Devil's Fork

by Spencer Adams

CHAPTER 37

  WEDNESDAY NIGHT / THURSDAY MORNING

  Northeast Coast, North Korea

  Tom slowed down. He had been moving at a brisk speed for some time. He had moved to the edge of the forest by the road. He found it easier to navigate this way. The ground near the road was easier to move through as well. He had seen no patrols on the road. As he looked at his GPS reader he saw that he was at Waypoint 2. This was the spot where the road lined up with a ridge that cut between two small mountains. At the end of the ridge he would be able to find a path that led straight to the underground facility’s entrance.

  After hiding under the fallen tree from the fireteam, he had not run into many patrols. He was able to keep a more consistent pace. He believed he was only an hour behind schedule. So far he had managed to evade everyone, he thought. He started whispering into his radio,

  “Yankee Main. I’m passing through Waypoint 2 now. Heading up the ridge towards Waypoint 3. Confirm on your end. Over.”

  “Copy. You are heading to Waypoint 3. How do the patrols look in your area? Over.”

  “Seems quieter here. Over.”

  Tom turned and started moving through the forest towards the ridge. He knew he was getting close to the base but was not thinking about it too much. While a SEAL, he had been taught about the Willpower paradox. Like James-Lange, he had learned that the mind worked with a glitch when it came to accomplishing tasks. If someone had a goal and focused intently on it while exerting monumental effort to try to accomplish it, he or she is actually less likely to accomplish his goal. Someone who did not focus too intently and just went and tried to accomplish the task is more likely to succeed. This is why top athletes always looked calmer than athletes who were good but not good enough to be considered top. As a SEAL, part of his training was meant to get him to realize that barriers he had set up in his mind were breakable. Another part of training was the operant conditioning, leading him to have a need to win. The other piece of training was learning to exert the right amount of mental focus to get the mission done, but not so much that one was overly tense. They had to learn to use the Willpower paradox to their advantage. This was why SEALs often appeared “calm” to those around them. He remembered sometimes back in Langley, Sara or one of the other analysts would try to question him in an indirect way to figure this out. He had tried to deflect the questions, as he did not think they wanted to hear about paradoxes. He himself was still not sure whether paradoxes as a whole helped the mind or hindered it.

  As Tom was running, he noticed that he was now within the ridge. To his right and left were elevated hills or small mountains. He saw a patrol up ahead and slowed down to go around it. He raised his M4 to look through his scope. They were walking in a diagonal direction relative to his position. He could go around and they would pass by without seeing him. He kneeled in a secure spot and looked through his scope again. He felt the base getting close. He checked behind him. It looked all clear. He wondered if that fireteam from earlier was behind him. Since he could not see them there was little else he could do. He got up and continued moving.

  After a few minutes, Tom’s radio began speaking,

  “Yankee Actual. Can you stop your movement? Over.”

  “Roger. Over.” He whispered back.

  Tom ran for a few more steps to find the best secluded spot in the area. He spotted a small ditch next to a large rock to his left. Tom liked low spots like that. He moved towards it. He looked around and saw nothing near him. The previous patrol had moved to a comfortable distance from him. Tom wondered what Anderson needed to tell him that required stopping. He lowered himself into the ditch and rested his M4 on the ground in front of him.

  “Go Ahead. Over.”

  “Do you remember one of the analysts from the NIS who briefed you? Jiyeon? Over.”

  Tom paused.

  Why would they ask that?

  He thought this could have been one of the strangest radio transmissions he had ever received.

  “I do.”

  “She has been kidnapped. We believe she was taken by a North Korean team. They might try to interrogate her. If they find out what she knows, you could have multiple kilos on your position quickly. Kilos might rally at target to defend it as well. Over.”

  For the second time tonight, Tom looked down and closed his eyes. A worse transmission could not possibly have been made. Tom wondered how this mission could have gone so wrong, from the North Koreans finding out about his landing to Jiyeon getting kidnapped. The SAD prided itself on being able to get in and out of hostile territory flawlessly. He had been on missions that nobody – neither the enemy nor anyone back home – had known about. With this mission, he felt as though they already had two rockets fired at them. Tom felt his hands forming fists. His heart rate increased. But this was not out of fear. He thought about Jiyeon. Tom thought about their dinner. He could still smell the spices from the barbeque. He thought about how he kept telling a nervous Jiyeon that everything would be OK. He felt comfortable that it was he who was going into danger. It was he who could possibly get captured or killed. How did this get completely turned around to where Jiyeon was now in extreme danger, he wondered? He put up his night vision goggles to rest his eyes. He looked up and saw a sharply pointed, dimly spotted moon above. He wanted to finish his mission here. He wanted to finish what he had come to do. He wanted to know what was inside that base. But he had an urge to get up and fly back to South Korea and find Jiyeon. He wanted to go forward but he wanted to go back. He wanted to complete this mission, but he wanted to go on another mission instead. He did not like the thought that he could do nothing for Jiyeon right now. He thought about her small, soft hands. He imagined her soft, flowing hair in between his fingers. He got back on his radio.

  “Yankee Main. Have you found where she is? Over.”

  “Negative. South Korean police and armed forces searching for her now. We will keep you updated. Stay vigilant. If you see a change in kilo behavior nearby, report it. We will keep you informed. Over.”

  “Wilco. Over.” That was a difficult “wilco” to say, Tom thought. He decided he would take a moment for himself in this ditch, before moving on.

  “Yankee Actual. Rest for a moment and think ab—“.

  Suddenly, a figure emerged from the trees and bushes about thirty feet directly in front of Tom. Anderson’s cutoff transmission made it obvious that the Command Room had noticed and was probably terrified.

  Tom slowly picked up his M4 in front of him. He tried not to make any noise or sudden movement. He flipped down his night vision goggles and watched.

  The figure ahead was walking slowly. It was clearly a KPA patrol. The soldier’s face was moving left to right as he scanned the area in front of him. Tom saw that behind the first soldier were four others. They were walking in a column and were coming from the direction of the path that led to the base. They walked cautiously and quietly.

  Tom soon estimated that they were twenty feet in front of him. At about ten feet they would be likely to see him. He started looking through his scope. The first soldier, the point man, was looking around but was not the commander and did not have a radio. The second man also looked like a conscript. The third man, however, had a radio on his side. Being in the middle meant he could potentially be the commander as well. His uniform looked slightly different from the others. Tom wanted to target this person first. Taking out the man with the radio who could also potentially be the commander could throw the team into disarray. Tom would gain relative advantage this way. But he did not plan to leave time for them to do anything. He looked through his scope and took aim at the third man. He sat and waited for the possibility that the team might pass without seeing him.

  Soon the team was about fifteen feet away. The first soldier was now looking at Tom. His stiff neck indicated he was trying to understand what was in front of him. He raised his hand to signal his team to stop. The column halted perhaps thirteen feet away from Tom. The first soldier was now
trying to make some kind of hand signal towards his team.

  Click Click Click Click Click.

  In less than two seconds the entire patrol team was on the ground, motionless. The only sound made was the barrel of Tom’s silenced rifle clicking as it recoiled. They had no time to react. Tom waited for a moment. He continued looking through his scope to see if any of the soldiers would move or reach for a weapon or radio. He listened for any sounds indicating someone else was nearby. He heard nothing. The team lay still.

  “Yankee Actual. Watch out for other kilos nearby. Over.”

  “No signs of other activity. Over.”

  Tom climbed out of his ditch. He looked around one more time and saw nothing but forest. He walked up to the five men lying in front of him. They were not moving. They were lying in an open part of the forest. They could probably be seen from at least a hundred feet away, Tom thought.

  “Yankee Main. I’m going to move the bodies into the covered ditch and then continue on planned route. Over.”

  “Roger. Over.”

  Tom shouldered his rifle and started pulling the men into the ditch. He had an urge to get moving again. He wanted to get this mission done. He wondered if he got back quickly enough, maybe he could be part of the team that rescued Jiyeon. All those years in DEVGRU could be put to a personal use finally, he thought. He tried to refocus himself on what he had to do here.

  Soon all five bodies were in the ditch. Tom took a quick look at the commander’s radio and saw it would be useless to him. He was tempted to take it so he could listen to enemy chatter – by sending it back to the Command Room where it could be translated. But he realized it was a big piece of junk. It was clunky, heavy, and it did not seem to be on. He did not see any lights. He threw it into the ditch too.

  “Continuing on my path. Over.”

  Tom started moving on through the ridge. He moved faster than before.