| |
General Sin’s boots were as heavy as steel when he trudged up the small hill back to the jail. He brushed his hands on his uniform. A weaker man would question himself, and perhaps ten or fifteen years ago, Sin might have too. But he couldn’t allow himself the extravagance of second guesses. There was only forward. There was only progress.
Progress and sacrifice.
He closed the door to his office, checking once to see if anyone had left him a message. He picked up his phone and dialed the number without any further hesitation.
“This is General Sin. I just discovered the connection between my jail and the convict Moses.”
***
Soon’s legs throbbed as he sprinted toward his meeting place with Hannah. He was half an hour early. Please let her be there. It had taken every ounce of fortitude in his body, but he had carried out his entire shift at the jail that day, and then he rushed home and packed his bag. He took the small amount of cash he had been saving for an emergency, thanked God he had no living family the regime could punish on his behalf, and hurried toward the Tumen.
His breath came out in short bursts. He forced himself to slow down. If someone saw him running this late at night, they’d get too curious. If Hannah wasn’t there by the time he arrived, he’d cross alone and wait for her on the other side. They couldn’t even stay in Sanhe, though. The guards would be after him as soon as they realized he escaped. If he was lucky, General Sin would wait a day or two before announcing his absence to the National Security Agency, but Soon couldn’t be sure of even that. He had to leave now, and if Hannah wanted to stay safe, she’d come along with him.
The half-moon was out, and he felt the rush of relief warm his body when he saw Hannah’s profile in the shadows ahead. He sprinted the last stretch and was out of breath by the time he reached her. He grabbed her arm. “Let’s go.”
“What’s wrong?” Soon heard the catch in her voice, the fear he was certain laced all of his own words as well.
“They found us out. We’ve got to leave. For good.”
He felt her arm tug back for just a second. “What about Simon?”
He dragged her forward. “You can’t worry about him right now.”
The moon gave off its brilliant light. Too much light. Soon wished he had a wristwatch. If General Sin called the National Security Agency from his office, they might have already beat them both here. The ice was slippery. He held onto Hannah to keep her from falling. They were going too slow. They had to reach the other side.
“Freeze!” The shout cracked like a whip through the air.
He gave Hannah a shove forward. “Hurry!” The momentum knocked him over. “Hurry,” he hissed to her again until she started running. As he turned toward his assailants in their olive-green coats, he knew he’d never see the gentle girl from Sanhe again. His only hope was to distract the guards long enough to give her a head start.
He took in his surroundings in perfect panorama. Four men stood on the bank. Two pointed rifles at his head. Another held a dog that snarled as it strained against its leash. He couldn’t hear Hannah behind him anymore and hoped she made it to the other side. He squared his shoulders. There was no use running anymore. Somehow, he had always known it would happen this way. Tonight, or some other night just like it, Soon would face the Party members who wanted him dead. General Sin was right. If they caught him alive, Moses, Hannah, the Sanhe safe house — everything would be jeopardized. Soon slipped his hand into his pocket and fingered his pill. One of the men shouted a command to his dog and let go of the leash. The canine darted past Soon. He prayed it wouldn’t reach Hannah.
“What are you doing there?” A guard dashed onto the ice but fell as soon as his boots hit the slippery surface. Soon had to act before it was too late.
“He put something in his mouth.” The oldest agent reached him first, rammed his hand in Soon’s mouth and tried to lodge it all the way down his throat. Soon scarcely heard him curse. Had Hannah made it to safety?
An instant later, the dog snarled just a little bit in the distance. Two of the men jogged onto the ice and hurried toward the direction of the sound. The other two lifted Soon between them. “Get him to the van. We’ll pump his stomach.”
Soon’s vision started to blur. Didn’t they know they couldn’t touch him anymore? “We got the girl,” someone called out, but he hardly heard them. He was safe forever, safe from their clutches, safe from their tortures. He shut his eyes. He spent his last prayer on Hannah, asking that God would send her angels to whisk her away to some secret refuge where the National Security Agency could never find her again.
Peace rushed through his body as his muscles locked up and his mouth frothed over.
A few short, painless seconds later, he was free.
***
General Sin scrawled notes on his clipboard while cigarette ash dropped on the page. He reached out mechanically for the phone when it rang. “Yes.”
“We followed your agent. You were right. He was the link.”
Sin tapped his pen against the receiver. “Thought so. Did you question him?”
There was a pregnant pause. “Unfortunately, he died before we had the chance.”
Sin scowled and leaned forward in his chair.
The agent spoke fast, fumbling over his words. “There was a girl with him. Young. We have her now.”
“Good.” General Sin flicked cigarette ash over his metal tin and waited for more information.
“Should we bring her to you, sir?”
A note on the bottom of the page caught his attention, and he scribbled a few words in the margin. “Fine. Bring her in.”
“Yes, sir.”
He inhaled slowly. “On second thought, now Soon’s gone, we’re short on help. Take her to Camp 22. Let them see what she knows.”
There was a slight pause before another “Yes, sir,” and General Sin hung up the phone. He leaned back in his chair and resumed his paperwork. It would take at least another hour before he finished.
***
“Do you know where you are?”
Hannah shook her head. Throbbing pain pounded inside her skull. Pulsing white lights blinded her vision. Sticky blood caked onto her leg. She remembered the dog bite and shivered.
“You are in the underground detention center at Camp 22. You are charged with selling state secrets and threatening national security.”
Hannah struggled to keep her head up. The rest of her body was a pulp of bruises and brokenness, but all she felt was the anguish between her temples. A small cup was brought to her lips, and she lapped at the water clumsily.
“When you are strong enough, you will tell us who you were meeting. You will tell us about the traitor Soon and all those in your network of spies and conspirators.” In spite of her weakness, she trembled violently. “You will cooperate.”
The metal clanged into place as her cage door swung shut.