Tom Maverick is an assassin.
He is not a spy or a spy-hunter; he kills people for a living.
As we are told in the opening portion of the first recorded adventure, "Most of the people who knew Tom thought that he made a living in the computer industry, servicing networks and servers. But Tom was an old-school tough guy. He'd kill anyone, for any reason, no questions asked. His life had been one terrible mistake after another, but that had only hardened him more, turning him into almost a killer with no conscience."
The question of for whom Maverick does these assassinations remains a bit in doubt, at least at the beginning. He muses at one point about the early days of his current occupation and how he was told there was a highly classified list of targets gathered from inside the Canadian security services. "Supposedly, the disposition matrix was similar to the kill list first created by the US President's Office. The list included people who were to be traced and targeted. These individuals presented a threat to someone in the United States or Canada, or their strategic partners, and were to be targeted, using a wide range of options at their disposal. When all else was unavailable for any reason-or had already failed-assassins of Tom's caliber were deployed." Maverick has his doubts about such things but then decides 'whatever helps you sleep at night'. Maverick has no such trouble sleeping.
"He was unapologetic for what he did, but his circle of friends and confidantes could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Tom didn't ask questions about the reasons for the target's elimination, knowing he wouldn't get true answers. Plus, the truth mattered little to him, as long as he got paid. For the six-figure fees they were paying him, they could afford to lie. ... However, he didn't do his job just for the money. He felt a sense of accomplishment and redemption knowing that he was ridding the earth of bad guys. He knew there were other ways of dealing with the scum of the earth, but his method was fast, efficient, and effective."
Before taking on his current role when he was "thrust almost unintentionally into the assassins' underworld", Maverick "had worked for three years as an RCMP officer assigned to one of the Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams, or INSET. His day-to-day job focused on collecting intelligence on national security threats, engaging in counter-espionage activities and responding to terrorist threats inside and outside Canada. INSET worked closely with the Canadian Intelligence Service and other federal and provincial agencies, and Tom was routinely deployed within Canada and abroad." That was all before a disagreement led to his resignation (or termination, depending on who you talked with.).
Maverick has a simpler way of looking at his job. "When it came to accepting contracts, Tom asked only "who," "when," "how," and "how much." As long as his targets were bad people, that was good enough for him. No one had ever dared to lie to him. Tom had warned his handler about the grave consequences if he was ever dispatched to assassinate an innocent man."
Good Lines:
- In Maverick's world, "there was an ocean of lies, misinformation, misdirection, and perhaps only a few drops of truth."