by Chris Ryan
‘You okay, Max?’ Lili asked him quietly as he stared at the plane.
‘Fine,’ Max said, suddenly embarrassed by his lack of experience.
‘Give it a couple of months,’ Woody said from behind them, ‘and you’ll be learning how to jump out of one of these beauties, or something like it. That’s when the fun really starts!’
Max did his best to smile. ‘Can’t wait. Er, I guess we’d better board?’
Hector was urging them out of the transit bus. They walked across the tarmac and up the airstair that led to the front entrance of the aircraft. There was no security, nobody to check if they had passports – which they didn’t. An air steward was waiting for them. Max thought he seemed annoyed at having to wait for them. He led them up an internal staircase to the top deck of the aircraft. It was luxurious here. Each passenger had their own cubicle. The cadets and their Watchers received several frowns as they moved up to the front of the cabin, where there was a curtained-off section. Behind the curtain were eight cubicles and a central seating area. It was extremely comfortable. The cadets gazed around in wonder. Max could tell he wasn’t the only cadet unaccustomed to these surroundings.
‘Is this first class?’ Lukas said.
Hector nodded.
‘Wicked,’ Lukas said. He gave one of his rare smiles.
The Watchers, on the other hand, barely seemed to notice the luxury. ‘Don’t get used to it,’ Hector told them. ‘Now buckle up. We’ll continue our briefing once we’re airborne.’
Max selected one of the cubicles. His body sank into the comfortable seat. This, he decided, was a lot better than Green Thunder. It was with reluctance, once they were in the air and the ‘fasten seatbelts’ sign had been extinguished, that he re-joined the others at the seating area. Abby, who seldom talked about anything apart from her next meal, was holding an airline menu. ‘We get to order food, right?’
Hector blinked at her. ‘What?’
‘In case you hadn’t noticed, we haven’t eaten since last night, and that was Martha’s cooking.’ She scanned the menu. ‘I’m thinking roast beef and sticky toffee pudding.’
‘Get it down you, girl,’ Angel said. ‘The grub will be terrible in Pyongyang.’
‘Just sit down, everyone,’ Hector said. ‘You can eat later. This is more important.’
The cadets took their seats and waited for Hector to continue.
‘When we land in Beijing, you will make contact with the travel firm who will take you into Pyongyang. Your guides’ names are Jerry and Elsa. They run a company specialising in trips to North Korea. Our information is that they’re not the most organised or safety-conscious. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole. In this instance, that’s what we want, because you’ll need to hoodwink them. Accompanied by Jerry and Elsa, you will fly from Beijing to Pyongyang. Arrival time, approximately 07:40 hours local time.’
‘How old are Jerry and Elsa?’ Sami asked.
‘Mid-twenties.’
‘Won’t they be under suspicion?’
‘We don’t think so,’ Hector said. ‘They go in and out of North Korea so often that they’re almost beyond suspicion. The authorities know them well, and they’re familiar faces at border security.’
‘Won’t it seem strange that we don’t have any luggage?’ Lukas said.
‘You’ll be supplied with suitcases when we land in Beijing. The suitcases will be specially packed to ensure the officials at Pyongyang airport have nothing to complain about, if and when they examine them. But you’ll need to make sure you can recognise them. Once you’re through airport security, a British embassy official will make contact. He will have identical cases with very different contents. You will swap your safe suitcases for the new ones. This must happen covertly. If anybody finds out what’s in the new suitcases, you’re looking at twenty years in a hard labour camp.’
The cadets stared at him. Nobody spoke.
‘The suitcases will contain everything you need for the operation. Wetsuits. Rebreathing apparatus. Underwater welding units. A chain cutter. Encrypted satellite phones – these are highly illegal in North Korea. And a weapon.’
‘Is the airport really the best place to make the swap?’ Max said. ‘Won’t surveillance be really high?’
‘Surveillance is high everywhere in North Korea. Sometimes it’s best to do these things in the open.’
‘I’ll take your word for it,’ Abby muttered.
‘Do that,’ Hector said. ‘Hiding in plain sight is a skill you’ll need to learn. Almost all foreign visitors to Pyongyang stay in the same hotel. You’ll remember I said that the city has a river running through it. The hotel is situated on a small island in the middle of the river. When you make your rescue attempt, you will gain access to the water from the hotel.’
‘But people will see us if we just jump in the river,’ said Sami.
Hector nodded. ‘You will have to do it covertly. The British security services are in possession of detailed construction plans showing the hotel’s layout. There is a sewer system leading from the basement out into the river. You will get into the sewer and access the river from there.’
‘Get into the sewer?’ Abby said, wrinkling her nose.
‘That’s right.’
‘You know, suddenly I’m not so hungry after all.’
‘It won’t be nice,’ Hector agreed. ‘But it’s the safest way. Four of you will access the basement …’
‘Why only four of us?’ Lukas interrupted.
‘One of you needs to stay behind in the hotel so you can act if anything goes wrong. I suggest it should be Lili.’
‘What?’ Lili said. ‘Why?’
‘Because you can pass as Korean,’ Hector said. ‘If necessary, you can move around the capital more easily.’
Lili frowned. She didn’t have an answer to that.
‘You’ll need to access the basement via a disused laundry chute on the fifth floor of the hotel,’ Hector continued. ‘But there’s a problem.’
‘You don’t say,’ Abby muttered.
‘The fifth floor is out of bounds to guests. It doesn’t appear on the lift buttons. You can only access it by stairs. We don’t know what else happens on the fifth floor, but we do know you mustn’t be caught there. You will abseil down the laundry chute and follow the sewer system into the river. You’ll put on your rebreathing apparatus and swim towards the prison barge. Obviously you must do this at night, when you’re expected to be in bed and asleep.’
‘Obviously,’ Lukas said.
‘The underwater welding unit is a piece of apparatus that allows you to cut through metal when it’s underwater, using a powerful flame. Special Forces use them regularly for underwater operations. You must use this unit to make a hole in the barge’s hull. This will scuttle the barge. As it sinks, the guards will only be thinking about saving themselves. This will give Prospero the opportunity to escape. You’ll have the chain cutter in case Prospero is chained up inside the boat, and you are to hand over the weapon before going your separate ways. Prospero will know what to do from that point on. You lot are to return to your hotel and carry on with your trip as if nothing has happened. You’ll return to the UK two days later.’
The cadets stared at him. Max could guess what they were thinking: that this sounded insanely dangerous. He shivered. Suddenly his first-class surroundings didn’t seem so comfortable.
‘I’m not going to lie,’ Abby said quietly. ‘I’ve always been terrified of drowning. I’m beginning to wish we’d spent more time learning to dive and less time on the old Morse code.’
‘Morse is an important skill,’ Hector said.
‘Sure,’ Abby retorted. ‘If it’s World War Two.’
Max headed off the argument. ‘When the North Koreans realise that Prospero has escaped,’ he said, ‘surely British tourists like us will be under even tighter surveillance.’
‘Probably,’ Hector said. ‘You might even be deported. But our superiors are calcula
ting that the North Koreans will not risk letting teenage tourists come to harm, not after the business with the student who came back brain damaged. They don’t care much about bad publicity, but even they would draw the line there. You’re a lot younger than he was, after all.’
‘What if it all goes wrong?’ Lili asked. ‘Is there a plan B?’
‘There is,’ Hector said. ‘You will have two encrypted satellite phones, which mean you will be able to keep in contact with each other and with us. If anything happens to compromise the mission, you must send a distress call. We will mobilise an extraction team to get you out of the country.’
‘How?’ Lili said.
‘Two miles to the south of Pyongyang there is a deserted football stadium. I’ll give you the precise location at the end of the briefing. This football stadium fell into disuse years ago. We will have a stealth helicopter on stand-by across the border in South Korea. If you make the distress call, the chopper will risk breaching North Korean airspace to meet you at the rendezvous point. We will extract you from there. But I can’t emphasise this enough: it is an emergency measure only. The North Korean government will consider a breach of their airspace to be an act of war. The consequences of that could be disastrous.’
‘No pressure then,’ Abby said.
‘Where will you three be?’ Max asked.
‘We can’t enter the country,’ Hector said. ‘We would draw too much suspicion. While you’re entering Pyongyang, we will travel to the border with South Korea. There’s an area of no man’s land between the two countries. It’s called the demilitarised zone, or DMZ. We’ll be stationed just south of the DMZ with the stealth chopper. If you need to call for an extraction, we’ll be on the chopper when it comes to get you.’
‘Will we have a local chaperone?’ Lili asked. ‘I’ve heard that foreigners are required to have a North Korean with them at all times.’
‘That’s right,’ Hector said.
‘So how do we shake them off?’ Abby said.
‘You’ll have to work that one out for yourselves,’ Hector said. ‘We can’t plan everything for you.’ He looked at them in turn. ‘Over the past two months we’ve been concentrating on your physical fitness. Don’t get me wrong – that will be important. The swim from the hotel to the prison barge will be difficult and exhausting. But agents don’t succeed on missions like this because of the size of their muscles. They succeed because of their brains. You will have to think quick and think smart. And remember this: the North Koreans are not bad people. They are good people, with a bad government. That government scares, terrorises and brainwashes them. Be careful who you speak to, and what you say. Deception comes easily when you’re scared for your life and that of your friends and family. Trust nobody.’
Max stared at the Watchers. Their faces were so grim it gave him a cold feeling in his stomach.
‘Let’s get some food,’ Woody said. But Max could tell that they had all lost their appetite. Even Abby.
5
Sunlight
Beijing airport was busy and crowded, even though it was early. The cadets cleared security on their own. They had said goodbye to their Watchers while still on the plane. Their briefing had continued for most of the flight. Hector, Woody and Angel had covered as many aspects of the operation as they could think of: how to abseil down the laundry chute in the hotel, how to use a state-of-the-art GPS system to navigate in the river without swim boards, which were too bulky to be easily supplied in-country, how to operate the underwater welding unit. They carefully studied the plans of the hotel where they would be staying, and repeatedly went over their strategy for the rescue mission. But no matter how well briefed they were, it was nerve-racking saying goodbye to their Watchers. Angel’s parting words hardly helped. ‘We’ll disembark last,’ she said. ‘From now on, assume you’re under surveillance. From the moment you say goodbye, you’re five kids travelling alone.’
Max’s body clock was already out of sync. They had left the UK at about midday London time. The flight to Beijing had been ten hours long, but they were seven hours ahead of London time. It meant it was 05:00 hours local time. The cadets were tired, but they couldn’t let that affect them. Their mission was under way.
Hector had issued them each with a valid passport and a further set of instructions. They were to head to the baggage reclaim carousel, where five suitcases would arrive for them. Each suitcase would have two ribbons tied to the handle. Max’s would be red and yellow. They would take these suitcases through security in Pyongyang. They contained nothing but clothes and toiletries. Max’s case had a hard grey body and was scuffed from much use. It arrived before the others. He stood to one side while his fellow cadets retrieved their own suitcases. They were all different, all well-worn. In his peripheral vision, Max saw Woody enter the baggage reclaim hall. He avoided eye contact. They were operating alone now.
The cadets were silent as they followed the signs – half in Mandarin, half in European languages – to the arrivals hall. Here, it was even busier. There were perhaps thirty or forty cab drivers and tour operators holding up cards with their clients’ names on them. Max pinpointed a young man with shoulder-length blond hair and a straggly beard holding up a card that said ‘Young Explorers’. The cadets walked up to him. ‘Jerry?’ Max said.
The young man grinned. ‘Hey,’ he said. ‘Cool! You must be my guys!’ He received raised eyebrows from Abby and Lili. ‘And girls,’ he said.
‘Young women,’ Abby corrected him.
‘Right … cool!’ He had a slow, lazy voice, as if he had just got out of bed. ‘Let’s go find Elsa. She’s just this way.’
The cadets followed him through the crowds, wheeling their suitcases behind them. They found Elsa standing by a map of the terminal. She had dreadlocked hair, tied back in a ponytail, a nose stud and the same friendly grin as Jerry. ‘No adults!’ she said. ‘Awesome! Look, you guys …’
‘… and young women,’ Jerry interrupted.
‘Right! You’re probably pretty tired after your long flight. But our connecting flight to Pyongyang leaves in an hour and security can be pretty tight round here. We’d better get moving. This is all kinda last-minute, huh? Your school called and booked us last night.’
‘Right,’ Max said. ‘We were going to go with another company, but they pulled out. I think one of them fell ill? We’ve been really looking forward to the trip.’
That seemed to satisfy their two guides. They led them across the arrivals hall to a check-in desk. There was no queue here. Flights to Pyongyang were plainly not popular. Maybe it was because it was so early. Maybe it was something else. Their passports were carefully scrutinised and boarding passes provided. They followed Jerry and Elsa to a gate at the far end of the terminal. A small aircraft was already waiting there. It had propellers on the wings and looked old. ‘We’re really going to get into that thing?’ Abby asked under her breath.
‘We really are,’ Max said.
There were about thirty other passengers. They were mostly Chinese or North Korean, although there were a handful of Westerners. Nobody paid the cadets any attention. Max preferred it that way.
They boarded after twenty minutes. A Western tourist, a couple of places ahead of Max in the queue, tried to take a picture of the plane’s interior with his iPhone. One of the air stewardesses welcoming them on board held up a hand. ‘No photographs,’ she said, looking anxious, as though there could be severe consequences. But she smiled again when the tourist lowered his phone.
The plane was a lot less comfortable than the one from London. The seats were hard and cramped. The aisle carpet had holes in it. When the captain spoke it was in Mandarin, and Max didn’t understand a word. He suddenly felt a very long way from home. Sami was on his right, Abby on his left. He wondered if they felt the same.
The take-off was turbulent, but that was nothing compared to the flight itself. The aircraft shook and yawed. They seemed to be in constant cloud and the aircraft’s engine sounded
like it was struggling. They were presented with plates of unfamiliar food. Abby ate it all hungrily, then finished off what Max and Sami didn’t want. Otherwise they sat in silence. It was a long two hours before Max felt the aircraft gradually losing altitude. As the plane banked to the right, he was momentarily blinded by the fiercely bright morning sun. When he regained his sight, he saw a flat landscape stretching off into the distance, with mountains on the horizon. The fields were green, but there did not seem to be much evidence of crops growing. And he could see no big cities, just little pockets of bleak high-rise towers, and roads that, even from this height, appeared to be in need of repair. He felt his nerves biting. All he could think of was swapping over their suitcases at the airport. It made his palms sweat. He wished he could talk to the others about it, but that was impossible. Hector’s warning rang in his ears: trust nobody. That included Jerry and Elsa. And of course it included their fellow passengers.
07:40 hours local time. Touchdown. The aircraft screeched noisily as it came to a halt. As it taxied off the runway, Max caught sight of the airport terminal through the window. It was not a large building, but was surprisingly modern. It shone in the bright morning sun. Max had expected something much more run-down. Maybe, he told himself, the North Korean authorities wanted to put on a good face to the rest of the world.
Inside the terminal, they queued in single file to show their passports. Max instantly sensed that all was not as it seemed. Unexpectedly cheerful music was playing through the public address system, but the North Koreans he could see did not look cheerful at all. Airport workers stared straight ahead, as if unwilling to catch the eye of any tourists. Security was high. An unsmiling border guard sat in a glass cubicle, flanked by armed soldiers. The guard examined each passport thoroughly for at least two minutes.