The Big Breach - Index of
The Big Breach - Index of
The Big Breach - Index of
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Breach</strong>; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments <strong>of</strong> http://www.192.comSpencer with descriptions <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> her range <strong>of</strong> goods. <strong>The</strong>y were soonswapping telephone numbers, promising to meet up.<strong>The</strong> following morning we assembled at Boro as usual at 10 a.m., some <strong>of</strong>us nursing hangovers. <strong>The</strong> chatter was all about the previous evening.<strong>The</strong> former army <strong>of</strong>ficer didn't impress Hare. `He was talking bullshit.No way was he in the green slime.' Markham too spoke sceptically aboutthe ignorance that the alleged wine merchant had displayed. But glowingwith pride, Spencer related his conversation with the blonde and beamedwhen he revealed his success in snagging a dinner date with her.A few minutes after ten, Ball shuffled to the front <strong>of</strong> the class andwished us good morning. He didn't look as cheerful as normal and theclassroom fell silent. `I hope you had a good time last night,' Ballsaid, shifting awkwardly, as if he had something to hide. Spencerlooked smug. `But I have an apology to make,' he paused for a moment.`<strong>The</strong> guests at the party last night were not really friends <strong>of</strong> my wife,but were MI5 <strong>of</strong>ficers. <strong>The</strong> purpose <strong>of</strong> the exercise was to ensure thatyou had all learnt your lessons about cover.' <strong>The</strong>re was a stony silenceas it sunk in that we had been so easily duped. It was exhilarating tocon unsuspecting members <strong>of</strong> the public in PERFECT STRANGER, but wedidn't like having the tables turned.Hare was most annoyed at being fooled. `In my experience from thearmy,' he spoke out indignantly `if you con students they quickly losefaith in the DS.'Only Forton found something to lighten the mood. With a chuckle, hegleefully pointed to Spencer. `Feeling alright, Alex?' he askedmockingly. `Still going on that date?' Poor Spencer was staring at thefloor, ashen-faced.<strong>The</strong>reafter, whenever friends or relatives asked us about work, it waseasy to fend <strong>of</strong>f their curiosity. At first it was exhilarating to `liein the interests <strong>of</strong> national security', but it brought changes in myrelationships with friends. Carl Jung's statement that the `maintenance<strong>of</strong> secrets acts like a psychic poison, which alienates their possessorfrom the community' rang true.<strong>The</strong> bread and butter <strong>of</strong> the work <strong>of</strong> an intelligence <strong>of</strong>ficer istargeting, cultivating, recruiting, then running informers who areprepared to give or sell secrets about their country to MI6. During thefirst weeks <strong>of</strong> the IONEC we practised these skills in a series <strong>of</strong> smallexercises. Experienced <strong>of</strong>ficers would come down from Century House torole-play the agent, pretending to be Brazilian Generals, Russianscientists, Iranian revolutionaries, or whatever the exercise required.We would play the case <strong>of</strong>ficer and practise the art <strong>of</strong> gettingalongside them, cultivating them, recruiting them and extractingintelligence. We then wrote up a contact report recording thecircumstances <strong>of</strong> the meeting and issued a mock CX report containing theintelligence. Afterwards the role-player debriefed us and Ball and Longgraded us on how well we had performed. Some <strong>of</strong> the exercises were donein public, so to a casual eavesdropper the conversations must haveappeared odd, particularly as the more colourful role-players wouldaffect the accents and dress <strong>of</strong> their role.page- 39 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version <strong>of</strong> this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com