39. HR/VP
HR/VP
Brussels, Belgium
Two days later
Marina was summoned to the High Representative’s office at nine.
She sat on one of the low chairs opposite the enormous desk, hands folded in her lap. Tobias sat three seats away from her. Beside him sat Axel Wieland, the Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific. They conferred together quietly in German.
On the way to the elevator, Tobias had told her to remember that sometimes the right thing is easy but hard.
High Representative of the European External Action Service and Vice President of the European Commission Katrina Saar stood at the windows overlooking Brussels, reading from a file in her hand. Finally, she turned.
“I realize this is your first report to me, but I prefer after action reviews with less drama.”
Marina swallowed. “Yes, ma’am.”
She tossed the file onto her desk, spilling a few papers across it.
“First, the obvious—you put a person inside a container which you represented to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as protected diplomatic cargo. That’s smuggling.”
Tobias closed his eyes.
Marina considered the wording. “Yes.”
Saar tapped on the file on her desk.
“You are a security officer. You know perfectly well that diplomatic protections are not a magic phrase you can stencil onto a wooden box.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You knowingly made a false representation to foreign customs authorities.”
“Yes.”
“You transported a person across an international border while concealing his identity.”
“Yes.”
“You used European Union markings and documentation to facilitate it.”
Marina hesitated.
“Marina,” Tobias warned.
“Yes.”
The High Representative walked around the desk.
“And apparently you personally sealed the container.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Marina looked at her.
There were several possible answers. None would make this better.
“Because I didn’t trust anyone else to do it.”
Tobias made a small sound.
The High Representative stared at Marina for several seconds.
“That wasn’t the question I meant.”
“Sorry, ma’am.”
A discreet knock at the door and the door opened.
“High Representative, I have the DPRK ambassador in Geneva on line one.”
Saar sighed. “Put him through.”
The telephone on her desk trilled, a high, urgent tone. Nobody moved. It trilled again.
She looked at Marina and picked up the receiver. “Ambassador Kim. Good morning. How is the weather in Geneva?”
Tobias finally looked at Marina. His expression said do not speak.
Marina hadn’t been planning to.
Managing Director Wieland leaned forward, as though listening in to the High Representative’s conversation.
Saar turned away from them.
“I understand.”
A pause.
“No, we have received no such report.”
Another pause.
Marina’s heart began beating harder.
Saar’s shoulders stiffened.
“A suspected irregularity concerning what?”
Silence.
“I see.”
Marina knew.
She looked down at her hands.
“No,” the High Representative said. “Our records indicate that European Union material departed Pyongyang in accordance with the documentation presented at the time.”
Marina looked up.
The High Representative was staring directly at her.
She looked furious. Not frightened. Not surprised. Furious.
The High Representative’s gaze stayed on her.
“No. Everything was in order.”
Marina didn’t move. Europe was lying for her.
Saar listened for another moment.
“Then I suggest you raise the matter through the appropriate diplomatic channel and provide whatever evidence you believe supports the allegation.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Another.
“At present I have no information suggesting otherwise.”
“Yes. Are we re-opening the delegation?”
She looked from Marina to Tobias to Axel. Marina shook her head slightly.
Saar rearranged the file on her desk. “Mmm. I’m not ready to make a decision on that yet.”
Saar smiled. A tiny, but real one.
“But yes, you should come visit us in Brussels. Right. Come out from Switzerland for a day. We can discuss the allegation, and the delegation. Talking in person is always best. Yes. I will put my people in touch with yours. Right. Good day.”
She replaced the receiver.
Nobody spoke.
Saar remained standing behind her desk with one hand resting on the telephone.
Then she looked at Marina.
“You put us in an extraordinary position.”
Marina hung her head. “I regret
“I understand.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
She came around the desk.
“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea cannot accuse the European Union of unlawfully removing one of its nationals without admitting that one of its nationals was unlawfully removed.
We cannot acknowledge removing him without acknowledging that one of our own security officers abused diplomatic protections to accomplish it. ”
Marina said nothing.
“And therefore,” the High Representative continued, “we appear to have arrived at the extraordinary diplomatic position that nothing happened.”
Tobias studied the carpet.
Saar pointed toward the telephone.
“They know something happened.”
Her finger moved toward Marina.
“We know something happened.”
Then toward Tobias.
“He knows something happened.”
Tobias nodded. “Very much so.”
“And yet officially, nothing happened.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Marina said.
“Stop agreeing with me.”
Marina closed her mouth.
The High Representative paced behind the desk.
“INTCEN has him.”
Marina’s stomach tightened. “I see.” INTCEN was one of the directorates in the building, the European Union’s Intelligence and Situation Center.
The High Representative stopped.
Tobias turned his head sharply.
Marina held her gaze.
The High Representative picked up the sheet of paper again. “Your access to classified systems is suspended pending review.”
Marina nodded.
“You are relieved of operational security duties pending review.”
Another nod.
“You will surrender your credentials before leaving this building.”
That hurt. She had been expecting it, but it still came as a blow. Marina kept her face still.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And you will not speak to the press, member-state representatives, Parliament, Commission staff, friends, relatives, journalists, authors, taxi drivers, bartenders, or anyone else who develops a sudden interest in your recent travel.”
She leaned back in her chair and frowned. “Off the record.”
Marina waited.
“If the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea produces evidence that forces us to acknowledge what you did, I cannot protect you from the consequences.”
“I know.”
“You broke the law.”
“I know.”
“You compromised this institution.”
“I know.”
“You put me in the position of lying to a foreign government.”
Marina glanced at the telephone.
“I know.”
The High Representative’s eyes narrowed.
“And I am quite put out with you.”
Marina nodded.
Another long silence.
Then Saar looked toward the closed office door. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter.
“Just tell me why.”
Marina felt something tighten painfully behind her ribs.
“I didn’t mean to, but I fell in love. We are expecting.”
Saar looked at her for a moment, repressing a grin. “What a story.”
Marina blinked.
“You’re dismissed.”
Tobias and Marina stood.
She had almost reached the door when Saar spoke again.
“Lambert.”
Marina turned. Tobias was already waiting for her outside the High Representative’s office.
“If anyone asks what was in that container?”
Marina waited.
Saar looked down at her paperwork.
“Sensitive equipment.”
For the first time that morning, Marina teared up. It was the pregnancy hormones. She clasped her hands in front of her, and the HRVP glanced down at Marina’s belly.
Her expression softened. “It was wrong.”
“I know, ma’am.”
“I’m not going to say that it was right, but I can say that I understand that once you crossed the Rubicon, it was impossible to go back.” She blew her cheeks out. “Nobody likes to see a pregnant woman cry.”
Marina nodded. In another second she was going to lose her composure and cry. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And—congratualtions.”
Marina thanked her and headed out of the office, just in time to hide the tear rolling down her cheek.