1414 pressed a small button on the side of his phone four times in succession. Smoke started to come out of the phone as the circuitry inside started melting. Command had modified the phone with chemicals that could be discharged if it needed to be destroyed.
The secret police were beating the door wildly now. It moved at least half an inch inward with each hit. 1414 could hear voices on the other side.
1414 sat in the far corner of his bedroom, his legs stretched out in front of him. He thought about the summer days he used to spend outside as a child. The sun was so bright that he felt that it was giving a kiss to him and the grass around him all day. The sun was what he missed most in North Korea. He saw the sun here too, supposedly the same sun he saw growing up 300 miles south. Yet it was not the same.
1414 took out the item of last resort Command gave illegals: a pill. He saw his door break open. The couch and table were now all that kept the visitors away. He bit the pill and closed his eyes for the final time.
CHAPTER 2
Tom Hull was stepping out of the shower when he received John Anderson’s email.
TH: meeting first thing this morning. Come to office ASAP.
— JA
Tom read the message and put his phone down. It feels like a new mission, he thought. Urgent meetings on Monday morning usually meant new missions. He started getting dressed.
Tom worked at the CIA’s Special Activities Division, known as the SAD. The general public occasionally read about traditional espionage activities. Many knew that traditional spies work with diplomatic cover while they recruit assets in foreign cities. But the SAD was a unit that few knew about. Tom’s group carried out covert missions in dangerous places where traditional spies could not go. Often acting as a paramilitary force, SAD operators were on the frontier of the CIA’s intelligence gathering operations. In hostile countries, SAD operators were on the ground, fighting with rebels, undermining military facilities, or capturing high-level targets. There was a popular term that described the SAD’s activities: black operations. SAD operators were recruited from the already elite special operations units in the military. The group included desk analysts who supported the operators. The desk analysts combed through information and intelligence from the rest of the CIA and helped the SAD operators plan missions.
Tom had been a Navy SEAL before joining the SAD. After college he joined the SEAL teams as an officer and after several years was recruited into DEVGRU, the counter-terrorism unit formerly known as SEAL Team 6. He was approached to join SAD after years as a DEVGRU officer. Over the course of his career he traveled extensively around the world. He had visited the most unwelcoming places.
John Anderson was the head of the SAD. He looked younger than his 50 years. Trim, neat, and thin he was the presentable face of the group that some within the agency saw as a secretive gang. As director of the group he oversaw the operators and their missions. Tom could see in his eyes during briefings that he thought of operators more than just as assets or weapons. Anderson could have been an SAD operator himself at one point — Tom was never sure, and he never asked.
As Tom was buttoning his Hawes & Curtis shirt, he glanced at his TV, which was on BBC World News.
“Tensions rose again today on the Korean peninsula, as North Korea made further threats of nuclear war. The South Korean President spoke today, saying his nation’s military was on high alert and any provocation from the North would be answered with overwhelming force. The North meanwhile has been threatening to test-launch missiles that it said were capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. Fear of nuclear war has spread to the US, where the President held an unscheduled meeting with his national security team.”
The left corner of Tom’s lip curled up. He had a feeling he knew what would be on his calendar for the next few days. SAD operators could be called away any moment, and what BBC World News reported frequently correlated to the missions they were sent on. Tom’s life as a bachelor in DC was frequently interrupted with these trips, often to undeveloped countries. The endless swapping of civilization’s comforts with environments that had no basic necessities provided something to look forward to constantly. Tom took advantage of his time at home to enjoy what was unavailable during his travel. He pulled his small cup from his Nespresso machine with the Kazaar blend of coffee and typed out an email back to Anderson.
Got it. See you soon. — TH
As he drank his coffee, BBC World News turned to the next story.
“Today the American President is meeting with a Chinese delegation including President Wang Wei as well as Zhang Ming, Lo Jie, and Huang Ping — all either ministers or representatives of the Chinese military. They plan to discuss among other things, cooperation to relieve tension on the Korean peninsula. The Chinese President has stated he wants a peaceful resolution to tension.”
Tom switched off his TV and left his apartment. Outside the early morning sun bathed the city as he got in his car. He was not sure when he would see his apartment next. He knew there was a chance he never would.
CHAPTER 3
Sara Hayward’s week could not have started more hectically. The SAD’s section of offices within CIA’s Langley headquarters was buzzing more than usual. People were entering and exiting offices. Phones were ringing. Other desk analysts walked around briskly. She saw a small group of South Koreans who were given a conference room and worked through what looked like severe jet lag.
She still did not have all the facts. Anderson called her late last night and asked her to come in early today. She was at Langley by 7AM. All Anderson told her then was that Tom was going on an operation in the Korean peninsula and she needed to go through the usual pre-mission checklist that SAD desk analysts typically prepared. She began going through satellite intelligence, figuring out what military assets were in the region and filing the mission in the CIA internal electronic filing system. Once Tom arrived, she needed to get him into a secure conference room. Anderson wanted to start the briefing soon. He was now in the conference room that held the South Korean group down the hall. She did not have time to speculate what aspect of the mission they were talking about, or why that team was here.
Right now she was curious more than anything. Many SAD missions started off on a fast pace, but what she saw this morning was unusual. She wondered what Anderson was cooking up. She knew the Korean peninsula was always unstable and there were always threats of war. Why were we sending Tom now, she thought. And what was it about — nuclear weapons, conventional weapons, labor camps, or regime change? She would have to wait for the briefing.
This morning her computer was slower than usual. It did not seem to want to let her use the internet. She sat back as it figured out how to take her to Google. When she needs something most, it never seems to work she thought.
Another analyst stuck his head into her office, “Hey Sara, have you seen Tom?”
“No. I think he should be here soon though.”
“OK thanks”