His final point made her reluctance look selfish. Swallow your pride, girl.
By now she had learned how to operate Cho’s phone properly, and she dialed her dad’s number in Indiana. It was late there, but her father often stayed up into the small hours.
It only rang twice. He was awake. “Blake Fowler here.” His tone was cautious. She didn’t know what his caller ID said, but it would not be a familiar number.
“Dad? It’s Kary.”
“Kary? Thank God. Where are you? Are you safe?”
“I’m still in North Korea, but we’ve left the mission and we’re heading south. I’ve got some injured people with me and we hope to reach the South Korean army later today.”
“But you’re not hurt?” he said hopefully.
“No, Dad, I’m fine, but we have patients with us who were gassed. A friend thinks it was something called ‘sarin.’” She looked over to Cho, who did not speak English, but confirmed her pronunciation. “Somebody used a lot of it in the fighting in Pyongyang. There are so many dead, Dad.”
“I’d heard that, but we still don’t have a clear picture of what went on in the capital. Would you be willing to describe what you saw to someone I know?”
Irritation flared inside her. All he could see was the big picture. “Dad, I’ve got three trucks full of injured and wounded, who haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning…” She felt a hand on her shoulder, and Cho’s gentle pressure calmed her, reminding her of why she was calling. He didn’t pat it or try to soothe her. She might have lashed out at him if he’d done anything like that.
“Dad, I’m sorry. I’m tired and scared, and some of my patients might not last the day.” She paused, and then added, “And yes, I’ll talk to anyone you want. The world should know what’s happening there.”
“And I’ll talk to some friends I have in Korea. Where are you, exactly?”
She told him, using the phone’s map, where she and their ragged convoy were and their planned route. “The South Korean army is somewhere ahead of us. We don’t know about any Northern soldiers.”
“I’ll tell the ROK government where you are and that you need urgent medical assistance. At a minimum, I can make sure they know you’re not an enemy unit. With a little luck, you will be met. And Kary, anything you can tell us about what happened in Pyongyang will be a huge help to everyone, not just in the US, but in Korea as well. There haven’t been a lot of eyewitnesses.” He sounded very grateful that she was one of them.
“Just tell anyone you can to send everything they can.”
“All right, Kary, let me hang up and start making some phone calls. Stay safe, and can you please call me later today, to let me know how you are?”
“I promise, Dad, I’ll call later today.” Suddenly, she was reluctant to end the call. “Dad, I’m so sorry I haven’t called before. If you’re mad at me, I’ll understand.”
“I won’t deny I’ve been worried, but all I am right now is very, very happy. Let me make these phone calls and get things moving. I love you, Kary.”
“I love you too, Dad. I’ll call you soon.”
She sat quietly, crying again, and patted Cho’s arm in thanks.
Chapter 11 — Exodus
They talked while they ate, her first decent meal in a day and a half, according to what he’d been told. Wearing a plain blouse and skirt, with her hair tied back, she looked tired, but spoke forcefully. “Cho Ho-jin should be released immediately. He has been detained without charges.” If she was enjoying the food, she didn’t say so.
“Miss Fowler, my deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Shin, says that Cho is on their intelligence watch list. Did you know he’s the son of the DPRK general who led their army in the last war? Shin’s recommendation was that Cho be turned over to their intelligence people until his status is resolved.”
“Colonel Little, I can ‘resolve his status’ right now.” She repeated the phrase as if it was as stupid as it was vague. “I know all about his father, who was shot for losing the war, by the way. Cho hated the Kim regime and worked as a spy for the Russians. Here.” She rummaged in her bag and removed an electronic device, handing it to the colonel.
Kevin, more than a little surprised, and absorbing the new information, studied what looked like a top-quality satellite smartphone.
Kary explained, “Cho gave it to me just before we arrived. He knew he would be searched if he was arrested, and the phone would have been taken from him. We used it to find out about the South Korean army’s advance, and to navigate our way here, and to call my father. According to Cho, it uses special encryption and is hard to track.”
“Why would a Russian spy help you?” Kevin asked.
“He’s not a spy anymore,” Kary asserted. “He quit after the Russians sent him on a suicide mission into Pyongyang.” The colonel did not look convinced, and she explained. “The Kim regime executed his father and seized his family’s possessions. His mother died penniless while he was still a child, and he had to live on the street until the Russians recruited him. He doesn’t love the Russians any more than the Kims, but they gave him the chance to strike back at the people who’d hurt his family. But Kim is gone now, so there’s no reason for him to continue.”
“Miss Fowler, people don’t just ‘quit’—”
“He saved a woman’s life after she was severely wounded, by bringing her to my clinic. That’s how we met. He was wounded himself.”
“That’s laudable, but the Russians —”
Adding another bargaining chip, she said, “He was the one who recognized the nerve gas attack, and told me the best way to treat the victims.”
“The South Korean security —”
“He was the one who got us out of Sinan before we were caught up in the fighting, and he was the one who convinced me to call my father. And I know my father wants me to report what I know about the gas attack. What I know, I learned from Mr. Cho. He knows much more than I do, and I doubt if he’ll want to talk while under arrest.” That was her final, and most valuable chip.
They’d eaten lunch in the colonel’s “conference room,” a tent with screened sides that provided shade and a little privacy, away from the busy headquarters tent. While staff cleared away their trays, Kevin used the time to consider her request.
Kevin had heard of Kary Fowler even before she’d arrived, from a message coming down through General Fascione’s headquarters, but originating much higher up the chain. It warned of gas victims arriving in a three-truck convoy and their desperate need for medical attention.
They’d been spotted by ROK scouts north of Kaesong and given an MP escort straight to the Munsan camp. Everyone in the convoy who required treatment was hospitalized immediately.
That’s where he had found Kary Fowler, in the hospital, a small but forceful woman in her mid-thirties, discussing her patients with the medical staff. She’d refused to speak with the colonel until she was satisfied with her patients’ care, and then had immediately turned to Kevin and demanded her companion Cho’s release.
She was an extraordinary woman. It wasn’t the largest single group of refugees that had arrived, but it was large enough, with some seriously injured, and she hadn’t lost anyone. And there were gas victims. And a spy. Or an ex-spy?
“Colonel, can you help me, or is there someone else I should be talking to? I’m grateful for lunch, but if they move Cho…”
Kevin realized he had been sitting silently for too long. “Miss Fowler, I’ll take your request up the chain of command, but the best I think we can do is get him transferred to our custody, here in the camp. Is that satisfactory?”