Ryder and the other two kept to the periphery, watching her carefully. Grace was thankful that security inside the complex appeared minimal; not one surveillance camera had been spotted so far and they had not once been challenged. It seemed the North Koreans thought the complex secure enough from hostile intrusion and the guards were there only to ensure that the prisoners were kept under control. Once the unloading was complete and all the prisoners safely inside the cages, the medical personnel began to disperse, most heading for an opening alongside the far cage. Grace followed and the others did the same.
The opening led into another corridor, shorter and narrower than the first, and in the dim yellow light she could make out the international bio-hazard sign above the double doors at the far end. The knot in her stomach tightened; this could be it: bio labs and the hot zone. She increased pace and soon reached the doors with Ryder not far behind. Those up front had gone through quickly, so this must be the entrance to bio safety Level 0.
She passed through the double doors, which opened into a large rectangular space that housed rooms on either side holding small groups of prisoners. Ignoring the personnel, she continued on purposefully, unopposed, towards the only other pair of doors at the opposite side. When through, she entered another corridor that was lined on each side by much brighter and cleaner laboratories than those first encountered and occupied by numerous medical personnel. Again pictures of Kim Jong Il and his son dotted the walls and martial music played in the background. She decided to enter a lab mid-way down to determine the kind of experiments taking place. Ryder and the others waited outside, trying hard not to look conspicuous. She entered and strolled between the work benches laden with Bunsen burners, glass phials, petri dishes and other experimental equipment. No one looked up from what they were doing and as far as she could tell from cursory observation, the experiments appeared low-level and routine. It was too risky to lean over someone’s shoulder to read notes and ask them exactly what they were doing. The walls held charts showing the process of experimenting with various pathological and virological diseases. Grace spent a few more minutes taking in what was going on, then left.
Back in the corridor, she observed a number of personnel moving between the laboratories, but only a few ventured down the corridor and entered the doors at the end. The double doors were sliding stainless-steel, operated by a wall pad – the only concession to modern technology so far encountered in this grimy subterranean complex. If a Level 4 did exist, it had to be through those doors. The question: how could she enter without the lock combination? She decided to wait and attempt to enter with the next group to go through. If that was not possible, she would linger by the key pad and memorize the numbers as they were punched in.
Signalling to Ryder and the others to follow, she made her way slowly towards the doors, engaging in animated conversation with the three men, at the same time keeping an eye on the movement of people in the corridor, praying a group would head for the doors.
Her prayers were soon answered. Three women and a man emerged from the last lab, just as Grace was passing, almost colliding with her, before heading for the sliding doors. Ryder and the other two dropped back slightly, leaving Grace to merge with the group, immersed in conversation and ignoring her presence. At the doors, all pulled up face masks and Grace did the same. She moved next to the man near the wall pad when it became clear that he intended to punch in the numbers. He did, she memorized them and the doors slid apart. Grace boldly followed them into an air-lock. The doors closed quickly, denying Ryder, Song and Bom entry. Grace, startled, looked at the concern on their faces and suddenly an overwhelming feeling of isolation gripped her. She was now truly on her own. Her mouth went dry and the knot in her stomach tightened.
Ryder cursed himself for the setback, but would go through with the next group, hoping the captain would be waiting on the other side.
For Chol, guarding the grille, it was a different story. Not long after the others had entered the mountain, a six-man patrol passed within yards of the overhang, luckily without dogs and without closely checking the grille. The hawks too were giving him some grief, dive-bombing and screeching loudly, seemingly resentful of his presence below their nest.
Stepping out of the airlock, a totally different world presented itself to Grace, more like the one she was familiar with – sterile, bright and professional-looking. No rundown third-world feel here, no rock surfaces; only flat white walls and ceilings with hardly a surface to collect dust. This was definitely a Level 1 and she was confident, yet fearful, she would find the hot zone soon, along with the dreaded viruses it would no doubt contain and thus the resultant horrors of possible experiments carried out on humans instead of monkeys.
The area contained several compact laboratories full of personnel, together with a small number of offices all leading off a central corridor. A minority of personnel wore yellow badges on their lapels. A few guards glanced at Grace and appeared somewhat conspicuous by their absence. Uncertain whether or not to wait to see if the others came through, she was in no doubt that they would attract attention – although from Grace’s point of view, without them guarding her back, she now felt very vulnerable indeed. She noticed only those wearing the badges entered another set of sliding doors at the end of the corridor and knew instinctively this was the entrance to a Level 2. She decided not to wait and take a closer look. Again the doors were lined in stainless-steel, set in a seamless frame. There was no key pad this time and she guessed the badges might be the key. This shortly proved correct when a staff member went through pointing her badge at the head of the doors. How could she get hold of one? Only two choices: steal or take by force. She hoped it would not be the latter. Subsequently, after a fruitless excursion around the laboratories to find a badge and steal it, she finally gave up; now forced to adopt the alternative. A big risk, but one she had to take. Fear increased at the prospect.
Meanwhile, Ryder, still in Level 0, worried at what was happening while waiting for his chance to enter Level 1. Observing only medical staff and very few guards here it made him think that maybe he could compromise the situation if he went through. The captain should, he reasoned, be able to handle herself having only medical staff to contend with. Reluctantly, he decided it would be better to await her return – at least for now.
Grace hung nervously around the foyer outside the female ablutions, heart pounding, until a woman wearing a badge entered. She followed, checked that no one else was around then approached her. Taking a gamble, she explained casually that she was due to enter Level 2 and had mislaid her badge; could she possibly borrow hers? The woman stared at her, first in disbelief and then with growing suspicion. Grace knew at that instant she had lost the gamble and a flood of indecision engulfed her. She had to act – and quickly.
Grace lunged out, spun the shocked woman around and clamped a hand firmly over her mouth. Bundling the struggling Korean into a cubicle, she smashed her up against the rear wall and held her in a full arm lock with all the strength she could muster. Fearing it would not be enough to throttle the woman to death, Grace, on the verge of panic, raised her leg and snatched pistol from the holster strapped to calf. The Korean managed to half-turn, but before she could overwhelm her assailant, Grace slammed the suppressor nozzle hard against the woman’s chest and shot her through the heart. Supporting the body, Grace stood for a moment trembling. She felt sick and fought hard to regain her composure. This was the second human being she had killed in a matter of days. She forced herself to become calm, plunging deep into her reserves.