communications center. If you don’t mind.”
“Bob — Can I call you Bob?”
“I
They stared at each other. Ferguson was so much taller than Bo that he thought he might get a crick in his neck if Bo didn’t blink soon.
“Well, keep us updated,” said Bo finally, looking away.
Ferguson didn’t feel like lying, so he simply shrugged as he left the room.
7
Thera braced herself as the North Koreans approached. There was no sense hiding the cigarette; both men had clearly seen her.
“You must be away from the building,” said Ch’o. “I’m sorry, Miss.”
“It’s a nonsmoking area?”
Ch’o gave her a strange look. “No. The train car. We are demonstrating the train car. You are on the track.”
He pointed behind her. Thera turned and saw that one of the remote-controller train cars was heading slowly in her direction from the temporary waste-storage area.
The other Korean began speaking in a very excited voice, telling her that she would be run over if she did not get away from the embedded tracks.
“The trains have sensors,” said Ch’o, “but they do not always work. There have been close-call accidents. We do not trust them.”
“I’m sorry,” said Thera, stepping out of the way.
Ch’o and the other man stood by her side as the train car went slowly by. The rest of the inspection team had gathered inside the building and was watching the train as it made its way slowly toward the reception building’s door.
“I didn’t know there were accidents,” said Thera when the train passed. “The South Koreans have the same system. They didn’t mention accidents.”
Ch’o translated what she said for his colleague. Thera picked up some of the reply but not all of it.
“Very possibly our cousins have not been one hundred percent candid,” said Ch’o. “Assuming that we have the same system.”
“You do.”
Ch’o glanced at her cigarette.
“You smoke?”
“Bad habit, I know,” said Thera, dropping the butt on the ground. “Thank you for warning me.”
She touched the scientist’s arm. He turned light red.
“Very welcome, very welcome,” he said, leading the other man away.
The rest of the afternoon passed slowly, the tour a slow-motion replay of the one they’d had in South Korea. Finally, the site director led them to the administration building for refreshments: seltzer water and kimchi-style hors d’oeuvres. Thera took a few sips of the seltzer, then went outside, ostensibly to grab a smoke but really to get another glimpse of the area and make sure she could plant the tags tomorrow.
It looked like it would be easy There were no cameras covering the interior of the compound, and the guards stayed close to the buildings. Thera took a short walk, testing to see if she was being watched.
No.
Could she get the tags in exactly the same places she had in South Korea?
Probably. But was that important now? The baseline they’d been looking for was from a plant with no plutonium.
Thera swung around to head back toward the administration building. The door opened, and a number of team members came out, followed by three or four North Koreans, one of whom was Ch’o.
“Miss,” said Ch’o. “Oh, Miss?”
“Me?”
“You must try these,” said the scientist in English, bowing his head slightly and holding a small package out toward her. It was wrapped in brown paper.
Thera took it. Two other Korean officials nodded behind Ch’o, motioning for her to open the package.
She pulled the rough string and opened the paper. There was a pack of cigarettes inside. It was only about half full; obviously Ch’o had improvised the present.
The package had Marlboro’s color scheme, but the words were in Korean.
“Our own,” said Ch’o. “Try.”
“You like, yes,” added one of the other men. “North Korean cigarettes number one.”
Thera felt herself flushing. “I—”
“You mentioned to the guard at the door that you needed a cigarette,” said Ch’o.
“Oh,” said Thera. “It was just an expression.”
By now other members of the team, including Dr. Norkelus, had come over to see what the fuss was about. More North Koreans joined them, and Thera found herself at the center of a small crowd. She held up the package; Norkelus rolled his eyes. Julie Svenson shook her head. Evora and some of the others laughed.
“I guess I should try one,” said Thera.
She took two of the cigarettes from the pack, then held the cigarettes out to the Koreans. They all shook their heads furiously. Finally, Dr. Ch’o, his lips gritted together firmly, stepped up and took one.
“I will try just a puff with you, out of hospitality. We cannot let a guest be alone.”
He turned and repeated what he had said in Korean, in effect scolding them for their bad manners. The others grinned sheepishly.
Thera took a drag and immediately began coughing. Horror flooded onto the faces of the Koreans nearby.
Then Ch’o laughed, and the others laughed, and Thera laughed as well.
“It’s good but very strong,” she said.
The translator, squeezing through the knot around her, explained in Korean. Everyone laughed again, nodding and saying in Korean that their cigarettes were good but took some getting used to.
“I’m afraid we should all get back to work,” said Norkelus finally. “We should continue.”
“Yes, we must continue and be perfect hosts,” said Ch’o.
He walked off very proud of himself, Thera thought.
She took a short draw on the cigarette as the others left. It tasted just as terrible as before, though this time she managed to keep herself from coughing.
Thera put her finger into the top of the package to pull the flap closed. When she did, she noticed there was writing on the margin of the paper. At first glance, it looked like a trademark notice, but of course that couldn’t be right.
The letters were so small she had to hold the package right in front of her face.
She nearly dropped it as she read the words:
8
Rankin took the binoculars from the lookout and panned them across the sea to the south. The small fishing vessel was just under a mile away. It had been sailing toward them for more than an hour, moving so slowly that it
