OUTCAST Ops: Red Ice

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The new Red Ice lab was located in the heart of the state’s historical Gold Rush territory. Less than ten miles from Sutter Creek, the ranch’s former owner had fallen on hard times due to the ongoing drought and ended up selling the property to a front company set up by North Korean intelligence.

The sun edged over the horizon as Rhee got out of the car and walked toward the house. The ranch covered two thousand acres of mostly open land. The southern half of the ranch, the part closest to the road, was flat and open, while the rear northern half consisted of low rocky hills that rose above the rest of the spread. The facilities included a covered corral next to a large barn, while a low, wide ranch house lay to Rhee’s right. The ground was mostly a dull brown, the dried grass and dirt roughly the same color. The only green came from the occasional tree that dotted the hills.

Muhn and another soldier stayed with the car. As Rhee stepped up onto the porch, the front door opened and another Asian man stepped out. He wore jeans, a flannel shirt, with work boots. He had the compact body of someone who did heavy work frequently, but his eyes in the light of the porch light were hard and cold like diamonds.

He stepped aside and bowed, then spoke to Rhee in his native Korean. “Sir, please come to see our progress.”

Inside the house, the place resembled more of an army barracks than a home. Furniture was minimal, with patriotic posters of the three Kims who had ruled the homeland for seventy years exulting the soldiers to work hard and complete their mission. Several of the front-facing windows had been turned into machine-gun posts, each with a tripod-mounted DShK heavy machine gun ready to be moved into position should the ranch be attacked.

Rhee was led to a kitchen at the back of the house. “Coffee, sir?”

Rhee shook his head. “Any problems, Myoung?”

Senior Captain Myoung Kyung-ju, in charge of the ranch, shook his head. “The supplies and chemists, including Dr. Mori, arrived as expected. According to P’il, the prisoners are behaving.”

“Where is Mori?”

“In the lab. Ryuk says the first new batch of Red Ice will be ready in twelve hours.”

“Has he learned the patbingsu formula yet?”

Myoung shook his head. “She’s still keeping it a secret.”

“What about the ammonia nitrate?”

“Slow. The Americans are regulating sales of fertilizer, and we have to be careful not to buy too much from the same dealer. Also, the government is replacing the ammonia nitrate with a new formula that is not explosive. We currently only have twenty bags.”

“We need twenty times as much. We will only have one shot at causing massive casualties using this method, and I will not accept any excuse for delay of this stage.”

“Understood, sir. I have located four storage facilities within a hundred miles where there is fertilizer in sizable quantities. With your permission, we will raid one of them tomorrow night.”

Rhee shook his head. “No, we will raid all four of them tomorrow night. We will have only one chance to secure ammonia nitrate. After that, the Americans will get wind of our plan and crack down. They will not allow us a second chance. Better to have too much of the fertilizer than too little. What about the other items?”

“The trucks are rented. The other ingredients required to make the bombs have already been secured. Everything is in the barn.”

Rhee smiled. “Excellent. I’m going to the lab.”

“Now? Breakfast is nearly ready.”

“I will eat when I come back. I will not be here long.”

“Of course sir.”

The tunnel was in the basement, accessible by a hole dug in one corner. The tunnel itself was narrow, only six inches wider that Rhee’s shoulders, and the height of the tunnel would have brushed Muhn’s head. Wooden support frames were spaced every twenty feet, from which hung bare bulbs that illuminated Rhee’s path. Despite its dimensions, the tunnel was straight and level and the walls, floor and ceiling were smooth.

Less than two minutes later, the tunnel opened into a small underground room twice the width of the tunnel. In the center, surrounded by a waist-high barricade of sandbags and protected by a shield was a DShK heavy machine gun pointing down the tunnel. The two guards, each wearing a set of plain brown fatigues, stood and snapped to attention.

“Where is Captain P’il?” Rhee asked.

“Control center, sir!” one of the guards replied.

Rhee nodded and walked past the machine gun nest into the next tunnel, a short one that took him to the adjacent chamber, a barracks for eight of the base’s thirty-two man security force. The four guards sitting around the table came to attention as soon as Rhee entered the room. He nodded and walked around the table and into yet another tunnel on the other side.

The next area was a natural cavern the size of the first barracks Rhee had lived in. The ceiling was twenty feet overhead, and unlike the man-made tunnels, the walls and floor were rough and unfinished. Stalactites and stalagmites reduced line of light to only a few yards throughout most of the chamber.

Rhee knew that myriad tunnels, somewhat hidden among the cavern’s layout, led from the main space to other parts of the facility. Rhee ignored the tunnel hidden in the shadows to his left, knowing it led to the escape shaft, and instead proceeded through the spacious cave, following the worn path made by others. He found the passage he wanted and soon found himself in the heart of the hidden base.

The central chamber was almost the same size as the main cavern, but unlike it, it had been entirely excavated by the hundred or so imported slaves. This area acted as the central hub for the complex and the dozens of people who lived here. Tunnels branched off to staff quarters, storage areas, a generator room, the prisoner holding areas, and most importantly, the Red Ice lab.

Rhee spotted P’il in the doorway of the security station. The captain turned and saluted. “Major Rhee.”

Rhee returned the salute. P’il Min-hyuk was large for a Korean, a full head taller and broader than Rhee, with a shaved head, a flat face and hard, cold eyes. Rhee didn’t like the base’s guard commander. He and his men were drawn from The Ministry of People’s Security’s kwalliso camps, where those who had betrayed the state were kept prisoner and forced to atone for their crimes. P’il was in charge of the lab’s security and the slaves.

“What brings you here, sir?”

“I want to see Dr. Mori.”

P’il looked at a clock over the door. “She is working in the lab now. Is there a problem?”

“For her, yes. She is still refusing to reveal the patbingsu formula.”

“My specialists could get her to reveal it. They have experience in that sort of thing.”

Rhee shook his head. “As a last resort. She is still necessary for Uiloun Gyeoul to succeed.”

The captain nodded. “Let’s go talk to her.”

The lab represented the most sophisticated technology in the entire base, larger and more modern than the test lab at the warehouse. Sets of lab benches were engulfed by glass beakers, flasks, burners, tubes, and other equipment Rhee didn’t recognize. The floor was tiled, gleaming white in the overhead lights. At the far end, the wall was lined with steel racks loaded with plastic drums and jugs of hazardous liquids.

Rhee, followed by P’il and two guards, each wearing an industrial-grade filter mask, entered. There were a dozen people in the room, also wearing masks. Four were P’il’s guards, standing in the lab’s corners, wearing respirators and armed with Type 56 assault rifles, clubs, and cattle prods. Five were political prisoners unfortunate enough to have a background in chemistry, distinguished by the leg manacles and collars they wore. On the other hand, Rhee knew, they may not be alive at all were it not for their special skill sets.

The last three were the professional chemists. Mori turned to look at them as they entered, and even from across the room, Rhee could discern the fear in her eyes. She spun away, placing her hands on the counter to support her weight.

Rhee walked over to her, motioning Ryuk and Chung away from the woman. “I will ask you once again. Give us the patbingsu formula, Dr. Mori. Give it to us, and we can end this farce.”

With a scream muffled by the mask, Mori spun toward him, quicker than Rhee expected, her fist aimed for Rhee’s throat. Rhee blocked the fist, but had to hop backwards to avoid the kick aimed at his groin. He sidestepped Mori’s second punch, grabbed her extended arm with one hand and delivered a stunning backfist to the side of her head.

Before the chemist could recover, Rhee was behind her, her trapped arm yanked hard up against her back, while Rhee’s other arm was barred across her throat. “Now, now, Doctor,” Rhee said in a chiding tone. “Losing your temper is never a good thing, especially with me.”

He tightened his arm across her throat, just enough to constrict her windpipe. “I still need you alive.” He looked at P’il. “I think the good doctor needs some rest.”

The security commander signaled for two of his men to come over. Rhee released his hold on Mori and shoved her toward the guards. “Confine her to her room. Half rations from now on.”

Mori spun toward Rhee, but before she could do anything, the guards grabbed her. “You won’t get the formula!” she spat. “I’ll die first!”

Rhee shook his head. “It is only a matter of time. I can either break you now, or I could wait until we locate your daughter and trade the formula for her life.”

The chemist’s eyes widened in fear. “You wouldn’t!”

Rhee’s face held an expression that said, Oh really? “Why not do it the easy way? Give me the formula now and I will call off the search for your daughter. But if we have to find and take her from whoever is protecting her, you will find the price for her freedom that much steeper.”

He flicked his hand toward the door. “Think about it in your room, Dr. Mori. My people are closing in on her. It may only be hours, minutes, before we have her.”

A stunned Mori was escorted from the lab and then Rhee turned to Ryuk. “She still hasn’t revealed anything about the patbingsu formula, not even partial details?”

Ryuk shook his head. “Nothing.”

“How much patbingsu is there?”

“About a kilo and a half.”

“I’m taking all the finished patbingsu with me.”

“Of course.”

“In the meantime, continue making Red Ice.”

P’il frowned. “Begging your pardon, sir, but I do not understand the urgency in the situation. When we run out of the patbingsu, it is not like we have to be out of business.” He waved an arm at the elaborate facility before continuing. “Why not just kill her at that point and go back to making normal meth?” Ryuk also took on an expression of interest as they both looked to Rhee for an answer.

Rhee directed his icy gaze at P’il. “Because the Red Ice is more potent and brings a greater return on the street. One kilo of Red Ice is currently four times more profitable than crystal meth.”

P’il shrugged. “So why not make four times the meth?”

Rhee’s stare was unwavering, his tone even as he answered. “Because the Marshal’s orders were clear; we are to flood America with Red Ice. We will bring the country to its knees.”

P’il nodded, acquiescing at the mention of their supreme leader. “Of course.”

Rhee relaxed a bit, glad to continue on with the business at hand. “Captain, keep a close watch on Dr. Mori. She may do something stupid to protect her daughter, such as try to kill herself. Once I have the patbingsu, I am going back to San Francisco to start stage two of Operation Bam Beulleideu. I want the first Red Ice shipment ready to ship by this time tomorrow. We have people waiting for it, and I do not wish to disappoint them.”