Devil's Fork (17 page)

Sara looked at Matt. His hand was on his
forehead. “Oh, no” he moaned quietly. Sara looked back at Mark. “So
what does that mean?” She asked.

“
I asked J.D. to look into
it further. What he found last night was even more unsettling, and
that’s why we needed to come over here to tell you.”

“
What?” Anderson
asked.

“
About 30 seconds after
NATPAC received the phone call from SLOTHMAN, he placed a phone
call of his own. He called a number in Beijing. J.D. figured out
that it went to a Chinese State government building. Whoever
received NATPAC’s phone call, made a call right after speaking to
NATPAC. This person’s call went to a city outside of China. It went
to a number in Pyongyang. In North Korea.”

“
Oh my God,” Sara
jumped.

Anderson started running out of the room.
Sara had rarely heard panic in his voice before. “They know Tom’s
coming!”

CHAPTER 22

WEDNESDAY

Northeast coast, North Korea

“
You all set, sir?” Collins
asked Tom. Tom hoisted himself into the dry deck shelter. It is a
compartment on a submarine that allows divers to enter and exit
while the ship is submerged. It held the SDV. Once the sailors on
the outside close the hatch, water fills the compartment to
equalize pressure with the water outside. Then the outer door
opens, allowing the diver or SEAL to exit the submarine.

Tom sat in his diving gear, with his
flippers on his feet and his Draeger Rebreather around his chest.
All of his weapons and gear were hanging on his body. Around him in
the dry deck shelter, a team of Navy divers sat with their diving
gear as well.

Tom took a look at the SDV. It looked good,
he thought. He liked using equipment he had been familiar with over
many years. The SDV was not an airtight vehicle. Water flowed
through it, so Tom had to wear his diving gear while operating it.
The SDV had air tanks on board, so while Tom was driving it to
shore, he did not need to use up his own oxygen. Tom checked that
his helmet was strapped on tight and that his diving mask was
secure on his face.

“
Yes. Thanks, Collins.” Tom
replied.

Collins saluted Tom. His face was serious,
his back straight. He had probably been briefed on the mission, Tom
thought. Tom was no longer in the military, as the SAD was a unit
within the CIA, a civilian agency. But Tom appreciated the gesture.
He returned a crisp salute.

Collins grabbed the hatch and shut it. Tom
looked around and saw the light of the submarine disappear. Water
started to seep into the compartment. Tom put in the mouthpiece of
his Draeger unit and started breathing the metallic-tasting oxygen.
Soon the water was above his head. Once the water pressure
equalized, the outer door opened. The open sea awaited him.

Tom and the Navy divers pushed out the SDV.
The sea was dim and cold, but serene. Once outside the dry deck
shelter, Tom pulled himself onto the seat of the SDV. He started
the controls and accelerated the vehicle towards shore. It felt
like riding a motorcycle underwater. Tom looked at his compass. He
needed to head due west. The shore was only a few nautical miles
away. He walked through the plan in his head. A half-mile from
shore, he would park the SDV on the seabed and swim the rest of the
way underwater. Getting on the beach should not be a challenge
either, Tom thought. His gear did not release any bubbles.
Furthermore, Anderson had said that there was a low troop presence.
It was also late at night – everyone here should be garrisoned by
now.

CHAPTER 23

Wednesday

Langley, Virginia

Anderson, Sara, Matt, and their new friends
from the NSA burst into the Command Room like a pack of wild
animals. Anderson’s voice maintained a certain calm as he began
asking questions.

“
Did Tom leave the
Virginia
yet? Someone get
in contact with the
George
Washington
. Tell them order the
Virginia
to abort this
mission.” Everyone in the room looked back at him frozen with faces
of shock.

Matt ran to his station and
picked up his phone. He had set up a direct line with the
George Washington
. “This
is Matt. We need to abort Devil’s Fork. I repeat abort Devil’s
Fork.” He listened to a response at the other end, then frantically
said “Radio the
Virginia
. Order them to abort. Order
them to break radio silence and report status.”

Anderson looked at his team, “Did Tom radio
in yet?”

“
Not yet.” One analyst
responded.

Anderson turned to one of the analysts on
his right. “When are we getting the next set of satellite imagery
of that area?” Sara remembered that the last satellite images they
looked at were perhaps half a day old.

“
Actually in about 10
minutes, John.”

Sara looked at her watch. “If we were on
schedule, he would have launched the SDV by now. He would probably
be parking it by now.” She turned around and saw Mark and J.D.
staring at the chaos from the back of the room. They look liked
they cared this time, she thought.

After a few minutes, Matt
turned around, covering the phone with his hand. His face had a
raspberry-like hue. “The
Virginia
is saying that Tom launched already. There’s no
way to radio him now until he gets ashore and radios
back.”

Anderson stood in the middle of the room.
His arms were crossed, but one was supporting his forehead. He
looked like he was in deep thought. Sara thought she could help him
out.

“
It might be fine. Mission
plan was for him to radio as soon as he’s on the beach. So when he
does that, we’ll just tell him to abort, right? He doesn’t need to
go any further.”

“
I hope we can do that,”
Anderson said while shaking his head slowly, “But we might not be
able to call it off in time. If his radio doesn’t work, or it only
works after he’s a mile in, or if he gets caught right on the beach
it will be too late.” Sara stared at him as she continued thinking.
A part of her wanted to start crying, but she willed it away. She
had to hold herself together now, she thought. That’s what Tom
needed.

Anderson thought some more. He pointed at
Matt.

“
Matt, ask the
George Washington
if they
can put a couple of Marine platoons on standby, with helicopters
too. To get Tom out if we need to.”

Matt slowly raised the phone to his head, as
he thought about the implications.

Sara turned to Anderson, “But if we send in
the Marines to get him out, and they get into a firefight with the
North Korean Army, it could spark a war. They could think we are
invading them.”

Anderson said coolly, “I’m hoping we don’t
get to that point. I want the option ready just in case. I’m hoping
that the North’s military presence is still low on that beach and
that they’ve only beefed up the area around that base.”

He turned to one of the analysts on his
left. “Can you get in contact with the Director. Give him an
overview of the situation. Tell him Devil’s Fork is compromised,
and that the North Koreans found out. Tell him I’m managing the
situation but would like to have approval for a possible military
exfil option in case we need it. If he needs me before he briefs
the President, tell him I can call him.” Anderson then said to
himself, “hopefully there is a low military presence. Hopefully we
can get Tom out quickly.”

Then the analyst in charge of the satellite
imagery came in with the latest images. He walked up to Anderson
and Sara and stood in front of them for a moment too long. Sara
thought he looked like he did not want to share what he held.
Eventually Anderson took the file and studied the images.

“
And that is exactly what I
did not want to see.”

“
What?” Sara
demanded.

“
Look,” He gave her the
images, “That whole area is covered with North Korean Army
units.”

CHAPTER 24

WEDNESDAY

Northeast Coast, North Korea

Tom gently poked his head out of the water
for the third time. He was about 30 feet from the edge of the sea
on the beach. He looked left and right. Then he put his head back
underwater.

This doesn’t make sense

North Korean soldiers were patrolling the
beach. Not two or three. But many. He tried to count them the
fourth time he poked his face out of the water.

Maybe 30?

And that was just on the football field of
beach right in front of him. He saw soldiers farther up and down as
well. He tried not to keep his face above water for too long
because it increased his chances of being spotted.

He sat underwater as he thought to himself.
He thought the mission was supposed to be clean. In the briefing
they kept saying that there generally was a low military presence,
especially at night. Even then, the North Korean military
intelligence units patrolling the area were supposed to be much
closer to the underground base itself. What were they doing on the
beach? And why so many?

Whatever, just get to that base.

He stuck his face out again. He saw the
soldiers walking around with flashlights, scanning them along the
beach and into the water. He was far enough away that the lights
were not close to him. He noticed that there were patterns in how
the soldiers patrolled. Several groups walked in one direction
while several more walked in the other. Sometimes they stopped and
huddled around for a cigarette. He noticed that there were pockets,
sometimes twenty feet wide, that nobody was observing. The sky was
dark and the sea loud. If he could just sprint through one of those
pockets, he could get past the beach. On the far side was a forest
that would give him better cover. He would have to turn on his
radio once he got further inland. He definitely could not do it on
the beach as planned, he thought.

He moved in closer. Once he could stand, he
took off his flippers and attached them to their designated spot on
his back. He kept his face above water now and took out the
mouthpiece to his rebreather and hooked it onto his chest. He
unstrapped his M4 so that he could run better.

Tom saw to his left a group of five soldiers
walking towards the right. To his right a group of five soldiers
were walking towards the left, soon to cross paths with the other
group.

A pocket is going to form here

Up and down the beach it looked like the
other soldiers were heading away from the soon-to-be pocket in
front of him. Once these groups ahead cross, Tom thought, he would
sprint through the pocket. As these groups approached each other,
they slowed down. When they met, they stopped. This happened right
in front of Tom. The group of ten, now, took out some cigarettes
and started lighting up. Tom could hear their voices. They sounded
surprisingly normal. He thought for a minute and realized he was
probably expecting to hear animalistic screams instead of voices.
But these soldiers sounded like they could have been talking about
their kids. It was an odd feeling, and Tom made sure to shake it
off.

Come on, keep walking.

Tom wanted them to move. By now he was
shivering. Vibrating was a better way to describe it. The sea at
night could be cold. Tom was completely wet and sitting still – not
the best way to maintain body heat. He ignored it and kept
watching.

Suddenly the group divided itself back into
two. Now there were groups on the left moving further towards the
left and groups on the right moving further towards the right. Tom
had an empty pocket in front of him that nobody was watching. He
figured he probably had twenty seconds at most. He did not have
time to think about best practices – he had to go.

He started walking forward methodically and
slowly, so as not to create any noise. In no time, his entire body
was out of the water. At this point, he started sprinting towards
the other side of the beach. It seemed like it took a hundred steps
to get there. He could feel adrenaline start to pump through his
body, making him super-conscious of his surroundings. While running
he quickly glanced left and right. The soldiers on either side were
turned away. This just might work, he thought.

As he got near the end of the beach, he
slowed down. He did not want to make a rustling noise as he dove
into the woods. By now, he thought he was in the trees’ shadows, so
he should be harder to spot.

When the woods were just feet away, he
slowed more and took a measured step into the forest. Now he began
to walk methodically, at a measured speed. He was monitoring his
right and left side.

He stopped as he saw something at his two
o’clock. He got on his knee and raised his M4. About 50 feet away,
Tom saw a light moving around.

A
Flashlight.

He could hear the soldiers holding it
speaking loudly and laughing at something. They were walking away
from him luckily. But it served as a warning. Other patrols were
likely to be walking around in the woods. Tom had to be beyond
cautious.

This is the most heavily patrolled area I
have ever infiltrated.

He stayed on his knee, thinking for a
minute. If he turned his radio on and called in here, one of these
patrols might be able to hear him. Tom thought some more. It was
best to continue moving inland before radioing in.

CHAPTER 25