Binary code: Mystery number one

Rutra was surprised.

– That's the first time I've ever heard that.

– I see, school. The fact that you're here says a lot, but I'm afraid to disappoint you. You think you're gonna do here what you did there?

– Clearly not.

– That task is no less important now.

– What did I do before? – Ruthra asked bravely, though he was afraid in his heart.

It was the same as saying that Yuri Vasilyevich was not in command of the situation. Yuri Vasilyevich had the rank of colonel, which was clear from the photograph hanging on the wall. On it he was standing in an embrace with the president, which spoke of his high status. Alexander Ivanovich defused the situation:

– Why don't we have tea, Yuri Vasilyevich? He's a little "stuck"… I'll tell you all about it later.

Yuri Vasilyevich stood up, opened the safe, disguised by a photograph, and took out a bottle of cognac with Churchill's picture on it. "To drink tea" in the circle of especially gifted specialists meant to drink something stronger.

In another photo, Yuri Vasilyevich was young. He was sitting at a table in the company of border guards. Rutra's experienced eye noticed that they were photographed against the background of a map of Transcaucasia.

Yuri Vasilyevich took out a plate of sliced sausage and pickles, olives, and several bottles of Silver Key mineral water from the refrigerator.

– What you like," he said and showed the bottles to Alexander Ivanovich.

– Was it a present from him? – Alexander Ivanovich asked.

– From himself!

Rutra did not understand who they meant, but judging by their meaningful look, the cognac was given either by Churchill himself or by the man in the photo. Yuri Vasilyevich uncorked the bottle, poured it into crystal shot glasses, raised his own and said:

– Well, just our way.

They clinked glasses and drank. "Cleanly our way" meant that they drank cognac like vodka – no one was going to be ceremonious with the glasses.

They talked about the various operations they had participated in, but Rutra knew only the name of the places and the names of foreign and domestic officials. He was knowledgeable enough to keep up a conversation, which was what the older generation liked. A lot of things were new to him, though.

After the third Alexander Ivanovich said with a smile that he had had enough and that now Rutra would drink for him. Rutra didn't know what secret meaning he put into these words, but he realized that the old man obviously didn't mean the feast.

Yuri Vasilyevich held out the bottle and said:

– Come on, dose up! One more and I'll tell you about your new role.

After thinking for a bit, Ruthra said:

– It's hard for me to know whether to accept or refuse. After all, I have been invited to serve.

He had been through so many different tests so many times that he had developed a reflex, and so he decided to act openly.

– I realize that you've been abroad for a long time. I can't forget myself when I was in that situation, but remember: if a man doesn't drink even a shot, he's either an alcoholic or a traitor," Yuri smirked. – So take your pick.

Rutra liked brandy. He raised his shot glass.

After "tea" Yuri Vasilyevich invited them to the hall. On the way, Alexander Ivanovich said to Rutra:

– I helped you because I have plans for you.

He said this very sadly; it was obvious that he was having a hard time. Judging by the fact that Alexander Ivanovich was already quite old, Rutra realized that he would need some help.

– Goodbye, I'll go," said Alexander Ivanovich.

They shook hands, hugged Yuri Vasilyevich, and he went to the door, but not the one they had entered. Rutra watched him until Yuri Vasilyevich called out to him:

– Rutra Tigrovich, since we have met, I will explain one rule adopted in the center: the head of the center can address his subordinates as "you". The staff – only "you". Among ourselves – as the relationship develops. We have to get used to the servant attitude, so as not to give ourselves away among civilians. Although we're supposed to be a civilian service, just like the CIA. I hope you know what I mean.

– It's clear," Ruthra replied calmly.

– Come on then, I'll show your post.

He took him to the upper tier, where there was one office, all glass, from which the entire hall was visible. It was higher than the hall, and from there everyone could be monitored. Ruthra noticed that the sparse screens were showing some sort of images. Mostly they had similar diagrams on them. Ruthra took a closer look. Most of the computers in the room did indeed have diagrams on them. There were a few similar screens in his office, with diagrams on them as well.

– What is it? – Ruthra asked.

– What's the point of the world right now, you know? The world is not the same anymore, and you know very well that nobody wants to kill anybody. Everybody wants peace, everybody wants to be rich, enjoy life. Everyone has realized that there is no point in bombing and destroying each other, because, firstly, it will be worse for yourself, secondly, there is no guarantee that you will destroy someone, and you will remain intact, and thirdly, no one wants to take risks. Even if there's solid intel. Fourth, even if you destroy someone, you destroy a potential client. Everyone wants to do business, go out, get drunk, enjoy life, so now the war is here! – And he poked at the monitor.

– What is it? – Ruthra asked.

– This, my dear, is the pulse of the planet.

– What's the pulse of the planet?

– This chart shows what is happening, where and when, and most importantly, for how much. This is one of the main parts of our center's purpose – to keep track of not only who, what and where is doing or intending to do what, but also what is being done. Really doing. Where and from where finances, raw materials, materials and, most importantly, intellectual capital flow. Our center receives information from all resources that collect data. All the intelligence agencies, all over the world. We're interested in everything. Including personal data of social network users, basic financial and economic indicators of firms, corporations, countries as a whole. Also the usual spy data, which has always been of interest to spies, information of special importance. As you know, of course, information of special importance should include information in the field of military, foreign policy, economic, scientific and technical, intelligence and operational and investigative activities. We are interested not only in hidden, secret transactions, but also in open ones, for example, stock exchange transactions. As you realized, there are stock exchange terminals here. Are you surprised? You thought this was some kind of secret center you imagined? That's the thing, insider information is that kind of secret information. Well, for example, let's say a ship carrying a highly toxic chemical material is hijacked by terrorists and is headed to, say, the UK. It's a three-stage operation. The first is an intelligence and counterintelligence operation, which means knowing about it in advance. The second is infiltrate and capture. But you'll be working on the third stage. That is to deal with the consequences of such events yourself.

– I don't get it," Ruthra said, raising his eyebrows upward.

– Nobody knows how they do it. I mean, some homegrown terrorists could not, for example, organize serious terrorist attacks. You understand that for the average person they can bypass our service, but only a highly organized special service can really stand up to us. And so people live, work, rest, plan something and at some point they learn that a ship has been seized and is carrying chemical weapons. Let's say the ship arrived in port today. What will start happening there when people learn that there is a threat of explosion and contamination? Fuss, panic, flight of capital, flight of people. What happens to the stock market in this country? It will start to fall, the economy will collapse. What are the consequences? The country will become poorer, will not be able, for example, to finance scientific research and, as a consequence, in ten years it will fall hopelessly behind. And if someone prepared in advance, i.e. organized to make the shares get cheaper, then he can buy up half of the country. I'm exaggerating a little bit. But you know what I mean, don't you? There used to be total opposition. If a country's power was undermined, it was by direct "undermining." Simply put, it used to be a real bomb, now it's an information bomb. Of course, I am exaggerating a bit, but the general mechanism is as follows. But the most interesting and the most secret is not this information, not how it is obtained, not even the center itself and its existence at all!

Yuri Vasilyevich fell silent and looked at Rutra carefully.

– Why? – Ruthra asked, running through a hundred options in his head.

Yuri Vasilyevich took Rutra by the edge of his collar and quietly, as if it were an incantation, said:

– All this information comes here officially, openly. We don't spy on anyone, we don't infiltrate anywhere, we don't bribe anyone, we don't break ciphers and codes, we don't steal anything. Everything is handed over to us voluntarily. This is a center for tracking those who are tracking everyone according to their structural purpose. In this center, all intelligence and intelligence agencies are united. Only they don't know it themselves. They don't know that the information they gather comes here. They do not know that there is a center where information from all the world's services is processed, whether they are secret spy services or official civilian services. As our German colleague likes to say, "from the maternity hospital to the funeral parlor." Everything, everything, everything. You see why no one can know about us? And I'll tell you something else. This will come as a surprise to you.

The colonel fell silent again.

– What?" Ruthra asked quietly.

– We are supranational. We are not subordinate to the Russian government. We are not subordinate to anyone at all and could be in any country. Everyone is subordinate to us. Our center is the control center of all significant intelligence services, globally, and through them all governments. All the top leaders of intelligence agencies and secret governments are one group. The center has many branches and representative offices. The main ones are the official secret agencies of the countries themselves. That, my friend, is how our glorious world works now. Information no longer has to be mined and stolen. You can just negotiate. And someone's already done it.