of Pak’s lecture on “essence.” He must have heard that line on “essence” somewhere. Maybe it had been in one of those cadre lectures I avoided; maybe it had been the theme in one of those newspaper editorials I never read. Or maybe Pak had regular meetings with Sohn, and this whole conversation today was a charade for my benefit. I looked hard at Pak. No, it wasn’t a charade. The memory of amusement had left his eyes. His face was drained.
“This is not an order, Inspector.” Sohn wasn’t finished talking. He stood up straight again and leaned against Pak’s desk. “Let’s be as precise as a bayonet through the throat. This goes far beyond an order. It transcends an order. What shall we call it? I know!” He snapped his fingers. “It is an imperative. This is one of those times when the old concepts don’t fit. We are past any notions of shirking or obeying. This is about the survival of the nation. Not this country, not this person or that individual, but the nation, our nation. And on that, you have nothing to say. We will survive, and you will make sure of it. Your grandfather ensured we survived; you will do no less. Not one drop less.”
“That’s it. I don’t think I can help you, Sohn.” I stood up and opened the door to leave. I didn’t think, I just did it. Pak would be furious with me for this sort of insubordination. Who knows what Sohn would do? Anyone who put bayonets and throats together into the same image was tougher than the normal party hack. But if he was going to drag my grandfather into this, as far as I was concerned, the conversation was over. I could deal with hot water. I always had.
“Sit down, Inspector.” Pak was no longer subdued. He didn’t often issue commands to me, but there was no mistaking his tone. “You’ll leave when I give you permission, and I haven’t done that. And you”— he turned to Sohn—“you don’t come in here and push my staff around. How many times do I have to tell you people to lay off? If there is any semblance of order left in this city, it is thanks to officers like Inspector O.”
Sohn took in the surroundings again, four bleak walls and a window looking nowhere. “A little box for little men. Trust me, I’m not here to debate. Day after tomorrow, the inspector leaves on assignment. He’s my body until that assignment is over. End of story.” He threw a piece of paper on Pak’s desk. “This is the order, signed by your minister. I heard you only liked signed orders. Go ahead, look it over.”
3
The next day, Pak sat in my office, drumming his fingers on my desk again. Same march of the doomed, if anything at a more somber pace. We hadn’t heard anything else from Sohn.
“I still can’t even remember what century I’m in, and they want me to jump in an airplane again! How many days since I got back from New York?” I looked out at the empty street.
“Two days. Tomorrow will be three. The century isn’t important, as long as you can correctly locate the planet.”
“Maybe Sohn has forgotten us.”
“Not a chance. He’ll be back. Didn’t I tell you something big was up?”
“Sure, always something big and important. And when it’s not important, it’s earthshaking. Trumpets every damned time you turn on the damned radio. Nothing ever says: ‘This is beneath your notice, O, don’t concern yourself with it.’ I’m so low in the food chain, I’m expected to vibrate to everything.” I sat down and put my ear to the top of my desk. “Wait! I hear far-off rumbles.”
Pak stopped drumming. “Quit kidding around.”
“Who’s kidding?” I put my ear against the desk again. “Let’s make it eight hundred kilometers to the west.”
Pak motioned for me to get up and shut the door. There was no one else around, but shutting the door had become a ritual that Pak was reluctant to give up. “How did you find out?” He didn’t want to know, but felt obliged to ask.
“I vibrate, remember?”
“Go on.”
“There was a defector in Beijing a few days ago. High level. Very, very high level. Am I right?”
Pak gave me a noncommittal look. “Whatever happened, if anything happened, will be reported to us, all in due time, in proper channels, with proper vibrations, I’m sure. Someone just has to figure out the angle.