The Spy Who Came in From Alcauld
Prologue
"Xu, listen to me. I need you to go into Galbadia and meet Major-General Josylin. We have been told that he wishes to leave the Galbadian Army and would like to help us in our intelligence gathering."
"Why send me? Wouldn't someone out of the Intelligence Directorate be more suited?" Xu watched as Cid reached into a drawer and pulled out a file. Turning the cover, he handed the top sheet to Xu.
"The general has information that may be too sensitive to send someone from GID. The fact of the matter is that one of those six people is a spy for the Galbadians. I know, I could hardly believe it myself, but it is definite: one of those is a traitor, and this Josylin may know who it is.
"It is not a well-known fact, but our networks in Galbadia have been rolled back with ease. Dozens of agents have been compromised and what product that is coming out of there is showing that their intelligence on us must have come from the top. We know a few rough dates and times, nothing solid, but from the stuff the Galbadians have of ours, someone in the top echelon is selling info.
"There are six names on that list: Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, Quistis Trepe, Irvine Kinneas, Rinoa Heartilly and Squall Leonhart. We both know them very well, but we don't know one well enough." Cid rested his elbows on the desk in front of him. "I can't stress how important this is. A leak like this could destroy SeeD, and we can't let that happen. Go to Galbadia, meet with Josylin and find out who the spy is. Get me a name, something, anything. I don't need proof, even suspicions are good enough at the moment. Go at once, Xu. I hope you return with good news." Xu nodded and saluted, then turned and walked out of the door.
I can't help thinking that somewhere I've missed something, that the solution is here somewhere. He looked over at the selection of manila folders stacked on an end-table. He picked up the sheets from the desk and tucked them into the folder. I just hope she finds something.
Six Weeks Later
Squall lay on his bed, thinking. He found it soothing, to contemplate in the dark. Everything was much clearer in darkness. He could hear the slightest sound, even through the paper-thin walls that separated each dormitory from the next. He heard Zell, for instance, shuffling his feet across the threadbare carpet as he sparred against thin air. He could hear Selphie tapping away at a keyboard, typing her diary he assumed. What is the point, he mused, of writing something that nobody reads? Maybe the accomplishment is not that someone read it, but that you wrote it. Sometimes perhaps the greatest achievements are the unnoticed ones. He heard the room below him, where two people seemed to be carrying out a rather animated conversation. Sometimes when I jump on the floors here I think they'll give way. The entire floor rests on a couple of age-old supporting trusses. The thing could collapse at any moment, leaving a hundred children mutilated. Quistis was in the room next to Zell and regardless of Squall's hearing or the thickness of the walls, no sound seemed to come from there.
How would I know which sounds come from which room? Maybe if I hear a woman - then it couldn't possibly have come from Zell's room. It was a kind of perverse entertainment for Squall to insult Zell. It seemed to lose something, however, when Zell couldn't hear it. Maybe that's why Seifer did it so much: perhaps I have something in common with Seifer that isn't superficial. He subconsciously touched the scar across his forehead. It had started to heal, and in a few years you would not be able to see it.
He glanced over at the bars of red light that seemed to glow with an alien quality. 5:14. Squall shut his eyes and thought about yesterday. There had still been no word from Xu after she went on a fact-finding mission to Esthar. The word was that she might have been attacked before she reached Esthar. Cid had officially called her MIA: the Garden term for 'We think she's dead and we've given up hope but we haven't seen a body yet'. Quistis had been a little distraught lately, and Squall had thought about going to try and comfort her. Admittedly, the thought only crossed his mind for a few seconds, but Squall held that up as 'progress'. That was the word Rinoa called it.
If he thought about it honestly, he was beginning to tire of the whole emotions deal. He couldn't see what use they served but to blunt your senses and obscure your objectivity. But the others were into them in a big way, and they seemed to think that he needed them to live. Whatever.
He was startled by the knock on his door, and only just managed a groggy 'come in'. The doors parted and Cid quietly stepped into his room. "Squall, it's good to see that you're up. Come with me, I have something for you to do." Is he out of his mind?
"Give me a minute to get changed." Squall stumbled into his clothes and emerged a little dishevelled. Cid either failed to notice or let it slide, because he was already leading Squall to his office. He offered Squall a seat and the young commander accepted, grateful of the support. Cid locked the door behind him.
Cid breathed out slowly, before repositioning his glasses. "I am sorry for getting you up this early but I couldn't take the risk of a private meeting during the day. This is a very serious matter and everything that we say must stay strictly between you and me." Squall nodded. Maybe this was important.
"There are five people. You know each one of them very well. One of them is a spy. Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Irvine and Rinoa. In those names is a spy who works for the Galbadians. I want you to find who it is.
"We can't possibly talk about them using their names, so we must assign them codenames. Tell me, do you know the nursery rhyme, 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor'?" Squall nodded. "Finish it."
"Rich man, Poor man, Beggar man, Thief."
"We'll use that. Zell Dincht - Tinker. Selphie Tilmitt - Tailor. Quistis Trepe - Soldier. We can't use Sailor, it sounds too much like Tailor, they might get confused. Rich man is also out, it could sound like a fraud investigation. Irvine Kinneas - Poor man, it's somewhat fitting. Rinoa Heartilly - Beggar man." Cid shifted in his chair.
"Being as we're discussing secrets, I'll let you in on one nobody else knows: I'm going to retire. I've had enough. Dr Kadowaki said I have angina pectoris, and with all the stress as well, it's getting to me. I want you, Squall, to be the new Headmaster." Squall blinked. "The reason I want this spy business cleared up quickly, apart from the obvious, is that from these five people must come your successor, and we can't have a spy as Commander of Garden. I hope you understand the gravity of this situation: your friends are all potential traitors. Trust none of them under you are sure that they are innocent.
"You were originally on this list, Squall. I sent someone to Galbadia to interview a Major-General Josylin. A report from one of our remaining agents suggested that he wanted to defect to Garden and knew something about this matter. I sent Xu to talk to him. A week later, the agent who gave me Josylin was in a car accident."
"The type of car accident where you drove off a bridge while being blindfolded, gagged and tied up in the back seat?"
"Not quite but it might as well have been. Listen, you can use all of the information in our libraries, for what they're worth. I'm giving you carte blanche here. Tap phones, break in to buildings, steal documents, do whatever you have to. But don't be obvious. I don't have to tell you this but a big investigation will send the spy to ground. I think that you may need an assistant so Nida will help you. Good luck." Squall nodded to Cid tersely.
The pile of papers landed on his desk with a thud. "This is everything we have on Galbadian agents and possible controllers." Squall nodded his appreciation to Nida, who was busy flexing his arms. "There's a lot of stuff there. Most of it is probably junk, though. Is there anything else you need me for?"
"No." Nida turned to leave. "Don't go far: I may need you in the future." Nida exited leaving Squall and the mountain of paperwork. He glanced at the top folder.
"Movements of Suspected Agents Through Embassies. Obviously a riveting read." He sifted through them. "Operation Candlejack. The controlling of one of Galbadia's Balamb embassy's low-level staff." He opened the folder and had a quick look through. The low-level employee in question was the night duty officer, who manned the telex and secretly copied any transmission, incoming or outgoing, that seemed of relevance. He was paid 3000 gil per transmission. He placed the transmissions inside a jar of flowers at a grave in Balamb's largest cemetery.
He placed the file back in. Extracting another he read the first few pages. Operation Imogen was the collection of data sent to Garden that had seemed to originate in Garden: that is, documents that had been passed on to enemy, along with rough dates of transmission. This must be what Cid was talking about. An analysis of some of the dates and documents had been completed, and certain people were cleared of this spying charge. The report named the five SeeD who were still under suspicion, along with the reason that Squall was removed.
"It seems that I was never given one of the reports that this mole - codenamed Jackhammer, maybe because of the damage it was doing? - had passed on to Galbadia. Well, I can be thankful for something." Where should I start? I should probably look at each person in turn, and try to find things out in that way. I just can't believe that one of those is a spy.
Who could it be? Zell? He was annoyed at Seifer but I thought he was happy in Garden now that he's a SeeD and Seifer has disappeared without a trace.
Quistis? She'd been a SeeD for years, and had always seemed to love her work. True, she was sacked as an instructor and never reinstated but she doesn't seem to really fit the bill.
Selphie? Squall thought about Selphie being a devious, underhand, master tactician and undercover spy. No, it's not Selphie. I won't dismiss the possibility, but I will dismiss the probability.
Irvine? Perhaps the fact that he served for years in Galbadia before coming here might make me suspect him more than the others, but because of that it probably isn't him. This spying thing really makes your brain hurt. You get caught in suspicions and counter-suspicions, in ploys and gambits. Why did Cid ask me? Why not someone who knows about this type of thing. Perhaps because I know these people, know a bit about thow they think.
Rinoa? I just cannot accept that Rinoa is a spy. I know her so well, she couldn't keep a secret that big from me, could she?
Squall's brow furrowed. "You'll get wrinkles." Squall looked up, startled to hear Rinoa's voice. He almost jumped out of his chair when she started to move into the room. "What's all this stuff." She gestured towards the files scattered about the table.
"Err, nothing," Squall quickly said. Smooth move, maybe if you put a neon sign above your head saying 'SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY HERE' she might notice a little more. "It's just some paperwork that Cid wants me to go through. It's rather classified, though." It was a save of sorts.
"Can I have a look? Classified stuff is normally really interesting." Squall grabbed a file chosen seemingly at random. It was titled, 'Log of Transmissions during Period 1/1/2075-7/8/2075'. He handed her the file. She eagerly opened it, not reading the title, and looked forlornly at the first page.
"This isn't interesting, it's a bunch of numbers. Just lists of dates and times. This stuff is classified?"
"Yeah. It is very boring work, looking at rows of numbers. Anyway, what did you want?"
"I just came to see if you'd eaten yet. Have you?" Squall shook his head.
"No, and I'm really hungry. Let's go." He grabbed his jacket and Rinoa led him out of the door. Squall turned and locked the room, making sure to place the key into his inside jacket pocket. If Rinoa is the spy, she might try to lift it and get in there. Rinoa moved up to him and hugged him.
"What's wrong?" Squall looked up from her hands for a second.
"Nothing."
OK, there is the first instalment. Who should Squall investigate first? Now's your chance to make wild accusations. In a few days time I shall come back and have a look, and whoever gets the most votes will be investigated. At the end of part 6, (5 parts, one for each suspect) you choose who you think the spy is. The one with the most votes will be found out in the final part. If nobody cares then nobody will vote and so I won't carry on. Either way, everyone's happy.