by Van Torrey
After a moment of silent observation, Gamma turned to Park and said, “Yes, this is what I expected. Without the associated hardware of a delivery system, such as a guided missile or a complete bomb assembly meant to be air-delivered, the warhead itself looks almost benign. I estimate this to be approximately a one-hundred kiloton warhead, quite modest by modern standards, but still at least five times the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Depending on where this is going, it can create horrendous damage and mass casualties. I want to be a long way away when this detonates.”
For the first time in their brief association Gamma saw signs of vulnerability in Park when he asked anxiously, “Then you think you have the equipment and the expertise to work with this particular device?”
Gamma, a man with great experience in leading military men and navigating many political intrigues, knew when he had gained the upper hand in a particular situation, and he intended to use it to his advantage. Now was the moment of truth in his dealings with Park Man-soo. Up to now Man-soo had held all the cards and Gamma was not much more than an observer to Park’s madness. Now they were face-to-face with the primary element of this dangerous mission and Park had momentarily flinched at the specter of Gamma seeing the device for the first time. What if Kim had announced he didn’t understand what he was seeing? If so, all Park had painstakingly prepared for would be lost. Subtly, at this moment, with Gamma expressing confidence in his abilities to manage the nuclear warhead, Park lost much of his psychological advantage over Gamma. Over the last few moments the two men had suddenly become equal partners in this sinister drama.
“I would like to run a few preliminary tests on the warhead to ensure my software is compatible with the firmware in the device. Then I will know for sure that we can move forward,” Gamma lied. “I should do this now,” he added.
“I will leave you to your testing,” said Park tersely. “This makes me very nervous. I am going in the bay to smoke a cigarette and wait for Choi. I don’t want him coming in here, and he is not to know what our mission is. As far as he knows, we are carrying fresh salmon that has been iced down. As soon as you have run your tests, we will load the warhead into the empty ice chest with the forklift. It will sit in a dry compartment under a sealed pan containing ice and fish, so that if anyone opens the cover, they will see essentially what the other two contain. That is our cover as we travel with the device.”
“As you say, Man-soo. But enough of your games of keeping me in the dark, and suspecting that I am not the genuine article. I am either a full partner in this mission or not...do we understand each other?”
“Of course,” Park replied with resignation.
Relieved that Park had chosen to leave him to his machinations with the warhead, Gamma had the ideal opportunity to get off a text to Chance Lyon. He knew he had only a few moments, so he had to be brief.
HAVE SEEN THE WARHEAD. IT IS THE REAL THING. MAYBE CLOSE TO U.S. W-80. HIDDEN ON ONE OF THREE HUGE ICE CHESTS IN A VAN. WE ARE IN A WAREHOUSE IN A LOCATION UNKNOWN. BLINDFOLDED DURING TRANSIT. ESTIMATED TRAVELING 30-45 MINUTES. WE ARE LEAVING BY WHITE VAN WITH UNKNOWN WRITING ON SIDE IN LESS THAN ONE HOUR. 3 OF US, PARK, CHOI (ERRAND BOY), ME. DESTINATION UNKNOWN. URGENT YOU TRACK US. PARK IS WELL TRAINED AND QUITE MADD!
Lyon showed the text to Blackie and the others who had joined them, and Max simply shook his head in frustration. “We better get a GPS trail on these guys or we’re going to be out of luck. Right now we have very little.”
*
Raymond Rollins, his CIA counterpart Marilyn Mitchell, FBI Director Clayton Wheatley, and Chief of Staff Philip Johnson met in the Oval Office with Rachel Hunter late at night after Chance Lyon had forwarded the text message to Craig Murphy.
“The good news is that Gamma is with the warhead. The bad news is that we’re not sure of its exact location,” offered Wheatley. “Even if we get close to them, I would recommend not taking this operation down until they get out of Canada - presumably into the United States. All we have are contractors, a CIA veteran, and a couple of rookie CIA operators, capable as they may be, but we can’t offer them any support if things get dicey. If this goes bad on Canadian soil with them not briefed in by us, they’ll be hell to pay, and it could cause an international incident.”
“I’m with you on that,” said Rollins. “How’s our surveillance?”
“Argus is temporarily off the job due to Canadian radar intensity, and we have a weak GPS signal from Gamma that comes and goes,” replied Wheatley.
“If we can reestablish a strong GPS signal we can get our people back on their tail and follow them until it’s advantageous to get into a position to strike,” added Marilyn Mitchell.
“Look, I have confidence in Lyon and Olyphant, my two contractors,” concluded Wheatley. “When it’s time to strike I’m confident they, along with Marilyn’s operators, will do the right thing and not let this nuke anywhere near the target. They’ve brought us this far, let’s not micromanage this.”
“Okay,” said President Hunter. “Let’s get a message back to our team that they are running the show out there, but as soon as this nuke crosses the border from Canada into the U.S., they need to strike and strike hard. If they need support, pull out all the stops!”
“Relative to your term “strike”, perhaps we should review the end game here, Ms. President,” said Marilyn Mitchell. “I have three of my people directly involved in this, and I want to make sure we have the mission parameters clearly defined.”
“Since we are getting close to crunch time here, that’s a good point, Marilyn,” replied Rachel Hunter. “My vision for the end game here - and I hope we have unanimity on this - is for our operational team to stop this sabotage operation if and when it reaches the geographical limits of the United States by killing or capturing the Korean perpetrators, and securing the nuclear warhead without it being detonated. A secondary objective is to complete this operation without the knowledge of the Canadian government. If all these components of the operation can be successfully completed this will become the blackest of any black operation ever contemplated by our government. Having said that, I am open to any modification to what I have just summarized. It’s essential all of us are on the same page here and communicate this to our operators.”
After a moment of collective silence, Philip Johnson felt it appropriate to bring the meeting to a conclusion by saying, “Without additional comment from the staff, it seems safe to assume we have unanimity of purpose and process here today. Would you like to make any closing comments here, Ms. President?”
With a nod to her Chief of Staff, Rachel Hunter said, “Please allow me to channel one of our courageous founders, Mister Benjamin Franklin, by reminding you that we must all hang together, gentlemen - and Marilyn...else, we will, most assuredly, hang separately.”
Hmmm, a female President with balls. That’s one for the books, thought Philip Johnson. I knew Braxton made a good call with her.
*
“Have you completed the tests you wanted to make, Dong-sun? We must get moving,” asked Park with a sense of urgency.
Gamma replied from the other room, “Yes, Man-soo. All is in readiness. My tests confirm compatibility.”
“Fine, before Choi returns from the errand we need to lift the warhead into the largest ice chest and place it into the belly of the van. After that, we place an insert into the ice chest containing ice and salmon. This effectively creates a false bottom that camouflages the real contents of the ice chest. If these chests are examined by any customs personnel, and we have the appropriate cover in the form of the van and our forged shipping documents, we should be able to pass any cursory inspection.”
“What if the inspection includes the use of gamma ray inspection devices?” asked Gamma.
“As you well know, the warhead itself is shielded, but we have taken the added precaution of lining the ice chest with a layer of lead, which will reduce gamma radiation to background level or below. Authorities coul
d only find the warhead if they dismantled the ice chest, which I feel is unlikely,” answered Park.
“How can you be sure that these assumptions are valid, Man-soo?”
“Well, Dong-sun, we have thought of everything. The journey we will make in the next two days has been rehearsed several times in the past two months and the results have always been the same. At the ferry stop the Canadians might look briefly at one of the ice chests, sometimes not at all, and wave us through. They do not inspect with anything like a gamma ray detector. I am confident of our process of reaching the target. I even made one of the rehearsal trips myself.”
Gamma was immediately impressed that the operation had been previously rehearsed. Another sign that these men are professional, he thought. But Park mentioned a ferry. That must mean that we are going to load onto a ferry as a portion of our journey to the target. I must get this intel to Chance right away.
As Choi returned, Park and Gamma had already loaded the ice chest containing the warhead and the protective layer of fish and ice into the belly of the cargo van using the fork lift.
Choi set the take-out food on top of one of the boxes in the bay and invited the men to eat. Gamma, the thought of watching the Koreans writhing in agony on the floor of the warehouse after eating the poisoned kimchi still fresh in his mind, was wary but hungry. He made eye contact with Park, picked up one of the containers of food and offered it to him. Park reacted with a smirk and plunged a plastic fork into the food, and placed it in his mouth. “Thank you, Choi. Sweet and sour chicken, my favorite,” he said. Gamma, in turn, took a bite and looked at Park with disdain.
After the men had eaten, Park announced they were ready to leave and ordered the remaining ice chest loaded into the van. “I’ll drive the van,” Park said to Gamma, “Mr. Choi will drive the other car following us. You and your briefcase can get in the front seat with me, and I’ll back out, with Choi to follow.”
As soon as Gamma closed the passenger door he could hear one of the men tearing the newspapers off the side of the van on both sides. Gamma wondered whether this was yet another trick on the part of Park to hide information from him, but soon dropped the thought. There would be time enough for settling scores with Park later, and Gamma would be fully ready when the time came. Gamma knew there would be only one survivor at the end of this mission and there was no doubt in his mind who it would be.
As the two vehicles pulled away from the now vacant industrial bay, Gamma could not resist a dig at Park. “What no blindfold this time? You are not losing your touch are you?”
Park kept his eyes on the headlight illuminated road ahead and merely answered, “Just don’t play me for a fool.”
“Nor you me,” answered a stone-faced Gamma.
*
Craig Murphy spoke excitedly into his satellite telephone, “Chance, we have reacquired the GPS signal from Gamma. It looks like they are about ten miles away from the last good fix we had on them.”
“...And where’s that?” replied Chance.
“They’re on route 99, headed north.”
“Where’s that take them?”
“The only logical destination is Horseshoe Bay. Looks like it is a major ferry terminal there with multiple departure routes. They could be headed for a ferry,” answered Murphy.
“How far away from there are the Koreans?”
“Maybe three miles...oops, they just stopped...or at least the signal stopped. Wait one.”
*
Ten minutes after they left the industrial park Man-soo pulled the van off the highway onto a dirt road, proceeding slowly for about a mile. Choi, driving the other car obediently followed. As soon as they reached a small clearing, Park stopped the van, and after retrieving something from under the driver’s seat, got out. “Wait here, please. I have to talk to Mr. Choi.” Gamma had no idea where they were and decided to stay inside the van. In a few moments two gunshots rang out and Park returned to the van.
“Dong-sun, I need your help. Can you come assist me?”
Gamma was momentarily confused, but it dawned on him quickly what had happened. He got out of the van and strode over to the car where Park was standing holding a revolver. Gamma could see through the blood-splattered windshield that Choi was slumped over the steering wheel of the car, apparently dead.
“Your friends have a bad habit of dying around you, Man-soo,” remarked Gamma icily. “What was this man’s transgression...poor choice of take-out food?”
“As I told you before, Dong-sun, when people have outlived their usefulness on this mission they become expendable. Choi was stupid and would have been a liability for the rest of the journey. Sometimes the leader’s job is lonely, and he must make difficult choices. The success of this mission is the primary driver for my decisions. I made a leader’s decision about Mr. Choi.”
“If this pattern continues, very soon you will have no one to lead but yourself,” said Gamma sarcastically.
“Your situation is entirely different, Dong-sun. You are the lynchpin in this operation, and my orders are to protect you at all costs, even with my life.”
“That sounds strange coming from you, Man-soo,” replied Gamma. “With only the two of us left, what good would I be to the mission if you should die? What am I supposed to do, set this nuke off in the woods miles from nowhere? I doubt seriously that after all this planning and difficult execution that the Reconnaissance Bureau would be pleased about that. You always had an opportunity to detonate this warhead in Vancouver and didn’t, so Vancouver is obviously not the target. I’m getting tired of all your amateurish games and feigned compartmentalization. Just where is the target anyway?”
“We have reached the point of no return in this mission, Dong-sun. We have burned our bridges in Vancouver and cannot return there. As Julius Caesar knew well, when you burn bridges behind you, you have no choice but to move forward and fight to the death. This mission will succeed, or we will die trying. Returning home after failure would mean certain and ignominious death for both of us. As for our destination, we will be boarding a ferry tonight and heading for Vancouver Island. Tomorrow we leave for America.”
“Well, if it helps your paranoia about dealing with your colleagues, you should know that I am completely on board with the accomplishment of the mission. I am not some robot sent out here by the Reconnaissance Bureau to arm a warhead against my will,” said Gamma convincingly. “But you also have to know that every time you kill one or more of your colleagues I am more ill at ease about my future. Are you going to shoot me the minute I arm the warhead, so you may return home alone, lamenting the unfortunate deaths of esteemed colleagues in their service to the DPRK?”
“There is no need for you to worry about your fate during this mission, Dong-sun. I am committed to protecting you to the end.”
“That’s all well and good, Man-soo, if I knew where the end actually was,” replied Gamma derisively. “You killed Choi, you take care of his corpse. Unlike him, I am not an errand boy for you.” As Gamma walked back to the van he looked back over his shoulder and reiterated, “As I said previously, do not take me for granted.”
As Park prepared to deal with the remains of his latest victim, Gamma hastily opened his briefcase and typed out a brief text to Chance Lyon.
NUKE VERIFIED. EST. TYPE BETWEEN U.S.W-54 AND W-80. LEAVING BY FERRY TO VANCOUVER ISLAND SOON. HIDDEN IN AN ICE CHEST IN A LARGE VAN. PARK MURDERED LAST LINK TO COLLEAGUES.2 OF US ARE LEFT. PROBABLE TARGET IS NW USA. MAYBE SEATTLE. VAN HAS GREEN MARKINGS ON THE SIDE. PARK IS INSANENE.
Once again the Americans could rely on the authenticity of Gamma’s message but could do little about it for the moment. Chance Lyon relayed the text message to Craig Murphy and asked for assistance.
“Craig, we need to get some intel about the ferry schedules and destinations out of Horseshoe Bay. What makes sense from an intel standpoint? Also, when they get there, what options do they have if we believe they are going to head south to the USA in time to coincide with
July Fourth?”
In a few minutes Murphy responded to Chance and his team, “The only ferry that makes sense for them is the one to Nanaimo, which is on Vancouver Island. The last one leaves at twenty-one-thirty hours tonight. The transit time is one hour and forty minutes, putting them on Vancouver Island late tonight. If they want to get to the United States, they have to get to Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and take a ferry to Seattle or Port Angeles. Either way, you pass from Canadian territory to the USA while in transit over the Strait of Juan de Fuca. If you want to maintain operational integrity, I would say you figure out a way to make your move just as you pass into the United States on the fly.”
“Thanks, Craig,” answered Chance. “Keep track of them and let us know. We’re making plans for an intercept as you suggest.”
*
Chance Lyon was back into his mode of Navy SEAL Team commander now he knew some likely facts about the people his team was hunting as well as their probable route and destination. But time was running short, and he knew he had to make some command decisions. He gathered the team together in a nearly vacant parking lot and summarized their situation as he understood it from the surveillance data at hand.
“Here’s what we think we know,” announced Lyon. “There is no other reason for Park to take the nuke to Horseshoe Bay other than to take a ferry to Vancouver Island. In this case Vancouver Island is the gateway to Seattle by the same means. Hundreds of cars per day travel this route and the traffic will be even greater over the holiday weekend. My best guess is that they will board the Victoria to Port Angeles ferry on July second or third, with a target of driving into Seattle on the fourth. A detonation anywhere within Seattle will be a victory for them. Max, do you see any holes in this logic?”