Chapter 72
Sunan Airport, North Korea
Rain-geared military personnel scrambled for cover as final checks were called out by launch operators inside the underground command and control bunker.
The mission control officer, an Army general, gave the terse command to initiate the countdown, and thirty seconds later the Fire Star’s massive engines roared to life with a fiery flash.
The thundering shock waves above echoed inside the bunker, trembling the ground beneath their feet. Tracking cameras flared with refractive bloom against the white-hot corona of flaming gases trailing the missile on its long flight to its distant target range in the far Pacific.
A faint smile and satisfied nod from the general ignited a round of wild cheers and applause inside the bunker. It was another successful launch, and a clear signal to the hated Americans that North Korea held a nuclear knife to their naked capitalist throats.
★
Sea of Japan
The hundred-thousand-watt halogen lamps of a South Korean squid-jigging boat blazed across the surface of the dark, rain-roiled sea.
The bright lights lured the deep-diving Japanese flying squid to the surface, where fishermen tricked the squid into seizing the jigged fluorescent lures flickering like darting shrimp.
The high-tech squid boat deployed a seasoned and highly patriotic crew.
They happily shielded the secretive work of the two men and one woman, who identified themselves as South Korean National Intelligence Service operatives.
Their mission was to monitor the early-morning North Korean missile launch.
Squid boats were common in these waters, and always operated at night. North Korean patrol boats wouldn’t suspect anything nor even bother them this far beyond the Communists’ economic zone.
The squid-jigging crew knew not to interfere with the intelligence work, pry into their activities, or gawk at their incredibly sophisticated equipment. Not even the captain dared to closely inspect or verify their credentials.
Despite the nearly daylight-bright halogen glow surrounding their vessel, the North Korean rocket trail was clearly visible almost from the moment it launched, its fiery plume muting behind the thick rain clouds as it punched through the storm.
Within moments, the Guardians had accomplished their first task of the mission.