The Spy Letter!

...and I recall that fall
I was working for the government
and in a bathroom stall off the National Mall
how we kissed so sweetly
how could I refuse a favor or two
for a tryst in the greenery
I gave you documents and microfilm, too

And from my ten floor tenement
where once our bodies lay
how I long to hear you say
no, they'll never catch me now...

After the betrayal and ambush a few weeks back, I started to think about this task again. The fact that my special lady friend had gone to such lenghts to be the Mole for the trap made me love her a litte bit more. It was really an amazing thing she and Josh did, devious, fun, and clever.

I decided that it was about time I wrote her a Beautiful Letter.



I did so, through the eyes of a spy. The letter details the betrayal in nebulous terms that hint at spycraft and espionage, but are applicable to the truth of the events... Mostly. I took some creative license.



When I finished the letter, I drew on my love of cryptography, and encoded it with a very simple cipher. I also included the key to the cipher and the sf0 website on the bottom, because I do want someone to read it outside the game. I signed each copy: 'E', my first initial shifted through the cipher.



I took five copies of the letter, folded them up tight, and went to the International Spy Shop.



I arrived just before closing, and a friendly clerk showed me around the store, while I deposited three copies of the note when his back was turned.

One is inside a book: "Secrets of the KGB"

One is inside a Book-Shaped Safe.

One is inside a Mayo jar shaped lockbox.

After that, I bought a pair of rearview sunglasses, thanked the gentlemen for his time, and left.

The last two copies I taped the posts outside the site of the actual ambush, but it's the Spy Shop copies I feel will bring the most joy and mystery to someone. I just hope they take the time to decode it.



Here's the cipher text. Feel free to try to crack the code, it's a very easy one:

oa fctnkpi oqng, oa dgcwvkhwn vtckvqt, oa cpign cpf fgegkxgt,

yg wpnwema hgy yjq qeewra vjku cpekgpv rtqhguukqp jcxg nquv cnn ugpug qh nqacnva cpf vtwuv. yg mpqy vjgug pgdwnqwu eqpegrvu vqq vtwna vq dg hcdngu, oavju urwp qh iquucogt vjtgcfu qh jqrg cpf fgurgtcvg ykujgu. cu uwej, kv ycu pqv ykvj c ugpug qh uwtrtkug vjcv k ngctpgf qh aqwt dgvtcacn, dwv ogtgna ykvj vjcv ukpmkpi hggnkpi kp oa jgctv; vjg ugpucvkqp uq ygnn mpqyp, dwv ykvj c ocipkvwfg vjcv ecp pgxgt cickp dg uwtrcuugf.

cpf gxgp cu k icbgf wrqp vjcv jqttkhke oknkvcta ejctig, cpf cu vjqug ygcrqpu gzrnqfgf qp oa dqfa, oa enqvjgu uwffgpna uqffgp ykvj hnwkf, cnn oa vtgcuwtgf vqqnu uvtkrrgf htqo og kp vjg cuucwnv; k mpgy kv yqwnf pqv dg vjg gpf. pqv hqt og, cpf pqv hqt wu. pq wpkqp uq uvtqpi, uq dwknv qp owvwcn dgpghkv cpf vjg etauvcn rwtkva qh vjg uvtqpiguv qh goqvkqpu, eqwnf rquukdna dg vqtp cuwpfgt da qpg ukorng dgvtcacn, pq ocvvgt jqy itgcv.

aqwt nqxg, cpf k ejqqug vq dgnkgxg vjcv kv ycu cv ngcuv kp uqog rctv vtwg, jcu dggp vjg eqohqtv qh oa uqwn hqt pkij qp c fgecfg; c tgncvkqpujkr, htcwijv ykvj fcpigt agv uqogjqy tgockpkpi uvtqpi kp vjg hceg qh gpfnguu rgtkn. yg ygtg uvtqpi yjgtg vjg yqtnf vtkgf vq tgpf wu crctv; yg ygtg uq enqug vjcv vjg nkgu cpf vtwvju qh qwt gzkuvgpeg eqwnf pgxgt eqog dgvyggp wu. aqwt rtgugpeg, aqwt ckf, cpf aqwt kpvgnnkigpeg ygtg vjg rcvj vjcv ngf og qwv qh vjg fctmguv pkijvu. cpf yjgp vjcv rcvj ngf og vq vjg uchgva qh aqwt ctou, oa hgctu cpf fghgpugu ygtg uvtkrrgf cyca kp c ocppgt k jcf pqv mpqyp ukpeg dghqtg k icxg oaugnh qxgt vq qwt ejqugp etchv.

vjcv ku yja k yqwnf pqv ftgco qh gzrgevkpi c rngc qh cvqpgogpv htqo aqwt inqtkqwu nkru. aqw jcxg ytqpigf og, dwv k owuv dgnkgxg, pgzv vq aqwt wpgctvjna rgthgevkqp, vjcv kv ycu k yjq ytqpigf aqw hktuv. vjqwij oa vktgf okpf ecp vjkpm qh ugxgtcn qeecukqpu vjcv owuv jcxg uggogf nkmg unkijvu qt fwrnkekva qp oa rctv, k ecppqv dgikp vq iwguu yjkej gctpgf aqwt lwfcu' mkuu. ycu kv vjg gxgpv kp fcocuewu? oa cevkqpu kp mkgx? oa hcknwtg kp vdnkuk? cpaqpg qh vjgug chhcktu ujqwnf jcxg ogcpv oa fgcvj, dwv aqw uvcagf da oa ukfg gxgp vjgp. k fgugtxgf aqwt fgegrvkqp. k fgugtxgf gxgta yqwpf k uwhhgtgf.

k yqwnf incfna uwhhgt c vjqwucpf oqtg lwuv kplwuvkegu, dwv hqt qwt rctvpgtujkr vq ncuv dwv c jcpfhwn qh ugeqpfu nqpigt. kv ku uwkekfg vq wvvgt kv, dwv k nqxg aqw, vtwna, fggrna, gvgtpcnna.

k nqxg aqw pqy. k nqxg aqw uvknn. k nqxg aqw cnycau.

gxgt aqwtu,
c yknnkpi vctigv.

(here's a clue plus two)

Actual text listed below...
























And here's the actual text:

My darling mole, my beautiful traitor, my angel and deceiver,

We unlucky few who occupy this ancient profession have lost all sense of loyalty and trust. We know these nebulous concepts too truly to be fables, myths spun of gossamer threads of hope and desperate wishes. As such, it was not with a sense of surprise that I learned of your betrayal, but merely with that sinking feeling in my heart; the sensation so well known, but with a magnitude that can never again be surpassed.

And even as I gazed upon that horrific military charge, and as those weapons exploded on my body, my clothes suddenly sodden with fluid, all my treasured tools stripped from me in the assault; I knew it would not be the end. Not for me, and not for us. No union so strong, so built on mutual benefit and the crystal purity of the strongest of emotions, could possibly be torn asunder by one simple betrayal, no matter how great.

Your love, and I choose to believe that it was at least in some part true, has been the comfort of my soul for nigh on a decade; a relationship, fraught with danger yet somehow remaining strong in the face of endless peril. We were strong where the world tried to rend us apart; we were so close that the lies and truths of our existence could never come between us. Your presence, your aid, and your intelligence were the path that led me out of the darkest nights. And when that path led me to the safety of your arms, my fears and defenses were stripped away in a manner I had not known since before I gave myself over to our chosen craft.

That is why I would not dream of expecting a plea of atonement from your glorious lips. You have wronged me, but I must believe, next to your unearthly perfection, that it was I who wronged you first. Though my tired mind can think of several occasions that must have seemed like slights or duplicity on my part, I cannot begin to guess which earned your Judas' Kiss. Was it the event in Damascus? My actions in Kiev? My failure in Tblisi? Anyone of these affairs should have meant my death, but you stayed by my side even then. I deserved your deception. I deserved every wound I suffered.

I would gladly suffer a thousand more just injustices, but for our partnership to last but a handful of seconds longer. It is suicide to utter it, but I love you, truly, deeply, eternally.

I love you now. I love you still. I love you always.

Ever yours,
A willing target.

E


Special thank to Ms. G, for her inspiration and muse.