Yao was astonished. This was a massive operation. “And report back to the U.S. some way?”
Calhoun answered this one. “That’s right. Science and Technology has some communications equipment that can go into DPRK. They say it is undetectable.”
Adam kept an impassive face, but he couldn’t help but think the eggheads at S&T wouldn’t be stood in front of a wall and shot if their “undetectable” device was somehow detected in the DPRK. If Adam went into North Korea, that fate would fall to him.
He muttered an unenergetic “Great.”
Mary Pat picked up on his doubt. “The North Koreans aren’t just allowing miners and processors into the country, they are also trying to get equipment in. The communications system will not travel with our asset. It will be embedded in a computer that our asset will have access to at the mine. We’ve learned a shipment of computers will be sent from Bulgaria to North Korea next week. We’ll have one of the machines altered with the hidden communications equipment. As long as our asset isn’t caught communicating with the device red-handed, our asset will be free and clear on this operation.”
“Yes, ma’am. I understand.” He noted that Mary Pat was speaking in general terms, still referring to the person going into North Korea as “our asset.” Clearly she wanted him to agree to go, but she wasn’t assuming anything yet, and this Adam appreciated.
He asked, “What specific intelligence are you trying to get from an asset in the Chongju mine?”
Mary Pat replied, “Satellites aren’t telling us what we need to know. Is there equipment in the mine in violation of sanctions? Are there personnel from other countries there? Experts? Specialists? How soon till that mine is generating revenue for the DPRK?”
“May I ask how many other CIA officers are operating inside North Korea?”
Mary Pat shook her head. “I can’t give you that information. I can only tell you that you will be working without a network in country.”
Adam assumed as much. If he went into the DPRK, he would be on his own. But this wasn’t the only thing bothering him. “I have to ask. Is this really that big an issue, considering all the other problems we have with North Korea? I mean, they are involved in illegal mining in violation of sanctions… but if you can get me in the country, shouldn’t I be trying to get a look at something more important than mining?”
Mary Pat said, “If possible, yes, you should. We see it as an incredible coincidence, and hopefully one we can capitalize on, that in a nation some forty-six thousand square miles in size, the Chongju mine happens to be located only twenty-four miles away from Sohae Satellite Launching Station. Sohae is where they launch their ICBMs.”
“That is a coincidence that probably seems a bit easier to capitalize on while we’re sitting here in Virginia. In country twenty-four miles might seem like a long way.”
She smiled. “Very true. And we’re not sending you there because of Sohae.”
Mary Pat shook her head. “President Ryan has dictated that this mine at Chongju represents a critical intelligence need of the United States.”
That sounded, to Adam, like hyperbole. He didn’t know Mary Pat Foley personally, but he knew that her reputation was of a supremely levelheaded individual. “What makes it a critical need?”
“Because estimates put the capacity under those mountains at two hundred thirteen million tons of heavy rare earth minerals. A value approaching, depending on market conditions, twelve trillion dollars.”
Adam reached out with both hands and took hold of the conference table. “Twelve trillion? That can’t be possible, can it?”
“It can. Is your imagination big enough to consider what all Pyongyang could buy with twelve trillion?”
Adam nodded slowly. “They could buy nukes, ballistic missiles, every bit of armament made by the Russians or the Chinese. They could buy technology and intellectual capital.”
Mary Pat leaned over the table. “They can buy all that, but they can also buy something more important. Friends.”
“Friends?”
“Votes in the UN. States that would go against official sanctions. Trading partners they can’t even dream of now. With that much money on the table, many nations who seem so perfectly resolute now in their insistence they won’t work with a rogue regime would suddenly find some flexibility in the issue.”
“Right.”
Mary Pat added, “And someone outside of North Korea is already paying them for the right to extract minerals there. A lot of money. These hard currency payments are being converted into an expansion of North Korea’s missile program. The rocket tubes captured off the coast of North Korea last week were purchased with this money, and we assume there is a lot more money, and a lot more proliferation, going on out there that we don’t know about.”
Calhoun said, “You see why this Chongju mine represents a clear and present danger to the United States, don’t you?”
Adam’s answer was barely audible. He was still in awe. “I get it,” he said. “North Korea with hard currency is a bad thing.”
Mary Pat nodded and said, “Now. Back to you. If you accept this operation, you need to understand something. This is not going to be a career maker for you, simply because you don’t need it. What you did in HK last year was more than enough to make your career. Your trip to North Korea is going to be one hundred percent risk for not much reward.”
Adam shrugged. “Maybe everybody says this, Director Foley, but I’m not looking for advancement. I’m looking for a challenge.”
She eyed him for a moment. Then looked away. “My husband and I loved what we did. There are a thousand frustrations and a million levels of bullshit with this job, but at its core, it can be one hell of a thrill, can’t it?”
Adam grinned. “Nothing like it.”
Calhoun nodded silently.
Mary Pat said, “We think our plan to get you in, established, and reporting back is solid. I just need to know if you will volunteer to go. So?”
Adam didn’t hesitate. “So… let’s do this.”
Mary Pat said, “Good. But remember, they don’t call it gangster mining without reason. You will be in danger from the people you are around the moment you get off the airplane in Shanghai.”
“I understand.”
“Time is critical, so we’ll need to get you up to speed very quickly. After a few days here you will go to California to learn the skills you need to backstop your legend. You have today to rest up and we’ll start tomorrow prepping you.”
The adrenaline coursing through Adam Yao dictated the next words out of his mouth. “I can start right now.”
Mary Pat shook her head. “Nope. Your national intelligence director is directing you to a hotel to sleep and take a shower. You’ll thank me in the morning. We’ll have someone drive you and then bring you some food, toiletries, and a change of gear. Tomorrow morning CIA will pick you up and begin a quick workup of your legend before you’re off to California.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.