Brink of Chaos Read Online Free Page B

flying a Navy Prowler along the DMZ between South and North Korea. Louder’s jet was shot down in a skirmish with a sortie from the North. It rapidly escalated into a military crisis with the United States. No onecould have foreseen the cyclone of geopolitical events that followed. A misinterpreted message was bulleted from Pyongyang to a North Korean nuke-armed ship on maneuvers in the Atlantic. That scrambled digital telex to the nuclear destroyer caused it to launch a retaliatory strike against America. The two nukes launched from that ship were aimed at New York City but were diverted when the Pentagon chain-of-command ordered the use of Joshua’s brilliantly designed RTS anti-missile system. The warheads turned back like twin boomerangs and returned to the North Korean ship that had launched them, liquidating the ship and its captain, the father of the gun-toting Han Suk Yong.
    Ethan had always wondered why President Tulrude had never publicly addressed the outrage of North Korea’s keeping Captain Louder hostage — she had seemingly forgotten about his plight — but clearly the South Koreans hadn’t. Nor had Joshua. Ethan had even heard rumors from his flier buddies that the Department of Defense was, under the radar of course, supporting some kind of effort to get Louder out. It now looked like it was coming together.
    Chung continued, “Those of us in the South Korean military remember Captain Louder, who provided courageous service by monitoring the border with our enemies to the North. We do not forget his bravery. And neither do you, Colonel Jordan. Thank you for playing your part.”
    Joshua nodded and said, “Captain Louder’s a good man. I’m glad we’re going to get him a ‘furlough’ from that North Korean prison.”
    A glimmer of a smile broke over the face of Brigadier General Liu.
    Ethan’s heart rate jumped.
Whatever this is, I want in
, he thought.
    “We have a double agent inside the North Korean prison,” Chung continued, “and he has processed the request by the International Red Cross to inspect the conditions of Captain Louder’s confinement. And at the same time our source in the prison slipped a message to Louder, suggesting that he ask for a personal visit from Colonel Jordan. It was thought that the North Koreans would jump at the chance to get Joshua Jordan, their public enemy number one, within their reach and would do anything to accomplish that, including allowing theInternational Red Cross to gain access to their prison. And of course, we were right. But our intelligence also indicates that they won’t arrest Colonel Jordan until he has made face-to-face contact with Captain Louder. The North Koreans plan to have guards posted in the meeting room at first, but then a short time later they will be called out of the room. The North Koreans have bugged the room and are hoping that Colonel Jordan or Captain Louder might get sloppy when they think they’re alone and reveal some useful information before Jordan is taken into custody. But our plan should short-circuit all of that. Literally. It will happen quickly, within just a few minutes of Colonel Jordan and our ‘Red Cross’ workers entering the room.”
    Everything was clear to Ethan now. The mission needed an entry to the communist north and then into the prison where Louder was being held — and Joshua was their ticket in. It didn’t take much imagination for Ethan to guess what the North Koreans had planned for Joshua once they had him within their borders. He began to raise his finger to ask a couple of pointed questions about Joshua’s safety, but Joshua gave him a disapproving shake of the head. Ethan didn’t like it, but he knew how to take orders — mostly. And Joshua was the boss. So Ethan complied and put his hand back down as Chung explained the plan.
    “Gavi and Rivka will play the part of International Red Cross workers and will escort Colonel Jordan to the security facility where they are holding