Three months later.
Yeji & Ryujin have confessed, and are a couple. When they gathered the other girls to tell them about their relationship, they got a few words out before Chae said:
"Shut it. We've known the whole time. You have no idea how much we've gone through making sure you two have time alone at the dor+m."
"The whole thing is kinda gross," Yuna said. "I mean, you're both so old. Yuck! That's why I stopped listening at the door."
There was a collective eye roll.
. . . . .
Yeji, in a black power suit, is having coffee with Radius at the restaurant of an expensive hotel in Dubai. She squints when she looks outside. It's a brand-new city, but the sunlight is still the color of ancient sand, a light yellowish hue that Yeji finds beautiful.
"You left a bit of a mess at the Louvre," Radius began. "But I understand. You had to take them out in a room the size of a phone booth."
"What's a phone booth?" Yeji asked.
"My god, you're so young, I hate you," Radius smiled. "They were glass boxes, outdoors, connected to landlines and they required coins to operate."
"What's a landline?"
Radius sighed, leaned forward, and put her forehead on the desk. "Ok, ok, let's get down to business." She motioned the waiter to bring them coffee. "It took about a week to safely disarm the zero-point-energy weapon. Paris will never know how close they got. Also, thanks to your coffee pot trick, Verlaine will be having a closed-coffin funeral. I'd like to say 'You used excessive force' and frown, but instead I'm going to say 'You used excessive force' and smile. You're embracing the mindset you need to survive in this."
She continued. "Next, you're going to the Himalayas. We've picked up traffic indicating that a small contingent of a radical Chinese militia are planning to attack targets in Nepal, starting with tourists at Everest Base Camp. They're hoping to be mistaken for Chinese PLA soldiers, therefore starting a war."
Yeji frowned. "I don't want to see anyone hurt, ever. I mean, I don't want to see any good guys get hurt. But it is a little hard to get sympathetic about people who've paid $75,000 each to climb a mountain that's been climbed like 4,000 times."
"Honestly, Vector," Radius said, "The tourists aren't the main concern. We believe the militia are planning to destroy the Khumbu Ice Fall."
"What's that?"
"It's a titanic glacier composed of blocks of ice the size of small office buildings. As the glacier slowly moves downwards, these blocks of ice tumble and crash. The energy releases are staggering. But this group plans to blow this glacier up. The result would be a cascade of millions of tons of ice flowing downhill. Base camp will disappear. At a lower altitude, the ice will begin to melt, and cause an 'inland tsunami' to race down hill, wiping out every village in its path. Tens of thousands of people will die, and the ecological and climate impact throughout Asia will be catastrophic."
"How many of them will be infiltrating?"
"We think about 50, Vector."
Yeji leaned back in her chair. "That's too many people, even for me."
"That's why you won't be doing this alone."
"I finally get to meet our other mysterious operator?"
"Yes. You'll meet up at a small town on the way to base camp called Namche Bazaar. I'm interested to see if you end up killing each other. Please don't, it causes a lot of paperwork."
"What's her name?" Yeji asked.
"Archangel."
"Why does she get a cool name like that, and I'm stuck with Vector?"
Radius smiled. "Because I like her more."
. . . . .
One month later.
Yeji has been hiking for three days. As a cover, she bought into a tourist expedition leading people up to base camp. Most of her fellow trekkers are Americans looking for adventure. The rest are trust-fund stoner kids who think that nirvana is hiding in the hills. The pleasant upside is that they're leaving her alone. She is still a little concerned, however, that no one has tried hitting on her. Does she have it anymore?
The beauty of the valley is stunning. The air is thin and dry, and they're hiking in a great valley with enormously tall mountains on either side. Unlike sea level, the sky is a whitish blue and almost appears translucent. When she looks up, stars seem to be visible as pale gray, very dim points of light.
At sunset, they finally reach the town. It's nestled on a hillside, and the buildings are covered in a brilliant white plaster and they have blue and red-clay roofs. While the tour guides argue with the proprietor of a hotel, Yeji drifts away and heads down a quiet street, looking for the rendezvous spot.
She finds the building and knocks on the door. No response. She looks up at the second floor and sees curtains gently blowing out of the window. Ready to practice her climbing skills, she shimmies up a drainpipe to the second floor, then slides along a narrow ledge until she reaches the window. Carefully she peers in but sees no one. Then she slips over the railing.
Before her feet touch the ground, she receives a vicious uppercut to the jaw, and then hands grab her coat and she is heaved across the room, crashing into a closet door. In an instant she is back on her feet, but the room still looks empty.
Her senses on high alert, she carefully creeps across the old wooden floor. Then she is grabbed from behind in a choke hold. She reaches over her shoulder and grabs someone's hair. Bending quickly at the waist, she throws them over her head and onto the floor - hard. Yeji leaps over and straddles her attacker. Then her jaw drops.
"WINTER !?!"
"YEJI !?!"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!" Yeji shouts as she unsteadily sits on the floor across from Winter.
"I'm here to help you," Winter says calmly.
"With what?"
"Stop pretending. We've both climbed Mt Misery."
"Then what's your code name?" Yeji asked.
"You mean you actually use that?"
"I thought we had to!"
"We do," Winter smiled. "But I think it's stupid, so I'm not doing it. But in any event, it's Archangel."
Yeji is panicking. She knows she will not - not - doing anything inappropriate with Winter. But being in the same room as her makes Yeji feel like she's cheating on Ryujin. Winter seems to sense this.
"I'm not going to kiss you again," Winter smiles. "I mean, that would be kinda... gross, given our situation."
Yeji grows indignant. "Are you saying that kissing me was gross?"
"Of course not. But now we're coworkers, so it would be weird, right? And kissing you was a big mistake for both of us, but it wasn't gross."
Yeji covered her face. "This job is so weird. I'd worry about explaining this to Ryujin, except I can't tell her, so I'll be walking around feeling guilty the whole time."
"You have to relax, babe. Are all of you in Itzy this uptight? Because believe me, Aespa wouldn't call that kiss a mistake, we'd call it a Monday morning. Don't you guys ever make out with each other?"
"No! God, what is it with you guys? Anyway, how are things with Karina?"
"We're good. I told her what happened between us and all she said was 'Who's Yeji?'"
"I'll take that," Yeji sighed. "I'd rather not come face to face with her about this."
Winter smiled. "It's not like that. We really love each other, and fortunately, Giselle and Ningning are understanding. Karina's the most incredible, generous person I know."
"Then why am I a little scared of her?"
"She can come off like that sometimes, but it's just a front for someone who's really shy."
They stood up and dusted themselves off.
"Let's go get some dinner," Winter said. "They also have this rice alcohol drink called chang. It would be stupid of us to come all this way and not try the local cuisine."
Yeji smiled. "That would be fun. Just a sip, though. And I'm glad we cleared the air and can put it behind us."
Winter held up an imaginary glass. "To putting things behind us!"
. . . . .
There was nothing like the comfort and safety of sleeping in Ryujin's arms. She loved the sound of her breathing in her ear, and the smell of her...
Booze!?!
Yeji's eyes snapped open. She flipped over, and looked directly into the eyes of...
Winter.
Yeji jumped out of bed in a full-on anxiety attack, paced back and forth, and at the top of her lungs screamed "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING!?!"
Winter, still asleep, mumbled "Come back to bed, Rina, I miss you."
"WINTER! WINTER, WAKE UP! WE DID IT AGAIN!"
Finally Winter rubbed her eyes and sat up. Always cool, she lifted the sheets and looked beneath.
"Relax. We both still have our clothes on. Damn, that chang packs a punch. My head's killing me."
Yeji breathed a sigh of relief when she saw she was still dressed. "Winter, what are we going to do!?!"
"We can't do anything, because we can't talk, remember? It keeps both our girls safe. Unless we got in bed, undressed, fooled around, and put our clothes back on, I'm guessing it got cold and we just snuggled to stay warm." Yeji let out a long breath. That made sense. Note to self, Yeji thought, never try to party with Aespa. Itzy looks like librarians next to them.
A half hour later they were eating at a small cafe.
Yeji set her coffee down. "Let's start with our plan. We both know that this mission is deadly serious. So I'm thinking we try a pincer attack, straight out of World War II. It's risky, but I propose that we let them get near where the glacier starts. That will funnel them into a narrow gorge, then we can sneak in from both sides and have the high ground. If they're spread out anywhere else, we'd have to pick them off one by one and we'll be here for a month. What's your specialization?"
"Explosives, edge weapons, and poisons. I'm pretty decent at hand-to-hand, but from what I've heard, you're the Mozart of 'up close and personal.'"
Yeji smiled. "I've worked hard at it."
Winter burst out laughing. "'Worked hard'? From what I understand, most of the martial arts trainers have permanent limps because of you!"
"Yeah. I really, really got tired of being pushed around."
Winter furrowed her brow. "I like your idea of a pincer attack. Once we get above them, I'll use explosives to create a small avalanche that will bury them all. Minimal combat for us, which is great since there's just the two of us. At the top, the ice falls don't have any giant ice blocks pushing down on them from above, which is what happens lower down. Lastly, destabilizing even a small area of the glacier will jumble things up so much that rescuers won't be able to get there in time."
"Sounds like a plan," Yeji said matter-of-factually, even though they were talking about killing 50 people.
"Let's leave at 11pm tonight. The moon is full, and we have to get away from these tour groups."
The two women - some of the most highly-trained, highly-motivated operators that billions of government dollars could produce, spent the day buying supplies and... shopping. Yeji's favorite part of the day was when a fan recognized her and asked for a selfie - and then asked Winter to take the picture before walking away. Winter just shook her head.
At about 11, they sneaked out of the building and marched directly up the base of the mountain. Each girl was wearing winter camouflage - white with grey splotches - and had a backpack full of food, fuel, and the items they would need for the attack. After a couple of hours, they began noticing that it was becoming harder and harder to get enough oxygen in their lungs. They were at high altitude.
Rather than follow the well-worn trail to base camp, they chose to go up high and hike above the trail, but in the same direction. It made the journey longer, but they needed to stay out of sight. Plus, someone had recognized Yeji in one of the most remote places on Earth. It made her proud to think of how many people had heard Itzy's music.
Yeji, who spent two hours a day sprinting on a treadmill, was impressed with Winter, who had been an operator a year longer than her. Winter seemed unstoppable on the hike, and Yeji was struggling to keep up. But she did.
After about eight hours, they stopped for a break. The thin, dry air was making their throats feel like sandpaper. Yeji got out a small cook stove and they melted snow to quench their thirst.
"For what it's worth, Winter said, "I brought some more chang with me, if you want a drink."
"Oh god no, never in a jillion years. I can still taste that stuff, and no matter how many times I brush my teeth, it won't go away! What's wrong with you!?! Do you have a problem!?!"
Winter laughed. "I have no other intentions, unnie. But you have to admit that this job gets lonely. We're alone a lot, and can't talk about the fact that we're either killing, or someone's trying to kill us, much of the time. I know you love Ryu, and I love Karina, but if it gets below zero tonight, it just makes good sense for us to buddy up again. The mission trumps what we may or may not be comfortable with. Does that make sense?"
Yeji furrowed her brow. "It does. If it gets to that point, we'll see, but if so, I am the outside spooner. You're smaller than me."
"All joking aside," Winter said, a warm smile on her face. "I hope you know that I would never take advantage of you."
"That means the world -"
"Unless you begged me to, like really hard."
"WINTER!" Yeji hissed so she wouldn't be heard. She smiled. Now she felt like she understood the younger woman, and her crazy, irreverent sense of humor. Aespa wouldn't be Aespa without her.
After they finished their snack, they were back on the move. Yeji was staggered by the number of stars that were visible, as well as a long, hazy cloud that spanned the horizon: the Milky Way. The operators hiked almost nonstop for almost two days. According to the intelligence briefing they had both received, they were still 1-2 days ahead of the attackers.
Finally, at sunrise, they reached the head of the Khumbu Ice Fall. Neither was prepared for the sheer scale of the glacier. It was so big, so massive, that Yeji felt vaguely scared, as if she were looking at something too gigantic for human eyes. And right below them was where the fall began.
"Let's get to our positions in the dark. I'm a little concerned that any tourist climbers who make it up will see our tracks. I know there's some coordination between their teams as to who climbs when, so I don't think it will be a problem, but it's something to keep an eye on."
"I agree," Winter said.
"Let's get some rest."
"I'm freezing, Yeji. Do you think I could...?"
"Come to unnie," Yeji laughed. Winter slid into the sleeping bag, which they had set up behind the ridge, out of sight, and Yeji spooned her. "Winter," she asked, "why does your hair smell like... like cheese or something?"
"So sorry, princess," Winter said flatly, "But access to hair products is a little limited here, if you didn't notice. At least mine doesn't smell like baloney."
Yeji grabbed a strand of her hair and sniffed. "Oh man," she groaned. "You're right."
. . . . .
Once the sun had set the two women crept up to the ridge. There were no lights visible, which meant there were no campers up from the expeditions at base camp. Winter unpacked the climbing gear they needed to descend to the valley. In 15 minutes, each girl was wearing a climbing harness and Yeji held a bundle of rope. Winter began descending first. Yeji held onto the safety rope until there were only a few feet remaining. Then she whistled. Winter pounded in a piton and it was her turn to hold onto the rope as Yeji descended. They took turns like this until they reached the snow-covered glacier.
"Did you feel that?" Yeji asked. "It felt like the ground moved."
"Yes. This glacier is always moving downward. I don't think this will cause an issue with the explosives, though. They're radio-detonated, and we don't need 100% surgical precision. I'm going to blow a big damn crack in this and smother those terrorists, so if the charge is off by five feet this way or that isn't going to make a difference."
For almost six hours the two operators placed the charges, with Yeji impressed at Winter's knowledge of explosives. Then they put on small encrypted radio headsets so they could communicate.
Yeji put her hand on Winter's shoulder. "Once you blow this thing, let's let it settle for 60 seconds to make sure there are no secondary avalanches. Then I'm going to come out and deal with any survivors. You stay in your foxhole unless you see me in trouble. Let's make sure we stay in contact on the radio."
They hugged. "Take care of yourself, Yeji," Winter said. "I'll have your back."
"Same here."
They went to opposite sides of the glacier and chipped out foxholes from the ice. Then it was time to settle in. Yeji grabbed binoculars and scanned in the direction of Everest, a magnificent, yet stout mountain that, at 30,000 feet, was the tallest mountain on Earth. They knew that the incursion was going to come through a high point called The Second Summit. Yeji thought they were insane to come that way. The lack of oxygen, and exposure to the harsh cold, was difficult for even the most accomplished mountaineers. There are bodies up there, Yeji thought. Frozen bodies that have been there for decades. Let's try to not die today, Hwang.
Sunset came with no sign of the intruders. Yeji was surprised, as the intelligence regarding the date of the attack seemed solid. She threw a blanket around herself, and stamped her feet to keep the circulation going. She flipped a switch on the binoculars, putting them in passive infrared mode. First she looked over at Winter, who looked equally cold but alert. Winter also had her binoculars pointed at Yeji. Then she started blowing kisses her way. Yeji grinned. Winter was never going to stop teasing her. She sighed, and then stood up straight and tapped the side of her head, indicating to Winter that they could use the radios.
"Archangel 404, clear for secure." Yeji said, static buzzing in her earpiece.
"Confirmed for go-secure," Winter replied. Each girl tapped a button on the earpiece. Anyone trying to listen in would only hear the hiss of static.
"What are you thinking?" Winter asked.
"I'm concerned that they're planning to attack somewhere closer to base camp. But that could backfire, since the snow at lower altitudes is less stable. Why slog through three feet of snow when you can stay on solid ice?"
"I don't think we should contact the agency yet," Winter said.
"Let's give it until tomorrow morning. Bundle up. I'll take the first four-hour watch, then we'll switch."
"Agreed. Wake me when it's time to switch. Thanks Yeji. Out."
Yeji settled in for a long, cold night, and kept scanning the slope with her night vision. Nothing, except the infrared binoculars revealed a whole vast collection of stars. Then she started to get a little sleepy, so she slapped herself hard and jumped up and down to get the blood flowing.
Her thoughts turned to Ryujin. She felt complete joy in their relationship, but she couldn't forgive herself for lying to her. What was the right thing to do? If she never told her, how would the agency explain it if she died? Plus, Yeji was really proud of the work she did, and wanted to share it badly with Ryujin.
She was admiring the stars through the green night vision when she noticed that first one star, and then more, were actually moving. Not in the sky, but on Everest.
"Archangel, this is Vector," Yeji said loudly.
She heard Winter yawn. "What is it, Yeji?" Why won't she use the damn code names?
"The guests have arrived for dinner," Yeji muttered. "Time to punch in."
"Just don't be near the explosions, Yeji."
"That's my number one priority. If there are any survivors, I'll take them out. Also, call out if you are in danger."
"Received," Winter yawned. "You can do this, Vector. Remember, you're fast becoming a legend in MI6."
Yeji crawled out of the foxhole and began pushing the snow back in. All she carried was a small emergency oxygen bottle in her light backpack. Winter had the rest of their supplies.
She crept along the edge of the glacier, sticking to any cover she could find. She had every expectation that the terrorists had night vision as well. She reached the head of the ice fall and found a narrow perch on the mountain wall, so she could keep an eye on the attackers.
It took the men about three hours to reach the head of the ice fall. They stood around, probably trying to determine the best approach to the maze of giant ice blocks. Each man had an AK-47 strapped to his back, and several of them appeared to be carrying heavier-gauge weapons.
The last man patted one of his compatriots on the back, and disappeared into the ice fall.
"Now, Winter, now!" Yeji whispered.
Suddenly a deep whoompf! echoed in the valley, and after a five second pause, 35 individual charges began popping off, straight across the ice fall, one by one, almost like unbuttoning a shirt. For a few seconds, only the echoes of the explosions sounded around the valley. Yeji held her breath.
A massive grey crack appeared in the snow. Then the avalanche began. The sound was like a thousand hurricanes, with whistles, clicks, and high-pitched wails thrown in. Even though Yeji was on rock, it still shook violently and she had to hold on for dear life. She checked on Winter's foxhole, and saw that the little crackhead was pumping her fist.
Time for work, Yeji thought.
She scrambled across the snow toward the decimated ice fall, her muscles tense and ready. When she got to where Winter had set the charges, she was dumbfounded. What had looked so neat and precise had created utter carnage and destruction. She couldn't imagine anyone surviving it, but she had to check.
It was a perilous job. The snow was a fine powder, and difficult to slog through. And overhead, the gigantic ice blocks towered overhead in crazy angles, which meant that they had been completely destabilized.
After an hour, she found no survivors, just motionless legs and hands sticking out of the snow. Yeji started to wonder why she was even here when the radio crackled.
"Vector, this is Archangel. I have hostiles, three hostiles, approaching my position from the summit. Could use your help ASAP." Winter's voice was so cool, almost bored.
"On my way! Yeji hurried out of the wreckage, and sprinted as fast as she could toward Winter's position. As she approached, she saw that the men had yanked Winter out of her foxhole and were beating her viciously as she lay on the ground, desperately trying to protect her head. Winter could hold her own in a fight, but against three people, and having spent hours standing in sub-zero temperature, had sapped her skills.
Yeji wasn't subtle. She screamed at the men while she was still 100 yards away. One of the men raised his gun and began firing at her in fully-automatic mode. It was silly, because Yeji could see the bullets kick up tufts of snow as they hit the ground. It was like sending her a PowerPoint of what was going to happen. The man stopped to reload as the others kept beating Winter.
"Gotcha," Yeji thought.
In an instant she was on him. He fumbled with the gun, but Yeji spun him around and boxed his ears so hard Yeji thought she might have broken her hand. He was frozen for a moment, blood gushing from his ears and nose, and then he collapsed. Yeji jumped on his chest and punched him in the throat six times. He gurgled, his hands clawed senselessly at the snow, and then he was quiet.
Now for the other two. The second man was on his knees, trying to pull Winter's hands away from her face so the other could hit her. Yeji rolled over his back, jumped back to her feet, and kicked him viciously in the eyes. As he rolled on the ground, she dropped and grabbed his head and snapped his neck.
The last man looked terrified. Winter staggered to her feet. "I've got him," she said. "It's ok, it's ok," Winter purred.
"You not going to kill?" the man asked in broken English.
"There's been enough killing," Winter said. "Maybe if we, as humans, learn to embrace our shared values and cultural history, we can awaken compassion in ourselves, and in all beings." She put out her hand to shake his.
The man barely understood what she said, but he did understand a handshake. He smiled and took her hand.
Winter grinned broadly, and then stabbed him through the temple. He fell sideways like a dead tree.
Two hours later, the bodies were safely buried in the snow, where they would remain entombed for hundreds of years.
"Let's get moving," Yeji said. "Are you going back to Namche Bazaar too?"
"For most of the way, then I'm peeling off for my next mission."
"Where you going next?"
Winter smiled mischievously. "Can't tell you that."
The girls headed back to the little village. About two miles before they reached it, Winter gave her a hug. "When the time's right, you can tell Ryujin about all this. She'll understand. This is a terribly lonely life, and I think we forget that these missions are also helping keep our girlfriends safe, too."
"We'll be ok. It's been awesome working together. I hope we can do it again."
"Yeji, I meant to tell you one thing. I was floored by your combat skills. The way you move around is more like water than anything. But just be careful of not letting this job... turn you into something ugly."
"I think about that, and I'm trying."
Winter winked. "Now get your gorgeous butt back to the Bazaar, and hopefully back to Korea."
Yujin smiled and watched her disappear up the mountain.