Devil's Fork (4 page)

Eric continued “we have been working with
the military on developing this personalized version for the last
few years. Tom, when you’re in there, if something goes wrong and
fifty bad guys are running at you, you just hit them with this for
a couple seconds and they will all be running away. It also doesn’t
make noise and is very light.”

Tom was leaning forward in his seat for the
first time.

“
This is a non-lethal
weapon though, right?” he said methodically, as if he knew the
answer.

“
Yes”

“
I will have my M4 rifle as
I always do. Does it make sense to have, effectively, two rifles,
one of which doesn’t kill?”

Anderson stepped forward “You should use
your M4 as your primary weapon. This ADS is light and that dish on
the end folds, so you can attach this to your back. What we are
concerned about is if you get swarmed, your M4 will only do so
much. This thing can hit 50 people at once.”

“
Sir, with respect, if I
get swarmed, they will have me surrounded and I will get killed
nonetheless. And they’ll get that weapon.”

Sara shivered. Real intelligence operations
were not like the movies. An officer was not supposed to ride in
like a cowboy and start fighting. The most successful missions were
those where not a single shot was fired. In those missions, the SAD
was able to get intelligence without the opposing side knowing. Tom
and the other operatives brought their rifles on some of the more
dangerous missions, but just as an insurance policy. In case
somebody started shooting at them, they could shoot back. Or if
there was no way to get into a facility other than shooting a guard
outside, they could shoot. But in those cases, even if the
operative got back with the intelligence, the operation was still
considered unsuccessful. A successful clandestine operation against
an enemy meant that afterwards, the enemy would not know that you
know what he knows, Sara sometimes thought with a smile. That idea
seemed to bang all around her head.

“
Look, Tom, let’s not get
sidetracked about you getting swarmed. But at the end of the day
this weapon is very light and powerful. And quiet. I think you
should just take it and if you don’t use it, so be it.”

Tom sat back in his chair and gave out a
calm “Roger that, sir”.

Anderson nodded at Tom.
“Tom, you can go get your gear. We have a plane ready to take you
to South Korea now. Sara and Matt can you two message Pacific Fleet
Command and American Forces Korea? Can you tell them we are
inserting someone into North Korea and need the
Virginia
? I’ll connect with them
later to fill them in. By the way – Sara—what codename did you come
up with for this mission?”

Sara paused.

“
Devil’s Fork” she
replied.

Everyone looked at each other with heads
tilted. Sam mouthed to Eric “what is that?”

CHAPTER 4

MONDAY

Langley, Virginia

Tom was at his locker in the gear room. He
had a large, sturdy bag he always put his gear into for missions.
He always checked his modified M4 first. He had used it on all his
SEAL deployments and it felt like an extension of his arms. He
packed plenty of ammunition, his all-black night uniform, scuba
gear, night vision goggles, helmet and this new particle beam
weapon they gave him. Tom knew that on high-risk covert missions,
it is usually better to stick to what has always worked. He thought
he could fire his M4 almost without aiming because he had used it
so many times. But he knew it did nothing to think about it – the
particle beam rifle was coming along, so he better accept it. It
was better to focus on the mission.

From his SEAL days he had
learned to evaluate a mission on the spot. This was based on the
key elements needed in special operations for a mission to succeed.
Anybody could learn about these elements as they were all outlined
in
Spec Ops: Case Studies
in Special Operations Warfare Theory and
Practice
, which could be picked up in any
bookstore. But Tom had memorized it. Written by a brilliant SEAL
officer, it served as a manual for planning special missions. The
key takeaway is that special operations succeed when a small team
attains “relative superiority” over a larger enemy force. That
relative superiority could be achieved through six elements:
simplicity, security, repetition, surprise, speed, and sense of
purpose. He scrolled though each item in his mind.

“
Simplicity: I am just
getting to shore, sneaking up to this secret base, possibly
neutralizing a couple guards outside, taking a look inside and
leaving before sunrise. Yes that’s pretty simple,” he
thought.

“
Security: they don’t have
any way of knowing that I’m coming. Check.”

“
Repetition: I’ve done this
before. I will practice shooting and maneuvering in South Korea.
Check”

“
Surprise: The North
Koreans do not expect me to show up at that base.”

“
Speed: I’ll be in and out
in one night. That should be fast enough.”

“
Sense of purpose: It’s
definitely clear we have to figure out whether North Korea has
nuclear weapons before they use them. Because they
would
use them. Yes I
feel this mission is important.”

Just then he heard the door to the locker
room open. He turned around and saw Sara walking in, ignoring the
“Men” sign outside.

“
You’re not much for
men only
signs are you?”
Tom quipped.

“
Well, I needed to talk to
you before you left” She said.

She stopped a few feet from him. Tom kept
packing his gear but was looking at Sara. He liked how she looked
wearing her hair up – it showed more of her face. He also liked the
way she dressed – she always seemed to take the typical dark work
suit and add a dash of color – today she was wearing a small scarf
that was deep red. She always looked well put-together. He
appreciated her presence because he knew she was concerned for him.
He could feel it sitting next to her at the briefing. That together
with her sharp mind made her one of the top analysts in SAD, he
often thought.

Sara started speaking a little too slowly “I
– just wanted to see if you needed anything while you were gone.
Like do you need me to do anything for you while you’re away?” She
was touching her hair while she talked.

“
Can you grab my mail? I
was actually expecting a package today.”

She paused “OK – sure I can do that.”

“
I ordered a book –
Heart of Darkness
. Would
have been nice to read it on the plane, but I guess that’s not
happening.”

She paused again “I’ll be watching over the
mission closely on this one, Tom. I’ll make sure it goes right from
this end.”

“
With you here, I know
we’ll be in good shape.”

“
Well I better go help Matt
send that message to PACOM. Good luck Tom. I’ll get that book for
you.”

“
Thanks.”

Sara walked out of the gear room slowly. Tom
stood still for a few moments – he knew it was better to avoid
saying a mission will go well. It always seemed to jinx it. He
shrugged off the odd feeling and kept packing. But in the back of
his head, he remembered what he had learned from countless DEVGRU
and SAD operations. Missions rarely went completely according to
plan.

CHAPTER 5

MONDAY

Chongjin, North Korea

Officer 2135 decided it was time to check
in. He had been sitting in his apartment, looking at the grey sky.
Evening was creeping in, which he actually preferred to the dim
clouds during the day. His apartment had a yellow hue from his
lights.

He got up from his couch and walked into his
small bedroom. There was only enough room to walk in and sit on the
bed. 2135 was never bothered by it. On the floor next to his bed
was a small table. 2135 pushed it aside and looked underneath at
the usual spot. A hand-sized door was cut out of the floor where
the table stood. He thought of it more as a cubby. He opened the
compartment and saw his phone in its plastic bag, sitting in the
usual place.

Officer 2135 performed the same ritual he
had every night for the last fifteen years. This has been quite a
journey, he thought, as he reminisced back to his childhood.

He had seen many bright days in his small
childhood town in South Korea. He never had much contact with
foreigners. He had not seen a westerner or even a tourist from
China until he was in college. Young 2135 had no need to run around
town with others or take trips to a city to spend a few nights in
clubs or bars. He was always content with himself. But he could
always talk to anyone and had always felt respected by others in
school. His soccer team voted him captain in high school. He
suspected his journey had started when he joined the South Korean
Army after college. He remembered having to take a psychology exam.
He thought nothing of it at the time. He sat with his class of
cadets and spent thirty minutes answering questions on a piece of
paper. Most of the questions blurred with time. But a few stayed in
his mind. One he remembered clearly was:

Imagine you have discovered an astonishing
secret about a man in town who is not liked. Would you feel a need
to:

a) Write an article about it

b) Talk to your friends about it

c) Talk only to your family about it

d) Keep it in your own head

He remembered sitting in the room and
looking around at the other cadets. The majority had selected (c).
Some of the other cadets marked (b). 2135 remembers thinking for an
extra moment, and then filling in (d).

He remembered one other question:

Imagine you live in a large town. One day
you save a young boy from drowning in the nearby lake. Which of the
following do you feel would be the most appropriate?

a) You should be given an award by the mayor
in a ceremony in front of the entire town

b) You don’t need an award but an article
should be written in the newspaper about you

c) You don’t need a newspaper article about
you but the boy’s parents should come and thank you

d) You don’t feel there should be any
external recognition of your actions

After some thought, 2135 remembers circling
(d). It felt the most correct to him, although he did not know
why.

Several weeks later he was called into the
commanding officer’s office. As he walked in he remembered
immediately noticing two men in suits who were sitting on a couch.
One had a dark blue suit, and the other had a grey suit. Officer
2135 remembered looking at them and seeing their unblinking gazes
as they carefully observed his movements. The commanding officer
told him that these two men wanted to talk to him and ask him a few
questions. 2135 walked into another room with the two men. When
they started asking questions, 2135 felt like he was being
interrogated:

“
Do you think there is a
purpose to life?”

“
Do you have any regrets
in life?”

“
We just learned that you
failed your marksmanship test last week. How does that make you
feel?”

“
Your commanding officer
says you are not one of the intelligent cadets. What do you think
about that?”

“
I heard you cheated on
your university entrance exam. Is that true?”

“
How would you approach a
girl at a bar?”

“
If I pointed out a
mechanic working at a factory and told you to go make friends with
him, what would you do?”

Officer 2135 always smiled when he thought
about that meeting. He felt like a fencer trying to parry multiple
swords attacking him. He had never been asked such probing and
personal questions one after another. He still was not sure how he
responded. He just threw out what was on his mind at the time.

2135 did not hear anything for two months.
He in fact had forgotten about the incident altogether. Then came
the day he finished his training. That day he found himself alone
in the locker room, cleaning his gear. His unit had been given a
few days to go home and rest, having just graduated. Some had
already left and 2135 was planning to leave the next day. But as he
was putting his gear away, a man in a suit walked into the locker
room. 2135 remembers thinking nothing of it at first. There were
civilian employees at the base who came and went occasionally. But
this man was staring at him. 2135 remembered the next few minutes
clearly.

“
Hi.”
2135 had said.

“
Hello. Congratulations on
finishing your training.”

“
Thank you.”

“
Do you have a
minute?”

“
Me? Yes.”

“
Do you want any tea or
coffee?”

“
No thank you.”

“
I’m from the National
Intelligence Service. Have you heard of what we do?”

“
The NIS? I’m generally
familiar.”

“
What would you think if
you were offered to join?”

“
Me?”
2135 had said, almost unsure if the conversation was meant for
him.
“What would I do?”

“
We have been watching
you. You are unique. We think you will be a successful
officer.”