The Aguila Incident

"No! We won't make it back! Save yourself!"

That was Sunny's duty. She was meant to protect Veronica. The American visitor was the number one priority. The accident, and her death, would bring shame to Korea. And Veronica was having none of that. Already up to her hips, she bellowed out in a voice so deep, she could feel the mud quiver.

"GRAB MY HAND!"

Driven by this command, Sunny surged forward, latching onto Veronica's wrist. Veronica used this momentum to drag her forward. The quicksand seemed to melt away as they embraced each other. Veronica steered her towards the broken fuselage piece before leaning forward into the mud, allowing it to flow around her chest and over her shoulders. The mud was now only stable enough to keep them afloat for a few seconds before their weight drove them down. Swimming clumsily through the liquefying mud, they barely managed to reach the metal scrap.

They didn't have much time to rest; the metal was sinking under their combined weight. Thinking quickly, Veronica ripped off what remained of her clothing, letting the heavy mud-soaked garments slide off her body, and she helped Sunny do the same. Now naked, but unburdened, they looked at the last leg of their journey. With Veronica's direct path churned up, Sunny suggested they take the slightly longer way back to the cabin section. They stood up on the disappearing sheet and stepped back into the quicksand before it went under. Picking the more solid path was a good option, and they were able to get a few steps in before the surface broke apart. Then it was the same struggle to trudge forward, slapping at the mud to give even the slightest amount of leverage. Soon they were up to their hips, then waists, and with metres to go they were chest-deep and swimming through the destabilising mud. With one last effort, Veronica pushed Sunny towards the broken edge of the cabin. Sunny lunged forward, but was well short. Her hands plunged into the thick mire, and brushed against something submerged in it. Using it as a handhold to pull herself forward, she felt for the buried cabin floor and then reached for a seat that was still bolted down. Now that she was safely anchored, she turned back to see Veronica's head barely above the mud. She pushed herself back out, leaving the cabin's safety to give Veronica one last lifeline. Their slippery hands joined together and they held firmly. Leaning back, Sunny pulled onto the metal frame until they were both safely in the cabin.

"You really are Supergirl," Sunny gasped as they embraced, wiping the mud off each other. She shuffled over to her trapped compatriot. "Jin-kyong is fine. Her legs are trapped, but it doesn't look like she's seriously injured."

"That's good," Veronica breathed in relief. "We just have to wait for rescue. We're just off the coast right? It shouldn't take more than a few hours."

Jin-kyong said something in Korean. Sunny's face turned grim. "We're on a South Korean island. The North Korean navy won't go near this place, and the South Koreans are afraid of triggering a conflict if they approach this close to the maritime border."

Something else was said between the two Koreans, and they began a heated exchange. It was incredible for Veronica to follow, watching the cheerful Sunny turning aggressive. It looked like she was threatening to kill Jin-kyong, who was again in tears and screaming back. Then she really did try to kill her. She began slapping and clawing at Jin-kyong's face. Veronica leapt up and pulled Sunny off her. "Sunny! What the hell is going on?"

It took some time for Sunny to calm down enough to talk. Veronica hugged her tightly, allowing her to shed tears, rubbing her intimately to help her relax. "Jin-kyong said that she's sorry," she began. "She used you – the government used you. They used us. They betrayed us.

"The Party made a plan to frame the South Koreans and renew hostilities. The North Korean navy shot down our plane. I saw it with my own eyes. They are going to blame the South Koreans. They are going to say that the South Koreans shot down a civilian plane carrying an official's daughter and an American film star. This will strain relationships between the South Koreans and the Americans. They invited you here so that they could kill you and start a war."

Jin-kyong couldn't understand what Sun-hi was interpreting, but she understood the message she was conveying to the American visitor they had betrayed. Jin-kyong stared silently at the sky. She accepted Sun-hi's abuse. Sun-hi had no reason to be involved in this incident. Jin-kyong was pressured by her father to sacrifice herself for the Great Leader and for her country. The American corruption had to stop and Korea had to be unified, and this was the chance. She didn't expect to still be alive, and she knew that the government was not going to search for them. And even if they did, they would send out a team to eliminate survivors to cover the conspiracy.

She looked over at Sun-hi and the American. Despite the revelation, Veronica looked calm, as if she accepted their predicament. Something was different about Veronica. Jin-kyong, like many others, was raised to believe that the Americans were selfish capitalist devils who wanted to take away the gifts of the Great Leader. Yet, despite their attempt to kill her, Veronica put her life at risk to save Sun-hi. She watched the two of them in delicate embrace. Naked, their movements were almost sensual, as if they were distracting each other from their gradual doom. In that moment, Jin-kyong felt something in her body too; something that had been suppressed for her whole life. Pushing that feeling aside, she had to ask Sun-hi. "Why is she not sad? Why did she nearly give her life away to save you?"

"Because I chose to," Veronica replied stoically. "Sunny is my friend. I would give my life for her."'

This response shocked Jin-kyong and drove Sunny back into tears. "Aren't you worried about your country?" Jin-kyong asked. "Will they not become involved in the war?"

"You are mistaken," Veronica said. "I'm not who you think I am. I'm not a famous Hollywood movie star. I'm...I'm a porn actress." Both Jin-kyong and Sun-hi looked at Veronica, slack-jawed. Just to emphasise her point, Veronica cupped her large breasts and made orgasm noises.

"But...you said you were Supergirl," Sun-hi protested.

"It was an adult video," Veronica answered. "I was tied to a rack and had vibrators shoved up my pussy."

"But," Jin-kyong muttered, "we read the articles. You were nominated for awards."

"Oh that," Veronica scoffed. "That was satire. A joke article. From a comedy website. I was never a real actress and the award was fake. Your government got mixed up." Veronica smiled. "I knew this was too good to be true. So the North Koreans tried to assassinate me to get the USA to fight South Korea. This is better than any movie I've done."

The feeling of nothingness settled in. Each one of them felt as if their deaths were for nothing. The American government wouldn't care about the death of a no-name porn actress, and the North Korean government would erase Jin-kyong and Sun-hi from their records. As time passed, Jin-kyong became more jaded with her mission and her beliefs. The Dear Leader was not their saviour. He was willing to kill his own people. They were going to die.

"The plane!" Sunny cried out. "It's sinking!"

They hadn't noticed it, but the mud had been slowly creeping up their lower bodies as the cabin sank into the mire. It was only from the creaking of shifting metal that brought it to their attention. They were in a dire predicament now, with only a small number of scrap pieces remaining afloat, and the heavy fuselage was becoming the swamp's next victim, with the three of them inside.

"Save yourselves," Jin-kyong gasped, feeling the mud close around her torso and around her neck. "This is my fault. Get out."

Sun-hi gave her one look of remorse and turned to escape, but Veronica held her back. "We need to get her out. Give me a hand. We can lift this part and free her legs."

Jin-kyong looked in horror as the two women began to move the wreckage. "What are you doing? I told you to leave me."

Veronica wasn't listening. They weren't able to pry the wreckage off completely, but Sunny was able to hold it up long enough for Veronica to grab onto Jin-kyong's torso to pull her free. It wasn't a clean and painless rescue, but Jin-kyong was finally above to move her legs. She felt a sudden pain shoot through them as the blood flow returned. "Why?" she demanded. "You are the one that must be saved."

"Look, it's simple," Veronica explained through Sun-hi. "You're more important. I'm just a porn star. You're an official's daughter. You can tell them what happened and they will believe you. They won't believe an American, and Sunny doesn't have enough influence. You can stop this war." Veronica grimaced. "I can't. Now shut up and get your clothes off."

Jin-kyong didn't have the strength to protest as the two women ripped off her heavy, muddy clothes.

"There's a piece of the wing over there," Veronica directed. "We can get Jin-kyong onto it and she can stay afloat. We'll try to make it to the other pieces."

The cabin was rapidly filling with mud. Summoning their reserves of strength and courage, the three set out into the sea of mud. They had little chance to find anything stable, and they were already chest deep by the time they cleared the sinking cabin section. Minutes later, it was completely gone, leaving the three women helplessly bobbing in the quicksand.

"I can't...I can't move my legs," Jin-kyong gasped. "Too weak..."

"Sunny, help me push Jin-kyong!" Veronica called out.

Even though they were pushing themselves deeper, they worked together to get Jin-kyong onto the small, floating wing piece. It was barely enough to hold Jin-kyong's weight. They got Jin-kyong to spread out as much as she could before pushing themselves away so as to not capsize her fragile raft. Sun-hi and Veronica looked to their own fragments, but they were either submerged or too far to reach. They were stranded, up to their breasts in quicksand. In a few moments they would begin to sink again, and this time there was no lifeline. Jin-kyong could only watch as she floated further away.

"I'm sorry," Sunny said to Veronica. "You shouldn't have been mixed up in all of this."

"This isn't your fault," Veronica replied. "I'm glad I could do something worthwhile in my life. Let's just enjoy the time we have left."

Jin-kyong watched in helpless amazement. Though they were minutes away from death, Veronica and Sun-hi embraced each other, kissing passionate and caressing their slick, muddy bodies. Their hands reached into the soft mud, finding one last touch of pleasure. A slight ripple was the only hint that they had reached their last climax. Then, in one motion, their heads disappeared into the mire, forever.

* * *

Jin-kyong had fronted the media many times, but that was the government media. Everything was scripted and she only had to follow the party line. This was different. They wanted answers. They wanted the truth.

"I cannot betray my country," Jin-kyong said to herself.

She was in enemy territory. It was the South Koreans who had found Jin-kyong. They had connected her to her father's position in the party. She was their hostage. She knew that the North Koreans had already made a claim to South Korean aggression. The South Koreans wanted to use her as proof that the North Koreans had staged the whole incident, involving the death of American citizen Veronica Aguila. There were already warning shots being fired across the DMZ. Kim Jong-Un again warned its southern neighbour of its nuclear missiles. China hinted that it would step in, though not on which side. Japan was debating whether a war on the Korean peninsula would constitute a direct threat to their nation and thus deploy their Self-Defense Forces. The Americans already had a task force en route to the Sea of Korea. As soon as Jin-kyong revealed the truth behind the plane crash, North Korea's attempt to break the alliances apart would backfire and it would be invaded. If she told Party's lie and blamed the Americans, the North Koreans would attack.

And they would be wiped out. The Dear Leader's lies were no longer in her mind. She was free from the corruption that he had spread. North Korea stood no chance. Her homeland would be destroyed.

The television crew had put make-up on her, washed her hair and dressed her in clean clothes. She was fit and healthy. She had faced the cameras many times before. There were numerous flashes, and more microphones than she had ever seen. She could tell they were out there: Korean, Chinese, Japanese, American press. Waiting for her account of the crash. With the plane submerged in the swampy island, there was no hope of an immediate investigation. It was her eyewitness experience.

"I cannot betray my country."

She uttered those words once more in her mind. Yet, they felt hollow. A lie. The same emptiness as the lie she was going to tell.

"The North Korean government has claimed that the plane was shot down by the American forces," Jin-kyong stated in front of the live cameras.

No, this lie was different. It was not the same emptiness. Her mind was filled with the faces of the Korean and the American who saved her life.

"There was indeed a tragic accident, which I was fortunate enough to survive."

I cannot betray my country.

"The truth is..."

Let's enjoy the time we have left.

"...the crash was caused..."

I cannot betray my country.

"...by mechanical failure."

* * *

She was in enemy territory. She didn't understand them. Everything felt foreign. The airport was full of signs she couldn't read, the people spoke in a chirpy language she couldn't understand. Jin-kyong had never flown outside of North Korea, and she was a nervous traveller. She couldn't go back to Pyongyang, not after what she had done. She knew her father would be dismissed from the Party and her family shamed. But at least her homeland was still there. If the Dear Leader didn't care for the people, at least she did. Now she had to find a new home.

Stepping out of the airport, her eyes slowly adjusted to the incredible scenery. The streets were busy. Neon signs and traffic lights captured her eye. Giant billboards showing images of delicious food. Over time she would learn to read these signs. She recalled her embarrassment when she asked a police officer if she could meet the "Burger King". He laughed. She laughed.

Welcome to America.