“He’s almost there. Let’s all get ready,” Anderson told the Command Room.
Tom had passed Waypoint 3 almost fifteen minutes ago and was now getting close to the target. Everyone in the Command Room rapidly looked between the large screen and smaller screens at the desks. The analysts took frequent sips of coffee.
As Sara stared at the screen she imagined that Tom could already be running on top of the target facility, given that much of it was underground. Despite the images still being trees flying past, everyone was waiting for the moment when an open space would appear.
Sara looked around at the other analysts. Matt was on the phone, talking to someone on the George Washington. He had been updating them for most of the night. The George Washington in turn had been updating the Virginia, which was patiently standing by and waiting for Tom to return. It was still sitting submerged three miles off the coast. It had only broken radio silence once, when it informed the George Washington that Tom had left for shore. Lucky for them, it did not seem that the North Koreans had noticed.
Another analyst was analyzing the latest satellite imagery, which had come in within the last hour. He was carefully noting changes in KPA positions. With a tremor in his voice, he had told the room that there was a large contingent of KPA in front of the entrance to the base.
One analyst to Sara’s left had been sending regular updates to the Director. In the last hour the frequency of these calls had increased. All of the analysts moved in some way. Some were tapping their knees up and down rapidly. Some shifted ceaselessly in their chairs.
Sara looked at the very back. Mark and J.D. still maintained their focus solely on the computer screens in front of them. How lucky of them, she thought, to be able to maintain a Zen-like state. She had the feeling that if she was not focused on Tom – where he was running, what he was doing, or whether he was safe – some misfortune would occur. She felt that Tom never really thought about his own safety enough, so she needed to provide some of that anxiety. Someone had to. The other analysts seemed to be helping her as well.
Mr. Park walked into the room quickly, breaking everyone’s focus.
“White Tiger started its raid of the house,” he said.
“What are they saying?” Anderson asked.
“They are encountering resistance on the second floor. They are still clearing.”
“Is your analyst OK? Did they get to her?” Sara asked. Sara wondered why his analysts were not joining them for the upcoming infiltration. Mr. Park’s team had worked for a long time on finding this place, she thought. It made logical sense to her that they should be watching too.
“I am not sure yet. We will have to wait for them to finish,” Mr. Park replied. “As Tom is almost at the base, I will stay here for now. My analysts will monitor that raid.” He moved close to Anderson in the middle of the room and stared into the screen.
“Whatever that place is, Tom’s going to see signs and documents. Do you think you’ll be able to translate if he holds his helmet camera close enough?” Anderson asked Mr. Park. “It will be nice to find out right away what exactly he’s looking at. Do you think the screen is clear enough?”
“Yes, I should be able to do that.”
“John,” Sara said as she looked at her monitor. Anderson looked over. She paused to make sure what she was about to say was correct. “Tom is a few feet from the edge of the woods. He’ll be able to see the entrance in a few seconds.”