Protecting Liberty

[Nentsia]

Nyköping - Nyland
1588

RADIO ONE LIVE: The Nylander president has sworn in the new Director-General of the Federal Security Department, Alexandrine Linville, who formerly served as a legislator for the Nylander Social-Democrats. Linville was part of the parliamentary oversight committee on the Nylander intelligence services, served as Homeland Security Secretary, and holds a reputation for her thoroughness, integrity and iron political principles…

Three black armored SUV’s entered the restricted terrain of an enormous concrete building, located just outside the government quarters of the Nylander capital. The heavy electronic gates opened, and the cars drove past the photographers and the journalists, reporting about the new presidential pick for the office of Director-General of the FSD. The FSD was Nyland’s main domestic intelligence and security service, dedicated to the protection of the constitution and the national security. Its motto sounded ‘Always Protecting Liberty’, Semper Protegens Libertatem.

At the entrance of the headquarters of the FSD, the security personnel warmly greeted Linville. ‘Welcome madam,’ they smiled. ‘Thank you, I’m looking forward to this first day at the office!’ she replied. A welcoming committee, consisting of the Deputy Director-General (DDG) Asbjörn Lager, the legal adviser, and the heads of all sections and their deputies, welcomed Linville in the central hall of the building.

Of course, Linville was expected to give something of a speech to her closest staff and employees, but she had deliberately not prepared anything. She did not want to rehearse some premeditated political PR-talk to those people whom she held in high esteem, often working day and night to protect the lives of innocent Nylanders.

‘Thank you all for this warm welcome. I feel truly honoured to be your Director-General and to be back at the department where I once, as a young woman, began my career. I must admit that most faces are new to me, but experience taught me that the FSD never changes. We are people with a mission. We protect our country, we protect its citizens, and we protect liberty. Always. I know that I can rely on you. Our agents and officers have always been marked by exceptional commitment and dedication to our work and our cause. I shall do all I can to not fail you, to not let you down, and to steer the department into the next decade. My door is always open, and don’t hesitate to walk in just to tell me a good joke or about your family. I want to get to know the people that work here. I shall be here to celebrate success together with you. But in times of hardship, I shall stand beside you, in the line of duty, and I shall stand for this department until the bitter end.’

The staff applauded for Linville as she headed to her office where her secretaries and DDG installed her. Her desk was quickly loaded with documents – reports and briefings about the current threats facing the country, the status of on-going operations and investigations, scheduled meetings, and policy proposals and plans forwarded by Section VI, responsible for finances, management and policy.

One briefing on Linville’s desk was particularly urgent. Lager, the DDG, told the secretaries to leave the office and he closed the door behind them. Everything within the department followed the need-to-know principle, meaning that information was only shared among relevant staff to reduce the risk of intelligence leaks.

‘The chief of the Counter-intelligence section has requested me to get your signature for the authorization of a delicate operation, Mrs. Linville. The situation is developing as we speak, and poses a risk to the security of the Nylander government.’

‘What is the situation?’ Linville inquired.
‘Three weeks ago, a young naval officer from the Nylander Navy tried to call the official telephone number of the embassy of the Nerysian Kingdom. Luckily for us, the Nerysian embassy was closed for that entire day due to a Nerysian holiday. When the Nerysian embassy is closed, our technicians intercept all phone calls to the embassy and direct them to one of our counter-intelligence agents, who is fluent in Nerysian and pretends to be from the embassy. So the Nylander naval officer had one of our agents on the phone, thinking he was speaking to a Nerysian diplomat. He offered a hard drive containing highly sensitive documents relating to naval radar technology technical details about the software used within Nylander submarines. He asked $40,000 for the first package. The actual value of the information is easily three times as high, which leads us to believe he doesn’t know what he is doing at all.’

Linville listened without moving a muscle in her wrinkled face. ‘And where do we stand now?’

‘We set up a meeting with the naval officer in a restaurant where he thinks the transaction will take place. We need your authorization to put an agent in the field to meet him, and to inform the law enforcement agencies of this affair so he can be caught in the act. This would mean he would be arrested on the spot, the hard drive confiscated as evidence, and our counter-intelligence agent will have to testify in court behind closed doors and reveal operational details to a judge. It is your responsibility and your decision, madam.’

Linville nodded understandingly. ‘And when was this meeting with this hostile informant supposed to take place?’

Lager looked at his watch and then lifted his eyebrows and glanced at Linville. ‘In about two hours, madam. It’s almost lunchtime.’

Linville reached for a pen and signed the document under her nose. With a swift move of her hand she quickly handed the DDG the document. ‘If we must expose ourselves to the light, then lets make use of the opportunity to make a public example out this traitor.’

DDG Lager grinned. ‘The media will probably see a conspiracy in this one; one day in office and she catches a foreign spy!’

Linville had no intention however of personally claiming this easy victory in the media. Such lucky strikes could happen anytime, and it was underway before she took office anyway. If anyone deserved credit here, it was the clever Nerysian-speaking agent who handled this case intelligently. But agents never revealed their identity or appear as such in the media. It was Linville’s job, together with the PR manager, to represent the department in public. The rest of its employees forever remained in the shadows. Many did not even tell their own children where they really worked.

Hestiviken, Nyland
Two hours later…

At a restaurant in the centre of the coastal city of Hestiviken, where a large naval base was located, several civilian cars from the special branch of the federal police had been parked strategically. Inside, plainclothes police officers and agents from the Federal Security Department monitored the surroundings of the restaurant and looking out for a young man named Anders Lindgren, the navy officer who thought he was selling valuable documents to the Nerysian government. He probably thought that what he did was harmless, and that he could make a quick, easy and big amount of money out of it. And he overestimated his own intelligence, setting up a quasi-secretive meeting in an ordinary restaurant. He was about to walk into a trap of the FSD, specifically designed for people like Lindgren. If he had simply checked the website of the embassy and its opening hours, he might have even succeeded. But he was foolish and naïve.

All units were warned that a young man, matching the description of Lindgren, was approaching the restaurant. He did not seem suspicious or tense at all. In his misplaced arrogance and naivety, he probably thought he had everything under control.

He entered the restaurant. ‘Our guy is in. Positively identified by the agents inside the restaurant. Time for agent KING to get into his position and approach the target.’ King was the codename for the counter-intelligence agent who had lured Lindgren into this trap. King did as they had planned, casually moved to the restaurant, finished his cigarette outside the building – so as not to be too perfectly in time – and then casually entered the building. To make him extra convincing, they had even arranged clothes for King that were made in Nerysia – as if he had brought them from home before he was despatched to the embassy in Nyland.

King looked around in the restaurant, supposedly not knowing what Lindgren looked like – of course he had spotted him immediately. Lindgren approached agent King from the bar. ‘Excuse me, sir, do you happen to have studied at Nemunas University?’ That was the agreed code word between agent King and Lindgren. ‘No, Zemaita,’ he replied, with a Nerysian accent. The men shook hands and sat down at an empty table in a corner. There were several FSD agents inside the restaurant, making covert recordings of Lindgren.

They ordered lunch, and King kept Lindgren talking to find out as much as he could about the man. Elsewhere in the city, FSD operatives had broken into his home and searched through his personal belongings. Was he a tidy or a sloppy man? Was there a female or male partner in his life? What are his hobbies? What does he have on his computer? What books does he own? What food does he keep in his fridge? Who are his friends? All such details about this person could be useful to understand his personality, and might come in handy for the police when they would question him.

After a while, Lindgren showed agent King some samples of the documents he had for him on his phone. King then provided him with a glimpse in a plastic bag, containing about $15,000. Not that he would ever receive that money, it would all return to the bank after this operation. Eventually, Lindgren handed agent King a small hard drive, and asked for the bag of money. It was recorded, and it was on camera. Lindgren walked out of the restaurant. ‘Move to arrest the suspect’, it sounded on the police radio in the cars surrounding the building.

Before Lindgren knew it, police vans entered the parking lot, blocking the exit. Six cops in civilian dress encircled him, swinging a badge in front of his nose. ‘Anders Lindgren, you are under arrest for selling classified government documents to a foreign party. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something, which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’

A few days later, the Homeland Security department sent its congratulations and a bottle of wine to the Federal Security Department. ‘Short, successful operations like these are always welcomed by the political leaders of our country. Even the President was delighted.’ Linville personally praised agent King in her office, assuring him that the man he caught would probably be given eleven years imprisonment.

As much as Linville enjoyed such a flying start as the head of the FSD, she was concerned. The reports on her desk gave reasons for that.