“Work it,” Shana called out. “Shake that bumpidy-bump, Knox.”
Grant would have loved to have taken place in the festivities, but he was still flying Foghat and trying to clear the drone from the theater.
Over the mission control speakers, the voice of Dallas Stone came on the comm.
“Hi Skipper, just an FYI. We have verified the takeoff of two Chengdu J-7s from Hwangju Airfield in Pyongyang. If they spotted Foghat on their radar, then you have about two minutes before they’re on you.”
Hail took in the information and quickly did his best to interpret its meaning. The Chengdu J-7s were MiG-21 clones made by the People's Republic of China. The Chinese jet was built as a fighter interceptor and easily had the firepower to turn Foghat into fog. But Hail also knew that all of his main drones were built with the latest stealth capabilities. Radar absorbing paint, weird surfaces that bounced radar waves harmlessly into the stratosphere and his drones flew low and at subsonic speeds. They left only a hint of emission footprints in the sky. Hail seriously doubted that the scramble of the Chengdu’s had anything to do with his operation, but it was a good thing to know.
Hail spoke into the room, knowing that the room’s sensitive microphones would pick up his voice and transmit his words back to Dallas in the security center.
“Do you have a vector on jets, yet?”
“No Sir,” Dallas replied. “They just took off. I’ll update you in a few minutes.”
“Didn’t you say they would be here in two minutes?” Hail asked.
“Wait one. I’m watching their flight path as we speak.”
“Thanks, Dallas,” Hail said in a calm tone.
For this mission, days earlier several micro-drones similar to Stones had been deployed at Taetan Airfield, Onchon Airport, Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, as well as the field that Dallas had just referred to, Hwangju Airfield. All of those airfields were close to Pyongyan, therefore close to Kangdong. Hail didn’t expect an interdiction from these locations, but better safe than sorry.
“Let’s keep Foghat low and slow until we get some distance between us and Kangdong,” Hail told Grant.
“Roger that,” Grant confirmed. “Dropping down to two-hundred feet. I will be threading through the hills for a while.”
“That’s fine,” Hail told him. “I mean what else do you have to do tonight?”
“Good point,” Grant agreed. “I was going to get in some time in on the flight simulator, but I think that would be superfluous at his point.”
Dallas came over the speakers again.
“False alarm, Skipper. The J’s are headed south toward Chollima.”
“Thanks for being on it, anyway,” Hail said.
Hail took a sip from his cold coffee, made a face and stuck it back in the hole.
“I’ll be in my quarters if any of you need me,” Hail told his crew. “Great job everyone.”
I wonder if I have any new email, Hail thought as he exited the mission center.
Langley, Virginia ― Central Intelligence Headquarters
“We didn’t stop Chang. We were too late,” the Director of the CIA, Jarret Pepper told his staff.
Four people sat around a large mahogany table. Two men and two women.
Pepper’s mind was in a strange space. He was pleased that Kara had obtained Kornev’s phone and that his agency had acquired critical intelligence. On the other hand, he was extremely disappointed that the intelligence they had gathered indicated that they were too late.
“The deal is already done,” Pepper said. “The shipment of missile parts, pieces, gyros, fuel cells, everything it takes to assemble an ICBM is already being shipped to North Korea as we speak.”
Kara was pissed off. She didn’t do what she did, take the risks she took, sleep with the scumbags she slept with, for no reason. It sure the hell wasn’t for the pay. It was more for the payback. She felt as if she should say something, but knew the Director had more to say. So she bit her lip and bided her time.
“As most of you know, the Minister of the People’s Armed Forces, Kim Yong Chang is dead. We’ve all seen the data chatter over our intelligence channels and know that to be a fact. What you don’t know, and I found out during a meeting with the President yesterday, was that a man named Marshall Hail killed him. Assassinated him.”
Pepper paused for the reaction.
Kara went from looking pissed, to looking intrigued.
The Directorate of Analysis, Karen Wesley, went from looking concerned, to looking even more concerned.
Paul Moore, the Directorate of Operations, said, “You’ve got to be kidding. I don’t believe it. No one gets into North Korea.”
“Believe it,” Pepper huffed. “Hail produced a video of Chang dying by some sort of poisoning in Chang’s own backyard. The NIA has updated our file on Hail to include the video. You can go watch it when we’re done. I’ve already seen it and don’t care to watch it again. I just ate breakfast. I might not be drinking orange juice for a while.”
Karen Wesley was upset. She was considering the big picture; the consequences for the nation at large.
She told Pepper, “If what you are saying it true, then this is the most significant action I have ever witnessed since I’ve been at the CIA. A private citizen assassinated a top official in another country. How can we allow that?”
Pepper laughed cynically.
“How can we allow it?” he sneered at Wesley. “You have to be shitting me. We put a God damn bounty on the heads of each of these terrorists. We encourage this type of response. So based on our incentive program, Hail puts together some sort of magic show with lots of smoke and mirrors and Chang dies. And you are asking, what are we supposed to do? Do you think we should slap him down for it? Get real.”
Wesley looked pissed but said nothing.
“Do we know how Hail pulled this off?” Moore asked calmly, trying to ratchet down the tone of the meeting, but it didn’t help.
Louder than before, Pepper responded, “That’s the smoke and mirrors shit I was talking about. No one knows how it was done. I would bet my job that the North Koreans don’t know how it was done. Their execution wall is probably absorbing a lot of hot lead over this thing. But that really doesn’t matter. The Minister of State Security for North Korea, Kim Won Dong, has already stepped into Chang’s job. The North Korean National Defense is like a whack-a-mole government. Knock one fuzzy head down and another mole pops right back up from the same hole.”
Pepper paused to take a breath.
“This isn’t good,” Wesley said.
Pepper looked at the woman and was tempted to tell her to leave.
Instead he did his best to compose himself and said, “Karen, can you be a little more insightful in your comments or do I need to remind you, that’s why you make the big bucks.”
Wesley looked hurt but restated her position.
“First, our bounties are in place to encourage people who are in close proximity to our top ten terrorists, to provide us information so we can apprehend them. It was never intended to be an incentive for full military action by private entities.”
She looked around the room to make sure her point was understood.
Wesley continued, “Second, from what I understand, Hail is an American citizen. Therefore, if the North Koreans ever figure out what actually happened, then they would jump to the conclusion that it was an American-sponsored attack on their government.”
No one said anything, but Pepper eyed her coolly.
Wesley continued.
“And third, any organization, whether it’s an army, a militia, a rogue group of separatists, a gaggle of boy scouts, or even a billionaire with an international business; any organization that has the wherewithal and technology to pull off something like this, they are a threat to everyone.”