SEASON ZERO DOT ZERO:
“THE SITUATION IN SPAIN”
The Situation So Far
FEBRUARY 21
Jonathan Blackman. Codename: Raven. Mission Debrief 1.0.18 L
“As I write this, I am sitting next to a ten-year-old on a train, moving at top speed beneath the English Channel.
Days after contacting Manuel and learning the smuggling syndicate had parts for a nuclear weapon, European authorities descended on Manuel. They seemed to have significant evidence against him, and he was suspended pending the investigation. Within days, European officials also shut down the Berge Maritima-Tarragona shipping facility.
This prevented any attempt to further investigate the syndicate. The shipping facility was now in the custody of European officials, who would have to be trusted with the investigation.
With a likely indictment hanging over his head, I worried for Manuel’s safety. Given the size of the smuggling syndicate, I feared that they would not permit Manuel to be imprisoned, questioned, or tried. Manuel’s safety was clearly in jeopardy. I requested and received permission to bring him and his family to England.
We raided Manuel’s home in the early morning hours of Friday, 21 February. Our first goal was to incapacitate his surveillance, which consisted of a single car and the usual van. Chimera had researched the specific model of van, discovering where air would find an ingress. She was able to sneak underneath the van, wiring it with multiple tear gas canisters. On cue, Orthros got the drop on the man sitting in the car, getting him out of the car and holding him at gunpoint. Simultaneously, Chimera, still underneath the van, put on a gasmask and triggered the canisters. About a minute later, the van’s back doors opened, releasing its occupants within a cloud of tear gas. Chimera was able to Taser them before they even spotted her.
During all of this, I covered the van from a distance, hoping I wouldn’t have to fire on British security personnel. After she entered the van and ascertained no one was still inside, Chimera flashed a “thumbs up” signal in my direction.
While Orthros and Chimera guarded the street entrance, I head into Manuel’s home. I was able to wake Manuel and explain the situation, but we woke his wife. She demanded to know who I was. He explained, as clearly and quickly as he could, that he had been working for years as a British spy and that they had to leave, immediately and forever. She was furious at him, but I insisted I was leaving with her husband, one way or another, within minutes. Manuel had to insist this was real. Without a word, she relented, rushing into her children’s rooms, where she woke her ten-year-old son, then her teenage daughter, and explained their lives were over and that they were leaving all of their possessions behind. The son insisted on bringing their Spanish water dog, and the daughter refused to leave until she saw the rest of us leaving.
As I led the family, still in their pajamas and with their dog, to the street, we could hear the sound of approaching sirens. We piled Manuel’s family into our own car, driven by Orthros, while Chimera and I left in the surveillance car.
We drove for almost two hours, until we arrived at a train station shortly before it was scheduled to depart for London. There, we passed out false documents to Manuel’s family, abandoned our cars, and boarded the train together. For an additional cost, the train was able to board the family dog.
On the train, I was able to talk with Manuel. While we’d waited for permission to extract him, we’d pondered who had fingered Manuel to the European authorities. It couldn’t have been the syndicate or the private surveillance they’d hired. It must have been the third party Orthros photographed the day we contacted Manuel. This agent seemed to have a Latin look, and we remembered that the syndicate had run weapons into Latin America.
As if the pieces fell into place, Manuel told me about a woman who had been at the surprise inspection of the docks and who had subsequently visited his offices. As a Latin American official, she would have been in a position to feed European authorities evidence against him. Manuel even recalled her name: Mina Miralles.
I now believe that the Sixth Sun was operating in Tarragona and that the mystery man Orthros photographed was one of their agents. Likely, they were pursuing an inquiry into the arms shipments and decided to expose Manuel’s corruption. Sadly, our agenda didn’t conflict with theirs, and we could have collaborated to shut down the smuggling syndicate.
Instead, I’m on a train with a family that will never go home again. New lives await them in England. Whatever else, I am proud we honored our commitment to him and were able to protect an important source.
But I can’t help but fear that someday, this world will again see a nuclear holocaust. Perhaps the perpetrator will be a non-state entity, such as a cartel. And I’ll wonder if we missed our chance to stop it, in Tarragona.”
FEBRUARY 14
Claudia Diez. Codename: Centuriana. Mission Debrief A.556.2-D1
“When Rodrigo reported that the Brit he’d spotted had spotted him in turn, it forced me to reassess our progress here. The Brit’s identity remains unknown, as does the team surveilling Calleros. However, Mina’s asset within Calleros’s office had confirmed that arms were being smuggled through Berge Maritima-Tarragona and that Calleros, as Treasury Counsel, was involved. Given this, I decided to leverage what we knew in order to re-focus on our mission of disrupting the flow of arms to the forces of corruption at home.
It was a simple matter for Mina to expose Calleros through official channels. She provided photos of goods being moved to the Dünya, to prevent inspection, and anonymized testimony from her asset in Calleros’s office.
Of course, we knew the smugglers would get advance word of this, as they had of our inspection. The night before European officials returned to Tarragona, the Dünya lifted anchor and headed into international waters. The next day, European officials secured Calleros’s office, and Calleros was suspended with pay for the duration of the investigation.
The Tarragona side of the operation crumbled with surprising speed. In the ensuing days, interviews of employees within Calleros’s office yielded descriptions of a massive illegal operation. Calleros hadn’t been as careful as he should have been, and his employees were bureaucrats, unwilling to go to jail for their boss.
Soon, European officials had enough evidence to shut down Berge Maritima-Tarragona and begin questioning its employees. It wasn’t long before one pointed officials to a computer, on which separate shipping logs had been maintained. Luckily, Mina’s asset was able to get us a zip drive with the contents of the computer before it was seized. It will be in the next secure pouch home.
Mina had been informed that an indictment is pending against Calleros. I suspect word will leak of this too, and that the smugglers won’t permit Calleros to enter custody.
Our mission here is over, but I can’t help but have mixed feelings. We haven’t stopped the smuggling operation, although we’ve succeeded in disrupting it, forcing it to find other ports. I am comforted (although we won’t get the credit) that the Sixth Sun has once again weeded out corruption, even if it’s this far from home.”
FEBRUARY 7
Micha Flemming. Codename: Chimera. Mission Brief 1.2.3B Priority 1A
“Everything has changed.
After Orthros discovered the British firm Sterling Security was conducting surveillance on Manuel, Raven decided to contact him immediately. Raven had protocols in place with the asset to arrange a meet, but we faced several logistical problems.
Above all, Manuel’s surveillance had to be thrown off, yet in a way that didn’t alert them to our presence and permitted Manuel to be reinserted unnoticed. Given my areas of expertise, Raven left this challenge to me.
We could never guarantee Manuel’s car was free of tracking devices, short of disassembling it.
In addition to Manuel’s phone, he might have other devices on his person, or even implanted within him, with or without his knowledge.
After conferring about the ideal location for the meeting, Raven bribed a waiter to pass a time and location to Manuel. The next day, instead of surveilling Manuel as usual, Orthros slashed Manuel’s tires. As expected, Manuel took a cab.
While his surveillance scrambled to catch the cab, Orthos was able to photograph a new player, clearly not British, yet following the surveillance team.
Tracking Manuel’s phone through GPS, I manipulated traffic signals so that his cab got yellow lights, while any pursuers would get red ones. At the designated location, a restaurant in the Part Alta neighborhood, Raven, running surveillance detection protocols, confirmed Manuel hadn’t been followed. I shut off his phone remotely, to prevent others from tracking it as I had. Raven then intercepted the asset, leading him through the neighborhood to a room I’d prepared. There, Raven and Manuel entered a Faraday cage, negating any remaining devices on Manuel’s person.
Manuel had no evidence of a Watchers mole, except having noticed his surveillance had British accents. He revealed a syndicate has been running illegal arms through Tarragona, destined for Latin America, in massive and increasing quantities – likely due to the Sixth Sun’s recent successes there.
Manuel also revealed what he’d wanted to tell Raven in person: that during one recent inspection, he’d discovered parts for an ominous device, likely a nuclear weapon.
The stakes have been raised. The world cannot permit another nuclear exchange. Yet sabotaging shipping operations here might lead to an international incident and antagonize this syndicate, about which we know little. Please advise re: mission priorities.”
JANUARY 31
Rodrigo Ordoñez. Codename: Eclipse. Field Report A559-37 S//
(After returning from her visit to the Berge Maritima-Tarragona shipyards, Mina Miralles, delegate to the European Trade Union, and agent for the Sixth Sun, paid a visit to the mayor’s office in the business district of Tarragona, under the auspices of a follow up to the inspection, but actually in an effort to identify an asset there to recruit. She returned with the names and official positions of a half dozen candidates, and began her follow up research on their vulnerabilities. Claudia Diez, operation lead, tasked her surveillance specialist, Rodrigo Ordonez with the job of tailing local Treasury Counsel, Arturo Calleros, who made an unexpected visit to the inspection ... )
“My choice would have been to continue to monitor the shipyards, and attempt a boarding of the Dünya. However, I must confess your instincts about this Calleros were on point, and I believe we are now on to something interesting.
After just 12 hours of monitoring his movements, I observed him obviously putting up a signal of some kind. On his lunch break, he walked to a local cafe, sat alone until the waiter arrived, the two spoke only briefly, then Calleros departed. But, that is where things got interesting.
Because of the sudden nature of his departure, what appeared to be an organized surveillance team tailing him had to regroup, and their clumsy hand-off was obvious to anyone who was looking, except for Calleros, who appeared to be too self consumed to notice. It looked to me like there were two different teams following him, which speaks to his importance as a target.
The second team appeared to be comprised of only one man. He was different than the other men, and it makes me wonder if he is even a part of their operation. He was young, obviously very British, but ... just something about him was different. He was a natural at physical surveillance. Confident. Subtle. I am going to change the focus of my efforts to following him as he seems a good match for my skill set, and likely is the bigger fish in this operation. He must know something we need to know before we decide to move on Calleros.
Once I have more intel on these players, I will report again. While I understand control has urged no contact without permission, we may lose a window here, and I would like permission to engage if I believe necessary under the circumstances. Please confirm.”
JANUARY 24
Ayden Boyle. Codename: Orthros. Mission Brief 1.1.52A Supplemental
The mayor’s office in Tarragona was a sprawling complex of aging buildings. On the third of its four floors, Treasury Counsel Arturo Calleros entered the office of the major’s deputy and reported that the surprise inspection had found no infractions.
Along the street beside the mayor’s office, a man sat slouched in the driver’s seat of his parked sedan, casually reading a newspaper.
Further down this street, Ayden Boyle sat in his own sedan, listening to the radio and watching the other man read his newspaper. A young man, Boyle hadn’t spent much time in Spain and enjoyed his sampling of Spanish music, news, and sports.
Just after four o’clock, the newspaper man abruptly shook his paper, then stared up and to the right. Ayden guessed the newspaper man had a receiver in his ear that had delivered an update. Instead of righting his newspaper, the man set it aside and stared down the street at an iron door along the side of the mayor’s office.
Ten minutes later, the metal door opened, and Calleros drove his retro-styled coupe up the ramp from the underground parking garage. As he pulled onto the street, the newspaper man started his car. As the newspaper man pulled onto the street, Ayden started his.
As they wound through the streets of Tarragona, each of the pursuers carefully left a couple cars between them and their quarry. Then, the newspaper man put on his turn signal and made a left turn, while Calleros continued forward, two cars ahead.
Ayden experienced a moment of sheer panic. Why would the newspaper man break off? Had he spotted Ayden? Were there people now following him? Then Ayden’s training reasserted itself, and he calmly took the same left turn.
For miles, Ayden watched his mirrors carefully, until he was certain he wasn’t being followed. He suspected the newspaper man had been relieved by one of the other cars behind Calleros. The thought worried him. It implied that whomever had Calleros under surveillance had a large and organized operation.
Ayden followed the newspaper man into the parking lot of the Hotel D’arras, on the outskirts of Tarragona proper. Ayden parked on the next row over from the newspaper man. As Ayden watched, the newspaper man got out of his car and strode calmly into the hotel.
Holding his cellular phone to his ear, Ayden got out of his car and feigned to be having a conversation in Spanish. Walking between the parked cars, he dropped his phone. “Hijo de puta,” he exclaimed, and ducked down to search for it.
Crouched between the two cars, he snatched up his phone, then produced a thin key with a large rectangular base from an inner pocket of his jacket. He slid it into the driver’s side door beside him and tried to torque it clockwise. It didn’t turn, but he kept applying pressure. Inside the lock, tumblers slid down from the base and fell along the thin key, fitting the key to the lock. After several nervous seconds, the key surrendered, and the door cracked open.
Ayden stood, opened the door, calmly got into the driver’s seat, and closed the door behind him.
The newspaper man kept nothing in his sun visor and only a few bubblegum wrappers in the center console. From the glove compartment, Ayden pulled out the car’s documentation and photographed it with his phone.
Then he noticed that the Spanish newspaper in the passenger’s seat was thicker than it should be. Inside it, he found a book of crossword puzzles. In English. With a British publisher. Inside the book, the puzzles were mostly complete.
The newspaper man was a fellow Brit.
From another inner pocket of his jacket, Ayden produced a small spray bottle and dusted the steering wheel. The dim outline of a thumb print revealed itself. Ayden quickly took a photo. He checked the screen to make sure he’d gotten the print, tidied up from his brief intrusion, then got out of the car.
Once back in his own car, he texted a Watchers number, attaching the image of the print.
And then he sat.
An hour later, he got a phone call.
“Thomas Somerset,” a voice said without any introduction. “32. Born in Kent. Employed for the last five years by Sterling Security.”
Sterling Security – a private British contractor advertised as an executive protection detail, but secretly specializing in corporate espionage. Why did they have the Watchers’ asset under surveillance?
Then Ayden remembered that Blackman had told him the asset believed there might be a mole in British intelligence.
What had they stumbled onto?
JANUARY 17
Mina Miralles. Codename: Equinox. Field Report A.559-34
“Rodrigo updated me on his investigation of the site, confirming our suspicions of illicit activities at Berge Maritima-Tarragona, the city’s largest maritime and shipping operation. Hours after announcing the surprise inspection by our European trade delegation, he observed numerous shipping containers being relocated, then placed back on an awaiting ship, which is now anchored a mile off shore.
Please run ‘Dünya,’ the ship's name, through all background protocols and scour the reports. We need to know where this ship has been and who has been dealing with her since she touched the water.
I also need you to run the identity and background on ‘Arturo Calleros.’ He is Treasury Counsel for the Mayor’s office with oversight responsibility for all shipping and transportation activities. He made an appearance at the inspection, but, from my observation, was not expected. He was uneasy, though he masked it well. Slight perspiration of the hands (temp was a brisk 10 degrees), furtive eye movements throughout the inspection, and most interestingly, I am positive he was carrying a sidearm. I got a brief glimpse of it as he exited the official motorcade. Appeared to be a SIG Sauer P226, the type of weapon used by the National Police Special Operations Group.
I noted nothing unusual and x-ray photographs of the containers in our proximity revealed no contraband. My asset inside the shipping operation was not able to make contact because of the heavy security detail which accompanied us throughout the premises. I will relay instructions for a dead drop over the secure transmission to her tonight.
I know you have urged for discretion, but I have a strong feeling Calleros is involved in this operation somehow and should be added to our list of targets. Please advise quickly before we lose the opportunity to gain valuable intel. I await your instructions.”
JANUARY 10
Unit Requisition:
Micha Flemming. Disruption Specialist.
Ayden Boyle. Cybersecurity Expert.
Forward Supply Cache. Cover documentation. Extraction Protocol.
Codename: Raven. Mission Brief and Unit Composition 1.0.16
“When an asset as good as Manuel sounds scared, you do whatever you can to protect him.
From his position in the Spanish government, he has fed His Majesty’s government vital information for the better part of a decade. In this time, I’ve come to know him as reliable without question … and as unflappable as any Englishman.
Today, Manuel contacted us in uncharacteristic distress. He said he had big news, but couldn’t say what. Nervous, he claimed to be under increased surveillance. When I pressed, he hinted there might be a leak in British intelligence. “Come to Tarragona,” he said, “and I will show you in person.”
Normally, I would advise against such a trip. For all we know, our asset could have been exposed and we could be walking into a trap. But this is Manuel, and I believe him.
At stake isn’t simply Manuel and his information. It’s also the reputation of the Watchers. If we fail to protect Manuel, who’s going to trust us to protect them?
So, my team and I are going to the Spanish port city of Tarragona to learn what our informant wanted to show us in person. We will also determine if a counter-intelligence operation is indeed targeting our informant … and if necessary, exfiltrate him for his protection.”
Codename: Centuriana. Mission Brief and Asset Requisition A.556-D1
“Our successful operation against the Veraguas cartel continues to bear fruit. In addition to intelligence yielded from interrogations, we discovered a treasure trove of cartel documents. These records have already permitted the Panamanian government to arrest over a dozen corrupt officials, and we expect more to follow. Without doubt, this represents a great victory for the Church of the Sixth Sun, both for our mission and for our reputation.
Less publicly, we have attempted to use the Veraguas documents to track the source of the cartel’s black-market weaponry. The documents give dates of weapons purchases that closely correspond with the arrival of specific cargo ships. Tracing their paths backward, these ships had only a single previous port in common: the port of Tarragona, in Spain.
Given the large shipments of illegal armaments that have flowed through this modest town, I believe the arms traffickers have corrupted someone in the local port authority there, allowing cargo containers to go uninspected.
The same ships also landed in several South American ports. I believe other criminal elements may be using this same source. We do not know the full extent of this network, but we cannot weed out corruption here without addressing its sources abroad.
My team arrives in Tarragona tomorrow. We will report once we have additional intelligence.”
Assets:
Mina Miralles. HumInt.
Rodrigo Ordóñez. Special Forces, Surveillance.
Local Contacts. Codephrase Key. Supply Config 3.
JANUARY 3
The abrupt buzz of the phone in the small comms center startled everyone to action. The phone was a dedicated line, available only to His Majesty’s most important assets in the field, and so was rarely used. After counting three rings, the young communications officer nervously picked up the receiver and awaited a prompt.
“May I speak with Carlos Vallejos, please?”, asked a voice on the line. Male, Central Catalan dialect. He spoke confidently, but with a clearly communicated sense of unease.
“Are you certain you have the correct number? There is no one here by that name.” came the scripted reply.
“Yes, I am certain. I will try again in 30 minutes. Gracias.” The line went dead.
The comms officer noted the time and collected some notes, quickly leaving the room.
Matilda Thompson could hear the approach from down the hall. By the fractions of a second between the “click-click” of the footsteps, she knew this was important news. Thompson was an analyst with MI6, in counterintelligence and covert operations. The comms officer entered, recounted the call, and promptly left. Thompson immediately picked up her phone and opened a secure line to the office of Neville Chamberlain, her “unofficial” boss, chief clandestine service operative of The Watchers. This was news he had to hear … .
A well placed, high ranking foreign asset of the Kingdom of England has, for some reason, put up a distress signal. In a coded message sent to his handlers at MI6, the asset demanded a clandestine meeting and warned about the possibility of heavy surveillance. Concerned for his safety, the Watchers’ very own mole in the state run intelligence agency got word to her superior, Neville Chamberlain, who dispatched the Watchers’ best and brightest field agent, Jonathan Blackman to handle the situation. Will he succeed in protecting the foreign asset, and what’s more, how will he handle the news he’s about to receive?
Although she has the highest regard for her direct reports’ analytical capabilities, Claudia Diez is a perfectionist, and likes to review all the underlying data herself. Pouring over ship manifests, tracking and transaction numbers, bank accounts, and wire transfer records, she began to see a pattern forming. However, she knew more data would be required to continue to connect the dots.
Claudia dialed the number of Adriana Morterero, the Sixth Sun’s senior counsel and logistical coordinator. She explained the patterns she discovered and where she thought they might lead.
“I have a theory, but I need more time and more information to figure it all out. Permission to take a team to the European mainland to do some snooping around?” She inquired of Morterero.
“Claudia, of course, Whatever you require. And, as always, keep it discreet until we know where this trail leads. I have faith in you. Into the light.”
“Into the light,” Claudia intoned as she hung up the line. She immediately dialed Sara Sophia Madrid to detail her operational requirements and to ask her to assemble the team.
Agents of the Church of the Sixth Sun’s internal anti-corruption forces discovered a treasure trove of documents and computer files in a recent raid of a domestic cartel running drugs and guns to many criminal elements worldwide. Those documents seem to indicate that there is a much larger operation at work, potentially tying together a number of domestic and international black market operations under one point of control. Based on her review of the documents, Claudia Diez, lead field inspector for the Sixth Sun, believes a small port authority and shipping master in a quiet Spanish coastal city are connected with these black market smugglers. She has been sent to investigate, gather additional intelligence, and potentially score an incredible victory for the countries of Central and South America. Will she find the intelligence she is seeking to connect the dots, and if so, what action will she take against the agents of her enemies?
The stage is now set
Over the course of the coming weeks The Situation in Spain will unfold according to the games you play. You don’t have to pick a side, but, we’re sure you’ll want to. Come back each week to see the exciting events as these two agents, and their teams, gather intel to complete their missions.