by Terry Toler
Our conversation was interrupted by an alert on my computer. That could only mean one thing―Brad was calling me through the CIA server. He had initiated a facetime call. I almost ignored it, but I’d been back for several hours and should probably have called him by now.
I motioned for Jamie and Bae to keep quiet. With one stroke of the keyboard, I accepted the call request, and Brad’s face appeared on the screen.
“It’s nice to see that you’re alive,” Brad said, in a dissociative, emotionless tone. The fact that he led with that statement told me that he really did care. Sometimes we wondered if the higher ups cared more about us or the mission. I still didn’t know, but it was at least good to hear some expression of concern from Brad.
“It’s nice to be alive,” I replied.
Brad looked like he hadn’t gotten much sleep. I’m sure he saw the bags under my eyes as well.
“I got Kryptonite back online,” I said.
“I saw that,” Brad replied. He’d always been a man of few words, so I didn’t read anything into it. From experience, I could tell that he would wait for me to explain what had happened without him having to ask.
So, I obliged him. “I captured a satchel containing Pakistan’s nuclear codes.”
I decided to lead with that. Curly always said to talk about the most successful aspect of a mission first. Save the worst for last. If the success was good enough, you might not even have to get to the bad stuff.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bae make some kind of gesture to Jamie after I said it. I could imagine what it was. Technically, she stole the codes, not me. But I wasn’t going to tell Brad about her at this point. As far as the CIA was concerned, I had secured them for us.
“Tell me about that,” Brad said as he shifted positions in his chair and picked up a pen like he was going to take notes. Mostly a symbolic gesture. Brad would make me fill out an entire report. I also knew he had perfect recall. He didn’t need to write anything down to relay to his boss. He’d remember anything I told him. The only thing he might want to write down was his spin on it or a reminder of what not to tell the Director.
I explained everything. How I found the lab. Snuck across the border. Let myself be captured. Got into the lab and saw Pok. Installed Kryptonite. Got arrested. Killed two Iranians. The only thing I left out was information about Bae.
“Pok hacked into the Pakistani nuclear server,” I said. “He stole their passwords and codes. The North Koreans sold them to the Iranians. That’s why I went after the satchel.”
“At no time did it occur to you to get operational authority?” Brad asked.
I had anticipated the question and my answer.
“There wasn’t time. They had already transferred the codes to the Iranians. I took them out and secured the codes.”
“The Pakistanis could always change their codes,” Brad said. “What difference does it make if the Iranians get them? They become worthless as soon as the codes are changed. We change our nuclear codes every day.”
Another question I anticipated.
“Pok built a backdoor into the system. It’s in the codes. I almost missed it myself. The Pakistanis could change the codes, but Pok would know it when they did. Think about it Brad. If Iran had those codes, they could launch missiles against us or Israel, and we’d think they came from Pakistan.”
Brad nodded his head in agreement. “I get that. If they can’t build their own nukes, the next best thing would be to commandeer someone else’s. You did good work, Alex. We wouldn’t have known about the stolen codes if it wasn’t for you.”
Words of affirmation were few and far between with Brad, so I locked that compliment into my memory. I looked at Jamie, and we shared a smile. While I was still looking at her, Brad said something that caused Jamie’s eyes to widen and her whole body to stiffen.
“Hello, Jamie,” he said.
I kept my eyes fixed on the computer screen so as not to give anything away. Did he see me looking at her? How could he know she was there?
“Why would you think Jamie’s here?” I asked.
“Because I sent her there.”
Jamie walked over and stood behind me and leaned over my shoulder as her image suddenly appeared on the screen.
“Hi, Brad,” Jamie said. “What do you mean that you sent me here?”
“Why do you think I told you that Alex was captured in North Korea? I knew you would go and find him.”
“You could’ve just told me and sent me after him,” Jamie said roughly.
Brad shook his head no. “I have no authority to sanction a mission to North Korea. I could never get that approved.”
“So, you told me that Alex was captured . . . Then you told me under no uncertain terms that I couldn’t go find him . . . All the while knowing that’s exactly what I would do.” Jamie said the words slowly and deliberately like she was recapping the final seconds of a football game that was already over.
Brad sat there in silence while Jamie matched his stare. It reminded me of the staring game we used to play in grade school. I wasn’t sure who’d blink first.
Brad finally relented. “It worked, didn’t it. Clearly, you found him.”
“Yeah! I’m glad I did. Look I’m engaged,” Jamie flashed her ring to the camera, as she changed the subject and the tone of the conversation.
“Congratulations,” Brad said. “You two deserve each other.”
I laughed.
“I don’t know if that was a compliment or not,” Jamie said.
“It’s a compliment.” Brad actually forced a smile. “All I meant is that the two of you are well suited for each other. This means I’m going to have to start another pool.” His smile had turned to a smug grin.
“What kind of pool?” I asked.
“Which one of you will kill the other first?” Brad said. “We have been taking bets ever since you started dating. Now we’ll have to start a marriage pool.”
“You should bet your house on me,” Jamie said, as she pushed me out of the camera picture.
That comment made Brad laugh out loud. Even Bae snickered in the background which fortunately was drowned out as Jamie and I roared in laughter.
“On a more serious note,” Jamie said.
“Here we go,” Brad countered.
“Since we’re on the subject of the Iranians, you have another problem,” Jamie said.
He put his hands to his face, then removed them and sat forward in his chair. “What’s that?”
“There are two dead Iranians in the Seoul airport. Men’s bathroom. One of the stalls. Commuter terminal. If you hurry, you can get cleaners in there before they’re discovered.”
It made sense to tell him. Since he knew Jamie was in Seoul, and he knew the purpose of the mission was to stop the Iranians, then what Jamie did fell in line with the mission.
To that point, Brad hadn’t written anything down with his pen. Now, he tapped it nervously on his desk.
“The two Iranians were on their way to North Korea to kill Alex and find the codes,” Jamie explained. “I had no choice but to take them down.”
I suddenly realized that Bae shouldn’t listen to all of this. We should have made her put on headphones or leave the room. This was a classified CIA conversation. Rather than interrupting our conversation and saying something to her, I decided to just let it go. Really, she had risked her life as much as I had to secure the codes, so as far as I was concerned, she had a right to know everything I knew. Besides, who would she tell?
“Give me a second,” Brad said as he left the screen and was no longer sitting in front of his computer.
He was gone for at least five minutes. Probably talked to the CIA office in Seoul to get over to the airport and get those two bodies out before they were discovered. More than likely, they’d send a team disguised as a cleaning crew and then take them back to the CIA office for disposal.
When Brad returned, he said, “Anything else I need to know about?”
“I’m sure there is,” I said. “But I can’t think of anything at the moment. With Kryptonite back online, you should have a field day inside of the North Korean cyber lab.”
“We’re taking it down,” Brad said.
Anger exploded inside of me like a firecracker. I couldn’t believe the words I was hearing.
“Why would you do that?” I asked, not hiding my vitriol. “I risked my life to get Kryptonite on their computer drive. It’s there now. They can’t do anything about it.”
“We’re going to put them out of business,” Brad said defensively, clearly feeling the anger in my voice. “I have instructions to unleash the Kryptonite virus on the North Korean server.”
“They’ll just rebuild it,” I countered. “Pok will have them up and running within three months.”
“Yeah, but it will shut them down in the meantime. We can’t sit back while he steals money from innocent people when we can stop it.”
I understood that. I’d thought of the same thing. It was a moral dilemma. This was always the case in surveillance. The unwritten rule was to watch a suspect until you could stop a crime. In our training classes, the instructors presented several scenarios. An undercover informant in the mafia wouldn’t let them kill a person in his presence even though doing so might save more lives in the future. If we could, we were to stop any crime before it happened.
With Kryptonite, we could monitor all of Pok’s illegal activities longer if we did nothing. In the meantime, innocent people would have money stolen from them. The decision was made to take them down and stop what crimes we could now. It wouldn’t do any good to argue the point. Their side was valid.
I made a different argument. “Then let me take Pok out,” I said.
“Can’t do it,” Brad said, fixing his stare on me. “I’m serious, Alex. Do not go back to North Korea.”
“I’ll go with him,” Jamie said.
The level of conversation was getting so intense that Bae stood up. I could tell she wanted to say something. I held my hand out from me to stop her from getting in the picture.
“Come on, Brad,” I implored. “We know where Pok is. We’ve been looking for him for months. I can be in and out of North Korea in a day. Dead or alive. You tell me how you want him.”
“I’m on your side, Alex,” Brad said. “I agree with you. But now is not the time. Kryptonite is going to destroy the lab. Your mission, as ill-conceived as it was, was a success. I can cover your back on it. You got the codes. You found the lab. And we’ve shut it down. Even though it wasn’t authorized, I can make an argument as to why you did it.”
I started to continue making my case, but Brad cut me off.
“My neck is way out on a limb for both of you,” Brad said. “I got an officer going into North Korea with no authorization, and I got two dead Iranians in a South Korean airport. There are a lot of eyes on this.”
“The Iranians were going after the codes. Their mission was to kill Alex. What was I supposed to do . . . let them?” Jamie asked with intensity.
“That’s the argument I’m going to make. The two of you found out about the codes and took matters into your own hands and went into North Korea to stop it.”
That’s not exactly how it went down, but I could see why Brad was spinning it that way. I couldn’t think of a reason to correct him.
“I want the two of you on a plane back home today,” Brad said. “There’s a bird waiting for you at the airport. A private jet. I don’t want you going through security and flying commercial.”
“Can it wait until tomorrow?” I asked, looking at Jamie and then at Bae.
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Brad said. “You just want a day to go back into North Korea and go after Pok.”
Brad didn’t know we had promised to spend the day shopping with Bae. Celebrating her birthday. Going to the aquarium.
“It’s not that,” I said hesitantly.
“Be in front of your hotel in thirty minutes. A car will pick you up and take you to the airport.”
The screen went dead before I could protest further.
“Thirty minutes? That’s not enough time,” I said.
What are we going to do with Bae in thirty minutes?
40
Three months later
I emerged from behind the abandoned boxcar and sprinted across a small field to a dilapidated log cabin thirty yards away. The maneuver left me exposed for more than four seconds, but I was sure I was safe. My target was on the other side of the ravine, hiding in the rocks.
Once safely behind the corner of the cabin, I raised my weapon, looked through the scope, and scanned the horizon to focus in on where I thought the target was hiding. My hands were steady and my breathing calm, even though I’d been in the throes of the search for more than two hours.
I clutched a new weapon that I’d never used before. A Tippmann US Army Project Salvo Sniper M-FDP Edition. It could be set to semi-automatic or automatic discharge. Semi-automatic was fine for these purposes. I only intended to shoot one round. The red dot scope would allow me to lock onto a target and hit my prey from as far as several hundred yards away with reasonable accuracy.
I wanted to be closer so I could see the reaction when I fired the shot. I was close. You get a sense about these things. The cat and mouse game would be over soon. Movement caught my eye in the bushes right where I suspected my prey to be. Nothing more than a twig moved but perceptible, nonetheless, for someone with my level of training. Confirmed when a light reflected off of a helmet. The target faced away from me, but I didn’t have a clear shot.
I’d have to get closer.
The stream was no more than a foot deep, so I waded through it behind the cover of a fallen log. Careful not to make a sound, I skulked across the trail toward where I’d seen the bush move and the light reflect. From that angle I could see the top of a helmet. Another reflection.
Clearly my target. Facing away from me. I had the element of surprise. Now was the time to make my move. I let out a shout and sprinted to the rock, my weapon raised. Locked and loaded. Ready to fire as soon as I had a clear shot.
What I saw stopped me in my tracks. What I had seen was a helmet, but it was being held up by a stick. Just barely above the rock.
It’s a trap!
Before I could react, Bae emerged from behind a tree, raised her gun and fired. Slow. Deliberate. Calculated. I could see her stone-cold eyes and the red laser coming from her weapon affixed on my chest.
The paint exploded on my coveralls.
Where the ball hit me stung but not as much as my pride.
Bae jumped up and down. Shouted. Her weapon raised above her head. She taunted me.
“I finally beat you! Fair and square!” she said mockingly.
According to the rules of engagement, I had to raise my gun above my head and shout, “I’m hit.” Anything more than a nickel sized mark was considered a hit. In our game, we didn’t require multiple hits.
“Say it!” Bae shouted.
I didn’t want to.
“Say it!” she insisted.
“I’m hit,” I said weakly. “You win!”
“Yes!” she shouted and began her victory dance again.
We came to the Boar Mountain Paintball course in Northern Virginia every week for the past three months. When we boarded the private plane from South Korea, we brought Bae back with us to America. Brad secured refugee status for her and a new identity once he learned she was the one who’d stolen the codes, and we needed to protect her.
The couple who wanted to adopt a child took Bae in without a second thought. Brad arranged all that paperwork, and the adoption had already gone through.
They were a perfect match, as if God had arranged it all. Bae was close enough for us to see her as often as we wanted, but she also settled nicely into a new life and school with her new family and friends. Apparently, Bae was a math whiz. She struggled some with English, history, and literature which was to be expected
being from a foreign country, but she did well in all her other subjects, especially math.
She decided that she no longer wanted to be a spy. She wanted to be a doctor like her new mother. We assured her she had plenty of time to decide.
Now that she had beaten me in paintball, I knew I would never hear the end of it. The only thing to do was be magnanimous, which was hard, considering the amount of teasing I knew would come my way from her, Jamie, and from all my colleagues at the CIA who would certainly hear about it.
I couldn’t believe I fell for such a simple trap. If Curly heard about it, he’d disown me and claim he never trained me. For now, I just let Bae bask in her triumph.
“I beat you!” Bae said over and over again.
“That wasn’t fair,” I protested. “You took off your helmet and tricked me. It’s against the rules to take off your helmet. You should be disqualified.”
“No way . . . You fell for it.”
“Did Jamie give you that idea?” I asked.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Bae said with a wide grin. I was actually happy she won. I’d never let her win, but it was fun to see her so excited.
We got back to the main office area and took off our gear. Jamie walked through the door with a huge smile on her face. She saw it all from the observation tower.
Bae hadn’t let up on the banter.
“Ms. Jamie. Did you see me?” Bae asked.
“I did. I saw the whole thing. I’m proud of you,” Jamie said as she gave Bae a hug.
I still was suspicious that they had conspired against me.
Bae left and went to the girl’s restroom to shower and get dressed.
“That was nice of you to let Bae win,” Jamie said, as she gave me an approving kiss on the lips.
I thought about playing along.
Instead I said, “Truthfully, I didn’t let her win. She won fair and square.”
“Ouch!” Jamie said. “I guess the torch has passed.”
“I guess you’re right,” I said and didn’t stop the smile that had formed on my face.
“There comes a time when the teacher is surpassed by the student,” I said. “I just wished it hadn’t happened so soon.”