20.23pm – 15th April, present day.
Montaillou, Rue du Village, Montségur, Occitanie, France.
GIGN (Groupe d’intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale) or National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, the elite police tactical unit of France, is a specially trained unit comprising of nearly 400 officers involved in over 1,800 missions and the rescuing of more than 600 hostages. As one of the most experienced counter-terrorism units that there are, it is on a par with some of the world’s top military special-forces units.
GIGN is organised into six distinct units which are then geographically disbursed to six metropolitan GIGN branches located throughout France at Dijon, Nantes, Orange, Reims, Toulouse and Tours.
Daniel and Hélène sat beside each other inside the mobile command, control and communications centre watching various television monitors display the GIGN operators that were approaching the house splitting up into individual four-man assault columns.
The 24 hours since Lionel DeChevalier had immolated himself at Interpol’s Lyon headquarters had triggered an acceleration of activity into the on-going investigations.
His death had been the catalyst for Hélène Lecacheux to convince a Magistrate to grant all of the warrants to gain access to the mobile telephone and financial affairs of the late Lionel DeChevalier, as well as permission to sift through information contained on his work computer station. The team of specialist communications officers at Hélène’s disposal had been able to recover many text, e-mail and private messages between Lionel DeChevalier and a Markus Bruscante. A breakthrough had been made with the discovery of an innocuous text message that Lionel had received. It simply read ‘My brother, do you desire to give yourself to our faith?’, but on closer inspection, its technical data established dates and times of other transmitted messages. Importantly, this gave Interpol and the DGSE numerous telephone numbers that could be associated to the many texts that they now had access to. By having these telephone numbers, the whereabouts of the holders of individual devices could be determined by satellite surveillance and using spying software that enabled tracking, monitoring, interception and recording of conversations and messages on mobile phones. All of them had been easily traced and their current locations ascertained through the usage of the mobile telephone network signals via GPS satellites, the Global Positioning System. Overhead, a hundred miles in space, 32 global positioning satellites orbit the earth at any given time and are complemented by 24 GLONASS satellites, the Russian version of a GPS satellite. Their combined coverage can pinpoint a mobile telephone user to within 1 foot (30 centimetres) of their location.
But all of this information that had recently become instantaneously available to Hélène and her staff, almost overwhelmed the resources of Interpol, and had it not been for Daniel’s suggestion to contact other interested parties, such as the various security and military connections at her current disposal, and to ask them for their assistance, the investigation would still be wandering about blindly in the dark. Daniel explained in lay-mans terms what the military forces had access to in respect of communication and tracking technology, and he had suggested that she ask for help. Now armed with the full weight of these military and security service utilities behind her, the extrapolation of information from the retrieved data had been massive, and very quickly, it became apparent that The Path of Belibasta was a previously unknown organisation that perhaps had a hand in some nefarious activities all over the world.
It was clearly evident that The Path of Belibasta had a network of operatives operating in various corners of the globe, but by being able to access some of the internal electronic communications, the location of a number of these suspected operatives could be quickly determined.
Information shared by Hélène Lecacheux’s superiors with India’s Kashmiri Security Force and their Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s foreign intelligence agency, and Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency, had led to an unexpected and unprecedented level of co-operation between the two countries. Joint task-forces were coordinating and conducting simultaneous search and apprehend missions at numerous locations in their respective states.
By accessing Lionel DeChevalier’s mobile phone and computer information, the locating of many suspects had become easier. This simplicity of tracking someone was now crystal clear to Hélène as she continued to watch GIGN Intervention Force 1 go about their business on a television monitor. Using spying technology, GPS and electronic triangulation, a digital map showed where all the various suspected mobile phones used by The Path of Belibasta were. The telephone numbers were the key to deciphering where they were and by filling in spaces on the map, connection points could be made between individual telephone numbers and a pattern began to appear that matched the little information that Interpol, DGSE and foreign agencies had. Origin points for calls and messages could be traced back and forth emanating from Montségur to destinations such as Lyon, Srinigar, Mirpur, Marseille and Dushanbe. Montségur became the focal reference point as it appeared to be the centre of operations for The Path of Belibasta. Numerous calls and messages originated from an address in Montségur with a global positioning latitude and longitude of 42.871 degrees North and 1.836 degrees East. Satellite imagery confirmed the address details while giving an overhead view of the surrounding area and pinpointing that the house, Montaillou, was located at the end of a cul-de-sac.
Following numerous inter-agency communications, authorisation was granted for GIGN Intervention Force 1 being dispatched for deployment via helicopter support from their base at Villacoublay, about 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Paris. After picking up Hélène Lecacheux, Daniel and various DGSE and Interpol officers in Lyon, the helicopters flew on to the GIGN base at Toulouse, 73 miles (117 km) to the north of Montségur. Although GIGN had available operatives at the metropolitan base at Toulouse, Intervention Force 1 serves as the main assault unit of the GIGN. It is divided into four platoons, two of which are always on permanent alert.
During the mission briefing at the Toulouse base, Hélène became increasingly irritated that many of the GIGN operatives seemed to be very dismissive of her. They kept on reporting to Daniel, saluting him, which he returned but then pointed out that they should be really speaking to Hélène and not him. In a brief break in the briefing, she challenged him about why these GIGN operatives were always reporting to him.
“Relax Hélène. They cannot help themselves. I’m well known to GIGN Intervention Force 1. I’ve worked with a lot of them previously and have even trained some of the operatives that are currently present.”
“Are you joking and making fun of me?” exclaimed Hélène incredulously.
“No Hélène, I’m not. In 2008, I was operating out of a base in Somalia as part of the Danish Frømandskorpset detatchment involved in the counter-piracy operations that were taking place during Operation Ocean Shield in the Gulf of Aden. At the same time, I was on a two week on/off rotation as part of a Danish special-forces unit serving aboard the HDMS Absalon, the Royal Danish Navy flagship that led Task Force 150 participating in the UN-led counter-piracy mission off Somalia and the east coast of Africa. In early April of that year, the French luxury yacht, Le Ponant, was seized by Somali pirates while en-route from the Seychelles to the Mediterranean. The ship was carrying no passengers at the time of its capture, but all of the 30 crewmembers were taken hostage by the pirates. French forces then monitored the yacht after its seizure and for about a week, I was tasked with training GIGN and French Commando Marines in various scenarios should a rescue mission be authorised by France and the yacht was to be stormed. My Frømandskorpset unit was ordered by DDIS to provide intelligence, assistance and training but we were not to form a part of the mission itself. It was to be an all-French affair.
A ransom was eventually paid over to the pirates by the yacht owners and the 30 captive crewmembers were all released unharmed. The military base at Djibouti tracked the p
irates down to a small village called Jariban, where French Commando Marine and GIGN engaged the pirates as they attempted to make their escape into the desert with the ransom money. They captured most of the pirates alive who were all sent for trial in Paris if I remember correctly. The French Commando Marine and GIGN forces recovered most of the ransom money to top off what was heralded as a great success for the French military and also GIGN.”
“I’m sorry Daniel. I didn’t know about any of that.”
“That’s OK Hélène, because if the Frømandskorpset had been involved, you still wouldn’t. We would have just have simply slipped aboard the yacht un-noticed, killed the pirates, rescued the hostages, recovered all the ransom money and then sailed the yacht into the nearest friendly port for a celebratory drink or three.” and smiled at her.
”I’m really sorry Daniel. I should really research your history as I keep making wrong assumptions about you and what you are. You are kidding me about what you would have done though?”
”No.” was the blunt reply.
When the mission briefing at Toulouse had finished, it was agreed that the deployment of GIGN Intervention Force 1 should be effected by inconspicuous means. The final travel to Montségur would be made overland as the throb of helicopters would be hard to mask in the valleys and slopes surrounding the village. The mission priority was to capture as many people alive as possible and avoid a gun battle in the streets of a quiet village.
Daniel and Hélène sat and watched the monitors while listening to the feeds from the various intercoms of the GIGN operatives. The assault teams wore body-cameras on their protective armouring that fed back real-time coverage to the command centre. A drone equipped with an infra-red and thermal image camera hovered silently above the village relaying real-time coverage of the on-going assault back to the control. One monitor displayed the thermal presence of two people inside the house on the ground floor. They seemed to be carrying items between different rooms inside the property. The four GIGN assault teams had all made their final approaches, readied their blast charges at the points on entry, and awaited the orders to engage and enter the property. The drone did a final sweep of the house and land around it to ensure there were no surprises awaiting the assault teams, and once it had completed its circle overhead, Hélène gave the order for the assault.
“Green for go.” she barked and watched and listened to the assault unfold in front of her on the monitors.
The front and back doors both exploded inwards as blast charges detonated. Side windows smashed inwards while flash-bangs crumped throughout the house, their disorientation purpose providing the desired effect on the two men inside. Quickly overcome and subdued, the two men were handcuffed before being dragged out into waiting vehicles that had screeched to a halt at the end of the cul-de-sac. Armed GIGN operatives roamed around all of the houses in the street, now illuminated with the bright beams of searchlights from the four SA330 Puma helicopters circling overhead. The flashing blue lights of numerous vehicles added to the scene, while locals in the neighbouring houses nervously twitched their curtains and blinds to watch the commotion outside.
When Daniel and Hélène eventually made their way into Montaillou, the search teams were cataloguing and photographing everything to be found inside the scene. It was obvious that the assault teams had caught the two occupants by surprise. They had been moving folders, files, documents and papers into storage boxes, labelling them with their contents and then stacking them on top of each other when the assault began. It was also beyond doubt that the building was an office that someone lived in and not the other way about. Although furnished with the trappings of a home such as furniture, white goods and bedrooms, it was a clinically clean, almost sterile abode devoid of everyday miscellaneous articles that are part of someone’s life at home. There were no magazines or newspapers lying around, no books let alone a bookcase, no ornaments and nothing personal to indicate who or how many lived there. Daniel looked around the various rooms with the feeling that there was something obvious missing but he couldn’t work out what it was. Hélène had been speaking to a number of officers who had been sifting through some of the filing cupboards in what appeared to be the principal office space within the building. She joined Daniel and asked him if he had found anything of interest yet. He just shook his head.
“There is something missing in this house but I cannot see what it is. The house is too clean to be a home but has been fabricated to look like a home. It resembles a show-house on a building estate. All prepared to look homely for the viewer and give the impression that it’s lived in.”
“That’s easy.” said Hélène. “There are no photographs anywhere and nothing personal is lying around.”
Daniel walked round each room again and Hélène was right. There were no photographs, postcards, keys, pens, loose change, letters and such like that you always see in a place of residence, irrespective of how tidy and house proud the occupants were. The building was currently full of people and the initial assault blast charges had thrown the rooms into disarray. Daniel very nearly didn’t see what made him dart over to a desk beside one of the windows that the assault team had entered through. Lying face down on the desk top and partially obscured by print paper that had been blown on top of it, was a photo-frame. Daniel picked it up to look at a happy scene of what he took to be a young family of mother, father and daughter. In the bottom right hand corner of the frame, a folded yellow post-it note was tightly wedged into the space between it and the glass of the photograph. Gingerly extracting the note from the corner, he opened it up and read what was written on it.
Arabelle&Roger
Émilie
Daniel called Hélène over, showed her the note and explained that it had been tucked into the corner of the photo-frame. She cleared away the paper and debris on the desk to find a lap-top computer. Upon opening it up, she smiled as it came to life. She typed Arabelle&Roger into the user name field, then Émilie as the password and pressed the return button on the keyboard. The screen changed colour as files appeared all along its edges. In the middle of the screen, a note flashed open and Hélène began to read the message:
My name is Arabelle Auguste and six years ago my life ended when my husband Roger and my daughter Émilie were killed in front of me by a motor vehicle. I lost my will to live and fell into despair and was close to suicide.
I met a man called Markus Bruscante who introduced me to The Path of Belibasta and told me that by renewing my faith in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, I could find ‘oneness with God’ and alleviate my pain.
I believed him at first but the pain has returned and I have discovered that this man presides over an evil that has existed for nearly 800 years. By manipulation and deceit, The Path of Belibasta has preyed on the weak, the vulnerable and the sick by offering salvation but has used the followers to keep a perverse interpretation of an honest and honourable sect, the Cathar faith, alive and to serve no other purpose than provide its Perfecti with a lifestyle far beyond the scope of its intent.
The Path of Belibasta have interfered with many other faiths, religions and beliefs for centuries and have gone to great lengths to do so. The evidence is contained in the archives in the basement at Montaillou at Montségur. Look no further than the file marked Otto Rahn and read the last few pages for proof.
A white stone was found by a man called Daniel Lauridsen and Markus Bruscante is desperate to have it by any means possible. I suspect that recent dreadful events in India were committed by his acolyte, Henrique, in his desire to have possession of this stone. I also believe that Markus Bruscante induced a man called Lionel to kill himself in Lyon yesterday and I believe Markus Bruscante will kill more people to have this stone to add to the treasures and riches he already has.
We leave for Norway before heading to the Faroe Islands in search of this stone.
D – 12:25 Flesland (BGO) A – 13:40 Vaga
r (FAE) 01h 15m
Atlantic Airways (RC431)
Forgive me, for I have been weak, vulnerable and sick.
Hélène’s reaction on reading the note caused Daniel to snatch the laptop from her to read for himself. He handed the laptop back and made a few telephone calls and could be seen talking as he paced around the office area. On finishing a telephone call, he returned back to Hélène at the desk.
“I need to get to Barcelona now and be on the next available flight to the Faroe Islands. There’s an Atlantic Airways flight due to leave Barcelona El Prat Airport at 13:30 and landing at Vágar at 16:20. I’m going to be at least three hours behind these guys playing catch-up and I don’t have any time to spare now.”
“I’ll drive you to Barcelona if you want. It’s the least I can do for you.” said Hélène.
2. 34pm – 16th April, present day
Vágar International Airport, Faroe Islands.
After passing through Faroe Islands authority Passport Control and Customs, Markus Bruscante, Henrique and Arabelle Auguste uplifted their respective hand luggage from the baggage carousel while making their way into the expanse of the terminal building. A passing airport worker was stopped by Markus.
“Excuse me. Do you speak English?” asked Markus.
The airport worker replied that he did.
“I wonder if you can help me find someone? My colleagues and I have just arrived for a short break but we thought we might try to find an old friend while we are here.” Markus reached inside his jacket and took out a photograph and passed it to the airport worker.
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