“Keep that information to yourself a spell, would you, dear?”
“Of course.”
“I would imagine it will come out at some point in the future,” added McCarthy. “At a much more strategic moment.”
36
They did it by the book.
Two teams took the perimeter from the ground, surprising the guards at the main gate and subduing them without resistance. Within seconds, a pair of Marine helicopters swooped in over the grounds, depositing two Special Forces A Teams on the roof of the house. Roughly twenty seconds later, they came in three of the windows.
The lone security officer on duty in the house made the mistake of opening fire at one of the American soldiers. There wasn’t enough left of him to fit into a decent-sized garbage bag.
Thera came in behind the point team, racing toward the hallway that led to the residential suite and Park’s bedroom. Infrared surveillance of the house had given the assault troops a reasonably good idea of where he was.
“Park, I’m here to help,” she yelled as she and the soldiers reached the hallway. “Your government has declared you a criminal. I can offer you asylum.”
There was no answer. The plan was for Thera to wait until the Special Forces soldiers with her subdued the billionaire, but she was too juiced with adrenaline to slow down. She reached the door to the room where he’d been at the start of the assault, dropped to her knees, and grabbed a flash-bang stun grenade.
“Park? We know you’re in there. Come on. We don’t have much time.”
She waited a few seconds, pulled the pin out of the grenade, counted to two, and tossed it in the room.
Two soldiers leapt into the room a split second after the grenade exploded, jumping left and right, securing it before she even got to her feet.
It was empty.
“Shit.”
Thera thought for a second, then realized where he must be.
“This way, come on,” she yelled to the men, starting back down the hall. She ran through the study, turned right, and sped through the dining room.
The light was on in the museumlike room. Thera waved the others back behind her, slowing to a walk before entering.
“I believed it might be a trick. But of course there was no way to be sure.”
Thera froze. Park had dressed himself in one of the ancient sets of armor. He had a long sword in his hands, its jewels glimmering in the light.
“I’m with the American embassy, offering you asylum. Your government considers you an outlaw,” said Thera. “They’ll be arresting you.”
“Do they? Or is that another of the Americans’ many lies?”
Park mocked her, even though he suspected that what she said was true, or would be as soon as the Americans explained what had happened. The Korean security force would be ordered to shoot him as he resisted arrest.
He had planned to kill himself before they arrived, but the woman and her soldiers presented a better option.
“I’m with the American embassy,” repeated Thera. “I can get you out.”
“You were the arms dealer, the one with Manski,” said Park, recognizing the red hair beneath the watch cap. “You were both spies, then, both Americans. I was a fool to think he was just a greedy criminal.”
“I’m with the embassy,” said Thera. “I can get you out. We can give you asylum.”
“And what would be your price?”
“No price. Just come.”
“You would expect me to explain. You want me to betray my country.”
“Your country wants to arrest you.”
“The government is not my country. Korea is my country.” He raised the sword.
“Don’t do it,” said Thera. “I’m armed.”
Park felt his chest grow warm. All his life he’d had two dreams. The first was to see Korea unified, its ignominy under Japan avenged.
The second was to live the life of a warrior. He could not have the first, but he could achieve the second in this moment. He charged forward with a yell taught to him by his ancestors.
Thera waited until the last moment, then dove to the side, trailing her foot to knock the top-heavy Park off balance. As she dove, she pulled the pistol from her holster,
“Stop!” she yelled at him.
He scrambled upward before she could get to her feet.
“I’ll kill you,” she warned.
Park smiled and swung the sword down.
Thera fired three times, square into his face. The sword grazed her ear, drawing a trickle of blood and lopping off her hair as it flew to the ground.
“You made it too easy,” she told the dead man, pushing him off her chest. “Too damn easy.”
EPILOGUE
Find an immortal lady
And you too will be immortal.
1
Senator Gordon Tewilliger smiled for the television cameras as he entered the hallway, heading for the Red Room and the reception. He was only one of the crowd today, but it was a good day nonetheless. He had done well on the weekend talk shows, modestly pointing out that he had foreseen problems like those that had occurred in Korea, problems that necessitated a strong stance by the U.S., not a weasely inaction that couldn’t be backed by force. The president needed to negotiate a new arms treaty with teeth. If he didn’t, hinted Tewilliger, others would.
“Hey, Senator, you got a second?” said Fred Rosen, a reporter with the
“For you Fred, anything,” said Tewilliger. He hated Rosen, of course, and wouldn’t have trusted anything he
