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    Code 6 North of the DMZ: Paul Decker assignments, #7
    Code 6 North of the DMZ: Paul Decker assignments, #7
    Code 6 North of the DMZ: Paul Decker assignments, #7
    Ebook417 pages5 hours

    Code 6 North of the DMZ: Paul Decker assignments, #7

    By Jeffry Weiss

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    There are currently two hundred thousand North Korean citizens held in prison camps, where they are beaten, starved and executed, while the government squanders the nation's resources on weapons and luxuries for the ruling elite.

    Paul Decker, along with Chechen Borya Timoshenko - and eleven young men and women who escaped from the camps - go into North Korea Code 6: without the backing of the US, or any other government. 

    Their plan, to free as many prisoners as possible, requires precision timing.  With all eyes on the border, Paul and his team slip into the country and liberate the first camp. 

    From there, they must count on both the guards and prisoners at the other camps joining them in the fight; something that is far from certain.

    Buoyed by success, they risk all by going on to Pyongyang and attempt to kidnap the glorious leader himself: Kim Jung-un.

    But many on Paul's team are blinded by revenge and things begin to go very wrong.

    Code 6 is a story of despair, hope and sacrifice.

     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJeffry Weiss
    Release dateJan 29, 2016
    ISBN9781517142841
    Code 6 North of the DMZ: Paul Decker assignments, #7
    Author

    Jeffry Weiss

    BIOGRAPHY Mr. Weiss attended Central High School, at the time recognized as the top High School academically in the U.S.  He then attended Drexel University where he gained a BS in History, Temple University where he earned an MA in Economics and the University of Pennsylvania where he received an MA in International Affairs.  Those studies provided him with unique insights in the realm of foreign policy, military capabilities, détente, and trade. He has been a writer for forty plus years and has penned hundreds of articles on social, political, and economic issues.  He has written position papers for the Carter and Clinton Administrations and his work on social issues has received recognition directly from the office of the President of México.  He speaks regularly with Noam Chomsky on political, economic, cultural, and military issues. Mr. Weiss writes political, military, economic and scientific thrillers.  There are now twelve books in the Paul Decker series.  All his stories come right off the front pages of the major magazines and newspapers but none of his plots has ever found their way into novel before.  His characters are ones readers can relate to: flawed, not superheroes.  His stories do not require a leap of faith or use deus ex machina. Finally, he has written a stage play, “Einstein at the Guten Zeiten (good times) Beer Garden, and an urban horror novel: “The Art of Theft”, a modern day version of “The Picture of Dorian Grey” by Oscar Wilde.

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      Book preview

      Code 6 North of the DMZ - Jeffry Weiss

      by

      Jeffry Weiss

      OTHER BOOKS BY JEFFRY WEISS

      POLITICAL THRILLER SERIES; PAUL DECKER ASSIGNMENTS

      1) The Go Code Protocol

      2) Web War One

      3) The Patriot Betrayal

      4) The Cern Revelation

      5) The Euro Option

      6) The Eugenics Solution

      7) Code 6 North of the DMZ

      8) We the People

      9) The Neanderthal Regression

      10) To Live and Die in Juarez

      11) The Mouth of Allah

      12) Changing Of the Tides

      13) Year of the Crocodile

      14) The Order

      15) The Death Zone

      16) The Kremlin Insider

      SCREENPLAYS

      From The Depth

      The Auto Auction

      DIET / NUTRITION

      Why We Eat...And Why We Keep Eating

      The Perfect Day

      The Caffeine Diet

      Turning Off the Hunger Gene

      Warning

      Living a Alzheimer Free Life

      SCI-FI

      A Dystopian Tale

      Message from Ceti-Alpha-6

      REMAKES OF OLD CLASSICS

      A Story Of Revenge (based on The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas)

      Faust 2000 A.D. (based on Faust by Goethe)

      The Art of Theft (based on The Portrait of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde)

      POLITICAL SATIRE

      The Wizards of Oz

      SOLVING THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION

      Who Bought the Bullets

      STAGE PLAY

      Einstein at the Guten Zieten Beer Garden

      The Committee for Human Rights estimates that, at any given time, North Korea holds approximately 200,000 of its own people in a system of concentration and detention camps.  In just the past ten years, 400,000 people have died in those camps from torture, starvation, disease and execution.  An endless supply of the living to replace the dead.  These reports indicate that in that same period of time, North Korea has allowed between 2,000,000 and 2,500,000 of its people to starve to death while its government squandered the nation’s resources on weapons of aggression and luxuries for its ruling elite.  North Korea’s oppression and politically targeted starvation of its people collectively constitute the world’s greatest ongoing atrocity, and certainly the most catastrophic anywhere on earth since the end of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979.

      I shall never forget how I was roused one night by the groans of a fellow prisoner, who threw himself about in his sleep, obviously having a horrible nightmare.  I went to wake the poor man.  Suddenly I drew back the hand which was ready to shake him, frightened at the thing I was about to do.  At that moment I became intensely conscious of the fact that no dream, no matter how horrible, could be as bad as the reality of the camp which surrounded us, and to which I was about to recall him.

      Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

      * * *

      In the internment camps, everyone had his place. The guards were trained to torture and kill, the victims came to suffer and die.

      Elie Wiesel

      * * *

      When I came to power, I did not want the concentration camps to become old age pensioners homes, but instruments of terror.

      Adolf Hitler

      * * *

      It is the camp law: people going to their death must be deceived to the very end."

      Tadeusz Borowski, This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen

      * * *

      If you want things to remain as they are, then everything needs to change.

      The Leopard, by Tomasi di Lampedusa

      THE PARTICIPANTS

      The President’s Cabinet

      US President: James P. Hardessy

      Chief of Staff: Alan Carmichael

      Secretary of Homeland Security: Charles Lautner

      President’s personal secretary: Mary Cleveland

      Secretary of State: Sharon Delaney

      Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DoDIA): Arthur Long

      NSA Director: Frank Kowalski

      Secretary of Defense: Gregory Turner

      CIA Director: Tom Courtney

      U.S. Ambassador to South Korea: Michael Davenport

      US Ambassador to China: Douglas Stevens

      Presidential Golden Retriever: Darwin

      THE PARTICIPANTS

      US Military

      General Franks in Seoul, South Korea

      General Packer at the Situation Room in Washington

      Colonel Meyers, Commander of US / South Korean forces at the DMZ

      Major Roberts, U.S. chopper pilot in Pyongyang

      Admiral Zachary Forester: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS)

      ––––––––

      The enemy

      Kim Jong-un, glorious leader of North Korea

      Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho, chief of the General Staff

      Chang Sung-taek, Vice-Chairman of the National Defense Commission.

      Park Se-bong, Second Economic Committee Chairman

      PARTICIPANTS

      Paul Decker’s insurgent team

      Paul Decker

      Borya Timoshenko

      Ms. Mi-hi

      Mr. Sang-ook

      Mr. Kang-dae

      Mr. Kwang-sun

      Mr. Jong-hee

      Ms. Ho-sook

      Ms. Hyun-jae

      Ms. Hwa-young

      Mr. Kyu-song

      ––––––––

      North Korean Support for Paul Decker

      Lieutenant Tong from Camp 22

      Sergeant Po from Camp 22

      Sergeant Pak from Camp 22

      Sergeant Rok from Camp 16

      Lieutenant Gi from Camp 16

      Sergeant Sam from Camp 16

      Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho, (after defecting)

      FACTS

      Currency conversion

      $1.00 US = ₩4,000 Korean Won (black market rate)

      ––––––––

      Names

      All names are fictitious except for the leaders of North Korea

      Escapees from North Korea often take South Korean names

      ––––––––

      Former and current leaders of North Korea

      Kim II-sung (real name – Kim Song-ju) - 1948-1991

      Kim Jong-iI (son of Kim Song-ju) – 1991-2011

      Kim Jong-un (son of Kim Jong-iI) – 2011 - present

      ––––––––

      Speeches

      All speeches by Kim Jong-un are verbatim

      ––––––––

      Juche Ideology

      Translation: independent stand or spirit of self-reliance.  States that the Korean people are the masters of the country's development.  And what is needed to follow that path is a strong military and reliance strictly on Korean national resources.

      Chapter   Place

      ––––––––

      One    The DMZ

      Two    White House

      Three   Aboard Airbus 320

      Four    People’s Congress, Pyongyang

      Five    Situation Room. White House

      Six    Aboard Airbus 320

      Seven    White House

      Eight   Vladivostok, Russia

      Nine    Situation Room.  White House

      Ten    European Camp Hotel, China

      Eleven   White House

      Twelve   Tumen River.  China / N. Korea

      Thirteen   White House

      Fourteen   People’s Congress, Pyongyang

      Fifteen   Camp 22, North Korea

      Sixteen   Situation Room, White House

      Seventeen  People’s Congress, N. Korea

      Eighteen   Situation Room, White House

      Nineteen   Chongjin, N. Korea

      Twenty   Situation Room, White House

      Chapter   Place

      ––––––––

      Twenty-one  Camp 16, N. Korea

      Twenty-two  People’s Congress, Pyongyang

      Twenty-three  Musudan-ri, N. Korea

      Twenty-four  Situation Room, White House

      Twenty-five  People’s Congress, Pyongyang

      Twenty-six  Musudan-ri, N. Korea

      Twenty-seven  Tanch'ŏn, N. Korea

      Twenty-eight  Situation Room, White House

      Twenty-nine  Hamhŭng, N. Korea

      Thirty   Situation Room, White House

      Thirty-one  Hamhung, N. Korea

      Thirty-two  People’s Congress

      Thirty-three  Hamhung, N. Korea

      Thirty-four  Situation Room, White House

      Thirty-five  S. Hamgyong, N. Korea

      Thirty-six   Situation Room, White House

      Thirty-seven  S. Hamgyong, N. Korea

      Thirty-eight  Press Club, Wash., D.C.

      Thirty-nine  Camp 15, N. Korea

      Forty   Situation Room, White House

      Chapter   Place

      Forty-one   Camp 15, N. Korea

      Forty-two   Situation Room, White House

      Forty-three  Changrim, N. Korea

      Forty-four  Situation Room, White House

      Forty-five   Pyongyang, N. Korea

      Forty-six   Situation Room, White House

      Forty-seven  Pyongyang, N. Korea

      Forty-eight  Oval Office, White House

      Forty-nine  Pyongyang, N. Korea

      Fifty    Situation Room, White House

      Fifty-one   Pyongyang, N. Korea

      Fifty-two   Situation Room, White House

      Fifty-three  Pyongyang, N. Korea

      Fifty-four   Situation Room, N. Korea

      Fifty-five   Pyongyang, N. Korea

      CHAPTER ONE

      The DMZ.  Border between North and South Korea.  4:00 p.m.

      The Demilitarized Zone - a strip of land that runs along the 38th parallel across the Korean Peninsula, serving as a buffer between the North and South - was created in 1953 after the war that claimed more than three million lives.

      The Korean Wall - which stretches one hundred and forty-nine miles from east to west, stand sixteen to twenty-six feet high, thirty-three to sixty-two feet thick at the bottom - is dotted with gun embrasures, look-outs and diverse military forces.

      Guards from North and South Korea stand at opposite ends of the Bridge of No Return, where soldiers of one side watch soldiers of the opposite side watching them.

      Since demarcation, the DMZ has had numerous cases of incidents and incursions by the North Koreans.  Hundreds of soldiers on each side have been killed.  Few doubt that North Korea would soon test the mettle and resolve of the allied forces.  Kim Jong-un - the latest incarnation of the Kim regime, comprised of psychopathic / sociopathic criminals who have no regard for human life, either that of its own people or its perceived enemies - now in control of a million man army, see much to gain and little to lose. 

      *

      Paul Decker looked out the bay window, past the rows of brick houses, and through the parting clouds to the guards, watchtowers, concertina wire, concrete barriers, and huge warning signs that denoted the DMZ.  There were massive loudspeakers mounted on several buildings that continuously delivered North Korean propaganda broadcasts directed towards the South. 

      He’d been in so many conflict zones, seen so much fighting, but he had never confronted such a level of depravity, insanity, and human despair as he had in coming to grips with the situation in North Korea.  Even Saddam Hussein allowed freedom of religion and developed a modern, Westernized society.  Muammar Gaddafi introduced free education...for both sexes and universal health care.  The leaders the U.S. reviled led their countries into the 21st century.  The countries the U.S. backed were repressive and inhumane: The Shah of Iran, Hosni Mubarak, Manuel Noriega, and other dictators.  Paul had taken part in some of those coups d'état that ushered in the reigns of those brutal men.  He was determined to get it right this time...come hell or high water.

      Paul stepped back from the window and returned to the business at hand.  The others were waiting for him; the time for reflection was over. 

      The apartment of Mi-hi in Seoul, South Korea was rudimentary: two bedrooms, one bath.  No fancy appliances, just the basic necessities.  Maybe South Korea had modernized, but those amenities were available only to the well-to-do.  For Mi-hi, that meant no hot water, no air conditioning.

      All the other furniture in the dining room, but for a table six chairs, had been removed.  Five mattresses were stacked atop one another in the corner for sleeping, which was relegated to four hours a night.

      What turned the house into a home were pictures of other Korean men and women who had escaped from the North.  There were letters pinned to each photo, a way for those who had experienced the nightmare of captivity to make sense of their new lives that were as alien to them as Earth would be to an extraterrestrial.

      Mi-hi kept the plates of her guests - Paul, Sang-ook, Kang-dae, Kwang-sun and Chechen Borya Timoshenko - full of rice, pork, and vegetables.  The house smelled of cooking: chili, ginger, fermented bean paste known as Denjang, sesame seed oil, chopped onions, and red peppers.  And, if the ingredients blended according to plan, maybe a song...or two.

      Since the others had arrived three days before, Mi-hi had worked doubly hard to make sure the food was replenished and the coffee refilled at the first sign they were running low.  Yet she kept an ear perked to the conversation and offered her experience and opinion without hesitation.

      Paul, Borya, and the Korean men hovered over the table in the dining room that had been converted into a war room. 

      Pasted on the east wall were satellite images highlighting the location, size, and capabilities of North Korea’s known military forces.  On the north wall was an inventory of necessary weapons, food rations and medical supplies they would need.  The west wall had a list of the required uniforms representing the various countries they would be entering, and false IDs needed for the campaign.  And most important, the south wall, which showed close-up aerial photos of the six internment camps.

      What had been an idea three months ago sitting in front of President Hardessy and his National Security team, coalesced into a concept after briefings by the CIA and the generals, became a real possibility with the recent information brought out by the four prison escapees from the North Korean camps.  Now it had crystallized into a clear plan of action. three days from implementation.  All that was left was for each team member to memorize the details.  Not just their part, but everyone’s part - for who knew which one of them would be left at the end to finish the job.

      Two Apple 21" ultra-high resolution laptops were tied in to Langley, Virginia and Ft. Meade, Maryland, receiving constant updates of North Korean troop movements, weather conditions, even translations of recent speeches given by Kim Jong-un...to determine if there were any changes in policy, or a redirection of manpower, that might affect the mission. 

      Sang-ook, Kang-dae, and Kwang-sun were on their smartphones, held in the crook of their necks so they could continue smoking.  Paul knew they were checking the latest stories of escapees from North Korea, to see if there was information that confirmed or contradicted the knowledge the three men had collected during their own years behind those same fences, looking for the smallest detail that might mean the success or failure of the operation they had been planning.

      While Paul and Borya ate their fill, the plates of food for the three Korean men remained untouched since the night before.  They were more concerned that they might run out of their smelly Zhong cigarettes than out of food.

      The non-stop smoking created a haze in the room and gave Paul a headache, but he wasn’t about to tell them to stop doing something they’d not been allowed to do for more than ten years in the internment camps.

      He went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face to wake him up and wash the burning sensation from his eyes.  Refreshed, he wiped his hands and face, staring angrily in the mirror above the washbasin as he did.  The image did not reflect back to him what was in his mind’s eye.  There were lines, bags and grooves that betrayed him, lied to him in his fight to remain young and hold off the aging that was meant for other men.

      He would battle back against that onslaught of time just as he fought other enemies, ones more formidable than the ravages of growing old.

      But it was not just the face that gave him away.  There were too many painful experiences, too much knowledge of the depths to which man could sink, now taken to a new low by the Kim regime.  And then there was the guilt of sending out men too many times to die or to kill, which had taken its toll.  It seemed that the soldiers were getting younger, children really, which made him feel even more responsible.

      And now the scenario was about to repeat itself, except for the fact that the people he was going to lead back into a nightmare world were not only young, but, except for Borya, not even soldiers.  He didn’t know if he could handle the death of people who hadn’t had a chance to live yet...for surely there would be some who wouldn’t make it back.

      Paul could not allow the guilt, or the losses from previous missions, affect the one that was about to begin.  He shook off those thoughts and returned to the task at hand. 

      He looked at his team in awe of what they had overcome. 

      The Korean men and woman he temporarily shared the apartment with were so different than himself, and from each other; yet Westerners had a hard time telling Orientals apart.  However, in the case of those present, there were distinct differences, despite the fact they were all in their twenties.  Mi-hi, which meant beauty and joy in Korean, was petite: barely five feet tall and maybe ninety pounds soaking wet.  She was pixie cute, a face untouched by her sixteen years in the camps.  But her black eyes seemed to match her soul.  Something resided in them that was both frightening and frightened; a soul butchered, abandoned. 

      She walked haltingly, never wore sleeveless shirts or short pants no matter how hot it was.  Paul thought there might be a house of horrors hidden under those clothes.  She smiled often, but it was strained.  She eschewed small talk, but was passionate about their plans.  She spoke little compared to the men, and nothing about her time in captivity.  There were demons inside her.  Paul wanted to hug the woman to tell her everything was all right, but things weren’t all right, at least not for her, and he didn’t even have a clue how deep the pain went.  When Paul, or one of the others, touched her arm in the most innocuous way, Mi-hi almost jumped out of her skin. 

      Sang-ook was tall for a Korean, just a few inches short of six feet.  He looked afraid, as if he brought with the ghosts from his past.  When he spoke, his eyes darted, always on the lookout for potential enemies.  Whether real or imagined was known only to him, and the battle going on in his head.   His face and body did not bear scars like the others.  Maybe he was lucky...or maybe all the scars were internal.  He talked readily about what he observed in the camp but was reticent in regards to his own time in captivity.

      Kang-dae tilted to one side due to a shoulder that was badly mangled, making him look even smaller than he was.  There was an intensity, an anger, that boiled up from within, which hadn’t had time to dissipate in the nine months since his escape, not after thirteen years in the camps.  Several fingers on one hand were missing.  He had, at one time, been handsome, but that had been beaten out of him. 

      Kwang-sun was blind in one eye from a kick to the head and he was dangerously thin even after escaping nearly a year before.  He could only eat small amounts of food or he would throw up.  He hadn’t gained an ounce of weight, but at least he hadn’t lost any more.  His jaw had been broken and his lower lip did not match up, which made understanding him difficult at times.  His face was a roadmap of scars that told of his journey far more than any words could.

      Paul considered sharing his prisoner experiences with them, but then thought better of it, realizing his were in kindergarten while theirs were at the graduate level.

      All right, Borya, now let me hear from you, Paul said. 

      The Chechen tried to swallow a mouthful of stir-fried beef before speaking. 

      It pissed Paul off that he had to wait on Borya, but he kept a cool head.  Once more, in detail, he said in a manner that made it clear they were running out of time.

      Yes, yes.  Just as long as you know what a pain in the ass you are.  Borya swallowed, took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to show his frustration at having something get in the way of him and food.  We fly into Vladivostok, he said, tracing his finger along the route map, then take a ferry across Amur Bay to Primorsky Krai.

      How long does the ferry take? Paul asked, lifting his eyes from the plans to make sure he was connecting with Borya.

      It is only ten miles.  Less than one hour, Borya replied.  Waiting for us across the bay, in Primorsky, will be the truck and the weapons.

      And we can count on General Orgronzki? Paul grilled the Chechen.

      This man is a Field Marshall of the Army.  He is like a God in Russia.

      And how about payment?

      Ha!  The general is thrilled to be of assistance.  He realizes that the leaders of North Korea are loose cannons, and if they launch their nuclear weapons in a fit of paranoia, great damage could be done, not just to structures, but to international trade and economies.  Nuclear fallout could make Eastern Russia a wasteland for decades.  And even old friends, who no longer support the regime, might become targets.  He considers the weapons and the vehicle a small contribution to our cause.

      You know what happens if we fail, Borya? Paul posed.

      Yes, we are made prisoners ourselves and become members of the walking dead.

      Please do not concern yourselves about that, Kang-dae said, making light of the possibility.  He tapped off the accumulated ash, dangling from the tip of his cigarette, into his cupped hand.

      Why’s that? Paul asked.

      They will torture you for a day or two, then shoot you, he said with certainty.  You do not need to worry about the on-going nightmare of living in the camps.

      "Well, now that’s reassuring!" Borya exclaimed, joking about something only he would find funny.

      Mi-hi tossed a heavy metal ladle into the sink, which clanged off every side of the basin before coming to a rest, wiped her hands viciously with a towel, and threw that into the sink as well.  Our safety is unimportant, she reminded the others.  We are six people, important only for what we do, not who we are.  If we do not succeed, then another forty thousand people die of starvation or firing squad each year.  And that is only at the camps.  The world must be made aware of what is happening in North Korea.

      The world already knows, Paul assured.  It’s just that people are focused on their own issues.

      No! Mi-hi insisted.  They receive the news after it has been sanitized, white-washed.  Do you think they know prisoners throw up then try to eat the food again like regurgitating cows?

      No, I—, Paul began.

      Or sift through pig dung for a kernel of undigested corn? she said, wagging the towel at Paul.

      No, Paul stammered.  You’re right, but we don’t have the time to change their mindset or re-educate them.  As for others, the people of each country endure their own hardships.  It’s pretty difficult to convince them that some else’s problems are more important.

      So buying size triple extra-large pants at the specialty stores because they cannot stop eating is a hardship?  And driving vehicles as big as tanks that cost one hundred million won is more important than the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people? Mi-hi cried.  She staggered under the weight of her emotions, throwing out a hand to steady herself against the sink lest she fall and crumple to the ground.

      Sang-ook, Kang-dae, and Kwang-sun jumped back like they were hit by electricity, trying to get as far away from Mi-hi as they could in the cramped apartment.

      We’re not going to change the hearts and minds of other people.  We can only depend on each other. Paul explained.  And we can’t get ahead of ourselves.  We need to focus on the narrow mission parameters.

      That is not enough! Mi-Hi said in a shaky voice.  We can do more!  We... Overcome with emotion, she struggled with the complexity of the English language.

      Kang-dae stopped checking his smartphone, stabbed out his cigarette and stepped forward.  We must destroy the camps and the factories where living skeletons are tied to the machines eighteen hours a day, then end the reign of the Kims.  He looked at Paul and Borya as if they had been living in some gated community listening only to government approved broadcasts.

      Once we’re in, we’ll see what we can do, Paul snapped, irked by the interruptions and side-tracking.  But I can’t promise that.  There’s the small matter of one point three million North Korean troops.

      We cannot allow anything to stand in our way.  This is a monstrous evil that must be destroyed, Mi-hi demanded, looking around for support of her position.

      Da, Borya agreed.  This is bad, but there has been worse.

      Where?  Biafra, Cambodia? Paul suggested.

      In my home country, my friend, Borya assured, licking the soy sauce off the fingers he used to pick up a piece of beef that eluded his chop sticks.  "In 1944, the entire population of Chechnya was deported after rebelling against Soviet rule.  Those not deemed fit for transport were 'liquidated' on the spot, the remainder died in Siberia.  Five-hundred thousand perished, over half of the total Chechen population.  All traces of them in the city, including books and graveyards were destroyed by the NKVD troops. 

      In 1957, the Chechens were allowed to return, Borya went on.  "After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Chechnya declared its independence once more.  Boris Yeltsin, then Vladimir Putin, sent Russian forces against Chechnya.  The scale of the devastation caused many comparisons with Hiroshima and other cities leveled by bombing during World War II.  Three hundred thousand were killed.  The United Nations declared Grozny the most destroyed city on earth."

      You’re right, Paul said defensively, a hand held up, palm out.  Didn’t mean to dismiss the suffering your people endured.

      I lost many good friends and family members in those wars, Borya said, wagging an accusatory finger.  What I am saying is that there will always be such men in the world.  Our battle does not end with the Kims.  We must be vigilant.  ’Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’, Borya quoted.  George Santayana.  But enough reminiscing.  What are you bringing to the table, Paul Decker?

      I’m Code 6, Paul replied in a hushed voice.  My government is not sanctioning this action.  If we get our tits in a ringer, we’re on our own.  No negotiation for our release.  No prisoner exchange program.

      "Oh, now that is a good plan!" Borya chided, making light of the dangers as only a Chechen could.

      Paul glared.  If you’ve got a better one, speak now or forever hold your peace.

      Me? Borya asked, tapping his chin with a finger.  Let’s see.  One, we fly in, get captured and become prisoners.  Two, we capture the first camp and North Korean High command learns of our actions, thinks we are part of an all-out invasion, declares war on South Korea, and five million people die in the missile bombardment and infantry attack.  Three, we liberate all six camps before Kim Jong-un learns what is happening and we get a ticker-tape parade in New York City.

      That’s very good, Paul said.

      Yes, it is very important to maintain a sense of humor when your odds of success are in the single digits, Borya touched lightly on a topic too real to linger upon.

      I’d have to agree with you there, Paul replied.

      And you, Paul Decker?  What happens to you if we make it back alive?

      I was thinking about reuniting with the kids.  Maybe try to bring the family back together again.

      When the conversation turned personal between Paul and Borya, the Koreans gave them space and took the opportunity to go about their own business.  For Mi-hi, that was tending to the pots on the stove.  For Kang-dae, Kwang-sun, and Sang-ook, it meant puffing on their cigarettes as if in a race to see who would be left standing at the end.

      Oh? Borya exclaimed, feigning surprise.  Have you told your wife or children this?  Because, if I remember correctly, the children have their own lives and live far away from each other and from Susan.  Am I missing something?

      Ah, I guess I wasn’t thinking that far ahead, Paul agreed, scratching his head to see if it was still on his shoulders.

      Tell me, my friend, Borya said, this time speaking lower and slower and reaching out to touch Paul’s arm.  Do you have anything to come back to...besides the bottle?

      I don’t know, Paul admitted.

      When a man fights for family and justice he very much wants to come home.  If a man fights because that is all he knows, then that man is a danger to himself and the mission since he doesn’t care whether he returns or not.  Which person are you?

      Paul hesitated.  How could he say it?  Who would understand it?  He did his best work, thought conceptually in times of conflict.  For him, peace was uninspiring.  His spirit ebbed and life lost its intensity.  Battles led to librettos in his mind.  Risk led to love gained, love lost, but never stagnant.

      We have a chance to stop the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people.  That’s as much motivation as I could ever think of, Paul offered.  What about you, Borya?  What’s your motivation for risking your life on this mission?

      "My wife in Chechnya cooks using only vegetables because we cannot afford meat.  My children go to a school that teaches memorization of the Koran rather than English, history, and science.  What do think they’ll be able to do with that knowledge?  Become suicide bombers?  No.  My family and I want to live in the West.  I want better for my children than I have.  I want them to grow up in freedom; to not have to walk around covered in a hijab for the head,

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