Steve Church is an agent with the CIA.
Sort of. Unofficially official.
He isn't when we meet him in the first recorded adventure. He is a mid-level executive with a defense contractor, West Gate, who is being fast-tracked for bigger things in the company. Paying attention to the news from Northern Africa, Church had seen a potential for a lot of business with Morocco to start with and mentioned it to his bosses. Next thing he knew, he was on a plane across the Atlantic. His father had suggested a stop in Paris to visit an old colleague who may or may not be in the Intelligence business, a quick get-together to be brought up to date with how things were in that neck of the woods. It is safe to bet that if Church had any idea the sort of trouble he would get into and the way his life would change all from that time in Paris, he would have stayed back in the States.
At least at first. Church would never have thought that he would enjoy the excitement and thrill of the hunt like he does when circumstances push him into the line of fire. He does not have the experience or the breadth of training his highly skilled CIA father does but dad passed on quite a few tips over the years and Church is a very smart man who listened and now remembers.
Which helps when the Director of the National Clandestine Service at the Agency comes up with an idea of using Church and his new girl friend, former French Intelligence officer Kella, to be part of an out-of-the-box-thinking group called the Red Cell. Being fast-tracked at a larger corporation does not compare.