Chapter 38
1057 Words
Chapter 38
Daniel woke briefly and thought he heard the sound of fading helicopter rotors, but the night was dark and the howl of the wind a low moan that whipped sounds out of their normal shape, spattering them across the night sky.
It was light when he awoke alone. This time he did hear rotors. Distinct, the heavy thud of a Black Hawk pounding the air. An arriving helicopter.
He whipped out of bed, checked his watch, and decided he’d be much better off if he caught a shower later. Dressed in two minutes, teeth and hair brushed by three, he met President Matthews and Secret Service agent Frank Adams at the front door.
“Good morning, Daniel.”
“Good morning, Mr. President.” Daniel could see the Majors and their crew chiefs tying down the helicopter under a heavy sky, which was now shedding snow flurries among the morning’s icy rain.
The President looked comfortable and easy in the long blue parka more fit for a polar expedition than crossing the front lawn. He’d have slept aboard Air Force One while at McChord Air Force Base. A training ride with his childhood friend Major Emily Beale would not look out of the ordinary when she arrived unexpectedly at the co-located Fort Lewis; unexpectedly and right on schedule.
Frank Adams entered the house before he allowed the President across the threshold. After careful inspection of the entryway and hall closet, he nodded that the President could come this far and no farther. He moved on to inspect the living room.
Daniel heard Alice’s bright voice answered by the much deeper voice of the Supreme Leader of North Korea as they entered from the kitchen.
Ignoring Frank’s protest, the President breezed over to meet his guest.
Daniel offered the agent a sympathetic look.
Before the President led his guest into the study, Frank did manage to check it out. Daniel watched his rapid and intense inspection. A leather and cherry wood theme decorated the office, that had been painted in a surprising pastel that offset the substantial furniture quite nicely. A woman’s touch.
Alice’s hand rested on his arm as the door closed.
“Are they settled?”
“I suppose.”
“Ten people know.”
Daniel nodded. Then paused. “Eleven people know. Beale’s crew of four, two leaders, two bodyguards, the two of us, and the CIA Director.”
Alice tipped her head down, letting those bangs swirl forward, but he stooped to keep a clear view of her face.
“You never told your boss.”
She shrugged. “Seemed appropriate.”
He kissed her on the forehead. “You done great, Dr. Thompson.”
“You too, Dr. Darlington.”
They both glanced at the door, where Frank Adams had stationed himself solidly before the threshold. The Secret Service agent, despite being in his forties, was immensely fit and towered like a temple guardian statue. The inner sanctum was not to be disturbed.
Kim Jong-un’s bodyguard was not nearly so vigilant.
A poker game quickly formed in the kitchen. Apparently Seo-yun, having relaxed sufficiently to speak his name, was eager to learn how to fleece his fellow countrymen upon his return. Henderson and the crew chiefs appeared more than happy to oblige him with a few lessons. Daniel just hoped the man had been fortunate enough to bring no money to America. The fact that no bank in the country could exchange North Korean Won notes wouldn’t have stopped them from taking every one they could.
In moments a noisy game ensued and was in full swing along with glasses of soda and mugs of hot tea, a large pile of American candy bars close by Seo-yun.
Daniel landed on the living room couch for lack of anything else to do. He had a thousand memos, phone calls, e-mails… all begging for his attention. And with what might be occurring behind the closed study doors, Daniel couldn’t think straight long enough to deal with a single one.
When he gave up and shut off his computer he became aware of Alice sitting on the other end of the sofa chatting quietly with Emily Beale. They too were constantly casting sidelong glances at the door.
Daniel went over to the fireplace that someone else had lit and fed it a log it didn’t really need.
That was how their day went. Reading, chatting, sitting blankly. When Daniel, Emily, and Alice made lunch for everyone, the game broke up. After delivering two trays into the study, someone raided the extensive DVD collection. But no one could really focus.
The tension built inside throughout the day as the storm built outside. The rising howl of the storm sheeted freezing rain against the windows. The waves, only a few hundred feet away and fifty feet below, were rarely visible through the blurred glass. High winds sent the rain across the lawn in mesmerizing waves that held others as rapt as it held Daniel.
Daniel just wanted to curl up on a couch somewhere with Alice. This was why animals hibernated, to avoid storms like this one.
The weather peaked mid-afternoon with a final blast that shook the house and would have cut the power had it been provided by power lines rather than a sturdy diesel generator.
As the day’s light faded toward evening, the indistinct murmur of voices from the study stopped. When at last the door opened, everyone had gathered in the living room.
Daniel noticed that the President, despite his usual ability to appear totally unflappable, was sagging beneath his upbeat attitude. Kim Jong-un, still weeks from his thirtieth birthday also appeared exhausted as if the two of them had wrestled desperately with matters of great importance and only together beat them into submission.
The two of them stopped just past the door, Frank Adams now standing close behind, the rest of them forming a loose arc around the living room.
“Well,” the President glanced at the Supreme Leader and they traded a silent nod. “There is much work to be done. And perhaps now less to fear. Time is needed. Time and common sense. You have all done a great job.”
“Yes.” Kim Jong-un clearly didn’t want to leave the stage solely to the President. “Progress. Perhaps the beginning of partnership. Much work yet from what you might call friendship. But progress. Yes, fine work. You have good people, Mr. President.”
“Thank you, Supreme Leader.”
They shook hands once more. Daniel wondered if there could be a more important political moment in recent history, and yet there was not a camera to be seen.
“Now!” the President clapped his hands together. “We need to get off this island. How do we do that?”
- Writer
