Author's Note: Thanks to 'Bubby AV' for his/her lovely review which inspired me to write another chap!
12. MISSION
Halfway through English someone knocked at the door and Mr Byrd opened it to Zara herself. Everyone in Ayla's class shifted excitedly in their seats; they all understood exactly why Zara would interrupt in the middle of a lesson. Aaron nudged Ayla next to him, but she did not understand what was going on. And they had not talked since the incident during lunch.
'Zara only interrupts lessons if she wants someone for a mission.' Aaron whispered, realising that she did not know.
'That I do, Aaron.' Zara said with a smile. 'No whispering in class. But I want three people today, Mr Byrd. Sorry to disrupt your lesson.'
Aaron grinned, and Ayla glanced around. Everybody was tensed in anticipation – three people was a lot of people to be called for a mission from just one class! Rose, sitting behind her, gave her a wink and then gave her full attention to Zara.
'Please could Christian Young, Quinn Cyan and Ayla Adrian accompany me to the mission building?' Zara announced.
A cold flush ran through Ayla's body…this was her first mission in her second week on campus. It seemed too soon, but she felt ready. Ayla had never been more ready to throw away her past and work for the Government than she had been now. Almost simultaneously, Ayla and the two others drew back their seats and stood up. The last thing she saw before they left for the mission building was Lyddie and Rose grinning at her like madwomen.
* *CLASSIFIED* *
MISSION BRIEFING FOR AYLA ADRIAN
DO NOT REMOVE FROM ROOM 812
DO NOT COPY OR MAKE NOTES
(1) Mabahith
The Mabahith (General Intelligence Presidency), also spelled Mabaheth, is the secret police agency of the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia. It monitors suspected political opponents and others, targets individuals for arrest, and interrogates detainees. The kingdom started the intelligence service in 1955. During the reign of King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz, in 1957, the Mabahith was separated from the General Intelligence. During this period two branches of the Presidency were set up locally, the western branch in Jeddah, and the eastern one in Dhahran. The agency expanded its monitoring of internal threats after the 1979 capture of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. In 1997 it was strengthened to include high-tech equipment and specialists in radio surveillance. During this time the activities of the agency abroad were also expanded with the establishment and development of more offices in other countries and more effort to organise its work. It was renamed the General Intelligence Presidency in 2005.
(2) Aims
The mission of the Presidency is to 'provide strategic intelligence, contribute to achieve national security, and provide timely information to the authorities, so that they can take rapid and appropriate actions'.
They do this through:
a) Early collection of information about countries of interest
b) Planning and executing intelligence operations in these countries
c) Countering espionage, intellectual and material destruction and uncovering hostile individuals
d) Coordinating specialised studies and strategic research by the intelligence staff and in cooperation with universities, research centres, security bodies and other intelligence services
e) Monitoring the changing domestic and international situation
(3) Values and Principles
The GIP is guided by its core values and principles in its work:
a) Full obligation of the Islamic Sharia (Islamic Law)
b) Protection of the country and the citizen interests
c) Full obligation of the official trends and attitudes of the country
d) Initiative
e) Working with sense of mature security
f) Confidentiality
g) Discipline
h) Being free of personal tendencies and fancies
i) Continuous improvement
j) Full obligation of institutional approach in the work
k) Quality, not quantity
l) Applying the principle of reward and punishment
(4) Jimmy Carlton
Last year James (Jimmy) Carlton was introduced as the newest president of the GIP. He and his family live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, America but Carlton is able to run the Presidency from abroad. He has a wife, Larissa Carlton née Bishop, and one fifteen year old son named Jake. Carlton also runs a company in Pittsburgh; 'Carlton Law & Finance'. The company advises other private companies, public companies, directors and shareholders on general company law.
(5) Behind the Name
Unfortunately Carlton is not quite as law-abiding as he seems. In the last year since he was employed as President of the Presidency, there has been a great increase of reports of Mahabith agents operating with impunity. Some have been responsible for a wide range of human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, and torture. All the actions lead back to Carlton himself, but MI6 do not have access to the man and the CIA are unwilling to investigate such an important member of their society.
(6) The Role of CHERUB
Carlton is more careful than he seems and MI6 cannot reach undercover informants into either his company in Pittsburgh or his involvement with the Presidency in Saudi Arabia. CHERUB will provide three teenagers and two adults to move into the suburbs of Pittsburgh, in a location fairly far from Carlton's own residence.
(7) The Mission
Heather Hill and David Allen will accompany Ayla Adrian, Christian Young and Quinn Cyan to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They will be posing as the Knight Family. The story is that David was offered a consultancy job in the area and the family moved together from Britain. Both Ayla and Christian will attend Jefferson Middle School as twins in 10th Grade (Year 11), while Quinn will be supposedly home-schooled by Heather and will be posing as one year younger for the purposes of the mission. David's job is to actually work at his consultancy job in the centre of Pittsburgh to keep up appearances. Heather's job is to stay at home and work with Quinn. Their job is to monitor and record all important conversations that Ayla and Christian have, so that no information is lost. They are also required to pass judgment on the actions of Ayla and Christian, and plan ahead or spot any opportunities. They will listen to everything said by Jake Carlton and track him to make Ayla's job easier. This is to make friends with Jake and his friends, get into the Carlton's house, plant bugs and copy the computer contents onto another disc supplied by CHERUB. She needs to plant a bug on Jake somewhere at first so that Quinn and Heather can track and listen to him. Christian needs to focus on finding a work experience job at Carlton's law and finance company and possibly shadow Carlton himself, place bugs at his desk, and copy his laptop contents if he gets the chance.
THE CHERUB ETHICS COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY ACCEPTED THIS MISSION BRIEFING. ALL MISSION CANDIDATES SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING FACTORS:
(1) This mission has been classified LOW RISK. Despite the violence shown by Presidency agents, none have been located in Pittsburgh and Carlton has no contacts in America. However, agents should still proceed with caution and consider all possibilities.
(2) Agents should wait for confirmation from either Heather or David before they act.
Author's Note: Please r&r :)
