But she was led into another room where there was a group of men and, startlingly enough, a woman who was not a prisoner. Chung-Cha had never seen a woman who was not a prisoner. The woman told Chung-Cha she was with the government and that the leadership was looking for offspring of wrongdoers who wanted to serve their country. They would have to prove their loyalty first, she said. And if they did that, they would be taken to another place, fed, clothed, and educated. They would then be trained, over many years, to serve North Korea.
Would Chung-Cha want that? the woman had asked.
Chung-Cha could still remember gazing around at the men in the room staring at her. They had on uniforms, not of the prison, but of something else. They had shiny things on their chests, all sorts of colors.
She had been dumbstruck, paralyzed, unable to answer.
One of the men who had more shiny things than anyone else finally said, “Get us another and take this bitch back to where she came from. And however hard you are working her, triple it. And cut her food too. She has wasted our time.”
Hands had reached for Chung-Cha, but then she suddenly found her voice.
“What do I have to do?” she screamed out so loudly that one of the guards reached for his weapon, perhaps afraid she was going berserk and would attack them.
A minute of silence passed as all in the room looked at her. The man who had called her a bitch was scrutinizing her in a different way now.
He said, “You have been described as a tough little bitch. How tough are you?”
He backhanded her across the face, knocking her to the floor. Chung-Cha, all of ten years old, quickly got back on her feet and wiped the blood away from her mouth.
“That is nothing,” said the man. “Do not think that makes you tough, because it does not.”
Chung-Cha gathered her courage and stared back at him. “Tell me what it is I have to do to be free of this place, and I will do it.”
The general looked back at her with amusement, and then his features went cold. “I do not discuss things with filth. Others will tell you. If you fail, you will never leave this place. I will instruct them to keep you just barely alive so that you will have many more decades here. Do you understand?”
Chung-Cha kept staring at the man, her mind as clear as it had ever been. It was as though a life of darkness had just been suddenly filled with light. She knew this was the only chance she would ever have to leave here. And she meant to seize it.
“If you will not discuss it with filth like me, then who here will tell me what I have to do to be free of this place?” she said firmly.
The man seemed surprised by her audacity. He turned to the woman and said, “She will.”
Then he turned and left.
And that was the first and last time that Chung-Cha had personally laid eyes on General Pak.
Chung-Cha was stirred from her musings by her door slowly swinging open. Min stood in the doorway.
Chung-Cha sat up in her bed and looked at her. The two females did not say anything. Chung-Cha motioned with her hand and Min hurried over and climbed into bed with her.
She lay back and immediately went to sleep.
But Chung-Cha did not go to sleep. She just lay there looking at Min and thinking about events from what seemed like another life.
But it truly had once been hers.
Chapter
52
SHE’S BACK HOME AND SAFE,” Robie pointed out.
He and Reel were sitting outside at a café in D.C. having an early breakfast.
“By a miracle, Robie.”
“Miracles happen by chance. This didn’t.”
She put her coffee down and stared at him. “You know what I mean. You know how many things could have gone wrong. Any one of them could have cratered the mission and Julie would be dead.”
“But she’s not dead.”
Reel put her shades on, sat back, and stared off.
“And Earl?” he said.
She smiled grimly. “Back on death row and talking to himself. They don’t expect him to last a week.”
Robie’s phone buzzed. He looked at it and then sat up straighter.
“Blue Man.”
“At least it’s not Evan Tucker. I couldn’t take him, not today.”
“He wants us to come in.”
“Something up, you think?”
“He doesn’t usually call to chitchat.”
Reel rose and threw her cup of coffee into a trash can. “Then let’s not keep the man waiting.”
“Rumblings,” said Blue Man. “But distinct ones.”
They were seated in Blue Man’s office at Langley. The skies had darkened on the ride over and rain was starting to fall.
Reel and Robie glanced at each other.
Reel said, “Distinct how?”
“We have numerous contacts in South Korea, China, and Taiwan. These contacts in turn have a smaller number of resources planted in North Korea, mostly in Pyongyang.”
“And adding them all up, what do these rumblings say?” asked Robie.
“That the North Koreans are planning something.”
“Retaliation, you mean,” said Reel.
“I doubt it’s anything else,” said Blue Man. “The North Koreans are not known for either their tact or their compassion.”
“But they can keep secrets,” Robie pointed out. “Do we have any clue what form this retaliation might take?”
“It seems clear that they have discovered the level of Pak’s actions. And now his family has disappeared.”
“I didn’t think he had any family,” said Reel.
“So they’ve either been killed or sent to the labor camps,” said Robie with a resigned sigh.
Blue Man nodded. “Appears to be the case.”
Robie added, “If so, they’re beyond help.”
“I would have to agree with that. Any attempt to free them would create an international incident that we cannot afford at present.”
“He said to protect his family,” observed Reel quietly. “Well, we failed him on that.”
“We were talking retaliation?” said Robie quickly, noting Reel’s depressed look.
Blue Man nodded and opened a file on his desk. “It’s why I called you two in really. Now the DCI—”
“Is he still in denial?” Reel interrupted.
“Apparently so. Head in the sand, hoping the other shoe does not drop.”
“Great plan,” said Reel with disgust.
“Perhaps. But options are limited.”
“Surely we can take some defensive measures,” said Robie.
“We can and are,” replied Blue Man. “We feel that since our target was at the highest level in North Korea, any retaliatory action on their part will be aimed at the same level here.”
Robie looked doubtful. “The president? They have to realize they