"Only the six of us will ever know this," continued White, "but from now on this agency will be split into three sections. Section one will continue with all the work we have been doing for the last ten years in combating domestic terrorism. Section two, which will be headed by you four, will be concerned with protecting our technological research and development infrastructure, especially from CIA infiltration or sabotage. Section three, the most difficult of all, will be exclusively involved in using Agent 4 to feed false information to the CIA.
"Believe me, I'm as unhappy as you about using Arthur in this way but we have no choice. There is currently no technical way of establishing whether or not hidden code is functioning in his implant because we never foresaw this kind of scenario. We're working on a vastly improved firmware for the implant but that could take months. In the meantime we simply have no way of knowing if Arthur is trustworthy, so we have to assume that he isn't.
"It's convenient in a way that this new responsibility has been thrust upon us. I've just briefed Arthur on everything except the possibility of hidden code and told him that I will be coordinating the new division, leaving him largely in charge of the running of the original work of T14. He's more than capable of that but I will have to keep a close eye on him. I've already given him a piece of inconsequential false information, which I'll come to shortly."
He picked up a pile of files from the table and gave them to the four agents.
"Those are your detailed briefings for your new missions, which will begin immediately. As you may know, there are four locations where high level research and development of the sort the CIA are interested in are carried out - Cambridge, Aberdeen, Cardiff and Sheffield. There is already an increased police presence at these locations and a ramping up of internal security, but we are still going to check out all of them. 45 and 22 will be going straight to the lab in Cambridge where they produce brain-computer-interfaces and various types of semi-organic implants. That is the most likely target and John, your technical knowledge will be invaluable there. 37 and 61, you will be going to each of the other three in turn and assessing the work they do and how concerned we need to be about their methods and security. Both teams will have five additional agents. Only you four will report directly to me. I will then decide what, if anything, to pass on to Arthur, and possibly the CIA. Any comments?"
John threw his cigarette out of the window and went back to his seat.
"It all seems too complicated to me. Is it necessary to feed false info to the Yanks? If they act upon any of it, all you'll have proved is that Arthur is in some way giving them information. It won't tell us anything technical about how they've done it or what their precise intentions are towards our tech industry."
"That is all true," said White, "but to be honest I just want a quick way to prove one way or the other whether they are using Arthur. I know it's not foolproof but I'm going to try anyway - if nothing happens, no harm done, if they go for it then we know for certain we can't trust Arthur."
John nodded, then turned to the Prime Minister.
"Suppose we find a CIA spy inside one of these places? What do we do, kill them and bury them in the woods?"
"There's no need to be facetious, John," chided White.
"No," said the Prime Minister, "that's a valid question. Obviously this isn't an officially declared conflict and therefore the British government cannot possibly sanction the use of lethal force. Off the record, however, the CIA are fighting dirty on this one, so we may be forced to play them at their own game. We believe they have lost three of their own agents in unsuccessful brain implant operations, which explains their desperation to get their hands on one that actually works.
"I am confident that, were one of their agents to be caught in one of our facilities, the CIA would not make any public declaration and would be willing to sacrifice that agent, just as they were with Libby Stevens. I believe that even the president doesn't know what the CIA are up to, but that's par for the course over there. Obviously I never said this, but their current incumbent is something of a straw-chewing retard.
"Anyway, to get back to your question, John, any attempt by anybody whomsoever to infiltrate our top secret installations can be legitimately and legally met with lethal force. There are enough fences and warning signs, and anybody who gets a job inside is made all too aware of the consequences of misconduct or leaks.
"I have no official knowledge of any of this, and ultimate responsibility for this operation rests squarely on the capable shoulders of your director."
A perfunctory knock on the door was swiftly followed by a head appearing.
"We have to go immediately, sir," urged one of the special branch officers.
"What's the problem?"
The man hesitated.
"Everyone in this room has higher security clearance than you, Frank, just spit it out."
The man reddened ever so slightly, but soon regained his composure.
"One of your cabinet has... an indiscretion has occurred."
The Prime Minister made it clear with a look that he wasn't going anywhere without more information.
"It's the culture secretary. She's been filmed by a newspaper buying cocaine."
The Prime Minister retained his outwardly calm expression as he turned to Bill White and shook his hand.
"Good luck to all of you. I'm afraid I have to go and deal with this." He nodded towards the four agents and walked briskly from the room.
The conference room door thudded shut, whereupon the Prime Minister could be heard swearing effusively.
Inside the room, four T14 agents exhaled slowly and looked at each other.
"I think we need more coffee," said John, taking out his cigarettes and heading for the window.