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first created 081007
Last updated:20190217
I was dreaming. I dreamed that
I was on an aeroplane beside a young lady with long black hair and oriental
features. I could hear the sound of the aircraft's engines. You don't usually
hear sounds in a dream, so I scratched the back of my hand to see if I
was awake. I felt the scratch. I really was in an aeroplane, and there
really was a young woman in the window seat. "Where am ...?"
I tried to ask, but I felt so sleepy.
She smiled, saying in a quaint sing-song
accent, "I will tell you when you are properly awake."
I must have drifted back to sleep again,
because when I woke up next, there was a large man sitting in the aisle
seat. He looked like some sort of security guard.
I turned to the woman, questioningly.
"We are going to Korea,"
she said.
"What ? What's going on ?"
"We need you, and I'm afraid this
was the only way to get you."
"Am I being kidnapped ?"
I shouted, trying to stand up, but the guard pushed me back into the seat,
saying in very bad English, "You sit." And that's what I think
about you, pal.
"I remember now. A Korean man
telephoned me saying he wanted lessons in technical English. I went to
his house. We talked for a while and then he gave me a drink, but I don't
remember anything after that. He must have put something in the drink.
This is outrageous !" The guard held my arm, and I could see that
he was a lot stronger than me, and I still felt weak from whatever had
been put into the drink. I wondered how they had moved me from the house
to the airport, and then got me on to the 'plane.
I waited for a minute, and then calmly
asked, "Why, and why me ?"
"You work in radar, and last year
you wrote about how radar can be used to see the "invisible"
American stealth bomber."
"Yes, it's true I used to work
as a radar designer, but I write computer software now, and anyway that
about the stealth bomber was just a story I wrote for a competition."
"We are working with your idea,
but now we need some help from you. It will not be for long - a few weeks,
and we will pay you well. Think of it as a working holiday." She reached
into a bag and handed me an envelope full of English money.
I tried to think of the capital of
Korea, ah yes, Seoul, where they had the Olympic Games in when was it,
1988 ? "I'm going straight to the police when we land at Seoul."
She laughed and patted my knee, "We
are not going there. We are going to The Democratic People's Republic of
Korea."
"What ! North Korea ? But that's
a communist country, one of the last - and one of the worst."
"Oh, I hope you will think better
of our country than that, Thomas," she said, looking rather disappointed.
I was surprised at hearing my name. "I am to be your interpreter.
My name is Moon Hee, and I will be with you all the time."
The prospect of spending a few weeks
in the company of Moon Hee made things seem slightly more appealing, but
then I thought of all the things I needed to do in England, paying my rent,
renewing my car tax, and all the other little things like the telephone
bill that will only be a lot more difficult if I don't do them straightaway.
Maybe being kidnapped is a good excuse, and I'll even get my name in the
papers. Perhaps I should try to enjoy it, after all, they seem to want
me, so they will not harm me. But what happens when I am no longer useful
to them ? Maybe they will... Perhaps I can escape somehow. And what about
the radar idea. This is crazy, it was just a simple science fiction story
I made up, hoping to get some money while I tried to find a new job, and
of course I didn't even win the competition either. I wonder how the Koreans,
no the North Koreans, got hold of my story.
I looked around. We were in a small
compartment which I guessed must be somewhere near the front of the aircraft.
There was another guard across the aisle, but he seemed to be asleep. Moon
Hee asked if I was properly awake. I was impressed at her English, and
nodded. "When we get to our country's capital, Pyongyang, you will
meet Colonel Kim. He is in charge of the Ferodo project"
"Ferodo ?" I couldn't believe
I had heard her correctly. "In England Ferodo make brake pads for
cars."
"It is somebody's little joke,"
she said, "a brake to stop the bombers."
How childish. Is this
what I am in for ?
"I studied engineering and English
at Pyongyang University, and I work as a technical translator for the army.
Going to England to escort you back to Korea is the first time I have been
outside our country. Very few people are ever allowed to go to the West."
She probably sensed that I wasn't interested
in the official policy on North Korean travel restrictions, and she picked
a small suitcase from the floor and opened it on my lap. "Here is everything
we think you will need, but if you want anything else, please ask."
I slowly looked through the case. There
were neatly stacked shirts, a nice shaver, pyjamas, underwear, house slippers,
all new but with a slightly old fashioned look to them, and then a bag
with a toothbrush and English toothpaste inside. Well at least somebody
had thought. "Did you buy this ?"
"No, I never left the aeroplane.
When we land I will have been in here for three days. I really hoped I
would be able to see something of England, but they did not get a passport
for me. The man at the house you went to probably bought these things."