The Herod Affair

By Nelson Ancalmo

In a secret underground laboratory, near the town of Haeju in North Korea, a diabolic plan is being prepared. A brilliant scientist has been forced, under the threat of execution, to modify the Zica virus to be used in a biological attack against the children of the United States.
A series of warning e-mails sent anonymously to a group of virologists at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA, placed the American Government on the alert, but the lack of information received from that country, makes the authorities question the veracity of the warning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nelson Ancalmo
• Release date: Oct 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370779802

Nelson Ancalmo

Nelson Ancalmo M.D. was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, Central America. After finishing his Medical School, he traveled to the United States to complete his training in Cardio-Vascular Surgery. Presently he is retired and lives in Austin, Texas where he devotes his free time to writing, graphic design, astronomy and music. e-mail: [e-mail]

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Chapter 1

Near the city of Haeju, province of South Hwanghae, North Korea, in a secret underground laboratory

So tell me, Dr. Park, how is our little project coming along?

Good morning, Your Excellency, I’m very pleased with the results. I think this time I have found the way to modify that particular virus we’re interested in, but I must tell you, it hasn’t been easy, it takes hard work and long hours to find the correct pathway to…

My dear Dr. Park, I’m not interested in your petty complaints, you’re paid more than you should, and that includes every second of your time, don’t forget that others are willing to take your place. Do you have everything you need?

Forgive my stupid remarks, Your Excellency. Yes, I have received everything I requested. But I think it would’ve been nice to run a couple human experiments, just to be sure.

Mmmm, an interesting proposition… I never thought you had such a diabolic mind, my dear Doctor, unfortunately we don’t have the time for that, waiting several months to see the effects of the virus is totally out of the question. Either it works or it doesn’t, simple as that, by the way, do you have a time frame in mind?

Dr. Park Hyoung-su, thought for a moment, he was trying to delay the completion of his work as much as he could, that was the reason to suggest the human experimentation, obviously General Hong Sang-soo wasn’t interested. He also knew his answer had to be not only the correct one, but also the expected one, his own life depended on that.

At the present rate of progress, I anticipate to have enough virus ready for dispersion in another month, is that satisfactory?

Without answering, and with a gesture of disgust, the General turned around and left the immaculate and recently built underground laboratory. Dr. Park wasn’t sure if what he said had been a mistake, but it was too late now to retrieve his words.

Once he knew he was alone, he sat down and once more felt a deep sense of remorse coming all over him.

This is wrong, this is inhumane! What was I thinking when I agreed to be in charge of this macabre project? I should’ve refused and faced my executioner with honor, at least then I could’ve stand in front of God with no shame, now I will never see His face, never…but my family’s welfare was also at stake, I had no choice.

Dr. Park was a Christian, one of the silent minority, a secret he guarded very carefully knowing his life, and that of his family was at stake. He lived in a country in which over sixty-four per cent of the population followed the doctrine of Juche, usually translated as Self-Reliance. This doctrine states that an individual is the master of his destiny, and that the North Korean masses are to act as the masters of the revolution and construction.

It’s no wonder that the Juche is the ideology favored by the North Korean regime, and has been proclaimed as Kim Il-Sung's original, brilliant, and revolutionary contribution to national and international thought, and has become the official political ideology of North Korea.

Trying to distract his mind from his feelings of repentance, Dr. Park placed a new sample of his work under the microscope, and watched with pride and with horror how the multiple colonies of the modified virus were growing at a rapid rate, even better than he had anticipated, but he was careful not to show any emotions in his face. He knew that all his movements were monitored constantly by the multiple surveillance cameras installed all over the laboratory, including his own living quarters.

He was a man with no freedom at all, no freedom of expression, no freedom to move, and even worse, no freedom to leave the laboratory to see his family. He was a scientist prisoner of mad people, forced to complete a hideous experiment with horrific consequences. Maybe it was too late, but somehow he still hoped he was going to be released as he had been promised.

For a moment he thought of his lovely wife Sung Hi-Lee, and their young daughter, Park Hee-jin and he wondered what could’ve happened to them. Were they still living in the same house? Were they safe? He feared for them, these people wouldn’t hesitate for a second to kill them, for no reason at all. He prayed they had a chance to leave the country and by now were safe somewhere, far away from all this evil. So much time had gone by without news from them, not a single word, a message, or something to tell him they were alive and well.

He felt the need to cry, to scream, to tell these barbarians that God always spoke of love and respect for other human beings, what they were doing was completely contrary to His teachings, but he knew such an action, would be the end of his life, and most likely of his family.

After almost a year of living isolated in this underground laboratory, and confined to speaking only to the members of his staff, Dr. Park felt like he was at the brink of a nervous breakdown. He lived now in fear, afraid of being executed at any moment by the merciless people who ran the government. The project was almost completed and now he wasn’t sure his knowledge was needed any more, he had become expendable, to use the vocabulary of these assassins.

He regretted for the hundredth time returning to his native country.

What got into me? What stupid illusion of becoming part of this terrorist regimen blinded my judgement?

His mind drifted to years past, and he smiled at the memories.

After he finished his studies at Cambridge University in London, he was offered to continue his research in the field of Genetics and Gene Modification, with the possibility of landing a teaching position at the prestigious University, but in an upsurge of patriotism and faith, he chose to leave all that behind, and offered his services to the ruling government of his country. He remembered with abhorrence how this whole incident began, almost a year to the date.

When the government learned he had finished his studies, he was invited to a private dinner at the residence of their Supreme Leader, an honor rarely conceded to an individual. At that social event, he was introduced to a select group of military people who had formed a new faction of radicals devoted to the total destruction of their enemies, with the blessing of the ruler of the country.

He felt proud and honored when he was offered to become a member of such an elite group, and expressed his wishes to be at the service of his beloved country. At that time, they promised him everything, a bright future within the organization, a comfortable life for him and his family, and even the possibility of having his own research laboratory to continue with his studies in the field of Genetics.

Then he was told about this demonic plan, something that at the moment, and still under the spell of his pumped-up ego, sounded like his opportunity to show his fellow North-Koreans his total devotion to the Supreme Leader. They told him how much they valued his contribution and how he had been selected amongst a large group of candidates, the future of the country, he was told, was now in his hands!

What a mistake that had been, he had in Cambridge within reach, all he ever dreamed with, a bright future, not only in academia, but also with the economic possibilities that came with that kind of a job. Instead, he was now reduced to a condemned prisoner working for a government who really didn’t care for his wellbeing or that of his family.

He heard a whirling sound and when he looked up he saw a video camera moving, following his steps, he took a deep sigh and went straight for the toilet knowing that another camera was going to follow him inside.

Chapter 2

Somewhere in the city of Haeju, western North Korea

General Hong Sang-soo returned to his office where he found General Ki Soo-Kim, a member of the group, waiting for him. The look on General Ki’s face had a sense of urgency.

Well, do you have good news for me? Are we ready to begin? Dr. Park has spent almost a year in this project, he should have things ready by now. I’m beginning to think we made the wrong choice, maybe it is time to find a new scientist, someone really committed to our cause.

He said he’ll have enough virus ready for dispersion in another month…

He couldn’t finish his sentence, General Ki stood up visibly upset.

Another month? What is going on, General Hong? Is he deliberately delaying this project? You know I had my doubts about him from the beginning. He may be a brilliant scientist, but he had no guts and obviously no commitment to the cause of our Beloved Leader!

He slammed both fists on General Hong’s desk sending papers flying in all directions.

Calm down, General Ki, we may not have to wait a whole month. We could actually start with the first batch of the virus the moment it is ready, and then continue when the rest is available. But tell me, what’s bothering you? Why the outburst of rage?

General Hong I apologize for my reaction, but I’ve been informed that our secret project may not be as secret as we thought. Apparently there has been a leak of information coming from somewhere in the lab, and we’re still trying to find out who is responsible. But what bothers me is that I don’t know how far this information has gone, surprise is essential for success! We can’t afford any mistakes, not now!

General Hong was caught by surprise.

Why wasn’t I informed of this sooner, General Ki? I’m still the head of this project, and all that pertains to it should come to me first, do you understand what I’m saying?

General Ki lowered his head in an apology and General Hong recovered his composure.

Are you absolutely sure of what you’re saying, General Ki? The people working in the lab were carefully selected and evaluated, all of them are faithful to our Leader, seriously committed to our cause, besides that, none of them knows exactly the purpose of our experiment. On top of everything, you, better than anybody else is aware of the methods we use to insure total loyalty. This time I have to disagree with you, if there is a leak, it’s coming from another source.

Are you suggesting that a member of our party is being disloyal? I find that offensive and I beg you to take back your words.

General Ki, only a handful of members of our entire party were privy to this project since its inception, but I strongly believe that a secret is no longer secret when more than one person knows about it. Can you vouch for every one of them? As far as I’m concerned only you and I are beyond any doubt, the rest, I can only hope.

General Ki Soo-Kim began to walk around the office, visibly disturbed. If General Hong was right, they had a serious problem in their hands. One thing was to dispose of a few dozen low level workers, and another totally different operation was to eliminate some of the high ranking members of the party, and their families, just to assure complete silence. He returned to the desk where General Hong was sitting and looked at him straight into his eyes.

"Then, we have only one choice, General Hong. We must act quickly, without wasting any more time, and hope that whatever information has leaked out, hasn’t yet reached government levels, and if it has, prayed that it won’t be taken seriously, at least for a while, otherwise we are history, and I don’t mean