Page 129 of Never

‘They consider that essential.’

Worse and worse. ‘How much support do they have elsewhere?’

‘I don’t know. You must understand that I’m not part of the core group. They consider me a supporter, reliable but peripheral. I probably would be an enthusiastic ally, except that I chose my own route years ago.’

‘But if the conspirators are serious they must be spread fairly widely.’

‘I assume they’re in touch with like-minded senior officers at other army bases – but I don’t know for certain.’

‘So you probably don’t know when they will make their move.’

‘Soon. The army is running out of food and fuel. Perhaps next week. Or it could be tomorrow.’

Kai had to get this news to the Chinese president fast.

He considered giving the information to Beijing over the phone, but immediately rejected that idea as a panic reaction. His calls to the Guoanbu were encrypted, but no code was unbreakable. Anyway, if the coup was today, he was already too late, and if it was even as soon as tomorrow, he had time to give warning. He would go back to Beijing immediately and report within hours.

He said: ‘You’d better give me some names.’

Ham stood still for a long moment, looking down at his feet on the newly tiled floor. After a while he said: ‘The government of North Korea is brutal and incompetent, but that’s not the problem. It’s that they lie. Everything they say is propaganda, nothing they say is true. A man can be loyal to bad leaders, but not to dishonest ones. I have betrayed the leaders of my country because they lied to me.’

Kai did not want to listen to this. He was in a hurry. But he sensed that Ham had to say it, so he remained silent.

‘A long time ago I resolved to take care of my family and myself,’ Ham said in the heavy tones of an older man reflecting on the choices that had decided the course of his life. ‘I encouraged my daughter to move here, to China. I began to spy for you and accumulate money. Eventually, I started to build my retirement home. In all of that, I did nothing that made me feel ashamed. But now…’

Kai said: ‘I get that. But you’re following your destiny now. As you said, you made the key decisions long ago.’

Ham ignored that. ‘Now I’m about to betray my comrades-in-arms, men who only want their country to be truly independent –’ he paused, then said sadly – ‘men who have never lied to me.’

‘I understand how you feel,’ Kai said quietly. ‘But we have to stop this coup. We can’t tell how it will end. We must not allow North Korea to spin out of control.’

Still Ham hesitated.

Kai said: ‘What was the point of telling me about the plot, if not to put a stop to it?’

‘My comrades will be executed.’

‘How many people do you think they would kill in their coup?’

‘There would be casualties, of course.’

‘You bet. Thousands. Unless you and I prevent it by taking action today.’

‘You’re right. We’re all in the army, we signed up for battle. I must be going soft in my old age.’ Ham shook himself. ‘The rebel leader is the base commander, my immediate superior, General Pak Jae-jin.’

Kai wrote the name in his phone’s clipboard.

Ham gave him six more names, and Kai noted each one.

ThenKai said: ‘You’ll return to Yeongjeo-dong today?’

‘Yes. And I probably won’t be able to come to China for the next few days at least.’

‘If you need to report to me, we may have to talk openly on the phone.’

‘I’ll take precautions.’

‘What precautions?’