CHAPTER 17
Sara barely slept the previous night. She bought two coffees on the way to work this morning. She was driving through the empty morning roads. It was just past 5AM. In a few hours Tom would be getting into the helicopter.
Let’s just launch this mission. I’m sick of worrying and not sleeping.
Despite Anderson’s reassurances, she could not shake the feeling. Was the mission turning on them? She went through the facts. Somehow Officer 1414 had been compromised. Then that blasted Chinese character appeared when she and Matt sent that message to Pacific Command. But neither the North Korean nor Chinese navies were doing anything out of the ordinary. And the latest satellite imagery, from the last satellite pass several hours ago, showed no change in the activity of the Korean People’s Army around the base. Sara was not comforted by the contradicting facts.
She pulled into the parking lot at the CIA. She managed to find a good space today, one of the few benefits of coming in this early. She slung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed both coffees. She realized she must have looked silly walking into work this way. But she did not really care.
She walked to her office and started getting ready for the big day. Inside she turned on her computer. Her door opened.
“One of those for me?” It was Anderson. His eyes looked like they wanted to shut. Sara wondered how much he had slept.
“John — “
“I’m kidding. I have one already. Thanks for coming in so early.”
“Do we have any updates?” She could not help jumping to the only topic on her mind. She wanted to know whether there was any change in naval activity or activity around that base.
“No — everything is unchanged from last night. I just looked at satellite imagery from the last past a few hours ago, and the activity around that base is the same as before.”
“That’s good.” Sara sighed, releasing some tension.
“Tom is set. He will start gearing up shortly. Helicopters are fueled and ready. We’re looking good to launch the mission at 7.”
“How is Tom?” Sara knew she sounded like a mother, but did not feel that way.
“He’s good. He is rested. Also spent a good number of hours pouring over maps and satellite imagery of that area. You know him — he’ll be ready.”
“Good.” Sara sensed she was looking at Anderson a bit too eagerly.
“Anyway, get settled in and then let’s meet in the Command Room at 6 to get going. So I’ll see you there in a little over an hour.” He looked at his watch.
As Anderson left her office, Mr. Park walked by and greeted Anderson. He was wearing the same clothes as the previous day. He and Anderson walked down the hall together.
What did Mr. Park need to stay here all night for? Will someone tell me what he’s working on?
CHAPTER 18
Tom was gearing up in the locker room. He looked at his watch — already less than an hour until mission launch. He was wearing his all black night operations uniform. He saw himself in the mirror across the room. He thought he looked like a ninja. Maybe a high tech version of a ninja he thought. It had many pockets all over — three on each arm. It was made from a special fabric that repelled water, so it dried quickly. It did not help to be wet while trying to move covertly.
His Draeger Rebreather was sitting on the bench next to him. Unlike a traditional SCUBA oxygen tank, the Draeger was closed circuit. A diver breathed in air from the Draeger, and the carbon dioxide he exhaled was recirculated into the system and converted back into oxygen, which the diver ended up breathing again. This meant that no bubbles came out. With a Draeger, an operative could swim right up to an enemy beach and they would have no way of knowing he was there from looking at the water. It was the perfect device for these types of SAD missions. Tom had experience with it because as a SEAL he had used it for a number of operations.
Into a sheath on his hip, Tom inserted his Mark 3 knife. Almost seven inches, it was very durable and had many potential uses on any mission. Next, Tom strapped a holster around his right thigh. In it he put his silenced Sig Saur P226.
Tom closed his eyes. He tried to feel his heart beat. He rested his arms limply at his sides and let his jaw hang open in a more relaxed position. He forced himself to slow his breathing. Within a few seconds he could feel his heart rate slow down gradually. With that came an overall feeling of calm as any remaining tension left his body. He was performing an old trick he had learned while in training for the SEALs. Most people believe that there was a one-way path between someone’s emotions and his or her body’s physiological action. One is scared, therefore one’s knees shake from muscle tension. One is unsure of himself, therefore one feels his stomach tense. But what many people did not realize, which is what the SEALs taught, was that a person’s body and mind work in the other direction as well. A body’s physiological action can create the emotions. And that is important because everyone can directly control his or her body’s physiological behavior. So if someone “wills” his knees to stop shaking by relaxing his muscles, the feeling of being scared will slowly start to go away. If someone makes himself release that tension in the stomach, he will slowly feel more sure of himself. By controlling one’s body, one could control one’s emotions. Simply letting the arms and jaw hang limp could often be enough. Anyone can employ this technique anytime — even while sitting on a couch. This was not based on some new popular psychology either. Tom remembered learning in the SEAL classroom courses that William James, a Harvard psychologist from the late 1800s and early 1900s, had come up with this theory back in the 19th century. It was known as the James-Lange Theory. The James-Lange theory got lost in the waste-bin over the next hundred years as psychologists criticized it and tried to disprove it. It just felt wrong to them. But while they were criticizing it, SEALs were quietly using it. And it was as much a weapon to them as their rifles. Being able to control one’s emotions in hostile situations and maintain calm sometimes made the difference between life and death. Tom had seen it first hand while deployed in his SEAL team. The question he sometimes thought about, usually in the morning while looking over the Potomac, was whether they were controlling their minds or their bodies when using James-Lange. They used their minds to control their bodies to control their minds. He sometimes searched for the right word to describe that. Paradox?
Tom grabbed several explosive charges and placed them into special straps on his uniform. He would need these if any doors were locked. He assumed all doors would be.
He picked up the ADS. He had grown to like it, although he still doubted whether he needed it. It had been wrapped in an airtight plastic wrap so that it could travel in the water with him. He strapped it onto his back.
Tom lastly checked his helmet. His night vision goggles worked. They were folded up so that they stuck up straight out of the helmet. Right behind and to the side of those was a small but sturdy helmet camera. That would be providing a live video feed to the Command Room — Anderson, Sara, Mr. Park, and the rest of the team back in DC.
Tom spoke to Anderson several hours earlier. Anderson told him that North Korean activity looked normal and he could still expect a low presence of troops. Tom thought it was smart that they were using only satellite imagery. There was no need to send in a drone, which the North Koreans could potentially shoot down. Given that the peninsula was on the brink of war, that would be an unnecessary provocation. Anderson told him to be careful and to make this infiltration fast. But Anderson also said that Tom should take the time he needs. There was no need to risk himself in order to be marginally faster. Tom appreciated hearing Anderson say that. But he would try to make this quick, he thought.