The Armageddon Machine

by Mike Ramon

Chapter Thirty-One

  Seoul, South Korea

  June 17 -- 00:08 UTC/9:08 am local time

  “So, what does it say?” David Diehl asked.

  He was speaking to Captain Violet Rhee, who sat across from him at her desk. They had met up in the cafeteria to share a light breakfast, and now David sat watching as she read over a report that had been left on her desk overnight. The report was printed in Korean, so he had no idea what it said.

  “Nothing important. Just the latest intel gathered from informants.”

  “Anything interesting?”

  “I’m afraid not. They either know nothing or are pretending not to know.”

  “I hate sitting around,” David said. “I feel like we should be out there doing something.”

  “Doing what? None of men captured during the raid last week are talking. Even under enhanced interrogation they claim to know nothing.”

  “Perhaps they really don’t know anything. Seems to me like they’re just muscle.”

  “Maybe so. That will be for Commander Junseo to decide; for now the interrogations will go on.”

  “And for the time being we have nothing to go on,” David said, frustrated.

  “David.”

  David swiveled in his seat to see Agent Norwalk standing not ten feet away.

  “What is it?” David asked.

  “We have a call from Washington. It’s urgent.”

  David stood, as did Captain Rhee after she set her report aside.

  “No, not you,” Agent Norwalk told Violet. “This call is just for me and David.”

  “Do you mean that not even Commander Junseo will be allowed to sit in,” Violet asked incredulously.

  “No,” Agent Norwalk said flatly.

  “What is this about,” David asked.

  “All I know I sthat a message came in for the two of us to haul ass to a secure phone and wait for an incoming call.”

  “But if this concerns Dragon’s Breath, then we here at NIS have a right to listen in.”

  “Captain Rhee, let them be,” Commander Junseo spoke as he walked up on them.

  Violet Rhee looked as if she wished to protest further, but under the stern gaze of her commander she remained silent.

  “Gentlemen, the call has been received, and your General Cromwell is waiting for you,” Commander Junseo said. “The phone is set up in Conference Room Three. I’ll show you.”

  “Thanks you, Commander,” Agent Norwalk said.

  Commander Junseo led the way and Agent Norwalk followed. David hung back for a moment. He turned back to Violet; she did not attempt to hide her displeasure at being left out.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll be back.”

  He checked to make sure that both Agent Norwalk and Commander Junseo where out of earshot.

  “I’ll fill you in if I can,” he said.

  “And if you can’t?” Violet asked.

  David had no answer, so instead of saying anything else he just shrugged his shoulders. He turned and hurried after the other two men. He caught up with them just as Commander Junseo was pointing out the door to Conference Room Three to Agent Norwalk.

  “The phone’s speaker has been turned on so that you both can speak with the General. If you gentleman should need anything, let me know,” Commander Junseo said.

  “Will do,” Agent Norwalk said.

  “Thanks,” David said, nodding politely.

  David and Agent Norwalk entered the room, and Commander Junseo closed the door after them. The two agents took a seat at the table, and Agent Norwalk cleared his throat.

  “General?” he spoke.

  “Is that you, Norwalk?” General Cromwell’s voice came from the speaker.

  “Yes. Agent Diehl is sitting right beside me.”

  “Good morning, David,” General Cromwell said.

  “Morning, General,” David said back.

  “Are the two of you alone?” General Cromwell asked.

  “Yes,” Agent Norwalk replied.

  “What I’m about to tell you gentlemen is to be shared with absolutely no one, under any circumstances.”

  The General continued, without waiting for either of the listeners to confirm his order; there was no question that they would obey his orders.

  “First things first,” he said. “Dragon’s Breath isn’t the only weapon of its kind in the wild. A little more than two weeks ago we became aware of another weapon called Fireblossom. What we know of this weapon we have gained through intel gathered from several sources.”

  “What is Fireblossom?” David asked

  “Fireblossom is the end result of a project started by Violet Dawn. We believe that over a period of at least four years they have kidnapped scientists from several different countries and smuggled them into North Korea. They used the technological advances brought about by China’s Project Dragonfire to build a similar weapon. Unlike Dragon’s Breath, of which there was only one built, Violet Dawn has manufactured several Fireblossom weapons, possibly more than a dozen. We got our hands on one of the Fireblossom weapons that were in the possession of a VD terrorist cell based out of Texas.”

  “Did you say Texas?” Agent Norwalk asked.

  “That’s right. While we dismantled this cell completely, we believe that it was only one of several within our borders, and that each one is likely in possession of its own Fireblossom device.”

  David and Agent Norwalk looked at each other for a second, apprehension etched on both of their faces.

  “We have had a team studying the device since it came into our possession,” General Cromwell continued. “Basically, it’s a bomb, but a very special kind of bomb. I have been told that the device we have is powerful enough to completely level an area equivalent to eight city blocks. But that’s not the worst of it. The initial explosion is not the most damaging effect of the weapon. In addition to a small fireball, which would create the infrastructural damage, the explosion would send out massive doses of radiation that would be lethal to anyone within a fifteen mile radius.”

  David swallowed hard.

  “If one of these bombs was set off in the middle of a heavily populated city…” David began; he was unable to finish the thought.

  “Unlike a conventional nuclear explosion,” General Cromwell said, “which would make any target uninhabitable for decades, if not longer, with Fireblossom the levels of radiation in the target area would quickly fall below lethal levels.

  “Meaning that in a large city,” Agent Norwalk said, “the vast majority of the city’s infrastructure would remain intact…”

  “But the people living in that city would be dead,” David finished. “But why would they want to leave the infrastructure intact?”

  Agent Norwalk followed through on the thought:

  “Maybe it’s to their benefit to leave most of the city still standing,” he said.

  “That’s the theory we are currently operating under,” General Cromwell said. “This especially makes sense if you consider that possibility that American targets, as well as possible targets in Europe and elsewhere in the world, are only secondary targets. The primary targets--and keep in mind that this is still a theory, albeit one we place great stock in it--most likely lie within South Korea. And why would Violet Dawn place great importance on leaving the infrastructure of South Korea’s cities intact?”

  “Because they don’t want to have to rebuild after they take over,” David said. “That’s the real purpose of Fireblossom, isn’t it? To soften the enemy up before invasion?”

  “That is what we believe,” General Cromwell said.

  “And they don’t want to take over a blasted country,” Agent Norwalk added.

  “Why aren’t you warning the NIS about this?” David asked. “They need to know.”

  “I have a teleconference scheduled with the top staff of the NIS as well as a select group of ROK government officials set to take place at oh-six-hundred tomorrow Washington time. For now you are to talk about w
hat I’ve told you with no one. A decision has been made to bring both of you back here. I want you on a plane at three o’clock your time, which gives you a little over five hours to get packed and get your asses to Osan Air Base to board a transport. I’ve already informed Commander Junseo that you are being called back to the States. A car will pick you up at your hotel at half past twelve and drive you to Osan AB. Your flight will arrive at Edwards AFB in California at approximately eleven a.m. Pacific. You’ll board another plane bound for Washington immediately, and will hopefully be touching down here in DC no later than eight o’clock Eastern. A vehicle will be waiting to bring you to NTRA HQ. Good luck, gentleman.”

  With that the conversation was ended.

  “Jesus, my head is spinning with these time zone shifts,” Agent Norwalk said.

  Violet Rhee was understandably curious when David told her that he was leaving for the States. She was an intelligence officer herself, though, and understood when he told her that he was under orders not to disclose anything. He did let her know that her people would be teleconferencing with General Cromwell the next day, at which time she would know all there was to know.

  There was a brief meeting between David, Agent Norwalk and Commander Junseo, a debriefing of sorts. Afterward a car took the American agents to their hotel, which they would be seeing for the last time. On the way they stopped for a quick lunch, as they both knew that they would probably not get a chance to eat again until they were on American soil.

  At the hotel David and Agent Norwalk parted ways, each returning to his own room to pack. David only had enough stuff to fill two bags. He decided to take a shower. H waited for the water to get nice and hot before stepping in to the cramped shower stall. He let the steaming water wash over him, run over his head down his back. It felt good, and he felt some of the tension that was wound up inside of him loosening and falling away. It was amazing what a good hot shower could do for you.

  Someone was knocking at the door to the hotel room, and David heard it through the open bathroom door. He figured it was Agent Norwalk coming to talk about their trip. Agent Norwalk could wait; David didn’t want to get out of the shower just yet.

  There was another series of knocks, insistent. David gave in, shutting off the shower, toweling off quickly and throwing on the thin complimentary robe hanging from a hook on the bathroom wall. As he stepped out of the bathroom there was another knock on the door.

  “Hold on, I’m coming,” he said.

  He unlocked the door and pulled it open. It wasn’t Agent Norwalk standing outside his door; it was Violet. They stood staring at each other for a moment. Violet looked him over.

  “I like the robe,” she said.

  “What? Oh yeah. This isn’t mine really; it’s a hotel robe.”

  He laughed.

  “I still like it,” she said.

  “Why are you here,” David asked. “Did Commander Junseo send you?”

  “No; he doesn’t know that I’m here. I came because I wanted to tell you…I wanted to…”

  She trailed off, unable to find the words that she wanted to say. Instead of words, she used action--she leaned up into him and kissed him on the lips. He leaned back slightly, not because he didn’t want to be kissed, simply because the move had surprised him. But then he leaned into it. The two of them moved into the room together, and David shut the door.