NationStates Jolt Archive


Dobbeltspill [Earth II][CLOSED]

Cotland
21-01-2006, 04:16
Dobbeltspill

The evening air was cool and crisp, holding steady at a cool –12° Celsius. The one meter thick snowcover lay heavily over the many buildings, docks and ships in the harbor, while fresh snow came constantly. The weather forecasters had predicted that at least another 40 centimeters would arrive within the end of the week. Bad news for the dockworkers, who had to work outside on the gray ships that belonged to the Imperial Layartebian Navy, but not to the fourty-three year old man who looked out the window. He gazed through the snow at the hulls that lay there, covered in snow. The odd movement on the deck from an unfortunate sailor who had been assigned to guard the deck made it through, but for the most part, the man only saw the outline of the ship that was the cause of his worries. The Earthquake class battleship was a behemoth of a ship, 396 meters long and armed with twelve powerful 18” cannons in her main arsenal. After a while, the man turned around and sat down again in his chair while pulling his fingers through the thick black hair on his head. It was now or never, he thought. I’ve got to do this if I’m ever going to get away from this crappy job.

The man was the night manager at Bangor Naval Shipyard, located in Bangor, Maine, and as such, he had access to a lot of information concerning the Layartebian ship classes that frequently visited his yard for repairs or maintenance. Right now, he was about to make the choise of his life. The mysterious woman had promised him a lot of money and a new life in safety from the Empire if he would just get some information about the Earthquake class to her. He had already been paid §15,000 in an anonymous account in Norway for relatively open information about the powerplant of the Earthquake class and its preformance record. He had already handed over information that was restricted, thus making himself guilty in treason against the Empire of Layarteb.

Earlier, the woman had handed him a pair of glasses which looked identical to his own, only that these had a microscopic camera in them and a very thin fiberoptic cable going behind his ear, camoflaged by the thick black hair, and into a small harddrive some five by three by zero point four centimeter large, concealed by the mans shirt and sweater. It would take a strip search to find out if he was trying something funny, like spying for some foreign power. The woman had said she worked for the Panthean intelligence agency, and that a good life awaited the man in Pantheaa when he was done. Right now, he looked up files which might seen interesting to the Pantheans for delivery later that morning. The delivery point was a diner fifteen blocks away from the shipyard’s main entrance.

The woman who worked for the Panthean intelligence service was in fact kapteinløytnant Ingrid Nesbø of FO/E, the Military Intellligence Agency of the Kingdom of Norway. Officially, she worked as the assistant cultural attache at the Norwegian embassy in Layarteb City, where she enjoyed diplomatic immunity, but in reality, she was a intelligence officer working in a friendly nation. The whole espionage setup in Layarteb wasn’t big, but it was large enough to know that the Layartebians had a lot more than they said they had in their military arsenal. Hopefully, the operative she had inside the naval yards would be able to come with something good soon, like the whole schematics for a classified design the world hadn’t seen before. However, she knew that the best thing she was likely to get would be new information on combat systems used on cruisers or something like that. She waited in the diner for the operative to arrive.

Back at the office, the man had gotten information about the combat systems and the design history of the Earthquake class up on his screen. Using the glasses he had been issued, he photographed the various pages of information he had up on his 19” LCD screen. The images were saved on the harddrive, which could store up to 30 gigabytes worth of data. After he finished, he closed the files again and logged off the computer. His shift was almost over anyway, as the time was creeping towards 0600 even though you couldn’t see it outside due to the darkness of the winter season and the snow. He had a breakfast date at 0615, and he didn’t intend to be late. If anyone asked what he had done all night, he would just brush them off with the normal “need to know” bullshit the ILN insisted they use.

At exactly 0600, he had gotten the harddrive hidden and passed through the security control, which was very tight. However, he made it through and got into his car, an old VW Golf 1995 model which stood relatively close at the massive parking lot. After freezing his butt off for a moment trying to get the frozen door open and starting the car up enough to get the heater working, he made sure he wasn’t followed, before driving the car out of the parking lot. He drove calmly the fifteen blocks through the snow and cold and was lucky enough to find somewhere to park next to the diner. He got out and locked the door before he hurried inside. There she was. A young brunette, maybe twenty-four years old who stood 173 centimeters tall when standing up.

“Anna,” he said walking over to her. She got up and hugged him.

“Mike, good morning,” she said smiling. This was all a part of the cover she had built up over the past few weeks of turning him. It had been relatively easy, as he was sick and tired of the constant bitching at work, which happened to be the Layartebian Defense Corporation, one of the largest commercial armament manifacturers in the open market. She had promised him money and a new life somewhere far far away from Layarteb, and he had believed her.

“So, you have a present for me?” she asked, excited. He smiled mischeviously at her, then placed his hand on her thigh underneath the table. She returned the smile and put her left hand on top of his, and there she had it in her hand. Quickly and unnoticable, it was placed in her pocket where it was safe.

“So. When do I get to go?”

“Soon. I’ll have to convince my superiors first, but I’m sure that if you bring us something that’s of real interest, it could happen sooner than you think.”

“Check the present. It’s something really interesting there. I’ll see you tommorrow,” he said as he rose and walked out of the diner and back to his car. He needed sleep after pulling a night shift. Ingrid on the other hand finished her coffee before she paid the check and left. She also remembered to give just enough tip. Not too much, and not too little. The aim was that the people there wouldn’t remember that you had even been there.

She made her way to her hotelroom, which she had checked for bugs and microphones every morning, afternoon and evening. Today was no exception, and she sweeped the room to find nothing. Good. Then she opened her laptop, entered the 24-digit password and was granted access. While the laptop started up, she got out the harddrive Mike had given her as well as a connection cable. Soon, she looked over the information that Mike had gathered. It was very interesting indeed. The combat systems of… the Earthquake class! The Imperial Layartebian Navys largest and most powerful battleship, and she had the full listing of combat systems here. It was nearly 24 gigabytes of data here, all in the form of pictures showing critical information concerning the Earthquake. This would need to be sent to Oslo for analysis. Fortunately, she was returning to Layarteb City later today.

Five hours later, somewhere outside Oslo, Norway
As the analysists read over the combat system listing of the Earthquake gathered from the harddrive in Layarteb, they came across something very interesting when looking at the jamming options. A name linked to the jamming system, which apparently was nothing compared to that found on the codename mentioned. That name was “Sensücht”. This was very interesting indeed. A quick search through FO/Es database on the organizations intranet showed only one hit, and that was a rumor about some sort of massive ship with a lot of electronics aboard. This new information indicated that they were dealing with a potential spyship capable of jamming very powerful radars and even cameras. A new entry was made in the large intelligence collection the Norwegians had.

A cash payment was prepared via a bank in Brazil to Mike the night manager as a thanks for the information. The size of the payment this time was massive: §250,000. Money Mike had earned for the info which was given. Naturally, Mike didn’t manage to keep from spending it when he got it, being a greedy bastard and all. In one day, he had bought a new car, a new apartment and a lot of new things. A new TV, a new computer, new kitchen applicances and much more. It was highly unlikely that the spending spree would avoid the vigilant eye of the Layartebian security services.
Layarteb
21-01-2006, 04:30
When Mike arrived at work after his "mini-vacation," driving a new car, people began to ask questions. Mike as never known to have anything luxurious, especially not a new car. His old, beat-up, hunk of junk still had many miles left on it and him with a new car was definitely something that was unusual.

As he walked through security, a smile on his face, he nodded and went through the usual. Nobody really paid him any attention until he got into his office, the heater having been left on by the day manager. Unfortunately, for him, sitting in his chair was not the day manager but rather a man in a suit. Well dressed, he stood and buttoned his jacket, hiding his red tie. "Ah Mike. Cold enough for you?"

"Who are you?" Mike asked with suspicion, putting his briefcase down. "And why are you in my office?"

"Well. My name isn't of any consequence. Why I am here. Well we'll get to that."

"What is this about?" Another individual entered from an adjacent office, in the same type of suit with the same type of tie. These were definitely feds.

"That's a nice car you have there." The first agent said. "I bet that must have cost §60,000? Maybe more?"

"What does it matter?"

"Well it just seems rather amusing that you show up with a new car and your bank accounts show you have considerably more money in them." The agent smiled. "Double shifts?"

"What is it to you?"

"Well generally when an individual gets a mysterious payment from an unusual bank, especially one from a foreign country, it means trouble. Now you aren't some major inventor, you haven't published a book, and we know you didn't win the lottery. That leaves us with few explanations."

"Are you accusing me of something? Because you should just accuse me."

"Well if I accuse you I have to bring you downtown, interview you, you can have a lawyer, all of that nonsense and frankly I think you're a good guy. My partner, on the other hand." The other agent smirked with a sense of anger. "He isn't so easily convincing. Perhaps we can go for a little ride?"

"Where?"

"Well that's a secret."

"I won't."

"Mike. I don't think you understand. This isn't a choice." He showed him his pistol, a .45ACP M33A2. "You are coming with us. I would prefer you to be conscious so I don't have to carry you but I've been to the gym this morning so I am feeling buff." He laughed. "Shall we?" The agent put out his hand to show him towards the door. The other agent stood stiff.
Cotland
21-01-2006, 05:07
Ingrid was across the street from the main entrance to the Bangor Naval Shipyards, walking towards the diner, waiting for any information that Mike might have today when she saw Mike in the back seat of a car that had to belong to some government agency. He had been detected, and there was a possibility that he could identify her! She had always maintained her cover story, that she was from the Panthean intelligence agency and that her name was Anna Markirov, but still. After a quick call to the embassy, she was ordered to haul ass back there.

After a tense flight from Bangor to Layarteb City and an equally tense cab ride, she exited the cab after paying the cabbie the §19 he wanted for the ride and walked into the guard shack. After quickly identifying herself for the new soldier who stood guard there, she got in and was sent to the Chief of Station's office.

"What the hell happened?" the Chief of Station asked.

"I don't know. All I saw was my object sitting in the back seat of a car driven by two feds. They had to be feds. No one else can look like that."

"OK. Do you think he'll break? You know that the Layartebians aren't afraid to torture people to get information."

"I don't know."

"Alright. We'll play safe. Tim will drive you to Carolina, where a Gulfstream will be waiting for you. You're going home. We can't take any risks. Orders from Oslo."

Ingrid nodded in agreement to the decision. She didn't want to be treated like a criminal here, because that was what the Layartebians did to diplomats who spied on them. A harsh society.

An hour later, all her belongings were packed and readied for shipment home. In a bag, she had her essentials. A clean change of clothes, beauty bag, her laptop, ID, a book for the flight home and a silenced P19A2 Five-seveN pistol with 21 5.7x28mm rounds loaded and two extra magazines of 20 rounds each. It was all hidden, and with the diplomatic immunity, she was almost guaranteed to pass the border uninhibited. Her driver Tim was one of the soldiers stationed at the embassy to guard it and to do various other tasks like this.

Eight hours later, they stood on the border crossing, waiting to get across. The weapon was hidden, Layartebian security was minimal and the ten Marines guarding the border crossing on the Norwegian side had been informed of their presence and would be ready to aid in case of a dash for "freedom" if it became necessary, something everyone hoped it wouldn't be. Ingrid had her diplomatic passport ready, and Tim had his military identification card and visa ready.
Layarteb
21-01-2006, 05:19
The ride to the Central Justice Agency office in Bangor was tense. Mike sat in the back with the unfriendly agent, who made him as uncomofrtable as possible. When they arrived, he was escorted in, past a few prying eyes, and stuck inside of an interrogation room, both agents joining him after a few minutes, except this time they weren't armed. "Well Mike." The unfriendly agent threw a folder onto the table. "Bank records, purchases, credit card information, you know the good stuff. It all sums up to something, something very supsicious. You care to explain the easy way? Or should we do this the hard way? Either way, you are going to tell me what I want to know. How much it hurts is up to you." The unfriendly agent sat down.

"I want a lawyer."

"You can have one. Once you tell us the truth. Until then you aren't being accused of any crime."

"Then I can leave."

"If you can make it past the security guards outside and me. And to do that you're going to have to knock me out. I don't think that is too possible."

"You guys can't be serious."

"Oh but we are." The friendly agent finally uttered a word. "You do realize that technically, we have the right to do whatever the hell we want. We suspect you of espionage, high treason. You do realize that such a crime means you have no rights."

"For what? Buying a new car."

"You know we've trace the money. A bank in Brazil. Some 'mysterious' individual."

"That's bullshit."

"§250,000."

"I inhereted some money from a deceased family member."

"We don't have any records of that."

"It was a great aunt living in a foreign country. She raised me when I was younger."

"She did huh?"

"Yes."

"Well. It seems we have a hardhead." The unfriendly agent smirked and unbuttoned his jacket.

North Carolina [Norwegian-Layartebian] Border

The border guards watched as the Norwegian diplomats pulled up. Norway was a friendly nation, part of the October Alliance and therefore they were usually minimally secured. They waved them through, customary proceedures. They weren't looking for anyone supsicious and their papers were in order, what more could they do.
Cotland
21-01-2006, 05:31
The passage went smoothly, and the car drove down the roads to the Air Force facility near the coast. Usually, they kept a few fighters, AWACS and tanker aircraft here, as well as transport aircraft, but a C-37H Gulfstream was a rare sight. However, it was now here, having landed four hours prior after flying up from Barbados. Ingrid was now on Norwegian soil, safe and sound. Without delay, the personell at the base ushered Ingrid into the Gulfstream along with her bag.

Once the vingsersjant in charge of the cabin had made sure she was strapped in, he gave the go-ahead to the cockpit who got an immediate permission for take-off. They would fly into the Atlantic, meeting a KC-10C Extender refueling aircraft somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean to get fuel, then fly directly to Norway. Everything was in order, at least for Ingrid. Her existance would be completely disavowed by the government and the embassy, and all records of a Ingrid Nesbø would be deleted. It wasn't her real name anyway.

As for the money, they had been laundered enough to appear to come from a bank in the Comoros via a bank in Brazil. It tied up perfectly with the rest, which was that Pantheaa was behind.
Layarteb
21-01-2006, 05:49
After several beatings and some crafty persuasion, the federal agents finally got some more information out of him. The money had been wired from the Comoros and tied with the Pantheaan government. At the same time, they obtained a good description of Anna. Currently, the database of Layartebian citizens and known foreign nationals was being searched for the woman. Certain parameters severely limited the search though it would still take hours upon hours to find any possible matches. Mike would have to hold in until that match was found.

The agents went back to the persuasion and found out that he had given valuable information about the Earthquake, which was more or less its combat systems. This was highly sensitive data and it was definitely not to be seen outside of the Navy. He was definitely guilty of high treason, that was a given. Now the only question that loomed was just how much information he had given out and that was about to be had, once they found out who this Anna person was.