Devil's Fork (12 page)

NATPAC proudly thought about how the Chinese
leadership used very deep versions of these decision trees to their
advantage. While the rest of the world was thinking, at best, 2-4
years ahead, which might be one node out in a country’s political
decision tree, China’s leaders had mapped out the plan twenty or
twenty-five nodes out – they were thinking in decades and
centuries. They could do this because they did not have the burden
of elections every few years like the West. We are smarter, NATPAC
thought. China did not let any clown off the street get up and
vote. The leaders knew what was best for everyone. NATPAC was proud
that his job was to get the information that helped them make
decisions.

But right now, NATPAC was using decision
trees to analyze what could happen tomorrow. As he thought about
it, he shifted in his chair to a more comfortable position.
Tomorrow, when the Americans will try to insert this operative, he
thought, if his friends in North Korea acted according to plan, the
odds would favor them. If this operative makes his way to the
compound, which NATPAC was still not sure he would attempt, he
would be even more likely to get caught. In fact, as he mapped out
the decision tree, he thought the probability of this operative
succeeding had to be low. He had to land on the beach and avoid
capture, make it through the land and avoid capture, get into the
base and avoid capture, and make it back and avoid capture. At each
node, capture became more unavoidable, if his friends followed the
plan. When you multiplied the independent probabilities, the
overall probability of this operative’s success had to be less than
5%. We can capture him and then learn everything we do not yet know
about the CIA, he thought.

As he was more comfortable, NATPAC rose and
left his office. He decided to go into the main room where his 15
hackers sat. He wanted to check on them before going home. He made
his way down the dark hall outside his office and soon came to the
bull-pen. His hacker-army was hard at work. He wanted to check in
with his Lieutenant. His hacking skills were the strongest, hence
why he was the one who found out about this CIA operation. The
Lieutenant’s username was SLOTHMAN. NATPAC walked up right behind
him and looked at the code on his screen.

“
Any updates?” NATPAC
asked.

“
No,” SLOTHMAN answered.
SLOTHMAN was not a talker.

“
Did they figure out what
we did? How we read that message. Did they see?”

“
No. They are still sending
out messages so they haven’t figured out what we are
doing.”

“
Anything about this
operation tomorrow?”

“
No. Most of the traffic is
mundane stuff. They are sending updates to the lunch menus at the
embassies. They are also sending the military information about
sports scores in their country.”

NATPAC let out a conceited whiff of air as
he smirked “Heh. You’re too good. You should at least let them
think they are being hacked. This is like taking candy from a
baby.”

“
What do you mean,
sir?”

“
They have no idea we know
about this operation tomorrow. They are proceeding with it,
thinking everything is going according to plan.” NATPAC was
slightly annoyed that SLOTHMAN was not keeping up. Maybe he was
tired – he had a long day trying to find out more about the CIA’s
plans.

“
Yes, sir, that seems to be
the case.”

“
OK well stay on top of it.
If you want to sleep here in the office feel free to do
so.”

“
Thank you,
sir.”

NATPAC walked away. As he walked home he
thought about how he had turned around what could have been a
disaster to him. Now he was excited about the disaster that he
would deliver to the CIA.

CHAPTER 14

WEDNESDAY

Seoul, South Korea

Jiyeon walked quickly through the streets.
The chill early morning air was the only company she had in the
quiet city. The previous night, she and Tom agreed to meet at a
local hotel for breakfast, and Jiyeon was afraid she would be late.
She found the hotel on which they agreed and entered the warm
lobby.

She was ushered into the dining room in the
back. She saw Tom sitting alone at a table with two coffees and a
few small plates of breakfast. He was peacefully watching BBC World
News on a screen in front of him.

“
Good morning,” she said as
she walked over.

Tom looked up and smiled. He was sitting
comfortably for someone who had a mission today, she thought.

“
Hey. I got us some
coffee,” he said.

Jiyeon sat down next to him. She could not
stop herself from asking, “how do you feel?”

Tom nodded. His face had no expression,
“Good. I’m ready.”

“
I’ll be there to see you
off this afternoon.”

“
That’s nice. You can see
what I look like in my full gear. Quite different than a suit.” He
let out a small smile. Just then, BBC World News moved to a
different news item. It was about the Korean peninsula:

“
Tensions continued in the
Korean peninsula as North Korea released a video of a military
parade in the capital Pyongyang. Thousands of soldiers were seen
marching. They were accompanied by tanks, several of which appeared
to be a new version experts have never seen before. Regime leaders
made speeches to the military and the hundred-thousand strong crowd
saying that they must be ready for war. The regime announced its
artillery and short-range missile regiments are now on highest
alert as they prepare for war with South Korea.”

Jiyeon shifted in her chair. She put her
coffee on the table and slowly set her head into her hand.

“
I just wish we didn’t have
to do this.”

“
What?”

“
This mission. I don’t want
you to go in there.”

Tom paused before speaking. “It will be OK.
This is a quick one. I’ll be back by tomorrow morning.”

Jiyeon heard his voice, but his reasoning
did not seep through. She had spent eight years managing the NIS’s
illegals in North Korea. She never met most of them. She had a very
limited personal interaction with them. For all these years, she
looked at them as weapons. They were Mr. Park’s eyes and ears in
that country. She did not want any harm to come to them, and she
often thought about their families. But there was always a barrier
between them and her. She was not connected to their fates.

“
I wish none of this ever
happened.” She said. She was not crying but her voice was calling
out for help. “I wish 1414 didn’t get compromised. I wish he never
found out about this strange base. Who knows what you’re going to
find there. It will be dangerous whatever it is. And they might
catch you.”

Tom put his arm around her and pulled her
closer. “Hey. Come on. You realize if 1414 never found that
compound, we never would have met?” She looked up at him as he said
that. A mind confused by paradox can be cured of anything.

“
I just can’t believe that
when the sun goes down today, you will be
there
. You will be breathing
their
air. You will be
walking on
their
grass.”

“
It’s easier not to think
about it. Here, have some food.” Tom pushed a small plate towards
her. They continued watching TV.

BBC World News then turned to another
story:

“
Chinese leaders were back
in Beijing today after a trip to Washington. China’s President Wang
Wei was said to have held a meeting with the Politburo Standing
Committee to discuss possible nuclear conflict on the neighboring
Korean peninsula. Lo Jie, a PLA General who was on the Washington
trip, made a speech at an event in Beijing saying that despite
potential war on their border, the government is taking action to
ensure China’s economy maintains its stability.”

That reminded Jiyeon of what she told Tom
last night.

“
By the way, so what do you
think about that guy, Li?”

“
I still think it’s just
one big misinterpretation.”

The two people they had met the previous
night were a curiosity that Jiyeon thought about on occasion. The
girl, Hyun-Joo, went to university with Jiyeon. They were not close
friends, but they were acquaintances who would acknowledge each
other and chat if they ran into each other. Hyun-Joo, with her
outgoing personality, had developed many friends and acquaintances.
She came from a moderately wealthy family. She had the name and
means to go out and meet interesting people from different circles.
She knew people who worked at various companies and in various
government organizations. Li – the young man with her – was from
China. He had attended their university for one year because he was
studying the Korean language. Jiyeon did not know him well. Even
Hyun-Joo did not know him well at university, because he generally
kept to himself. On the few times they did speak, Li had told
Jiyeon that when he went back he wanted to join the army. But
several years ago, he came to Seoul to work at China’s embassy as a
tourism attaché. He struck up a more serious relationship with
Hyun-Joo. Jiyeon saw this and thought it was odd. Her gut told her
immediately he was a spy with diplomatic cover, given his
phony-sounding title and his friendship with a social butterfly.
Hyun-Joo might unknowingly be his asset, she thought. He could be
extracting information out of her, under the pretext that they were
two friends catching up. When she told Tom this the previous night,
he shrugged it off, saying that a real intelligence officer would
not want to appear as cold as Li did yesterday. Their job is to
meet people and make friends, not quietly hang around one friend.
Tom thought it was just paranoia. But Jiyeon had developed this
sense after years working with the illegals. Her gut still told her
something was off. Either way, Hyun-Joo did not know Jiyeon worked
at the NIS. Jiyeon had said she left eight years ago when she just
switched groups. They did not see each other often enough or speak
long enough for the truth to come out. So if Li was an officer, he
probably did not take any interest, Jiyeon thought. Tom to him was
probably just a hulking American executive.

Jiyeon and Tom got up to leave. They walked
through the serene hotel. Outside, the air was still cool but now
the entire city seemed to be making its way to work. Jiyeon turned
to Tom.

“
What was that secret you
had? What were you escaping when you joined the Navy?” At this
point, she just wanted to know. This might be her last chance to
figure it out, she thought.

Tom looked at her with piercing eyes for a
moment before speaking. “Tell you what. When this is over, we’ll
take a weekend vacation somewhere not far from here. We’ll get up
together to see the early morning sun. I’ll tell you my story
then.”

“
I can do that.”

They hugged, said goodbye once more, and
parted ways. Jiyeon started off towards NIS headquarters. After
half a minute she turned around and saw Tom walking away. He was
headed to Yongsan Garrison.

* * *

When Jiyeon arrived at her desk at the NIS,
the office was still quiet and empty. This was partly because Mr.
Park and the analysts he took to DC were still away, but it was
also because people arrived later when Mr. Park was gone. As usual,
the only person sitting in his office, looking as if he was
crossing the three hour mark of work, was Mr. Kim. As she sat down
and started going through her emails. She looked up at Mr. Kim
again. He was talking on his cell phone. That is strange, she
thought. Everyone had a phone on his or her desk. Cell phones were
only used for personal calls. But she thought Mr. Kim had no family
or friends, so why would he use his cell phone. She observed him as
he talked, and when he had finished, she rose and went to his
office. She just wanted to ask him something quickly. As she
entered his office, Mr. Kim looked up, although he kept his
eyebrows low and did not say anything.

“
Mr. Kim I just wanted to
check something on these reports I received on my desk
–“

“
Jiyeon I can’t talk now,”
he said sharply.

“
But can I just ask quickly
–“

“
Just come back after
lunch. I can’t deal with this now.”

Jiyeon slowly left the office. She walked
back to her desk and sat down.

Soon she saw Sung-Ho walking through the
office, smiling.

“
Sung-Ho, how are you? What
did you guys end up doing last night?”

Sung-Ho shrugged, “We went out for a little
while, but didn’t do much. How about you, how was your night?”

“
It was good. Had dinner
with a friend.”

“
That’s great. Well I came
down for a tea and then just walked around because I was still
sleepy,” he gave out a laugh, “I hope you don’t mind but I work
better afterwards.”

“
No, not at all – I think
our afternoon coffee breaks are so much fun that we should
definitely start a morning version.” She was smiling. Something
about getting back to the normal, familiar routine gave her a
pleasant feeling.

“
Any weekend plans?”
Sung-Ho asked.

“
I might go to the
countryside. Just to get refreshed. What about you?”

“
I’m actually leaving
tomorrow on vacation.” He looked excited.