The Ingenue: Political Spy Thriller

by Terry Toler

  Bae must have sensed my concern because she clutched me tighter. I tried to calm her by whispering that things were going to be okay even though I wasn’t sure of it myself.

  The shouting on the other side of the door got louder. I heard Momma cry out. It seemed like she wasn’t giving us up which was hard for me to believe. She had every reason to. If they found that she was hiding us, she’d lose the diner and her freedom. Momma and her entire family would be arrested for treason. I shouldn’t have put her in this position. We should’ve eaten breakfast and left when we had the chance.

  For several long minutes, all we could do was wait. The only thing that calmed my fears was that the longer we were confined, the more likely it was that Momma wasn’t turning us in. If she was, she’d do so immediately, and the police would come and guard the door. Maybe wait us out. I didn’t know how long I could take suffering in the darkness.

  Eventually, the shouting stopped, and I heard footsteps in the kitchen coming toward the door. I was holding my breath and didn’t realize it until my lungs forced me to inhale and take a big whiff of the moldy air.

  Bae was panting in terror. Her breaths were coming in rapid succession almost as fast as a heartbeat.

  My heart raced to the point it would be impossible to tell which one of our hearts was beating the fastest.

  I had the presence of mind to relax my arm and hand that held the gun. Many errant shots had been fired accidently from a tense trigger finger. Once satisfied that I had control of the gun and my emotions, I raised the weapon and pointed it the direction of the entrance.

  The big heavy door began to creak and moan as it started to open.

  “Don’t shoot me,” I heard Momma say.

  I decided to lower my weapon. Even if Momma turned us in, I didn’t want to risk hitting her with a bullet. I couldn’t muster the slightest bit of anger toward her even if that was her decision. I understood why she would do it.

  A powerful light suddenly flooded the room, blinding me momentarily to the point that I couldn’t see who was in the entryway.

  “You can come out now,” I heard Momma’s reassuring voice say. “It’s safe.”

  Was it a trap? Did the police force her to do it this way? That made sense. The police may have deduced that it was better for them to entice us out of the trap rather than go into it and try to extract us from it. That’s what I would do if I were them.

  Momma took Bae’s hand and helped her out first. She reached for me next, but I was too big for her, so I just got in a squat position like a duck and waddled out the door. Once out, I immediately raised my gun, and prepared for the worst.

  “They’re gone,” Momma said.

  I blinked my eyes fast several times to try and adjust to the light.

  Momma had blood trickling from the side of her mouth. It was already swelling up and turning black and blue. The policeman had obviously struck her.

  “Were the police looking for us?” I asked.

  Momma nodded yes. She took my hand and led us out of the room into the front of the diner. The patrons had all left. The only ones still in the diner were her employees. I went to the area where she kept ice for drinks, wrapped a towel around some, and brought it back and put it on her lip. She winced in pain as I pressed the ice pack against her swollen lip.

  “Why didn’t you turn us in?” I asked.

  “I like you,” Momma said.

  “They would’ve paid you a lot of won for me. You would be restored to elite.”

  “God provides for me. Besides, I’m an old woman. I have to sleep at night knowing I did the right thing.”

  The sadness in her eyes was spilling out more than if it had been in the form of tears. Momma probably did have a lot of regrets in life. She didn’t want another one. I think I understood. There were good people, even in communist countries, who didn’t agree with the violence and oppression and wouldn’t be a part of it even for personal gain. Like her husband, who gave up his rations and ultimately his life so others could live.

  I had a deep admiration for that kind of faith. A verse in the Bible suddenly came to mind. Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for a friend. Those words of Jesus never had more meaning to me than at that moment.

  “You are a remarkable woman, Momma,” I said.

  Momma waved her hand in a half dismissive and a half appreciative gesture.

  I asked, “How will I ever repay you?”

  Momma sat in a chair now. The confrontation and the blow had obviously taken something out of her. “You can start by paying your bill,” Momma said with a lisp, forcing a smile through her swollen lips. I saw her eye starting to turn red and swell as well. “Remember, you were going to do that before we were interrupted.”

  “The police took all of the won out of her register,” one of her female employees said.

  “How much did they get, Momma?” I asked.

  “Only a couple of dollars. I’m glad you waited to pay me until after they left, or they would’ve gotten all of it.”

  “How much do I owe you?”

  The amount came to about eight American dollars. It was amazing to me that all those people could eat breakfast for less than one meal at a breakfast place in the United States.

  “How much won do we have left?” I asked Bae.

  She knew immediately, which impressed me. “Thirty-six dollars,” she said.

  “Give me thirty,” I said.

  Bae opened the satchel and pulled out the equivalent of thirty American dollars. I took it from her and handed it to Momma. I’d just given her what amounted to two years wages for a commoner.

  A tear escaped from Momma’s eye and ran down her cheek. I bent down, put my arms around her, and hugged her tightly. I’d just broken another law in North Korea for the umpteenth time. Public displays of affection between the opposite sex were forbidden in a public place. I didn’t care and she didn’t seem to either as she returned the embrace.

  “I’ll never forget you, Momma-son,” I said somberly as I stood to leave.

  Momma sat the ice pack down on the table and went in the kitchen and came out with a pencil and a piece of paper. She sat back down and started drawing something on the page.

  “There will be roadblocks set up,” Momma said. “Here. Here. And Here.” She put an X at various places on what was clearly a makeshift map of the area.

  She drew more lines on the map which appeared to be roads. “Take these roads,” she said. “The police won’t patrol them.”

  Momma stood from the chair, handed me the map, and then put both hands on my cheeks and kissed them.

  “May the Lord bless you,” she said, “and keep you. May his face shine on you and be gracious to you. Let the Lord turn his face upon you and give you peace.” Her hands were still on my cheeks.

  “Numbers chapter six,” I said.

  Momma released her hands, put them together in front of her like a prayer, and bowed toward me.

  I returned the bow.

  “My Mother prayed that prayer over me every night,” she said. “Blessings upon you. I hope you stay safe.”

  “I’ll never forget you,” I said again, knowing I would never see Momma after we left. Then I voiced that thought. “I guess I’ll never see you again,” I said as we started walking toward the door

  “You’ll see me in heaven,” she shouted after me. “Although I’ll get there way before you.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” I said aloud as Bae and I walked out the door, and I turned my focus on the mission and the hundreds of secret police who were trying to find me so they could kill me.

  31

  “We need to do two things today,” I said to Bae once we were in the car. We had just left Momma-son’s diner and were following her map in the police cruiser to the border of South Korea. We’d have to ditch the cruiser a couple miles before the DMZ and hike across the border, then catch transportation to Seoul.

  “What are the two things?” Bae as
ked, not looking at me, instead, just staring out the passenger side window at the barren nothingness that was this region of North Korea.

  I noticed before that Bae sometimes went through long periods of withdrawing when she didn’t say anything. Typical teenager, I assumed, although I didn’t have much experience with girls her age. Who could blame her, considering what she’d been through over the last couple days, including the trauma at the diner which still had me shaken up.

  “Don’t get shot and don’t get arrested!” I said with emphasis.

  Bae let out a chuckle that was barely more than a groan. She knew our precarious situation as much as I did. After that, neither of us said anything for a good ten minutes, which was fine by me. I needed the time to think through a plan.

  At some point, the silence became awkward and I decided to break the ice. “I’m hungry,” I said with a wide grin.

  Bae frowned. Then she gave me a “I know you’re kidding” look, as her mouth contorted into a smirk.

  “I’m surprised Momma didn’t turn us in,” I said, trying to start a conversation.

  “I’m not surprised,” Bae retorted. She stared out her window. We were out of the mountains now and in the flatlands. The only thing to really see were rows and rows of flooded rice paddies.

  “I thought we were goners,” I said.

  I still couldn’t make myself relax. My heartbeat was elevated, and my senses were on full alert. I probably wouldn’t fully relax until we got across the border of South Korea, still a couple hours away. A lot could happen in those two hours.

  “You need to have more faith in your fellow man,” Bae said in a voice and a manner befitting someone much older. “Momma was never going to turn us into the police.”

  “Why were you so sure?”

  “Because that’s how people are in the southern mountains. They aren’t snitches. Some people are . . . I guess. But most people in North Korea just want to live their lives without being bothered. There’s a lot more opposition to the regime than you would think. Most people have had a bad experience with the police and try to avoid them.”

  “I get that. Most people in America are that way too. Work hard, play hard, and stay out of trouble.”

  “What is America like?” Bae asked, perking up some as her eyes had a sudden twinkle and her lips flip flopped from a frown into a smile.

  “Different, but the same.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I know. It’s hard to describe. People are the same everywhere, in a way. Every country has different beliefs and customs, but most people are decent, hard-working people, deep down. But in America, we have a lot more freedom than anywhere else in the world. And a lot more wealth. Everyone has a cell phone and computer. We can travel anywhere we want. We don’t have to worry about the police bothering us as long as we aren’t doing something illegal.”

  “I can’t even imagine what that’s like,” Bae said, as her smile disappeared. “Here everybody is forced into conformity. We’re like robots of the regime. Everything is illegal.”

  I tried to lighten the mood. I didn’t want her to withdraw again. “There’s a diner like Momma’s in almost every town in America. People go there to be with each other and eat a good home-cooked meal. They’re good people. Like we just met at Mommas. Sometimes I forget that America doesn’t corner the market on values in the world. We think everybody in a communist country supports the ideology. That’s obviously not true or Momma would’ve turned us in.”

  “I wonder if I’ll ever see America,” Bae said, almost in the form of a question.

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “Where are we going?” Bae asked, as I realized I hadn’t told her.

  “To South Korea,” I answered.

  If Bae was surprised, she didn’t let it show on her face. “What are we going to do there?”

  I hadn’t told Bae that I was going to turn her over to the US Embassy in Seoul. I’d speak to Brad on her behalf. Bae had been really helpful to me and to US interests in the region. Brad would see that she got refugee status. She’d probably be placed in a good family in South Korea. It would be a lot better than her future in North Korea. Brad might even help her get to America.

  Rather than explaining all of that I just said, “I’m not sure.”

  I lied. Seemed like the best thing at the time. The last thing I needed was a confrontation with Bae.

  “I haven’t thought that far ahead,” I added.

  That was sort of a true statement. I really didn’t know what would happen to Bae. All I knew was that I was going to get us across the border safely, hand her off to the embassy, and then go back to my hotel and get my computer. After that, I’d have to sneak back into North Korea and find my way to the cyber lab. Hopefully, I wouldn’t be too late before Pok had done too much damage with Kryptonite.

  A few moments passed.

  The road was rough, and I had both hands on the wheel, trying to avoid the potholes and ruts. I prayed we wouldn’t get another flat tire. Then we’d be on foot since we didn’t have another spare. Momma’s map had been helpful. We hadn’t seen any secret police or roadblocks. However, the roads were in much worse shape. Nevertheless, I preferred the bad roads to getting shot at or a police pursuit.

  “Maybe I could come to America with you,” Bae blurted out.

  I tried to control the startled look on my face. “What would you do in America?”

  “Go to school. Become a spy like you. Like your girlfriend.”

  “We’ll have to see what happens,” I said, thinking ambiguity was the best option. “The first thing we have to do is get across the border in one piece. Then I’m going to my hotel and get my computer.”

  “I have a computer,” Bae said almost nonchalantly.

  This time I didn’t even try to hide my look of surprise as my mouth gaped.

  I asked her, “At your house?”

  “No. Here with me. In the satchel.”

  I jerked the wheel to the right and slammed the brakes as I pulled to the side of the road. Both of us lunged forward and then abruptly back.

  “You have a computer in this car?” I asked sternly with my jaw clenched.

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you say so?”

  “You never asked!”

  I turned my body and reached behind us and grabbed the satchel off the back seat.

  “Hey! That’s mine,” Bae said, as she tried to snatch it from my hand.

  I held the satchel just out of her reach. If the seat belt hadn’t restrained her, she would’ve been able to reach it. I held my hand up to stop her. “Relax! I’m not going to hurt anything. I just want to see your computer.”

  “It’s mine!” she said, her lower lip trembled, tears welled up in her eyes.

  “I’m just going to look at it. I’m not going to take it from you. I just want to see if it works.”

  I zipped the satchel open and pulled out the laptop, immediately surprised that it looked brand new.

  “Please be charged up,” I said mostly to myself as I turned on the power button.

  “It should be charged,” Bae said. “I haven’t used it for several days. Do you want me to show you how it works?”

  “I’m good,” I said, a little smirk formed on my lips that I hoped wasn’t too noticeable. Sometimes Bae’s brashness and confidence amazed me.

  The computer screen roared to life quicker than I expected. As soon as it opened, my fingers went to work with a flurry of keystrokes. It had been a couple of days since I’d been on a computer, and I attacked the keyboard like an addict getting a fix for the first time in days.

  I quickly accessed its capabilities. The operating system was the Red Start 3 which was similar to the Apple mac OS. Slow but functional. I was familiar with it having traversed around it to find the cyber lab.

  The computer had a surprising number of apps. An email client. A file management system similar to Finder which was developed by Appl
e. A web browser called Naenara. Not surprising since it was the main one used in North Korea. Naenara was nothing more than a modified version of Firefox.

  That was a pet peeve of mine and something I found all around the world. Generally, other countries let America develop the latest technology, then they stole it and modified it for their own uses. Sometimes they didn’t even pretend to modify it. Case in point. On Bae’s computer was a bootlegged copy of Candy Crush.

  The laptop had a fourteen-inch color screen and was surprisingly fast. Not what I needed exactly, but better than nothing. I could make it work.

  Bae tensed like a bear protecting her cubs. She watched my every move. I made a few modifications that would immediately improve the performance. Once I had access to the internet, I’d make a few more that would get the laptop to do what I needed it to.

  I stopped typing and looked at Bae and said, “What did you find in the satchel?” It was time to have that discussion.

  She hesitated then looked down.

  “Bae this is important,” I said firmly. “I need to know.”

  “There were some papers with numbers on them.”

  I started rummaging through the satchel.

  “The papers aren’t there. I threw them away.”

  I threw my hands in the air in disgust. Those papers had the codes. I needed them. That’s why I went to all that trouble to get the satchel. Now I learned they were in the trash somewhere. The only good thing was at least they weren’t in the hands of the Iranians.

  “Why would you throw them away?” I asked, even though I knew the answer. What would a thirteen-year-old girl want with those papers? She just wanted the satchel.

  “I didn’t know what they were,” she said defensively, almost reading my mind.

  I asked, “Was there anything else in there?”

  Bae reached over to take the satchel from me.

  I pulled it away.

  “I’m going to get it for you,” she said roughly, adding a strong glare to the words. If her eyes were a laser beam, they would’ve burned a hole in my chest.