Brink of Chaos Read Online Free Page A

was aiming for his right shoulder, not his left.”
    Joshua slowed down just slightly. “I’m the umpire here … a solid strike!”
    It took the officers from the Seoul Metro Police Agency only six minutes to arrive and take Han into custody. The SMPA investigators took statements from Joshua and Ethan and headed back to the station with the assailant. Back in the church, Joshua said his good-byes to the pastor and his staff, assuring them that he would be safe, and receiving their extended, heartfelt apologies for the attack.
    “You must let us make this right,” Pastor Lee Ko-po said, bowing with tears in his eyes.
    Joshua grabbed the pastor by the shoulders and smiled. “By yourkindness to me, you already have.” Then Joshua climbed into the rental car with Ethan at the wheel.
    When they were within three blocks of the hotel, Joshua checked the Allfone watch on his wrist. He then pointed to a side street that ran alongside a large park. “Ethan, turn off the boulevard right here.”
    “That’s not the route we took from the hotel earlier today.”
    “I know. Just take it.”
    Ethan turned off the boulevard and down the quiet tree-lined street. A black limousine was parked along the curb.
    “Pull behind the limo,” Joshua said.
    Ethan followed orders but shook his head as he did. “Josh, what’s going on?”
    Joshua gave only a cryptic reply. “Now for the second reason we came to South Korea.”
    Ethan wasn’t going to wait for an explanation. “Whatever this is, why didn’t you let me in? Why am I always on the outside?” But before he could continue, he noticed a military star on the license plate of the limo in front. He lowered his voice. “Okay. I’m starting to get the drift … sort of.”
    “You’ll find out shortly,” Joshua said and nodded toward the South Korean military attaché who had just climbed out of the limo and was coming their way.
    Ethan kept talking, and there was anticipation in his voice. “Looks like things are beginning to get interesting.”
    “And dangerous,” Joshua added.
    “You mean an attempt to assassinate you doesn’t qualify?” Ethan shot back.
    Joshua smiled but didn’t respond. At the side of the car, the South Korean officer saluted Joshua and then reached through the open passenger window to shake his hand. “Colonel Jordan, it is a great honor to meet you.”
    “Likewise, Lieutenant Colonel Quan.” Then Joshua introduced Ethan to the officer.
    “Well, gentlemen,” Quan said with a placid expression that belied his next comment. “Are you ready to make history?”

THREE
    Ethan glanced around the room, which was occupied by several special-ops professionals. The place was windowless with thick sound-deadening walls, located deep within the tactical operations sector of the South Korean Army headquarters. It was impervious to outside surveillance. The participants around the conference table included a Middle Eastern – looking couple with International Red Cross ID tags hanging from their necks. The man, known as Gavi, was affable and had an easy smile, shaved head, and a muscular neck and torso. His partner, Rivka, was a slender woman with dark, intense eyes, who wore a short-sleeved shirt that revealed tight biceps. Ethan figured out they were more than humanitarian-aid workers.
    The head honcho, the implacable Brigadier General Liu, sat at the head of the table and welcomed the attendees, identifying them by name, and called the meeting to order. Next to him was Lieutenant Colonel Quan, who had met them at the car earlier, and to his right was Major Chung, who would lead the briefing. The only other person was a young Asian man in blue jeans named Yung Tao.
    Chung began with an intriguing question. “How many people, outside this bunker, even remember Captain Jimmy Louder of the United States Air Force?”
    In an instant, the pieces fell into place for Ethan. As a former pilot, he knew the story well. Three years earlier, Louder had been