Someone should have taken that stupid idea out of their heads.â
The kid sounded new to whatever heavy thinking was going on in hisbrain. Jun Do decided to talk him down a bit. âThey already made it halfway,â he pointed out. âPlus, they have to be some pretty serious athletes. Theyâre trained for this, itâs probably what they love. And when you say boat, you canât be thinking of this bucket. Those are American girls, their craft is hi-tech, with comforts and electronicsâyou canât be picturing them like Party officialsâ wives rowing a tin can around.â
The Second Mate wasnât quite listening. âAnd what if you do make it around the worldâhow do you wait in line for your dormitory toilet again, knowing that youâve been to America? Maybe the millet tasted better in some other country and the loudspeakers werenât so tinny. Suddenly itâs
your
tap water that smells not so goodâthen what do you do?â
Jun Do didnât answer him.
The moon was coming up. Above, they could see a jet rising out of Japanâslowly it began its great veer away from North Korean airspace.
After a while, the Second Mate said, âThe sharks will probably get them.â He flicked his cigarette away. âSo, whatâs this all about, pointing the antenna and all? Whatâs down there?â
Jun Do wasnât sure how to answer. âA voice.â
âIn the ocean? What is it, whatâs it say?â
âThere are American voices and an English-speaking Russian. Once a Japanese guy. They talk about docking and maneuvering. Stuff like that.â
âNo offense, but that sounds like the conspiracy talk the old widows are always trading in my housing block.â
It did sound a little paranoid when the Second Mate said it out loud. But the truth was the idea of conspiracy appealed to Jun Do. That people were in communication, that things had a design, that there was intention, significance, and purpose in what people didâhe needed to believe this. Normal people, he understood, had no need for such thinking. The girl who rowed during the day had the horizon of where she came from, and when she turned to look, the horizon of where she was headed. But the girl who rowed in the dark had only the splash and pull of each stroke and the belief that theyâd all add up to get her home.
Jun Do looked at his watch. âItâs about time for the night rower to broadcast,â he said. âOr maybe itâs the daytime girl you want?â
The Second Mate suddenly bristled. âWhat kind of a question is that? Whatâs it matter which one? I donât want either of them. My wife is the most beautiful woman in her housing block. When I look into her eyes, Iknow exactly what sheâs thinking. I know what sheâs going to say before she says it. Thatâs the definition of love, ask any old-timer.â
The Second Mate smoked another cigarette and then tossed it in the sea. âSay the Russians and Americans are at the bottom of the oceanâwhat makes you think theyâre up to no good?â
Jun Do was thinking about all the popular definitions of love, that it was a pair of bare hands clasping an ember to keep it alive, that it was a pearl that shines forever, even in the belly of the eel that eats the oyster, that love was a bear that feeds you honey from its claws. Jun Do visualized those girls: alternating in labor and solitude, that moment when the oarlocks were handed off.
Jun Do pointed to the water. âThe Americans and Russians are down there, and theyâre up to something, I know it. You ever hear of someone launching a submarine in the name of peace and fucking brotherhood?â
The Second Mate leaned back on the winch house, the sky vast above them. âNo,â he said, âI suppose not.â
The Captain came out of the pilothouse and told the Second Mate he had shit buckets to