‘We think we’re looking at medium-range ballistic missiles.’
‘High explosive or nuclear?’
‘High explosive. These missiles came from Sino-ri, which is controlled by the Supreme Leader. He has no nuclear weapons now – they’re all at bases controlled by the rebel ultras.’
‘Why are those missiles still flying? South Korea has anti-missile missiles, doesn’t it?’
‘Ballistic missiles can’t be shot down in mid-flight – they’re too high and too fast. The South Koreans’ Cheolmae 4HL surface-to-air system will engage them in their descent phase, as they approach their target, when they slow down. The system couldn’t hit them when they passed over Seoul.’
‘But it should now.’
‘Any second.’
‘Let’s hope so.’ Pauline turned to Chess. ‘What have we done to stop this?’
‘I called the Chinese foreign minister, Wu Bai, as soon as we got the warning about signals activity. He gave me some bullshit but it was clear that he had no idea what the Supreme Leader was up to.’
‘Did you talk to anyone else?’
‘The South Koreans don’t know why they’re under attack. The North Korean envoy to the UN didn’t return my call.’
She looked at Sophia. ‘Anything from the CIA?’
‘Not from Langley.’ Sophia usually looked glamorous, but tonight she had dressed in a hurry: her long wavy hair was scraped back and tied up in a bun, and she had put on a yellow warm-up jacket and green running pants. But her brain was working. ‘Their best man in Beijing, Davidson, is desperately trying to speak to the head of the Guoanbu, whom he knows well, but he hasn’t reached him yet.’
Pauline nodded. ‘Chang Kai. I’ve heard of him. If anyone in Beijing knows what’s going on, he will.’
Luis was listening to his headset again. ‘The Pentagon is now certain the target is Jeju,’ he said.
‘That settles it,’ said Pauline. ‘This is retaliation. The Supreme Leader is punishing the naval base that destroyed his submarine. You’d think he had enough to do combating the rebels in his own country.’
Gus said: ‘He’s failed to crush the rebellion, which makes him seem weak, and the sinking of the submarine makes it worse. He’s desperate for something that makes him look tough.’
Luis said: ‘We’ve accessed video from the base. It’s not public, they must have hacked it.’ A picture came up on a wall screen, and Luis said: ‘It’s closed-circuit television security-surveillance footage.’
They saw a large harbour enclosed by a man-made sea wall. Within the wall were a destroyer, five frigates and one submarine. The picture changed, presumably to a different CCTV camera, and now they saw sailors on the deck of a ship. Someone in a back room was looking at multiple feeds and selecting the most informative ones, for the shot changed again, and they saw roads around low office and apartment buildings. This picture also showed frenetic activity: men running, cars driving fast, officers shouting into phones.
Luis said: ‘The anti-missile battery has fired.’
Pauline said: ‘How many missiles?’
‘The launcher fires eight at a time. Wait . . .’ There was a pause, and Luis said: ‘One of the eight crashed seconds after firing. The other seven are in flight.’
After a minute, seven new arcs appeared on the radar graphic, on an intercept course with the incoming missiles.
‘Thirty seconds to contact,’ said Luis.
The arcs on the screen moved closer.
Pauline said: ‘If the missiles explode over a populated area . . .’
Luis said: ‘The anti-missile missile has no warhead. It destroys the incoming ordnance just by crashing into it. But the incoming warhead might explode when it hits the ground.’ He paused. ‘Ten seconds.’
The room was silent. Everyone stared at the graphic. The dots came together.
‘Contact,’ said Luis.
The graphic froze.
‘The sky is full of debris,’ said Luis. ‘The radar is unclear. We have hits, but we don’t know how many.’
Pauline said: ‘Shouldn’t we have got them all – with seven interceptors to destroy only four incoming?’
‘Yes,’ said Luis. ‘But missiles are never perfect. Here we go . . . Shit, only two hits. There are still two missiles heading for Jeju.’
Chess said: ‘For Christ’s sake, why didn’t the battery fire everything they’ve got?’