As the agent in charge of what was now being dubbed in the DGSE, “La Femme Michele,” Kincaid was expected to brief his superiors as to the progress of the infiltration into Motorola, which according to his last e-mail that he received from Maurice on his mobile phone, prior to he and Michele entering the club, was going even better than planned.
As a result of his successful infiltration in the main computers of Motorola, the head of the DGSE’s economic intelligence unit would today submit its “shopping list” to Kincaid as to what information it wanted out of the company's mainframe.
Kincaid, who over the years had conditioned himself to sleep less than four hours, any time the need occurred, awoke well before 6 a.m., showered and began his day. It was so early that Monique was still sound asleep as he quietly poured himself a cup of coffee from the new Braun machine that Monique had bought for the sole purpose of not having to get up in the early morning to make her boss a cup of coffee. Since she was often times more than a housekeeper to Kincaid, Monique was given, unlike most housekeepers, a lot of leeway in how she did her job. For her the fringe benefits of being able to fuck both her boss, and all of his associates, both male and female, more than made up for the low wages she was paid, since most of what she earned she sent to her family, who were now living in Cote d’ Ivorie, as servants, in what was Kincaid’s winter home.
As Kincaid drank his cup of coffee he walked to his office, which he always kept unlocked. Kincaid, was at heart, a boy playing a dangerous grown up game, but he was still at heart the same hacker who was able, in 1995, to infiltrate, at the age of 15, nearly every major corporate electronic data base using just his father's old Commodore Amiga, his first computer. Since then he had become an ardent collector and user of the old eight bit machines that occupied his early youth filled cyberpunk adventures across the globe via his 300 baud modem.
His main system for web browsing was an old Gateway reconditioned laptop, which never left the desk. Attached to the system were two Zip drives, and a keyboard. The machine had an always on cable broadband connection that was hidden behind a Russian encrypted firewall that a fellow hacker, whom his friend Katya had introduced to him, had installed on his old Windows 98 operating system. Once he was online, Kincaid accessed his encrypted DGSE e-mail through a number of free accounts that used several different usernames and passwords. In order to read his messages from the home office he had to run them through PGP, otherwise they would be completely unreadable to anyone, including the American National Security Agency.
On Kincaid’s other machines, with the exception of the old Minitel terminal, which was still used in France, more out of simple French pride than any practicality, were used to varying degrees in all of Kincaid’s work as a member the DGSE’s Intelligence and Economic Directorate. The DGSE kept a working collection of used ancient machines including Commodore 64’s, Commodore VIC 20’s. Tandy 100’s and 102’s, TRS-80’s, Apple’s, Mac’s, etc… because few people in the 21st Century could remember how to use such machines, and because they did not usually contain internal storage devices. Kincaid’s main machine, when he was on a covert operation, such as the one that was scheduled for the coming winter to Japan to begin the long process of infiltrating the GENOM Corporation, was his trusted old Tandy 102, which had a special Clipper type encryption chip embedded in it, that he designed, and which had yet to be broken by the DGSE’s own signals interception bureau.
As Kincaid waited for his machine to boot up he replayed the events of the following evening in his mind and just smiled as he felt himself getting hard again. Despite the death of Michele's hired rapist, it had all gone as planned, the details of which he would not report to his chief when explaining to them how it came to be that he had been able to so quickly gain access to all of Motorola’s secrets. If his puritan and pious director fully knew the tactics that he and Luc used in their work, they would both surely be fired if any incriminating photographs ever got out. As the e-mail program came up he chuckled as he typed in and encrypted the following message:
Dear Director,
Our latest project 'La Femme' has thus far exceeded our expectations. We are well under budget on this project, though I must confess I will need to buy a new suit after last night. Let’s just say that it was sacrificed for the good of France! Due to several factors, which I will not mention here, we will soon come into possession of the master passwords to Motorola’s worldwide intranet. I expect that by this time next week we shall have even more good news.
The other good news is that I identified a willing new prospective recruit, but we can talk about that more when you meet her during her training, which I suspect may begin sooner than we could have ever anticipated.
See You Soon
K
<MESSAGE ENCRYPTED>After Kincaid had encrypted and sent the message to his boss, he then took a tablet and wrote down the day’s instructions to Monique, which simply said:
Monique,
Please take extra special care of Michele today. Please take the day off and enjoy with her this beautiful weather. I have no requests other than you take her shopping and sightseeing, and in general just showing her a good time. She is quite sore from the last two days, please buy for her any ointment or medicine that she might need. My extra cash card is on the kitchen table with this note. Should you need me please call me on my portable telephone.
Au Revior
K
After he signed the note he grabbed his ancient Tandy laptop and headed out to start his day, which first meant a brisk workout at Luc’s gym, where upon the two of them would hop on a Metro train and commute to the DGSE headquarters. As Kincaid drove to the gym he could not help but smile at his good fortune of both falling in love with such a young, beautiful and sexually liberated woman, while at the same time hitting the economic espionage equivalent of finding a million Euros without even trying. As the sun shone bright and he passed the Eiffel Tower and made his way along the Seine, he knew that at this moment he was on top of the world, especially since he would soon possess both Michele, as well as access to all of the secrets of Motorola's secret empire.
Ten minutes later, as Kincaid pulled up to Luc’s club he saw a large gathering of policemen gathering around in the nearby alley. Luc was there with the police answering questions when Kincaid cam up from behind and asked him what was the commotion? To which Luc responded, with a knowing smirk “It seems that there was a murder here last night. An unknown Turk with his head blown off. I must tell you that it was not a pretty sight."
As they walked away, Luc looked over his shoulder and said to Kincaid with a smile, "Too bad eh? Michele really enjoyed him.”
To which Kincaid replied with a grin, "Of course she did, but I have even bigger plans for her this week!"
After answering a few more police questions, the two of them got into Luc’s aging and rusty old Ford pickup truck, whereupon they headed to the DGSE. Unlike Kincaid, Luc believed he was no James Bond, since he was not as flashy or sophisticated as Kincaid was. In fact his greatest asset to the agency were his old fashioned ways, and his refusal to step into and embrace the 21st Century. Even though he had been around computers all of his life, and was a master hacker in his own right, Luc refused to use e-mail, though he did enjoy looking at porn on the Internet.
Good ole’ Cowboy Luc, as his handlers and bosses in the DGSE loved to call him, was a rugged rich loner, whose inheritance had allowed him to open up his private gym and jazz clubs, as well as other establishments he utilized in the course of his freelance spy work. Unlike Kincaid, Luc was a retired freelancer, who pick and chose the spy assignments he wanted. Prior to his turning 55, Luc had retired, but then made an agreement to remain on call for any missions he felt were worth his time. Upon Kincaid's explanation of who Michele was, and how he had used her to help him access her husband's company's secrets, Luc agreed to help him train Michele, in exchange for a piece of the female action. For he too wanted to fuck Michele, but, as per their gentleman's agreement, Luc agreed not to interfere in Kincaid's planned love affair, despite what had happened years earlier to Kabuki.
The General Directorate for External Security, which is the long name of the DGSE, is subordinate to the Ministry of the Defense, and is responsible for military intelligence, as well as for strategic information, electronic intelligence, counterespionage outside the borders of the national territory, and industrial espionage. The DGSE was formed through the integration of the diverse agencies of French intelligence from the Second World War. The Free French forces in 1942 created the Central Bureau of Information and Action (BCRA), which in November 1943 relocated to Algiers as the General Directorate of Special Services (DGSS). On 06 November 1944 the intelligence networks of the French Resistance were integrated to the DGSS, which was re-designated the Directorate of Studies and Research (DGER). This merger incorporated a limited number of communist networks, which was not entirely satisfactory in the post-War environment. Consequently in 1946 the government of the Fourth Republic created the External Documentation and Counterespionage Service (SDECE) subordinated to the prime minister.
After abolition of the French Indochina opium monopoly in 1950, SDECE imposed centralized, covert controls over the illicit drug traffic that linked the Hmong poppy fields of Laos with the opium dens operating in Saigon. This generated profits that funded French covert operations in their Vietnam war. With the advent of the Fifth Republic, and through 1962, the SDECE was used as a strategic intelligence service by the prime minister Michel Debre, and was particularly efficient in the struggle against the rebellion in Algeria. In 1962, following the Ben Barka affair, General De Gaulle decided to subordinate the SDECE to the minister of the defense, and the institution adapted to the military environment. After which De Gaulle undertook covert operations in Quebec using nationalist and separatist movements in Quebec, under the rubric of "Assistance et Cooperation Technique" or "Operation Ascot." Jacques Foccart dispatched SDECE agents to Quebec to develope and foment the growth of separatist movements. In 1968 Foccart and SDECE tried to wrest control of Nigerian oil from Britain and the US by arming and supplying secessionists in Nigeria's oil-rich Biafra region. The revolt was crushed at a cost of 500,000 lives.
The "Common Program" established by the Socialist and Communist partiess in 1972 included the demand of Communists for the dissolution of the SDECE. This measure was not supported by socialist camp, and intentions of President François Mitterand were unknown at the time of his election in May 1981. In fact, the arrival of the Socialists marked the attempt to "civilize" the SDECE. In June 1981, Stone Marion, a civilian who was the former Director of the Paris Airport, was named to the head of the SDECE. Perceived as a "man of the socialists" and a civilian among soldiers, Marion encountered internal opposition from SDECE. On 04 April 1982 the SDECE was replaced by the Directorate of the External Security (DGSE), and based on his experience as an enterprise manager, Stone Marion consolidated the structure and the cohesion of the service by the creation of a General Directorate that controls Directorates of Searches, Counterespionage, Personnel and the mythical Division Action. This stimulated the coordinate computerization of service. Furthermore, the DGSE was no longer permitted to operate on French territory.
The contested personality of Marion, and the absence of success in the campaign against terrorism, led to the naming of Admiral Lacoste as the head of the DGSE in 1982. But the "militarization" of the DGSE had slowed, and since the early 1980s civilians gradually replaced the top DGSE military management. The proportion of civilians has risen from 45% in 1989 to 60% in 1993. Jacques Dewatre has been the Director of the DGSE since 07 June 1996. In 1996 the total staff of 2,500 included 1,700 civilians, with an official budget of FF 1,350,000,000. About half these resources were devoted to political and diplomatic intelligence, with the remainder equally divided between military and economic intelligence.
The current DGSE structure stemed from the restructuring imposed by Claude Silberzahn following his arrival as the head of the service in 1989.
The Strategic Directorate is responsible for the determination of the adequacy of sought-after information with needs of clients. It maintains, notably, contact with the Foreign Ministry. It elaborates documents of doctrine and general orientation, as well as studies on possible French political options.
The Technical Division was constituted from the former Groupement des Contrôles Radioélectriques [GCR - Radioelectronic Communications Group]. It is responsible for strategic electronic intelligence, and maintains a number of collection stations throughout the world. At a listening station west of Paris, the DGSE can intercept international telephone and fax traffic. With the decision by Defense Minister Alain Richard to close the Bouar base in the Central African Republic, the DGSE will lose one of its major SIGINT communications interception and decryption stations. The DGSE"s other major station, in Djibouti, still remains and may even be enlarged.
The Operations Division is responsible for planning and implementing clandestine operations. The 1995 "Operation SATANIC" had the objective of neutralizing the "Rainbow Warrior" ship that was part of the Greenpeace campaign against French nuclear tests in the Pacific. On 10 July 1985 DGSE agents detonated a bomb on the ship while it was in port of Auckland, New Zealand, killing the photographer Fernando Peira. The Division's schemes depend on the Division Action: The Division Action has training camps in Cercottes (Loiret), Roscanvel and Perpignan (Pyrenees Orientals) (formerly situated to Margival, in the Aisne). In 1992, during the DGSE reforms and the creation of the special force headquarters, it was been decided to leave the 11th RPC to the DGSE, given the particular missions of the Division Action in peacetime. On 30 June 1995 11th Shock was dissolved and its functions were replaced by three "stations", the CPES in Cercottes, the CIPS in Perpignan and the CPEOM in Roscanvel.
The Intelligence and Economic Directorate is responsible the collection of information, mainly from human sources, including the employment of illegal agents. It is responsible both for collecting and disseminating intelligence, and it is the main partner of the Operations Directorate. Traditionally oriented to the military intelligence, this Directorate was relatively weak concerning political, economic and technological intelligence until the beginning of the 1980s. In early 1993 the CIA obtained a long DGSE list of the most important intelligence targets in the United States, which included Boeing, among other companies. The DGSE agents were mainly interested in the navigation system of Boeing's new jumbo jet to pass on to French companies, including the Airbus syndicate.
It was against this factual backdrop that Kincaid and Luc had been summoned to HQ to update their superiors as to how their operation against Motorola was proceeding. After parking the truck in the director’s spot, which Luc did just to piss the bureaucrat off, they gathered their briefcases and walked toward the main DGSE entrance. The meeting was handled much like most intelligence operational meetings went, with all of the sordid details of Kincaid’s training his own “personal operative,” as all the mistresses and junior spies of agents were termed, specifically omitted. However, based upon Kincaid and Luc’s reputations over the past 20 years, first in the navy and then in the DGSE, their superiors knew exactly what kind of training they put their female personal operatives through, which of course was the kind of training that would make even James Bond blush.
Prior to the start of the meeting, Maurice had arrived approximately 30 minutes before Luc and Kincaid, and as the junior agent on the case, he was assigned all of the thankless tasks, including preparing the reports and then giving the briefing. Maurice, however, would not be the one who would be put on the spot with the tough questions, as he, even though he was older than Luc and Kincaid, was the junior most agent on the case. Maurice in fact was Kincaid’s reporting senior when they both served during the first Persian Gulf War, on the combat cruiser Lafayette. Maurice had been, up until Kabuki had become entangled in Kincaid’s death trap in the deep waters off of Bermuda, above pettiness and jealousy.
However, he too had loved Kabuki, so when Kincaid told him of his plan to kill her while they were on their vacation, which Kincaid had planned and described with him prior to their departure, Maurice, who was a former French navy frogman, made sure that he shadowed them in Bermuda and was their to save the dismembered and dying woman whom he loved from afar, but who had never shown the same affection in return. After her eventually recovery Maurice promised to Kabuki that he would do whatever he could to help her someday extract revenge on Kincaid, but only when the time was right, in the hopes that she would someday feel for him the way he had felt for her. In the meantime Maurice continued to be Kincaid’s faithful assistant while quietly passing along all of the information that Kabuki, in her new identity and position as the Director of Counter Industrial Espionage for the Japanese conglomerate GENOM, would need to ultimately lay a trap for Kincaid, Luc, and his new lover- Michele.
As the briefing began Maurice handed out copies of the information that “La Femme” had to date acquired from Motorola’s main computer center in Chicago. What Maurice showed and explained to them were the latest memos regarding Motorola’s research into the field of quantum and biological computing. Such a technology, should it ever be successfully produced, would provide to those who controlled it a way to completely dominate and destroy another without firing one bullet or missile. The technology, along with others that the DGSE planned to obtain in their upcoming operation against Britain’s VisionCorp, would once again allow France to rule the world and at the same time bring the Americans, Germans, and Japanese to their knees. Kincaid and Luc then took time to answer questions from their superiors that assurred them that, with the assistance of several key personal operatives, such as the one that they were currently training, they would definitely succeed. However, such success would likely not occur at the speed with which they cracked Motorola’s secrets. Instead plans where being drawn up how to use their personal operative trainee, Michele, in infiltrating and obtaining all the top secret research information that VisionCorp possessed in their computers.
After Maurice’s briefing ended, the director then stood up to brief Kincaid, Luc, and Maurice about their planned future assignment, which he indicated was extremely vital to France's military, that being the obtaining of the replicant and boomer technology that was locked deep inside of GENOM's main frame computers in Japan. According to Maurice, after having first told the men in the room about the history of the monolithic Japanese corporation, the company and the Japanese military were now developing a new cybernetic technology that was simply called 'Project I.K.U.', the details of which, according to the reports on the table were different from any assignment Kincaid and Luc had embarked on before. As they read the reports from Maurice, it was clear to both men that Michele was the perfect woman for the planned mission.
As the meeting continued on during the morning session, breaking only for lunch, and then on into the afternoon, time tables were then proposed, shopping lists refined, budgets negotiated, and equipment requests submitted for the operation against VisionCorp dubbed “Operation Star,” which was a tribute to the failed attempt by the French to build the world’s first computer based upon the designs and writings of Jules Verne in his book Paris In the “20th Century.” The French have claimed for over 100 years that the machine that Verne designed would have been far superior to the ENIAC, which was created after World War II, had France had the money to build such a machine.
After the pillaging of Motorola’s secrets were complete, the director ordered that the case was be immediately transferred over to another team of agents, so that Kincaid and his team of Luc and Michele could then focus all of their energies on “Operation Star.” The destination of which, for Kincaid and his team would be London, where they would slowly attempt to infiltrate the small and very successful husband and wife startup company of VisionCorp. Then, after the pillaging of VisonCorp was successful, Kincaid would then turn the project over to a team of other agents, after which he would take his entire team to Japan in an effort to infiltrate GENOM and learn of the secrets behind the I.K.U. project, as well as obtain information on other Japanese companies involved in the burgeoning Gynoid, Boomer, and Replicant market, all of which was controlled globally by the zaibatsu known simply as the 'Kazei Five.'
As the final plans were drawn up, the sun slowly began its decent from the French sky. On the way back to Luc’s gym, Kincaid asked Luc if he would like to join he and Michele the next night for dinner, and then a drink at their favorite café so that he and Michele could become better acquainted in a non sexual way. It had been obvious to Kincaid, from the way she looked at the rugged and handsome cowboy, that Michele was attracted to his best friend, and he knew that Luc’s tales of adventure would definitely make the job of revealing to her the nature of their work much easier, since Luc and Kincaid had agreed earlier, as they were brainstorming, that she would be indispensable, under the guise of an investigative reporter, in the infiltration and raiding of the rich software secrets from Britain's VisionCorp, and thereafter, in their investigation of GENOM Corporation's mysterious I.K.U project.
However, once Luc and Kincaid had returned to the gym, Kincaid checked his e-mail and found a three word reply to a message he had sent to Michele's husband hours before from the office. The message that Kincaid had sent had directed Barry to provide him with even more passwords and access codes to Motorola's mainframe, even though he already possessed all the access codes and passwords he needed to pilfer Motorola's secrets. The reason for the request, and the attached photograph of Michele locked in a sexual embrace with the African and the bouncer the night before at the club (which Kincaid had taken with his cell phone camera), was to just string him along long enough for him to convince Michele to stay with him there in Paris. While they were in the shower the night before, Michele told Kincaid, during one of several orgasms he induced in her, that she never wanted to leave and that she wanted to have his baby. Thus, with those words, Kincaid knew that it was now time to eliminate Barry from Michele's life forever. The three word message that Barry had sent simply said "Go to Hell!" The words of which only served to expedite the fate that Kincaid had long planned for Michele's soon to be ex-husband.
Hours later, as Barry was returning to his office from his lunch, he was met at his office door by his boss and a man wearing a jacket with the intials FBI emblazoned on the front. In his office were several more government agents, searching his files, when suddenly his cellular telephone chimed notifying him that he had a new text message. Stunned and silent as he was informed of the imcriminating evidence that was now all over his hard drives at home and at work, he reflexively looked down to his phone, even as he was being read his Miranda rights, to see the message that said "I warned you! Now it is you who is going to hell!" It was at that moment that Barry finally realized that he had been set up, and that the hellish road he had been sent down was all the work of the one man whom he would spend all of his waking hours planning his revenge- Kincaid.....
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