R Patterson - The Shadow Hunter

When the first man roared up on the truck, Hawk squeezed off two shots. The first one pinged off the windshield visor on the snowmobile. The second one hit the engine. However, the man kept going. When he realized that he was going to hit the back of the truck, he applied the brakes and braced as the vehicle skidded toward the truck’s tailgate.

That slowdown was just enough for Hawk to hit the man in the chest and knock him into the snow. He tumbled off the edge and disappeared. Seconds later, the other snowmobiler suffered a similar fate, only this time Hawk didn’t miss with any bullets. Instead, his only two shots were true. As soon as the man was hit, he fell limp. The snowmobile’s momentum carried it into the other one before a slight redirect from the collision sent both vehicles careening off the side.

Hawk scrambled down the embankment and drove away, hoping that he wouldn’t hear or see any more of Kalinsky’s men.

However, when Hawk reached the highway, he’d almost forgotten about his looming problem. To Hawk, there was little doubt that Orlovsky had told Kalinsky to have his men kill the new carrier. But Hawk wasn’t interested in receiving confirmation. All he knew was that the giant standing in the road had a weapon in his hand. It was drawn and trained on Hawk.

This ought to be interesting.

Hawk needed a moment to think. He stopped the truck about fifty meters away from the main road. He revved the engine and weighed all his options.

After throwing the truck into gear, he shifted into drive and stared at the man, who was waving his arms and pleading with Hawk to stop.

That was the last thing Hawk wanted to do.

Washington, D.C.

THE SITUATION ROOM was buzzing when President Norris strode into it. He nodded in the direction of his Joint Chiefs of Staff before turning his attention to his cabinet. After he gestured for everyone to take a seat, he rubbed his hands together and opened up a portfolio on the table in front of him.

“As you all know, we’ve been dealing with a precarious situation with North Korea,” Norris began. “For the first three years of my administration, we’ve experienced unprecedented peace in the modern era. And I fully intend for things to remain that way. The level of prosperity this country has risen to during that time is something every American can get excited about, no matter what party you belong to. And I must admit that it’s a credit to each person in this room doing your job the right way to make sure we don’t wander into a conflict. But with that said, we need to do something about North Korea.”

“We’re standing by, ready to strike, sir,” General Miller said.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm,” Norris said. “But I need to address how we’re going to proceed. After the opportunity to review both a plan considering military action as well as one utilizing diplomacy authored by the State Department, I’ve decided that we should take a less confrontational route.”

Miller raised his hand but didn’t wait to be acknowledged. “But, sir, if I may—”

“No, you may not,” Norris said. “I didn’t bring you here to debate the merits of my decision, simply to inform you about why I’m doing what I’m doing. Now, Kim Yong-ju started out his tenure as North Korea’s leader by rattling a lot of cages. But for the past five years, he’s been relatively quiet. So it led me to question why he changed his tactic all of a sudden. If he was a democratically-elected official, I would assume that he realized what he was doing wasn’t working and decided to take a different approach. After all, that’s what I would do, especially if I felt like my plan wasn’t working. I’d be more concerned about accomplishing what I felt was best for the people than I would about my pride.”

Norris paused to take a sip of water.

“But as Secretary Wheeler pointed out in her report, North Korea is crumbling beneath the weight of our sanctions. If we can get Kim Yong-ju to the negotiating table, I think we can create a win-win situation for us all. We will lift some of the sanctions in exchange for tamping down all the saber rattling in the Pacific Ocean. He’s got to realize that if he pushes us, we can obliterate the country. Mind you, that’s not what I want to do, but it is an option if he wants to engage us in a conflict.”

Norris saw General Miller crack a smile.

Norris continued. “So, while we need to be prepared for the possibility that he might get his hands on some nuclear warheads someday, that day isn’t today. We should resist entering into a military conflict with North Korea and see what kind of results some targeted diplomacy will yield.”

“Sir, with all due respect, Kim Yong-ju doesn’t understand diplomacy,” Miller said. “Like most terrorists, what he understands is force and might. If we demonstrate to him that we aren’t going to tolerate his tantrums, he’ll stop.”

Wheeler shook her head and sighed. “Come on, General. Dealing with Kim Yong-ju is Psychology 101. He’s feeling abandoned or neglected, so he acts out to get attention. We can do things to alleviate the suffering for the innocent people of North Korea without yielding our position of strength. He can sell it as a win to the people, but the rest of the world will know the truth—and be safer for it. We’re not the only country that can get spooked by Kim Yong-ju’s actions, so keeping him at bay should alleviate that potential pitfall as well.”

Miller huffed. “So, we’re going to treat him like a two-year-old who gets rewarded for throwing a tantrum? What gets rewarded gets repeated.”

“Perhaps that’s true,” Norris said. “But I’m more concerned with the long-term picture. And if he’s not firing anything at us and just threatening, we know he has no nukes, which is the most important thing to remember here.”

Miller crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “I think it’s wrong to assume that Kim Yong-ju’s just throwing a tantrum. One of these days, he’s actually going to get a warhead and hurl it at San Francisco or L.A. By the time we realize it, it’ll be too late and we’ll all wish we’d shown him that we mean business instead of kowtowing to his demands.”

As the conversation started to get more tense, an aide entered the room and asked to speak with Norris. He walked over to the man.

“What is it?” Norris asked.

“Sir, you need to turn on the monitor,” he said. “We have visuals on the missile.”

Norris’s eyebrows shot upward. “This missile?”

“Yeah, the North Koreans just fired one over one of our carriers patrolling the Pacific.”

Norris nodded the remote. “Someone turn that monitor on.”

When the screen flickered to life, they all watched grainy images of a missile soaring over the U.S.S. Roosevelt.

“What are we looking at?” Miller asked.

“This is footage from just moments ago when the North Koreans fired over the U.S.S. Roosevelt,” Norris said.

Miller shook his head. “Sir, I think this changes things.”

Wheeler glanced at Norris, her eyes pleading for him to disagree. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. Miller was right. It was one thing for Kim Yong-ju to beat his chest and and talk about engaging the U.S. in a conflict. But it was an entirely different matter to actually do it. Letting him off the hook would make Norris look weak and make the U.S. vulnerable to a more deadly attack, maybe even one that struck U.S. soil.

“Sir, remember what I said,” Wheeler said.

“Sorry, Madam Secretary,” Norris said. “This is an egregious error, one that can’t be mended by making a few concessions through our sanctions. We need a show of force.”