Empire of the Ring

It was not long after Youngho and Jong-il wished for Russia to struggle over the Crimean Peninsula when the world became rambunctious over Russia.

It was because Russia declared that it was going to place additional cutting-edge air defense missiles in the peninsula. This implied that Russia intended to take over the Black Sea. The government of Turkey, Rumania, and Ukraine bristled against Russia’s claim.

Interestingly, Great Britain, France, and Germany that originally opposed the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula did not react to the news. They feared that Russia would stop providing oil crude for them.

Powerful West European nations tried to wrap up the issue by admitting the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in exchange for the safety of Ukraine. However, the problem was that the Turkish government was more eager than the Ukrainian government. If the peninsula was officially legalized as a Russian territory, the north of Turkey would be bordered by Russia. Turkey never wanted that to happen because in the past when Turkey was the Ottoman Empire, it had battled against Russia over the leadership in the Black Sea. Turkey did not feel comfortable to be bordered by a hostile nation.

“Look, I knew this would happen. What would the air defense missiles target? It’ll never be for defense only.”

“I see why Turkey is so upset about this. Russia will be sorry if Turkey decided to block the Sea of Marmara. I don’t know why it’s forcing it.”

“Man, there’s going to be a battle on the Black Sea soon.”

It was a dreadful news, but Youngho’s group treated it as a rather entertaining story.

Youngho and his friends knew that something like this would happen anyway, and it was better if it started sooner. The nations surrounding this issue would only be stabilized after a collision. It was getting old to stay tensed up since they had been living in a region where disputes were common. It was also great if they could take advantage of the situation in the midst of that.

Jong-il’s eyes sparkled as he watched the news on TV.

“Shouldn’t we get prepared too?”

It was obvious what Jong-il was talking about. However, the autonomous state could not fight with any nation with its weak defense power no matter how prepared the state was. He had already made a grandiose underground shelter at the Serbian ranch. Youngho wondered what else his friend had in mind.

“You know it wouldn’t matter if they come. You’ve got the ranch fortified already. If things went wrong, we can just run to the ranch and watch TV and rest.”

“I hope this ends like a storm in a teacup.”

“Man, it’s going to be trouble if we receive a new assignment. I feel bad because we speak Russian.”

Jong-il was not actually worried. In fact, it seemed like he wanted to be sent to the Crimean Peninsula or Ukraine. Unfortunately, Asians would stand out in those regions so the CIA could never send the two even if the CIA wanted to.

“Do you think our faces have changed just because we’ve been living in a foreign land?”

“They can send anyone in an emergency. Michael must be dying to send us.”

A few months had already passed since the two stirred up the regions near the Chinese borders so Jong-il was getting eager to do another job.

“Man, you can’t just stay still, can you? Stay here and reinforce the shelter facility. If there will be a battle in the Black Sea, Russia would not leave Azerbaijan for being a brotherly nation of Turkey. It’s right next to it, man.”

Jong-il who was pumped to get a new agent’s assignment got disappointed like a deflated balloon.

“We really live in a good-for-nothing country.”

“Did you just found that out? But we’ve got a person we can trust.”

“Yaniv?”

“No, The Serbian descendants. They’re Slavs, you know.”

“Dude, you’re a shameless fellow.”

“What? What about it?”

Youngho thought that President Putin would not touch Serbians who were Slavs since their population was the majority in Russia.

“Hey, why did you pick this kind of place when you’re trying to settle down in the first place? You should’ve picked somewhere in West Europe.”

“Are you complaining now? We’ve been living so well up until now. Do you think that we would’ve been able to enjoy this kind of luxury in West Europe?”

“You’re right. With our abilities, that must’ve been impossible. We made it this far only because we were in this place. Anyway, it’s your fault that you stepped in this place after all.”

Jong-il grumbled since he had been wishing to live in Europe, but he was stuck in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan because of his friend Youngho.

“Hahaha…”

***

Youngho was summoned to the European chapter since it was an emergency situation.

The CIA’s European chapter in Frankfurt was operating busily now.

The faces of the agents who worked in the chapter were serious. This meant that the situation of Ukraine was an explosive issue. It was different from local battles in East Europe or frequent terrorism around the whole of Europe.

If Ukraine’s situation was intensified, the West European region would inevitably fall into utter confusion.

If the oil crude that was being imported from Russia and the Caspian coast would stop, then the world’s economy that was just recovering from the recession would sink into a pit. The aftermath of that could encourage disputes between ethnic groups of Southeastern Europe, which had been suppressed for a long time.

There was tension in the conference room.

“Everyone got that? Stay alerted. The battle that’s going to happen in the Black Sea is the shortcut to the third World War. Let’s be dismissed for now and get back together at the same time tomorrow with more information.”

Michael sounded as if the war was declared already.

After the conference was over, Michael called Youngho into the side.

“You didn’t hear anything about this?”

“Doesn’t the chapter already know about this more than I do?”

Although Youngho was no special than other agents, Michael was expecting new information from him whom he trusted very much.

“Everything we know is from the satellite. The headquarters is upset that we didn’t see this coming.”

“The rumor that higher-ups in the White House are secretly related to Russia must be false then.”

“Chief. You must already know this but the Turkish military’s movements have been suspicious.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“I heard this from the security guards who are working in a hotel in Istanbul. He said that lately military generals had been spotted at the hotel many times.”

“Keep your mouth shut. The Turkish military has joint training with our military.”

“Are you saying that the U.S. and Turkey are doing a joint operation?”

This was an absurd story that could make a dog laugh.

The Turkish president had criticized the U.S. harshly on TV about the fact that the U.S. had supported the Kurdish militia that had been fighting against IS in Syria. It was quite odd that the two countries had teamed up now. The reason for Turkey’s criticism toward the U.S. was that the Kurdish militia was as problematic as IS to Turkey.

Such countries had become allies in front of a common enemy.

“It’s not the Black Sea that is in trouble. The Baltic Sea is in huge trouble now.”

“What does Finland or Sweden have to do with the Crimean missiles?”

“Do you seriously don’t know?”

Michael frowned as if it was annoying to have to explain this.

Youngho watched Michael’s stressed face as he explained things. Youngho knew that doing this would relieve Michael’s stress. In fact, he had already planned the night ahead. He began to say random things.

“You know what? You should just let them fight for their own life. Russia’s expansion policy had been there for a long time. People don’t care no matter how hard the U.S. tries to keep the peace. Why don’t we go out and talk about this over a beer? I’ll treat you.”

“I’m too busy. Let’s have that beer next time.”

“Then you can go ahead and work. I already invited your wife to Arirang Hotel. I guess I’ll have to escort your wife tonight.”

“What made a young man like you want to date that old woman?”

Although Michael still did not agree to come, he was already picking up his jacket.

***

Michael drank quite a lot of wine as he had Italian food at Arirang Hotel. His wife who had been watching him silently finally stopped him.

“Honey. That will be your last glass. It’s too much for your heart.”

“Why? Is his heart having a problem?”

“The doctor had recently discovered that his heart artery was not in good shape. That’s why he quit smoking.”

Although Michael was avoided by some people in the European chapter due to his hasty temperament, he had been favorable to Youngho. Michael was not just a boss; he was a friend. Youngho was startled to hear that his boss’s health had been deteriorating.

“What are his symptoms?”

“The doctor said that he would be fine with oral medicine for now but he would probably have to get surgery after several years.”

“What are you talking about? I know my body. I’m just stressed right now. If I retire, I’ll soon get better.”

It seemed like Michael was the type who would man up and outgrow his illness before it became a real problem. Youngho immediately called Dr. Kim Dong-sung since he was an acknowledged surgeon.

Youngho let Michael talk to him, and when he was done with the phone call, Michael asked who he was. He was surprised because Kim Dong-sung was so informative.

“He asked me to visit Kazakhstan no matter what. Who is this guy?”

“He’s the director of the hospital in our autonomous state and a globally acknowledged surgeon. I heard that he worked in an American hospital and became famous in his field. He’s also a member of Doctors Without Borders. Do you think you can come with me?”

“I’ve got work to do. I’m super busy.”

“When were you not busy anyway?”

Before Youngho tried to convince him, Michael’s wife started to grill him to visit the doctor.

***

“What dreadful weather.”

Michael, who landed at the Atyrau’s international airport described Kazakhstan’s summer with one phrase. It was indeed extremely hot.

Michael finally decided to come and see Dr. Kim Dong-sung in Kazakhstan for his illness. He was someone who would refuse to go to the hospital usually, and it seemed like he had been suffering enough.

Youngho was confident about this since the doctor told him that he could do a simple surgery on Michael. Michael shook his head when Youngho told him that he did not have to take the surgery if he did not like the hospital’s facility. He already knew about Kim Dong-sung’s profile. It did not take a day to find out about a person’s history from his intelligence connections. Someone like Michael would not come to a place like this if he did not trust the doctor. Also, it was just a simple surgery. It seemed like he might have another reason for coming to the autonomous state.

“Come this way.”

Michael smirked as he looked at the light airplane.

“I’ll fly it.”

As a veteran intelligence agent, Michael treated the airplane as if it was a boy’s toy.

“If you haven’t learned how to fly new airplane models, please sit next to me. I have more than 300 hours of private flying experience, chief.”

“Ha! it seems as you’ve only been flying in the air instead of doing the work were supposed to do!”