by David Archer
TWELVE
They heard the chatter of gunfire upstairs, but it was muffled. Noah snatched up one of the assault rifles the guards had been carrying and pulled the door open, as Dale grabbed the other and stepped in behind him. A quick look around into the hallway showed Noah several soldiers huddled there, apparently focusing their attention on the stairs. He stepped out and flicked the assault rifle’s selector to full auto, then squeezed the trigger and sprayed thirty rounds into them.
Dale swung out and added his own fire to the fusillade, taking the soldiers so by surprise that not one of them managed to return fire. Dale checked the bunk room and found it empty, while Noah dropped his rifle and ran through the hallway, snatched up another from one of the fallen soldiers and looked into the stairwell. One man was halfway up, but he was looking back at Noah with eyes full of terror. When he saw Noah pointing the rifle at him, he quickly dropped his own and thrust his hands into the air, but Noah put a single bullet between his eyes.
“Jenny?” Noah shouted.
“Noah?” Jenny yelled back. “Is that you?”
“Yes. We’re all secure down here, how about you?”
“Secure, one prisoner. It’s safe to come up.”
Noah turned to Dale and told him to fetch the women, then made his way up the stairs. Jenny and her men were gathered where the stairs exited into the hallway, and he saw Marco and Neil coming toward them with Song.
“The targets?” Jenny asked.
“They’re alive and coming up. We’re taking them with us.”
Jenny’s eyes went wide as she looked up at him, but she didn’t argue. “Okay. What about our captive, here?”
Noah looked at Song. “This is Colonel Song, the interrogator. I don’t know how much he’s actually learned from his captives, but I don’t think it was anything important. I’ll fill you in later, but there is a lot more to this situation that we were led to believe. As for the Colonel, here, the question is whether he’s valuable enough to try to take with us, or if we should terminate him and leave him here.” He turned to Dale, who was just coming up the stairs behind him. “Any thoughts on that?”
Dale looked at Song and scowled. “I know he’s supposed to be some kind of bigwig in their intelligence,” he said. “Might be a feather in your cap if you bring him in, your call.”
Noah turned to the Korean. “I can put a bullet in your head, or you can go with us without resistance. Which way would you have it?”
Song glared at him for only a couple of seconds, then lowered his eyes. “I will not resist,” he said.
“See that you don’t, because I can kill you just as quickly in the field as I can here. Where’s my phone?”
Song pointed with his chin at the guard room, and Noah followed as Marco walked him into it. “It is in the top drawer of the desk,” Song said. Noah walked across the room and yanked the door open, then picked up the iPhone and shoved it into his pocket once more.
“All right, let’s go,” Noah said. “The explosions are going to bring somebody pretty soon, and we want to be as far away as possible before they get here. Randy, lead out. Marco, you take our guests and follow him, and the rest of us will be behind you. He tries anything, don’t hesitate to put a bullet in his brain.”
“Be my pleasure, boss,” Marco said. He slung the little rifle over his shoulder and pulled out the pistol Song had dropped. It had a large sound suppressor attached to it, and he waved it in front of the Colonel’s face. “Won’t even be noisy, now will it?” He poked Song in the back with it, and then he and the Colonel followed Randy out the door. Neil was next, followed by Dale and the women, and then Jim and Dave.
Noah kept Jenny back until the others were a few yards ahead. “I found out something interesting,” he said. “The CIA has a mole who’s been selling information to the Chinese, information related to US activities in its neighboring countries, and their liaison here, Soo Mi, was involved in selling these agents out. She might also have been the reason I was caught, because she knew I was Camelot.”
“Yeah, it was her,” Jenny said, “but not without help. Seems I was right about Randy. He told her who you were, and she dropped the dime to her contact with China or whoever, which is why they were waiting for you when you got here. She’s dead, by the way.”
“Okay,” Noah said without missing a beat, “but it seems that China has been trying to get particular information about me, Camelot. The mole might very well be connected to what happened to Sarah. CIA would’ve been involved in planning that mission, so the mole could have found out Sarah was the Camelot trans officer.”
“Unlikely. Allie doesn’t share that intel easily. She says she doesn’t want anyone out there trying to influence her teams, so the less they know, the better.”
“So the mole compromised Randy, you think? If he’s the one who sold out Sarah, then it had to have been after she was taken from the prison, rather than before.”
Jenny scowled. “Not necessarily,” she said. “Remember I told you he had a habit of disappearing now and then? I was thinking about it, and one of those times was the day she was snatched. We were all done, and getting ready to fly out the next morning, and Randy sort of went for a stroll. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, because I was used to it, but with all I know now, I have to figure he might have gotten a message. I know he’s been turned and is working with the CIA mole, so it all fits together.”
“Then we need to interrogate him now,” Noah said. “Find out if he knows where she was taken.”
“No, we need to get our asses out of hostile territory, first,” Jenny replied, “and check in with Neverland. The thing that bothers me is, if the Company knew it had a mole, why the hell weren’t we told?”
“That’s for Allison to figure out. It just strikes me that if the mole used Randy to sell Sarah out, then she’s almost certainly in China.”
“Yeah,” Jenny grumbled, “which only leaves the question of how the hell we find her and get her out!”
“Yeah, but I’ve got another hunch on that.”
Noah had been correct about the explosions bringing attention, and they heard a number of sirens approaching the cement plant behind them. They hurried along as quickly as they could, and made it back to the safe house in just over thirteen minutes.
“We’ve got about thirty minutes before our pickup,” Jenny said to Noah as they gathered in the yard behind the shack. “Let’s get down in the hidey-hole.”
“Good idea,” Noah said, and lit the burner on the stove, then moved it aside.
Randy looked around. “Uh, where’s Soo Mi?” he asked.
“Catching some sleep,” Jenny said. “You can flirt with her later, when our ride gets here. Let’s get downstairs.”
Randy looked over toward the curtained area that was Soo Mi’s bedroom, and it was obvious he was getting nervous, but he climbed down the ladder after Marco, Neil and the rescued agents. Noah went down next, and Jenny, Dave and Jim followed.
Randy walked into the big room and stood in its center, and something in his face said he knew he was caught out. Noah leveled his assault rifle at him, and said, “Put the gun down slowly, Randy. Soo Mi gave you up, we know you told her who I was and to let the Chinese know.”
Randy let his Tavor slide down his arm on the strap and clatter onto the floor. “It isn’t like that,” he said. “I didn’t...”
“Don’t bother, Randy,” Jenny said. “Just tell us the truth, now, okay? Where is Sarah?”
Randy bit his bottom lip and ran his hands over his face, the sheer terror of his predicament showing in his eyes. “Jenny, I...”
“Oh, come on, Randy,” Jenny said. “Do I need to torture it out of you? Soo Mi owned right up, she didn’t even try to lie to me more than once. Don’t make me rip it out of you, man, please?”
There is an old phrase that is often used in stories to describe when someone has reached the point of accepting defeat: His countenance fell. At that moment, Randy Mitch
ell’s face would have served as a dictionary definition of that phrase.
“I don’t know where she is,” he said. “I was only told to see that a certain man found out about her being in the prison and that she worked for Team Camelot, and someone else would do the rest. I swear that’s all I know.”
“Who did you contact?” Noah asked. “I want the name.”
“It was a guy who works for that fight promoter, Pak,” Randy said. “His name was Lom, but that’s all I know.” He finally looked up at Noah. “This isn’t what you think, Noah. It wasn’t for money or anything like that. Somebody knows who I used to be, and they’ve got my little sisters. If I don’t do what they want, they’ll kill them.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?” Jenny asked him. “We could have handled this without you becoming a traitor, Randy. I woulda helped you, you know that. I woulda killed the bastards for you!”
“They said if I told you or anyone else, they’d know and kill Cindy and Meri. The girls are all my mother has, now, since they all think I’m dead. What else was I supposed to do?”
Jenny almost got to him, but Noah caught her in time. “Randy, you’re going back to the states with these agents,” he said, “and you’re going to tell our people everything you know about this person. Jenny, you’re going to escort him back and see that Allison gets him, while my team goes back to Thailand. If Lom works for Pak, I’ll find him.”
“Okay,” Jenny said. “And, Randy, for what it’s worth, the person controlling you is a CIA mole. When we find out who it is, I promise you I’m going to beg for the mission to kill him.” She turned to Dave Lange. “You and Jim keep him covered. I don’t want him getting away or making any fuss. If he tries to draw attention, kill him.”
Dave swallowed hard, but nodded. “Yes, Ma’am,” he said.
“Time for our ride pretty soon,” Noah said. “Everyone get a drink or something to eat if you need it, because we don’t know when we’ll get another chance. We’re taking the weapons with us, just in case we need them. Marco, you keep an eye on Randy as well. Soon as everyone is ready, let’s go upstairs and wait for the truck.”
They didn’t have to wait long. It showed up, running without headlights, less than five minutes after they got upstairs again, and Noah hustled everyone out the door and into it as fast as he could.
The driver stopped him just before he climbed in with them. “You have too many? More people?”
Noah nodded. “Yes. The captured agents, we were able to rescue them.” The man smiled and clapped Noah on the shoulder. “Good job, good job,” he said. “I tell your people in Seoul! Get in, get in, we go!”
The truck pulled out quickly with its lights off, and Noah saw that the driver was wearing night vision gear. They went a couple of miles, and then the driver stopped, took off the starlight goggles and turned on the headlights before going again.
The drive lasted more than two hours, and one of the men explained to Noah that they had gone around the western edge of the city completely. They were now about four miles southwest of Pyongyang, but word would be sent to the driver of the truck they had ridden in on to pick them up in a new location.
They were dropped at an abandoned building that sat about 200 yards off the main paved road for the area. Noah posted Marco and Dave on watch, with Jim keeping the suppressor-equipped pistol aimed at Song’s head, while the rest of them sat down against the walls and tried to get some sleep.
Three hours later, Noah woke and relieved Jim, then woke Neil and Jenny to take over guard duty. The sun was just beginning to create a glow over the eastern horizon by that time, and a few of the others were stirring.
Dale came and sat beside Noah, holding out a small radio receiver. “Snagged this from Soo Mi’s gear, and I’ve been following what’s going on back in Pyongyang,” she said. “The Ministry of State Security is all over this thing, and they’re screaming like mad over Colonel Song being missing. They’ve got roadblocks set up all over the place this morning, so I don’t know what’s going to happen. We may never get out of here.”
“Don’t give up hope,” Noah said. “Any idea when the truck is supposed to pick us up?”
“Because she called it in the way she did, it set off an emergency extraction program. The truck should pick us up here at a little after eight, about an hour from now. After that, we should meet the sub at about ten-thirty, so that leaves plenty of time for us to get there. The only question is whether State Security is gonna be stopping trucks out on the farms.”
“That’s why I brought the weapons,” Noah said. “It’s very important we get all of you people back to American soil.”
The truck showed up on schedule and they climbed into it quickly. As soon as the side door was closed, it moved out again. It stopped several times on its journey, and each time Noah and the others prepared themselves for a gunfight, but each time the truck moved on again without the doors being opened.
The ride was slow and long, taking almost two hours. The abandoned building had been quite some distance off the normal route of the truck, but the drivers would be able to claim the roadblocks had caused their tardiness. It was just after ten when it stopped once more, and the side door popped open.
“Hurry, hurry, out,” the driver’s helper said, and they rushed out of the truck and over the bank. They were right back where they had been dropped the morning before, and settled in to wait for the last leg of the trip.
An hour later, there had been no sign of the submarine. Dale’s radio had not indicated that it had run into any problems, but when it didn’t show up by noon, Noah began to consider other options.
“How far are we up the coast?” he asked.
“About eight miles,” Dale said, “but if you’re thinking of trying to hike out, you better think again. The closer you get to the border, the more intense the patrols will become. Up till now, there hasn’t been any sign that the government here is aware of our little submarine, but that’s because it swings out so wide. If we tried to operate it anywhere near the border, we’d have been found out long ago.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if it hasn’t been,” Noah said. “It’s well over an hour late…”
Neil, who was sitting beside him, suddenly tapped him on the shoulder and pointed out to sea. Noah turned and looked, and saw what looked like a dark bump on the surface of the water, and the hatch popped open as he watched. He turned back to Dale and shrugged. “Okay, so maybe the traffic was bad.”
Nobody laughed.
THIRTEEN
Five days, Sarah thought as she rolled out of bed. How much longer before Chung’s superiors decide he’s not doing his job? Oh, God, Noah, where are you? She looked out the window that was beside the bed, and noticed the guard standing a dozen feet away. The sun was just rising. There was always a guard there, no matter what time of day or night she looked out; there was always one guard on duty on each side of the house.
She went into the bathroom and took a quick shower, then put on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. The air had been a little cool the night before, and it wasn’t feeling much warmer even with the sun up and shining. She slid her feet into the sandals and sat down in the chair that faced the TV, then used the remote to turn it on.
She had tried watching the news channels at first, but there was nothing going on that she thought was connected to her situation. She’d never been one to watch a lot of regular television, but she’d come across a BBC channel full of old variety shows, and found them entertaining. The one that was on at the moment was an old Benny Hill show, and she managed a few chuckles at some of his ribald jokes.
The knock she was waiting for came just a few minutes later, and she turned off the TV as she got up and went to open the door. Chung stood there, dressed more casually than he had been the day before.
“Are you ready for breakfast?” he asked, and she automatically put her hand in the elbow he extended. They walked together to the dining room, and she was surpr
ised to see a more American-style breakfast this time. Scrambled eggs, bacon and waffles were waiting as Chung held her chair for her to sit, and she smiled when she saw a bottle of genuine maple syrup. “I thought you might like a taste of home,” Chung said.
“I’m delighted,” she said. “Is all this stuff readily available in China?”
Chung laughed, and it was an infectious sound that put a smile on Sarah’s face. “I confess that I had to do some searching to find the syrup, but everything else was easy to locate. In China, waffles are usually topped by fruit, but I tried them the American way once and found it not unpalatable.”
Sarah chuckled at that, and put a big scoop of eggs onto her plate, then took several strips of bacon. She bit into one and moaned with pleasure. “That is some good bacon,” she said. “If you ever decide you want a girlfriend, be sure to feed her some of this bacon.”
“Perhaps I’m already trying that technique,” he said, winking at her. “From the look on your face, it might be working.”
Sarah rolled her eyes, but the smile remained in place. “Sorry, Chung, you already know I’m taken. You’ll have to try your ploy on some other unsuspecting girl.”
Chung’s flirtations, she had concluded, were all part of his methodology. He was trying to win her trust, trying to break through her loyalty to the organization so that she might consider the possibility of betraying them. She had little doubt that he would happily become her lover, but it would last only as long as it took to get the last bit of information out of her. She wasn’t about to risk letting him get that close.
Sarah wasn’t particularly what someone might consider a patriot. She did feel a loyalty to her country; it was simply overshadowed by her loyalty to Noah and Allison. Allison had given her a new life when her old one was about to become even worse than it had already been, and Noah had given her a reason to live. Between the two, she had everything she thought she could need, and wasn’t willing to risk losing either.
