk, General, as you’re surely aware.”
Rhee was silent for a long time. When he spoke it was with an air of defiance Duan didn’t
like the sound of one bit. “Kim wants to see his wife and child. He’s becoming increasingly difficult to manage. I’ll have to insist they be flown to Pyongyang immediately.”
“Out of the question,” Duan said. “And frankly, I’m surprised you would even ask.”
“It’s not a request,” Rhee said. “It’s a condition of our further cooperation.”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Duan said. “This is our operation. If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t even be where you are now.”
“Perhaps,” Rhee said. “But I am. I suggest you speak to your superiors and explain that things have changed.”
The calm in Rhee’s voice only served to infuriate Duan further.
“You listen to me, you piece of shit,” Duan said. “I could have you hunted down and shot with a phone call.”
“Then why don’t you?” Rhee said. “Just remember that we too have something that belongs to you. I’d be willing to consider a trade.”
Duan was about to reiterate his threat, but stayed his tongue.
“That’s right,” Rhee said. “You can have your toys back. How we return them is up to you.”
“You’re bluffing,” Duan said.
“Am I?” Rhee said. “I wonder what the world would make of your plans to blackmail a peace-loving country like ours into doing your dirty work for you. How appealing do you think all that cheap labor will be once they learn the truth?”
Duan didn’t answer.
“Well, commander?” Rhee said. “Have I got your attention?”
“I’m listening,” Duan said.
“Good. You will deliver the boy and his mother to the airfield at Sunan within twenty-four hours. You will then provide guarantees in writing to double the level of economic aid and remove all existing restrictions on weapons. If these conditions are met in full I will arrange for the return of your merchandise.”
“You’re insane,” Duan said. “Even if the committee chose to cooperate, it has no authority to make such concessions.”
Origin - Season Two Page 32
