How to Betray Your Country James Wolff (fun to read txt) 📖

ENDS

• • • •

VESTIBULE/007

top secret

foia exempt

from:C14B1to:ATY4subject:Closure of VESTIBULEdate:24 December 2016

Lawrence,

We have taken the decision to close Operation VESTIBULE. This is clearly the right thing to do given recent events. If additional, more credible intelligence about the alleged former IS emir comes to light, we will consider in Head Office the best way to proceed and notify those who need to be involved. It is unlikely you will be among them.

VESTIBULE will go down as one of our shorter operations, and it is one that we would all like to forget as quickly as possible. A few brief points, if I may.

Firstly, the transcript of your meeting with DRUMMOND and MIT this morning does not show you in your best light. You must already know that you did not represent us in the manner we would expect. For this reason, you are formally restricted to Station duties until further notice.

Secondly, we are puzzled by the reference in the transcript to your first visit to the house under discussion, during which it is stated that you asked DRUMMOND to “look into a sensitive matter” on your behalf. Is this a reference to your recent proposal that DRUMMOND should be recruited as an agent to collect intelligence about Beatrice’s alleged embezzlement of government funds? You may recall that when you raised this with Head Office we firmly rejected the idea. There was no good reason to engage with DRUMMOND, given his recent behaviour. It is unthinkable that the relatively trivial matter of Endgame Consulting’s finances would be justification enough for us to engage with a former officer who stands accused of such serious misconduct. Furthermore, it is clear that your unauthorized contact with DRUMMOND has complicated the relationship with MIT. Please forward us your written record of this meeting at the first opportunity.

Thirdly, on this subject, it is clear that DRUMMOND is unwell and in need of medical and most likely psychiatric help following recent events. Our interest in this is twofold: that he is a former officer to whom we maintain a duty of care; and that in his present condition he clearly continues to pose a threat to British intelligence. For both these reasons we would like him to return to the UK as soon as possible. Obviously we cannot force him to do anything against his will, but if you have any further contact with him we would like you to encourage him to leave Turkey immediately.

Finally, Meredith has repeatedly tried to call you, without success. She has asked me to tell you that she considers it a matter of regret, given your excellent work in the Gatekeeping team, that in recent weeks your behaviour has fallen short of the high ethical standards we demand of our officers. When you are next in London she will want to discuss VESTIBULE with you in some detail. She may well also have views on your next posting.

Warmest regards, and with best wishes from us all for a merry Christmas.

Frederick

PART FOUREgo

DAY 1

This is no way to spend Christmas Day. I am lying on a bed in a room on the third floor of the two-star Hotel Turkish Delight in the Galata neighbourhood of Istanbul. I am forty-one years old and six foot three in my socks but I am wearing my shoes because it is my intention to leave the hotel at the first opportunity, but on five separate occasions over the past three hours I have stood up, walked to the door and failed to open it, as though it was locked, but I know it’s not locked, and so I am lying here trying to understand what is happening. At first I thought the door was locked. I assumed that the tremor in my hand and this quickness of breath were signs of exertion, of the physical effort of trying to force open a door inexplicably locked overnight by Elif or Lawrence or… After all, I have been unwell recently, so it’s not unreasonable to expect that I might struggle with everyday tasks. But I’ve since learned that the door is not the problem. I know this because ten minutes ago the cleaner stepped into the room, a bin bag gripped tightly in her murderous fist, took one look at the tearful figure on the bed and hurried out. So the door is not the problem, we can all agree on that. Which means I am the problem. I am the thing that is locked.

DAY 2

It’s no long-term solution but it might just be enough to get me out the door. After spending a long night tangled in the wreckage of a calamitous four-way pile-up of grief, addiction, trauma and guilt, I need to consider all options, however dramatic they appear, otherwise I might never walk free. Look at it this way. There is information it is safe to release into the public domain and information that should remain classified because of its potential to cause harm. This is common sense. In the same way, there are some thoughts it is safe for me to have and there are other thoughts that cause me huge distress. There are things I just can’t afford to look at right now, because they tip me into a downward spiral that can take hours to recover from. For example, it would be acceptable – uncomfortable, perhaps, but acceptable – to admit I am experiencing a craving that makes my hands shake, that makes me vomit, but there is nothing to be gained from going further than this and stating that above all else what I want is a tall cold glass of straight . Saying that word would help no one. Likewise, it would be fine to say that certain physical injuries are causing me discomfort, but there is simply no need to catalogue every , and . And while it might be a statement of the obvious