Red Alert
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Correct Answer
HARRY HAD INSISTED WE PLACE THE HOLE WHERE IT WOULDN’T BE SEEN LATER. I WAS PRETTY SURE NOW THAT HE PLANNED TO CLAIM THE TABLE FOR HIS OFFICE, SO HE SUGGESTED WE REMOVE THE MAKER’S NAME PLATE AND DRILL THERE. IT WAS JUST AS WELL HE DID. THE DEMOLITION CHARGE WAS LINKED TO A WEB OF MECHANICAL DETONATORS AND ALMOST ANY OTHER DIRECTION WOULD HAVE DISTURBED AT LEAST ONE OF THEM. THE MACHINERY WAS OLD AND THE SAPPERS WEREN’T HAPPY WORKING WITH IT, BUT MECHANICAL MECHANISMS CAN BE EASIER TO WORK WITH THAN ELECTRONICS AS YOU CAN SEE HOW EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED. A JUDICIOUS DOSE OF SUPERGLUE FIXED MOST OF THE MECHANISMS IN PLACE JUST LEAVING US WITH THE PROBLEM OF WHAT TO DO WITH A HEAP OF OLD AND UNSTABLE EXPLOSIVES. NORMALLY WE WOULD HAVE PLACED ONE OR TWO OF OUR OWN DETONATORS AND PACKED OUT THE PLACE WITH SANDBAGS AND BREEZE BLOCKS TO CONTAIN THE EXPLOSION, AND I THINK EVEN HARRY MIGHT HAVE BEEN CONVINCED THAT THAT IS WHAT WE SHOULD DO IN THIS CASE, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE EXPLOSIVES WERE NOT THE ONLY THING WE COULD SEE INSIDE THE SAFE. SITTING UNDER THEM WAS A SLIM BLACK BOOK. WE COULDN’T SEE ANY DETAILS, BUT HAVING GOT THIS FAR IT SEEMED CRAZY TO DESTROY IT. ANYTHING THIS WELL PROTECTED MUST HAVE BEEN IMPORTANT AT SOME TIME, AND WE NEEDED TO KNOW WHAT THIS MIGHT ALL HAVE BEEN ABOUT. AFTER A QUICK CALL BACK TO HEADQUARTERS HARRY GOT APPROVAL TO CONTINUE TRYING TO CRACK THE SAFE. HE KNEW ME TOO WELL TO ASK ME TO LEAVE, BUT THE DOCUMENTS TEAM RETREATED TO A SAFE DISTANCE DOWN THE CORRIDOR WITH MOST OF THE GUARDS, LEAVING A SMALL TEAM TO WATCH OVER US AS WE WORKED. ONE OF THEM HAD JOINED THE SAS FROM THE SAPPERS AND WAS AN EXPERIENCED BOMB DISPOSAL EXPERT SO HE WORKED WITH US, WATCHING THE EXPLOSIVES FOR ANY CHANGES, MONITORING VIBRATION AND TEMPERATURE, AND GENERALLY KEEPING US CALM. IT TAKES A SPECIAL TEMPERAMENT TO DO THAT WORK FULL TIME AND WE WERE GLAD OF THE COMPANY AND THE EXPERTISE. AFTER SEVENTEEN HOURS WE WERE GETTING TIRED, AND AS EIGHTEEN APPROACHED I BEGAN TO WONDER IF WE WOULD MANAGE TO SAVE THE PAPERS, BUT EVENTUALLY THE FINAL COG TURNED AND THE LAST TUMBLER FELL INTO PLACE. WE HAD MANAGED TO GLUE THE BROKEN COG BACK TOGETHER AND WITH A MILD PROTEST THE TOP TURNED RAISING A PLATFORM UP THROUGH THE CENTRAL PILLAR TO PRESENT US WITH THE BOOK WE HAD SEEN BY THE LIGHT OF THE ENDOSCOPE. IT WAS BAGGED AND SECURED AND HARRY TOOK IT WITH HIM. THE SPECIAL FORCES SECURED THE ENTRANCES TO THE SHADOW ARCHIVE AND I LEFT TO GET SOME SLEEP. WE MET THE NEXT DAY TO GO THROUGH THE PAPERS. HARRY HAD STARTED ON THE DECRYPT DOING ALL THE USUAL CHECKS: FREQUENCY ANALYSIS, INDEX OF COINCIDENCE AND SO ON. THE DISTRIBUTIONS WERE RELATIVELY FLAT SO IT WAS CLEARLY NOT A SIMPLE CADENUS OR SUBSTITUTION CIPHER AND WE STARTED TRYING SOME OF THE IDEAS WE HAD FOUND IN BLACK’S CODE BOOK. IT TOOK US LONGER THAN WE HAD EXPECTED, BUT AFTER A FEW DAYS WE HAD THE ENTIRE SET DECIPHERED AND HAD BEGUN THE ANALYSIS. HARRY HAD SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT INTERESTS FROM ME. I WAS FASCINATED BY THE INSIGHTS INTO AN OLDER WORLD, WHILE HARRY WAS FOCUSSED ON WHY THESE DOCUMENTS MIGHT HAVE ANY CONTEMPORARY SIGNIFICANCE. BOTH TURNED OUT TO BE IMPORTANT. HISTORY MATTERS, AND AS MARX SAID, IT TENDS TO REPEAT ITSELF. PERSONALLY, I WOULD BET HE WASN’T THE FIRST PERSON TO SAY IT, AND HE WON’T BE THE LAST, BUT FOR US THE POINT WAS THAT, AS WE READ MORE WE BEGAN TO SEE THE PARALLELS BETWEEN BLACK’S WORLD AND OUR OWN, AND IT WAS NOT COMFORTABLE READING. WHEN WE GOT TO THE BACK OF THE BOOK ALL BECAME CLEAR. THE BOOK WAS ACTUALLY A CIVIL SERVICE REPORT ON THE SHADOW ARCHIVE, CLOSING IT DOWN AND GIVING REASONS WHY. BLACK HAD BEEN TOO SUCCESSFUL, AND HIS ACTIVITIES HAD BADLY DESTABILISED THE BALKANS. THE REPORT TRACED A DIRECT LINE FROM THE BULGARIAN CRISIS TO LATER TRAGEDIES. GIVEN HIS EARLY ENTHUSIASM FOR HIS NEW METHODS OF SHADOW DIPLOMACY, I HONESTLY BELIEVE HE NEVER MEANT TO COST SO MANY LIVES, BUT IT SEEMED CLEAR FROM THE REPORT THAT BLACK’S INTERFERENCE IN FOREIGN DOMESTIC POLITICS HAD HAD DIRE CONSEQUENCES. IT LOOKED ALL TOO FAMILIAR AND IF OUR ENEMIES WANTED TO DISCREDIT US WHEN WE COMPLAINED ABOUT THEIR INTERFERENCE IN DOMESTIC POLITICS THEN THESE PAPERS WOULD BE THE IDEAL KOMPROMAT MATERIAL. IT LOOKED LIKE WE WEREN’T JUST VICTIMS OF THESE TACTICS, WE HAD INVENTED SOME OF THE METHODS OURSELVES BACK IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. HARRY PUT OUT A REQUEST FOR ANALYSTS TO WORK ON RECENT SIGNALS TRAFFIC TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING TO SUGGEST WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SENDING ME ON THE HUNT FOR THE KOMPROMAT FILES. THERE WASN’T MUCH, AND CERTAINLY NOTHING TO LINK IT TO FOREIGN GOVERNMENT ACTION. IT WAS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT THIS WAS THE WORK OF ONE OF THE CRIMINAL NETWORKS THAT HAD GROWN UP AFTER THE FALL OF THE SOVIETS. MARKET MANIPULATION IS A LUCRATIVE BUSINESS AND ATTACKS ON GOVERNMENT CREDIBILITY ARE A VERY EFFECTIVE WAY TO MOVE WHOLE MARKETS. THE DOCUMENTS STOLEN FROM THE ARCHIVE WERE STILL OUT THERE SOMEWHERE, AND IT WAS POSSIBLE THAT THEY CONTAINED ENOUGH TO EMBARRASS US, BUT THAT SEEMED UNLIKELY. WHOEVER WROTE THE CLOSURE REPORT HAD BEEN THOROUGH, AND IT DIDN’T SEEM LIKELY THEY HAD LEFT ANYTHING IMPORTANT ON THE SHELVES, BUT TIME WOULD TELL. HARRY SET A WATCH IN CASE ANYTHING SURFACED, AND ASKED ME TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE BLACK MARKETS TOO. AS I SUSPECTED THE SHADOW ARCHIVE TABLE APPEARED A LITTLE LATER IN HIS HEADQUARTERS, FULLY RESTORED, AND, I ASSUMED, COMPLETELY DISARMED. I RETURNED TO THE LIBRARY TO FINISH THE JOB I HAD STARTED, BUT WHEN THEY OFFERED ME A NEW CONTRACT I REFUSED, I HAD A BETTER OFFER. THE TABLE WAS IN AN OFFICE NEXT TO HARRY’S - WITH MY NAME ON THE DOOR.
Black Book
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Correct Answer
REPORT ON THE ESTABLISHMENT, EFFECTIVENESS AND STANDING OF THE SHADOW ARCHIVE; WITH RECOMMENDATIONS. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.
THIS REPORT WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE FOREIGN SECRETARY TO REPORT ON THE STRUCTURES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE QUASI-INDEPENDENT INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, THE SHADOW ARCHIVE, HEREAFTER REFERRED TO AS THE ARCHIVE. THE REPORT CONTAINS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTIONS CONCERNING THE ARCHIVE, AS WELL AS A SUMMARY OF LESSONS LEARNED FROM ANALYSIS OF ITS ACTIVITIES. IT ALSO CONTAINS A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE CURRENT ASSETS OF THE ARCHIVE AND RECOMMENDATIONS AS TO THE USE OR DISPOSAL OF THOSE ASSETS.
THE SHADOW ARCHIVE IS AN INDEPENDENT INTELLIGENCE AGENCY SET UP BY THE PRIVATE SECRETARY TO HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA IN THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. IT WAS ESTABLISHED TO CONDUCT SURVEILLANCE AND TO CARRY OUT COVERT DIPLOMATIC ACTIONS DESIGNED TO FURTHER THE INTERESTS OF HER MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT, WHILE PROVIDING AN ELEMENT OF PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY IN THE EVENT THAT ITS ACTIVITIES WERE DISCOVERED. SCANT DOCUMENTATION STILL EXISTS FROM THIS STAGE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ARCHIVE, THOUGH GIVEN THE DELICATE NATURE OF ITS OPERATIONS, IT MAY BE THAT VERY FEW SUCH DOCUMENTS WERE EVER WRITTEN. THE FEW THAT DO REMAIN ARE BY NATURE PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS AND PERSONAL RECORDS.
IN PARTICULAR THERE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN HER MAJESTY AND CHARLES GREY CONCERNING THE NEED FOR SUCH AN ORGANISATION, THOUGH ONLY A FEW OF THOSE LETTERS ARE ON FILE IN THE PRIVATE ROYAL COLLECTION. IT IS SURMISED THAT OTHER LETTERS CONCERNING THE RECRUITMENT OF BLACK AS THE FIRST HEAD OF THE ARCHIVE MUST HAVE EXISTED, BUT AN ENTIRE BOX OF DOCUMENTS FROM THAT PERIOD IS MISSING WITH NO INDEX FILE TO TELL US WHAT IT CONTAINED. OUR INVESTIGATIONS INTO BLACK SHOW THAT HE WAS RELATED TO GREY, AND THAT HE RETURNED FROM BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS TO TAKE UP RESIDENCE IN LONDON. HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY WERE NOT WEALTHY, THOUGH HE HAD BEEN A RELATIVELY SUCCESSFUL CRIMINAL IN THE UNITED STATES, AND CONTEMPORARY RECORDS SUGGEST THAT HE HAD ESTABLISHED INDEPENDENT MEANS. NO RECORD OF HIS EMPLOYMENT CAN BE FOUND, HOWEVER SEVERAL OF THE EXTANT DOCUMENTS FROM GREY’S PERSONAL COLLECTION HINT THAT BLACK WAS RECRUITED AS HER MAJESTY’S FIRST SECRET SECRETARY, SO THE ABSENCE OF ANY DOCUMENTATION IS UNSURPRISING. BLACK KEPT A PERSONAL JOURNAL WHICH CONTAINED SOME INTERESTING DETAILS, GIVING US SOME INSIGHT INTO HIS PERSONALITY, AND IT IS CLEAR THAT HE THRIVED ON ADVENTURE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE VOLUMES RELATING TO HIS PERIOD IN LONDON ARE ALSO MISSING, SO WE CANNOT RELY ON THEM TO FILL IN THE MISSING DETAILS OF HIS RECRUITMENT TO THE ARCHIVE. NONETHELESS A NUMBER OF UNOFFICIAL RECORDS MAINTAINED BY MEMBERS OF THE FOREIGN SECRETARY’S DEPARTMENT SUGGEST THAT THE EXISTENCE OF THE ARCHIVE, WHILE OFFICIALLY DENIED, WAS KNOWN TO A SMALL NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY IN LONDON. IN PARTICULAR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HEADQUARTERS IN SCOTLAND YARD WAS A RELATIVELY OPEN SECRET, PRESUMABLY BECAUSE THE POLICE THEMSELVES WERE AWARE THAT SOMETHING UNUSUAL WAS GOING ON, THOUGH THE NAME AND ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANISATION WERE A CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET. THE NAME SHADOW ARCHIVE DOES NOT APPEAR ON ANY OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS FROM THE PERIOD. AS THE SCALE OF BLACK’S OPERATIONS GREW IN THE MID EIGHTEEN SEVENTIES, RUMOURS OF ITS ACTIVITIES ALSO GREW AND IT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN THIS, AS MUCH AS THE NEED TO ESTABLISH A SECURE LOCATION FOR HIS GROWING COLLECTION OF INTELLIGENCE PAPERS, THAT SEEMS TO HAVE LED BLACK TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNDERGROUND LABYRINTH BENEATH THE YARD. THE EXTRAORDINARY COST OF THIS COULD NOT BE PROPERLY CONCEALED AND THIS LED TO QUESTIONS IN THE HOUSE WHICH IN TURN, IF YOU WILL EXCUSE THE PUN, DROVE THE ARCHIVE FURTHER UNDERGROUND. THOSE GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES WHICH HAD HITHERTO BEEN BENEFICIARIES OF THE INTELLIGENCE DATA AND ANALYSIS PRODUCED BY BLACK’S OPERATIVES NOW COMPLETELY DISTANCED THEMSELVES, AND HE SEEMS TO HAVE BECOME AN ALMOST ENTIRELY FREE AGENT, SETTING HIS OWN POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC GOALS WITH THE TACIT SUPPORT OF THE PALACE. DURING THIS PERIOD, BLACK WAS FOCUSSED LARGELY ON DESTABILISING RUSSIAN, GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN IMPERIALIST EXPANSION IN THE BALKANS REGION, AND ON THE NEED TO PROTECT THE MEDITERRANEAN TRADE ROUTES. HE SEEMS TO HAVE DEVELOPED AN EXTENSIVE NETWORK OF AGENTS IN THE REGION, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY TO HAVE DEVELOPED NEW METHODS OF WORKING. WHILE CLASSICAL DIPLOMACY HAD ALWAYS RELIED ON ESPIONAGE, BLACK ESTABLISHED NEW COVERT METHODS TO DISRUPT THE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES OF POTENTIAL OPPOSITION, BY PLACING AGENTS WITHIN THEIR BUREAUCRACIES. CONTROLLING THE AGENDA OF IMPORTANT INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS, HE WAS ABLE, AT LEAST IN PART, TO CONTROL THE OUTCOME OF NEGOTIATIONS, AND TO BENEFIT FROM INSIDE KNOWLEDGE OF THOSE DELIBERATIONS. HE HAD PARTICULAR SUCCESS DURING THE PERIOD OF THE BULGARIAN AND BALKANS CRISES DISRUPTING THE ALLIANCE BUILDING BETWEEN THE THREE EMPERORS. IF HE HAD RESTRICTED HIMSELF TO ENGAGING WITH THE MAJOR POWERS IN THIS WAY HIS RECORD WOULD HAVE BEEN REGARDED AS A SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS AND THE SUBTLETY OF HIS METHODS MAY WELL HAVE WON HIM FRIENDS IN HIGH GOVERNMENT. THE SKILFUL WAY IN WHICH HE MANIPULATED INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS TO OUR BENEFIT AT VERY LITTLE COST IN LIVES PROMISED TO ESTABLISH A NEW WAY OF WORKING BY SUBTERFUGE INSTEAD OF WAR. UNFORTUNATELY HIS VICTORIES ENCOURAGED A MORE RECKLESS APPROACH AND HE SEEMS TO HAVE EXPLORED MORE EXTREME VERSIONS OF COVERT DIPLOMACY. HERE RECORDS AT THE ARCHIVE TELL A MORE COMPLETE STORY, THOUGH FOR REASONS THAT WILL BECOME CLEAR IN A MOMENT, WE HAVE CHOSEN TO REMOVE AND CLASSIFY, OR IN SOME CASES DESTROY, THOSE DOCUMENTS WHICH NARRATE IT. THERE IS CLEAR EVIDENCE THAT BLACK SET UP UNITS WITHIN THE ARCHIVE TO UNDERTAKE WHAT HAVE BECOME KNOWN AS BLACK OPERATIONS. (AS AN ASIDE, THE ETYMOLOGY OF THAT NAME WAS NOT CLEAR UNTIL THE ARCHIVE WAS UNCOVERED.) THESE SPECIALISED IN BLACKMAIL, BRIBERY AND POLITICAL AGITATION. WHILE THERE ARE NO RECORDS OF HIGHER CRIMES BEING AUTHORISED BY THE ARCHIVE, THE ACTIVISTS THEY WORKED WITH WERE NOT ABOVE MURDER, AND IT IS QUITE PROBABLE THAT THIS HAD BECOME ANOTHER TOOL OF THE NETWORK. THE LOCAL GROUPS SUPPORTED BY THE ARCHIVE WERE PARTICULARLY ACTIVE IN THE BALKAN STATES AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, AND BLACK FOCUSSED ON TRYING TO DISRUPT RUSSIAN EXPANSION BY SOWING DISCORD AMONG BALKAN NATIONALISTS. BLACK SEEMS TO HAVE RETIRED FROM THE ARCHIVE AROUND THE TIME OF VICTORIA’S DEATH, HOWEVER HIS SUCCESSORS CONTINUED HIS WORK AND WE HAVE UNCOVERED EVIDENCE OF A HIGHLY ACTIVE GROUP WORKING UNDER CODE NAME ARCHANGEL IN THE REGION AROUND NINETEEN TWELVE. UNFORTUNATELY, IT SEEMS THAT THE SHADOW ARCHIVE NETWORK WAS BY THIS STAGE SUPPORTING ARMED INSURRECTION IN THE REGION, AND WE BELIEVE THAT ITS ACTIONS MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED, AT LEAST INDIRECTLY, TO THE EVENTS LEADING TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR.
THIS FACT ALONE COULD CAUSE CONSIDERABLE EMBARRASSMENT TO THE UK GOVERNMENT AND WE FEEL WE HAVE NO OPTION BUT TO RECOMMEND THAT THE SHADOW ARCHIVE AND ALL ITS NETWORKS SHOULD BE WOUND UP, ITS DOCUMENTS ANALYSED, CLASSIFIED, AND, IF NECESSARY, DESTROYED, AND ITS ASSETS DISPOSED OF. THIS REPORT SHOULD ALSO REMAIN CLASSIFIED FOR A PERIOD OF AT LEAST SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS. WE WOULD RECOMMEND A PUBLICATION DATE OF TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY-FIVE AT EARLIEST. IN THE MEANTIME, IT SHOULD BE PRESERVED USING THE HIGHEST SECURITY AVAILABLE; IT WOULD FORM THE MOST COMPROMISING MATERIAL IF IT SHOULD FALL INTO ENEMY HANDS.
