Brilliant New Light (Chance Lyon military adventure series Book 3)

by Van Torrey

  The CIA analyst continued, “When the Colonel stops to take the woman to dinner, he sends his driver into the building to pick her up and escort her to the car. This is consistent with his power image he’s developing as head of the secret police. However, when he intends to spend the night he, himself, exits the vehicle and dismisses the driver for the evening. I think our tactic should be to wait for the next time the driver exits the car and wait for him to bring the woman out to join Woo-jo. When they are all settled in and the car leaves, we pull the trigger. Then it’s good-bye Colonel Fhang and Ms. Yong, and hello heartburn for General Fhang,” he concluded.

  Agent Campbell cabled Langley with the code word, “JEWELRY” indicating to his operations liaison that a plan was in place that met the planning criteria. In twenty-five minutes, not twenty or thirty, an authentication code, “EMERALD” was received at the drone operations center at Osan addressed to “ESSIX.” This was permission from CIA to initialize the mission sequence.

  At fourteen-hundred hours Korean time, a Solar Eagle drone, an evolutional variant of the original Predator drone built by General Atomics, with the ability to read to six-inch resolution at seventeen-thousand feet was launched from Osan Air Base to its mission parameters as previously outlined for Operation Tidewater. By nineteen hundred hours the drone had acquired the target in Pyongyang, North Korea, that was assessed as having a ninety-nine percent probability of being the predetermined target, and flashed an encoded signal to the drone operations center at Osan AFB.

  As both men watched the incoming video feed from the orbiting surveillance platform they said to each other, “I concur the analysis of the identifying software meets the parameters of the mission.” Colonel McClutchen turned to his CIA counterpart and said formally, “Mr. Campbell, the mission is now yours. You are in command of the firing sequence...good shooting.”

  The Solar Eagle drone was now cruising over the urban area of Pyongyang where Ms. Yong’s apartment was situated. At approximately nineteen-fifteen hours Colonel Fhang Woo-jo’s Mercedes pulled up in front of the apartment building and stopped. Video imaging from the unmanned drone showed no one exiting from the vehicle for several minutes and then the vehicle suddenly accelerated and swiftly moved down the nearly empty street for several hundred yards and pulled off onto a side street to a sudden stop. What the hell? Wondered Campbell. This is a departure from anything we have ever seen. I wonder if the Colonel is on to us or some other perceived threat.

  The video feed from the drone continued, and in moments several DPRK Army vehicles abruptly pulled up in front of the apartment building where the Colonel’s car had been parked and disgorged a dozen or so armed men who rushed the building. In ten minutes the troops exited the building dragging three people under heavy guard and threw them into one of the middle vehicles. The convoy drove off. One of the vehicles followed the path of the Colonel’s car, pulled up along-side it, stayed there for several minutes and then drove off.

  A few moments passed before Colonel Fhang’s car slowly reversed its path and settled into the original parking place in front of the apartment building. This time the driver immediately exited the vehicle and made his way to the building and entered. Moments thereafter the drone’s imaging system showed the driver and Ms. Yong exiting the building heading hurriedly toward the waiting car.

  The Colonel’s driver and Ms. Yong reached the rear door of the Mercedes. As the driver reached to open the door for her, a man raced out of the apartment building and fired at least one point blank shot that hit Ms. Yong in the upper back and as she fell to the sidewalk, Colonel Fhang’s driver dropped to the pavement, rolled, pulled his pistol, and returned fire, dropping the assailant in the process. At once the car door opened and the driver and Colonel Fhang dragged the wounded, and perhaps dead, Ms. Yong into the back seat of the car. The driver hastily re-entered the vehicle and drove away swiftly, leaving the shooter on the pavement.

  McClutchen and Campbell watched in awe as this bizarre sequence of violence unfolded in real-time on the computer monitors at the Drone Operations Center. In spite of the disconcerting ground activity beamed from the Solar Eagle drone, Campbell continued to concentrate on command and control of the mission to take out General Fhang’s brother and any incidental personnel who might be unfortunate enough to be with him.

  Campbell reasoned that the events at the apartment, unusual as they were, were extraneous to the mission and he quickly focused back to the image of the vehicle carrying Colonel Fhang, his driver, and Ms. Yong in her unknown condition. As the car sped down the nearly deserted Pyongyang boulevard, Campbell calmly initiated the firing sequence. The drone’s laser targeting system acquired and identified the target to the Hellfire missile slung beneath it. In less than a second the drone jettisoned the one-hundred pound missile which arched unwaveringly at nine-hundred-fifty miles per hour to the unsuspecting target thousands of feet below. The missile impacted the rear window of the Mercedes. Within milliseconds the car and the surrounding area of dozens of meters in circumference were engulfed in a moving explosive fireball of death and destruction created by the inertia of the car, assisted by the velocity of the missile.

  In moments a coded message: “TIDEWATER EBBED” from Osan reached the CIA Operations Center in Langley, Virginia.

  Even though there were clear indications that the car and contents were those of Colonel Fhang and his driver, it was not until early the next day, after DNA test confirmation, that the identity of the two men and a passenger, Ms. Yong could be confirmed to General Fhang. But the victims of what, and by whose hand? Wondered a deeply distressed General Fhang as he contemplated and tried to understand the multiple and seemingly disconnected - or were they? - events of the previous evening that eventually killed two people who were his closest colleagues.

  CHAPTER 17

  DISINGENUOUS DIPLOMACY

  “Hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil.”

  Carving over the door of the Sacred Stable, Nikko, Japan. (The Legend of the Three Wise Monkeys.)

  *

  One day after the missile attack that killed Colonel Fhang, his lover Ms. Yong, and the driver, the U.S. Ambassador asked to see the Chinese Foreign Minister in Beijing. The request was labeled as “Diplomatically important”, which in the highly nuanced language of international diplomacy meant the ambassador had something new of mutual interest to report to the Chinese government. Foreign Minister Yang made room on his afternoon schedule to meet with the veteran ambassador.

  Jeremiah Bledsoe had been U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China for all of the Braxton years as President and had been asked to stay on in this important post by Rachel Hunter. As a former Wall Street lawyer, he understood the complexities of international business and finance, and he spoke fluent Mandarin, having lived as a child for a while in China with his grandparents who had been Christian Missionaries. It was partly because of his language skills and his frequent thoughtful gifts of single malt Scotch whisky that he had become a favorite of the Chinese Foreign Minister, Yang Lu Tho.

  After the obligatory niceties Ambassador Bledsoe got down to business. “Minister, I have come today to speak to you about an incident that occurred in the DPRK capital of Pyongyang yesterday - an unfortunate matter involving a member of the new leader’s family and close professional associates - about which you may have already heard.”

  The Foreign Minister merely nodded slowly and remarked the he had heard rumors of some type of explosion that had killed or injured some of General Fhang’s associates.

  “Minister, I come here today to speak to you in confidence about the facts surrounding this matter and to explain the situation from the standpoint of the United States of America.”

  The Chinese Minister shifted in his chair and nodded in assent to the implied request for secrecy from Ambassador Bledsoe.

  “As you know the killing of President Braxton in the People’s Republic of China by agents of a country with whom we have no diplomati
c ties, and with whom we are still technically at war since the armistice of 1953, was without precedent and a vile affront to our nation. There can be no question regarding the facts in this tragedy and who the perpetrators were. Your law enforcement and intelligence people helped our FBI verify these facts beyond any doubt.”

  The Foreign Minister nodded in acquiescence and responded briefly, “Of course, Mr. Bledsoe. Our government has sent a detailed apology and a formal note of condolence to your new President, Ms. Hunter. I personally deeply regret that such a travesty occurred in my country while your President was engaged in attempts to achieve a greater peace in this region.”

  “Thank you, Minister,” continued Bledsoe. “What my government has asked me to explain to you is our reaction to this murderous act. My government views the assassination of President Braxton as nothing less than an act of war perpetrated by a rogue nation that continuously expresses enmity and makes threats against the United States and her neighbors in the region, more specifically, South Korea and Japan, two of our closest allies and trading partners.”

  After a moment of pause, Ambassador Bledsoe continued, “There were no diplomatic options available to my government to confront the North Korean leadership, and they had made no attempt to reach out to us either directly or through intermediaries. After very careful consideration of all our other options, and after lengthy consultations with many of her closest advisors, President Hunter, as Commander in Chief, decided on a measured response.”

  “Measured...?” interjected the Minister softly, “Indeed?”

  “Yes, it was necessary to send a message to the new leadership in the DPRK that the United States took the gravest offense at this outrage. Without going into a great amount of detail, Minister, my government is well aware of the hierarchy of associates of the General as well as their whereabouts and regular activities. We carefully targeted one of his closest associates and eliminated him in such a way to gain the attention of this vicious man who aspires to become leader of a unified Korean people by force.”

  “Eliminated?” asked the Minister. “We understand the action you took was quite violent and took other lives as well,” continued the Foreign Minister who, for the first time, registered some specific knowledge of the missile strike against Colonel Fhang. “This sounds more like an airstrike than a surgical elimination, Ambassador.”

  “Unfortunately, Minister, there may have been collateral damage in which others may have been injured or died. The target was clearly General Fhang’s brother,” said Bledsoe simply.

  The Foreign Minister considered Bledsoe’s remarks thoughtfully for several seconds before responding, “Thank you for being here today, Ambassador. I would like to discuss our meeting with some colleagues and invite you back tomorrow morning for a follow-up. It is important that we continue our dialogue on this unfortunate subject until we have a complete mutual understanding of all the ramifications.”

  Upon Ambassador Bledsoe’s return to the American Embassy in Beijing, he cabled Secretary Randolph, “EXPLANATION DELIVERED TO YOUR COUNTERPART. I AM TO RETURN TOMORROW AM FOR ADDITIONAL CONSULTATIONS. NO REACTION YET. END.”

  *

  That same day the U.S. Ambassadors in Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo, Japan, delivered essentially the same message to the Foreign Ministers of each of those countries to a decidedly friendlier reception from those historic allies. Although it went unsaid, each had a vested interest in the United States taking the lead in any confrontations with the DPRK government. Without nukes of their own, the nuclear umbrella provided by the US was a vital counter to the continuing and growing threats of nuclear attack from their bellicose and reclusive neighbor.

  *

  At ten-hundred hours the next day Ambassador Bledsoe presented himself to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and was led to one of the larger and more ornately appointed conference rooms at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. Bledsoe was met by Foreign Minister Yang and several senior members of his diplomatic staff. Immediately, Bledsoe knew this was going to be a formal and detailed response to the private meeting he had with Yang yesterday.

  Minister Yang began, “As you may have seen on the international news broadcasts since our meeting yesterday, there seems to be substantial speculation - if not actual factual information, that there was a missile strike in Pyongyang, North Korea three days ago that killed a member of General Fhang’s immediate family and others. The only nation with the resources to conduct such a precision attack, and the motivation to do so, is the United States. Therefore I see no reason for any confidentially to be attached to the talks we had yesterday and those that continue today. For our part, the People’s Republic will simply classify these as routine diplomatic consultations.”

  “As you wish, Minister,” was Bledsoe’s measured reply. This was nothing over which the Ambassador had any control and to object would seem confrontational, when the original intent had been exactly the opposite.

  “I have to tell you, Ambassador, there have been extensive discussions within the Foreign Ministry and at the highest executive levels of my government,” began the Foreign Minister.

  Minister Yang continued, “We have decided to support any objection filed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea against the United States in the General Assembly of the U.N. This attack by the United States on the sovereign nation of the DPRK was not justified and is a violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement of 1953, to which we are all signatories. Furthermore, this escalation of violence threatens the peace in this region that could directly and adversely impact the citizens of the People’s Republic of China.”

  “Frankly, Minister, I’m sure that my government will not understand or accept the position you have taken here today. I hope you do not intend to ask the Security Council to issue a formal resolution of rebuke to the United States for an action that has not been proven. There is no proof that any attack took place by the United States against North Korea.”

  Minister Yang’s deputy responded evenly, “No, there is no formal proof, only the twisted remains of some type of explosive device that was delivered by air, according to the North Koreans, so this is not a subject for consideration by the Security Council. Besides, Ambassador, the United States, as a permanent member, would simply veto any potential resolution out of hand.” “...as the People’s Republic has done many times themselves,” interjected a slightly annoyed Ambassador Bledsoe. “It seems to me the People’s Republic, in her position of being the only country in the region in the position to exert any constructive influence on the DPRK would take a more statesmanlike position with General Fhang and...”

  Minister Yang broke in sharply and stated with authority, “Unlike the United States, the People’s Republic does not see us as the World’s policeman.”

  Bledose found the Foreign Minister’s curtness uncharacteristic, but did not respond, instead cataloguing this for later. It was becoming obvious to Bledsoe that what he was hearing from the Deputy Foreign Minister may be for the consumption of the other Chinese diplomats in the room, and not necessarily for his ears only. The Chinese were a complicated lot when it came to verbal confrontation.

  “The Chinese culture for thousands of years,” he continued quietly, “has been to be good neighbors with our Asian brothers while promoting peace and prosperity for everyone. We recognize other countries have cultural and selfish parochial interests that occasionally may be in conflict with ours, but we are prepared to work out these differences diplomatically.”

  Bledsoe knew his job, as ambassador, was to be a trusted contact and conduit of official information between the United States and the People’ Republic. There were limits to the scope of his rhetoric, particularly when members of the Foreign Minister’s staff were present. Openly arguing or contentiously disagreeing with the Foreign Minister after each had made their point was something appropriately done only by Alexander Randolph, the American Secretary of State, privately with Minister Yang or, on rare occasions, with the P
remier himself.

  With such limits clearly in mind, Bledsoe decided it was time to take his leave. The veteran diplomat understood he had been gently lectured by those who implemented foreign policy in the PRC, and took it good-naturedly, if not with some cynicism. After all these years of living among them, and even if it was a cliché, Bledsoe could only think of the oriental mind as inscrutable. But he did understand certain unspoken truths that bound the Chinese and DPRK relationship.

  The Chinese traded with the DPRK, receiving coal and other raw material imports from them at reasonable prices that were transported by rail conveniently and cheaply. In return China provided North Korea with basic foodstuffs that kept their people from total starvation. Without such trade the economy of North Korea would probably implode and revolution would undoubtedly break out, causing a refugee crisis along the long common border between North Korea and China. This would be a human disaster of massive proportions that China would be expected to manage, compelling the deployment of substantial amounts of resources for an unknown period of time, with little expectation of help from anyone else in the region. There would be no upside for China to such a development.

  For these and several other reasons, it was in China’s best interest to live with the status quo of her North Korean neighbor, hoping to control her belligerency by moral suasion and, if necessary, threats to cut off economic aid. Finally, General Fhang’s recent coup d’état ousting the Chong regime had caught the Chinese as much by surprise as others, and little was known about the North Korean General by any of the Chinese leaders. All these tangibles, and the intangibles surrounding the unknown, drove the Chinese leadership to employ an attitude of non-condemnation, at least publicly, for the unfortunate actions of some of North Korea’s rogue diplomats.