Origin - Season Two

by James, Nathaniel Dean

  Jangdan-myeon, North Korea

  Tuesday 19 June 2007

  0700 KST

  General Rhee’s second trip to the Jangdan-myeon mine was considerably less traumatic than the first. Part of the reason was the good news received from Duan, but more importantly, the trip no longer needed to be made by road.

  The Russian Mi-26, the largest military helicopter in production, had arrived from the Chinese mainland that morning, complete with North Korean markings and two trained pilots; a sign, if any were needed, that Beijing was now fully committed to seeing the project through. In the large cargo hold were several boxes of replacement blades for the German-made drilling platform, which, if all went well, would soon be finishing what several thousand political prisoners had started over five decades earlier.

  As soon as the helicopter touched down Rhee was met by the commander of the Project 38 security platoon, a middle-aged captain named Lee Chan-sook whose lack of imagination was matched only by his equally non-existent sense of humor. Colonel Ji, Lee’s senior by three ranks, followed him like an obedient dog and kept several yards back. In his amusement at this absurdity Rhee asked Lee if his colonel was behaving, but the attempt at humor was lost on the captain, who only nodded somberly.

  “I trust everything is in order?” Rhee said.

  “Yes, sir,” Lee said. “So far only two men have had to be—”

  Rhee held up a hand, “I’m sure you’ve got everything under control, Captain. I’m more interested to know how we’re getting on with the tunnel.”

  To this the captain appeared to have no answer, and he stepped aside, indicating for the colonel to come forward.

  “Well?” Rhee said.

  “General, I’m happy to report that we are still on schedule,” Colonel Ji said.

  “Good,” Rhee said. “And the tunnel?”

  “All is well with the tunnel, sir.”

  When the colonel made no move to elaborate further, Rhee prompted, “And?”

  “Sir?”

  “The tunnel,” Rhee said. “How long is the damn tunnel now?”

  The colonel produced a small notebook from his breast pocket, flipped through several pages and said, “Nineteen thousand, two hundred and thirty meters, sir. As of eight o’clock this morning.”

  “How far can we proceed without the calculations?” Rhee said.

  As if summoned by the sheer force of Rhee’s curiosity, a man came running out of the building towards them. When he spotted Rhee he stopped, suddenly unsure what to do.

  “Well?” Rhee said, “What’s so urgent?”

  “Sir,” the man said, “we’ve reached the cutoff. I’ve ordered the men to shut down the drill.”

  “Very well,” Ji said. “Have your men finish pouring the shell and get them back.”

  When the man was gone Rhee said, “I’m afraid the man responsible for completing the calculations is not yet with us. Out of curiosity, colonel, should he fail to appear, how confident are you that we could proceed without him?”

  Ji looked as if the general had just asked him what he thought his chances would be of walking away from a game of Russian roulette with a fully loaded revolver.

  “Never mind,” Rhee said. “You’ll get the information you need. In the meantime I’m afraid you’ll just have to do what you can.”

  His suggestion at the exercise of initiative was met with a blank stare from both Colonel Ji and the captain. Rhee considered pointing out that both men were officers, then realized how little this meant in an army where free thought was more often than not a one-way ticket to oblivion.

  “Just keep them busy,” Rhee said. “Perhaps Captain Chan-sook could drill the men. I hear he’s quite the instructor.”

  “It would be my pleasure, sir. I was awarded the order of the red star at the academy for my—”

  Rhee walked away before he could finish.

  Rhee did not return to the helicopter, but made his way along the edge of the clearing instead. When he was alone he took out the picture Song had given him and stood looking at it for a long time, his features quickly souring.

  Rhee had no clear memories of his mother and sister. He had been only four when the war against the South broke out and his father, then a sergeant in one of the newly formed infantry regiments, had sent them to live with relatives near the Chinese border, while Rhee himself was placed in the care of an uncle on the outskirts of the capital. His father had been killed in September 1950 during the UN counter-offensive at Incheon.

  It was not until his promotion to general, and subsequent elevation to the stewardship of Project 38, that Rhee had finally gained access to the facts surrounding the death of his mother and sister. The report had been filed by a liaison officer attached to the Chinese 39th Army Group who had found the bodies and drawn the only plausible conclusion. His report had been dismissed out of hand.

  The sheer brutality of the detailed account had affected Rhee like nothing he’d ever experienced. Try as he might to glean only the facts, his mind had rebelled and turned the words into images that refused to go away no matter how many times he suffered through them.

  What had brought Rhee back to himself was the realization that any hope he would ever have of retribution lay in maintaining his position of influence and power.

  When Rhee opened his eyes, he saw his hand had become a fist. He opened it and did his best to straighten the crumpled picture before returning it to his pocket.

  Chapter 67

  The Isle of Dragons

  Tuesday 19 June 2007

  0800 EEST

  The trek across the jagged, rocky terrain of the island had taken considerably longer than anyone had expected. On more than one occasion Heinz—at least three decades beyond his prime—had insisted they stop for a rest. At one point Richelle had lost her footing on a particularly steep slope. Only the quick reflexes of Erik had saved her from what could easily have been a few broken bones, or worse. But all of this was soon forgotten when they finally reached the eastern tip of the island and saw what was waiting for them.

  Mitch had been right about one thing; the area was free from trees. But in every other respect it offered little to be optimistic about. What had looked from above like flat ground was in reality a sharp slope of uneven rock that ran from the place they now stood all the way into the sea. In several places the slope leveled off a little, but none of these shelves were anywhere near big enough. To make matters worse most of the rock was covered in a thick layer of green slime, an invitation to anyone brave enough to try walking down there to test both their courage and their luck.

  “I’m not going to say I didn’t warn you,” Erik said.

  “You just did,” Richelle said. “But it doesn’t change anything.”

  “It doesn’t?” Erik replied. “I think it changes everything. There is no way in hell we could prepare this site in time even if we had the resources to do it.”

  “Like…?” Richelle prompted.

  “Dynamite,” Francis said.

  Erik nodded. “Yeah, a lot of it. Not to mention the machinery to clear everything away. You’re looking at a month, maybe more.”

  “So?” Richelle said. “What do you suggest?”

  “I suggest we call the whole thing off and come up with a plan that’s going to work. One I’ll have time to implement.”

  Heinz, still clearly exhausted, shook his head. “We can’t wait for another opportunity. We may not even get one.”

  “I don’t really see how you can think of it as an opportunity when we have no practical way of taking advantage of it,” Erik said.

  In the long silence that followed none of them noticed Francis peel away. It was only when Richelle gave up her attempts to mediate the escalating argument between Heinz and Erik that she saw he was gone. By the time he returned almost fifteen minutes later the debate had given way to collective anxiety.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Richelle demanded.

  Francis smiled and
pointed up the hill. “I didn’t have much to contribute to the conversation. Besides, I may have found a solution to our little problem.”

  They followed him, Heinz and Erik under a ceasefire which saw them taking up positions to either side of Richelle. When Francis steered them off into a thick forest of pines Erik stopped and said, “I don’t want to dampen your hopes, guys, but this terrain is even less suitable.”

  “Just wait,” Francis said. “I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am.”

  Ten minutes later they all came to a stop as the trees ended and the ground disappeared in front of them.

  “I don’t get it,” Richelle began. “You’ve taken us to the end of the island.”

  Francis smiled. “Look down.”

  Erik stepped forward and leaned over the edge, holding on to the branch of a tree to steady himself. About fifty feet below the cliff edge there was a large semi-circular plateau, the outer edge of which dropped off sharply to the sea only a few meters below.

  “Looks pretty flat to me,” Francis said.

  They all expected Erik to discount the find as soon as he stepped back, but he didn’t.

  “Well?” Richelle said.

  “I’ll need to go down and have a look,” Erik said. “But it might work.”

  This time it was Heinz who made the objection. “And how is anyone supposed to get down there?”

  Francis pointed out at the sea, “From the water. If you ask me, it makes a lot more sense than trying to drag things back the way we came.”

  “And how do we hide it?” Heinz asked. “It would be completely exposed to anyone passing by.”

  Francis was about to answer, but Erik beat him to it. “From up here. We’d only need to cover one side. It’s a little trickier, but it can be done.”

  Heinz looked at him with surprise. “So now you’re an optimist?”

  “I didn’t say that,” Erik said. “I’m just saying that if the terrain is suitable it’s the only real option.”

  “Whereas—” Heinz began.

  “Alright,” Richelle said. “That’s enough. Like it or not, we’re going to have to work together on this. If this is our best option I suggest we go back so Erik can get what he needs to go down there and have a look around.”

  “I’ll come back with him,” Francis said.

  “Great,” Richelle sighed. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to sit this one out. I’ve seen enough of the great outdoors to last me a while.”

  Chapter 68

  Zurich, Switzerland

  Tuesday 19 June 2007

  1200 CEST

  Rex and Magda were already in the conference room when Caroline arrived. On the table in front of him Rex had assembled three small stacks of paper, each filled with account numbers, names and transactions. Caroline took one look at them and said, “I’m hoping you don’t expect me to read any of that.”

  “It’s actually quite fascinating stuff,” Rex told her.

  “I’m sure it is,” Caroline said. “Why don’t you just give me the general idea for now.”

  Rex plucked one of the sheets from the pile on his left and held it up. “I’ve broken the transactions up into three parts to reflect the three stages being used to move the money from the Chinese central bank to the individual suppliers. The key to the whole thing is the International Bank of Settlements just down the road in Basel.”

  “The what?” Caroline said.

  “The B.I.S isn’t a bank in the strictest sense of the word,” Rex said, “but it plays a major role in international finance. It’s basically a bank for central banks, if you like. It’s really more of an elaborate bookkeeping exercise that allows central banks to move money between each other without having to physically make any transactions. The system was originally set up under the gold standard, but the basic idea is still the same. In the case of Panjin Partners, the money being used to finance the purchases isn’t coming out of the company’s own accounts, or even the defense budget, but straight from the Chinese central bank’s account at the B.I.S. to the Bank of England. From there it’s being moved to a commercial bank in London called TriStar Capital, which is actually part of a larger consortium based in Hong Kong and owned by the Chinese state.”

  “I don’t get it.” Caroline looked at them both. “Why not move the money directly if they own the bank?”

  “Secrecy,” Rex replied. “Transactions through the B.I.S are not subject to any form of public scrutiny. In fact the bank is a legal black hole. Not even the Swiss government has any jurisdiction over it.”

  “Alright. So TriStar is paying the bills.”

  “No.” Rex shook his head. “It’s a little more complicated. TriStar has been breaking the transactions down into individual payments, but then passing them on to a British bank called Pegasus Holdings. Pegasus is paying the bills and selling the goods on to a company in Dubai called United Shipping, who then transfer ownership to Panjin Partners.”

  “You’ve lost me,” Caroline said.

  “The simple fact is,” Magda cut in, “that the Chinese are going out of their way to hide these purchases from anyone who might be interested. As for why, or where this stuff is going, we don’t have a clue. The shipping manifests are all directed to the port of Huludao on the Chinese mainland. The real mystery, if you ask me, is why the Chinese are buying things in secret that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow if they bought them openly.”

  Rex handed one of the sheets to Caroline and said, “It’s all just everyday industrial goods. Engines, wheels, wire, instruments, tools, mining equipment. There are no hazardous chemicals or materials, no medical drugs, and no weapons of any kind. Almost all of it is coming from the United States and Germany, countries the Chinese do business with every day. And it’s been going on for a while. Some of these transactions are over three years old.”

  “That’s it?” Caroline said.

  “Almost,” Magda said. “Show her the others.”

  Rex handed Caroline several sheets containing two or three highlighted entries per page. “Aside from these twelve transactions everything else is with large corporations. Six of the payments are to other banks, while the other six are to individual numbered accounts offshore. One of those is for a million and a half dollars. The rest are all in the low hundreds of thousands.”

  Caroline studied the list for a moment and said, “And do we know who owns these private accounts?”

  Rex shook his head. “There’s no way to find out, either. At least none that I know of. If anyone—and that includes government agencies—presented one of those account numbers to the holding bank, the money would be gone in minutes, probably even sooner. It’s one of the reasons the offshore banking system exists.”

  “Alright,” Caroline told them. “I appreciate the work, guys.”

  “What should we do with this?” Rex pointed at the papers.

  “I’ll take them,” Caroline said. “I’m guessing we’d all be in a lot of trouble if anyone found them here.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Magda said. “We’d all be in jail.”

  “Or dead,” Rex chuckled.

  No one else laughed.

  “I’ll tell you what,” Caroline said, “Put all this stuff on a memory stick, then shred the papers and delete the files.”

  Chapter 69

  Aurora

  Tuesday 19 June 2007

  1930 EEST

  Richelle was waiting for them at the research station when Francis and Erik returned over an hour after sundown. If she hadn’t known the island was barren of wildlife she might have guessed the two of them had run into an angry bear and paid dearly for the privilege. Francis, clearly in a great deal of pain, was limping, one hand on Erik’s shoulder.

  “What the hell happened to you two?” Richelle said.

  “Don’t ask.” Erik cast the coil of rope to one side and helped Francis to the nearest chair.

  “I should have known better,” Francis said.

  “I tried to
talk him out of going down with me,” Erik said.

  Richelle felt an almost unstoppable urge to go to Francis and run a reassuring hand through his disheveled hair. The power and impossibility of the impulse felt as if it might drive her mad. Instead she nodded matter-of-factly and said, “And the site?”

  “It’ll have to do,” Erik said.

  “It better,” Francis said.

  “I’ll have to go back and get rid of the trees,” Erik said, “but it’s big enough. And it looks stable. I’ll take the launch out there tomorrow.”

  Richelle was about to insist that Francis get himself down to the medical center immediately when the doors of the access elevator opened behind them and Heinz stepped out. Richelle braced herself for a renewal of hostilities, but Heinz apparently had other things on his mind.

  “Caroline called,” Heinz said. “Apparently she’s discovered some interesting things about our friends in Beijing. She’s sending the file now.”

  “Interesting or useful?” Richelle mused.

  “I don’t know,” Heinz said. “I don’t think she knew quite what to make of it herself.”

  Fifteen minutes later Richelle, Heinz and a very weary looking Francis were gathered around the printer in her office, watching as it spat out one page after another. The first two contained a hastily written summary from Rex in which he did his best to sum up the complex financial arrangements detailed in the long list of transactions that followed. When Richelle had finished, she handed it to Francis and turned to the rest of the pile. By the time all three of them had read the summary and spent a few minutes looking over the rest of the pages the mood had turned sour.

  “This is all very fascinating,” Richelle said, “but it doesn’t help, does it?”

  “Not really,” Francis agreed. “Although you do still have to wonder what all the cloak and dagger is about.”

  “Has it occurred to anyone that maybe the Chinese are setting them up?” Richelle asked. “Giving themselves an excuse to do something about their unruly neighbors before they blow up the world?”