Thorpe's Candle

STOP AND BOARD

General Cho awoke with a start from a deep sleep. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bunk in the cramped cabin below decks. Something was wrong. The Sunan had stopped. No engine vibration, no rolling on the ocean swells, no motion at all — just silence. He stood, slipped his feet into his shoes and grabbed a shirt. He had slept in his pants. Pushing open the cabin door, he looked in both directions along the narrow passage before moving to the stairs leading topside.

He emerged into a blazing morning sun over a calm sea. Shielding his eyes from the glare, he looked toward the stern. Where were his men? Why wasn’t the ship underway? With no one in sight, he moved toward the bow. Rounding the wheelhouse superstructure, he froze at the sight of his soldiers gathered on the forward deck in a tight grouping with their hands behind their heads. Then he saw the imposing form of a warship a hundred or so meters off the port bow.

“Good morning, General.”

Cho turned to see a man in uniform step forward. Behind the officer, a group of armed U.S. Marines kept watch over the Korean soldiers.

“I’m Commander Thomas Marshall of the United States Navy and that is the guided missile destroyer USS Lassen. You have been stopped and boarded under the direct orders of the President. You and your men are to surrender immediately. You will be taken on board the Lassen and transported to the holding facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There you will be held until formal charges are made. Your ship will be handed over to the United States Coast Guard as evidence. Any questions?”

“I’m in the service of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. I have diplomatic immunity. You have no right to detain me.”

“You should have thought of that before you threatened the safety and security of the United States.” The commander motioned and two Marines took Cho into custody.

The sun heated Cho’s face as he felt a Marine secure his hands behind him with flexicuffs. He was assisted down a set of stairs on the side of the freighter to a motor launch. From his seat Cho watched the Lassen grow larger until it dominated his view. It was then that he realized other warships were nearby. He sucked in his breath knowing he would be a failure in the eyes of the General Secretary. His family dishonored. Even if he somehow gained his freedom from the Americans, there would be no going back to his home, his country. He felt suddenly alone surrounded by an unfriendly sea. He knew there was only one honorable thing left to do. He shot from his seat and dove over the gunwale into the dark Caribbean. Kicking with all his strength, he aimed his body straight down into the depths. After ten meters, he blew out his breath, sucked seawater into his lungs and sank into oblivion.