CHARACTERS AND EVENTS IN THIS SERIES ARE COMPLETELY FICTIONAL,
ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONS OR EVENTS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL.
THE BUREAU
Forgive me for summoning you this way.
No, I understand.
I hope you're well?
Yes.
I had to ask.
At one moment I wondered if you had health problems.
No, not at all.
If you want to know why I'm not here very often,
it's because I don't need to be on this course.
I'm using it as a sort of excuse.
I'm in Paris to meet people who can really make a difference
to protecting our country's heritage.
War is a devastating thing.
Of course.
I think you know Paul Lefebvre.
Excuse me?
Paul Lefebvre is a friend of yours, isn't he?
Do you know him?
He works here.
Here at the World Cultures Institute?
Yes.
He's told me a lot about you.
I see.
But...
Has he worked here for long?
Since he came back from Jordan.
Is he here today? - Of course. His office is next door.
In fact, he's going to join us.
And he knows I'm here?
He advised me to contact you.
Why?
Mrs El Mansour,
Paul Lefebvre has told me the real reason you're in Paris.
What did he tell you?
He told us about the Syrian negotiations.
Us? Who's that?
The General Directorate for External Security.
The DGSE.
What negotiations?
The one's you're involved in...
I don't know what he's told you but he's mistaken.
That must be Mr Lefebvre. Shall we talk about it with him?
Hello.
Do you work here?
Mrs El Mansour,
Paul Lefebvre came to see us
because he is worried about your safety.
Your friends suspect you're working for us.
Your colleague Nadim told me. He was sniffing around me.
I was frightened for you.
So you went to speak to Intelligence.
I was worried.
Do you understand what you've done?
Madam, officially, you are here on a summons from Mr Léglise-Costa.
You're not with French Intelligence.
We just want to talk to you.
They suspect you're a spy.
No, they don't think I'm a spy.
They don't trust anyone, but they do trust me.
I don't think they do.
Paul, why did you do this without asking me?
I didn't tell you anything anyway.
He didn't tell us anything.
We did some investigating and found out.
If they knew I'd spoken to you, they would kill me.
They won't find out.
I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think you were in danger.
What are you talking about?
I'm not in danger. You're putting me in danger.
They're following me.
They know where I live. They came to my flat.
They even spoke to my daughter.
I'm sorry.
I didn't think they would go that far.
But you've made a big mistake telling the secret service.
It will be worse now.
Nadim would have calmed down after a while.
He wouldn't have.
Because he would have discovered things about me.
What?
I work for the DGSE.
You work for the DGSE?
Since when?
Since a long time ago.
Were you already working for the DGSE in Damascus?
Yes.
Is that why you left the way you did?
Yes.
Did they ask you to get back in contact with me?
Could you leave us for a moment?
Leave us. We'll talk afterwards.
They didn't ask me to do anything.
You have nothing to do with my job.
This will seem strange.
I'd been working for the DGSE for a long time.
They sent me to Syria.
I had things to do out there.
I had a life.
And then I met you and you became part of my life.
My normal life.
I've never spied on you, you've never been a target.
I wanted to explain who I was to you but that wasn't possible in Syria.
Then they asked me to leave and I had to lie to you again.
When I got back here,
I realised I couldn't forget you.
You were always on my mind.
Even though I knew I could never see you again.
Then I found out you were in Paris.
I thought that maybe we could
start again.
On your terms.
I didn't even know you were getting divorced.
And I wanted to tell you who I was, what I did.
Stop lying to you.
Anyway...
Getting back in touch with you
caught the attention of the security services.
And of course they thought I was a spy.
And they were right, I am one. But I'm not spying on you.
But that wouldn't make a difference.
I realised I was putting you in danger.
That
whatever I said to them,
they'd think you were working with me.
So I told the DGSE everything.
Obviously they didn't know about you and me.
But I needed them to protect you.
Because I can't do it alone any more.
Protect me how?
By letting me be Paul Lefebvre again.
I don't understand.
Nadim must never find out my real identity.
Your real identity?
Paul Lefebvre isn't your name?
What's your name?
You can't tell me.
Is everything I know about you a lie?
Everything's almost true.
I was married, I got divorced, I have an 18-year-old daughter.
Why am I here?
The DGSE wants to know about the talks you're involved in.
The Russians know but the French don't.
We need to know what's going on, especially as it's happening in France.
In exchange for their protection.
Yes.
You're asking me to betray state secrets.
Which will be discovered at some point.
If they are discovered today, it's all over.
Bashar will stop negotiations and people will die.
He won't know. Bashar doesn't want this to go public.
But Intelligence knows about everything.
Paul...
You must find it strange that I call you that.
Listen closely.
I will never betray my country.
Then I'm frightened for you, Nadia.
I haven't said anything.
I haven't and won't betray any information.
So yes, I'm taking a big risk.
When they find out who you are, they will arrest me.
But they will be wrong and it will be unjust.
So make sure they never find out who you work for.
Be whoever you want. It's nothing to do with me.
But I won't be a traitor.
Nadia.
Take 24 or even 48 hours.
Tell them you've agreed to attend meetings to keep them happy.
Come back tomorrow, or the day after.
There's no point. - Nadia.
Don't make any hasty decisions. That's all I ask.
Think.
So?
They don't want me to miss any more meetings.
You'll go a few times to keep them happy.
Yes.
I'm following them.
What shall I tell the Minister?
What have you told him up until now?
Nothing. But now I have to say something.
OK.
You can tell him...
I don't need you to whisper to me what I should say.
I need the details so I can make a decision.
In 24 to 48 hours we will know if we have someone in there.
Do you know more about those involved?
Hachem al-Assad, on behalf of the government, for sure.
Nadia El Mansour is their history expert.
That's all.
On the opposition's side...
We still don't know.
But if you can't get someone in there,
don't you have technology you can use to listen in?
Yes, but if our operation fails, there won't be much to listen to.
So you have to succeed.
The head massages are never long enough.
You're right. They feel good.
Are you relaxed?
Very.
That's good.
I need you to concentrate.
I know who your boss is.
I know what he does and what he's going to do.
Something serious we can't allow to happen.
Don't leave, or General Lefkir will find out we meet here once a month.
But I've never seen you before.
I only needed to give the hairdresser 400 dinars for her to leave us alone.
With 40,000 dinars I can get her to say anything I like, I assure you.
What do you want?
What do you do for him?
My work, of course.
I bring him his post.
I answer the phone, I type up his emails.
I need you to think.
Do you have access to something he always has on him?
Do you clean his glasses?
A piece of jewellery he takes off to wash his hands?
Why are you asking me this?
I need to know.
I can't.
I'm afraid.
Why are you doing this to me?
You don't know him.
I know him better than you do.
He knows everything.
He might even know I'm talking to you.
I'm dead and I don't even know it yet.
Nothing will happen to you.
How do you know? - I swear to you.
That's not enough.
On my children's lives.
Maybe you don't have children. - I do.
Two.
A girl and a boy.
Five and seven.
Mehdi and Sophia.
On their lives? - On their lives.
Have a think.
We need an everyday object.
Something he always has on him.
GPS ACTIVATED
We've received this photo.
It was taken by his assistant. Can they be made to look like that?
I know a great cobbler.
Will the assistant cooperate? - Mrs Slimani.
Mrs Slimani.
I don't know. I can't say.
Will she be afraid? Will she have doubts?
Will she feel remorse and tell him? Is she his mistress?
I don't know. - She's nervous but she'll do it.
And she's sent us the picture, so we have her.
She can't back out now.
What have you planned?
Why?
If she wavers...
If Lefkir has cameras in his office...
If you're cobbler can't make the shoes look perfect...
If Lefkir realises she's betrayed him, what's the plan?
We're taking a risk, if that's your question.
No, she's the one taking the risk.
It will be fine.
Doctor, we have an agent
who is soon going to be sent to a terrorist organisation
to give credibility to an Algerian mole.
The Islamists negotiate at very high prices for agents like Cyclone.
If they don't get anything, they will cut his throat.
Our only solution to avoid that happening
is for Mrs Slimani to swap the shoes.
So yes, there's a risk she might be caught.
But the risk is justified.
On the one hand we have Cyclone facing certain death
and we have Mrs Slimani on the other, and we pick Mrs Slimani.
Are we mad?
Are you French?
Yes.
Why are you working in Iran?
Because it's interesting to be here for my job.
I'm a seismologist. I work with Reza Mortazavi.
You can call him, he'll tell you.
Full name.
Mortazavi... - No, you.
Marina Loiseau.
Your address in Paris.
My old address? I sold the flat.
23, rue des Pyrénées.
Metro stop. - Porte de Vincennes.
Date and place of birth.
May 14th, 1989, Bayonne, avenue du Général Leclerc.
What's the name of the bullring in Bayonne?
I don't know. I'm not into bullfighting.
But if you grew up in Bayonne, you must know.
Did you grow up in Bayonne?
It's called
Lachepaillet.
Are my questions boring you?
No.
Would you rather be somewhere else?
No. I mean, I hadn't thought about it.
I see. That's not the impression I'm getting.
I don't think you want to talk to me.
It's not about wanting.
See, you don't want to. - No.
Would you prefer to go home?
Of course not.
Did you know I have to write a report on you?
Shall I write that Miss Loiseau
doesn't like having her alias challenged, that it bores her?
I never said that.
What do you want me to write, then?
I don't want anything. It's your report.
Why are you letting me say that I'm testing your alias?
Am I testing your alias?
Shit.
Yes. Shit.
You were still interrogating me. - Yes.
Shit.
Unless I say stop, you should always continue with the exercise.
In Tehran it won't stop.
Whatever happens, you keep going, even if someone tries to put you off.
Never switch off, OK? - OK.
Never.
Right.
Regarding the division of Homs province,
you will find our suggestion on page six of appendix four.
Obviously we can't agree to this.
On what level, sir?
The allocations or the historical claims?
Since when are the Alawites interested in the desert?
The Alawites? Since... - I'm not asking you.
You know very well the Qataris have a sensitive pipeline project
which aims to open up Middle East gas production.
Nadia, are you OK?
Are you all right?
This is all I could find.
Show me.
You were right.
Paul Lefebvre is a DGSE operative.
They know everything.
They tried to recruit me.
When?
At Léglise-Costa's office.
And you didn't tell me?
I'm telling you now.
What exactly did they ask you?
That I give them the details of the negotiations.
What did you say to them?
I said no.
How did they react?
They've given me 48 hours to change my mind.
I have to go back there.
Hachem must be warned.
I'll sort it out.
It's all my fault.
No.
You say you met your friend in Damascus, before Hachem ever got in touch with you.
He must have known you were going to be part of these negotiations.
How would he have known?
He guessed. He bet on you, given your experience.
He's good.
Perhaps I would have done the same.
Let me sort this out. Don't tell anyone anything.
Don't make it worse.
I can stop this from being a complete catastrophe.
Why would you do that?
Because you are my responsibility.
Unfortunately, your fault is my fault.
Where's your phone?
In my bag.
I'll give you another one.
Farouk will take you back to the hotel.
Please stay there while we find you a flight to Damascus.
OK.
Go and rest. And trust me.
I'll get us out of here.
If Paul Lefebvre gets in contact, let me know.
Paul Lefebvre isn't his real name.
Did he give it to you?
Did he give you his real name? - No.
Hachem, can I talk to you?
Come in.
Is Nadia feeling better?
That's what I've come to talk about.
We have a security issue.
Explain.
The man she's seeing has been confirmed as a French agent.
She hasn't told him anything, but I know he's a spy.
To be safe, we should move the discussions somewhere else.
Where do you suggest? - Cyprus.
To the hotel.
Farouk. How's it going?
She's crashed out.
Where are you? I'm starting to get hungry.
I'm coming. Wake her up. We'll move her to another hotel.
Have you not found her a flight?
Yes, Hachem's going to lend us his jet
but it won't be here for two days.
Until then, I'd rather we...
What a shit!
You wanted to see me?
Is there any news?
Still nothing.
I've got a bad feeling.
She still has two days.
Nadim, their head of security, is clever.
While she's in France nothing serious can happen to her.
Yes, while she's in France.
I can get all flights to Damascus monitored.
Would you like that? - Yes, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you also to our Japanese colleagues.
To all those who weren't quick enough.
And to those who have welcomed us. Thank you.
Excuse me.
Thank you.
This is shirin polo.
This is fesenjan.
And this is sabzi polo.
Azar. I'm Reza's wife.
It's nice to meet you. I didn't know you were in Paris.
Just for a few days.
Normally I hate going to his work events where I don't know anyone.
You speak very good French.
I don't understand what people are talking about.
Right now they're talking about the article
that was published in Sciences by one of our teams.
They were quicker than a Japanese team.
And that's a very rare thing.
That's why we have champagne.
You're the researcher who speaks Farsi!
Yes.
All that equipment and all those graph lines...
It makes seismology seem poetic, but the reality is it's just math.
Why did you choose this career path?
Because it's fascinating.
See up there?
The yellow triangle in the Pacific.
There are two plates rubbing together, causing earthquakes.
Right now? - Yes.
It tells us what's happening thousands of kilometres away.
If the plates are moving or dormant.
We use it to see what might happen and what will definitely happen.
That is poetic.
But it's still math!
Do you not enjoy cooking? - Not really.
I don't have time.
You work too much.
Like Reza.
It's ten years of studying after you leave school, right?
Yes.
This stuff is really sticky.
Did you do engineering?
I was at a polytechnic.
Rose water milk comes from my home.
Alborz.
I grew up in the mountains.
What about you?
Are you from Paris?
No, I'm from the South.
Where?
Bayonne. - Bayonne?
That's where the ham's from. - Yes.
And the bulls!
Yes.
I have a cousin who sent me a postcard.
What's the bullring called again?
The...
Are you OK?
Yes, it's called Lachepaillet.
In the Saint-Esprit district. I was at school right next door.
Are you finished?
They're a mess. - I'm sure they're not.
You've done really well.
You've already met.
These look delicious.
Marina made them.
I taught her about Iranian recipes
and she taught me about tectonics in the Pacific.
I certainly didn't see that coming.
But I didn't give anything away.
Can't you stop?
Two seconds.
It's a pig sty here, I can't stand it.
If I don't clean up nobody does.
Can you help me?
It wasn't his wife.
What do you mean?
The Iranian secret service must have sent him an agent to test you.
A real wife would go unnoticed.
Sneaky bitch.
The good news is that if they're interested in you,
he must want to offer you something.
Come on.
Your hair looks nice. Have you done something to it?
Mr Léglise-Costa's office.
Hello, this is Mrs El Mansour.
I saw Mr Léglise-Costa yesterday and we agreed to meet again tomorrow.
Yes. Would tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. Suit you?
That's fine. - I've scheduled it in.
See you tomorrow, Mrs El Mansour.
Hello. - She's coming back tomorrow.
Thank you.
This is Grandpa. There's Bolshevik on the scene.
Do you speak Russian?
Yes.
I've got a meeting with Mr or Mrs Léglise...
Léglise-Costa. - What time is your meeting?
Now.
Your accent... Which province are you from?
Namur. I'm Belgian.
Well done!
Who shall I say is here?
Nadia El Mansour.
You nearly botched everything with your recruitment attempt.
You shouldn't have gone behind our backs.
The moment we give you information, it's all over the web.
What do you suggest?
It's of no use to anyone if the negotiations are stopped.
But if Bashar al-Assad finds out what's happened,
he'll put an immediate stop to the talks.
So he's not aware of this yet?
No.
He'll get the abridged version of the facts.
He'll be told a routine investigation
has established that Mrs El Mansour has been seeing a DGSE agent.
Thanks to FSB surveillance,
the issue's been sorted out before it became problem.
As a precautionary measure, Mrs El Mansour will no longer be present.
And the negotiations will be moved.
Where to?
Somewhere else.
What do you want from us exactly?
Your silence.
In exchange for what?
Nothing.
Divulge the information you have
and there will be serious political consequences.
I'm going to disappoint you.
I have no political conscience.
I work in intelligence.
I create it, I sell it to and buy it from the Chinese,
the English, the Americans
and the world.
How do you think we got the phone that helped us find Gaddafi?
Do you really want my silence?
Make me an offer.
The division of lands.
As it currently is, so it's not definitive.
And Assad's escape route?
Take it or leave it.
But make a decision now.
The Great Game.
Played by whole nations.
England and Russia.
The Soviet Union and the United States.
Iran and Saudi Arabia.
A great marketplace for human currency.
We all speculate.
An individual's price is fixed according to the rise and fall of the market,
using this golden rule, never place any value on an individual.
Ouria.
Stay a little longer, please.
Come here.
Sit down.
How long have you been working for me?
Five years.
You've been working for me for five years.
You've always been loyal.
And you have a good attitude.
A good attitude is very important.
That's why I want to give you a pay rise.
Don't look so surprised.
It's to be expected.
From now on, you'll be paid 500,000 dinars.
But that's an enormous amount!
Two times more than your current salary.
Sir, I don't know what to say. It's too much.
It's only right. I should have done it long ago.
You should get yourself a car.
But I'm never late.
I know.
But you should treat yourself.
Ouria, one might say you're afraid of me.
Do I frighten you?
No, sir. I'm happy about the pay rise.
I like it when you're happy.
Here.
I have a present for you, too.
Open it.
No need to thank me.
But...
Put them on and be quiet.
Put them on.
Do you like them?
They're... They're too big.
Take Ouria for a walk.
Her shoes are too big.
The poor thing's having difficulty walking.
Wait.
There.
You know how I like things to be done properly.
In a 35-year career, a surgeon will make 17 incorrect decisions
which have fatal consequences.
You didn't make a mistake.
No. I risked a woman's life.
To save Cyclone's.
You know she's dead.
Yes.
Then there's little hope for Cyclone.
There's still cake left.
I'm going to get even fatter.
Finish them. That's an order.
Thank you.
I love them.
We've got the results from the Alborz station.
May I?
Amazing. You can see the epicentre really clearly.
I'd like you to calculate the on-site effects.
I would need to collect local data to do that.
Exactly.
Are you asking me to join your team?
To go over there? - Yes.
Thank you.
No, of course I want to come, but I...
Could I have a few days to think about it?
So I'm sure.
Give me your answer soon.
There's one more thing.
I'm not supposed to tell you, but...
Azar is not my wife.
Really?
Before we ask someone to come to Iran, we have to take certain precautions.
Azar was there to make sure there weren't any problems.
What sort of problems?
It doesn't matter.
But I would prefer to be honest with you.
And
secrets make me uneasy.
What's going on? - Having a party?
No.
We didn't think so.
Who can you celebrate with apart from us?
Are we disturbing you? - No.
But it's a bit of a mess here.
As usual.
Thank you.
What you've done is very impressive. It's a rare thing.
As are compliments from you.
Stay. - Nadim's coming.
That's OK.
What do you want?
I want you to stay.
I can't, I've been asked to go home.
No one can force you to leave France.
Request political asylum and you'll get it.
What would be my reason?
If you leave, you'll be in danger.
Do you think I can stay in France?
Make a new life here?
Leave my parents, my brothers, my grandmother...
Do you know what they do to traitors' families?
Did you know what you'd be doing to me?
I do know how to fix things if you stay.
If you leave I can't do anything.
I'm leaving.
Do you know why?
Tell me.
I can't turn my back on my country.
I wanted to help rebuild it.
That's why I was here.
Do you think I'd disown my country now?
It's impossible to think of.
I would rather die.
Don't say that, Nadia.
You can't go.
That seemed heartfelt.
In love?
In gangster films,
you often hear the line,
'It's nothing personal.'
It's just business.
It's a cliché, but it's true.
Since the beginning of time,
people like you have been sacrificed for the Great Game.
If you hear the frenzied shouts of Allahu Akbar all around you,
get ready to die.
Whatever anyone says, it's quick.
It hits you so hard that you don't feel much.