CHAPTER 11
UNIT: Aleumdaun’s Special Operations Team
SITUATION: Navigating the tributary River
LOCATION: Kaesong District, North Korea
TIME: 2000 hours Local Time, Current Date
Dawn and her two cohorts, riding electric scooters, drove into the rain, into the dark. As they neared the gated entrance to the prison compound, Captain Dawn gave a hand signal, and she slowly pulled to the side of the path. ROK Sergeants Kim and Nongjangju pulled even with her. She pointed at Nongjangju as she spoke quietly. she said, “We will drive directly to the entry gate. You can see that it is a chain-link gate standing open. We can see that it has a guard, possibly two, assigned there. Neither of you will talk to them at all. Once we are inside the compound,” she nodded at Nongjangju, “you will defend these scooters with your life, if necessary, because these are our only way out of here” she paused, “alive!”
Nongjangju, bowed his head briefly in acknowledgement of her orders and whispered, “I will, Captain!”
Dawn looked at Sergeant Kim, “You are my assistant! You will not speak at all if possible. If I tell you to take information, you will do so immediately. At all times, I want you to look as fierce as possible. Use your fierce scowl to keep anybody in there from looking into or at our business. Do you both understand my meaning?”
Nongjangju, bowed his head again, briefly, toward her saying, “I do!”
Sergeant Kim nodded, “Yes, Captain!”
She took a deep breath and expelled it through pressed lips, “Okay, let’s do this.”
The rain lessened. Sergeant Kim said, “Just a minute Captain!”
She turned to him with a stern look, “What?”
He pointed at her ear, “Your radio ear bud.”
She asked, “Don’t the North Koreans have ear buds with their radios?”
He nodded in the night and answered, “Yes, Captain, but not American ones!”
Crest fallen, she muttered, “Damn!” She jerked the ear bud off and jerked its plug out of her radio at her back, She rolled the ear bud up, opened it up a small compartment on the scooter, and stuffed it in. She looked at Kim and whispered, “Thanks!” Kim considered the issue closed, but he couldn’t see a related problem. Dawn had viewed the hiding of the ear bud as the end of the issue, but the American radio, to which the ear bud had been attached, was still clipped to her belt at her back.
She drove on, leading them, on a mission now more critically dangerous than before. The tingling of apprehension she felt in the pit of her stomach surged to a feeling of fear. She quelled it as best she could. She saw the compound gate, and she saw the lone guard there. The question caromed through her mind, how do the North Korean Security Forces who want to interrogate a prisoner present themselves? In North Korea, they are a force to be reckoned with. They are haughty, and they are forceful. I’ll go with forceful. Her jaw muscles stood out at her jaw. Her face took on, what she hoped was, a forceful look. Her lips pulled back to a thin line against her front teeth.
They rolled smoothly to a stop as a North Korean guard stepped out in front of the open gate. Brusquely, he demanded, “Who are you, and what do you want?”
Dawn removed her forged orders from a small pouch and matched the guard’s brusque attitude with a forceful, “Here!” The forged orders proclaimed Captain Dawn to be Captain Pyeong-gyun of the SPUK Security Force, the most feared and brutal entity in North Korea. The guard shined his flashlight on the orders. The rain began a light patter on the ground and on the orders. The guard’s flashlight highlighted the orders heading. He saw the words Sovereign Peoples’ Union of Korea Security Defense Force. He paused for a moment, gathering his wits about himself, read no farther into the orders, folded them over, handed them back to Dawn, and said, politely, “Please enter, Captain Pyeong-gyun!” He stepped aside, and Dawn led Kim and Nongjangju through the open gate in the steady rain splatter.
Her three-person entourage rode steadily across the compound. They rolled to a stop in front of the main building entrance, and another guard, a burly, broad-chested Sergeant, stepped out into the rain. He complained, “I see that the gate sentry has let you people enter the compound.” Then he demanded, “What could be so urgent or important that he should have permitted you to enter when we have such a high value prisoner inside?”
Dawn was encouraged by the guard’s unintentional slip of information about a high-level prisoner. The fear she felt in her stomach was steady. She thought If the gods are willing, it will be Slover. Dawn dismounted from her scooter. She told herself, this has to be the right place. Now is the time to wear my new identity. Sergeant Kim dismounted from his and stood dutifully behind her. Nongjangju sat on the tandem scooter holding it and the attached extra scooter upright. Dawn put her shoulders back, in a self-important manner, and stepped forward until her face was inches from the Sergeant’s. She held up her orders and said boldly, “Pyongyang wants to know who he is.”
The guard cleared his throat and with more civility said, “Captain, I’m under strict orders to let no one enter!”
She demanded, “By whose orders?”
The guard looked to the side momentarily then brought his eyes back to focus on her. He stammered, “Well…um…ah…by orders from General Jagwi himself!”
Dawn pushed harder, “I will see those orders, now! These are my orders from Pyongyang!” She thrust her papers under his nose. He took the orders. He read the heading, saw that it was from the Security Forces. He read no farther, folded them over against the rain, and returned them to Dawn.
Dawn didn’t move. She stood still, maintaining eye contact with the guard. Forcefully, she commanded, “The orders…now!”
He shook his head in dismay He moaned at the back of his throat. He softly said, “Follow me please!” He turned, pulled open the door, and stood aside for Dawn and Sergeant Kim to enter. Behind a desk with a commanding view of the prison interior, was an officer in a SPUK Army uniform. He wore a Major’s rank. When he saw the guard open the door and permit Dawn and Kim to enter, he bolted upright at his desk. He stormed around his desk and went directly to stand in front of Dawn. He looked around her and asked the guard, “Sergeant, why is this outsider in my prison?”
The Sergeant meekly answered, “Sir, she is from Pyongyang.”
The Major fiercely said, “Sergeant, we are under orders to let no one in while we have…. a high value prisoner.”
Dawn knew in her heart that she was in the right place. She also knew how Jagwi operated. She suspected very strongly that Jagwi had only verbally ordered the prohibition. She planned to use that knowledge. She also believed Slover was in this prison. She cut the Major off in mid-sentence, “I will see those orders!”
The Major was speechless for a second. Then, he lashed out, “How dare you. A Captain does not deal with a Major in this way.”
Dawn fired back, “I dare. I dare because Pyongyang wants to know about this prisoner, and you will stand down, Major. You will stand down,” She scowled, “Here, read my orders!” She thrust them against his chest using a maneuver she had learned in Krav Maga training. With a rock-hard fist, she shoved her papers against his chest.”
The Major took an involuntary step backward. Reluctantly, he reached for her orders. He read the orders top to bottom. With a pained expression, he looked away When she saw he was through reading, she repeated, “I will see General Jagwi’s orders. You will give them to me now!”
The Major said quietly, “I can’t!”
She leaned on the subject, “You must! They must be in this building somewhere!”
The Major confessed, “He didn’t give us written orders. He claimed the issue was State security. He called us all together and told us not to let anyone from outside come into this prison. He told us anyone breaking that rule would be thrown into the dog pound!”
Dawn put a false look of disbelief on her face. It was false because she knew that type of behavior was typical of Jagwi. She asked, “And you believed him?”
The Major shrugged, “He’s a General. What could I do?”
Dawn remarked dryly, “You could have asked for orders from your own commander!”
The Major offered, “But that would have made me look….” he shrugged speechless.
She asked, “What? Like you were covering your ass? Like you were behaving responsibly?” She snarled, “Pyongyang will hear of this!” Dawn raised her voice to a near shout, “Major, General Jagwi’s not even in your chain of command. You didn’t have do anything for him. Now this behavior will make your superiors question your intelligence.”
The Major looked down at the floor.
She ordered, I will see the prisoner, now!”
The Major looked at a sergeant sitting at a desk to the right of the Major’s desk. He inclined his head toward the cells, and the sergeant rose and began leading Dawn and Kim to Slover’s cell. Dawn turned and followed the Sergeant. Kim fell in line behind her, but before he did, the North Korean Major saw the American radio clipped to Dawn’s military belt.
The fire of righteous discovery flared in the Major’s eyes. He had caught a spy! He commanded, “Halt right where you are!” With his command everyone in the room stopped whatever they were doing. The Sergeant leading Dawn and Kim stopped in his tracks. Dawn was slower and barely avoided colliding with him.
The Major was excited. In a near shout, he questioned, “Captain? Why do you have an American radio on your belt?”
Sergeant Kim froze. He mentally kicked himself for not thinking farther than the end of his nose. Now, he just knew he would be shot in front of a firing squad in North Korea.
Dawn heard the command to stop and knew instinctively that she had missed something with the Major. The fear felt in her stomach flared anew. In her mind she was rapidly running through a sequence of the just past conversation. She couldn’t spot any incorrect behavior for a Security Force officer. When she heard the question about the radio, she shifted gears mentally, and began to ask herself how would a SPUK Security Officer react in a situation like this. What would that officer do to diffuse a situation like this? She thought to herself, I need a plan! I need it within the next few seconds.
She turned back toward the major. As she walked toward him, she ran scenarios through her head. With a menacing look, she walked to within two feet of the Major. She stopped only because the barrel of the Major’s pistol pressed against her solar plexus and stopped her march. She asked, “Do you want me to tell you how I earned the right to wear this radio.”
He was smiling victoriously. He said, “Oh. please do!”
She had her reply formed in her mind. One: tell him your story. Two: make your physical move. Three: get Slover, and Four: Get the hell out of here!
One: She leaned into the barrel of his pistol. The look on her face she intended to be a crazy grin, but it came out more sarcastic. It caused a small loss of purpose in the Major. He took a small involuntary step backward. She used the sarcastic grin on her face.
Two: she stepped forward forcing the Major to keep the pistol against her body. She continued with step two of her plan. She asked, “Do you want to know how I earned the right to wear this reward?”
Her directness and her calling the radio a reward eroded his self-confidence more. He blinked.
She continued, “I earned the right to wear this radio because I took it off the dead body of an American soldier that I had just killed in bare handed combat.”
He stuttered and scoffed, “You’re too young to have been in the 1950s war!”
She curled her lip, “I never said I was.” She continued with Number Two, “The dead American,” she emphasized the word “dead.” She continued, “The dead American and I met up accidentally in the DMZ. Neither of us could turn and run the other way, so we fought.”
She continued with step Two: She asked, “Do you want to know how I did it?” She leaned harder into the pistol.
He blinked again.
She pressed with her step Two: She said, “I struck him right here.” With speed and agility, suddenly her fist was at his larynx. She didn’t strike him. She stopped her fist at his larynx and held it there with the power behind the punch causing her arm and fist to quiver.
He spoke lamely, “Hey, I’m the one with the pistol.”
She finished her Number Two when she shouted in his face, “Go ahead and shoot me, stupid bastard, and you’ll have the State Security Forces all over your prison command. Your career will be over.”
He was leaning backward. Away from her attack. His Sergeant spoke softly, “Uh…Sir, I think I should go ahead and take her to the prisoner.” Slowly the Major’s hand with the pistol dropped. The Major dropped his pistol on his desk, sat down in his chair in defeat, and with a limp backhand movement, waved his hand in dismissal.
The Sergeant moved briskly down a row of jail cells with iron bar fronts. He stopped in front of one and pointed inside the cell at a body lying on the floor clothed in a bloody US Army duty uniform.
She said. “Open the cell!”
The Sergeant protested, “I don’t think….”
She turned to face him. She arched one eyebrow.
He said, “I think I have the Key here!” He opened the cell door.
Dawn and Kim entered the cell. They rolled the body over. The face was bloodied. They had to read his name tag to ascertain his identity. When she saw that the man was, indeed, Slover, she almost cried. She held it in not wanting the Sergeant to know what she felt inside. She was supposed to be a Security Forces hardened interrogator. A few seconds passed before she controlled her emotions. She resumed her role as a Security Forces Captain and said, “Let’s get him up.” Slover was unresponsive. She looked at his face. It was beaten. It was red, purple and bruised black. She grimaced inwardly. She told herself, I’ve got to get him on his feet so that I can get him out of here! She looked at the largest red spot and resolutely said, “One more slap won’t kill him,” and she slapped him awake. It broke her heart to hurt him, but she couldn’t let the hurt show while the North Korean Sergeant was watching.
She turned to the prison Sergeant. She said, “We’re taking him with us.”
The Sergeant panicked. He blinked rapidly, “I don’t know…”
Step Three: She said forcefully, “Pyongyang wants him!”
He held his hands up in front of himself as in surrender. With Dawn on one side, Slover’s arm around her neck, and Kim on the other, with Slover’s other arm around his neck, they half walked and dragged him out of the prison. As they passed the Major’s desk, he sat with his elbows on his desk, forehead in his palms. He was oblivious to their departure.
As they continued outside, the burly guard from the front door was berating Nongjangju, “Look, all I want to do is take a little ride on this extra scooter that you have. What harm will it be?”
Nongjangju didn’t speak. He adhered to Dawn’s order of silence and shook his head. The bullying guard moved to the extra scooter. He bent over and began attempting to disconnect the tandem hook up. He said, “See, it’ll be easy for me to disconnect this connection!”
Dawn and Sergeant Kim had reached her scooter with the sluggish Slover between them. The guard was distracted with his plan. Nongjangju maintained his silence as he looked a Dawn for guidance.
Step Four: Above the splatter of the rain, Dawn spoke directly to Nongjangju, “Take him out!”
Nongjangju swiftly booted the kick stand down. In a fluid motion, he came off the scooter and stepped behind the guard. The weight of the two scooters was now resting on the kickstand in the mud. The kickstand continued to sink, and the scooters fell over. The guard quickly straightened with a resentful, “Hey!” As he straightened and turned to berate Nongjangju, Nongjangju’s work hardened fist slammed into the guard’s jaw below the ear. Nongjangju’s strike tore the guard’s jaw from its moorings in the temporomandibular joint and knocked him out.
Kim noted, “He’s going to need a doctor when he wakes up?”
Nongjangju agreed, “The bully had it coming to him! Right?”
Dawn’s voice in the rain carried just to the two men, “Look guys. We’ve got to get out of here before the Major comes to his senses and calls Pyongyang.”
She pointed at Nongjangju? “Slover is not able to steer a scooter.” She nodded at Nongjangju! “You’re driving the tandem scooters. You are going to have to strap him on with the duct tape and steer for yourself and Slover. Quickly, let’s tape him onto the second scooter before the Major’s prison crew comes out and kills all of us!”
They taped Slover’s forearms to the scooter handle bars to prevent him falling from the scooter. Then, they taped his hips to the scooter seat. Lastly, they taped his feet to the scooter pedals to prevent his feet from dragging on the ground. Nongjangju, sitting on the front scooter groaned at Slover’s extra weight. He wondered if he could guide the scooter properly and keep it from falling over.
They heard shouting and screaming male voices from inside the prison. They urgently mounted the scooters, and she turned to them. Tensely, she said, “I’m not going back the way we came. If they follow our tracks, I don’t want to lead them to our rally with Mungo. As we leave the compound, I’m turning right instead of left. I saw a way on our map to get back to our first rally point. Stay with me. Let’s go!”
They rolled out of the compound, their electric motors running quietly, and they turned right. The rain continued to splatter on the fallen guard.
Dawn stopped the small group 50 meters west of the compound gate. She looked back at the gate to ascertain whether the second guard was watching her, Sergeant Kim, Nongjangju, and Slover.
Kim asked, “What are we waiting for?”
She spoke urgently, barely above a whisper. Kim was beside her, and Nongjangju, with Slover in tow, was beside Kim. They both leaned toward her to hear answer. She looked from one to the other, “I need to make sure the guard is watching us when we turn left here.”
Nongjangju asked, “Why not just go back the way we came? It’s quicker!” In answer, she pointed at the muddy ground and replied, “Look at the tracks we’ve made. They are readily visible.” Then she pointed back at the direction from which from which they had come when they first arrived at the prison. She whispered urgently, “When they come after us, as I’m sure they will, I don’t want them following our first tracks back to the Sergeant Major. I want them following us. I saw a place on our map where they cannot follow us if they come after us in a truck.”
Kim grunted, “Oh, hell! No pressure on us! As if that last episode with the pistol to your chest wasn’t stressful enough”
Dawn, replied, “Come on, now! Suck it up.” Then, she said, “Ah!” She pointed at the compound. The guard stood craning his neck as he watched the small group at the intersection of two country lanes. He turned and ran toward the prison. She said, “Quick, follow me before they get their truck loaded.”
She turned left and powered her electric scooter to the top notch. With the rear wheels throwing mud behind, she powered 500 meters down the lane. She stopped. Kim caught up with her first. His North Korean uniform was splattered with mud. Nongjangju, with the barely conscious Slover in tow, arrived last.
She told them, “We’re going to do a gentle turn left here, and we’re to head toward those trees 200 meters over there. But first, we’re going to confuse them.” She pointed at them, “I’m going to drive straight and make a gentle left turn, and you’re going to follow me by keeping your tire tracks inside mine. Nongjangju’s cycle will obliterate any wobble by you.”
She pointed at Kim, “And to confuse them, the tire tracks will look like one set in the mud until we get to the grassy area before we get to the trees, and they will temporarily lose us, and hopefully give us enough time to escape. If not, then they will catch us! Let’s move quickly!”
They followed her plan, and she led them across the meadow. They crossed the tree line and turned left on a poorly paved road. They checked the field they had just left. They saw truck lights stopped at the place where they started across the field in single file. She said, “We still have some time. They are still confused!” The three scooters left muddy tracks as they rode quickly down the rough road in the drizzle toward Mungo’s team. They arrived at the road they first drove on toward the prison, about 100 meters from Mungo’s first rally point.
Dawn stopped and held her position. Kim and Nongjangju pulled up beside her. Sergeant Kim asked, What’s up Boss?”
She pointed at the compound which Mungo had been concerned about. She mused, “Hmm. There are lights now where there were none before. I believe that means the check point on this side of National Highway One is now operational, and the one across the highway at the intersection is probably operational too! Boy are we in trouble now. We must join with Mungo’s team in order to get out of here!” She looked nervously up and down the compound’s length for Mungo’s team. She looked behind, where her team was momentarily parked, looking for the pursuers from the prison compound. She didn’t see them, but she said, “They can’t be very far behind!”
She looked again for Mungo’s team. When she didn’t see them, she advised the other two, “We can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous. We have to move. We have to find Mungo, now!”
Kim and Nongjangju looked at each other with eyebrows raised apprehensively. Then, they urged their scooters up even with Dawn’s.