Part 2: Ministry of Defense
The subdermal implants of the two dead CIA agents were taken by a man named Vyacheslav Grinko. Third Echelon has tracked his car to the Georgian Defense Ministry. Fisher must infiltrate the mininstry and find Grinko in order to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Viddler/Polsy (part 1)
Viddler/Polsy (part 2)
New characters:
Vyacheslav Grinko. Ex-spetsnaz mercenary in the employ of president Nikoladze. Is involved in the disappearance of the two CIA agents.
Philip Masse. Canadian hacker and programmer hired by Nikoladze for unkown purposes.
Kombayn Nikoladze, current president of Georgia. Took power in a bloodless coup after the old president was assassinated by unknown parties.
Data, notes and e-mails collected:
quote:
Subject: Case file
Uploaded: 16/10/04
Source Grimsdottir
Full name: Vyacheslav Grinko
AKA: Numerous
DOB: 10/30/59
Citizenship: Russian
AO: Georgia, Russia, Eastern Europe
Associations: Ex-Spetsnaz
Occupation: Mercenary
Relevant history:
27/09/87
Assassination of Bkhtiyer Farohk, Afghanistan (conjecture).
19/01/90
Sniper in Operation UDAR, Azerbaijan. Seven confirmed kills.
16/12/91
All funds liquidated, converted to U.S currency.
01/02/00
First traceable payment from Nikoladze to the bank account of Albert Wentworth (alias Grinko). Monthly payments continue until 01/11/01, at which point he assumes new alias.
10/09/00
Denis Galtsev (alias Grinko) receives 200 shares of Nikoladze's GFO Inc.
30/04/04
Armen Trofimov (alias Grinko) deposits $150.000 (U.S.) in a Swiss account.
Notes: Sorry about all the guess-work, but Grinko's slippery as an eel. It's been hard to track his connections, but we're confident he's been in Nikoladze's employ for at least four years. We've also got rumours of Grinko commiting the kind of war crimes that would make Milosevic blush. Scary guy, be careful. (Author: Grimsdottir)
quote:
Subject: Case file
Uploaded: 16/10/04
Source: Grimsdottir
Full name: Philip Frankel Masse
AKA: crYSTal*NinJA, Cerbere, Marvin Kurzweil
DOB: 21/08/72
Citizenship: Canadian
AO: Georgia
Associations: GFO Inc. (owned by Kombayn Nikoladze)
Occupation: Lead Programmer
Relevant history:
27/05/94
Flees Canada after RCMP close credit card scam.
31/12/97
Breach of CIA internal network, successful for 114 seconds.
02/06/99
Emplyed by Saudi royal family in digital security/industrial espionage for several oil-based corporations.
14/11/99
Flees to Canadian embassy in Saudi Arabia to avoid prosecution for "crimes against nature."
21/09/01
2nd attempted breach of CIA internal network.
09/12/02
First paycheck from Nikoladze's GFO Inc., continuing bi-weekly.
28/03/03
Release of the "U.S. gAy" virus, (conjecture)
30/04/04
Marvin Kurzweil (alias Masse) deposits USD 80,000 in a bank account of the Cayman Islands.
Notes: I first heard of Masse back in 98, right after his first CIA hack. It was legendary for a while, he even got a mention in Wired. Our shrinks in Fort Meade have a psych profile on him that boils down to: insecure, immature, amoral, brilliant geek. (Author: Grimsdottir)
quote:
From: Georgi
To: Col.
Sent: 15/10/04 14:32
Subject: Re: Laser grid concern
Murman,
The solution to not tripping the laser grid is staying out of the damn courtyard. Period. But, just for the sake of argument, I guess the correctly calibrated thermal optics would allow one to see the lasers. But please, don't try anything that's going to get us into trouble.
-GKY
quote:
From: Col.
To: Col.
Sent: 15/10/04 08:03
Gentlemen,
President Nikoladze has personally requested that I impress on you the importance of our guests, the Canadian Philip Masse and Vyacheslav Grinko, who many of you are already familiar with on less than pleasant terms.
Since Grinko has come under President Nikoladze's offical employment, his many crimes in Georgia have been pardoned, and he is to be treated with the utmost respect. I likewise ask for your patience with Mr. Masse.
They are both key figures in the President's current operations, and security for the next 24 hours should be at its highest state. Please impress this on the men in your charge.
Respectfully,
Colonel Murman Kobiashvili
quote:
From: Georgi
To: Pavel
Sent: 15/10/2004 14:32
Subject: Courtyard grid
Pavel,
Let all your men know that the laser grid in the courtyard is active. I don't want any false alarsm caused by the grid, it triggers simultaneous alarms at five separate police and military stations nearby. Explaining a false alarm is a headache neither of us need.
If you absolutely need to go in the courtyard, you can disable the laser grid from the security terminal in the Main Hall of the South Wing. But you better have a good reason.
-GKY
quote:
From: Vyacheslav Grinko
To: Philip Masse
Sent: 15/10/04 11:46
Philip,
I cannot believe, considering your position relative to both Nikoladze and the CIA, that you have no knowledge of anything called The Ark. You don't want to know what it would take to convince me of your honesty. We are playing a dangerous game of chess, and cannot afford to have grey pieces on the board. I have a sneaking suspicion that this "Ark" is our queen piece. Nikoladze will tell me about it sooner or later; God help you if he tells me you knew about it and didn't inform me. I need to know more than Nikoladze thinks I do, so that I may protect him even from his own ambitions.
-VG
quote:
From: Vyacheslav Grinko
To: Kombayn Nikoladze
Sent: 12/10/04 11:21
Subject: Cells
Mr. Nikoladze,
The Azerbaijan operation is moving forward remarkably well. Our cells have encountered only the lightest resistance, just enough to "whet the appetite of war's hound." The men are showing excellent enthusiasm for their work. I believe we will be able to converge well within schedule. Thank you for your trust in my strategy, I have every confidence we will succeed.
-VG
quote:
From: Philip Masse
To: Vyacheslav Grinko
Sent: 12/10/04 01:19
Grinko,
You creepy son of a bitch, you're right. We checked our little Langley bird and got an ID. That guy is definitely a CIA spook for sure. His name's William Robert Blaustein and he's a complete hard-on. He's working out of their (not very safe LOL) safehouse across from the Griffin.
I say we do the same thing we did to the chick. And I am absolutely positive about the subdermals. Soon as we can find a coroner who's willing to work with something other than a chainsaw, we need to scalp these spooks and get the chips out. They might as well still be alive until we do.
-pHilip MasSE
quote:
From: Kombayn Nikoladze
To: Philip Masse; Vyacheslav Grinko
Sent: 13/10/2004 18:45
Subject: Acceleration
I laud you both for how efficiently you have uncovered and solved our CIA situation. This incident is a great cause for concern; I hate to think what the outcome could have been had we not had our "little birdie" in Langley.
I am convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that we must move our Azeri operation forward. The disappearance of the two American agents will certainly raise some eyebrows. We must begin actions before coming under the attention of our neighbors. Our potential oil relationship with the Americans will keep them from interfering, but only if the scale is already too far tilted in our favor.
Both of you should begin preliminary steps towards our initial countermeasures in case the Americans discover us. Let us keep our "glass dagger" sharp.
We'll meet this Saturday (the 16th) in my office at dawn. Make it 4:30. Masse, I'll arrange for a helicopter to pick you up from the rig.
-KN