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The last time she had seen Agent Soon, he stood half naked on the bank of the Tumen River giving her directions to Sanhe. At that point, Hannah neither hoped nor expected to ever meet him again. Now, she made her way over with a timid smile.
He sighed audibly when she came up to him, his breath coming out like gray smoke. “I’m glad you arrived safely. Did you have any problems crossing?”
“No.” The river was frozen now, and her leg had ample time to heal at Mr. Kim’s safe house. It still ached, but she hardly even limped anymore.
“I was praying for your success.”
Hannah sensed the admiration in Soon’s tone. The youngest railroad conductor. That’s what Moses called her when they met up on the mountaintop several months ago. She was now the youngest member of Moses’ web of contacts who smuggled Christian leaders in and out of North Korea. Her job was to relay information only, but that information would play a pivotal role in keeping workers on both sides of the border in communication with one another.
“He didn’t tell me it would be you,” Hannah admitted. She was forbidden from speaking Moses’ name, even here. The secrecy alone was exhilarating. For the first time since she left the Secret Seminary, she was part of something important, something destined to succeed. She still didn’t know how the details she would collect from Soon could benefit the underground church in the end, but she knew this was a plan that would never fail. Being part of this group of spies and informants and secret workers made her heart race. Gone were the days of feeling broken and useless. Gone were the days of pining for things that must never be. This was her future. This was her calling.
Soon slipped her a small envelope, and she noticed he had a hard time meeting her gaze. She blamed the flush that crept up into her own face on the cold and nothing else. She was a real underground worker now, not a disheveled refugee trained by foreigners. She was a member in a network of dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of courageous heroes and heroines whose influence stretched from Pyongyang to Beijing. The people she worked for had even rescued Christian prisoners from jails and labor camps.
She lingered a moment longer. Moses hadn’t given her any other instructions besides taking Soon’s note to Mr. Kim. “Is there anything else you need?” she asked.
“Not tonight.” Soon cleared his throat, and they stared at one another’s feet. “Safe journey,” he finally whispered.
Hannah scurried back over the frozen river.
***
After his meeting with the girl from Sanhe, Soon managed to arrive before dawn for his shift at the Chongjin jail, but General Sin was already waiting for him. “Get me that Christian prisoner we got transferred from Onsong last fall.”
Soon’s stomach dropped. Everything had gone so well this morning.
“Is there a problem?” the general probed.
Soon stammered a reply. “He’s very sick, sir.” He glanced around the room, as if it might give a hint how to change the general’s mind. Levi hadn’t been questioned for months. Soon hoped General Sin was done interrogating him. “He’s not well at all.”
“Then hurry up and fetch him before he gets worse,” the general snapped. Soon was dismissed. He sulked downstairs.
“I’ve told you everything,” Levi whispered once Soon entered his cell. His choked voice made him sound old enough to be Soon’s grandfather, even though he was still a young man.
“I know.” Soon kept his voice low so other co-workers wouldn’t hear. “You’ve done well. The general just wants to talk to you again.”
“I’ve told you everything. Everything.” Levi’s body heaved. His sharp shoulder blades poked into Soon’s chest as he helped the prisoner to his feet. “I don’t know anything else.” Levi was sobbing.
Soon steeled himself against the stench of infected flesh, hoping the prisoner didn’t notice him gag. Levi’s cheekbones were so caved in Soon could have filled them both with water, and none would spill out. Levi stumbled, and Soon pictured how easy it would be to scoop him up like an infant and carry him all the way to the interrogation room. He gritted his teeth against the odor and wondered how much longer he’d have to stay here in Chongjin. The best he could hope for was a ticket across the border before things got too awful. Second to that was a quick and painless death. He had witnessed far too many of the other kind.
Levi lost his footing, and Soon scraped a huge scab off the prisoner’s arm while trying to catch him. Levi cried out but sounded more like a frog or a toad than a human. When he first arrived in Chongjin, Levi sang hymns all through the night. He had a beautiful voice, but that was before General Sin got to him.
“We’re almost there,” Soon whispered. “Please. Please let me help you just a little bit farther.”
Levi tensed his muscles. Soon felt like he should offer the prisoner some form of comfort before his meeting with the general. He swung open the heavy door of the interview room, his stomach somersaulting. He gave the countertops a cursory glance to make sure they were clean enough for General Sin’s expectations and led Levi to the chair. He patted him once on the shoulder but didn’t strap him in. Tears leaked out of the prisoner’s eyes.
“Good luck, Brother.”
Soon doubted Levi even heard.
***
As soon as he entered the interrogation room, General Sin dismissed Soon and flicked his cigarette onto the floor near the prisoner’s feet. “Do you know why I brought you here?”
Soundless sobs scrunched up the boy’s face. He shook his head.
“I brought you here,” the general stated, “because you insisted that Moses was more than a myth.”
Levi shut his eyes and held up his fingers as if in protest. “I signed the statement. I gave the confession.”
Sin clucked his tongue. “But you didn’t believe it, did you?” he hissed directly into the prisoner’s ear. “You know there really is a Moses, and you were trying to find him, weren’t you?”
Levi’s body shook. Nothing grated on the general’s nerves like the sound of rattling teeth. “I ... I don’t know what you want me to say.”
The general clucked his tongue once more. “It’s no matter, anyway.” He flicked his wrist as if he were swatting away a pesky fly. “You and I both know the truth. Unfortunately, for some people here, that’s a problem.”
Levi kept his eyes scrunched up, leaving only the smallest of slits open.
General Sin could only imagine what it would be like to come directly under the white lights of the interview room after spending weeks in darkness and isolation. “You know I’m doing you a favor.” Sin strode to the counter.
“No.” Levi’s voice was raspy, but the pleading filled the room. Sin filled up his syringe. “No,” the prisoner whimpered. Sobs wracked his whole body. “No more drugs.”
The general opened a vial. “I already told you. I’m doing you a favor.”
Levi trembled. “For God’s sake,” he croaked, “have mercy. No more drugs.”
Sin was at his shoulder now, his dose ready. With his free hand, he scrunched up Levi’s sleeve. The prisoner was too weak to protest. Sin positioned his back to the room’s surveillance camera and leaned in so close his beard stubble scratched against Levi’s cheek. “That’s what I’m doing,” he whispered. “Having mercy.”
Levi writhed, tensing his entire body. Sin plunged the needle into his arm and drained the colorless poison into his vein. Once the syringe was empty, he tossed it back onto the counter. Levi’s face was already beginning to relax.
“It won’t change anything, but you were right,” Sin whispered before the prisoner lost complete consciousness. “You see, I am Moses.”
Levi’s eyes flickered shut.