What if a reclusive, vengeful despot launched a silent yet deadly attack on the world's most powerful navy?
VECTORS is a full-length novel that I will release serially in three novella-length installments. "Phase One -- Index Case" is the first installment.
Below is the second chapter of the prologue, "Phase Zero - Incubation." (See Chapter One on previous post.) Look for the first e-book novella by Thanksgiving.
Enjoy!
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Phase Zero
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Chapter 2
Lee Myung Suk gasped when Colonel Hong Dong Jon told her the news. Her cousin dead? Betrayed the state?
“How can this be?” she asked.
Across the table, Colonel Hong’s pockmarked face repulsed Myung Suk. The linear scar running from his left ear to left cheek radiated a vicious red. Myung remained outwardly calm, constraining herself from a violent urge to strangle the bearer of such unexpected, terrible news. But she knew better than to rile the infamous deputy head of the Korean People’s Army’s Special Purpose Operations Reconnaissance Bureau. This man killed at will with impunity, and pleasure.
Hong Dong Jon sneered. His stern voice sounded like gravel pouring through a spout. “Lee Yeong Nae turned against the true Korean people and sabotaged her mission. Your weak cousin lacked the heart or strength to resist capitalist evils. She debauched herself with that American witch and then betrayed the Supreme Leader’s trust by becoming a counter-spy. She killed a loyal KPA comrade and enabled the whore’s escape.”
Lee Myung Suk buried her face in her hands. She and her cousin had grown up together like sisters after the state’s internal security forces hauled off Yeong Nae’s parents and brother to a prison camp. At age ten, Lee Yeong Nae had reported her own parents for Western-leaning tendencies. In reward for her loyalty, she was allowed to live with Lee Myung Suk’s family.
“My cousin proved her loyalty to the state twenty years ago. She could not do what you say. If I may talk to her—”
Colonel Hong frowned. “No one can talk to your treacherous cousin. The American slut pushed her off the rescue helicopter. KPA loyal forces took care of the rest.”
Myung Suk raised up from the chair. “You lie!”
Dong Jon stood over her, and for a second Myung Suk thought he would strike her. He pulled a photo from a file folder on the table and pushed it in front of Myung. “Proof,” he said.
In the photo, a woman in a KPA uniform lay dead in a green field, a bloody body riddled with gunshot wounds. Vacant eyes stared toward the sky. Lee Myung Suk sobbed as she recognized her cousin. The sobs soon turned to rage. She glared at the emotionless colonel. “Tell me more. Tell me everything”
Dong Jon pulled another photo from the folder. It showed the Supreme Leader orating before a crowd assembled in the great square in front of the palace in Pyongyang. Foreign television cameras at one side of the stage meant an international audience. Behind the Supreme Leader stood a woman with cropped blond hair and fair skin, wearing a U.S. Navy olive green flight suit. Hands bound behind her back, her eyes stared straight at the crowd as if to defy the Supreme Leader. Colonel Hong pointed at the photo. “KPA Special Forces captured this pilot after she crashed a U.S. Navy spy plane into the West Sea. She is Lieutenant Commander Janet Squire, but her American co-conspirators call her ‘Cricket.’ I am told that your cousin called her ‘Faith.’ They were lovers.” Dong Jon spat out the last word as if it were bile.
Dong Jon pointed to another figure in the photo, a KPA colonel standing on the other side of the Supreme Leader. “Colonel Chul Boo Ju delivered the American prisoner to the Dear Leader. After denouncing the spy in front of the entire world, the Dear Leader gifted the woman to Comrade Boo as his personal concubine.”
Myung Suk pointed to another figure in the photo. “That’s my cousin.” In the picture, Lee Yeong Nae wore a KPA uniform and stood among a group of officers behind the Supreme Leader and the American prisoner.
“Yes,” Colonel Hong said. “None of us knew the treachery in her heart.” His gaze penetrated to Lee Myung’s soul. “After the speech, Colonel Boo took the American to his private quarters near Prison Camp Eight, where he kept her locked in a bedroom. On the same day that the American Navy bombers destroyed our biological weapons laboratory, Lee Yeong Nae gained entrance to that private room while Colonel Boo was taking pleasure on the whore. Yeong Nae shot Colonel Boo and then escaped with the American to a clearing where a U.S. Navy helicopter picked her up under heavy fire from our soldiers in pursuit. An American F/A-18 Hornet came out of nowhere to fire a missile at our forces, driving them back and allowing the helicopter to take off. As the aircraft lifted, Yeong Nae tried to climb aboard, but the bitch whom she had just rescued kicked her. When she fell to the ground, well you see in the photo what KPA soldiers did to her.”
Lee Myung Suk stared at Colonel Hong. “You say that this American pilot killed my cousin?”
“In essence.” Dong Jon crossed his arms.
Mixed tears of sadness and rage streamed down Myung Suk’s face. Colonel Hong looked at her, dispassionate. There must be more to the conversation. She wiped her eyes and looked at the colonel with a hardened face. “What do you want from me?”
“I have a message for you from Vice Marshal Sung Chunghee. The Supreme Leader bestows on you, Comrade Major Lee Myung Suk of KPA Special Forces, the honor of atoning for Lee Yeong Nae’s treachery. You will be the Supreme Leader’s personal instrument of death to Lieutenant Commander Squire, the despicable U.S. Navy forces and their ROK puppets.”
Suicide mission. Lee Myung Suk did not hesitate to respond. “I express utmost gratitude to the Supreme Leader, and I accept this honor with deep humility. I vow to execute this mission to best of my ability.” She paused and then added, “Even if it means my own glorious death in the service of the true Korean people.”
A trace of a smile crossed Colonel Hong’s face. “Very well. We begin at once to plan.” He pushed the file folder across the table to her. “First you must learn everything about this ‘Cricket’ insect.”
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Chapter 2
Lee Myung Suk gasped when Colonel Hong Dong Jon told her the news. Her cousin dead? Betrayed the state?
“How can this be?” she asked.
Across the table, Colonel Hong’s pockmarked face repulsed Myung Suk. The linear scar running from his left ear to left cheek radiated a vicious red. Myung remained outwardly calm, constraining herself from a violent urge to strangle the bearer of such unexpected, terrible news. But she knew better than to rile the infamous deputy head of the Korean People’s Army’s Special Purpose Operations Reconnaissance Bureau. This man killed at will with impunity, and pleasure.
Hong Dong Jon sneered. His stern voice sounded like gravel pouring through a spout. “Lee Yeong Nae turned against the true Korean people and sabotaged her mission. Your weak cousin lacked the heart or strength to resist capitalist evils. She debauched herself with that American witch and then betrayed the Supreme Leader’s trust by becoming a counter-spy. She killed a loyal KPA comrade and enabled the whore’s escape.”
Lee Myung Suk buried her face in her hands. She and her cousin had grown up together like sisters after the state’s internal security forces hauled off Yeong Nae’s parents and brother to a prison camp. At age ten, Lee Yeong Nae had reported her own parents for Western-leaning tendencies. In reward for her loyalty, she was allowed to live with Lee Myung Suk’s family.
“My cousin proved her loyalty to the state twenty years ago. She could not do what you say. If I may talk to her—”
Colonel Hong frowned. “No one can talk to your treacherous cousin. The American slut pushed her off the rescue helicopter. KPA loyal forces took care of the rest.”
Myung Suk raised up from the chair. “You lie!”
Dong Jon stood over her, and for a second Myung Suk thought he would strike her. He pulled a photo from a file folder on the table and pushed it in front of Myung. “Proof,” he said.
In the photo, a woman in a KPA uniform lay dead in a green field, a bloody body riddled with gunshot wounds. Vacant eyes stared toward the sky. Lee Myung Suk sobbed as she recognized her cousin. The sobs soon turned to rage. She glared at the emotionless colonel. “Tell me more. Tell me everything”
Dong Jon pulled another photo from the folder. It showed the Supreme Leader orating before a crowd assembled in the great square in front of the palace in Pyongyang. Foreign television cameras at one side of the stage meant an international audience. Behind the Supreme Leader stood a woman with cropped blond hair and fair skin, wearing a U.S. Navy olive green flight suit. Hands bound behind her back, her eyes stared straight at the crowd as if to defy the Supreme Leader. Colonel Hong pointed at the photo. “KPA Special Forces captured this pilot after she crashed a U.S. Navy spy plane into the West Sea. She is Lieutenant Commander Janet Squire, but her American co-conspirators call her ‘Cricket.’ I am told that your cousin called her ‘Faith.’ They were lovers.” Dong Jon spat out the last word as if it were bile.
Dong Jon pointed to another figure in the photo, a KPA colonel standing on the other side of the Supreme Leader. “Colonel Chul Boo Ju delivered the American prisoner to the Dear Leader. After denouncing the spy in front of the entire world, the Dear Leader gifted the woman to Comrade Boo as his personal concubine.”
Myung Suk pointed to another figure in the photo. “That’s my cousin.” In the picture, Lee Yeong Nae wore a KPA uniform and stood among a group of officers behind the Supreme Leader and the American prisoner.
“Yes,” Colonel Hong said. “None of us knew the treachery in her heart.” His gaze penetrated to Lee Myung’s soul. “After the speech, Colonel Boo took the American to his private quarters near Prison Camp Eight, where he kept her locked in a bedroom. On the same day that the American Navy bombers destroyed our biological weapons laboratory, Lee Yeong Nae gained entrance to that private room while Colonel Boo was taking pleasure on the whore. Yeong Nae shot Colonel Boo and then escaped with the American to a clearing where a U.S. Navy helicopter picked her up under heavy fire from our soldiers in pursuit. An American F/A-18 Hornet came out of nowhere to fire a missile at our forces, driving them back and allowing the helicopter to take off. As the aircraft lifted, Yeong Nae tried to climb aboard, but the bitch whom she had just rescued kicked her. When she fell to the ground, well you see in the photo what KPA soldiers did to her.”
Lee Myung Suk stared at Colonel Hong. “You say that this American pilot killed my cousin?”
“In essence.” Dong Jon crossed his arms.
Mixed tears of sadness and rage streamed down Myung Suk’s face. Colonel Hong looked at her, dispassionate. There must be more to the conversation. She wiped her eyes and looked at the colonel with a hardened face. “What do you want from me?”
“I have a message for you from Vice Marshal Sung Chunghee. The Supreme Leader bestows on you, Comrade Major Lee Myung Suk of KPA Special Forces, the honor of atoning for Lee Yeong Nae’s treachery. You will be the Supreme Leader’s personal instrument of death to Lieutenant Commander Squire, the despicable U.S. Navy forces and their ROK puppets.”
Suicide mission. Lee Myung Suk did not hesitate to respond. “I express utmost gratitude to the Supreme Leader, and I accept this honor with deep humility. I vow to execute this mission to best of my ability.” She paused and then added, “Even if it means my own glorious death in the service of the true Korean people.”
A trace of a smile crossed Colonel Hong’s face. “Very well. We begin at once to plan.” He pushed the file folder across the table to her. “First you must learn everything about this ‘Cricket’ insect.”
A trace of a smile crossed Colonel Hong’s face. “Very well. We begin at once to plan.” He pushed the file folder across the table to her. “First you must learn everything about this ‘Cricket’ insect.”
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