" Let's talk about 1971." " Okay." "The US Embassy in Rome, Italy." "Would you describe Sara Baldino as the love of your life?" " I don't know." " Yes or no, please." "Yes." "...and be transferred here." "She was an Italian citizen." "It was against regulations." "So yes." "They told me that if I left, they would have to fire Phil, too." "Well, he's been my supervising officer for about 20 years, and..." "And have you had any unreported contact since then?" "No." "Thanks, Jim." "We're done." " "THE LISTENING" - [ln 1952, a secret organisation, known as "The Black Chamber"...] [... was reborn by executive order as the National Security Agency.]" "[Lt was tasked with codemaking, codebreaking...] [... and collecting foreign communications intelligence.]" "[5 years later, the first man-made satellite was launched into orbit.]" "[More than 3,000 satellites are now in operation...] [... carrying our phone calls, e-mails and broadcasts.]" "[Listening to this massive flow of information...] [... is a multi-billion dollar surveillance network...] [... built by the NSA and codenamed Echelon.]" "[Every hour, unmanned computers...] [... scan through millions of intercepted calls...]" "[Only when Echelon recognises a significant word or a known voice...] [... does it notify its human operators.]" "[The men and women of Menwith Hill are highly specialized linguists...] [... mathematicians and computer scientists.]" "[They are required to violate the privacy of foreign citizens...]" "You cover your tracks and make new ones... [... while being allowed very little privacy of their own.]" "[Underpaid and burdened with secrets...] [... they live their lives according to a complex hierarchy...] [... of codewords, paygrades and colour-coded badges.]" "[By contrast, employees of the private contractor corporations...] [... that provide the hardware for Echelon...] [... are allowed inside secure facilities after minimal scrutiny...] [... to promote new technology.]" "We'll issue him with a blue badge." "What?" " Is there a problem, Mr Wagley?" " No problem at all, Mr Lehmann." "We're all very excited about your product." "It's just that we're a little touchy about our colour-codes." "It tookJim and I 15 years to get to blue." "Right." "Shall we go meet the boy?" "So... will I see you later?" "Okay." "Sorry." "I'll be ready in a minute, sir." "Our friends seem to be concerned about your attitude towards security." "That's not a problem, sir, once they see the product." "Well, the product is useless unless kept secret." "Should the sale not go through, the board and I would have to hold you responsible for the RD expenditures." "That's about... 400 million dollars." "Perhaps you're not... familiar with my salary." "Shall we go?" "Yeah." "Sure." "So you boys and girls are spies." "Well, I've got a surprise for you." "Miss." "Would you please step up here and give Nicholas your home phone number?" "That's him!" "That's Pepper!" "I can hear my dog barking!" "Thank you, Miss." "Well, that's it, guys!" "That's all it is!" "Tumbleweed lets you listen into any room where there's a telephone." "Even if the receiver's on the hook and without you having to go into that room and tamper with the telephone beforehand." " What about cell-phones?" " Cells?" "They're easy!" "They're little walking bugs, even when they're turned off." "And everybody's got one." "You all look like college graduates." "Any ideas on how to neutralise our big fancy 400 million dollar system?" "And if it's a cell-phone, you just remove the batteries." "And the SIM card probably." " Tony Ashe." " Jim Wagley." "Nice to meet you, Jim." "Thank you very much!" "Well, I'm a level kind of guy." "So I'm gonna have to admit that Jim is right." "Tumbleweed is still a little fragile in that area but at Wen Cran we believe that if the comsec is handled right we can get another 5 years of operational life out of this." "So what do you say, boys and girls?" "As we told in Fort Meade we will sell this dreamy little thingamajig to you... for a song..." " I'll see you later." "...a pretty song..." " Wait up." "I'll give you a ride home." "...but essentially a song." " I'll stay here in the bunks." " Bunks are so small." " So is home!" " Suit yourself." "...support the sale with your section chiefs." "Right now 32 of my colleagues have just finished their own demos in the signals intelligence branches of our Embassies in Paris, Prague the Hague, Lisbon, Athens, Madrid and Rome." "If they're gonna listen to something, I guess "Tumbleweed" is a good bet." "Yes, sir, Mr Ashe." "No, it was Murray's, sir." "I don't know." "Okay." "Our guys are here." "The NSAare entering the data in their Echelon Dictionary." "Word search, Ben." "Anybody uses the word "Tumbleweed" on a phone anywhere in the world they hear it and pass it on to our guys." "What do you mean by "anywhere in the world"?" "Try saying "semtex" into a phone in an Arabic accent." "That's a shit, Michael, they don't have the technology yet it's a total legend!" " You getting a degree is a total legend!" "Michael Ellison." "Roving Logistical Support." "No briefcase?" "Sir." "Sir!" "I'm sorry Head Office didn't tell me what time the flight was, for some reason." " Where are you going?" " I'm..." "Nothing." "I'm just running a little late." "No, you're not." "You're staying right here until you find that briefcase and those godless saboteurs." "Yeah." "This thing in Rome I thought if..." " See you, Anthony!" "It's all about technical things, disks..." "A big book..." "Top Secret, Comint, Gamma Plus Capricorn, Noforn, Orcon, Substation Operations Manual Tumbleweed." "For sure they are technical things." "Come on, I won't throw it away!" " Tomorrow I'll return it to them." " Come on!" "Do you care about it?" " Why don't you look inside?" " I don't want to!" "Listen, tomorrow I will take it to the Carabinieri at 6:00 pm." "And even if it takes me 2 hours, I'll come and visit you before you leave." " See you tomorrow then?" " Yeah." " All right." "Bye." " Bye bye." "Ashe..." " What?" " Such a flake!" " So laid back he can barely see over his pelvis." " Yeah." "Everybody out." "You heard?" "Echelon got a hit on the word "Tumbleweed" 95 minutes ago." "Woman named Francesca Savelli mentioned the manuals on the phone the entire cover of one of them!" "I guess Ashe got lucky." "Said she plans to return them at 18:00 tomorrow to the Carabinieri." " What's the problem?" " Until she does, you listen." " Why should I listen?" " Tumbleweed's got bumped up to Gamma Glide plus." "You and I are the only ones cleared." "And I'm busy." "Well, get busy." "Yes, it's lovely." "I know, I really didn't think they were going to buy it." "Yeah." "Oh, God!" "The copies are fucking horrible." "No, it's the doodle." "Looks like pee on snow." "I can't send this to the French Embassy." " Why not?" " Sameer's going to flip." " Sure he is!" "What can you do?" " Well, I'll have to find a way." " It's only 10:15." " These gentlemen are very worried." " There's nothing to worry about." " Good." "No, no!" "No, I won't go into details!" "All right, I came4 times." "The great total amount of this year!" " What do you mean by "this year"?" " I mean "this year"!" " I can't believe it!" " Hang on!" "Tune in to Canale 5!" "Tune in to Canale 5, Luisa is on TV!" " Why isn't the bag back?" " What was that?" "WCT wanted the head of Rome office to send Marines in to retrieve it Embassy Marines!" "Oh, for crying out loud!" "This girl is not an industrial spy, she's not a blackmailer and she's certainly not a terrorist." "She's just doing these jerks a favour." " How long?" " I don't know." "It'd probably be a good idea if the Italian police didn't see the manuals." "We're not corporate security." "Just do me a favour and cross-feed her coordinates to John real time." "Yeah." "Sure." " Miss Savelli?" " Si." " Speak English?" " Yes, I do." "No news." "Come say goodbye before you leave, Jim." " I'll be sleeping here again tonight." " That's not healthy!" "Well, apparently I have a lot of work to catch up on tomorrow." "Yeah, yeah." " Are you sure a manual is missing?" " Yes, sir, the fourth one." " Okay, Bryden." "It's your show." " Come on." "Let's do this." " I really fancy leaving..." " I'll call you back in a minute." "Francesca!" " Where did you put the fourth manual?" " I really don't know." " Who is Sameer Ben-Saffah?" " Sameer is a buyer." "He is Syrian." "He buys sculptures from the art gallery I work for." "And why did you not return the briefcase immediately?" " I had other stuff to do." " What can you tell us about the copies you made?" " What?" "When?" " Just answer the question, please." "Who is your contact at the French Embassy?" "We know you made copies and sent them to the French Embassy via local courier." " What's going on?" " I'm sorry, this is a private." " It's okay." "He's blue." " She took something out of the case." " No, she didn't." " That's right, I didn't!" " We know that, Miss Francesca." " She can hear us?" " So are we finished?" " Yes, we are." " Your guys still have speakers on." " Turn the damn speakers off." " Don't!" " They're just asking her some questions." "Who's asking?" "Who are these?" "That's Frank Vaughan and our fantastic logistical support team." " Is that her house?" " She let them in, it's okay." " No, I think they should leave there right now." " Mr Wagley, is it?" " Yes." "As you yourself demonstrated, Tumbleweed is still very fragile." "You have no threat from Ms Francesca, I can guarantee you." "She made copies this afternoon, that was in your report." " Those were invitations to an art show." " So you say." "But our company is targeted for industrial espionage every month so I think we know when we're under attack." "Listen to me, your company and your product are not under attack least of all from her, and I'm gonna tell you what happened." " Your friends had a valise..." " Jim!" " I'll tell you something." "You don't have the right to act on our intelligence product that's like revealing a source." " This was an informal interrogation." " Jim, why do you even?" " Why do I what?" "I do, that's all." "Okay?" " Ask your men to leave, Mr Ashe." " Fine." "My bad." " Vaughan, discontinue Q  A." " Yes, sir." " Okay?" "Mr Wagley?" " Yes." "Thanks." " Actually, Vaughan, put her on, would you?" " Bryden." " Ms Savelli?" " Hello?" " Hi." "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for all the trouble." "My boys are gonna scoot off now." " And you have been really helpful." " Okay." "So it's finished." "Once again I'm sorry." "Ellison, do you have a brochure?" "Yeah." " Please, give one to Miss Savelli." " Sure." "So should you or anyone in your family ever need a hearing aid just call us and ask for Anthony." " Sure, yeah." " Okay." " Bye bye." "Thanks, Phil." " You bet." " I'll see you, guys." "Yeah see you." "What fucking company?" "I want a name!" "A name!" "Who did you talk to?" "A name!" "Tumbleweed!" "What fucking company wanted Tumbleweed?" "Who's the guy inside your company?" "Wendell Cranshaw!" "There's a name!" "Who is he?" "I want a name!" "I want you to talk now!" "Oh, Phil..." "Louis patch me through to Rome." "What's the fucking name of the company?" "What's to stop her pressing for her government to raise a shitstorm?" "They're about to take care of that." "What fucking company wanted Tumbleweed?" "Where's the fourth manual, the one you copied?" "I'm talking to you!" "Don't drift away!" "I want you to talk now!" "Now!" "Look." "Speakto me now, you fucking wop cunt!" "Give me the name!" "Give me the name!" "Give me the name!" "This is getting us nowhere." "I don't think she knows anything either, sir." "Well, she does now, doesn't she?" "Maybe we should be considering other options." "But can you do the thing, Vaughan?" " I can do it." "I just wanted to be clear on this." " We're clear." " This would be permanent, Mr Ashe." " I get that." "She would never talk or walk." "Ever." "Jump up and bite that frisbee, Frank, I thought that was the whole point!" "Okay?" "Thank you." "You can't get good help these days." "Can you, Mike?" " John." " Right." "Carabinieri!" "Open the door!" " Shit!" " Hide the kit, Vaughan!" "Be cool!" "It might be wise to cut the Satlink about now." "What are the police doing there?" "I called them." " I thought this link was secure." " I used Tumbleweed." "You did what?" "I'm asking you for a signed agreement as to the safety of this girl." " Mr Wagley..." " Barring which, I would feel compelled to expose your system." " Right." " Which you must understand would make it unsellable." " Good luck." "You're never going near my system again, Mr Wagley." "Why can't you relax?" "It's not like we wanna kill anyone!" " They had a lobotomy kit in there!" " Chemical lobotomy is non-lethal." " This is a citizen, an allied citizen, a civilian!" " Spy." "Yes." "Industrial espionage does carry 5 to 10." "You are way out of your depth here!" " Please, Mr Wagley, this is national security." " Nat!" "We are National Security!" "You are a company!" "And we must protect our sale, and ourselves and you from litigation." "But this girl is no threat." "Yeah, well, we're just gonna have to agree to disagree on that one." "Now, while I appreciate Mr Wagley's zeal he seems to be having some allegiance issues." "Jim's allegiance is not in question." "Whatever." "The point is it'd be really nice if he stopped popping up all the time." " I am going to report you." " Are you hearing me, Phil?" "Or do I need to say it on the phone, so you can snoop it?" " Mr Ashe." " His clearance." "Gone." "Now." " John, call security." " Even assuming that she was acting alone we need to know what that girl did and why." "What we do not need is a lawsuit." "And we especially do not need this guy..." "Because if the girl blows the system, even if she does so by accident you aren't gonna buy it, are you?" "And the guy over there is gonna have to call my bosses." "And guess what?" "Those are my guys in Rome, I handpicked them." "So if the sale is a no-go whose paycheck do you think is gonna get squeezed?" "Now I wasn't planning on selling any kidneys, Phil and I don't think anybody would wanna buy one of yours." "So I am asking you to give me his clearance." "Now." "Jim." "Give me your keycard, please." "Phil..." "This is not who we are." "It is today." ""It is today?"" "You will get a new keycard tomorrow." "And what colour will that be, John?" "You'll feel better when you've had some rest at home." "I'll get these to the incinerator for you." " Have the cops released them yet?" " They've released the girl." "It's gonna take a while to get the Wen Cran guys out." "Maybe tomorrow." " And then?" " And then they'll find her." " LEONARDO DAVINCI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ROME, ITALY" "Taxi?" "Miss Francesca!" "I'm sorry." "I need to talk to you." " Do I know you?" " I'm the one who called the police last night." "Right." "Thanks." "I need to talk to you." "Please, it's important." "I've got a train to catch." "Sorry." "No matter where you go, they'll find you." "And when they do, they'll finish what they were doing last night." "They'll do it to your family, to your friends, to all of you." "Do what?" "Get rid of you, make it look like an overdose." " I'm calling the police." " Italian police cannot help you." "We'll see it in a minute!" "Not a life in the world is worth 400 million dollars." "Do you understand?" "Put that back!" "They can hear us." "Right now." "They can hear us." "Keep your finger on the button, if you want but keep it in there, please." " What do you want?" " Those men are coming back." " They're in prison right now." " Just let me show you something." "Then, if you like, you can go anywhere you want." "I was going to go see Annamaria my friend." " I'm alone too." "My name is Jim Wagley." "I wouldn't hurt you for the world, kid." "We gotta get going and we're gonna need your car." "They don't work for the National Security Agency yet for a company called Wendell Cranshaw Technologies." "Then, why would the police let them go?" "Because they're friends of ours." "The best way to get them to forget you is to compromise the system." " "Compromise"?" " Yeah, you make it public." " Remember those manuals you saw?" " Yes." " Tumbleweed." "And we use Tumbleweed to expose Tumbleweed." " And gather evidence that Tumbleweed exists." " What evidence?" "Recordings, lots and lots of recordings." "Do you know how?" "No." " PORTO FERRAIO, ELBA ISLAND, ITALY " "So Tumble-thing is here?" "No." "Tumbleweed is in England." "I'll drop you off and pick you up later and we'll go to the hotel." "Why can't I come with you?" "My friend may not like what I ask." "And your other friends?" "Will they like it?" "In terms of personnel and budget the NSA is larger than the FBI and the CIA combined." "They'll be okay." "They say old age can be a good thing!" "Yeah..." "Then again nobody is doing you any favours." "So nice to see you too." "Your hair is fine, too!" "James..." "Moneypenny..." " James!" " Hey, good-looking!" "Get your own wife!" "Oh, you just shut up!" "You look wonderful!" " She's gone, Philip." " I know." "Where's Wagley?" "He flew to Rome." "Oh, goody!" "Does he have contacts there?" " Look, Mr Ashe." " Yeah." "With all due respect, I think we should concentrate on closing this sale." "Well, that's exactly what I'm trying to do." "Maybe if you guys gave me a hand, I could find that shithead." "You're not going to find him." "And he's not a shithead." "I'm gonna go back to my hotel room." "Gianni, is this house secure?" " I have a question." " So do I." " You first." " Do you still listen to her?" " To who?" "Sara!" "No." "Not in years..." "Okay." " Your turn." " It's hypothetical, Gianni." "Would it be possible, from here, covertly to hack into Menwith Hill and hijack a brand-new Echelon subsystem prototype?" " Come again?" " You heard me." " What's going on?" " It's just a question." "Anything is possible, Jim." " Can you do it?" " With what?" "What you have, what I know, 30,000 dollars to get what you might need..." " What is this about?" " With a voice we knowto be filed in the system." "You're not talking for real, are you?" "James!" "James!" "No, Gianni, no." "It's a simulation." "The US Government needs your help." "The Italian Ministry has authorised us to reactivate your consultancy." " Is there a brief?" " No brief." "It's simulation, covert and hostile." "And if we manage?" " We tell them how we did it and they fix it." "And we get a medal that doesn't exist, for something we never did." "Thank you, James." " There are 3 voices to choose from." " Which one is the most distinctive?" "Oh, that would be a Francesca Savelli." "Italian, Rome, 30 years old." "I'll fly her over in the morning." " Can't we just tape her?" " No, no, no." "No phones." "We will have to use her voice to stage a fake telephone call to which we will then attach a trace signal." "Echelon goes through everything, so it would pick up the call recognise her voice and record it." "Once we're inside, our trace signal would lead us to your prototype." " Tumbleweed." " Right." "But unless I find you a backdoor, Menwith Hill will be impenetrable." "So where are you staying?" "So how do you know him?" "When I was posted at the Embassy in Rome Gianni worked with the Italian Intelligence." "Sometimes they would lend him to us, he was one of our satellite guys." " You liked him." " Oh, yeah!" "Still do." "He was very supportive of me when I had to make a difficult decision." "What was it?" " All right." " When it's over I'll tell him the truth." "When it's over." "We're going to go in through the Gigster satellite network." "It is the most secure of all NSAsatellite networks." "Gigster satellites are all in contact with Antarctica." "6 years ago I set up the satellite link for an Italian base in the South Pole and I have the codes to remote control all their antennas and computers." "All the NSAsatellites transmit on blind frequencies." "Exactly!" "Blind frequencies can't cross the atmosphere." " So we can't pick them up from earth." " You wanna go into space?" " No, Jim." "The only place on earth they link to on a detectable frequency is beneath the depletion zone in the ozone layer." "The hole in the ozone..." "If we manage, from here to hook to another commercial satellite that sees the Italian research facility in Antarctica then we could connect to Gigster through the hole." " We get back into Menwith through Antarctica?" " Easy peasy!" "We find and hijack Bumblebee, whatever prove it, and we've blown it." "Simulation!" " So when do I meet the girl?" " Ehm... tomorrow." "And how did it happen that you met Jim?" " She was listening to me by mistake." " Ah." "By mistake..." "Gianni are you sure the origin of the call can be shielded?" "My sat-phone goes through an anonimizing router." "Even if this were for real the worst thing they could do to us is call us back." "They'd still never know where we are." "Francesca, can I talkto you a minute?" "Sorry." " I'm not reading it." " I'm sorry, it has to be verbatim identical." " Otherwise the system will think it's something new." " So what?" "We don't want them noticing what we're doing." "The computers at Menwith must file this away as an error." "And I wished I remembered something else." " How long did you listen to me for?" " All day." "Why do Americans have to spy on everyone?" " Makes the world safer." " I'm not safe!" " And I can't say this in exactly the same way!" " Sure you can." "No, I won't go into details!" "All right, I came4 times." "The great total amount of this year!" "I mean "this year"!" " Well done!" "Where're you going?" " Inside!" "Oh, fuck!" "What is it?" "It didn't work, did it?" " The satellite that sees the base is below the horizon." " How much?" "3 degrees." "I should have checked this." "We can't see that bird from anywhere north of Sudan." " Are there any other satellites?" "Not that I have the codes for." " And not with the right relay band capability." " That's okay." "I only did the link for Antarctica because I was upgrading..." "It's okay." "It's okay, Gianni." "They'll be more than happy to know that they're... impenetrable." " At least from Italy." " James..." "There you are." "So, how did it go?" "It didn't work." "Was it me?" " No." " So?" "So he was my best bet." "If he can't do it, we can't do it." " Then, how do we expose Tumbleweed?" " We don't." "We don't." " Are we leaving?" " Yeah." "Home?" "No, no." "South America or Australia." "How?" "By boat." "Bye bye." " It has been a pleasure." " Thank you for everything." " Where is he?" " Doing Hara-Kiri, I imagine." "Upstairs?" " Gianni!" " James, can I hire a guy?" " No." " Can I hire one guy?" " No." " Just one!" "I can vouch for him!" "Worked with him before!" " They won the game, Gianni." " Bullshit!" "We can win this exercise!" "We can show them." " Bird is 3 degrees below the horizon." " We can go below the horizon." "We're not going to the Sudan, and we're not going to Antarctica." "We don't need to." "Just the one guy." "And 4 or 5 days." "We'd have to spend some of the money but this is all the gear we'd need including the survival gear." " Survival?" "Yeah, and check out the coffee rings." "They really throw Optical Character Recognition." "We can fax it to Baghdad and it wouldn't get picked up by Echelon." " How covert is that, hey?" " What is all this?" "Let me hire this guy and he'll have all that gear on the vehicle..." " What vehicle?" "...by the day after tomorrow at the latest." "You ready?" "What can I tell him?" "That's Gianni's man, Francesca." "Nothing." "You tell him nothing." " And what about altitude pills?" " Yes, Gianni." "Yeah, let's go." "I can do it myself." "Thank you." " You'd better be right about this!" " Yack yack yack!" "3 full degrees over the horizon!" " How high are we here actually?" " 3.2!" "And we're heading for 3.6!" " HELBRONNER POINT, MONTE BIANCO, ITALY" "There's truly shortage of air here!" "And a lot of water!" "Thank you!" "Mr Wagley." " Is that it?" " Yeah." "Go, Guglia!" "Sorry." "Did it the right way around this time." "Baia Terranova, the South Pole." "Miserable place!" "Why does Italy have a base in Antarctica?" "Our people there are supposed to study penguins and moss." "How do you know all these things?" " I thought we were on a no-questions basis." " We are." " Because if it's open season, I'd really like to know." " We are." "Sorry." "No, I won't go into details!" "All right, I came 4 times." "The great total amount of this year!" "I mean "this year"!" "There!" "Okay, Jim." "Now I hack." "No, I won't go into details!" "All right, I came 4 times." "The great total amount of this year!" "I mean "this year"!" " Does this do what it says it does?" " You bet." "Yeah." "Yeah, but..." "What do you mean by"the same conversation?"" "This is our very comprehensive directory." "I must say you and your friends are very nosy people, James." " So who do you want to listen to?" " Is that him?" "Thatwould be the Prime Minister of France." "Shall we start with him?" "Or perhaps the Pope?" "Go French." "Hi, guys!" "Francesca Savelli keeps calling from a hidden location to talk about sex to nobody at all." "What?" "It sounded just like him." "I have a list." " There must be 150 names..." " I know, simulation's ramified." " Some simulation, James!" " Tape them." "Tape all of them." "We're willing to knock off 7% but I want a list of Wagley's contacts in Italy." "And I wanna talk to the guys who intercepted the girl's calls." "See you around." "Take me to them, Phil." "So who are the last names on the list?" "Those are lawyers and reporters." "If we taped them, sent them the recordings and then told them howwe did it, theywould not be very happy." "No." "And Tumbleweed would be blown within hours." "And this was your mission?" "Wow, well done!" "Nice plan!" "Thank you." "How do you, people, listen to this stuff?" "The NSA is the largest employer of linguists in the world." "We do all the dialects of all languages including a couple of dead ones." " You guys are great!" "Gianni!" "What's that?" "Oh, that!" " That's just the copy traffic." " What do you mean by "copy traffic"?" "I have to copy everything down to the mainframe in Antarctica before I upload it back here." " Copies remain in Antarctica?" "Yes." "We can erase the copies from here when we're finished." " No, Gianni." " Relax, James!" "We'll delete them when we're done." "It's only a bloody simulation, anyway." "Place was cleared less than a week ago." "I'm sure, Mr Ashe." "If I may..." "If we guaranteed their safety Wagley's and the girl's, sir, they might stop making trouble for us." "I understand, Mr Ashe." "Yes, sir." "I'm gonna get some snow, for water." "I'll come with you!" "Francesca!" " I'm gonna help Guglia with the water." " I need your help here, now." " We'll only be a minute." " I know, but I think you should stay here." "The first call was from her workphone to this other phone and she actually spoke to someone." " That was on Wagley's report." "But the other two had only her voice, no-one else at the other end and they were both NP OR-DEST." " Slow the fuck down, please?" "Easy, Mr Ashe." "It means their origin and destination were shielded." "Unknowable." "Nowwhen you say "unknowable"..." "It would take a Triton 5 and a few days to crack the encryption." " That's out of the question." " What's a Triton 5?" " And there's another thing." " Yeah." "The 3 conversations of Francesca Savelli they were all almost identical, word-for-word." " So?" " So if there hadn't been a hiccup in the last performance Echelon wouldn't have picked it up." " Exactly." "Dictionary would have filed it away as an error." " Dictionary?" " The computer system that runs Echelon." " It picks words out of e-mails and phone calls." " Right." "So let me get this straight." " What you're saying..." " For whatever reason the call was made it was made in such a way as to enter the system without being detected." "Wagley." "When I was your age or rather when I was Guglia Graef's age..." " What are you on about?" " There are two worlds." "There's a normal world, where you and your friends live and the girl that I used to know and there's a secret world, where I live where Gianni used to live, and Guglia and you have to trust me on this..." "You're making a huge deal about nothing." " The two worlds don't match." " So what do you call this?" "The normal world?" "Okay." "You see that?" " Is that a satellite?" " No, it's Mercury." "The days on Mercury are longer than the years." "Jim why are you so mad at them?" "Well, it's..." "You said when you were back in Rome that..." "Back in Rome before you were born there was a girl, Sara." "But she was Italian, and the Agency was very clear about interaction with foreigners." "She would have been worth getting fired over but they'd have fired Phil, too." "He was my boss." "So..." "I left her." "And I moved to England." "And I guess Phil Kovacs forgot what I did for him." "Could this Triton 5 thingy find their location, if you had one?" "Our Triton 5 thingy, Mr Ashe is currently tasked to cross-match air passenger lists to just about everyone in the Middle East." " It is therefore a little busy." " Ms..." " Doctor!" "Doctor Palmer, you understand that I need to find them before..." "Before your sale goes under?" "Yes." "But there is one thing I'm not 100% sure you understand." "Louis." "Regardless of special treatment your people may have gotten in Rome Echelon, this station and other highly classified highly cost-intensive NSA resources such as Triton 5's are not at your disposal." "You are a privileged business partner, not a Signals Intelligence Operative." "You understand that I can have you fired, don't you?" " Great!" "Mr Ashe, you know what?" " What?" "You're not cleared to be in here." "Come on!" "Uppity up!" "Outwe get!" "Let's go!" "Hi." "John Strobel." "We met." "Yeah." "I was wondering what it's like to work for Wendell Cranshaw Technologies." "I heard about your... conundrum." " What?" " Your situation." "Yeah, that." "The router that the girl called from, the unknowable origin..." "Truly it would take a very powerful computer to crack its location." " Listen." " But one could... call it." "It wouldn't tell you where it is, but it would forward the call." "You know John Strobel if the old man and that girl were up to something I don't think, if I call them, they're gonna tell me where they are." "There is one resource that you still have access to here in the station." "Yeah, that!" "I mean exclusive proprietary access to." "You see, Mr Ashe?" "If you could call them they are using a phone..." " Tumbleweed." "Yes, Mr Ashe." "Oh, I like you!" "It's an incredible tool, James." "It's a weapon, Gianni." "Yes, a non-violentweapon." "Holy Grail." "Non-violent?" " Is pasta and peas fine with you?" " Yeah, that's fine, Guglia!" "It's a mean pasta and peas!" " Shouldn'twe finish our work?" " On what?" " On the list, Gianni." " The list is finished!" "Come again?" "Acouple of dozens of them are still quiet." "They'll talk before morning." "You mean we're done?" "We almost didn't have enough space on the recorders!" "We're done?" "Yes, we're done!" " Bravo." "Grazie." " Prego, prego." "Of course we're done!" "I'm a clever guy!" "Come in!" " Gee!" " What, Mr Kovacs?" "This thing is doing a lot of work already!" "We ride it pretty hard, sir." "Part of the test process." "Can we get going, please?" "I don't knowwhat you think you're gonna achieve with this." " Their location." " You thinkthey're just gonna say it?" "I don't know, Phil." "Even if they did, itwon't be your lost and found boys who get there." "It'll be CIAor the Italians." "Maybe us." "Not Frank Vaughan and the lobotomy gang." "Sorry, Roving Logistical Support!" " There!" "What was that?" " What was what?" " Listen!" " Sounds like..." "...music." " Gianni..." " There." "That's him." " Jim?" " Gimme the cans!" " What?" " The cans!" "Sir." "What's this?" "Afax sent from Elba to Turin a couple of days ago." " Where's Turin?" " Northern Italy." " This is Sigint gear." " Great coffee rings!" "I wouldn't have picked it up if I were not looking for stuff out of Elba." "Why were you looking for stuff out of Elba?" "Vaughan, how quickly can you get to Turin?" "They were very gentle, the second time." "That's not funny!" "The second time!" "It's just a stupid navy ritual." "No wonder you wanna be a mountain guide!" "Francesca, you should help the able bodied seaman here do the dishes." "Come on, Gianni!" "And bring the fucking wine!" "Only a few fucking Swedishmen could think..." "You know you're a genius, Gianni?" "You're going to have to do better than that, loverboy!" "Remember back in the 1970's when you did all those tests?" "You were certified." " That was you guys?" " We IQ'ed you." "Fuck you, guys!" "You're a pain in the ass!" "Always the same story!" "All right." "Why does he need a mountain guide?" "The guy they sent the fax to was a mountain guide." " Altitude." " What?" "They're doing something that requires altitude." "And Sigint gear." " Are there mountains in Turin?" " The highest in Europe." "What about Tempest shielding?" "Irrelevant, if we go in through the phone line!" " And you know the extension?" " It's in the directory."