Returning Home, Part 2
As soon as Kang-hae arrived at the Venetian Hotel, he went straight to find Miki Ho, who was staying in a suite.
In Macau, there was no one else who could get him a gun, a knife, and a GPS device in half a day.
“I thought you’d already gone back to Korea.”
The moment Miki Ho saw Kang-hae, he looked genuinely startled and asked the question back. He had heard that Kang-hae was heading back to Seong Ha-yeong, so this visit clearly hadn’t been expected.
“I need a favor.”
“Again?”
“...”
Since he had already leaned on Miki Ho’s help more than once, Kang-hae felt a little embarrassed.
Still, this was no time to worry about pride.
“Let’s hear it first.”
“I need a handgun, a knife, and a standalone GPS module. Also, if you have a satellite communication device, I’d appreciate that too.”
“That’s quite the scale. Are you planning to kill people again?”
“There may be a situation where I’ll need to.”
“You’ve asked me for help several times already.”
“And I’m always grateful.”
“Then if I help you again, can you do me a favor in return?”
“Go ahead.”
“What exactly are you and Miss Jane?”
Jane was Seong Ha-yeong.
Kang-hae was a little caught off guard by the unexpected question, but he quickly changed his expression and answered, “She’s a colleague.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“Then would it be all right if I went to Korea and asked Miss Jane out on a date?”
“That’s not really my place to say.”
“Not your place to say... How interesting.”
“...”
“You and Miss Jane, you know. You really do seem very alike.”
“...?”
Kang-hae looked as if he wanted to ask what that was supposed to mean, but Miki Ho only smiled vaguely.
Silence settled over the room.
A moment later, Miki Ho spoke again. “I’ll get what you asked for right away.”
He said something to the bodyguard standing behind him.
The guard left the hotel room and returned ten minutes later carrying a black backpack.
He handed it to Kang-hae.
Kang-hae opened it and looked inside.
There was a Glock 19 with three magazines, a SOG SEAL Pup knife—the kind used by U.S. Navy SEALs—a GPS device shaped like a wristwatch, and a compact HF radio transceiver.
There were also clothes that looked like military fatigues, combat boots, and a face covering.
Kang-hae wondered why Miki Ho would have things like this lying around, but decided to save that question for later.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll be going to Korea before long. I’d like it very much if we could meet then.”
Miki Ho held out his hand.
Kang-hae shook it, then left the hotel room.
* * *
The plane carrying Seong Ha-yeong and Ha Seok-jun didn’t land in Incheon until after four in the afternoon.
The two of them took a taxi to Yongsan.
Once Seong Ha-yeong returned to the National Security Office, she headed straight for the situation room.
Just in time, a call came in from Kang-hae.
Seong Ha-yeong answered at once.
[Have you arrived?]
The moment she heard Kang-hae’s voice, what rose in her chest wasn’t relief but a small, unhappy sense of being left behind.
“Yes, I’m here.”
Perhaps because of that, her own voice sounded a little sulky to her ears.
[Then I’ll give you the GPS coordinates.]
“GPS coordinates?”
[Yes.]
“Go ahead.”
Seong Ha-yeong relayed the coordinates Kang-hae gave her to a staff member in the situation room.
A moment later, the screen displayed the location marked by the GPS coordinates.
“It says it’s 150 meters southwest of Maura Harbor. Is that right?”
[Yes, that’s right. I also have the HF radio. I’ll need to set the frequency.]
“We’ll give you ours. Let’s match frequencies.”
Seong Ha-yeong gave him the National Security Office’s situation-room frequency.
Kang-hae set the frequency on the HF radio transceiver he carried.
The two people, separated by 2,100 kilometers, were connected.
“Kang-hae... Are you really going to board that ship?”
[Yes.]
“...”
[Then we’ll keep in touch by HF radio from here on.]
“Wait a second.”
Just as Kang-hae was about to end the call, Seong Ha-yeong stopped him in a rush.
“Take care of yourself.”
[I will.]
“And... ”
[...?]
“Please, come back safely. That’s the most important thing.”
[I will.]
After ending the call with Kang-hae, Seong Ha-yeong prayed silently.
She prayed that National Security Office Director Ko Jeong-un would be able to persuade the president somehow.
At that same time, President Kim Jin-cheol was attending a completion ceremony for an industrial complex in Cheongju, Chungcheong Province.
Once the event ended, he was scheduled to visit traditional markets in Cheongju and Chungju one after another.
After the ceremony, on the car ride to the market, an aide informed him that the National Security Office director was requesting a private meeting.
“What is it?”
“He said he would explain it directly to Your Excellency after meeting you in person.”
Kim Jin-cheol fell into thought for a moment.
* * *
Maura Harbor, Macau.
The barbed-wire fence surrounding the harbor stood just a little over two meters tall, and security was lax.
Meanwhile, Kang-hae was hiding among the containers in the B-7 storage yard, the very place Jang Gwang-il had told him about.
Several large cargo ships were moored in front of the B-7 yard, and one of them was bound for North Korea.
After midnight, the sound of vehicles approached from a distance.
A moment later, two black SUVs appeared, and from them stepped a wiry man who looked like Jo Gwang-il and Baekgang, along with several men who were unmistakably from Bureau 35.
Kang-hae quickly sized them up.
Eight.
All of them were rough-looking, far taller than the average North Korean, and every one of them kept a hand near his waist, wary of ambush.
Before long, the harbor manager appeared, exchanged a few words with one of them, and they boarded a cargo ship that looked to be about 100 meters long and 35 meters wide.
After confirming they’d gone inside, Kang-hae began moving, killing his footsteps like a stray cat.
He headed for an old crane connected to the ship and ran silently all the way to its end.
Then, without hesitation, he hurled himself toward the cargo ship.
Thud.
The distance between the crane and the cargo deck was fairly high, but Kang-hae landed perfectly.
He crouched at once and scanned his surroundings.
Fortunately, there was no sign of the Bureau 35 personnel.
Beneath the floor where the containers were stacked, he spotted a rusted-out opening, gaping wide.
It was large enough for one adult man to hide inside.
Kang-hae slipped in and lay down.
He intended to stay there until the ship started moving.
Then, lying still, Kang-hae began calculating.
The cargo ship’s average speed was 15 knots—about 28 kilometers per hour.
At that speed, it would take a full two days to reach the EEZ, South Korea’s exclusive economic zone.
Hiding for two days without food was nothing much to Kang-hae.
He took the HF radio transceiver out of his bag.
[Infiltration successful.]
Kang-hae sent the message in Morse code.
A moment later—
[Confirmed.]
The reply came back.
Fortunately, the HF radio transceiver was working properly.
* * *
The President’s Office, executive chamber.
By the time Kim Jin-cheol finished his schedule and returned to the Blue House, it was already past ten at night.
He wanted nothing more than to go straight to the residence and sleep.
But instead, he called Ko Jeong-un into the executive chamber.
He hadn’t summoned Ko Jeong-un alone.
The Chief of Staff, Yoo Jeong-hun, along with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and several senior secretaries, were all present.
“Director Ko. What is it?”
Kim Jin-cheol asked Ko Jeong-un in a voice heavy with fatigue.
“At dawn tomorrow, we must seize the cargo ship departing from Macau for North Korea within the EEZ.”
“If you mean the EEZ, you’re talking about the East China Sea and the western coast, aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
The expressions of everyone in the room, Kim Jin-cheol included, hardened.
“Is there a reason it absolutely has to be done?”
“A developer of the cryptocurrency believed to have been created by North Korea is on that cargo ship right now. In addition, there is a very high probability that the vessel is carrying oil and luxury goods bound for North Korea.”
“What does everyone think?”
Instead of answering directly, Kim Jin-cheol asked for the opinions of the rest of his advisers.
“Seizing fishing boats engaged in illegal fishing in the EEZ and seizing a cargo ship are not the same matter.”
“China will react strongly as well.”
“The East Asia Summit is scheduled to be held in Indonesia early next year. We may end up getting sidelined.”
Every one of the aides looked troubled, and Kim Jin-cheol turned to Ko Jeong-un with an expression that asked, And what do you expect me to do about that?
That was Kim Jin-cheol’s answer.
By then, he was already regretting that he might have been too hasty in appointing Ko Jeong-un as National Security Office director.
Since taking office, Ko Jeong-un had produced no real results at all.
And Kim Jin-cheol was deeply dissatisfied with that.
Most recently, he had even persuaded the bereaved family of Senior Presidential Secretary Lee Sang-woo to allow an autopsy, but nothing had come of it.
He still hadn’t received a single report about Storm Operation either.
“It’s late today, so let’s talk again tomorrow.”
The moment Kim Jin-cheol finished speaking, the aides rose from their seats.
Ko Jeong-un had no choice but to stand as well and follow them out.
“How did it go, Director!”
Seong Ha-yeong had been waiting for Ko Jeong-un outside the President’s Office executive chamber, and the instant he emerged, she hurried over and asked him.
“He said we’d discuss it again tomorrow.”
When Seong Ha-yeong heard that answer, she felt all the strength drain from her body.
If the president refused, Kang-hae would have no choice but to board that cargo ship and enter North Korea.
“Do you think he’ll allow it tomorrow?”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“...”
Ko Jeong-un said it with a darkening face.
And Seong Ha-yeong was consumed by regret.
She should never have left Kang-hae behind in Macau.
The next dawn, Ko Jeong-un went to see Kim Jin-cheol again.
But Kim Jin-cheol refused to meet him, saying he had another schedule.
* * *
Forty-eight hours passed.
Kang-hae was staying in the engine room beneath the cargo ship’s hull.
Because he wasn’t moving around, the hunger was still bearable.
But it was hard not knowing anything from Korea.
If interception in the EEZ proved impossible, he would have to find another way.
Another six hours passed.
Crackle—
The sound came from the HF radio transceiver.
Kang-hae quickly leaned in and listened.
A moment later, Morse code came through.
[Seizure impossible.]
In the end, Kim Jin-cheol had not granted Ko Jeong-un’s request.
And from the moment Kang-hae first came up with this plan, he had already considered that something like this might happen.
He would have to use another method after all.
Kang-hae checked the time.
Fifty-four hours had passed since departure from Macau.
By now, they would definitely be past the EEZ—South Korea’s exclusive economic zone.
In the end, Kang-hae decided to use the final option.
He used the HF radio transceiver to send Morse code back to Korea.
[Fire.]
Set the cargo ship on fire.
That was the last method Kang-hae had come up with.
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