Some of the Western spy chiefs in Moscow were declared, officially identified, to the FSB. The CIA station chief fell into that category, and he knew that his embassy and home telephone calls were being monitored by the service. To him, it was an annoying and useless effort by the FSB to identify the undeclared spies that operated under his supervision—the ones doing the real spy work. And even though the effort seldom paid any dividends, the FSB still had an analyst monitoring his calls in real time around the clock.
SORM, the FSB’s sophisticated, computerized, telephonic surveillance system, is the means by which most meaningful intelligence was collected inside Russia. The System for Operative Investigative Matters is housed deep with the Operational Control Center at Lubyanka—the FSB’s central headquarters—and continuously monitors all incoming and outgoing telephone calls made throughout the country. The system uses a voice recognition program (VRP) that can detect suspicious calls in four different languages: English, French, German, and Spanish. Within nanoseconds of detecting certain words, phrases, or idioms, the VRP will initiate a recording of the conversation and save it to a file for analytical review by one of the many analysts who work within the center.
Serge, the SORM shift supervisor, was returning to his desk. He had just attended a briefing at the beginning of his twelve-hour, noon-to-midnight shift. It was going to be a busy afternoon for him and the other men and women working at the center, and he didn’t need any distractions. However, when Serge entered the computer room, it felt as though the temperature had risen a few degrees from what it was before he left to attend Captain Lubikov’s briefing. He checked the thermostat, and sure enough, the temperature was up five degrees. He hurried to his desk and called the engineering section to report the rise in temperature. Someone needed to check the airflow and get the temperature back down. It would be his ass if the large bank of computers, situated on the far side of the room, automatically shut down because of a lack of adequate air conditioning. Serge was relieved when the duty engineer informed him that more air was already being pumped into the room; they had received the alarm and were taking care of the matter.
Serge looked at the large monitor on a wall displaying a digitized map of Russia. Several small red lights were flashing, and the name of a city appeared below, above, or beside each flashing light. SORM was actively monitoring and recording a number of calls. The map with the flashing lights was part of the system to provide a visual aid of locations where suspicious calls were being detected; however, it had nothing to do with the actual recording of calls or the analytical review of recordings that were made by SORM.
Serge had been a shift supervisor for the past two years. He was continually impressed by the updates made to SORM’s voice recognition capability. However, the system could only detect and record a suspicious call; it took human intervention to analyze and reason whether the number of a given caller or recipient should be further surveilled—that was the responsibility of the center’s language analysts, whom he supervised. When listening to an audio file, if something nefarious was suspected, the reviewing analyst would forward the file to Serge to review. Perhaps three or four times a shift he’d have to take the information contained in a recording to the shift captain for possible follow-on action by him or another department within the center. Serge was thankful that he no longer had to worry about monitoring and recording Western Embassy telephone calls, which was his previous responsibility before being promoted to his current position. Those calls were manually recorded and uploaded to SORM for future use.
He looked at the map and noticed a new flashing red light at Saint Petersburg.
What the hell is going on down there, he thought.
After the call was transcribed, Serge decided to provide the information to the shift captain.
“Is it any good?” the captain asked after Serge handed him the transcript.
“I don’t know, sir. The call was made internationally and is between a diplomat assigned to the American Embassy and a woman in Saint Petersburg. SORM recognized the diplomat’s voice from previous calls he’d made from the embassy.”
Captain Lubikov read the transcript.
Diplomat’s voice: Hello.
Female voice: Hi, babe, it’s me.
Diplomat’s voice: Hi, how you doing, lover girl? Did you have a good day at work?
Female’s voice: Not so, good.
Diplomat’s voice: What’s the matter? You sound distressed.
Female’s voice: Trouble at the office. On top of that, I was to meet my girlfriend at the park near the college to go for a walk before going to dinner. Her boyfriend, who is also her boss, has been a pain in the butt for her, and it’s starting to bug me as well. He’s becoming really jealous of her activities. Today, he followed her like he was some gumshoe detective as she was coming to meet me. I stopped him from harassing her. I intervened and slapped him so hard that the ring you gave me hit him against his temple, and he had to take a seat on a nearby bench. We decided that she should take him to the doctor… is there an echo on this line? I thought I heard an echo.
Diplomat’s voice: Yes, there was a brief echo, but it’s gone now, babe.
Female’s voice: Well, anyway, my girlfriend got her car, and she’s taking him to the doctor now. I’m going to check in on them later.
Diplomat’s voice: I guess it was a rough day, dear, and I understand. Why don’t you go ahead with your plans to visit them and give me a call later when you have more time. The doctor will probably want to keep him sedated for a while anyway.
Female’s voice: OK. I’ll call you later. Bye-bye.
END OF TRANSCRIPT.
“OK, Serge, what is it about this intercept that has caught your attention?”
“Nothing much, Captain, only that it was an American diplomat making the call.”
“That will be all. Thank you, Serge.”
Captain Lubikov read the transcript again after Serge left. It seemed odd to him that an American diplomat stationed in Moscow would be making an international call to a woman in Saint Petersburg. He put the transcript down and turned his attention to other business.
A short while later, Serge was back meeting with Captain Lubikov. Serge had another transcript he thought the captain should take a look at.
“It’s the same voices, the American diplomat and the woman he was talking to in the earlier transcript that I brought to you.”
Lubikov took the transcript and read the details.
Diplomat’s voice: Hello.
Female’s voice: It’s me again. My girlfriend has called with a problem. The patient is no longer a concern; he’s TFU.
Diplomat’s voice: What did you say?
Female’s voice: You heard me, right? Our concern is no longer with us; he’s TFU.
Diplomat’s voice: Did she say anything else?
Female’s voice: She’s sure of being clean.
Diplomat’s voice: That’s good. Different subject for you. Why not take the cargo to the dock, and let them deal with it?
Female’s voice: Take the cargo to the dock. Oh, OK, I’ve got it. I’ll send something to you later tonight. Good-bye.
END OF TRANSCRIPT.
“I don’t see much to these calls, Serge, but I’ll let the shift captain in Saint Petersburg know about them.”
“Yes, sir.”
An hour later, more calls had been recorded, so Serge went back to the captain’s office with more transcripts, but this time, he wasn’t there. Serge returned to his desk and worked on another transcript. He finished two more and decided to check on the captain again. He was there this time. Serge stood in front of the open door and knocked. Captain Lubikov looked up to see him.
“What the hell is it this time, Serge?”
“More transcripts, sir. It’s the same voices that keep popping up in intercepts—the diplomat and the woman in Saint Petersburg—and another intercept by the female to a new voice, another male.”
“Give me the damn transcripts,” Lubikov said and started reading one of them.
Diplomat’s voice: Hi. Just spoke with the chain. We need to make a few changes to the plan. First, the cargo needs to be disposed of at another place, not at the dock, someplace that “T” thinks will be a suitable location. Chain is concerned about a missing cargo investigation and thinks people might start asking a lot of questions. You good on this point?
Female’s voice: Got it. What else?
Diplomat’s voice: Chain wants to know if TL has any concerns about continuing, and, if not, you are to put on additional coverage, just to be extra cautious during the move. I’m to get back to chain tomorrow morning with an update from you. Oh, I’ll also be sending you some more instruments for their use. Any questions?
Female’s voice: No. I’m good. I’ll call you tomorrow. Good night, handsome.
END OF TRANSCRIPT.
Captain Lubikov picked up another transcript.
Male’s voice: Hello.
Female’s voice: Yes, hello. I tried to call you earlier. Everything OK?
Male’s voice: Yes, just needed some quiet time while waiting for LOCAL.
Female’s voice: Is she there?
Male’s voice: Yes, she just got here a few minute ago.
Female’s voice: I take it that you know about the cargo?
Male’s voice: Yes, but I don’t have the details yet.
Female’s voice: OK… Have her tell you what happened and then call me back. The chain wants your thoughts about continuing, and don’t dispose of the cargo until we talk again.
Male’s voice: Understood. Will call back later.
END OF TRANSCRIPT.
Captain Lubikov looked at Serge as he picked up the last of the latest transcripts.
Female’s voice: Hello, again. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. What’s the decision?
Male’s voice: We’re still on, but we have some minor concerns. I think we need some additional support coverage. Can you make that happen?
Female’s voice: That requirement has already been discussed and authorized by the chain. I’m taking care of it. Details will be provided at a later time. As for the cargo, you are to take delivery and move it to someplace in the city. There’s concern about a follow-on cargo investigation. Do you understand possible implications?
Male’s voice: Completely. Anything else?
Female’s voice: Yes. Call me first thing tomorrow morning with an update.
Male’s voice: Will do.
END OF TRANSCRIPT.
“What the hell? There is definitely something going on down there in Saint Petersburg, Serge, and it has something to do with stolen cargo, which could be the navy’s. If there are any more calls made between these parties, let me know, but pass the action to Captain Kasikov in Saint Petersburg. I’ve already informed him of some suspicious activity taking place down there.”
“Yes, sir, will do.”
***
None of the initial FSB personnel involved with the Saint Petersburg activity were on duty when Mike called Allison the next morning and told her to inform the COS that the operation was still on as originally planned. Later that afternoon when they came on duty, Serge got caught up with the activity. He read the latest transcript that had been forwarded to the office in Saint Petersburg and then when to update Captain Lubikov.
“I just talked to Captain Kasikov a few minutes ago,” stated Lubikov. “He’s got a mobile intercept team on the streets trying to home in on the location of those calls, but they’re not having much luck.”
“There was another intercept in just a few minutes ago. I’ll forward it to Captain Kasikov right away.”
“Do you recall what the conversation was about?”
“The male called the female and asked if there was anything in the news about the cargo that could cause him concern. She said no, or she would have told him. However, she said that there was a news report asking people to call the police if anyone had any information pertaining to an incident.”
“Was there more to it?”
“Yes, a bit more. I can go and get the transcript if you want to read it.”
“No, that’s OK. It’s Kasikov’s problem, not mine.”
***
The FSB’s mobile intercept team in Saint Petersburg was not having much luck locating the people making the calls reported by Lubyanka because their calls were being bounced from cell tower to tower before going out over a trunked satellite link. Saint Petersburg was the second-largest city in Russia and had numerous cellular telephone towers. Without some indication as to where the calls were being initiated, there was no use in Kasikov putting more people on the street to try to locate them; he felt it would just be a waste of resources.