00:02Morning. Sorry.
00:04Phil. Glad you could make it.
00:06What happened? Accidentally ingest some egg yolk with your breakfast?
00:09Car troubles. I had to take the train. Of course it was running local. Couldn't be helped.
00:13We have a problem. We flagged an item on the State Department's daily memo.
00:17We got a U.S. citizen detained in Hong Kong.
00:20Eddie Montrose, CFO at Hong Kong Financial. Arrested and charged with cocaine possession.
00:25How does a finance bro getting arrested land in our lap?
00:28Because he isn't really a finance bro, Bill. He's an intelligence officer.
00:32He's a deeply embedded knock. He's spent the last three years working on a highly sensitive op against theft of
00:38American IP.
00:39An operational CIA officer had coke on him?
00:41Oh, so they say. But the plant is standard practice for the Chinese, especially if they suspect him of working
00:46for us.
00:46MSS has made him, then.
00:48We would have heard from someone. Langley, D.C., Beijing.
00:51Well, either way, he knows the identities of assets all across China, so if they do confirm his identity and
00:56he starts talking...
00:57I think it would compromise the entire network. They'd all face the death penalty. We have to bring him home.
01:01Now.
01:02So, what are we gonna do?
01:07I do have a source from back in my Hong Kong days. The high-ranking magistrate for the right price.
01:13He'd sign some papers, get the charges dropped.
01:15Ah, right. Private judge. That was gonna be my suggestion.
01:18Bill, shut up. Who are we gonna use on the ground there to deliver the cash?
01:22He's risk-averse. He's been out of the game for a while, but we go way back. He'll deal with
01:27me.
01:29Uh...
01:31So you're gonna go to Hong Kong?
01:33Nikki, that is way too risky. There's gotta be someone new on the ground, a handler, who can...
01:37There isn't. He is double-cloaked and triple-daggered.
01:42I don't really appreciate being second-guessed.
01:46I wanna be wheels up ASAP.
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