“Now, bitch, we’ll see if you’re any good. And if you so much as squeak, the first person to die will be your mother!” he growled menacingly.
Suddenly there was a loud thud behind him as the guard who came back with Jeon fell face-first to the floor. “You fool! What kind of imbecile are you? Now get up—”
The sharp clack of a round being racked into a gun’s chamber interrupted Jeon’s tirade. He turned slowly to see a disguised Cho leveling a pistol squarely between his eyes. “Now, Jeon Yong-ha, I suggest you sit down, quietly. If you so much as squeak, well, I don’t think I need to tell you who will be the first person to die, do I?”
The stunned Jeon staggered back to a camp chair and sat down. His eyes were wide as saucers. Cho threw the roll of duct tape to the woman. “Bind his hands and legs to the chair. Make sure he is secured firmly, his right hand first.”
Confused, the woman took the tape and began wrapping Jeon’s wrists and forearms. She used a lot of tape. Jeon slowly shifted his eyes toward the woman, but Cho immediately snapped his fingers to regain his undivided attention. “I wouldn’t recommend doing something so foolish, Jeon Yong-ha. I wouldn’t miss at this range.” Cho emphasized his point by assuming a marksman’s stance. Jeon swallowed hard. The unknown intruder had foreseen his move.
It wasn’t long before the woman stood and said, “I’m finished.” Then more fearfully, “What will you do to me?”
“Excellent,” said Cho as he quickly inspected her work. Jeon was completely immobilized. Reaching for the tape, Cho finally answered her question as he put a strip over Jeon’s mouth. “I won’t do anything to you, miss.” Cho used the proper Korean word for a younger woman, but spoke with a Southerner’s accent. No need to make it easy for Jeon, in case he tried to identify Cho later. “But I would greatly appreciate it if you would go and find an American military police patrol and bring them here. I’m sure they would be most interested in Jeon’s activities.”
The woman’s expression was one of surprise. Cho’s answer was completely unexpected. She carefully made her way to the exit, but before departing whispered, “Thank you, sir.” Cho nodded slightly, acknowledging her gratitude. As soon as the woman disappeared, Cho bound and gagged the other unconscious guard with duct tape and then went over to Jeon’s locked footlocker. He shook his head with disapproval. The padlock was a joke. He had it open in seconds. Cho dumped the contents onto the cot. There were several weapons, a couple of ledger books, and lots of American money.
“You really should be more careful with your important business documents, “ Cho teased as he looked through one of the ledger books. It contained a lists of his prostitutes and patrons, as well as transactions with several drug dealers. “Yes, the Americans will be most interested in all this.” Jeon grunted in frustration as Cho looked on with distain.
The young woman soon returned leading a squad of MPs. Cho observed them from a distance as the Americans went in and discovered all the gifts he had left out. He was particularly pleased when he heard the sharp yelp from Jeon as an MP peeled the tape off his mouth. Moments later the Americans escorted the ringleader and his two guards away. Cho doubted he’d be seeing Jeon Yong-ha any time in the near future.
It was nearly midnight when Cho returned to Kary’s office. She was still there, typing away on her laptop, trying to figure out how to order medical supplies with the US Army logistics system. Her frustrated muttering told him the system was still winning — for the moment.
Quietly he entered and placed the pistol on the desk. His stealthy approach startled her. “Oh! You’re back!”
“Of course, mission accomplished. Here’s your pistol.”
Kary eyed first the handgun, then Cho. “You… you didn’t shoot anyone, did you?”
“Absolutely not! I know you’d frown on such a thing,” replied Cho with feigned injury. “I merely used the weapon as my culminating argument in a moral debate. That’s all.” He took the pistol and wrapped it in a scarf she’d brought, and tucked it out of sight.
“Uh-huh,” she responded. The skeptical look on her face showed she wasn’t buying his explanation.
“I can assure you, Fowler-seonsaengnim, no one was physically injured in tonight’s activities. Although, several egos were completely crushed,” remarked Cho with a broad grin. Teasing Kary was a newly acquired pleasure for him; he found that he liked the way her nose wrinkled when she was slightly annoyed.
Kary frowned and raised her finger preparing to deliver a reprimand, when she was interrupted by a large yawn. She hadn’t realized just how tired she was.
Cho looked on with concern. “Shouldn’t you be asleep? You’ve been struggling with this program since before I left, and you’ve already had several very late nights this week. You need to rest.”
“And you’re trying to change the subject,” Kary protested, but her thin smile betrayed her appreciation. “But whoever came up with this program is a sadist!”
“I believe that is a mandatory trait for all computer programmers, everywhere,” declared Cho while stretching. “Anyway, I’m going to bed, and I hope you will too… soon.”
“I won’t be long. And thank you, Ho-jin oppa.”
Cho bowed slightly, gratified by Kary’s use of the term of endearment, oppa. It could be translated as “big brother.” She trusted him, and that simple acknowledgment warmed his heart.
General Fascione struggled not to yawn while he briefed the president. It wasn’t that the information he was providing was inconsequential or boring; it was just that the last several days had been very long, and he was running out of gas. “And even though the ROK Army is starting to face more organized resistance from KPA units, they still anticipate securing Pyongyang within the next three days — five at the most.”
“What about China, General? Is there any indication from your end that the PRC intends to intervene?” President James Wyman was a worried man. The sudden collapse of the Kim regime had caught America unprepared, and the reduced US military presence wouldn’t be able to do much about a full-blown Chinese invasion.
“So far, Mr. President, they are staying massed on the border. They’ve sent in a reconnaissance flight or two, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of their SOF people are in North Korea, but they’ve largely stuck to their side of the Yalu. The CMC is probably still trying to figure out what the best course of action is. This crisis took them by surprise as well, perhaps more so, since they had senior contacts in country.”
Wyman nodded. “I’ve spoken with President Wen, General, and he didn’t sound like a happy man. He was uncomfortable with our movement of troops and aircraft to the Republic of Korea. I reassured him that our reinforcements have been tailored toward helping South Koreans manage the huge inflow of refugees. I suspect the success of the ROK Army is not sitting well in Beijing.”
“Understandable. We’d be just as uneasy if there were a civil war in Mexico and a foreign country was sending in military forces. I know it’s not a great analogy, but it does capture how the Chinese feel about this. Do you have any other questions, Mr. President?”
“Just one, General. You mentioned the ROK Army has started an Operation Gang… Gang…” Wyman started thumbing through his notes
“Gangrim, sir. It’s a contingency plan by their special operations forces to locate and seize as much of the North Korean WMD stockpile as they can. So far they’ve done pretty well with the forward chemical weapons storage bunkers. The North had a lot of gas hanging around, not that this is a surprise.”