James was a Brittish secret agent in the 1940s who was assigned to work with Xaq for one mission. His approach to his secret agent duties was much more by-the-book than was Xaq's, and Xaq's style at times put him off or downright shocked him. But he also greatly admired Xaq and his work.
The two agents became acquainted on the planeride to Moscow, where agent Borishnakov was holding a party. James and Xaq's mission was to infiltrate that party.
James had a history of working with American agents in the past, and shared Xaq's dislike of General Scott. On this, the two formed a working friendship and later worked together to gain intelligence into Borishnakov's plans. ("The Nazi Machine")