Defection

By James M. Sautel

Jake and Jane O'Shea, Jake is asked to help one of his mentor's colleagues with a trip across the globe to Russia. After Jake insists that Jane accompany him on the trip, they meet with none other than than the president of the Russian Federation, who instructs Jake to help with some special training of the Russian Taekwondo Team based in Yakutsk, Siberia. The unknowing, innocent couple is confronted by the close, personal aide of the Russian president, who wants to defect to the United States and find freedom with her younger sister. The O'Sheas are their only way out of Russia! Things don't work out as planned, and Jake and Jane wind up in Ireland with the KGB hot on their trail.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 18, 2024
• ISBN: 9798350940855

James M. Sautel

James Sautel lives in Colorado and is the founder and President of the Colorado Taekwondo Institute. He is also an author, teacher, musician, 8th degree black belt, and father of four. Sautel has travelled extensively over the years, exploring over seventeen countries on four continents.

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Defection

James M. Sautel

ISBN (Print Edition): 979-8-35094-084-8

ISBN (eBook Edition): 979-8-35094-085-5

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©2024, All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, stored in a database and / or published in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

To my wife and children

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Jake and Jane O’Shea

Chapter 2 Kenny Carlson

Chapter 3 The Silver Box

Chapter 4 Dr. Chandler Tate

Chapter 5 Lou Comes to Town

Chapter 6 Sharon

Chapter 7 Grandmaster Cho Needs Help

Chapter 8 Off to Russia

Chapter 9 Alyona Koshkova

Chapter 10 Yakutsk

Chapter 11 Fetterhoff

Chapter 12 The U.S. Consulate

Chapter 13 Ireland and the Team

Chapter 14 Sean Dooley

Chapter 15 Blackwater Castle

Chapter 16 The Tournament

Chapter 17 Olginsky Gets Nosy

Chapter 18 On the Bus

Chapter 19 Race for the Embassy

Chapter 20 Doubling Back

Chapter 21 Julie is Spotted

Chapter 22 On the Run

Chapter 23 Eva Stoddard

Chapter 24 Craggaunowen

Chapter 25 Knappogue Castle

Chapter 1

Jake and Jane O’Shea

Summertime . . . the chance to relax. For many in this increasingly busy world, a break from the everyday mundane routine is the most precious gift of the annual summer season. It’s the time of year when sunlight vainly refuses, yet eventually gives in to, warm, humid moonlit nights. For some lucky people, like Jake and Jane O’Shea, summertime meant not having to deal with important deadlines and countless barrages of everyday details. Summertime meant that there were none of the pre-planned schedules to arrange, then rearrange, then rearrange again. The O’Sheas were teachers, and like everyone else in their profession, summertime was a reprieve. It was a time to retreat from the incalculable, never-ending tasks that went with leading students forward. It was summertime.

11:00 AM, and the sun was just beginning to bear down on another nothing to do vacation day. All the recently married couple had on their plate was to absorb some glorious sun-drenched rays at the lake. Later they had a workout scheduled, and then, maybe they would top off their day by meeting up with a friend or two in the cool of the evening. The two settled back, sinking deeply into their well-worn beach chairs. Jake O’Shea removed his sunglasses, and with a clearing breath, presented his relaxed, stress-free face to the bright yellow sun. The embracing heat felt warm and comforting. As he leisurely brushed his hair back with both hands, he keenly felt each micro-thin layer of exposed skin heating up quickly, one by one. Jake’s sleepy mind was slowly floating away from the existent world.

A slight breeze skated across the lake, caressing Jane O’Shea in a comfortable, warm cocoon of self-content. She had her hair pulled back. A few elegant, blonde tendrils rose and fell with the syncopated flows coming from the gentle lake breezes. Like her husband, it wasn’t long before Jane drifted off into the dreamy plane that stands on the precipice of a pacifying summer slumber.

In a few weeks, both Jake and Jane O’Shea would begin their second year of high school teaching. The time was quickly approaching when they would return to those young teenaged students, entrenched in nine months of the daily rituals that came with teaching high school.

Another scented breeze shuffled across the lake. Jake sighed, squeezed back a little more in his chair, and once again, he attempted to surrender wholeheartedly to this utopia of summer relaxation. As he felt his face warm, Jake couldn’t help but see them in his mind. There were hundreds of them. There were teenaged students of all sizes, each lugging their own, unique, adolescent baggage. He shifted his head. He could see them distinctly, roaming and crisscrossing the halls in small hungry packs of incessantly busy, youthful angst. A slow, one-sided smile gradually appeared on Jake’s face. Still affianced to his sleepy summer haze, a wonderful idea occurred to him. It was the simple fact that he still had a significant amount of vacation time left before he had to report back to work! The smile on his face betrayed the self-satisfaction of the splendid actuality that all he had to do, for several more weeks, was to simply kick back and relax. He had nowhere to go and nothing to do. It was utopia. With that, Jake put the upcoming year out of his mind, and fell a little deeper into a soothing plane of blissful happiness.

Jane O’Shea woke up slowly and put her book down on the warm sandy beach. She looked over at Jake and shifted deeper into her low-slung beach chair. Jane was counting each day until her return to school, overpreparing for her second year of teaching at the same high school as Jake’s. Jane felt the sun and began to think of school. She found it hard to totally relax until each minute detail was more than accounted for. She wanted to be absolutely ready for that first week of teaching.

During Jane’s first year at the high school, the intense pressure of new responsibilities and duties hung over her head like an unremitting, dark, sinister cloud. Her first foray into the teaching world was akin to the proverbial tale of the Sword of Damocles. During those first few months of her chosen profession, the infamous sword of death, or failure in Jane’s case, hovered above her very being every single minute of each long-felt day. During that first trimester, Jane felt that there was not one sword, but one hundred of those precarious blades, poised to descend upon her. It was constant pressure. The grading, the projects, the meetings and the parents! The dangling swords were always poised, set to snap!

In college, her professors labeled those swords, or problems, as challenges and opportunities. Whatever they were labeled, Jane was constantly juggling each of them in a haphazard fashion during those first few months of real-world classroom experience. It was a tough time, but after the rigorous initiation, the young Mrs. O’Shea managed to settle in. She finished the year out nicely, vowing to never forget the lessons learned from the unbearable stress of that first trimester of teaching.

Up to that point in time of her life, Jane had always carried on with a gracious ease. She was a born communicator. Like her father, the self-assured Jane could easily strike up a conversation with anyone. From the mechanic working on the family car, to the president of an oil company, her father would have strangers speaking to him like they were long lost lodge brothers, and this was within only a few minutes of their first meeting. It was a knack that Jane assimilated into her character as she grew up. It served her very well in school, and helped her survive her savage introduction to high school teaching.

People are people, Janie. There’s good in everyone, her father would say.

He would go on, "Treat people like you’d want to be treated, and you can’t go wrong. Everyone has something to teach you. Listen and ask questions. Make them feel good. Be interested in what they do. If you do, they will always want to give their best right back to you. Spread the peace, Janie girl."

That was one of his favorite sayings, Spread the peace. He said it all the time. In her classroom, Jane hung her father’s saying on the wall, and used the phrase often when speaking with her students.

Everyone liked Jane. It was a rare trait that she was blessed with, and something she inherited from her mother. It seemed that everyone Jane had ever known had liked her mother. In her whole life, Jane never once witnessed anyone saying anything that was detrimental to her mother’s character. She had never heard anyone speak badly of her mother in any way, shape, or form.

I’m the happiest person on the planet, her mother would repeat over and over.

Jane O’Shea inherited her mother’s disposition, and her looks. Her mother was strikingly beautiful, incredibly sharp and generous to others less fortunate than herself. Photographs taken of her mother when she was a teen, looked like they could be photos of Jane. Besides the identical looks, Jane had that same inner happiness, that same calm that her mother was blessed with. Both were always a favorite of friends, family and acquaintances.

But like her mother, Jane could immediately turn on serious offensive and defensive techniques when called for. It was what her mother clearly defined as her barracuda power. Jane’s affable, ever-polite, courteous mother, was never a person to be cheated in any way. If she ever thought she was wronged, or taken advantage of, Jane’s mom, the calm, controlled housewife and civic leader, would turn into an aggressive multi-tooled warrior, ready to do battle with the best of them. Her mother always came out successfully, and Jane was a carbon copy of her mother in that admirable regard.

Since she was ten years old, Jane had developed a strong passion for writing. As a young child, Jane constantly wrote silly poems, short stories, and even lyrics to some of her older brother’s first attempts at songwriting. Creative, beautiful, intelligent and sensitive, Jane was unlike Jake in that she knew exactly what she wanted from a very young age. When it came time for college, Jane chose State College because it was far away from the hustle and bustle of the huge metropolitan area where she had grown up. Jane’s large family lived in the biggest city in the state, and she wanted to get away from all that. And when she met Jake for the first time, Jane knew she wanted him. Her mind was instantly made up about Jake at that first meeting. She was as determined to be with Jake, as she was determined to someday become a successful writer. It was her junior year in college when Jane and Jake first met, and since then, Jake was the only one for her.

Like Jane, Jake O’Shea loved to teach. However, when he was younger, it was the farthest thing from his mind. He had never entertained the idea of ever becoming a teacher. Even during his first few years at college, teaching wasn’t even on the horizon. He started out pre-dental, went on to history, eventually finding his way to the field of chemistry and education. Somehow, these two disciplines and Jake fused seamlessly into one another. It was a most comfortable combination. When he made the leap into the field of education, that’s when he met Jane, and that’s when his life truly began.

Jake had never consciously considered teaching, probably because he was around it his whole life. Ironically, the art of teaching was second nature to Jake. Jake was born and bred with it. His parents were teachers and his parents’ parents were teachers. As the O’Shea Family history goes, there were teachers in every O’Shea generation going back to 1911, in the surrounding areas of Clearfield County. While growing up, Jake watched and listened to both of his parents deal with scores of different situations involving countless students. Jake was the product, or sum, of a family that was immersed in education. Through natural osmosis, he acquired the natural-born insights into connecting with people, all sorts of people. It was in his blood, just as it was in Jane’s. It was part of their DNA, and it was an exceptional trait that they both shared and attracted them to each other.

After they met, Jake and Jane were soon serious about each other. They planned to get married right after Jane graduated, which was a semester after Jake’s. Only months away from graduating from State College, he searched all over the country for a teaching position. Their big hope was that both would end up finding teaching jobs in the same town. Both Jake and Jane even dared to think that someday, they might even have an opportunity to teach in, or be close to, Fort Lee. Jake knew that Jane would love living in Fort Lee. He had taken her back home several times, and Jane was taken with the area. As the weeks of job searching wore on, they were about to give up on their dream, when a vacant teaching job came up, right back in his hometown!

When the teaching job at the local high school became available, it was a huge surprise with absolutely perfect timing. As fate would have it, the chemistry teacher at Fort Lee High School, old Mrs. King, was finally retiring after 40 years of service. As soon as he heard about it, Jake knew what he wanted. Jake wanted this job at Fort Lee High!

Jake’s martial arts instructor in Fort Lee, somehow discovered that the coveted job was open. One afternoon, Jake got a call from his instructor about the fact that the chemistry teacher at the high school was finally retiring.

Hello, Jake? Wake up. This Hye Bak. Guess what? said Bak hurriedly on the phone call that would unquestionably forever shape the direction of everyone’s future.

Yeah? Hello? Who is this? answered Jake, the sleepy college senior who was up too late the night before.

I found job opening for you at high school. They need chemistry teacher to start in fall, reported Hye Bak in his broken English.

Ah, hi, ah, Grandmaster Bak . . . chemistry, are you sure? The only chemistry teacher I can think of back there is old lady King, said Jake.

Jake sat up, rubbed his head and continued, She’s been there forever. I thought she’d never leave. Are you sure?

Yes, I sure. You need call and find out about. I know you get job, pressed Bak.

And that’s exactly what Jake did. As soon as he got up and showered, he went over to the college teaching center and tried to find out more about the surprise opening. In Fort Lee, everyone was either working a job related to the ever-growing Fort Lee tourist industry, or they were working at the military base close to town. He called home and checked with some friends for any information they might have about the job. No one had heard anything. If what his instructor said was true, Jake could be the first to apply!

Jake felt uneasy about his chances at snagging the teaching position. He figured he had nothing to lose, but when speaking with Jane, he would pessimistically state, What kind of chance do I really have? I don’t have any experience.

Jane, always the positive one, would counter with, But on the other hand Jake, how many people are going to apply for a job way out in that part of the country?

Or she would say something like, "I think many principals prefer someone new. And, you grew up in the area."

But I’m probably the youngest applicant, by far. Why would they ever want me? Jake would respond to Jane’s incessant optimism.

Jane always seemed to know what to say to make Jake feel better.

She would reply, But Jake, that’s just what they want sometimes. And besides, on top of everything else, you know as well as I do, that there aren’t that many male teachers around.

Even with his inside information, the hiring process had already begun when Jake’s application was received. By the time Jake got in touch with the school secretary at Fort Lee High, who was a family friend, there were already four applicants ahead of him for the position. That was four more than Jake had hoped for! One applicant had no experience, one had taught briefly in another state and wanted to move to the area, and the other two had Masters degrees without any previous teaching experience.

The constant conversations with Jane and several more calls from his long-time martial arts instructor, added to his agonizing internal conversations. The stress of waiting for an answer went on for a few weeks until he received an email saying Fort Lee High wanted to interview him!

One by one, the applicants that had come in, were lacking in some way. Old Mrs. King conducted the interviews herself. The two that had their Masters degrees obviously had no teaching skills. Mrs. King gathered this when doing their interviews. She asked what they would do if a student in their class refused to pay attention.

The first applicant with a Masters said, I would call the principal right down to my room and have that child removed from my classroom!

The other Masters applicant simply asked, Does that really happen?

Then there was the teacher from Ohio, who wanted to relocate to Clearfield County, primarily for the scenery. After that interview, Mrs. King discovered that the teacher had left her former job after a one-sided parting of ways with the administration. During her interview, Mrs. King quickly deduced the most likely purpose of the parting. In every question she answered, the immaculately dressed applicant responded with arrogance. She was haughty, narcissistic, and without a single positive regard for anyone else in her sphere.

Naturally, this hiring process was going to be a huge part of Mrs. King’s legacy at Fort Lee High, the school in which she loved and devoted her entire teaching career and life. In keeping with her legendary, sterling character, Sheila King, chemistry teacher par excellence, was going to do everything she could to make the best choice for her high school.

Mrs. King had accomplished much in her forty years at Fort Lee High School. Among many things, she was responsible for the construction of the new science wing, which was beautifully planned, built and finished in one year. She also pioneered countless, successful advanced science programs for the high school. Mrs. King was a Fort Lee Bulldog through and through. To her, choosing her replacement would be her crowning achievement. She seemed to enjoy every minute of the difficult search for her replacement. Mrs. King paid attention to every detail, and conducted the interview process herself.

Mrs. King knew the four she interviewed just wouldn’t do. The best choice possible, so far in her eyes, was the one she hadn’t even seen yet, the former Fort Lee student, and youngest applicant of the group. Mrs. King had a conversation with her friend, Hye Bak, and decided to bring Jake in for a look. Jake O’Shea came highly recommended by Hye Bak, but was fresh out of college. She did remember Jake when he attended the high school years before. She remembered that he was a good student, but not at the top of the class.

Old Mrs. King eventually decided on Jake for the position, even though he was without teaching experience in public school and was without an advanced degree. But this young man came highly recommended and didn’t seem to have any baggage like the other applicants. While making lists of the pluses and minuses of those that applied for her job, Mrs. King remembered Hye Bak telling her that Jake actually did have experience teaching. Bak told her that since Jake was 13 years old, he was a Taekwondo instructor at Bak’s martial arts school.

During the last stage in the hiring process, Mrs. King had narrowed the choice for the job down to two, and Jake was one of them. She decided to watch Jake in action before her final decision. It was raining the evening that old Mrs. King got in her late model, tan Oldsmobile, and drove downtown, unannounced, to watch Jake teach his martial arts class.

When she arrived at the Hye Bak Martial Arts Institute, she entered the simple, but clean lobby area and walked towards the door marked Office. Some visitors were already there, seated quietly, eagerly waiting to watch the classes. The long narrow lobby faced two workout rooms. Each classroom was viewable from the lobby. The two separate workout rooms each had a huge window that allowed visitors to watch one, or both classes at the same time. An older Asian man immediately recognized Mrs. King when she entered the lobby.

Mrs. King spoke first, whispering, Thanks so much for the call. It was nice to see you at the last meeting, Hye. I’ve come to watch Jake O’Shea teach his class. I hope that is satisfactory?

In broken English, Hye Bak graciously whispered back, Please. Let me know if I can do for you. It is so nice to see you, Sheila. Jake my number one student. He very good. He do very good for school, and for us.

The Asian gentleman led Mrs. King to a chair that was situated squarely in front of one of the long viewing windows.

As the Grandmaster was helping her with a chair, Mrs. King said in a voice only he could hear, Hye, I’m very interested in watching Jake teach your martial art. You recommended him very highly. I thought it would be nice to see how he interacts with his students . . . and other things, you know.

There were a few parents in the lobby surreptitiously listening to their conversation.

Sporting a sheepish grin, Mrs. King softly said, By the way, if everything goes well, this couldn’t have worked out better if we had planned it.

Bak looked at her steadily, and said, I think you right. But I don’t know if . . .

A student left one of the classrooms and walked over to Bak, and said, Sir, the students will be ready in five minutes.

Oh gosh, Sheila, you watch Jake. Please have seat. I must do class, but you stay and we talk later, said Bak.

It would be my pleasure, Hye, answered his old friend.

Mrs. King opened up her appointment book as Hye Bak went into his office. After getting her pen ready to take notes, she turned around and noticed photos, trophies, certificates and other martial arts things displayed on the walls. As she was scanning the lobby from her seat, she saw something on one of the walls that stuck out. She got up and walked over to one of the black-framed photographs and gazed at it.

She said to herself, "That is something I had almost forgotten about."

Studying her from his office, Bak smiled, got up and walked into the lobby where Mrs. King was. No one in a very long time had noticed that old photograph, let alone recognized who was in the photograph.

Do you remember photograph? asked Bak of the elderly high school teacher.

Why yes, you know I do, she answered as she turned, smiling at Hye Bak.

Bak leaned closer to her and whispered, He was always very good friend of ours. In old days we trade, remember? I teach him Moo Sul Kwan martial arts, and he help us get finished.

While others in the lobby strained to listen, he patted Mrs. King on the shoulder and said a little louder, Actually we have two minutes before class. Please, come in office and we talk.

Mrs. King got up and followed Grandmaster Bak into his office.

Two minutes later, Mrs. King came out of the office with some papers and sat back down in the lobby. The one class on the right side looked like it was about to begin.

Hye Bak came out of his office smiling at Mrs. King, and said, I must get to class, but you let me know if you need anything. We talk later.

He then took her hand, looked serious, and whispered, Jake is best. He never let you down. He never let student down. He not let us down. I know he is best one.

My friend, your council has always been right on target. It will be nice to watch him. It’s so nice to see you Hye, and thank you for having me here at your school, Mrs. King answered.

The old chemistry teacher watched the students bow to Grandmaster Bak as he entered the classroom. At the same time, students were bowing to Jake in the classroom on the left. It looked like Jake had around 15 to 20 young teenagers of different colored belts, while Grandmaster Bak was teaching a smaller class of adults who were all wearing black belts.

Mrs. King drew her attention to Jake’s side of the two-classroom setup. Jake called for the class to line up. There were teenagers of all sizes and belt colors getting into position. The class was half boys and half girls. The student in front of the first column yelled something. They all bowed, and class began.

Jumping jacks! she heard Jake forcefully yell.

The class started doing jumping jacks, slapping their legs in unison while making loud, synchronized, thunderous sounds on each jarring repetition. As Jake’s class proceeded, Mrs. King witnessed a young man who was in complete charge of his surroundings and students. Jake was orchestrating the students this way and that. To the retiring chemistry teacher, it was obvious that he was directing them in very complicated movements while having their complete attention. There were punches, strikes and blocks from strong and balanced stances. Dynamic kicks, that were perceptibly powerful and beautiful to watch, followed in the routine. Mrs. King couldn’t understand all that was happening, but she was studying Jake, who was obviously proficient at his art and running a great classroom. It was apparent to her that he had a love and respect for his students. She could also see that the students respected and loved him back. Mrs. King was viewing students who were sweating, yelling and fully focused on whatever it was they were doing!

When class was over, the students came out of the workout room smiling, shaking hands and speaking excitedly. They were all positive about what they had just accomplished. It was then that Mrs. King decided, "Hye is right. Jake O’Shea is the right person for the job. He should do fine with the teaching. This martial arts thing is a bonus for the high school, and for whatever else that might come up."

From her forty years of experience, she knew that teaching every day at a public school would be quite different than teaching these well-focused martial arts students. But Jake seemed like he was so right for the job.

Mrs. King decided to leave the school as the students came out of the workout room, hoping to stay out of Jake’s way. But as she got up, from inside his classroom, Hye Bak noticed her starting for the door, and that was that. Grandmaster Bak left his class to a senior student and went to see Mrs. King out.

As Jake left his classroom, he noticed Grandmaster Bak and Mrs. King speaking to each other by the front door.

Mrs. King quietly said to Bak, So you think that . . .

Interrupting and just as muted, Bak said, I think it best way to go. We really have nothing to lose. He can take care of himself. He right guy for job.

The Grandmaster noticed Jake leaving his classroom.

Jake! said Grandmaster Bak somewhat guiltily. Look who here!

Hello Mrs. King. Thanks for coming, said Jake, holding out his hand to give her a welcoming handshake.

Mrs. King smiled shyly, saying, Just happened to be out and about. Jake, you do a wonderful job with your students.

She turned to Grandmaster Bak and said, So nice to speak with you, Hye. I’m sure everything will work out fine. And call me anytime.

Thank you, Dr. King. Please come back and visit, returned Bak, as he bowed and shook her hand.

Bak looked at Jake, nodded towards the front door then returned to his classroom. Jake accompanied Mrs. King outside to her car, and again said how he appreciated her coming in to watch class.

"And I didn’t know you were a doctor," said Jake respectively.

Mrs. King smiled, Oh yes, I’m afraid Hye has let the cat out of the bag. I do have my PhD in physics and chemistry, but I’d just as soon play it down at school. I think it might intimidate the students.

Wow, that’s impressive Mrs. King. I don’t think I ever knew that, said Jake, adding, How in the world is anyone ever going to be able to follow you when you retire?

Oh, I really don’t think that’s going to be a problem, Jake, she said. Then, changing the subject, she said, You did such an excellent job with the students in your class. I also understand that you are soon to be married? she asked.

Yes ma’am. Jane, my fiancée, is finishing up her education degree this summer, and we hope to find her a job in the area. We’re getting married in three weeks, answered Jake.

Well, congratulations Jake, I hope you both will be very happy. And it’s interesting that she also teaches. What does she teach? asked Mrs. King.

High school English, or any kind of English I guess, said Jake.

Interesting, she said again. I happen to know that our high school is going to be in need of an excellent English teacher this coming fall. Would it be all right if I inquired about it? You say she graduates at the end of the summer? she asked.

Jake’s head was swimming, Yes ma’am. Thanks for checking, that would be fantastic, Mrs. King. Thank you so much. She graduates in July.

Not at all. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll look into it, said the kindly, retiring teacher.

As Jake reached out to shake hands, he said, So, did you know Grandmaster Bak from before?

Mrs. King shook his hand, Oh, well, yes. We know some of the same people. And it turns out that our paths have crossed here and there. Hye, I mean Grandmaster Bak, is a very good man.

It’s nice that the two of you have hooked up. He is a really good guy, Jake said as he opened the car door for his old teacher.

Mrs. King sat down in her car, looked up at Jake and said, I’ll tell you one thing young man, he surely loves this country as much as I do. I will see you later, Jake.

Jake carefully shut her car door and said, Well, thanks for coming Mrs. King, and drive safely!

As she drove back to her home, Mrs. King knew what the right choice was.

He is the one, she said out loud, while nodding her head and making an illegal turn.

The well-traveled high school chemistry teacher with a PhD in Physics and Chemistry, possessed unusually weak driving