"How did you get him to okay the trip to Pyongyang?"
That brought a purely neutral look, the closest he would allow to a smile today. "I never mentioned it to him. My old classmate in charge of the Special Security Group requested that I be included. Superintendent So was probably happy to get me out of his sight for a few days."
"What about your prosecutor? He knows the details, doesn't he?"
"Not about Poksu."
"Then maybe you'd better tell him enough to show that the president could be in danger."
After breakfast, Captain Yun headed south across the Han to the Yongdong area where the prosecutor's office was located. He found Park Sang-mu in an unusually subdued mood. When Yun mentioned President Kwak's impending decree on language education, the prosecutor said he had also just heard about it. While being careful not to connect the assassin Hwang with the Vengeance symbol, Yun revealed the tie-in with the murder of Yi In-wha and explained its decidedly anti-Japanese connotation. He told Park about the missing chapter revision of Dr. Lee's book, which apparently contained the identity of the man behind Poksu.
"If this man is so rabidly anti-Japanese," said the Captain apprehensively, "there's no telling what he may attempt to do to the president when he hears about this Japanese language decree."
The reply he got from Park so disturbed him that he stopped at the first telephone after leaving the prosecutor's office and called Burke Hill.
Burke had left for the office right after breakfast. It was around seven p.m. Washington time when he first tried to call Nate. He didn't really expect to find him at the Sixteenth Street headquarters, but he got no answer at his home, either. He decided to wait an hour and try again. While he was waiting, the call came through from the detective.
"Prosecutor Park told me things are worse than I thought, though he said I shouldn't worry about the president's safety. The presidential security force has been strengthened for any contingency. But there is talk of dissatisfaction among some of the older Army officers. The Defense Security Command has been put on full alert. There's a question, too, about how the NSP will react. And no one seems to know if the Prime Minister agrees with him. Some people are even suggesting President Kwak might have spent the war years in Tokyo secretly working for the Japanese. There has never been any proof of what he did during the war. I'm afraid this isn't a very good time to be leaving the country."
Burke knew that should it come to a military coup, it wouldn't be the first for South Korea. And if it would bring a halt to this mad rush toward a threat of nuclear confrontation, perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea. But anything relating to the big bang was out of bounds for discussion, so he chose to reassure the Captain that his trip would be hardly more than routine. "Come on now, you aren't leaving the country. You're just going a short distance north to another region of Korea. Isn't that what your government has been telling us all these years?"
Yun did not appear totally happy with the situation but seemed resigned to the inevitable. "I have carried out my responsibility by telling someone in authority," he said. "I suppose that is the most that can be expected of me. Hopefully, I can find the evidence in Pyongyang that will clear up this conspiracy once and for all."
After Captain Yun had left his office, the prosecutor began to mentally sift through what the detective had said and what he had not said. Yun mentioned the Poksu symbol had been found on the body of Yi In-wha. He carefully omitted his earlier contention that Hwang Sang-sol had murdered Yi, but surely he assumed Hwang left the paper with the symbol. Yun said the missing manuscript material dealt with the Poksu mystery. Again, he failed to mention his belief that Hwang was responsible for the murder of Dr. Lee, but obviously he blamed Hwang for taking the missing documents. Yun had not said specifically what he intended doing in Pyongyang, but to Park, logic dictated that it had something to do with Hwang Sang-sol. And that amounted to sheer madness.
It was not yet lunchtime, but worrying about what this lunatic detective might be up to made his oversize stomach growl and groan in protest. It demanded to be filled, and he was in no mood to eat alone. He needed somebody to talk to who could sympathize with his plight. He picked up the phone and dialed his old drinking companion, Yoo Hak-sil.
Burke knew it was urgent now, with this latest development in the situation at the Blue House, that he get in touch with Nate Highsmith. He tried Nate's home again with no results. The Amber Group had a special phone number for what amounted to a duty officer after business hours. The assignment rotated among the staff, with the designated person required to remain home on call. Nate and other senior staff kept the duty officer informed of their whereabouts in case of an emergency. Anyone needing to reach one of them would dial the special number, and their call would be forwarded automatically to the duty officer's home. Burke was about to place a call to the special number when Song Ji-young told him an overseas operator was asking for him.
A few moments later, Dr. Chloe Brackin came on the line. "Hello, Burke?"
He recognized her distinctive voice. "Yeah, Chloe. What is it?"
"I've sent your little wife to the hospital," she said. Lori wasn't all that small, except to a six-footer like Chloe. "She may be having false labor pains, but at this stage, I don't want to take any chances."
"Is Lori all right?" he asked, his voice rising.
In a droll voice she said, "As all right as you can be with a belly full of twins. She's not heading for a picnic, but we should be having a coming out party very shortly. She's a little earlier than I'd like, but I'm hopeful there won't be any problems. She's worried about you. Can you get back now?"
"I'll be on the first available flight," he promised. "Tell Lori I love her and to hang in there. I'll be back as fast as I can make it."
The Korean secretary and Brittany Pickerel were the only ones in the office. The others had gone to a special function in the Fast Food Plaza at the DLI 63 skyscraper on Yoido Island. American fast food franchisees there were participating in the Funland USA promotion. Burke told the ladies what had happened.
"I'll call the travel agent and see what's available," Brittany offered. "Why don't you go on back to the Chosun and get packed."
"Thanks. You can call me at my room and let me know."
"Will you need to talk to Mr. Chan?" Miss Song asked.
"Yeah. Can you reach him over there?"
"It may take a few minutes."
"Just have him call me at the hotel," he said, stuffing the things he needed into his briefcase.
By the time he reached the Chosun, there was a message to call Brittany. She had already booked him on a Northwest flight leaving Kimpo at noon. He would need to leave for the airport right away. The flight through Detroit would put him in Dulles at mid-afternoon of the same day, according to the calendar. Actually it would take about sixteen hours.
"Thanks a bunch," he told her. "Did Miss Song get in touch with Jerry?"
"She did. He said he would meet you at the airport. I hope your babies aren't in a big hurry, or else you'll be a daddy by the time you get home."
He had everything packed in record time, instructed the hotel to send his bill over to the Worldwide Communications Consultants office and caught a cab to Kimpo. He found Jerry waiting at the Northwest counter. After checking his bags and getting his boarding pass, Burke looked around for a spot where they could talk.
"I wasn't able to reach Nate," he told Jerry. "There's been a new development he needs to know about."