move
permanently to New York, intending to keep her journalism status in France and
unwilling to leave her mother and their enterprise. She did agree to join
as the European emissary, splitting her time between Paris and New York .
It worked fine in Sam’s scheme
since most of Christine’s work would be in Western Europe. Natasha’s
geographical responsibility included Eastern Europe and Russia; El Chino the
Spaniard dealt with Latin America and all Spanish speaking countries; Mai-Li
handled the Far East and the Pacific Rim; Black Jack had Africa and the Middle
East. Sam’s primary responsibility was the US and Canada .
Geographical responsibility
meant overseeing and coordinating active investigations of cases in a
particular area, each investigator having traits such as command of the
language and understanding of local culture. It was not by accident such
a versatile group was assembled. The Center, feeding on lessons learned from the
past, was designed so each geographical area will be covered by someone with
added value, above and beyond the essential investigative credentials .
Of course, they were hard
pressed to be able to single-handedly fulfill the enormous obligation required
to properly handle all of their responsibilities. None of them had nearly
enough knowledge, language or otherwise, to be able to have total command of
his or her area. Black Jack, for example, knew no Arabic, but was the
obvious choice to handle North Africa. Mai-Li had no obvious advantage in
Australia or New Zealand other than her geographical area, the Far East, being
closer and somewhat more associated with Pacific Rim immigration. Cases
of child kidnapping between Australia and the Far East were a more common
occurrence than between the Far East and Europe, for example .
Their method of work was
mostly to employ and oversee local forces. A Center team member would
most likely handle ten to twelve cases at a time, each using hired help from
local governments, private firms or covert organizations such as Interpol, the
CIA, MI6, the KGB and others.
Child kidnapping cases were a
unique circumstance where even traditional foes would join forces. It
gave Center members a unique status among international spook organizations, a
status they were not ashamed to exploit when called for.
Their limited resources also
limited their capacity to handle cases and each case was carefully evaluated
before a Center member was assigned to it. Case credibility was always an
issue since bogus demands appeared almost as frequently, if not more than, true
claims for relief. Center members were able to eliminate most fictitious
or immaterial appeals just from experience but a few had to be double-checked
with ancillary sources, mostly local official help in the designated country .
Once a case was determined to
be genuine and of the sort that was relevant and within the Center’s capacity,
it would be prioritized and characterized based upon geographical discriminators
and member availability. Most cases involved more than one geographical
area. Western European cases were frequently linked with North Africa, a
prime destination of kidnapped children. The member in charge would
generally be chosen from the child’s country of origin but in places like North
Africa Black Jack would always provide assistance and expertise. Contacts
in such places were almost always the result of a long standing personal
relationship and no one dared rattle such arrangements. Christine would
hand over the reins to Black Jack once the investigation’s center of gravity
crossed the Mediterranean. They would cooperate from opposite sides,
Black Jack in Africa, Christine in Europe, until the case was resolved, if it
was resolved. Sam and El Chino would cooperate in much the same manner
when children from the US would be kidnapped to Mexico and the rest of Latin
America .
Member availability was
critical since cases were typically solved
permanently to New York, intending to keep her journalism status in France and
unwilling to leave her mother and their enterprise. She did agree to join
as the European emissary, splitting her time between Paris and New York .
It worked fine in Sam’s scheme
since most of Christine’s work would be in Western Europe. Natasha’s
geographical responsibility included Eastern Europe and Russia; El Chino the
Spaniard dealt with Latin America and all Spanish speaking countries; Mai-Li
handled the Far East and the Pacific Rim; Black Jack had Africa and the Middle
East. Sam’s primary responsibility was the US and Canada .
Geographical responsibility
meant overseeing and coordinating active investigations of cases in a
particular area, each investigator having traits such as command of the
language and understanding of local culture. It was not by accident such
a versatile group was assembled. The Center, feeding on lessons learned from the
past, was designed so each geographical area will be covered by someone with
added value, above and beyond the essential investigative credentials .
Of course, they were hard
pressed to be able to single-handedly fulfill the enormous obligation required
to properly handle all of their responsibilities. None of them had nearly
enough knowledge, language or otherwise, to be able to have total command of
his or her area. Black Jack, for example, knew no Arabic, but was the
obvious choice to handle North Africa. Mai-Li had no obvious advantage in
Australia or New Zealand other than her geographical area, the Far East, being
closer and somewhat more associated with Pacific Rim immigration. Cases
of child kidnapping between Australia and the Far East were a more common
occurrence than between the Far East and Europe, for example .
Their method of work was
mostly to employ and oversee local forces. A Center team member would
most likely handle ten to twelve cases at a time, each using hired help from
local governments, private firms or covert organizations such as Interpol, the
CIA, MI6, the KGB and others.
Child kidnapping cases were a
unique circumstance where even traditional foes would join forces. It
gave Center members a unique status among international spook organizations, a
status they were not ashamed to exploit when called for.
Their limited resources also
limited their capacity to handle cases and each case was carefully evaluated
before a Center member was assigned to it. Case credibility was always an
issue since bogus demands appeared almost as frequently, if not more than, true
claims for relief. Center members were able to eliminate most fictitious
or immaterial appeals just from experience but a few had to be double-checked
with ancillary sources, mostly local official help in the designated country .
Once a case was determined to
be genuine and of the sort that was relevant and within the Center’s capacity,
it would be prioritized and characterized based upon geographical discriminators
and member availability. Most cases involved more than one geographical
area. Western European cases were frequently linked with North Africa, a
prime destination of kidnapped children. The member in charge would
generally be chosen from the child’s country of origin but in places like North
Africa Black Jack would always provide assistance and expertise. Contacts
in such places were almost always the result of a long standing personal
relationship and no one dared rattle such arrangements. Christine would
hand over the reins to Black Jack once the investigation’s center of gravity
crossed the Mediterranean. They would cooperate from opposite sides,
Black Jack in Africa, Christine in Europe, until the case was resolved, if it
was resolved. Sam and El Chino would cooperate in much the same manner
when children from the US would be kidnapped to Mexico and the rest of Latin
America .
Member availability was
critical since cases were typically solved
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