Ruth's Diary - No. 3 (2.3)

[Beatriz]

First of all sorry for the delay, you may know I've been out.

So here is the third entry, Ruth's thoughts on 2.03 episode. Written with lots of help (Thanks JHyde)

Leave your comments or suggestions (or both), we love to read them
__________________

[14 September 2003]

While the tech boys were instigating my proposed changes yesterday, I found out some new ways to cover my tracks in sending encrypted messages. Certainly of a better calibre than I had planned. It was tucked into the conversation in such a way that I don't think they'll suspect anything. They're such nice men, Malcolm especially.

Today I went for a walk around the neighbourhood, I haven’t been able until today, too much work to do. It’s a nice, calm place, yet still vital. I like neighbourhoods where university students and the elderly intermingle with young families and couples just married. Where cultures overlap and the smells of different cuisines rush together in the street. This is London. Where the young aren't weighed down by the survivalist tendencies the old, aren't brutalized yet by this country's bloody history.

I passed by the Questors Theatre, it’s said to be the the largest community theatre in Europe. The back end of the year seems to be experimental season, and there's no classic showing between now and Christmas. I am intrigued by John Godber's new play 'Bouncers'. Mind you, I only just got away from Cheltenham, but there's an authenticity to what he does, without talking down to his audience or belittling his characters. It's not just an exercise in watching how the other half live. I can already observe some of that snobbery in Section D, with some of the people we watch. The way some officers talk about them, you'd think they were discussing a different species.

Wandering around I came across with the main park in the borough, Walpole Park. There were lots of kids sharing their games with their parents on this warm Sunday afternoon. Thankfully I found a quiet bank where I could sat and enjoy my Homer while the sun played across my face. It was almost a normal Sunday afternoon.

[16 September 2003]

In the end, I plucked up my courage and phoned Roke. It was an unpleasant conversation, she’s very impatient. I’ve only been two weeks in Section D and she is complaining about not passing her information yet. I told her there hadn’t been any relevant issues and that I’ve learned a way to send her the information without being caught. Hope this gets her off my back for some time.

[21 September 2003]

Yesterday the Thames House mainframe was hacked into from a remote site. The Grid was a mess, no without reason, the operating systems were contamined, the comms failed...Truly terrifying, the fact that someone can penetrate our defenses with such ease. And the information they could get their hands on!

On the monitors appeared this, scrawled by spiders:

“Zeus spoke and nodded with his darkish brows and immortal locks fell forward from the lord’s deathless head, and he made great Olympus tremble”.

I recognised it at very same moment, from The Iliad of course. The quote was clearly a threat. Olympus was the seat of power in ancient Greece, and in the quote trembles... Harry said that I was overreacting, obviously he doesn’t take me seriously - the fact I’m still working for GCHQ doesn’t help. I was dismissed from the room while the rest of the team stayed, but it's not altogether bad I was told to stay on the quote, because it's not quite right, I'm sure.

We have a suspect, Gordon Blakeney, a school teacher connected to a socialist group, the SFM, who was at the IT fair where Danny located the laptop which was hacking into the MI5 firewall. Zoe will go undercover as a teacher in the Secondary school where he works.

[29 September 2003]

I’ve just arrived home, and while I feel like letting go of the day, it doesn't seem to be happening. Hard day.

I've known since last week that the Zeus quote wasn't right, but I was waiting to go to Harry with something more concrete. I eventually found the missing jigsaw piece and was able to solve the puzzle. The original quote was “The son of Kronos spoke and nodded with his darkish brow". Powerful Titan that Kronos was, his son Zeus became even more powerful. It was a reference to a powerful child. Which was what led me to the recording Sam arrived with in the nick of time. It was a surveillance recording from a farmhouse in Greece 18 months ago near the Albanian border called Titan’s Reach.

A boy was causing us all this trouble, Noah Gleeson, son of Victor Gleeson. The latter was an MI5 agent who was killed in a mission, tortured in front of his son. Poor boy - he worshipped his father. Noah still thought his father alive; he wanted all agents brought home safely. It was heartbreaking, he had lost his father but he had his brain, his cunning and his IT knowledge to avenge him.

The mission went on, but I scored a small smile and nod of acknowledgement from Harry. I think I'm proving myself - he knows I’m valuable. Right now I can only think of this wretched, sorry teenager.

[30 September 2003]

Today after the briefing I asked Harry what had happened to Noah Gleeson. He gave me a strange look, almost as though he was confused I would ask about a boy I've never met. It turns out he's in a hospital for the mentally ill as part of Tring's facilities. No relatives that the Service can find, no friends. What future does he have?

[almh]

Woooh, really good Just remembered that I have to get my one written now... oh dear oh dear.

[lwhite53]

Good entries --especially like the part about finding nice sunny place to read Homer -- so Ruth! And the mention of Harry noticing her, maybe more for being concerned about Noah than for solving the riddle of the hacker -- good stuff.

[Tea Lady]

Very good. Poor Ruth though; she so isn't a mole. She must have been so desperate to get out of GCHQ. Harry is also seeing a side to Ruth which is so central to her character, her compassionate side.

[Silktie]

Nicel done! Loved the bit at the end when Harry is surprised that she asks after Noah, indicating perhaps his first inkling about Ruth's deeply compassionate nature. It's great that you brought this aspect of her into the diary so early on.