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That wasn’t exactly the answer to what I’d asked.
“Even before you and I met?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes.” Alistair smiled. “Our meeting in the restaurant wasn’t by chance.”
So Rachel wasn’t paranoid…
“But now you’re recruiting me?” I asked.
“You could say that.”
“Is Rachel involved in this? Did she ask you to – ”
“NO,” Alistair said vehemently. “And I must insist you do not tell her.”
“Why not?”
“Because if she were to find out, our superiors would most likely terminate her current position.”
I was shocked. “She’d be fired?”
“Just transferred. But not willingly. She rather likes what she does.”
I might not have known much about Rachel’s job, but I knew she didn’t want to leave it.
So I couldn’t tell her about Alistair. Not unless I wanted to destroy her career.
“Why would she get transferred? I don’t understand.”
“One of our organizational principles is maintaining a firewall between agents – no fraternizing or romantic relationships allowed. Not only does the policy eliminate distractions, it also makes certain that one agent can’t be compromised if their significant other is captured in the field. Can you imagine how a man might react if he knew a terrorist was torturing his wife halfway across the world? And what he might do if the terrorist contacted him and threatened to kill his wife unless he did exactly what the terrorist told him to do?”
“That could happen with a regular husband or wife,” I protested. “Someone could kidnap them in London and – ”
“True, but the odds of it happening increase exponentially if the spouse is constantly going into dangerous situations overseas. Wouldn’t you agree?”
I grunted. He had a point.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed the almost obsessive lengths we go towards protecting Rachel’s identity,” Alistair said. “For instance, how often her phone number and email address change.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m assuming she’s told you that Bauer is not her real last name.”
“…yes,” I said warily, wondering if admitting it might get her in trouble.
Alistair narrowed his eyes. “She hasn’t told you her real last name, has she?”
“No.”
“Good. We take these precautions because we don’t want her to be traceable in any way, shape, or form. Otherwise, it might compromise her ability to do her job.”
“I still don’t understand why me telling her about you would compromise her ability to do her job.”
“If you accept my offer and she becomes aware of it, then the firewall is breached. Simple as that.”
“But if I accept your offer, the firewall is breached anyway,” I pointed out. “I’ll be working for you, but I’ll be involved in a relationship with her. So why is it okay for me to know, but not for her?”
“Number one, because you know next to nothing about her job. The firewall is largely in place because of that. And number two is because I’m willing to make an exception in your case. You would be entirely separate from the main organization – a ghost. No one would know your connection to MI6 except me and my immediate superior.”
