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

by Van Torrey

  “On the other hand, if you would like to hear more, I have thought this plan out in great detail and could lay out those details for your consideration and comment. The plan is actually quite simple.”

  Yang Lu Tho rose from his chair and quietly paced the room without speaking. He stopped in front of a Mercator projected map of the World and gazed at it before turning to President Hunter and saying, “Madam President, as much as I trust my interpreter - he has been with me for several years and is unfailingly loyal and discreet - I am glad that it is just this close group in this room right now. What you have suggested is simply too sensitive for others to hear.”

  That was not an answer to her question and Rachel Hunter feared that it was a preamble to Minister Yang scolding her for making such an outrageous proposal. As cool a negotiator as Rachel Hunter was, even she was anxious about what Yang would say next.

  Finally Foreign Minister Yang took his seat and addressed the President again. “Madam, what I am about to say reflects my personal opinion and not necessarily that of Premier Zuan. I have never spoken for the Premier out of my own mind and that is a basis of his trust for me. Candidly, I would like to hear more of your plan, but I cannot predict how this will be taken by the Premier.”

  At that moment a huge weight was lifted from the shoulders of Rachel Hunter as she saw the faintest glimmer of hope illuminate her plan. She wished she could order tea and refreshments brought into the room, but the scene was too sensitive for a Navy steward to even observe. For the next hour Rachel Hunter carefully explained, down to the minutest detail, her plan to replace General Fhang with General Kim as the new leader in North Korea. Most of the risk would be carried by General Kim but he would be supported in the background by the United States and the People’s Republic of China. Eventually, with Kim getting a foothold in place, the plan involved the countries of China, South Korea, Japan, as well as the United States stepping up and providing massive amounts of material and financial aid to the struggling economy of the DPRK. In turn, Kim would provide the internal leadership to denuclearize the DPRK, begin constructive dialogue for reunification of the Korean peninsula, close the infamous labor camps that held so many innocent civilians, and chart a course for North Korea to join the progressive Asian brotherhood of independent countries. President Hunter’s plan was bold and fraught with unseen difficulties in execution, but with the United States and the People’s Republic of China as the main sponsors, the other counties had little choice but to cooperate. The failure to seize the moment and do something as bold as this plan envisioned could only mean continued problems of the same nature from the DPRK, with new leadership that would simply channel that of the defunct Chongs with unknown and potentially dangerous consequences.

  *

  On the flight home the Chinese Foreign Minister sat alone in his private cabin of the spacious Boeing 747 State-owned aircraft and began crafting a memo to Premier Zuan explaining the details of President Hunter’s plan for changing the leadership in North Korea. His plan was to approach Premier Zuan verbally with the broad outline of the President’s plan after giving the Premier a verbal report on his visit to the Bangor Trident Base. If the Premier showed little or no interest in being part of such a regime change, Yang would shred the plan and give a coded reply to the American President through normal diplomatic channels. Only Randolph, Bledsoe, Mitchell, and Rachel Hunter would ever know of such an exchange of ideas. On the other hand, if Zuan did show interest, Minister Yang could give the Premier as much detail as he wanted verbally and leave him with the memo to study at his convenience.

  The morning after they landed in Beijing Minister Yang met privately with Premier Zuan. “So Minister, please tell me of your meeting with the Americans. I am most interested in what you discovered.”

  “What I discovered Mr. Premier, is what you have been saying privately for quite some time. General Fhang is quite mad. He very nearly pulled off what would have been the greatest terrorist act of all time, possibly leading up to a nuclear exchange between the Americans and the DPRK that could have easily overflowed into our country. At the very minimum, perhaps hundreds of thousands of refugees would have crossed the border into Manchuria causing a humanitarian crisis with unknown unintended consequences.”

  Like Yang, Premier Zuan was from old aristocratic stock with roots deep into the thousands-of-years-old culture and traditions of China. He looked intently at his trusted friend and remained expressionless as Yang continued his story. There may have been no reaction, but he was surely thinking about every word his minister spoke.

  “To my great surprise, after I had been shown the warhead and watched a far more detailed video narrated by a very interesting man about whom we will speak in a few moments, I met privately with none other than President Rachel Hunter.”

  This revelation did elicit a reaction from Premier Zuan as he raised his eyebrows in reaction. “Apparently the purpose of her secret appearance was to present me with a most unusual proposal, which she asked me to deliver in person to you.”

  “Please give me your impressions of her. I want to know more about this new President,” asked Zuan.

  “She is not like the others that we have known, except for Braxton. She is thoughtful, respectful, and does not shoot from the hip, as they say in their slang. She expressed a strong desire to work with us in developing an economic and social partnership that will benefit both countries. She does not travel with a large retinue of sycophants, and her security is understated. In short, I do not see her as full of herself like some of the others before her. I would recommend that you meet her at the earliest possible time.”

  “And what of this most unusual proposal she made?”

  Yang waited a dramatic minute and said, “She wants to replace General Fhang as the leader in North Korea with a man she has hand-picked... another Korean.”

  Yang spent the next few minutes giving the Premier the broad brush plan for potential regime change in the DPRK, carefully covering the major points and leaving out extraneous details.

  The Premier seldom changed facial expression and never asked any questions, while listening intently.

  When Yang reached a breakpoint in his presentation, the Premier got up, and as he frequently did, walked over to the large window of his office that looked down on his immaculate garden below. He stood there for minutes simply looking at the meticulously manicured garden, deep in thought. Finally he turned to Minister Yang and asked quietly, “Does anyone else know of this?”

  “Only a select few of us, with Ambassador Bledsoe acting as the interpreter. You and I are the only Chinese who are aware of this, Premier.”

  “I would like to know more about the details of this plan,” Zuan said simply.

  As if on cue, Yang opened his briefcase and laid his written report on the premier’s desk. “Here is the complete plan, Premier, in as much detail as I could remember.”

  “Thank you Lu Tho. Please return at noon tomorrow so we can discuss this further.”

  *

  General Fhang drifted in and out of a drug induced coma in the Beijing hospital where he had been brought ten days ago by two North Korean doctors and his mistress, Kim So-song. His case was essentially in limbo due to the fact that there had been no determination relative to permission to treat the dictator of a neighboring country with whom the PRC had no diplomatic relations at the moment. The diagnostic imaging revealed an aneurysm deep within Fhang’s brain that would require sophisticated computer-guided surgery to reduce. The site was already leaking causing pressure to build up inside his skull and a tube had been inserted in his skull to reduce this danger. When Fhang was intermittently lucid he would anxiously ask So-song if there was any word from General Kim and he also wondered if there was any news from Pyongyang. Since the DPRK mission in Beijing had been closed due the break in diplomatic relations, it fell to So-song to inform those in Pyongyang about his condition. When one of the ranking Army generals sent a teletype message to the Ch
inese Foreign Ministry, a courier brought it to the hospital where it found its way to So-song. After all the years of being on the periphery of the various intrigues that Fhang had endured on his way up the ladder of power, So-song had listened well and learned. She understood about power vacuums and realized that as each day went by without Fhang being present in Pyongyang, his regime was becoming more vulnerable to others who lusted for power. It was likely that military officers were planning a takeover at this very moment, she worried.

  So-song had the presence of mind to quickly compose a return message to the Headquarters of the Korean People’s Army addressed to the officer who had made the inquiry.

  GENERAL FHANG IS IN EXCELLENT HEALTH AFTER HAVING MINOR SURGERY FOR AN ABSCESS. GENERAL KIM AND I ARE IN CONSULTATIONS WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PRC AND WILL BE RETURNING TO PYONGYANG SHORTLY. YOU ARE ORDERED TO RETURN TO YOUR DUTIES IMMEDIATELY. STOP. GENERAL FHANG JHAI.

  Perhaps this will buy us some precious time, So-song hoped.

  *

  Of course Foreign Minister Yang knew of the cables received and sent before his noon meeting with Premier Zuan. He was also aware of the potential for political instability in the DPRK if word got out about General Fhang’s condition. He decided to keep these facts in his vest pocket until his noon meeting with the Premier.

  “Good morning, Minister. If there is no urgent business I would like to continue with where we left off yesterday. I have to say that I am troubled by this business. We are approaching a slippery slope by even thinking about this regime change. How do we know that we would be getting something better than General Fhang with this General Kim in charge of North Korea?”

  “The short answer, Premier, is we do not. However, the Americans have gotten to know him during the relationship they have nurtured with him and found him to be reliable. According to all the reports of his American colleagues during their operation to intercept the warhead he acquitted himself well. He has also convinced them that he has no affection or respect for General Fhang. General Kim reports that Fhang engages in frequent bouts of alcohol-induced rage that last for days at a time and is very abusive to his female companion, who is also General Kim’s sister. But, I am also sure that General Kim is no saint either. According to the CIA reports that I received, they are candid that he has occasionally used, shall we say, unorthodox methods to achieve his ends as a commander. He is, in the end, a professional soldier who knows how to deal with other tough-minded men. That is something that would come in handy running North Korea and its military and civilian bureaucracy.”

  “What do we have to gain, Minister, if we should decide to support this coup d’état? That is what it would be, make no mistake,” said the Premier.

  “In my view, sir, our country would benefit from the DPRK working toward some degree of political and social stability under enlightened leadership. Of course, denuclearization would also be a significant benefit for us. There would be no other Asian country with a nuclear program other than the PRC. You have always supported the idea of a reunified Korea that could be a buffer against Japan, both economically and militarily. For a few years after this change of power, North Korea would be largely dependent on the largesse of the United States, China, South Korea, and Japan to feed her people and get her economy going. But, on balance, I see that as a good investment of all the powers involved.”

  After several moments of thought, the Premier answered, “Lu Tho, you know my mind on our relationship with the Americans. With Braxton I thought we had a unique chance for trusted cooperation between our countries, and I was deeply worried when he was killed that a group of reactionaries would once again close the door on the detente we were developing. But this woman seems cut out of the same cloth as him, and I am inclined to work with her. Such new relationships are normally started with small steps and progress from there. But this...this is new ground for all of us and is fraught with peril. I am asking for your advice, trusted friend.”

  “Premier, I am aware that this proposal is dangerous business. But General Fhang is dangerous business himself. This warhead may represent only the tip of the iceberg of what they have managed to accumulate. If they develop a reliable delivery system for it, everyone in the region is in peril from this unstable madman. In my view, we have the perfect opportunity, and a very narrow window, to act for the future. I have seen copies of cables between Pyongyang addressed to our Foreign Ministry inquiring about the whereabouts of General Fhang and a response sent by his female companion assuring them that he is in good health and in charge. That will buy some time, but a political vacuum is developing in Pyongyang. I would say we act while we are holding most of the trump cards.”

  “Thank you Lu Tho, I will give you my answer by the end of the day.”

  *

  Yang Lu Tho knew his limits but he also knew how to be ready if and when the Premier made the decision to move forward. He called the Director of his Intelligence Bureau and asked him to send one of his photo technicians up to his office immediately.

  “Good afternoon,” said Yang to the technician when he arrived at his office. “I have an unusual request for you. I want you to doctor up a photographic image showing our Premier seated at a conference table with the North Korean President, General Fhang Jhai. I want it to look as if they are meeting privately, just the two of them. I’m sure you have images of General Fhang in your archives, and of course, you have many images of the Premier. When you are finished with several samples, bring them to me...by the end of the day.”

  “Of course, sir. We’ll get on that right away.”

  Yang then called in one of his assistants. “Please work up a press release for immediate publication dated today indicating that Premier Zuan is meeting with North Korean President, General Fhang Jhai, to discuss matters of mutual strategic interest in Beijing this week. There will be a photo available to go with this article. The content should also include a picture of General Kim Dong-sun, indicating that General Fhang has elevated him to the rank of Field Marshall in the People’s Armed Forces, placing him in command of all the armed forces of the DPRK. Hold the press release for my approval. I want it on the Internet, in the newspapers, and on the television networks as soon as I authorize it.”

  *

  Rachel Hunter, Philip Johnson, and CIA Director Mitchell met in the situation room to make plans in anticipation of Premier Zuan’s positive response to the President’s proposal. Better to be proactive and then not act on a plan, than have to plan and execute at the last minute, Hunter thought.

  “Assuming the Premier approves, how are we going to deal with Fhang?” asked the President. “Since he has a legitimate and serious illness it seems to me that the options are that he either gets better or does not and either goes back to Pyongyang alive or dead. Either way, there is no acceptable option that allows him to go back there as a sitting dictator. In other words, we either install General Kim as the new strongman or the plan fails and we return to a state of elevated tension with the DPRK with all the negativity associated with that. What’s worse, we lose Gamma as an intelligence asset.”

  “I’m afraid the only acceptable option...”

  Philip Johnson broke in to Marilyn Mitchell’s answer to the President by saying, “Excuse me, Director Mitchell, but I would like to interject something here if I may,” as he looked urgently at President Hunter, who nodded slightly in approval with a slight frown.

  “The President has verbally laid out to Foreign Minister Yang in great detail her plan for making this change of regime work, naming names, and explaining the advantages to all the stakeholders. We have set a very simple goal and explained what resources will be required from all the supporting parties for the path forward. There are a lot of moving parts here and I’m sure that the President does not need to know every detail of how we execute the plan. I am sure we can leave it to your agency to make this work - if and when we get approval from Premier Zuan.”

  Everyone in the room knew that Philip Jo
hnson was doing his job in the form of protecting the President from consciously knowing about some of the more unpleasant aspects of implementing strategy that was designed for the greater good.

  Later, when Philip Johnson and Marilyn Mitchell were alone, Marilyn continued on the same subject. “Philip, unless Fhang dies on his own from this aneurysm, someone is going to have to operate on him. This is not something that can go untreated. The Korean doctors don’t want to try it and I don’t know who else can do it, unless the Chinese have a neurosurgeon who is willing to try.”

  Just then, the Director’s phone flashed a text code that prompted her to get to a secure telephone where she could call her assistant. Mitchell used Philip Johnson’s telephone to reach her office at Langley and listened carefully for a full one minute before responding, “Tell him I’ll meet him the Situation Room as quickly as possible. I’m with Mr. Johnson now, and he’ll tell the President.”

  “Philip that was my assistant. Raymond Rollins has some intel for us and wants to meet with us at the White House. I’m betting it’s something about this.”

  In twenty minutes the three were meeting with Rachel Hunter in the White House Situation Room. The DNI, Raymond Rollins, had the floor. “I just received an encrypted cable from State addressed to Alexander Randolph, copy to me. The sender was Ambassador Bledsoe. Fhang is dead and Premier Zuan has approved the plan laid out by President Hunter earlier. We’ve got to move fast on this if we’re going to execute.”

  Before anyone could answer there was a buzz on an internal speaker and Philip Johnson answered. “Sir,” said the Marine Guard stationed outside the Situation Room, “I have a courier from the State Department here with an envelope.”