Battle Born

bloodthirsty mongrels whose task it is to seek out and destroy the enemy using whatever means possible. They have created an atmosphere of fear inside North Korea that has stifled free thought and free expression for almost three generations.”

General Park motioned to the large computer screens in the observation room, which were repeaters of the much larger presentation screens on the command center stage. “The active, reserve, and paramilitary forces of the Korean People’s Army total about seven million, or about one-third of the entire population,” he went on. “The army pervades every aspect of life inside North Korea. But of that massive number, only about one hundred thousand are party members or members of one of these elite terrorist units. Through our intelligence and infiltration methods, we have identified the top ten units and their locations — two naval infiltration groups, two special forces paratroop air wings, four Spetznaz battalions, and one terrorist infiltration training and operations battalion.

“In addition, we have targeted the headquarters and barracks of the Eighth and Ninth Special Corps. The Eighth Special Corps is President Kim Jong-il’s personal protection unit, and the Ninth Special Corps is the unit designated to hold and defend the streets of Pyongyang against rioters, insurrection, and invasion. As I said, a total of one hundred thousand troops. They are in twelve general target areas — two naval bases, two air bases, five army bases, and within the capital of North Korea itself. We have no illusion that we can kill all of them, of course, but we think this will create the spark that can bring down one of the planet’s last Communist dictatorships.”

“What about the other six million nine hundred thousand fighters?” Vice President Whiting asked incredulously. “You dismiss them because they’re not Communist Party members, but they’re still trained to fight and they’re indoctrinated in Communist ideology almost from birth. Are you just going to ignore them? What about North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction — their biological, chemical, and nuclear warheads? How can you plan such a limited attack as this and simply ignore the size and power of the forces that you haven’t decided to attack?”

“Because I trust my intelligence officers and the defectors who reported their findings and observations to me,” President Kwon said. “These patriots all told me the same thing, and it has been checked and crosschecked and triple-checked over many months: the North is desperate and is willing to do anything, even trigger World War Three in a nuclear holocaust, to break the cycle of poverty, starvation, and despair.

“From our sources, we estimated that ninety-five percent of the nation was suffering the effects of the corrupt, paranoid, power-mad regime. Ninety percent of the nation had not been paid in over three months, and seventy percent hadn’t been paid in over a year. Sixty percent of the nation had no electricity, running water, fuel oil, or sanitary facilities for three or more days a week, every week of the year. Unemployment was at fifty percent. And forty percent of the population, forty percent, ate less than one thousand calories of food a day. Infant mortality is twenty percent in the countryside, ten percent in the cities.

“We knew war could not be far behind. War could do many things for the Communist government. It would give the people someone to hate other than their own government. It could give them a reason to fight, a reason to live, or at least a reason to leave the squalor. It could force the West to send aid, even if they were defeated. At the very least, it promised a quick end to their suffering. A bullet between the eyes, a bomb dropped from far above, a cruise missile launched from hundreds of miles away — even the millisecond flash of a nuclear explosion and the briefest sensation of the heat of the fireball. All would be preferable, less painful, than staying at home watching your children die of cold and starvation.

“And if the North struck first, Madam Vice President, our findings told us that we would suffer the loss of Seoul and more than five million people. And there would still exist the possibility of a thermonuclear exchange that could end our nation and even our race. But if we struck first, and struck quickly, we might have a chance of cutting off the serpent’s head before its coils could reach out to us. With the internal security and enforcement apparatus of the party destroyed, perhaps the people could rise up and throw off their Communist slave masters once and for all.”

Vice President Whiting shook her head. “You are living a pipe dream, Mr. President,” she said, clearly upset. “You’re risking your life, your people’s lives and freedom, everything you’ve built and accomplished over the decades, for a fantasy, a fairy tale. The price of failure is almost too enormous to comprehend. You’re also risking the lives of thousands of American servicemen stationed here who know nothing of this folly of yours. You’re risking the peace and security of Asia, of the entire planet.”

“No one knows better than I what we risk, Madam Vice President!” Kwon retorted angrily. “But I and my government could not sit idly by and wait for the Communists to send their chemical terror and armies and tanks across the frontier. China would certainly follow in support of her little puppet. I would rather fight on our terms than on the North’s.”

“That sounds like something North Korea would say to justify an invasion of South Korea!” Admiral Allen said sardonically.

“The difference, Admiral, is that we do not seek the death and destruction of the North — we only seek to trigger the inevitable revolution that we feel must occur in Communist Korea. We recognize the stakes are high, but such a task is so important to our future, our peace, our survival, that we dare even the safety and security of Asia to bring it about.”

Kwon paused, looking hard at Whiting and Allen. “Frankly, madam, I am not sure whether our American allies would risk their own peace and freedom to save us. I think in order to avoid another nuclear confrontation, President Martindale would watch and wait until the North Korean forces were stretched too thin and the bulk of the Red Chinese Army was committed, and then decide whether or not to intervene. By then, my country would be ravaged. The entire peninsula, the whole Korean race, would be enslaved. We would again become the eternal battleground, a bone fought over by the Americans and the Chinese dogs of war.”

General Park spoke in a low voice to the president in Korean, and Kwon turned to the monitors. Special Agent Law whispered to the Vice President, “Ma’am, I think we can get out of here if we want to, but with all that’s going on…”

“This may be the safest place for us, after all,” Vice President Whiting said. “I agree.”

“But I wish we could contact Washington,” said Admiral Allen.

“We’ll do it right now,” Law said firmly. She went over to the director’s console and picked up a telephone. Someone responded in Korean. Law held the receiver up to President Kwon. “Tell the operator I want to be connected to the White House Communications Center immediately.”

“Mian hamnida. I am sorry, Special Agent,” Kwon said, “but I cannot allow any outside communications at this—”

Corrie Law raised her mini-Uzi, pointed it directly at the President’s face, and said, “Mr. President, you will never live to see whether or not your plan succeeds if you don’t order this operator to put the Vice President of the United States through to the White House in Washington, D.C., right now. I will not allow the Vice President to be treated like an insignificant nobody.”

Kwon was startled. He had never experienced a subordinate taking the initiative like this, especially without a command from a superior. But he nodded politely. “Mullonijyo. Chamkanman kidaryo chuseyo. Of course. Please wait a moment.” He took the receiver, gave a command in Korean, then handed the phone back to Vice President Whiting with a formal bow. “Please. But do not be long, madam. History will be made in the next few minutes.”

It took only moments and a few coded authentication phrases, and Whiting’s call was routed directly to the phone on the Oval Office desk. Courteously, President Kwon and General Park went over to the observation windows to allow her a modicum of privacy.

“Ellen, good to hear your voice,” President Martin-dale said, his voice filled with relief. “I just got the call from Bob Plank about your coded message. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Mr. President,” Whiting said. “I’m still in the Master Control and Reporting Center at Osan Air Base. I’m with Admiral Allen, General Park of the Korean Air Force, and President Kwon.” She took a deep breath, then said, “Mr. President, President Kwon has just informed me that he has initiated an invasion of North Korea.”

“What?”

“It’s under way right now,” Whiting went on. “President Kwon and General Park briefed me in detail. They have apparently infiltrated many North Korean command, control, and communications facilities to the point where they were able to shut down most of that country’s early-warning, air defense, and command networks. His planes are crossing the border as we speak. All of the planes he was going to use in the Team Spirit exercise are going to be used against the North.” Whiting’s voice broke for a moment. “Mr. President — Kevin — this is… frightening. I’m