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Chapter 42
January 5th, 1939
Hyde Park, London
Philby was always walking this particular route at this particular hour every morning before he went to work and to the casual or not observer he looked just like one of many civil servants that used the time to take morning walks, or in case of the night shifts walked home from whatever Ministry they were working at. But a close observer could see that whenever Philby was coming through this particular part of the park he was sitting down at the right edge of the same bench and could always be seen tying his shoelaces. This was nothing unusual on the stony and unpaved roads, but what could not be seen by someone who wasn't really looking for it was that Philby always retrieved a small capsule from the underside of the bench. He had been using this dead drop ever since starting to work in England, and this arrangement had proven both efficient and secure. With it he had never even seen his control officer which was more secure for both himself and the other man, considering the highly clandestine operations they were conducting. When he had retrieved the capsule and replaced it's content with his latest report he pinned it back under the bench and walked on towards the exit and back to the MI6 buildings. However, unbeknownst to him two men had been shadowing him for the last several days. Had they been wearing their usual attire then he might have recognized them from a fleeting meeting last December, but right now they were both dressed in suits and hats similar to that Philby himself wore. When he was back on the main path and they were satisfied that the next team had taken over the observation they returned to the bench, situating themselves a bit back in order to try and observe Philby's contact. Their orders were not to apprehend him. Rear Admiral Edwards wanted to smoke out the entire ring, and to do that they needed to get to the 'third man' the one behind the coordination of whatever group Philby belonged to.
He was always shadowed by a team of two men, changing every half hour when he was in the open, moving around, and two surveillance teams when he was at home or at work. Fleming and Leiter had at first been declined participation in the shadowing as Philby could remember their faces from the meeting in December, but Leiter had argued that with a minimum effort, in their case growing a short beard and a change of clothes. So far everything went well. It amazed Fleming time and again that as soon as you know what to look for and that you had to look for it even the most skilled Agent's clandestine actions were as visible as Big Ben at mid-day. When they returned to the bench a third NID man signalled them that no one had approached it while they had been gone and the men started to play on a nearby improvised cricket pitch, while at least two of them always kept an eye on the bench. If anyone were to ask, they would say that they were the cricket team of a small fictional Company named 'Universal Exports', training for a game to be held in June that year. Leiter had laughed when Fleming had suggested the name and had thrown in that he didn't know how to play cricket. Fleming had retorted that it was “about bloody time” that the “upstart colonial” learned how proper Gentlemen had a good time and had simply dragged him along. Now here they were, trying to look like they had a good time while in reality keeping watch on the bench. After two hours and several quick matches, a man was spotted approaching the bench. Smartly dressed, in a suit of the latest fashion, he quickly glanced at the men on their cricket pitch and a small frown of puzzlement could be seen before he sat down and started to read a paper. Leiter, who was watching him almost missed it, but he could see the man retrieving the capsule and replacing it quickly. He signalled the others. Fleming nodded and this was enough for a singly NID officer to quietly sneak away into the bushes, ready to follow him out and signal the teams at the exits to have him shadowed, wherever he was going. Fleming had his ideas, but in his line of work he couldn't really run things with assumptions, he needed proof, and lots of that. He and the Rear Admiral were convinced that Philby was working for the Soviets, but before they could go to MI5 and have him arrested they wanted, the need to have the whole ring smoked out. According to the MI5 memos that the Admiral received regularly, MI5 believed that perhaps one or two more major Spy rings existed in the UK, and he was inclined to agree. Still, that did not mean that they were to sit around, doing nothing. Whether or not Philby was really working for the Soviets was irrelevant, so much was clear. The danger was that if his masters had managed to deeply penetrate British Intelligence, then there might not only be others, but they would most certainly try again. If on the other hand the existing network could be destroyed then they would have great difficulties establishing a new one, and that was the British Intelligence Community's great goal, their holy grail so to speak.
Later that day Philby, completely oblivious to the attention given to him by the NID, was walking back home from his current workplace in MI5's Turkish Section, silently pondering about what the capsule he had retrieved from a second visit to the bench on his way had contained. It seemed that the comrades in Moscow were very interested in one of the old group of agents he had been recruited with during his days at Camebridge. It seemed that one of them, old Donnie Maclean, had left Civil service some tome ago and was now involved in some sort of secret project. It seemed that his line of reporting to Moscow had somehow been cut in the crackdown MI5 had started a few months ago, and now Moscow wanted him to re-establish contact. He did not like this at all. It was incredibly risky,and any change in Philby's own routine might draw unwanted attention by those above him in the food chain at MI5. Still, there wasn't much he could do. He still had almost two months worth of leave that he would take. Feigning a cold would be easy, and saying that he wanted to spend his leave in Wales wasn't much of an effort. Everyone knew of his genuine fondness for this particular patch of Earth, so it shouldn't raise any unwanted questions either. Now that he thought about it, he would actually enjoy the next few days, he enjoyed every opportunity to get out of London, away from all the disgusting Royalist pomp and the self-indulged old Imperialists in Westminster Palace. Little did he know that about 20 yards back, hidden in the crowds three teams of two men each were carefully recording his every move, mapping his routines and quirks for future reference. He did not know either that at this earlier that day, two hours after he had finally left the park, three frustrated teams of NID officers reported to the Lieutenant Commander in charge that they had lost their prey. They had not been spotted as far as they could tell, but the target had suddenly enacted proven evasion methods, probably his standard modus operandi. Still, at least they had Philby's new orders, photographed and replaced with the greatest care.
At the same evening Felming was reporting to the Admiral. “Basically Sir, they want him to re-establish a connection with an agent codenamed Homer, working at some project site in Wales, on the Isle of Anglesey to be exact.” The Admiral's next reaction confused Fleming to no end. “Are you perfectly sure about that, Commander?” the Admiral practically yelled. “Positive, Sir. They didn't even bother to encrypt the messages. Rather shoddy trade craft if you as ask me.” The Admiral nodded, and then said: “Take Leiter. Pack some bags. A plane will wait for you. You have to get to Wales before Philby does. This is of the utmost importance, Commander. Do you understand?” Fleming again could just nod. “Yes, Sir. But may I ask what this commotion is all about?” The Admiral let his had fall down a bit before looking up again. “You may ask, but before I tell you I will have to do two things. First I will tell you that if I am granted permission to brief you that divulging any of this, even to Leiter would warrant capital punishment under the new 1938 official secrets act. Is that understood, Commander?” “Yes, Sir!” The Admiral did not comment. He picked up the phone on his desk, and quickly dialed number. The conversation, of which Fleming could only hear the Admiral's side contained many 'yes, Sir's and other phrases of military respect, and by the end of it Fleming was by no means more educated then before. The Admiral replaced the receiver and just said: “Commander, I will now brief you on a top-secret project named Tube Alloys...”
[Game effects: I think now, while writing this update, that the “Single Spy” thing in the game is a bit outlandish, so from now on each ingame spy will represent a spy ring. Info on the OTL Tube Alloys.]
Did someone just send me a PM? I think I accidentally deleted it with all the others, so please resend it. 
Ooh.. This sounds positively intriguing.. I love spy-games and this is of the best quality.. Get Fleming on that airplane, before all the secret research goes down the tubes, so to speak..
And please pardon the pun. It was entirely intentional..
Great work trek and splendid update.. As always
I love spy-games and this is of the best quality.. Get Fleming on that airplane, before all the secret research goes down the tubes, so to speak.. And please pardon the pun. It was entirely intentional..
Great work trek and splendid update.. As always
Thank you, thank you. Fleming and Leiter will be on the plane within the hour. The next update will probably already show them in Wales.
Off to Wales then, huh?
Is it me or is the Welsh state far overlooked by the Imperial and United British state? I've always been fascinated with Welsh history, maybe Fleming and Leiter will learn a thing or two while in Wales that could be somewhat important to them...
Great update.
Is it me or is the Welsh state far overlooked by the Imperial and United British state? I've always been fascinated with Welsh history, maybe Fleming and Leiter will learn a thing or two while in Wales that could be somewhat important to them...
Great update.
Great! Now they need to be met by Agent Solo and his Russian expatriate partner....
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Great update. It would seem that your investment into counter-intelligence is about to pay large dividends. Great work!
wales? :rofl: (sorry)
this update reminded me of the more realistic aspects of spooks. quality stuff.
this update reminded me of the more realistic aspects of spooks. quality stuff.
TheEnlighted1 Off to Wales indeed.
It may be German ignorance in regards to the home nations, but I've always regarded wales to be a part of the UK...
If anything our two heroes will gain valuable experience for the war.
KiMaSa Not so likely methinks.
Bafflegab Thanks. I've been hunting spies from relatively early in the game, as with the ARMA 1.2 patch the AI spies get somewhat annoying if left unchecked.
BritishImperial
I am familiar with Spooks, but to my shame I have to admit that the procedures were taken from Mr. Clancy's books that I liked to read during my teens.
As to wales: When I play the UK I always build my reactor there, it is easy to defend, has no deep-water port, no beacheds and is as far away from Germany as you can get. The AI rarely bombs it.
It may be German ignorance in regards to the home nations, but I've always regarded wales to be a part of the UK...
If anything our two heroes will gain valuable experience for the war.
KiMaSa Not so likely methinks.
Bafflegab Thanks. I've been hunting spies from relatively early in the game, as with the ARMA 1.2 patch the AI spies get somewhat annoying if left unchecked.
BritishImperial
I am familiar with Spooks, but to my shame I have to admit that the procedures were taken from Mr. Clancy's books that I liked to read during my teens.
As to wales: When I play the UK I always build my reactor there, it is easy to defend, has no deep-water port, no beacheds and is as far away from Germany as you can get. The AI rarely bombs it.
Just you I think, there's not alot of Welsh (as opposed to British people who happen to have been born in Wales) history.TheEnlighted1 said:
Hell the only 'Welsh' act during WW2 ended up helping the Germans, setting fire to a bomber training school and kicking up such a fuss the formerly secret base became a prime Lufftwaffe target. It's not the kind of thing you boast about is it?
Anyway, excellent progress on hunting spys I do look forward to our intrepid heroes adventures in Wales. An exciting game of cat and mouse in amongst the reactor piles? (
)
El Pip said:Just you I think, there's not alot of Welsh (as opposed to British people who happen to have been born in Wales) history.
Hell the only 'Welsh' act during WW2 ended up helping the Germans, setting fire to a bomber training school and kicking up such a fuss the formerly secret base became a prime Lufftwaffe target. It's not the kind of thing you boast about is it?
Anyway, excellent progress on hunting spys I do look forward to our intrepid heroes adventures in Wales. An exciting game of cat and mouse in amongst the reactor piles? (
Who knows...
Then it must be just me. When I think of the UK, Wales is always last though: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and then Wales...
... I meant it a bit more on those lines that Wales is often not regarded higher than it should, especially by most Americans. If you guys came to America and asked people if they could name the 'states' in the UK: most would probably say "Isn't it just one nation" or name "England, and Scotland."
But then again not as many people in the states take a deep pride in learning or knowing history not only about the US but about the world and Europe, which is probably my strongest point in knowledge: European History.
... I meant it a bit more on those lines that Wales is often not regarded higher than it should, especially by most Americans. If you guys came to America and asked people if they could name the 'states' in the UK: most would probably say "Isn't it just one nation" or name "England, and Scotland."
But then again not as many people in the states take a deep pride in learning or knowing history not only about the US but about the world and Europe, which is probably my strongest point in knowledge: European History.
Well to be fair Wales should be regarded lesser, it was conquered first and far more thoroughly. Scotland has a (slightly) different legal system and several banks still printing their own Scottish banks notes (legal tender in the whole country, but it's hard work spending a Scottish £50 note in some places!) Wales doesn't. It's not even represented on the Union Jack while the rest of the Home Nations are.TheEnlighted1 said:
Hell the it doesn't even have it's own cricket team, it can't be a real country.
you guys have a cricket team?
scottish notes are an invitation to forgers everywhere to go nuts.
from my (limited - mostly cab driver) experience of meeting americans they dont even know that the Uk or britain or whatever exists, let alone what countries make it up. several people said 'are you from london' and talked about 'london money'. the impression i got was they thought that theres a little island somewhere east called london. it consists of about 20 people. all of them have very bad teeth, and drink tea with the queen every day.
of course, i only have very limited experience and so of course most americans are not as stupid as i have just made out. thats just the people i met on holiday.
scottish notes are an invitation to forgers everywhere to go nuts.
from my (limited - mostly cab driver) experience of meeting americans they dont even know that the Uk or britain or whatever exists, let alone what countries make it up. several people said 'are you from london' and talked about 'london money'. the impression i got was they thought that theres a little island somewhere east called london. it consists of about 20 people. all of them have very bad teeth, and drink tea with the queen every day.
of course, i only have very limited experience and so of course most americans are not as stupid as i have just made out. thats just the people i met on holiday.