her downstairs to the front door. As Anne reached for the knob, he reached around her and opened the door, pushing it open a little awkwardly in the close quarters.
She looked slightly surprised but said “Thank you” anyway.
The steps outside were slick following a late-night rainstorm, and Tony offered her his arm. Anne didn’t seem to see his gesture and reached instead for the railing. Should have known better, he thought. You’ll have to watch showing your semi-chauvinist streak, old son.
He pointed out his car, parked half a block down. A battered old four-door Hyundai, it had been passed from pilot to pilot as they rotated through his squadron. And despite Tony’s best attempts the day before, it was less than sleek.
They walked up to the passenger side and Tony reached for the door handle. This time, Anne protested, “Hey, c’mon, I’m a big girl now. I’m strong enough to open car doors.” She smiled as she said it, but she still grabbed the handle before he could.
Mentally kicking himself, Tony looked crestfallen. “Sorry, Anne. I didn’t mean to imply that you couldn’t …”
Now she looked a little sheepish herself and tried to pass her reaction off with a joke. “It’s okay, Tony, I’m just not used to such correct behavior from a fighter pilot.” She bent down and climbed in the Hyundai.
Tony shut the door after and moved, frowning, around to the driver’s side. Then he shrugged. Can’t let it shake you, he decided. Redheads are touchy, right?
Anne leaned across and opened his door from the inside.
The business of pulling out into traffic gave him a few moments to consider his next move. Anne’s gentle rebuff had made him realize he was acting like a kid on his first date. Not good.
Trouble was, he wanted to make a good impression. He couldn’t use his normal style on Anne. Momentary memories of his “normal” style and Maria filled his thoughts, but he quickly suppressed them.
Okay, Tony, just relax, he thought. He looked over at Anne, who was sitting quietly. When she saw his glance, she smiled quickly but said nothing. He decided to try again.
“I hope you like this place, Anne. The view is nice, and the history’s sure interesting.”
“I’m sure I will,” she said with warmth in her voice. It sounded a little forced, but the feeling was there.
He chattered on, relieved to find a topic he could discuss without anchoring his foot solidly in his mouth. “I read up on Namhan Mountain last night. It hasn’t really been used for over two hundred years, but the Koreans first built on the site two thousand years ago.”
She whistled softly under her breath. “Two thousand years! I’ll bet our ancestors were still wearing skins and running from Roman soldiers back then. How much of this place is still standing?”
Things went easier from that point, and they passed the rest of the forty-five-minute drive exchanging tidbits of history on Korea in general, and their destination in particular. Tony was delighted to find something that both he and Anne could talk about — an interest they shared. Could share, he corrected himself.
In any event, the drive from Seoul seemed much too short. It was a clear winter day, and the road led southeast, climbing slowly. It took half the trip just to get clear of Seoul. The sprawling city had grown to within a few miles of their destination.
As they left the city behind, they started to see Namhan Mountain rising on the left. There were regular shapes visible on the top, which from this distance meant an impressive size.
Luckily the road didn’t end at the base of the mountain but instead wound up and around toward the summit. As they climbed, Anne could look back and see the Seoul skyline spreading out behind them. She described it to Tony, who dutifully kept his eyes on the road through the long drive to the top.
They pulled into a parking lot and got out of the car. Although it was a cool day, they were lucky. There wasn’t much wind. What there was, was just nippy enough to make them hurry toward the monolithic walls rising ahead.
The sign said “Namhan Castle,” or “Namhansan-song” in Korean. It wasn’t a castle in the European sense, with turreted battlements and a drawbridge. Instead, high stone walls stretched to the left or right. In some places they were twenty feet or more high.
“Fortress” was a much more suitable word, with all its connotations of immense size and strength. Namhansan-song reminded Tony of the Great Wall of China, wrapped around a single hilltop.
A cozily warm visitors’ center supplied them with pamphlets, and they took turns reading aloud the most interesting portions and picking out where to go first.
Tony was a little appalled at the size of the place. The guidebook said there were over eight kilometers of wall, and Anne sounded as if she wanted to see all of it. Her enthusiasm pulled him along, though. And as they started out on the path, he reached out and she took his hand. It happened without either of them thinking much about it. They walked that way toward the gate.
The old gates were open, and as they neared them, Anne pulled him off to study the wall. It was made of dressed stone, well weathered, but it was possible for their inexpert eyes to tell whether it was two hundred or two thousand years old.
There were, however, some modern-looking pockmarks on the surface. Anne looked at him questioningly, and Tony tried to puzzle out their meaning. It came to him suddenly.
“They’ve got to be from the Korean War, Anne. This place was probably used by both sides during the battles for Seoul.”
“Such a shame.” She sighed. “Imagine this place, thousands of years old, defaced with bullets.”
“I don’t think the fortress minds, Anne.” He smiled. “Remember, it was never built as a monument. It was built for war.” He patted the stones. “Thirty years is just an eyeblink for this place.”
He took her hand again and they walked inside.
The first thing they did was climb up to a point on the wall that overlooked Seoul. The guidebook had stressed Namhansan-song’s view, and it hadn’t been exaggerating. From their vantage point, Tony and Anne could see the entire Han River valley.
Looking to the northwest, Seoul’s skyscrapers, bridges, and sprawling suburbs spread out before them. The Han River entered their view from the right, the northeast, and then snaked its way through the city and off over the western horizon. There was a slight haze over the city itself, charcoal smoke from the hundreds of thousands of households. Some of the taller buildings seemed to thrust right through it.
They stood together, drinking in the view. Neither wanted to leave, so they stood and quietly pointed out various landmarks to each other. As the cold mountain air started to work its way into them, helped by a slight breeze, Tony stood close to Anne and then put his arm around her. She smiled and leaned into him a little.
They started following the walls, walking quickly to warm up. Marveling at the exhibits, they read the plaques describing various aspects of the wall’s history and construction. Tony’s disastrous attempts to read the Korean side of the plaques became a running joke as they proceeded.
Suddenly they were back at their starting point, and Tony realized he was very tired. Arm in arm they trudged back to his car.
As he started it up and pulled out of the parking lot, Tony looked over at Anne. “I’m glad we could see the fortress together. It was a great morning.”
“Thank you for asking me, Tony.” She smiled coquettishly. “Now, where should we go next?”
They spent the drive back deciding.
General Chang stubbed his cigarette out in an ashtray and looked slowly around the crowded room, seeking out the eyes of every officer present. None avoided his gaze. He nodded to himself. They were committed and he could trust them.
The conspirators were meeting in the back room of the Han Chung Kak
But General Hahn had assured him that the government knew nothing of his plans. Oh, the bureaucrats were nervous enough, jumping at shadows on every side. But they didn’t have the detailed information needed to break up his coup attempt. And with General Hahn busy laundering Defense Security Command reports before they
