The little-known, 100-year-old Diplomatic Courier Service works like your interoffice mail system, but on a planetary scale, with complex protocols and security measures that ensure the reliable transport of sensitive material by land, air, and sea. Though most communication is digital in the 21st century diplomatic world, physical objects—vital supplies of all sorts—still have to move by secure channels. (Though in fact, with the ever-present threat of hacking, very rare communications might indeed still be delivered via orange pouch.) Employing 103 couriers at 12 hubs around the world, the DCS boasts a delivery success rate that would be the envy of FedEx and UPS. Last year, the service transported 116,351 items weighing approximately 5,353,000 pounds. Snow, rain, heat, or gloom of night? Try war, ebola, diplomatic ejection, or military coup.