Swiftshadow
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COVER NAME: Chrissie Card
COVER PROFESSION: Staff Economist,
Brewster Jennings and Associates, Boston, MA
LANGUAGES: Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, Pashto, and Dari
COVER CONTROL: Mark McDougal, Assistant Director
!!!! BURN NOTICE !!!!
COVER ASSIGNMENTS AND CONSULTING WORK:
6/2008 Trained in basic intelligence and counterintelligence at The Farm
8/2008 Trained in Farsi, Pashto, Arabic, and Hebrew
1/2009 Developed MAPEMIN Forecasting Procedures
4/2009 Attempted basic forecasts to prove MAPEMIN effectiveness, using US GNP, Balance of Payments, and Agency Budget. FAILED, but procedure shows promise
8/2009 Modified MAPEMIN, successfully forecasted US GNP, Balance of Payments, and Agency Budget.
Assigned to Brewster Jennings and Associates satellite office in Washington, DC
10/2009 Toured Middle East embassies, introduced to Ambassadors and local staffs
11/2009 Developed GNP forecast for National Bank of Afghanistan
2/2010 Refined MAPEMIN for second stage forecast
5/2010 Developed Consumer Sales forecast for Saudi Arabian Central Bank
Rendered $1.78 million from Al-Zil Muslim extremist organization
8/2010 Further refined MAPEMIN to reduce forecasting errors to below 2% for macro factors
11/2010 Developed Electric Power forecast for Abu Dhabi Rendered $2.5 million from Houmaz branch of Al Qaeda
12/2010 Trained at Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Advanced Middle Eastern Culture
2/2011 Riyadh, Electric Energy Demand Forecast; Rendered $2.5 million from Indonesian Fundamentalist Muslim extremists
2/2011 Cover blown, attempted assassination by Houmaz, Murdered assassin in self-defense, Employment terminated.
!!!! BURN NOTICE !!!!
CHARACTERISTICS:
STRENGTHS
o Work Capabilities
o Econometric forecasting
o Computer Hacking
o Global Banking Security Countermeasures
o Language Capabilities (all fluent)
o Pashto
o Arabic
o Farsi
o Urdu
o Hebrew
o Russian
o Excellent swimmer
o Learns very fast, adjusts to changing circumstances with creativity—capable of promotion to management level at the agency
WEAKNESSES
o Has habitual locations:
o Vacations at expensive hotels, eats at expensive restaurants
o Attends blues festivals
o Plays an expensive guitar
o Bare basic self-defense skills
o Drinks wine and single-malt scotch
o Driven by emotions, including strong sense of guilt
o Pride in work
o Unable to relinquish control
o Possible sex addiction, special sensitivity in nipples possibly to compensate for small breasts
!!!! BURN NOTICE !!!!
CONTROL’S NOTES:
10/14/2009 – Cassandra Sashakovich is the most determined and inflexible operative I’ve ever had to control. She often pays little attention to my requests, violates agency protocols, and often puts herself in danger without thinking about the consequences. She is a very frustrating agent to control. Most specifically, she has violated local customs regarding what is considered proper for females in Muslim culture. However, despite these extensive and potentially dangerous weaknesses, her abilities and creativity have enabled her to become one of the most sought-after operatives we have. Her computer hacking skills are by far the best I have ever seen. Her financial forecasting abilities are better than any I know of in the private sector. Her knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of global banking are unrivaled. She has shown herself to be a very fast learner in acquiring new languages.
5/12/2010 – Sashakovich continues to improve her skills. She is the most focused agent we have. I recommend she be given time to improve her self-defense skills, since we have heard several Muslim extremist organizations now suspect her of removing funds from their bank accounts. Unfortunately, this will be difficult, since we now have her backlogged for several urgent assignments.
3/2/2011 – With the concurrence of agency Director Gilbert Greenfield, I terminated Sashakovich’s employment for cause. She committed the crime of murder in Saudi Arabia, ignored agency protocol, and insulted local culture. I am sorely disappointed with her behavior. She showed a complete lack of maturity in her sexual behavior, in a culture which could find many reasons to execute her for her crimes in country. She will be monitored by the agency to ensure no information regarding agency operations can be taken from her. If any attempt is made to extradite her to Saudi Arabia, Director Greenfield had consented to terminating her using US-based agency black ops contractors.
!!!! BURN NOTICE !!!!
Appendix D
Cassie’s Original Draft of the Plan to Survive (written on the bus during her escape from Washington, DC, taken from her cell phone)
“Swiftshadow Consulting Group
Where it provides an advantage, act like a Muslim extremist. Start by changing my identity. Need plenty of alternates. Need to change my face ASAP, therefore, see a plastic surgeon. Need the ability to plant someone else’s fingerprints and DNA by gathering those from others who are unlikely to have ever been put into any system. Maybe school children? I could be a substitute teacher for a week or two.
My first clients would naturally be those I have worked with before, since they know the quality of my work, and couldn’t have sold me out since they knew me only under my cover identity, while the assassin knew my real name. But the agency may leak my separation from them and tell them it wasn’t voluntary. Will there be any that will take me?
Can’t meet face to face with clients. Too dangerous. I need a secure anonymous Internet website host with embedded email capabilities, paid for through several financial blinds.
To minimize chance of being found by those wanting to kill me, any travel must be via bus, freight train, or if overseas, then by freighter. No airports, ever.
Learn survival skills and improve my martial arts skills; the agency’s training course might not be enough.
Find places where I can stash new identities and cash when I must leave the area without advance warning. Maybe a locker at a bus terminal?
Ultimate goals are to find and eliminate those who want me dead. That means kill them and all the direct links to them. How to do this?
Find the bastards at the agency that blew my cover and fix them so they are worse than merely dead. Has to be someone in the analysis section, such as Gault, McDougal, Greenfield, or Ainsley. But who? And what if I’m wrong and it’s someone else? What if it’s an operative in the black section?
I need a fallback plan in case everything fails. If I can’t gain safety by elimination of whoever wants me dead—Houmaz, Hezbollah, Hamas, or Fatah—I’ll just hack a retirement fund from the Houmaz bank account for myself, change my identity, slip away and hide forever, someplace tropical and quiet.”
Appendix E
Cassie’s Original Draft of the Plan to Eliminate the Houmaz Organization (written just before joining forces with Lee Ainsley, taken from her cell phone)
Set-up Phase
Software staff recruitment, software development and testing
Recruit Lee (as “director”) and two hacking team leaders—one for banks and one for sat telecom hardware and software.
Staffing required: Cassie, Lee, and two agency hacks.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 2 months for development and one month for testing.
Precursor event: none.
Is precursor to: Arming the Trap and Springing the Trap.
Recruit attack team leaders
Recruit three attack team leaders for Riyadh covert op.
Recruit one breaking-and-entering team leader.
Staff
ing required: Cassie and Lee, who is the first recruit.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 1 month.
Precursor event: Recruit Lee.
Is precursor to: all subsequent phases and their tasks.
Obtain materiel and recruit team personnel
100 retired agency staff and military mercenaries.
100 Kevlar vests.
100 Ruger Mini-14s modified automatic handguns and AGENCY ISSUED AMMO.
100 satellite phones for covert use.
Two satellite transponders with radio-oriented beachball antennas.
Staffing required: Cassie.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 1 month.
Precursor event: Recruit attack team leaders.
Is precursor to: all other tasks in this phase and all other phases.
Organize sub-teams and assign tasks
Determine talents and skills of all team members.
Staffing required: Cassie, all recruits.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 1 week.
Precursor event: Recruit attack team leaders.
Is precursor to: all other tasks in this phase and all other phases.
Plan armed attacks
Riyadh.
Staffing required: Cassie, attack team leaders.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 10 days.
Precursor event: Organize sub-teams and assign tasks.
Is precursor to: Training Phase.
Plan software hacks and telecom interruptions
Staffing required: Cassie, hack team leaders.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 2 weeks.
Precursor event: Organize sub-teams and assign tasks.
Is precursor to: Training Phase.
Training Phase (all tasks in this phase can be conducted concurrently)
Train armed forces
Staffing required: Cassie, attack team leaders and their organized team members.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 1 month.
Precursor event: all Set-up phase tasks.
Is precursor to: Arming the Trap.
Train hacking force
Staffing required: Cassie, hack team leaders and members.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 1 month.
Precursor event: all Set-up phase tasks.
Is precursor to: Arming the Trap.
Arming the Trap
Execute bank hacks
Discover who the agency mole is.
Move all funds from Muslim extremist current accounts to agency mole’s bank account.
Move half the mole’s money to an unrelated numbered account for later use and distribution.
Staffing required: Cassie, hack team leaders and members.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 1 week.
Precursor event: Training Phase (all tasks).
Is precursor to: Plant false evidence trail.
Plant false evidence trail
Copy and modify bank records for all executed transactions.
Staffing required: Cassie, hack team leaders and members for electronic records, and Cassie, attack team leaders and members for physical paper records.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 3 days to one week.
Precursor event: Execute bank hacks.
Is precursor to: Springing the trap phase.
Take local delivery of materiel
Arms.
Armor (Kevlar vests, etc).
Ammo.
Vehicles.
One location; Riyadh.
Springing the trap
Execute telecom interruptions
Prior to attack on Muslim extremist locations, need to ensure no reinforcements can be called up.
Staffing required: Cassie, hack team leaders and members.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 1 to 2 days.
Precursor event: Plant false evidence trail.
Is precursor to: Launch attacks.
Launch attacks
Covert, silent physical attack on Muslim extremist organization within Riyadh city and Upper Pachir, with objective being no survivors left alive.
Staffing required: Cassie, attack team leaders and members.
Estimated calendar time to completion: 1 day maximum.
Precursor event: Springing the trap.
Is precursor to: Final meeting with agency mole (with me killing the mole).
Acknowledgements
So many people were crucial in preparing this manuscript for you, the reader.
As always, my critiques were provided by the ActFour Writing.com group, including Dennis Phinney, Linda Rohrbough, Janet Simcic, Brenda Barrie, Aaron Ritchey, Caryn Scotto, Liz Picco, Julia Reynolds, Daniel Houston, Steve Eggleston, Juliann Kauffman, Teri Gray, Carl Vondareu, Claudia Melendez, Megan Edwards, and Judy Whitmore. I also received valuable feedback, especially concerning military tactics and strategy, as well as inside information regarding sites where conflicts have occurred or are now occurring, from several folks from the Drink of the Month Club, a group consisting mostly of Naval Postgraduate School administration and faculty, including Ron Nelson, Martin Metzger, Fred Drake, Lee Scheffel, and Gary Ohls. Also, my friends and family contributed critiques, including Barry Groves, Michael Spicer, Frances and Elliot Spiselman, and Dana Gorman. And finally, Andrea Brown, my wife, and the CEO of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. is the best and final voice for judging what I create.
Several best-selling authors have contributed to my efforts, including James Rollins (for his discussions with me on Liquid Armor), Barry Eisler for his advice on self-publishing, Holly Lisle for her coursework on world building, and Greg Bear during our discussion on craft after the graduation ceremony at Northwest Institute of Literary Arts.
I want to thank my publication team, consisting of my editor, Sandra Beris; copyeditor Karl Yambert; graphic designer Jeroen Ten Berge; Barb Elliott at BookNook.biz; my website designer and host Maddee James of xuni.com; my publicist Brandi Andres; and Paul Marotta and Megan Jeanne of the Corporate Law Group, who incorporated The Swiftshadow Group for me.
I also want to thank my literary agent, Nancy Ellis, and my film agent, Brandy Rivers, for all their hard work on my behalf.
I am grateful for all the suggestions and advice I have received but I alone am responsible for the resulting work.
About the Author
D. S. KANE is the name the author has chosen to write under. He worked in the field of covert intelligence for over a decade. During that time, he traveled globally for clients including government and military agencies, the largest banks, and Fortune 100 corporations. One of the banks he investigated housed the banking assets of many of the world’s intelligence agencies and secret police forces, including the CIA and NSA. Much of his work product was pure but believable fiction, lies he told, and truths he concealed.
Now, he’s a retired spy, still writing fiction. Through his novels, he exposes the way intelligence agencies craft fiction for sale to sway their countries and manipulate their national policy, driving countries into dangerous conflicts.
He’s been published under his real name many times in financial trade journals on topics including global banking, computer fraud and countermeasures, financial forecasting, global electronic-funds transfer networks, and corporate finance, including one book on finance published by a major publisher. He has been a featured speaker at financial conferences and conventions. His children’s book, A Teenager’s Guide to Money, Banking and Finance, was published in 1987 by Simon & Schuster. He was once the CEO of an eBook publishing company and writes a blog (http://dskane.com) on topics that include new technology, politics, and the future of publishing.
He has been guest lecturer at the Whidbey Island MFA program, and also teaches a course at the Muse Online Writers Conference entitled Covert Training and Covert Operations for Fiction Writers, and one on a similar topic at California libraries, funded by a federal grant. He has taught a thriller-writing cour
se at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference and was a featured speaker at a dinner meeting of the California Writers Club. He taught finance at the Stern Graduate Business School of New York University for over ten years, and is one of the co-founders of ActFourWriters.com, a unique email-based novelists’ critique group (http://www.actfourwriters.com). His website can be found at http://dskane.com. He can be found at
@DSKaneThriller on Twitter and at
www.facebook.com/DSKaneAFormerSpyStillTellingLies.