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"I originally took this job planning to run it with No. 5 hyeong-nim, but I had no idea he'd gone off to Russia without a word. It's operational security, obviously, but well, that hyeong-nim's always been famous for having zero luck with work anyway."
"Haha..."
Grinning slyly, he pulled a few photographs out of his bag.
Satellite photos, taken from extreme altitude.
"Let me say this up front. This isn't an operation officially handed down from NIS headquarters. It's a request that came in quietly from outside."
"Outside? From where?"
W ёbn̊ō v̈ѐ l̇ E ǹ u̇m а̇
"The American CIA. We've been taking the occasional outsourced job like this here for quite a while now."
This was all completely new to me.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Seeing me just blink at him, he nodded as if he understood.
"These were captured by a US military satellite a few days ago; it's the Ryanggang Province area of North Korea. Something's swarming around down there, and it doesn't look right, does it? It's them cramming loads of who-knows-what into a freight train. As you know, if it's Ryanggang Province, it's military supplies, no question, and odds are high it's missile parts."
Before I knew it, I'd gone quiet.
Ryanggang Province. A freight train.
Е̄ńu̇m а . і d
The schedule for the planned mass defection, Chae A-ra's brother among the defectors, sprang instantly to mind.
'That has to be the same freight train, doesn't it?'
Given the timing, there was no way they were different trains.
Faced with such an uncanny coincidence, I kept my mouth shut for the moment.
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Owl No. 8, beaming, pointed at the satellite photo he'd laid on the bed.
"Here's North Korea's game. Before the UN Security Council sanctions over this missile provocation really start to bite, they want to smuggle out their military supplies ahead of the curve and sell them off, whatever it takes."
Е nû m̂а̃. і́d́
"...Is China really going to just quietly accept that freight train?"
Midway through his explanation, I voiced something I'd personally been wondering about.
"The North Korean hit squad just shot the Dandong Public Security Bureau director dead and blew the Hwanggumpyong office building sky-high, didn't they? Both sides must be gnashing their teeth at each other."
"When you put it that way, honestly, China doesn't have much room to talk either. Thanks to Dandong Public Security taking under-the-table money from the NIS this time, three of North Korea's very top posts are sitting empty, right? Minister of People's Armed Forces, External Intelligence Bureau director, Investigation Bureau director. Those three."
"Ah."
"Relations between states, it turns out, aren't the kind of thing where you turn your back on each other just because a few people died. From China's perspective, they probably figure they got off cheap with only one Public Security Bureau director dead. They're calling it even, one clean slap traded to each cheek."
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Relations between states truly run on cold calculation.
And it seems that whether you're a low-level agent or one of the top brass, getting crushed between those giant gears and dying an unjust death works exactly the same.
When I nodded, satisfied, Owl No. 8 tapped one of the photos with his finger.
It was a satellite map centered on Dandong Station.
"The train left Ryanggang Province the day before yesterday, so tomorrow at dawn it'll cross the Yalu River Bridge and stop at Dandong No. 3 Marshalling Yard. Our job is to photograph exactly what's loaded inside, from the moment the laborers unload it off the train until it's moved to Dalian Port."
"All we have to do is take pictures?"
Êňum̂.а̂
"Yes. When cargo departing China heads for a third country, a US Navy vessel needs grounds to carry out a seizure on the high seas, something like having received advance intelligence on what's inside. Our photos become their evidence."
For a direct outsourced job, what needed doing was remarkably clear and clean.
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NIS operations usually ran vague and irresponsible, along the lines of kidnap so-and-so, handle it however you can.
That's the Thousand-Trillion Nation for you, the land of espionage.
"For every type of item properly photographed, they pay a whole twenty thousand dollars per photo."
"Twenty thousand dollars..."
Wе bn o vе̃l̆ En üm̀ а̊
At the current exchange rate, that comes to roughly twenty million won.
That's the Thousand-Trillion Nation for you; even the units were on another scale.
"I figured there was no way I could pull it off alone, so I was planning to infiltrate with No. 5 hyeong-nim, but with you, Agent Sparrow-nim, I'd feel even safer. Won't you take this job on with me? While I slip in close to the tracks and take the photos, all you have to do is set up somewhere high, watch the perimeter, and keep me posted over the radio."
Owl No. 8 puffed out his chest with total confidence.
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"We split the take exactly fifty-fifty. How about it?"
His reaction said he didn't doubt for a second that I'd accept.
Èn u m а̂.іd̊
But before accepting the offer, I felt the need to untangle a few wires first.
"First of all, thank you for the offer, Agent-nim. But before I give you a definite answer, there's something I have to tell you."
"Sure. What is it?"
"It's about that freight train you're supposed to photograph. A mass defection is scheduled to happen there, that day, at that place."
"...Whaat?"
Owl No. 8's eyes went so wide they looked ready to pop out.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
His face said this was the first he'd heard of any of it.
Which was fair enough.
I'd reacted the same way.
"Let me give you the short version. You remember Kite No. 3, right?"
"Of course I do! We're all family from the Sinuiju operation, aren't we?"
Owl No. 8's eyes were somehow sparkling.
Е̂n̈ŭ mа.іd̂
They practically screamed, Come on, say we are!
"Ah, right. Sure. Family..."
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"Heh heh."
"Anyway, Kite No. 3 has an acquaintance, and that acquaintance's younger brother is one of the mass defectors coming across on this freight train."
"Oh, good grief, heavens above!"
Owl No. 8 let out a flippant little cry of dismay.
W̆e b̌nŏ v̀ е̌ l Énù.m̌a
"So Kite No. 3 and I already have the whole plan in place. On the day the train arrives, we approach the freight train and personally help the brother defect."
"Huh? Uh... then how are we supposed to handle this..."
"Here's my thinking. I intend to go in on-site posing as a defection broker, and the plan was for Kite No. 3 to stand by and keep watch over it. So Kite No. 3 will be holding a position with a view over the entire freight train."
"Oh. Ohh..."
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Owl No. 8's eyes rolled busily in their sockets.
I could practically hear the gears grinding in his head from where I sat.
Еn um а̌. іd
"So... you're saying we build one single operation around this freight train? I photograph the missile parts, you work the defection-broker angle, and Agent Kite-nim stands ready in case of a firefight?"
"Correct."
He ran the calculations for a moment, face dead serious.
"Ah!"
Suddenly Owl No. 8's expression lit right up.
It looked like some brilliant conclusion had been reached inside his head, one way or another.
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"Now that I think about it, isn't this actually a huge opportunity for me?"
"Opportunity? Meaning what?"
"While you two agents are conducting the defection deal, most of the North Korean troops' attention will be glued over there, won't it?"
"...I suppose it will."
"Which means I can use that opening to take my photos from a decent position."
"Haha..."
Én̊uṁа
Infuriatingly smug, but dead-on accurate.
If every eye on-site was drawn to the defectors and the brokers anyway, it was only natural that Owl No. 8's mission would get that much easier.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Owl No. 8, face flushed with excitement, nodded again and again.
"I'm in! Just knowing you two will be deployed in the same space as me makes me feel a whole lot safer."
"I'm glad to hear you say so. You said the train arrives tomorrow at dawn?"
"Yes, that's right."
W е̊b ń ӧv̀е̄ l_ Е_ṅůmа̂
"Then before the operation kicks off, we should at least all get together and work out our movements and the plan."
Taking the photographs, and supporting a mass defection.
And with that, two entirely separate operations had been woven into one.
Coincidence has a mischievous streak like that.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Every single day I'd been staring holes in the monitor, watching for any freight train crossing the Yalu River Bridge, and now, thanks to the news Owl No. 8 dropped in my lap, the schedule was suddenly set for tomorrow at dawn.
Just then, Owl No. 8 gave a sheepish smile.
Ё n̂u̇ m а̊ . і d̂
"Honestly, I'm in no position to talk either, but... everyone sure is busy with their side gigs."
Tell me about it.
Why does everyone leave their day job sitting there and pile on so many side gigs, honestly?
'Come to think of it, I've got quite a few things going on myself, don't I?'
Yang Mi-ryeong, the back-alley doctor gig... that sort of thing.
Come to think of it, I wasn't one to talk either.
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*****
A freight train packed to the brim with military supplies, plus a mass defection.
With the stakes ballooning like this, part of me wondered whether it would all come back to bite us later, but fortunately, the conclusion was that there was nothing to worry about.
'The situation itself works heavily in our favor.'
Start with that freight train.
What's loaded inside is North Korean military supplies, in flagrant violation of UN sanctions.
Е̇ n ü ḿ а
So as far as Dandong Public Security is concerned, whether the train rolls in or not, they have no choice but to squint hard and pretend they never saw it.
And even if twenty defectors happened to spill out of that very train, the way Public Security could respond was practically set in stone, like a formula.
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Cover up the incident and dodge responsibility.
'If they officially cast an investigative net to catch the defectors, then the freight train the defectors rode in on, and even the military supplies loaded inside it, would surface right along with them.'
So even if a full-blown defection parade broke out in the middle of Dandong Station, Public Security could never launch an official investigation.
The best they could do was quietly tighten checkpoints and inspections; playing deaf and blind was the most convenient way to handle it.
Ѐ n̈ úm̌ а̌.i ḋ
'Spirit away the defectors, snap the photos, and run.'
Each of us just had to scoop out our own prize from the middle of it all, then vanish like smoke.
And so, at any rate, the next dawn arrived.
Screeeeech!
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The North Korean freight train that had punched through the thick darkness over the Yalu River let out a long, stubborn squeal as it slowly ground to a halt.
Dandong No. 3 Marshalling Yard.
Е̌ n ŭ ṁ а
The place had always served mainly as a transit stop for North Korean coal shipments bound for export.
"Move it carefully!"
"Quickly, quickly! And carefully, I said!"
"Out of the way! Get your carcass off the path!"
"Ngh, hup!"
"Move it slowly!"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"You brat, you're about to burst my eardrums!"
Before long, North Korean laborers came pouring out of the freight train in droves.
As expected, not a single Public Security officer showed so much as the tip of his nose anywhere near the marshalling yard.
China was supposed to be joining the sanctions against the North, in step with an international community bristling at the missile provocation, but with China looking the other way this blatantly, choking off North Korean smuggling at the source was, in practice, next to impossible.
The only way to stop the smuggling was to wait until the ship carrying the contraband left a Chinese port for a third country, then block the vessel on the high seas and confiscate the goods.
'Not a lump of coal in sight.'
Е ṅū m̊а̂
In principle, freight trains crossing from North Korea into China are currently allowed to carry coal and nothing else.
Because of the livelihood of ordinary North Koreans, it's the one and only export item allowed as an exception.
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Yet inside the train there was no coal to be found; not even a smudge of coal dust.
What filled the space instead were black crates of unknown contents and large wooden boxes.
Every last one of them was Owl No. 8's target.
I couldn't even begin to guess how much in the way of military supplies was packed into that train.
W̃ ē b nо v̌еl Еn̊ ũm̄ а̂.
"Move quickly, quickly!"
"Are your eyes even open while you work? Stack them from the inside, neat and tight!"
"At this rate, will we even get everything laid out by day's end?"
The laborers bustled about.
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They swarmed like ants as they moved.
Meanwhile, fifteen North Korean soldiers gripping Type 88 rifles prowled here and there around the marshalling yard.
W ebn õ v̄еl̂ Е n̈u m̆ а
The freight train ran twelve cars in all.
Fifty laborers hauling the cargo.
Twenty North Korean guards loitering around the marshalling yard.
Time passed quietly, until about thirty minutes after the freight train's arrival.
"Hah... hah..."
"Aaaargh! This is brutal work, this is."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Everyone, drink some water while you're at it."
Having barely emptied a single car, the workers gasped for breath and, in that brief lull, began a short rest.
At that moment, kssht.
-This is Kite. Confirm good copy at your current positions.
-This is Owl. Copy loud and clear.
"This is Sparrow. Copy loud and clear. Moving to the site."
W̄ еb̀ ñ о̌ v̄е̇.l̂ Еn̆ u m̂ā
The operation had begun.
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