12.
THE MESSAGE
It was about two weeks later that Maurice’s green phone rang. It was Yong.
“We can meet now if we are quick.”
“Where’s Cheong?”
“He has been called to our embassy with Kwang-Sun, and has just left by taxi.”
“Well, I could meet you in the Tavern, I suppose.”
“But it isn’t lunch time,” protested Yong.
“They’re open all day.”
“Please hurry. We may not have long.”
“I’ll get there as quickly as possible. Probably half an hour or so.”
“But you work nearby. Surely you can be quicker.”
“That’s the point. I work. And I’m not in my office at the moment, either.”
“You answered the phone.”
“Your call was diverted to my mobile.”
“Please hurry. I need to talk to you again to persuade you to help me.”
“Ok, Ok. I’ll get there as soon as I can. If you get there first, I’ll have a pint of best bitter.”
He put the phone down.
A genius has been at work, he thought. Called to the embassy? Left by taxi? One of ours, no doubt, provided by Section 11. I wonder if they’ll ever arrive. Or get back.
Betty rang on the secure line.
“You may soon get a phone call,” she announced.
“I’ve just had one.”
“You’ve got a few hours.”
“I need days, if not weeks.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
She rang off.
A genius at work.
***
The genius got on the phone to James Piper.
“I’ve just sent Lee Kwang-sun and Cheong Sung on a wild goose chase to their Embassy, so that Maurice can have an hour or so with Choi Yong on his own,” announced Betty.
“What sort of wild goose chase?” asked James.
“I said it was a family thing they wanted to talk about.”
“Not true?”
“Pure invention. The Embassy won’t have the slightest idea why they turn up – when they do. I sent them in a Section 11 taxi, and told them to take their time.”
“So why tell me?” enquired James.
“It occurred to me after they’d gone, that we may be able to get rid of them both for ever.”
“Explain.”
“Well you know there’s been an almighty toot about North Korea crashing Sony’s web-site in the States – it’s been in all the papers, although I expect you’ve had special briefings.”
“I have actually. It was done by Bureau 21 of the Korean military’s spy agency, which happens to be staffed mainly by computer graduates.”
“That’s what I thought,” said Betty.
“So what! The States has already counter attacked, so we’re told. They have somehow ‘fried’ North Korea’s system, and they are now totally cut off from the world in terms of the web. There is also a theory going around that it could have been the Chinese, trying to cool tempers in Pyongyang, but personally I don’t believe it.”
“The point is that most of those Bureau 21 graduates are from the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, where I work when I’m over there. That’s what!”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“We had two students here from North Korea doing a full-time degree course in computer engineering, which included identifying weaknesses in computer systems that could be used by hackers. They were sent home soon after the cyber-attack on American.”
“I remember – it was it the papers.”
“Well, there are two more of them over here. Now! Still! At this University!”
“What!”
“Lee and Cheong are studying computer science back home, and continuing their studies while they’re here polishing up their English. I wondered if you thought it appropriate for this country still to be training people like that, so that they can go home and – ‘fry’, I think you said, the computer systems of our allies, not least America. We have the perfect excuse to get rid of both of them for ever, and leave the field clear for Maurice to deal with Choi Yong.”
“You’re a genius!” shouted James. “When will they arrive at their Embassy, do you think?”
“Twenty minutes, probably.”
“Get on to your contact at Section 11 and give them orders from me that their taxi is to break down in traffic, and not get fixed until I say so. I’ll brief ‘C’ immediately, and with any luck those two can go to their embassy and from there onto the next plane home.”
“I’ll get back to you.”
***
Section 11 was more than happy to oblige.
Within minutes, their cab had broken down on the M25. It had been taking the long way round to Hendon, anyway ‘to miss traffic’. It would sit there on the hard shoulder until another S.11 vehicle turned up. This would be a local garage breakdown truck, they said, which they just happened to have in their Clerkenwell garage.
“We can play this game for as long as you like,” Betty was told. “Just say the word when you want your passengers delivered.”
***
It didn’t take Sir Geoffrey Sefton long to arrange a deportation order. The UK had quite legitimate grounds for getting rid of the two students, as they had the other two.
The United States was delighted when they were told.
***
Maurice Northcot had reserved a table in a discrete alcove downstairs at The Tavern, and by the time of their meeting, Yong knew that his fellow students were to be immediately deported, and told Northcot about it excitedly.
“I know that other full-time student colleagues from North Korea were told to leave after the Sony hacking incident, but it never occurred to us that Lee and Cheong could also be returned home. I can’t think how anyone could have arranged that,” said Yong, puzzled, “but sad though I am to see my colleagues return so suddenly, it does now mean that I am free to meet you whenever I like.”
“Providing your Embassy doesn’t have other ideas.”
“I suppose they could cancel my visit and send me home early, but they have no reason and it would look bad.”
“Looking bad, as you put it, doesn’t often seem to bother your government, but you need to be on your guard. They didn’t arrange your visit; we did, so they can’t just send you home without a fuss. Only we could do that, as we did with your colleagues.”
Yong frowned and looked closely at Northcot.
“How could you know that my friends are being sent home? I have only just heard myself. You almost sound as if you know things that you should not know.”
Maurice shrugged.
“It’s in the evening papers,” he lied. “Anyway, tell me again why you need to stay here, even though your chums have gone.”
“I feel sorry for Kwang-sun. He really did want to stay, and his father really does work as a technician at the nuclear plant.”
“But he never said anything about his father being prepared to give us information,” Maurice reminded him.
“And I have never said anything about my Uncle, either, although I am sure he would want to help you. If I am allowed to stay, I can pass information from him to your Government. I need you to help me meet the right people.”
“Who, for instance.”
“Before I can tell you that, tell me if you would be able to contact people, say, in your Foreign Office.”
“I suppose so. Who do you want to contact in particular? Do you have the name of an official in the Foreign Office?” quizzed Northcot.
“Yes. I do. A man my uncle met while he was here, and who he trusts. My Uncle has told me to contact him specially. I have a message for him and for nobody else.”
“You’re asking a lot of me,” said Northcot. “You know I’m just an office worker who you happened to meet by accident in this pub one lunch time.”
This time, Choi Yong looked quizzically at Northcot.
“And I am not sure I entirely believe that,” said the young man. “You have been more than helpful already – more than a total stranger would be to a foreign student from a hostile country. And you seem to know more than you should.”
Northcot shrugged, and got to his feet.
“Don’t go,” pleaded Yong.
“Another beer?” asked Northcot with a grin, as he made for the bar.
“I thought you were leaving me,” said a relieved Yong when Maurice returned. “I have no one else to ask for help.”
“Only Miss Ogden,” replied Northcot.
“How do you know about her? How do you know my tutor’s name?” asked an astonished Choi Yong.
“I may have even more to tell you before long,” said Northcot mysteriously. “But first tell me the name of the man you need to see.”
“I hope I can trust you,” said Yong.
“You already have.”
Choi Yong pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, and flattened it on the table in front of them.
He tapped the photo.
“That man.” he said.
Northcot looked closely at the screwed up picture, and turned to Yong.
“Do you know who this is? His name?”
“Yes, I do. My uncle told me.”
“Tell me who your uncle thinks it is. Give me the man’s name.”
“His name is Lee Cooper. My Uncle met him at your military nuclear establishment.”
“And how did your uncle get this photograph?”
“I imagine it was given to him before he left, as a souvenir.”
“A dangerous souvenir to have, don’t you think? Did he tell you he was given it before he left?”
“As a matter of fact, he didn’t. He said someone in his village gave it to him, someone sent from England. Neither of us believed it – we both thought it was a trap. But he knew it was the man he had met and trusted, and he simply gave it to me and told me to find Mr. Cooper, and to give him a message.”
He looked closely at Choi Yong and said nothing.
Northcot sighed.
“Do you realize that your uncle has sent you on a very dangerous mission? That even now your life could be at risk?”
Yong paled.
“From now on, you must take the utmost care during the rest of your stay here. We shall do our best to see that no harm comes to you, but you must for ever be alert.”
“Why are you saying this?” whispered Yong.
“Because from now on you must trust no one, even here, as in your own country, and as your uncle has often said.”
Yong looked ashen.
“Who are you?”
“I will explain everything later, but you may trust me, as you already have,” said Maurice Northcot. “And you may trust Mr. Cooper when you meet him.”
Maurice tapped the photograph.
“That is Mr. Cooper, with your uncle at our weapons establishment at Aldermaston.”
“You know him?” gasped a disbelieving Yong.
“He’s an old friend of mine. We work closely together. We both work for the Foreign Office.”
He looked closely at Yong.
“And by the way,” he said in Chosŏnŏ, “I speak your language, and read Chŏsongŭl. I understood the message you left on the card.”
“You said you were just a clerk, but you are from the Foreign Office. You have deceived me, and I trusted you.”
“Now you just listen to me, young man,” said Northcot sternly. “As you said yourself, you are a complete stranger to me from a foreign and hostile country. We have to be sure about you before we can do anything to help you. We have to check on what you say, check on who you are, where you come from, who you know and all that. It would be too easy for you to have been an imposter and a spy sent specially to gain information from us. We had to check on you before we could trust you.”
“And now you do?”
“More than we did, shall we say.”
Northcot pointed to the photograph.
“This helped. You could only have got this from one of three sources, and the most likely one is from your uncle.”
“He gave it to me just before I left. He told me to find the man, Lee Cooper, and to give him a special message. My uncle trusted Mr. Cooper.”
“So he should. I hope now that you trust me, too.”
Yong shook his head in disbelief.
“There is so much I do not understand, and cannot explain. But if you know Mr. Cooper and work with him, then I begin to trust you as well. It is such a coincidence that we met here in the first place.”
“It was no coincidence – it was arranged. There is a lot of explaining to do, I can understand that, and I shall explain everything to you in good time. Do you now trust me enough for me to give your message to Mr. Cooper?”
Choi Yong thought for a minute.
“Frankly, no.”
“Well I can’t say I altogether blame you,” admitted Maurice. “So we had better arrange a meeting. And now you’re free of your two companions, we can arrange that at any time, can’t we.”
“I shall have to ask Miss Ogden,” protested Yong.
“Of course. How silly of me! So why don’t we arrange to meet here at lunchtime on, shall we say next Thursday – subject to Miss Ogden agreeing, of course. I’ll book a table now, and bring Mr. Cooper with me. Then you can pass on your message.”
“That’s a long time,” protested Yong. “Why not sooner?”
“For all I know, Mr. Cooper might be abroad or busy or something,” replied Northcot.
He looked at Choi Yong and smiled.
“As I said, we have a lot of explaining to do. Let me start now.”
He beckoned to a couple standing at the far end of the bar.
Lee Cooper and Betty Ogden strolled across to join them.
“Now do you trust me?” asked Northcot.
“I don’t know what to believe any more,” said Yong. “I recognise you, Mr. Cooper, from the photograph, but Miss Ogden as well?”
Lee Cooper shook the student’s hand.
“Nice to meet you at last,” he said. “I believe you have a message for me?”
Choi Yong looked around him.
“I do,” he said.
He lent forward.
“My uncle Dr. Choi Shin told me to tell you that he will have all the information you want in a few weeks, but that you must arrange to collect it from him. He has already started to gather it together.”
Yong sat back.
“Thank you,” said Cooper. “It is the message I was hoping for. Your uncle is a brave man, and I was hoping and indeed half expecting that this would be his decision.”
“He thought a lot of you, Mr. Cooper, and after his visit here, almost regarded you as a friend.”
Yong looked at Cooper, Northcot and Betty Ogden in turn.
“There is one other thing you must know, which he did not ask me to tell you. And that is that he has radiation sickness and cancer. He is a dying man. I may never see him again.”
“I’m so sorry,” said Betty.
“That’s terrible news, “said Northcot.
“Quite awful,” agreed Cooper. “We got on so well together, almost from the time we met. Are you still in touch with your uncle, even now you are over here?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good news.”
“But as I just said, Yong, you too are in danger now, and must be alert,” said Northcot. “We have people who can help to protect you while you are here, and we shall get them in place immediately. You will probably not notice them – they are specially trained. But they will be there, in the background 24 hours a day until you leave. If you do notice anyone suspicious, you must let us know immediately – I will give a means to communicate with us securely.”
“Kind of you,” replied Yong, “but I am also now concerned about my own safety.”
“Why?”
“I fear that they will send after me, and force me home – or worse. Now that Cheong Sung has left, there is no official to watch over me. The Embassy will send someone, I am sure.”
“We will take care of that, as I said. Leave it to us to make sure that you are kept safe for as long as you are here, as we made sure your Uncle was protected while he was here,” said Cooper. “Always assuming of course that you wish to remain here, perhaps to help us further. Or, if you would prefer to return home immediately, then we can arrange that too. As always in this country, you are free to choose. We shall not keep you here against your will.”
“I would prefer to stay, at least for the remainder of my visit. My uncle really wanted to stay for ever to help you, but dared not, and never told you. I can at least stay for a few weeks longer.”
“Good,” said Cooper.
He turned to Betty.
“Who did you talk to at Section 11 when you arranged the taxi?”
“The number two there – chap called Nick Marsden. Very helpful, he was.”
“Get on to him again then, and tell them about Mr. Choi here. From now on, he’s theirs – 24/7 – until further notice. They know what to do.”
“Consider it done.”
“But we now need to work out how to get this information from your uncle”, said Northcot to Choi Yong. “Perhaps you can help us with planning that if you really are happy to stay here for the rest of your planned visit, and to co-operate with us.”
Yong nodded. “But because of my uncle’s illness, you may not have much time,” he said. “On the other hand, he told me that it would take some weeks for him to get all the information together that you want.”
“We obviously need to think about this in more depth, and this is not the right time or place to do it. I suggest we go our separate ways now, and meet somewhere else later,” said Cooper.
They all agreed, finished their drinks, and left The Tavern. Betty and Yong went back to the University; Cooper and Northcot to their Lambeth office.
***
“It would be nice if we could meet the next time in more formal surroundings, perhaps here, in my office,” said Cooper later, after he had briefed James Piper. “But Mr. Choi wants to complete his studies here with you, Betty, as planned, and act as if nothing has happened, even though he is no longer inhibited by the presence of his two colleagues. In any case, it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to be seen going into the HQ of MI6, so perhaps we could arrange to meet this weekend at somewhere other than The Tavern. Any ideas?”
“How about the Science Museum?” suggested Northcot. “That would fit in with his studies OK, so no one would be suspicious if he was spotted by someone from his embassy in the event that Section 11 missed them. And although it’s always crowded, we could chat quite freely while looking at the exhibits, or find a table in the tea room.”
“That sounds a good idea,” said Betty. “I know the place quite well - we can easily get lost once inside.”
Cooper nodded. “Agreed, then.”
“Will it look at all out of place if you bring him, Betty?” asked Northcot. “Or should you have a whole crocodile of students with you.”
“No problem,” she replied. “If I’m noticed, the authorities will be impressed that I am prepared to do a bit of overtime to help one of our foreign students!”
***
The minute he heard, Sir Geoffrey Sefton got on the secure phone to Jack Salisbury.
“We have the message we’ve been waiting for from the student,” he announced.
“And?”
“And Dr. Choi Shin is already collecting the information he thinks we should have and will need.”
“Excellent,” replied Salisbury. “Well done, ‘C’. Come to my office and let’s talk about it.”
“We are satisfied that his nephew is with us,” said Sefton when he got there. “Gave all the right answers. Ticked all the boxes, as they say.”
“On our side then? And his uncle?”
“Proper identification, and all that.”
“The photographs provided by our two soldier friends?”
“One of them. It has to be the only source. Choi didn’t take a copy with him – he wasn’t given one before he left.”
“Plan ‘A’ wasn’t such a tragic failure after all then.”
“Quite.”
“I must tell the General,” he paused, “in good time.”
“Any news of the other man, by the way?”
“The last I heard, he had got across the border into China. Should be in Shanghai in a couple of days or so, and then on the home run with any luck.”
“I’m pleased about that. It would be nice to meet him sometime. A man of great courage and confidence – unlike myself.”
“If you would like to meet him, it could be arranged.”
“I suppose lunch at my Club wouldn’t be a good idea?”
“Not really. He would feel out of place.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Why not meet him at his club instead? Pay an official visit to the SAS Headquarters at Hereford. Meet them all.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“I’ll get Colonel Seb Owen to arrange it.”
“I’d better tell the General about that, too.”
Sefton nodded his agreement.
“However, as always in these affairs,” he said, “there is a complication about North Korea.”
“Which is?”
“Choi is a dying man – radiation sickness and cancer.”
“How long do we have?”
“No idea. But he told his nephew that it would in any case take some time to gather the information together for us.”
“How long?”
“Weeks, probably.”
“It occurs to me, then, that we should perhaps get someone over there quickly, if necessary to wait for the good doctor to complete his work, until it’s ready for collection.”
“Might be sensible.”
“One of yours this time, Geoffrey?”
It was a statement, rather than a question.
“I have someone in mind,” replied ‘C’.
“Your man from Jakarta? Is he home yet?”
“He set up the meetings with Dr. Choi’s nephew.”
“How very convenient!”
“Good planning, I call it!”
“To be expected, of course. Is the man up to it?”
“Widely travelled. But this will not be easy. We can get him in without too much bother, but it will be a different matter getting him out again.”
“And that’s the important bit,” said Salisbury. “Getting him out with the information we need.”
“Exactly. I have every confidence, though – he’s about our most experienced field operator. But it could be his last mission, if he gets out.”
“It will be if he doesn’t,” said Salisbury. “Sorry – I shouldn’t have said that. But why his last?”
“I get the feeling that he’s had enough, and could do with a break. We have a desk lined up for him if he wants it – senior post, reporting directly to me.”
“I should meet him, too.”
“He’ll be at your briefing.”
“Ah, of course. Good.”
“I shan’t introduce him to others, though. It’s best he remains anonymous.”
Jack Salisbury thought for a moment.
“Anything more from the Americans?” he asked.
“No. One of their top CIA men is still over here, sniffing around, but we think he’s now convinced that the man they shot in North Korea wasn’t anyone special, and certainly not one of ours.”
“Just an excuse for them to be beastly to the West?”
“Exactly.”
“It’s what we’ve said all along, right.”
“Exactly.”
“As you know, the Americans are also denying that they switched off the North Korean internet, although we know they did so. We are supporting their story about the Chinese having done it, to cool the North down a bit. Most of the Pyongyang internet servers are routed through China. By the way, they were equally delighted when we chucked out two more students.”
“So we’re more or less back on an even keel, are we, so far as they’re concerned?”
“Exactly. We are both reading from the same page, as they say.”
“I suppose we shall have to share things with them one day, when we know what Choi has to offer.”
“That will be something to look forward to, almost. They were keen to turn him and failed.”
“Exactly.”
Salisbury sighed, and wandered over to his office window.
“I suppose there’s nothing for it now,” he said, looking out. “I shall have to brief people.”
‘C’ nodded.
“But no politicians.”
“Certainly not. Only those people who need to know.”
“And can be trusted not to talk.”
“No notes, no paper, no i-Pads, no phones and that sort of stuff.”
“I’ll get chums from MI5 to sweep the briefing room, just to be sure, and be on duty outside to make sure nobody takes anything in that they shouldn’t.”
“Especially phones. My briefing will inevitably contain ‘strap’ intelligence which we normally only share with people at the very top who really must know, so we shall need the highest security.”
“Exactly. As a matter of interest, we have actually traced a few mobile phones recently, too close to home for comfort I have to admit, that had been converted into listening devices.”
“Exactly my point. We can trust nobody these days.”
Salisbury stretched and rubbed his eyes.
“I shall need maps, photographs and that sort of thing,” he said.
“Leave that to me,” said Sefton, reassuringly.
“Thank you Geoffrey,” replied Salisbury. “You know I don’t like doing this sort of thing. Not much good in front of people.”
“I know it’s not something you enjoy,” said Sefton. “But you always do it very well, so don’t worry.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll help with the script, too if you like.”
“You know I don’t like using notes. I prefer to learn my lines, more or less. But an outline would be very helpful.”
Salisbury rubbed his forehead.
“I shall need some science tuition, too. I need to sound knowledgeable about nuclear bombs and things, and how they work. As you know, I’m a science man, not ‘arts’, but I’m not up to speed on nuclear weapons.”
“I’ll get a briefing team together for you, and I’ll make sure it includes Lee Cooper, who was at the forefront of persuading Dr.Choi to co-operate during his visit over here. He’s at Aldermaston.”
“Good thinking. He can tell me a bit about the Doctor as well.”
“Anything else while I’m here?”
Salisbury looked at his watch.
“Only lunch,” he said. “Why don’t you join me at the Club? We can talk a bit more over a decent cut of beef or something.”
***