by Jade White
“You won’t interfere?” Sonja asked.
“No. That would corrupt the data. In a sense, both of you will have more freedom, yet be more constrained. It’s difficult to explain, but you will be allowed to make your own choices, live your life the way you wish, under our full protection.”
“Sounds good.” Russell replied as Sonja opened the drawer in the bedside table and pulled out two SD cards.
“If you want to know what will happen after we hand those cards over, it’s simple. The government we give these to, will go to the UN and call both the US and Russia out on their inhumane and unethical experimentations, the collapse of our models will be avoided.”
Sonja placed the two SD cards in the open palm of one of the silent guards, who then handed it to the Mouth of the Dragon. “Many thanks. You are a true friend of the Dragon and you will not be harmed by us, unless you get in the way of our models, then all bets are off. From here on out, your life is your own to live, as long as we can observe the ripples you create. You are our butterflies; we can’t wait to see the inevitable typhoon.” With that, the woman and her two silent guards left their suite.
“Well that was cryptic as fuck.” Russell said.
“What do you expect? They’re a secret society. It’s par for the course with people like that.So I wonder how long it will be until the bad guys start hunting us again?”
“Probably as long as it takes for them to find Bankes’ dead body, so probably already looking.” Sonja replied.
“I didn’t leave much of him, you know.” Russell quipped.
“Oh I know, but there was enough for him to be identified. Dental records, DNA, blood type. You’re a messy eater.” Sonja quipped.
“Shush. Speaking of food, I’m starving. Let’s get dressed and go find something to eat?” Russell asked.
“Good plan.” Sonja said as she dug through her bag for some clean clothes. “Maybe a small Laundromat, or at least a store to buy some new clothes. The ones we have are pretty wrecked.”
“Good idea.” Russell laughed as he pulled on the fresh clothes from his duffel bag.
The couple grabbed their key cards and left the hotel. Smells from the restaurant filled their nostrils and caused their empty stomachs to growl loudly. It had been nearly forty-eight hours since Sonja had anything to eat, and she was absolutely famished. “Hey, let’s go here; I think they have a continental breakfast buffet going on.”
She was right. Warmers full of pancakes, bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs lined the counters. Carafes full of hot coffee and water for tea stood at one end of the service area, and bowls of fresh fruit salad sat in basins full of ice.
Sonja was in paradise. Her accelerated reflexes also accelerated her metabolism, so she made many a trip to the breakfast bar that morning, stuffing her face with eggs, fried meats and other available foods. Other patrons stared at her like she was a disgusting pig as she gorged herself. Even Russell looked kind of green as she came back with her fifth plate, loaded up high.
“What?” She asked. “You know that I need more calories than the average person to function, and forty eight hours is almost too long for me to go without food. I’ve done it, but wasn’t happy about it. I really need this.” She said between mouthfuls.
“Ooohkay.” Russell said as he picked at his scrambled eggs. He avoided the pork products and instead chose eggs and a bagel with some salmon lox for his breakfast. “You’re not afraid you’ll get fat?” he teased with a smirk and a twinkle in his amber eyes.
“Nah, I burn it too fast. Seriously, with my reflexes and high functioning muscles, I’m lucky to stay at the weight I am now. When I was in the Ballet School, they tried to restrict my food and almost wound up killing me. The government was quite cross with the head mistress and had her shot on the spot. What worked for other girls did not work for me. I was under special orders to actually eat, and was given special meals. I did smuggle some of my food to the other girls, it kept me from getting killed.”
“Smart move. I can see how the other kids would get angry if you’re getting fed and they weren’t.” Russell said as he nibbled his bagel.
As Sonja cleared her plate, she noticed two western men in black suits and sunglasses enter the dining room. They had the bearing of people who worked in a high security job. “I think we need to bail again.” She said.
Russell noted the two men and nodded. “I’ll run upstairs to get the bags and leave from one of the fire doors. You check us out and meet me at the internet cafe three doors down.”
“Roger that.” Sonja said as she wiped her mouth and stood up. She ducked behind a large couple that looked like they were visiting from America for the first time and discreetly went to the front desk while Russell moved with purpose to the door leading to the emergency exit stairs.
“Checking out, room 504.” She said quietly to the clerk at the counter as she observed the dining room from the corner of her eye.
“That will be two hundred and twenty American dollars.” The young Korean girl behind the desk said with a smile.
Sonja slid the credit card towards the young woman and waited impatiently for the transaction to go through. Suddenly the fire alarm went off as she was handed the slip to sign. She hastily scrawled her signature onto the paper, and booked it out of the hotel.
She found the internet cafe and ducked into it before the men in the black suits could follow. There were people pouring out of the hotel as they evacuated due to the fire alarm. The general chaos of the evacuation made it easier to mask their escape and held up the men who might be searching for them.
She ordered a latte and sat down at one of the computers. The door chime rang as Russell entered. He ordered an espresso and sat down next to her.
“So, did they tail you?” he asked.
“Nope, that chaos you caused with the fire alarm kept them from even being able to leave the area. That was a nice touch.” She said.
“Well, I timed it so as soon as you received the receipt to sign. That way you were able to leave before the general chaos happened. Remember, we are inside each other’s heads.”
“Oh yeah, I kind of forgot that.” She said with a smile as she sipped her coffee. So where do we go from here?”
“The lady we talked to didn’t give us much in the way of instruction.” He said with a sneer. “Other than be free, create chaos, blahblahblah.”
“Yeah I know, right? Well we’re getting tracked, that’s obvious. We aren’t a threat to the two that are after us since we handed over the SD cards.” Sonja said.
“But, if we both turn up dead or missing, we can’t be used as character witnesses in the trial.” Russell replied.
“True. Do you think we’ll be safe in the North?” Sonja asked.
“Hah!” Russell scoffed, “No one’s safe up there. We don’t even have the proper entry permits.”
The man who was in charge of attending the printer station walked up to the whispering couple and handed them two pieces of paper. “The mouth requires you to have these.” He said in Korean, and walked away.
Printed on them, in Korean lettering were two permits to enter North Korea and a verbal password to give to the head guard at the DMZ. “Looks like we’re going on a guided tour of the de-militarized zone.” Sonja said as she read the papers.
“Wait, you understand Korean?” Russell asked.
“Yes, I speak and understand almost every language spoken, with exception of a few indigenous tongues and remote dialects of Chinese. It was part of my education.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, to be honest.” Russell said. “Well let’s go book ourselves a tour bus.” He sighed as he finished his coffee.
CHAPTER NINE
The tour bus rumbled along the broad highway towards Panmunjom, the iconic area at the DMZ. Their guide spoke over the loudspeaker informing them of what they could and could not do while on tour in the highly sensitive area. Military vehicles loaded with troops were rumbling up the road
ahead of the bus. It was time for the detail that was up there to swap out and go home for a while, letting fresh troops take their places in the extremely tense area.
“And one other thing,” the hostess spoke up over the bus PA system. “Do not, under any circumstances, speak to the DPR Korean guards. You will be able to identify them by their olive green uniforms.”
“Excuse me, miss.” A florid man spoke up. “What does DPR stand for?”
“Democratic People’s Republic. The Northern Korean government refers to their country as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It is gravely offensive to them if you say North Korea in their vicinity and it could spark an incident.” The hostess explained with a saccharine smile.
Sonja noted that the woman had had extensive plastic surgeries over the course of her young life. She had had the infamous double eyelid surgery, cheekbone sculpting, chin sculpting, it was like she was a character out of an anime, even her breasts were augmented.
“Why do you think they are so obsessed with plastic surgery here?” Sonja asked Russell.
“It’s the culture. They have been exposed to the Western ideal for so long they think that it’s the only way to go. It’s rather sad, actually.” Russell explained as he thumbed through the tour brochure. “Hey we’re almost there. How do you think we will get around the prohibition of talking to the guards?”
“I’ll work something out.” Sonja said. “Remember, I’m the best at what I do.”
Russell snorted as he leaned back in his seat. “Just don’t go getting us killed.”
“Hah, if anything I’ve been pulling us out of the fire all this time.” Sonja scoffed. “Just trust me.”
“Like I have a choice. I trusted you when I chose to make you my handler. We’re kinda stuck in that trust relationship now.” He said with a grin.
“Yeah.” She said as she put her hand on his thigh. “I just can’t wait for all this to be all over and done with.” She sighed.
“I agree.”
The bus continued up the highway from Seoul. The trees on the side of the road were lush green in the late summer sunlight. There wasn’t a cloud in the bright blue sky overhead. It seemed like a perfect day.
“Ok the first stop will be Camp Bonifas where the troops gather to go to the Joint Security area, or the JSA. We will then continue on to the interpretation center at the JSA then take a tour outdoors around the demarcation area. There is a one hole golf course where you are encouraged to take a swing, but not to retrieve the ball in case it goes off course. It can get quite...messy,” the guide concluded with a giggle.
“Miss, what will we do for lunch?” The florid passenger asked.
“We have meals provided. There is a small cafe in the interpretation center that provides sandwiches and hot noodle dishes, you have been given a voucher for one meal of your choice at the end of the tour.”
The passenger nodded and sat back in his seat. He was a portly man who wore a blue and white striped polo shirt and black pants. His short-cropped blonde hair was glistening with sweat as the hot Korean summer etched away at him.
The bus drove through the archway greeting them as they entered the camp, there were troops jogging up the side of the road for their regular physical training.
“Okay we have arrived at Camp Bonifas, it used to be called Camp Kittyhawk but it was renamed after Major Bonifas was brutally murdered by the Democratic People’s Republic troops to honor him. Through here, you will see a gift area and cafe.” With that the hostess, clad a sky blue skirt suit, escorted them off the bus.
Russell and Sonja wandered aimlessly around the center looking at the laminated info graphics that outlined the timeline of the war. There were cases with uniforms, shells, and other war memorabilia preserved for all to see. The warnings of the past screamed out for the future to take heed. That is what Russell and Sonja were attempting to do. They did not want any more war.
They noticed the other tourists gathering around the pretty tour guide and gravitated towards the crowd. They didn’t want to seem to be too eager to depart the center, so they waited patiently while thumbing through leaflets that were placed in a holder near the door.
“Alright everybody, let’s go tour the rest of the DMZ.” The hostess chirped cheerfully.
The small crowd filed out the glass door as the tour guide, in her blue skirt suit guided them around the area.
“These are the barracks where our soldiers sleep. They are on rotating 6-hour guard shifts, and change at the exact same time as the Democratic People’s soldiers change. It is an elaborate ceremony, actually and we are nearing the time when it begins. We just got a load of fresh troops in today so they are all ready to do their duty at guarding the zone from military incursion from the North.”
The guide ushered them through the bright blue barracks, as men and women clothed in camouflage uniforms and a blue helmet were getting ready for their day.
They passed out of the barracks to a dilapidated rusted out train engine. The train was pocked with bullet holes, and the acrid smell of oxidizing metal filled the air. Thousands of brightly colored ribbons adorned the rusted out husk.
“This train had over a thousand rounds shot at it during the war. The bright streamers you see are prayer flags from every nation, praying for Korea’s reunification.” The hostess explained. “Yes, it is a prayer train,” she said with a smile.
The people milled around the monument for a few minutes to take in the enormity of the symbolism. Sonja and Russell didn’t really hold stock in the prayers, but maybe what they were doing might unify the Koreas as well.
The blare of a bugle rang suddenly rang through the air. “Oh it’s time for the changing of the guard!” The hostess said gleefully. “I always try to schedule my tours for this time of day, let’s go watch.”
The group stood around and watched the disciplined parade that both the North and the South engaged in. The staccato of freshly polished boots on cement echoed between the blue buildings. The northern troops marched into place as well as the southern. They faced each other across the demarcation line, staring each other down.
“Okay, let’s go look at the conference room!” the chipper guide exclaimed as she ushered the group to the building that lay directly across the main border between the two nations.
The sparse room had a large wooden table and a fax machine on either side. On one end stood the North Korean guards, and on the other, the South. One of the northern guards was eyeing Russell and Sonja suspiciously.
“I think that is the guard we need to make contact with.” Russell sent to Sonja telepathically.
“I do too.” She replied silently.
“Now you aren’t supposed to cross over to the other side of the table.” The hostess warned. “Nobody without proper permit can even set foot across that line.”
Sonja tried to figure out how to slip the key word into a question that actually made sense. “Is it true that they are only allowed to communicate via fax machine?” She asked in fluent Korean. “I mean it seems like it would be rather encumbering, especially when the two parties are facing one another in a theater of truce.” She sighed inwardly as she managed to sneak the phrase in, while looking directly at the high ranking guard.
The guard nodded knowingly, acknowledging he heard the passphrase correctly, whispered to his two underlings and left the building.
The hostess seemed rather surprised that Sonja spoke Korean. “My, you speak my language very well.”
She stammered in English. “Anyway, it is just for formality so everyone could have a proper written record that is easily traced, that way no imagined slights could get in the way of talks. We should go look at the infiltration tunnels now.”
The group filed out of the conference building single file and proceeded to follow the perky hostess to one of the many tunnels that the North Koreans used in an attempt to infiltrate their southern neighbor.
They entered the well maintained entrance to the thir
d tunnel of aggression and walked down the well-lit ramp.
“This tunnel was discovered in nineteen seventy eight when a defector alerted us to its presence. It is supposed to allow transit of thirty thousand lightly armed soldiers per hour. You can go up to the demarcation line but no further, since there are barricades preventing people from passing through. Photography is forbidden.”
Russell and Sonja walked away from the group, towards the first barricade. They looked at each other and snooped around the wall.
Suddenly from the shadows to their left, two people reached out and clasped their hands over their mouths. “Do not struggle. The Dragon is with you.” One of the men hissed as they dragged Russell and Sonja into the darkness of a tunnel that had been dug into the side of the main thoroughfare.