The Big Breach - Index of

The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comA couple of weeks later, back at my parents' home, I wrote again to `MrHalliday' to reapply to join MI6. The Territorial Army was a lot offun, but it was no career and at 27 I was too old to join the regulararmy. MI6 offered the satisfaction of public service, plus it was astructured and secure career with plenty of variety, good pay andperks, and it promised an intriguing lifestyle. The little incidentextracting intelligence from the Belgian soldiers had been satisfyingand if that was a taste of what MI6 would be like, it would be theright career for me. A couple of days after writing to Halliday, hewrote back inviting me for another interview in Carlton Gardens.As I rang the doorbell for the second time, I wondered if Hallidaywould remember my face. As before, Kathleen showed me up to his officeon the mezzanine floor. Halliday had changed a lot since our meeting,gaining about six inches in height, losing his beard and acquiring abetter wardrobe. `Please, take a seat.' He ushered me into the same lowchair as at the first interview. `I expect you have already guessed,'he said, `that I am not the same Halliday you met on your last visithere. Halliday is an alias we use in the recruitment process.'`Oh yes, I knew that, of course,' I blustered.Halliday smiled sagely, seeing through my feeble bluff. The rest of theinterview was much as before - the same OSA flyer to sign, the sameplasti-wrapped folder to read. The new Halliday though, asked moresearching questions than the first. `Often in MI6,' he said, `we mustuse charm, guile and our wits to persuade somebody to do something theymay not want to do, or to get them to tell us information which perhapsthey should not. Are there any examples from your own life where youhave had to do that?' I thought for a moment then told him aboutflattering the Niger army captain into letting me cross the borderduring my Sahara trip and about my `undercover' intelligence gatheringfrom the Belgian soldiers in the bar. Halliday seemed to like boththose stories.Halliday wrote to me a few weeks later, inviting me to attend a furtherround of tests and interviews in Whitehall. MI6 is part of the civilservice, so to join the `Intelligence Branch' candidates have to firstpass exactly the same exams which fast-stream candidates for otherparts of the civil service must take, whether they are joining the FCO,Treasury or Department of Trade and Industry. MI6 candidates sit theexams separately from other candidates, however, because even at thisearly stage of the selection process their identities are regarded assecret.Five other candidates sat with me in the waiting-room before the firstexam. One was the son of a serving MI6 officer, one a MetropolitanPolice SB (Special Branch) officer, another in the DIS, one a merchantbanker and the last worked for a political consultancy in Oxford. Themulti-choice tests were like something out of a 1960s `know your ownIQ' book - lots of weird shapes from which we had to choose the odd oneout, or dominoes in which we had to guess the next in the series. Therewas a simple test of numeracy, then a longish but straightforwardwritten paper in which we had to compose a couple of essays. In theafternoon we had to discuss a couple of current affairs topicsindividually with one of the serving MI6 officers who were supervisingthe tests. Finally, there was a group discussion exercise. We werepage- 23 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com