Empire of the Ring

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.