you all to meet Abigail Sanders.’
The kids stood up and shook Abigail’s hand. She said hi to each of them in an Australian accent.
‘So these are my three kids,’ Abigail said. ‘They certainly look the part.’
‘Well, almost certainly your kids,’ John said, as he sat at his desk. Abigail sat next to James on the opposite side, as John continued speaking. ‘All CHERUB agents have the right to refuse a mission and these three haven’t even been briefed yet. In practice though, they’re usually pretty keen. I’ve worked here for eighteen months now and I’ve never known an agent turn a job down.’
John explained for the benefit of the three youngsters. ‘Abigail is an ASIS officer, that’s the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. We’re hoping that you three will be prepared to work with her on an undercover mission based in Australia.’
James and Lauren grinned at the prospect of going to Australia. Dana carried on staring at her boots; but she was the kind of person who probably would have carried on staring at her boots if an atomic bomb went off.
‘Are the briefings written yet?’ Lauren asked.
John nodded as he stood up and dialled the combination into a large wall safe. He opened the heavy door, removed an envelope and distributed three copies of the mission briefing.
***CLASSIFIED MISSION BRIEFING***
FOR JAMES ADAMS, LAUREN ADAMS & DANA SMITH
THIS DOCUMENT IS PROTECTED WITH A RADIO
FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION TAG. ANY ATTEMPT
TO REMOVE IT FROM THE MISSION PREPARATION BUILDING WILL SET OFF AN ALARM.
DO NOT PHOTOCOPY OR MAKE NOTES
MISSION BACKGROUND – THE HONG KONG MISSION
In late 2005 the Echelon intelligence network intercepted an e-mail message relating to a possible Help Earth attack in Hong Kong. The CIA contacted the British security service, who still have strong intelligence connections inside their former colony.
After identifying a young activist named Clyde Xu, MI5 decided to infiltrate Xu’s family using three CHERUB agents. Their aim was to uncover a more senior member of Help Earth.
After six weeks, this mission proved successful. The CHERUB team foiled Clyde Xu’s attempt to blow up a business jet with fifteen oil executives on board and simultaneously tracked a senior member of Help Earth to his hotel room. After incapacitating the man – who goes by the name of Barry Cox – the CHERUB agent was able to steal his personal possessions, including a passport, diary and handheld computer.
THE EVIDENCE
It took several days to decrypt all of the data on Cox’s handheld computer and analyse the accompanying paperwork. Unfortunately, the computer contained little except saved games for an electronic chess program. Paper documents gave details of Cox’s recent movements and recorded expenses, but nothing could be discerned from them, except that he had made several flights between Brisbane and Hong Kong over the previous six months. The Australian police could not match Cox’s DNA or fingerprints with any known criminals in their database.
The MI5 analysts were in the final stages of the investigation and had almost given up hope when one of them unravelled an old credit card transaction slip in the back of Cox’s wallet. The credit card number on the slip did not match any of Cox’s cards.
The mysterious credit card was traced to a company called Lomborg Financial, based in Brisbane. The transaction was for a lunch at a Brisbane restaurant six days earlier. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) began a discreet investigation.
The restaurant still had CCTV footage of the afternoon in question. It showed Barry Cox meeting with Arnos Lomborg, chairman of Lomborg Financial. At the end of the meal, Lomborg paid with his credit card. Cox left a cash tip and accidentally pocketed the transaction slip.
With nothing else to go on, ASIS began looking into Lomborg Financial. The family-run company employs thirty people and has fewer than a dozen large clients. Lomborg’s biggest client is a wealthy and secretive religious cult known as the Survivors.
When ASIS began investigating this business relationship they noticed that Lomborg Financial was buying shares and futures through other stockbrokers in order to hide what they were doing. They also noticed that the Survivors’ investment portfolio had risen more than 1000% in just four years. These extraordinary profits suggested that the Survivors had some kind of illegal inside knowledge.
It soon became clear that the Survivors’ investment strategy coincided with attacks by Help Earth. For instance, on 27 October 2004 the Survivors purchased futures contracts on four million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil. Three days later, Help Earth destroyed an oil pipeline between Venezuela and Brazil.