Chapter 365 - Working Under the Table (1)

Youngho was the only person with the winter suit and a thick coat on in Frankfurt on a hot spring day. He did not think that it might be warm or hot in Frankfurt because it was still cold in Kazakhstan.

Slavica and Jeremic who came to welcome Youngho at the airport had shorts and short sleeve shirts on.

“I didn’t expect this place to be hot because the state is still quite cold.”

“Oh, prince consort. We thought you were the best gentleman out there. I guess we were wrong.”

‘Jeez, I should’ve told them I was from Siberia.’ thought Youngho but it was too late.

“Oh, please call me Mr. Lee outside of the state, alright? By the way, you guys are looking good. Does Frankfurt suit you well? It looks like you guys have been eating well lately.”

“Mr. Cho at the wine distribution store call us occasionally and treat us well. The princess also invites us all the time.”

“Zeynep does that?”

“She’s been working on a new business, and we lent her some hand.”

“What the heck is she asking for such busy people like you guys?”

“It was nothing big. She wanted to start a learning center for poor teenagers in Istanbul. All we had to do was to deliver a message to an official there.”

Youngho was proud of Zeynep after he heard what she had been doing. It turned out that she could not come to Baku often because she was busy doing business to help others in need.

“I know you’re the descendants of the knights, but now you’re agents of the CIA. You are not getting paid by the CIA to show your fidelity to the family of the Archduke. Draw a clear line between your work and private business.”

“We understand what you are thinking. But we are not going to devote our lives to the CIA without remembering our origins.”

“Phew, okay. You guys never change.”

“We won’t be an obstacle to you, Mr. Lee. We’ll be responsible for our work.”

“Trying to protect your indigenous origin is important, but just remember that this is the 21st century.”

“Yes, sir.”

Although they had studied at the CIA University for three years, they had not changed a bit. They were still stuck with the old thinking of fulfilling the duty as descendants of the Serbian knights. Of course, Youngho was thankful for their loyalty to the Archduke’s family, but it was still frustrating to see how such young people were still living in the past.

***

Michael looked at Youngho from head to toe and spoke,

“It’s still winter in Siberia. Don’t judge me.”

“I don’t need to hear your excuse, Lee. Just don’t tell anybody that you are a CIA agent if you are not dressed up.”

“It sounds like you want me to quit.”

“You can quit your job when I’m dead.”

“Why don’t you let me go now? I’m so tired of working for the CIA.”

“Shut up. Everyone knows you love working for the CIA. I am just saying that you need to pay attention to the fashion trend. No more hillbilly. ”

“I’ve been traveling around to such extremely cold places. Don’t you feel sorry for me? Chief, you’ve got to know that you are taking too much advantage of me.”

“How about the advantages you’ve taken from the CIA?”

“I’ve got nothing but what you forcibly gave me.”

“Return everything you’ve taken from us, then. I’ll take them back.”

“They are all digested in my stomach. You don’t know the amazing digesting ability of hillbillies.”

“I am not eating with a hillbilly. You are not invited to a nice hotel dinner with my wife. The waiters will look down on us if we come with you.”

It became a ritual between Youngho and Michael—together with his wife, to have a nice dinner at Arirang Hotel whenever Youngho visited Frankfurt. Michael and Youngho were more good friends now than a boss and his underling.

“By the way, what brings you here, Lee? It’s not the time for our monthly meeting yet.”

“I was wondering if you have any information about the Chinese companies in Siberia. I’ve had an encounter with them while I was there.”

“Chinese companies in Siberia is not new. They have been there for a long time.”

“It’s not the Arctic region but Siberia. Think about the TMGR railroad that connects Beijing, Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia, and Ulan-Ude in Russia. Chinese people are all over Siberia.”

“I bet Russia governors have an idea.”

“I don’t think the high officials from Moscow know what is going on in Siberia. Most officials near the Siberia are sold to Chinese businesses.”

“They are just making small money behind the central government.”

“I wish that’s all.”

“What do you know? Do you have a lead?”

“Lumber business is only a title. They are in Siberia to search for underground resources. They all tossed their lumbers in the storage yard at the river and let them rot. I bet some other businesses must be going on there.”

Their business would be revealed soon, but Youngho wanted Michael’s permission for him to intervene in Siberia just in case there would be a conflict with other companies.

“Well, an American company in Siberia will get on Chinese companies’ nerves.”

“It will be more than that. I will be a war with arms.”

“They are nothing serious to us.”

Youngho envied the pride and confidence that the Americans had.

“Well, your cowardly reaction got me thinking now. I will call the satellite department to check on it.”

“Have they even paid attention to Siberia at all?”

Finally, Youngho got what he wanted, but he pretended that he was not happy. But, Mike already knew what Youngho was thinking.

“That’s why I am rechecking. I’m sure you’ve got something. But don’t even think about making trouble with them. You could be sabotaging the CIA.”

“All I am saying is that we observe suspicious activities of foreign companies in Siberia. It might be necessary to poke them a little to see their reaction.”

“Do nothing but make an observation on them. I won’t tolerate if you move without permission.”

“What if they get me first?”

“They won’t do anything in a foreign country. Besides, I know you won’t just sit there and do nothing.”

“All I am saying is that we need to take down a peg or two.”

“It’s not the European chapter’s business. We will talk after we look at the satellite pictures. End of conversation.”

***

Youngho had to stay two more days in Frankfurt as he waited for the satellite image interpretation result. Youngho met Yun-suh’s family for one day, and Zeynep and Seo-young for another day.

Youngho had completely forgotten why he was afraid to visit Frankfurt. He was reminded as soon as he met Zeynep and Suh-young because he was dragged to a shopping mall not long after he greeted them. With a tired face, Youngho walked into Michael’s office.

“Why the long face?”

“I was abused by little devils all day.”

Michael looked at him with pity.

“Those men following around women for shopping are idiots. Look at me. My wife never asked me to go to a mall with me.”

“I don’t think you should be proud of that. Don’t tell anybody about what you just told me.”

“Well, you absolutely understand what I am saying though.”

“It’s killing me because they know when I am coming. Can we change our monthly meeting date?”

“Cut your crap and sit down. We’ve got the result.”

The CIA’s satellite could zoom in an image to see a clear face of a person. Therefore, there was no way to collect faulty information. They thoroughly searched around the one-kilometer diameter of the expected sight where Chinese companies were working. It was obvious that they had dug to search for something.

“What did the analysts say?”

“They are looking for some sort of mineral resources. But they had no trace of transporting what they dug. It’s weird that there has not been a single trace of a truck.”

“Those machines are for aggregate collection, aren’t they?”

“Our agents concluded the same way. But why would they need those for logging?”

“It would make sense if they’re collecting alluvial gold or something.”

“Maybe. Anyway, there was no suspicious activity from these companies. Our conclusion is that you don’t need to worry about them.”

The CIA did not have to worry about it, but Youngho did because this was what Youngho was looking for.

“You are right. I overreacted.”

“You don’t overreact. I won’t ask you what you are trying to do now, but you need to tell me later.”

“Mike. I just wanted to make sure that they are not doing anything bad.”

“Stop with your play. You know you’re not getting away from my radar. You are onto something.”

‘He maybe can read my mind.’

Youngho walked out of the office before Mike found out more details about what Youngho was up to.

***

“It’s confirmed that Chinese companies are certainly looking for some sort of gold dust or diamond. What do you think?”

“If they dug up an area of this wide range, they must have collected a lot of them. They might want to move on to another region.”

“Would Klimov let it happen?”

“What if the Chinese guys buy him with money?”

“…”

“You know how greedy he is. He is not exactly a loyal friend type. He could interrupt our work by blaming us for environmental pollution or something.”

Youngho could not counter Jong-il’s words because he knew Jong-il was right.

“Man, this is why I call you smart. Come on, I’ll give you a hug.”

“Eww, get off me! You’re joking right now? You need to do something about Klimov.”

“If Klimov betrays us, I will ask Yaniv to send him to Kamchatka.”

“By the time you send him to Kamchatka, the Chinese government would have made an arrangement with the Russian government. Yaniv doesn’t have the power to prevent trade between the two countries.”

As Jong-il listed the problems, Youngho realized this was bigger than he expected. To prevent all the possible issues; Youngho had to make clear legal documents, and guard the development region. Political means were also necessary. Although the diamonds might be only for industrial use, they would be still valuable.

“Good thing we looked at the satellite pictures. I bet those companies had been collecting all the resources illegally. Police or media would not work. We need to contact mafia.”

“We’ve got some work to do before we contact mafia.”

“What is it?”

“Aren’t you curious about what they’ve collected?”

“Why are you so curious? What if they hide all the evidence only because we try to find out about their business?”

“We will do it our way.”

‘Our way’ that Jong-il mentioned meant sneaking in and collecting the evidence. It also meant stealing what they had if they were valuable enough. The evidence could be useful when Youngho informed Sergeenko. If mafia threatened them, those companies would have to give up on what they were doing. Sergeenko also would appreciate Youngho because he could use the news to threaten the companies in other areas of Siberia too.

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Kim Chun was overly excited to see workers unloading lumbers at Arirang Wharf.

If there was no one around him, he would have shouted out, ‘hooray.’ He looked at the lumbers and Youngho simultaneously as if he wanted some more.

“I will be bringing them several more times. You can use them all.”

“I would’ve hugged you if there were not many people around here. But I’ll do that next time. I’ve never seen this amount of lumbers before.”

“Well, the surfaces are almost rotten.”

“They’re not. If you peeled the outer layer off, it’s like a new tree inside.”

Kim Chun was afraid that Youngho might try to throw them away.

He seemed to want Youngho to go back to Siberia to get more lumbers as soon as everything was unloaded.

“Well, these guys traveled more than a month. How about treating them tonight?”

“Of course, I will. They can eat a lot today, rest well tomorrow, and set off the next day again.”

“Oh, Commissioner Kim. They need a longer break than that. Sailors need at least five days of rest. They worked without taking off their weekends for the whole month. Don’t you think they deserve some more time?”

“Do they need that much time?”

“Of course, they can sail right away, but then we’ll have to pay them for non-duty allowance for their weekends and holidays. They’d love to make extra money for their hard work.”

An idea suddenly just popped up in Kim Chun’s head.

“Boss. Some people among the Kyrgyz Koryoin immigrants who just moved here want to work on ships. Can they be trainees on board?”

“The captain might like to hear that. Why don’t you talk to him directly? I’ll tell Mr. Park about it too.”

It was all shipping companies’ hope to find trustworthy sailors. Any captain would want a sailor whose identity was guaranteed since many sailors tended to be rough and were prone to troubles.

It was the same for Arirang Shipping. Although one or two security guards were always on board with other sailors, still it would be great to have more reliable sailors in the first place. Koryoin immigrants seemed to be good candidates for reliable sailors because they would be living in the autonomous state anyway. Moreover, Kim Chun would be glad to hear that some immigrants would be hired by Arirang Shipping since he had been having a hard time creating jobs for the increasing number of immigrants.

Many young Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan wanted to get hired as sailors. Even the follower couple was asked by some of them to help them get the position.

“Mr. CEO, can anyone be on board?”

“Well, anyone who can adapt to being on the water for an extended period of time can.”

“Why do you ask?”

“I’ve been getting applications from people who are in their 40s. I don’t think they’ll be as strong as people in their 20s or 30s.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Anyone who has normal strength can do it. But, why are they so dying to get this job anyway?”

“They had never seen any ocean let alone foreign countries. They’re curious and excited to travel abroad. Most importantly, the job pays well.”

The job must have sounded all exciting to them, but they had no idea what the huge waves of the ocean could do. It was also not an easy job to stay in a tiny cabin on a ship. Half of the applicants would probably drop out after being on board as trainees.

“Take everyone who’s willing to become trainees. After experiencing the ocean once, they can decide if they still want to be sailors.”

“Shouldn’t we tell Mr. Park about it first?”

“Of course, we should. I bet he’d love to hear that there are so many applicants.”

“I’m just afraid that he won’t like that there are so many older applicants. I need to make sure that people who asked me for help get the job.”

“You received something from them?”

“No, there’s a guy who brings me sheep milk at my doorstep every morning. It’s a little too much, and I’ve been feeling bad. I hope this gentleman gets the job.”

The follower couple was now getting a form of bribe now.

Suh Min-seok complained as he took the favor without thinking about consequences.

***

The icebreaker freighter that returned to the state left to the North Sea route again a few days later with new trainee sailors on board. It was because Kim Chun grilled the captain that they should make the best out of the warm season. Although those freighters could break the ice, they could break the ice that was only about one meter thick, so they could only sail through the North Sea route for only five months a year. Until Youngho’s new icebreaker was finished, the state would have to rely on the freighters. Kim Chun managed to send the sailors to the sea again after guaranteeing two one-month-long breaks each in early spring and late fall for them in exchange for five months of their hard work on board.

“I’m the CEO of the shipping company. Why would you decide everything on your own, Commissioner Kim?”

“Mr. Park, the autonomous state is Arirang Shipping’s major client. You should satisfy your client then. I made a decision for you because you’re too busy doing other things. Also, many of the sailors are residents of the autonomous state. They should follow the state’s break standard too.”

“Hahaha… I knew you’d do this to me.”

“You’ve got to remember that the shipper is at a higher position than the shipping company.”

“Oh, you’re giving me a lecture now?.”

“Of course, Mr. Park. You know we’re all in this together. We should help each other out.”

“Alright, alright. Honestly, I’m fine with it.”

“So, could you please increase the number of round trips for the sailing season just by one?”

“Well, I’m going to thoroughly consider my major client’s request. But don’t get your hopes up.”

Later, Jong-il had to calm Kim Chun down who kept on asking for more round trips.

“Commissioner Kim. Why are you being so greedy for lumbers? We’ll have enough lumbers for the state anyway.”

“We’ve got a mill. I just want to sell some of them to foreign countries.”

“I don’t think we’ll have enough to sell to Atyrau. Just save it for the state.”

“We also have lumbers that we get from Kyrgyzstan. So, I’d like to sell it to the Kazakh people in Atyrau. They’ll love to hear that those lumbers are from Siberia.”

Many Kazakh people had hostile feelings toward Russia since it was Russian policy that left their land so desolate. People would feel comforted to hear that the autonomous state had taken Russia’s resource.

“You’re such a patriot.”

“Well, I should ask the central government to give an appreciative medal to Arirang Shipping.”

***

“Jong-il, tell our agents to make the under clerk at the lumber mill in Siberia on our side no matter what. While they do that, we can take the train to cross the border.”

“Argh… We need to take that long, boring train again?”

It would be great if they could take a private Jet, but they had to move in secret. The train was the best way for them to not leave any trace of their trip.

“When does our car ferry return?”

“Why?”

“I don’t know what we’ll find there, but I think there will be quite a lot of them. How are we going to move them?”

“Dude, you just broke the jinx. When you make a fuss and say it’s going to be a lot before it even starts, then the opposite will happen.”

“You know what? If we get something out of this, I’ll take it all.”

“Okay, you get it all.”

The two were quite excited about this mission.

The Chinese-Russia joint-venture enterprise would have collected quite a lot of resources for years of their business in Siberia. Whether it was gold or ore, the company would have waited until a certain amount was gathered and transported it all at once. Since it was caught on satellite pictures that heavy equipment was used, Youngho expected that a huge amount had been gathered already.

Youngho had worked with Jong-il for so many years that his heart was light as he left the state. There was nothing to worry about this mission for they had many experiences of this kind. Since they would be taking what had been taken illegally, he did not feel sorry or guilty.

Instead, he felt he was on a field trip. Many early-age teachers on a field trip would do a treasure hunt on a field trip day, and he felt like he was going on a treasure hunt to Siberia.

“It feels nice to be on this train again since we’re just going to be here for one day.”

“There’s no fun in this except that we get to drink as much as we want.”

“This is why we get on this train.”

“Did you see those guys in the next car? Can you guess where they’re from?”

“Of course, they’re Chinese. Why are they on the train that’s going to the opposite direction from where they’re supposed to be?”

If they were connected in Mongolia, they should have come from Ulan-Ude of Russia, but it was weird that they were on the train that came from Moscow.

Youngho and Jong-il got on a train in Astana, Kazakhstan, to Omsk, and got on the Trans-Siberian Railway to get to Vladivostok. Youngho saw the guys several times going in and out of the restroom. He noticed that they moved like trained people.

“They sure don’t look like soldiers or diplomats. This is quite fishy.”

“If they get off in Krasnoyarsk, we should find out about them. This could be related to our work.”

“I thought this mission would be boring but if they are involved, it’s going to be excited.”

“Let’s be as quiet as we can. I don’t want to raise their guard.”

“They’re no match for us.”

“Dude, bullets don’t dodge for us. They’re not regular guys. I feel like they’re trained shooters. They must’ve gotten on the train in Perm or Yekaterinburg. There are many Chinese companies there.”

“Whoa, they are everywhere. Let’s get to the bottom of this.”