Price is an agent with The Increment.
That is the designation for the very secret group inside that already very hush-hush Secret Intelligence Service. This section, sometimes called E-Squadron, contained operatives who would "undertake assignments more commonly referred to as Direct Action" and where their roles were "less about gathering information and more about taking actions to protect British interests abroad - pretty much, by any means possible". Put another way, "in layman's terms, he can legally break the law, as long as it's been approved by the Foreign Secretary and takes place outside the UK".
Put another way, the unwritten motto of The Increment is "Do Whatever It Takes".
When those "assignments looked like they might become very physical or dangerous, Price was often the person his Chief turned to". Which, we learn, was very much alright with Price. He enjoyed it.
Initially Price does not come across as the sort of man who would be working in such an occupation. Looks can be at times wrong. "Price ... was well over 6 feet tall, a little overweight and gradually going grey and bald - although he wasn't sure which one was winning - the greyness or the baldness."
Add to that, we might think we have learned a good deal about the man and his attitudes towards life when he says, "Aside from all the red meat, beer and wine, I am very health conscious - if you ignore the chocolate, cakes and full English breakfasts. Oh, and you obviously can't mention the traditional afternoon tea with scones, jam and clotted cream. But apart from that, I'm virtually an athlete." That would, however, lead us astray a good deal from the truth as we are told immediately after that in truth "he followed a rigorous and brutal training program - he was in fact very fit indeed - he had to be to survive".
Price's history shows how right he would be for a spot with The Increment: "Price left university at 21 with a degree in Physics and immediately attended the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, before going on to join the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, or 1 PARA as it's more commonly known. Whilst in the Parachute Regiment, he briefly saw action in Kosovo and as part of Operation Barras in Sierra Leone before later transferring to Army Intelligence."
After a while, the SIS came calling and he transferred. After a year of solid work, he was offered "a more active role in dealing with some overseas challenges" and that led to his receiving four months of constant training with the ultra-elite SAS. After yet more specialized training, he was welcomed into The Increment.
Good Line:
- Advice given Price long before regarding meals - "At breakfast eat like a King, at lunch eat like a Prince, and at dinner eat like a Pauper." Price did not necessarily agree with the third part.