Op-Center (1995), a Novel by Tom Clancy and Steve Peiczenik: Summary

The 387-page novel is published by Berkley Books, New York in 1995. This is the second time I post Clancy’s book. Global issue, terrorism, parenthood, patriotism, thriller, action, politics, and U.S. Army’s technology are twisted in conversational words. The book follows an explosion outside a hotel killed Americans and Koreans in Seoul. Paul Hood, Director of Op-Center and his teams cracked the terrorist by the satellite while Mike Rodgers and his teams and Korean Central Intelligence Agency on the field. This novel had been in TV mini series in 1995.

Op-Center, a Novel by Tom Clancy and Steve Peiczenik: Summary 

Kim Hwan was Deputy Director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA). Kim and his friend Gregory were at the celebration occasion in Seoul when an explosion blasted. Gregory Donald was Ambassador to Korea for twenty years ago. And not when he became the adviser on Korean affairs for Op-Center. Now, he was a president of the U.S/Korean Friendship Society in Washington. An explosion in Seoul outside the hotel at the celebration had killed numerous people included Donald’s wife Soonji. The people in the grandstand and the crowd standing but suddenly podium blasted in Seoul. Not only Donald, Soonji’s death also shocked Kim Hwan. He had always loved is his former assistant, but KCIA forbid relationships among employees.

Paul Hood was Mayor of Los Angeles. President offered him the directorship of Op-Center, a largely autonomous new agency that the press hadn’t quite discovered. But when he mentioned the offer to his family, his ten-year-old son and twelve-year-old daughter seemed thrilled by the idea of moving to Washington. President Michael Lawrence asked Hood focused on Korean situation. When he mostly was needed in Op-Center, his wife Sharon called him about their son. The boy, Alexander, was not only a typical asthma attack but an acute bronchial infection.

Monitors in Op-Center room showed the photos. The photographs of Pyongyang showed tanks and armored vehicles rolling from the city, with antiaircraft artillery being moved into the surrounding countryside. North Koreans were preparing for war. Political Officer Martha Mackall received a call on the secure line. The agent had fluency in ten languages and understanding of world economics made her more valuable than that. Martha had her heart set on the directorship, while Ann Farris set on the directorship. With her B.A in journalism and M.A., blue-blood Farrises expected her to work on Wall Street with her father.

But she went to work as a political reporter. Besides the two women, it were Liz Gordon, Operation Support Officer Matt Stoll, and Intelligence Officer Bob Herbert. Martha found that the caller on the monitor was in U.S Embassy in Seoul. On the phone Gregory Donald said they found some evidences; a water bottle and some boot prints, North Korea issue. They found footprints near the bomb site – the prints of North Korean military boots. For someone who frame North Korean military, they needed they’d needed the footwear from North.

Mike Rodgers was capable as hell. He was one of the Americans soldiers running to do their duty during his first tour in Viet Nam, and after getting his Ph.D in history from Temple University while he stationed at. Ft. Dix, he went back and led battalions of them in Persian Gulf War. For all his smarts and his often astounding skills as a mediator, Hood hated letting anything out of his control. And by going into the field, half a world away, Rodgers would be effectively out of his control. But above all, Hood was a team player: if it necessary for Striker team to go in and perform any convert action, the Director wouldn’t let ego stop him for letting the team and Rodgers do their job.

The U.S. Army base in Seoul was source of annoyance to many of the locals. Sitting on twenty acres of prime real estate in the heart of the city, it housed two thousand troops on four acres. The remaining fourteen acres existed for amusement of the troops. Its role was part political, part ceremonial: it signified enduring friendship with the Republic of Korea, and it provided Americans with a base from which to keep an eye on Japan. A DOD long-term study indicated that remilitarization of Japan was inevitable by the year 2010; if the U.S. ever lost its bases there, the base in Seoul would become the most important in Asia-Pacific region.

Op-Center monitored Pyongyang and Seoul by satellite. Unlike the military or NASA or any organization where the people were vague similar background or orientation, Op-Center was potpourri of talent, education, experience- and idiosyncrasies. After learning the real suspect, Gregory Donald, KCIA, and Mike Rodgers and his teams seized the terrorists to North Korea. Kim Chong, a North Korean spy lived as an undercover musician in Seoul. She might be a civilian, one of those North Korean who served who served against their will because they had a criminal record, were fighting to regain lost family honor, or because a sibling or parent needed money.

Chong’s brother broke into military hospital to get morphine for their ill mother. Chong helped him to escape. They arrested Chong and her mother. They were given a choice; remaining in prison or she could go to South and gather intelligence. But her mother had stomach cancer and died before she came to South. Ms. Chong’s brother was a fugitive and she learned he made his way to Japan. She helped KCIA under one condition- her brother.

Major Kim Lee was a twenty-year veteran with a justifiable dislike for North. His father had been a field general who was killed in Incheon during the war. His mother was captured and hanged for spying on the troops trains coming and going at the station Pyongyang. He was raised in an orphanage in Seoul and joined the army when he was eighteen. Lee was in charge of an elite counterintelligence group. He did a good deal reconnoitering in the North to help calibrate U.S. spy satellite and measuring objects on the ground.

Chong reported to KCIA that several boots, explosives, and handguns were taken from a truck and en route to depot four weeks ago. North Korean Colonel Ki-Soo had fought hard to overcome the stigma associated with his birth, obtaining a degree in cod joining the military, where he rose quickly. His father was a Japanese soldier and his mother had been a comfort girl during the Second World War. His friend Colonel Sun pointed pistol on his head and asked the code to change the launch coordinates. The missiles are aimed at Seoul.

Intelligence officer Bob Herbert concluded that Major Kim Lee was behind the attack. Major Lee attacked Donald with a knife and disappeared. He was headed into the area where the North Koreans had been known to have tunnels. Donald was led away from the South-side base intentionally. Lee was planning to use gas. Donald crawled into the tunnel. He tried to stop the poison gas but he died. North Koreans military didn’t believe that the group was acting alone. Rodgers and team shot Colonel Su. Colonel Ki-Soo was very cooperative and he did not know about the cancel code.

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Sekapur Sirih

Ini kali kedua saya memosting karya Tom Clancy. Novel setebal 387 halaman ini diterbitkan Berkley Book tahun 1995 di New York. Sudah menjadi kekhasan karya Clancy yang menyoroti masalah politik global, teroris, kecanggihan teknologi persenjataan Amerika, thriller, aksi laga, dan peranan ayah. Berlatar-belakang waktu setelah kepemimpinan Presiden Jimmy Carter. Novel ini disampaikan dengan percakapan yang sangat bernuansa laki-laki, bisa dibilang novel para pria. Buku ini telah dibuat dalam film mini seri pada tahun 1995 namun sayang sekali belum pernah melihatnya.

Summari/Ringkasan Novel Op-Center (1995) karya Tom Clancy dan Steve Pieczenik

Sebuah ledakan bom pada sebuah acara di Seoul telah mematikan dan melukai beberapa orang. Acara yang dihadiri ratusan hadirin dalam rangka penyatuan Korea Utara dan Selatan. Soonji istri dari Presiden Duta Persahabatan Korea Selatan (Korsel) dengan Amerika terbunuh. Gregory Donald dahulu merupakan duta besar Amerika untuk Korea Selatan dua puluh tahun sebelumnya. Dan saat itu pula dia mengenal Kim Hwan yang kini Direktur Deputy Intelijen Korsel dan asistennya Soonji.

Paul Hood dahulu adalah walikota dan dipercaya Presiden Michael Lawrence memimpin Op-Center, sebuah agensi intellijen rahasia dan tak satu media pun yang mengetahuinya. Op-Center  berkantor di Washington dan diperlengkapi dengan teknologi militer tercanggih kala itu (sekitar 1980-90an). Hood memiliki sejumlah anak buah yang tangguh dari berbagai latar belakang ilmu. Liz Gordon, Martha Mackall, Bob Herbert, Stoll dan Mike Rodgers sebagai militer lapangan. Walau semua tahu keadaan putra Hood yang kini terbaring di rumah sakit tapi Presiden tetap mengandalkan Paul Hood untuk situasi genting di Seoul. Hood pun memercayakan operasi lapangan pada Mike Rodgers, pahlawan tangguh, yang sudah handal dalam sejumlah perang luar negeri.

Kim Hwan dan KCIA (Intelijen Korsel) pun berhasil menemukan Kim Chong. Seorang musisi wanita yang merupakan mata-mata Korea Utara (Korut). Dari bukti ditemukan di dekat bom, jejak sepatu tentara Korea Utara. Walau mungkin bisa saja pihak tertentu memanfaatkan Korut namun setidaknya dari mana mereka menemukan sepatu militer itu, atau mungkin saja bahan peledaknya dari sana juga. Wanita itu pun membawa anggota KCIA masuk ke Korut.

Chong sebenarnya meragukan simpulan awal Amerika dan KCIA bahwa pelakunya militer negara Korut. Tapi hasil penyelidikan pelakunya adalah seorang Mayor Korsel yang bekerja sama dengan seorang kolonel di Korut. Mayor Lee pun diketahui dibalik serangan itu. Lee, seorang cerdas dan penyuplai informasi intelijen, sebenarnya sangatlah akrab bagi pangkalan militer Amerika dan KCIA namun dia menghianati negaranya. Donald Gregory pun diserang Lee. Seolah digiring ke perbatasan Korut, Lee berhasil lari lewat terowongan. Rupanya Lee berencana membuat gas beracun, selain ingin meledakkan Seoul.

Mike Rodgers dan timnya berhasil masuk ke tempat di Korut di mana Kolonel Su tengah mengancam temannya Kolonel Ki-Soo. Su ingin sekali kode peluncuran untuk memusnahkan Seoul tetapi dia berhasil dilumpuhkan. Rencara peluncuran misail pun gagal. Namun sayang Greogory Donald tewas terbunuh saat sedang berupaya menghentikan gas beracun akibat perbuatan Lee. Pemerintah Korut pun terkaget karena tidak menduga adanya kelompok yang bertindak sendiri di luar kendali tentara nasional Korut. Dengan Bantuan Kolonel Ki-Soo tim Mike Rodgers pun keluar selamat dari Korea Utara dan kelompok teroris berhasil dilumpuhkan.

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