He checked that his flippers and his Draeger rebreather were ready. He had just dug them out of the spot where he had left them earlier. Tom checked his waterproof utility bag with all of the Room 39 documents. He looked around again. The area of beach in front of him luckily did not have soldiers patrolling it. There was a group farther up the beach to the north.
Tom started sprinting for the last time. Trying to run as fast as he could on the soft, sandy beach reminded him of BUD/S training. He recalled how he had to do it every day. Running on the sand, where one’s foot sinks in before it gets a firm hold is a different science, he had realized. This morning, he was glad that he went through BUD/S. As he crossed the halfway point on the beach, he looked left and right. The soldiers did not seem to be reacting. Maybe they were too far away, he thought. Tom smiled as he imagined their confusion from seeing a black figure running directly towards the open sea.
Soon Tom’s feet were underwater. He kept moving as fast as he could. The frigid morning sea was soon at his waist, and he was now in a fast walk. Tom raised his arms in front of him, and dove forward into the water. He put in his mouthpiece and started breathing underwater. He attached his flippers to his feet as quickly as he could and started swimming towards his SDV. Another one complete, he thought. Another mission finished, although with more surprises than usual. As he swam he felt a rush. A feeling of pleasure overtook his stomach. As he climbed into his SDV, he finally had time to think. The first thing Tom started wondering was what happened to Jiyeon.
As the helicopter started descending towards Yongsan Garrison in South Korea, Tom woke up. Shortly after he had boarded the helicopter in the Sea of Japan, he fell into a catnap. He had learned to grab some sleep whenever he could. Now as he was about to disembark at Yongsan, he felt somewhat rested.
Soon he felt the wheels touch the ground and Tom hopped out of the craft. He started to walk towards the building out of which he came the previous night. The sun was now overhead and the world seemed to be stirring awake all around.
Tom saw a soldier approaching him from the building ahead. As he came closer, Tom noticed that the soldier was the sergeant he had befriended at the firing range. The sergeant was smiling.
“Great to see you back,” he said holding out his hand. He clasped Tom’s hand.
“Thanks,” Tom said.
“You OK? Your face looks a little swollen. You have a cut under your eye. I’ll get a medic for you.”
“Thanks but I should be fine. This is nothing.”
“Oh and also, we have Conference room D in there with a video link to your people. They want to talk to you quickly. It sounds like you did a good job over there.”
“Conference room D. Thanks.”
Tom continued walking. When he entered the building he walked down the white hallway and turned into the locker room first. He took off his helmet and put his rifle away. He put his utility bag with all of the documents in his locker. Then he walked out of the locker room and headed down the hallway, looking for conference room D. He turned the corner and walked past several other conference rooms. Finally he found D. He walked inside. The conference room itself was empty, but in the front he saw a screen. On the screen, Tom saw Anderson looking back at him.
“Tom, it’s good to see you,” Anderson started talking right away. Tom felt Anderson was talking a bit slower than usual. He was not smiling.
“Thanks. How are you guys over there?”
“We’re fine. We’re glad to see you in one piece after everything that happened today.”
“Thanks. I’ll give the intelligence I took to the IT guys so they can start scanning the documents. Anything else you need?”
“Tom, you should know about what happened to the NIS officer who was abducted. Jiyeon. The one who briefed you.”
Tom stood in silence, waiting for Anderson to just say it.
“Tom, she didn’t make it. Jiyeon’s dead.”
Tom stood motionless like a statue. The room was silent. He could feel Anderson staring at him from the screen.
Tom asked, “How?”
“They didn’t get her in time. The North Koreans who kidnapped her shot her as the house was being raided.”
Tom felt a coldness enter his chest. Few people knew him well. Those who were close provided a rare warmth. Her loss blew out an ember.
“Do we know how she was targeted? Or why they did this to her?” He asked slowly.
“The North Koreans in that house were all killed. The NIS thinks they have the other pieces of the puzzle together. They are about to get even.”
Tom was still staring at the ground. He nodded slowly. He could tell his face was expressionless.
“I’ve got you set up to fly back on a military flight in 24 hours,” Anderson continued. “You can rest up in the meantime.”
Tom looked up, “OK. I’ll be there.”
Tom walked out of the conference room. As he walked down the hallway he could feel that he had the thousand yard stare. He had learned from his time in the SEALs, in DEVGRU, and in SAD that sometimes the worst can happen. But the training and time spent in those units got him used to the idea that the worst could happen to him. What still felt wrong was the idea that the worst could happen to someone who he had thought was safe. Now Jiyeon will be remembered as a star on a wall or a name in a book, but her quiet smile and her inquisitive eyes will be forgotten by others, he thought.
He entered the locker room. He started putting his gear away. Tom wondered what the NIS was about to do. What did Anderson mean when he said the NIS was about to get even?
CHAPTER 57
Officer 2135 walked down a packed street. The notorious Tokyo morning rush hour was sweeping past him in both directions. His life in Chongjin seemed to be from a different era.
He had made it out of North Korea two days ago. He had been lucky with his bicycle, which lasted for a relatively long time before breaking down. In the next village he came to, he bought a fresh bicycle from one of the villagers. Soon he was on the Chinese border. He crossed the Yalu River dividing China and Korea quietly in the middle of the night. During his entire escape he kept thinking about the last message command had sent him:
2135: Urgent. We believe you have been compromised. Leave country immediately. Once in China, proceed to Shanghai.
He tried to figure out how he had been compromised. But nothing came to mind.
Once he arrived in China, he was able to quickly make his way to Shanghai. Traveling was significantly easier, and he no longer needed to just use a bicycle. He knew what to do once in Shanghai. The NIS had a safe house where he would most likely have a message waiting. When he arrived in Shanghai, he already felt a world away from the land he had just left. When he found the NIS safe house, he quietly entered it. Inside, he found an NIS officer waiting for him. The officer handed 2135 a piece of paper that had an address in Tokyo on it. He was told to go to the airport and get to Tokyo immediately. Now, several hours later, 2135 was here. He had reached the address he was told to visit. It seemed to be another NIS safe house. It was a several story house just outside of Tokyo proper. Officer 2135 knocked on the door when he arrived. A man, who looked like another NIS officer opened and let him in. The officer escorted him to a private room at the top floor. Inside the room was a face Officer 2135 recognized quickly, despite not having seen it in the fifteen years he was in North Korea. It was Mr. Park, the director of the illegals group. He looked just about the same as he did when he had recruited Officer 2135 in the locker room at his military training facility.