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[Jaws0178]

Chapter One

It was an unseasonably warm day in Jamaica. The old-timers would call it an "ill omen", but former MI-6 agent Terrance McCanless didn't believe in omens, bad or otherwise. Omen, Terry thought, as he realized that since he had heard from his best friend about the weapon Auric Goldfinger had created to use against only God knows who, that word had a brand new meaning. As his thoughts turned to his old friend, Michael Hunter, now known as "Goldeneye", he turned toward the door. He remembered how Mike would drop in ever so often for a drink and stay till the wee-hours, regaling his friend with his adventures against Dr. Julius No. As Terry would listen, he realized that the stories in the files were decidedly different. At that, he began to ask questions of various MI-6 members, including Commander James Bond, agent 007 till one day, he was called into M's private office, which was unusual because aside from the nine 00’s, few people ever saw her office. As he stepped into the office, the first thing he saw was Agent Damian Falco of the American NSA. With a wave toward an empty chair, he turned back toward Falco, saying, "Listen Damian. It's very simple. Find Goldeneye. He is considered an enemy of MI-6, and is to be treated as such." Without waiting for Falco's reply, she terminated the conversation. As Terry took all this in, M turned to him, saying, "Good afternoon, Mr. McCanless. I hear you have been asking questions of various MI-6 personnel concerning the man we know as Goldeneye. You are hereby ordered to cease your questioning. Operation: Golden Trap is classified far beyond your clearance. If you choose to continue your line of questioning, you will be dishonorably discharged from MI-6, and subsequently placed in prison for a period of no more than 20 years." With that, M turned her back on McCanless. Terry stood, reached into his wallet, took out his MI-6 ID, placed it on the table, and stated, "I understand that I am still bound by the Official Secrets Act of 1975 to not divulge anything I have ever learned while in this building. Furthermore, I may never again work for the British Government, or any Intelligence Agency. I will have my cubicle cleared out by the end of the day, and may I say that it has been an honor to work for MI-6.” With that, Terry walked out without a second glance. As M turned around, Charles Robinson, her Chief of Staff, walked out from the cubbyhole he was hiding in. "Well"? The spymaster asked her most trusted friend. "Do I think that he will be a problem? No. Hell, I wish some of my friends were that loyal. Do I think he will inform Goldeneye? He might, I don't know." M sighed, "I was afraid you were going to say that." At that, she pressed the button on her intercom, saying, "Miss Moneypenny, get me 007. Tell him we may have a lead on Goldeneye"

[Jaws0178]

[color=windowtext][left][font=Times New Roman,Serif][size=2]As the phone rang in the Q branch headquarters, the new quartermaster answered it. As he listened to the party on the other line, his assistant, Zed peeked her head in the door, waiting politely for instructions. As R, as the Q branch technicians started to call him, hung up the phone, he shook his head sadly. "Is there a problem, sir?" Surprised, R jerked his head up. "What.., oh no, Zed. Everything's fine. Thank you. Will you ask 007 to come in here, please? Tell him? No, just ask him to come in here, please?" Confused, Zed however assured him that she would do as he asked. As Zed walked out of the room, R held his head in his hands. As he looked up, he said to himself, "I wish Major Boothroyd had never created this gadget." He then accessed a file on the Q branch mainframe that, if any technician ever accessed, the techie, R, and probably Major Boothroyd as well, would immediately be locked away for life. As the file came up, he saw Commander James Bond waiting for him at his office door. As he motioned 007 into his inner sanctum, he remembered that 007 was indirectly responsible for creating the man that he was going to have to destroy. "What's up, R? Giving me one of your enlightening pep talks again?" He stopped when he looked at R's computer screen, and saw the file. Without another word, he rushed out, and headed for M's office. "May God forgive me." R said as he printed off the plans for the Goldeneye destabilizer, which would render Michael Hunter, a.k.a. Goldeneye a vegetable. He waved to Zed. As she walked into his office, R closed, saved, and restored the "Diablo" clearance which only three people in MI-6 had. He told Zed to assemble 7 people that she trusted to keep a secret. "Keep a secret in this section. That would be everybody." Zed said with a chuckle that immediately stopped when she noticed the usually mirthful R was not joining in. "This is serious, Zed. I need seven people to help build a gadget. You will lead them. I hereby grant you "Diablo" clearance. This is what you are building. You are not to discuss it with any of the other Q personnel aside from your team. There is a cubicle behind the boxes on the other end of the lab. Here is the access code. Once you have remembered it, you will destroy that paper using fire in mine, and M’s presence. Is that understood, Corporal?" Zed snapped to military attention, realizing that this must be serious. "Understood, sir." she barked with precision. "Very well then, carry on. I will be in M’s office. Contact me when you have assembled the team." As Zed started to leave, R said, "Oh, and one other thing. Do not give that code to anyone else on your team. If you are not there, they are not there. Understood?" At Zed's nod, he sent her on her way. As he watched her gather her team together, he realized that she would make a good Quartermaster one-day. "Of course, if Michael finds out what we are planning, she'll be Q sooner than expected." he said to himself as he shut down his terminal, and left for M’s office.

Edited by Dustin, 29 December 2012 - 12:52 PM.

[Jaws0178]

• 
  Chapter Three
  As Bond walked into M's outer office, Miss Moneypenny smiled, saying, "James!" but stopped when she saw the look on his face. Without a word, he stormed into M's office. "What in the hell is?" he started, stopping when he noticed that M wasn't alone: she had R, Robinson, Damian Falco via satellite, the Home Secretary, and his assistant. "Good afternoon, 007. Won't you sit down?" M said, unperturbed that Bond had stormed in. "Yes ma’am" Bond said as he sat down in an empty chair. "Now, please continue, Home Secretary." As the Home Secretary continued what he was saying before Bond entered, Moneypenny lightly tapped on the door. When M waved at her, she entered, saying, "Latest movements of Mike, I mean Goldeneye, M." As M nodded her assent, Bond asked to see the file. As M handed it to him, Falco said, "You’ll find that he has been spotted in Jamaica. Place called Maaselcroft, it’s a bar." Bond shook his head, saying, "Actually, it’s a bar/diner. Terrance McCanless owns it. I've been there a couple of times. He’s a good man, will make a good 00 one day." "Actually, 007. He would have made a good 00. He quit the service. Exasperated, Falco said, "Well, that makes him a liability. Your girl Frost taught us that lesson." Bond winced as he remembered seeing Miranda dead on Colonel Moon/ Gustav Graves plane after Falco's agent, Giancita Johnson a.k.a. Jinx killed her. Thinking of Frost made him remember Elektra King, Paris Carver, Vesper Lynd and worst of all, his wife, Tracy, all women he loved, all dead. He shook his head briskly, pulling himself back to the present. "I'm sorry, M. Could you repeat that last transmission. You're breaking up here." Falco said as his screen started to turn fuzzy. "What is going on?" M heard him say to someone off screen. As they all heard the technician start to answer, the screen went blank "Damn" M said as she started to press the button to retract the painting that hid the screen when suddenly Goldeneye appeared on it. "Ahh, hello M. Oh, looks like the gang is all here." As Michael was speaking, R whipped out an instrument. "You will find that trying to track me is useless." He then looked over toward Bond. "Hello James. How are you? I assume you are still feeling okay. I heard that the Iceland affair was particularly painful, but you got out of it. You always escape." I feel loved now. M, in her absolute wisdom, wants to get rid of the mistake she made." As M started to get up, she said, "Now, see here," Bond stopped her, saying, "Its no use, M. there is no reasoning with him. He’s mad." "James", Goldeneye said, mock hurt, "I'm wounded. Here I am, trying to explain to you why I have no reason to be public enemy number one and you insult me. Ahh, Miss Moneypenny, please come in, come in. Go ahead and tell M my recent movements." As Moneypenny stood there, dumbfounded, M took the paper that, indeed, had Goldeneye's recent moves. "You see, M. I know exactly what you are doing. Better luck next time,MI-6." At that, his eye started to glow gold, and suddenly, the screen went blank. As M pressed the switch, Moneypenny asked, "How?" "I don't know." M replied, mystified.

[Jaws0178]

Chapter Four
"You know, Goldeneye. You shouldn't have used the eye to short out the camera." Francisco Scaramanga, Goldeneye's number one confidant and ally told him. "I had to get them to pay attention. They are not going to trifle with me. Besides, Francisco, now they realize that I will do whatever is necessary to stop their plan. This is what they are building. I need a way to stop it." He said as he handed the Man with the Golden Gun the plans for the destabilizer. "How did you get this?" Scaramanga asked, dumbfounded. "I have contacts outside of MI-6. One of my sources programmed the mainframe system at MI-6.They give me information. They saw the words "Goldeneye" and "weapon" in the same sentence, and reported it to me. Can you do it?" he finished as Scaramanga looked over the plans. "I can, indeed. We'll make it a new implant into the eye's system. Will that be satisfactory?" "When can it be completed?" Mike asked his friend. "Give me two weeks, and I should have the materials." Scaramanga replied as his mind was already formulating a shopping list. "Very well, I have to pay a visit to an old friend. At least, I hope he is still a friend. I would really hate to have to kill him, as I'd hate to kill any of my friends." With that, Goldeneye turned his back to the older man and walked away, leaving Scaramanga alone with his thoughts. Meanwhile, at MI-6, the same meeting was going on between M, Bill Tanner, Charles Robinson, and James Bond. "How did he breach MI-6 security in order to plant the bugs that are obviously in this office." Robinson asked as R walked about, checking for eavesdropping devices. "Well, there's the problem." R said as he completed his sweep. "He didn't. There are no bugs in this office that I can detect." Dumbfounded, 007 said, "Well, obviously, your sensors are malfunctioning." As he turned to look at the older man, he realized what he had said, "Wait. R, is it possible that there is a bug that your sensors cannot detect?" "Well, the only type of material that can be used to make eavesdropping devices that I cannot detect would be gold, but who would use them? They are unreliable and too expensive." R said as he started to make a visual search for the bugs. "Unreliable? Why are they unreliable?" M asked as she moved away from her desk so that R could climb under it. His slightly muffled voice explained that gold reduces the quality of the transmission. As R said "gold", 007 suddenly shot up, and said, "Lazar!" As he started to rush out of the office, the remaining people looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders in confusion.

[Jaws0178]

Chapter Five
As 007 was running out of M's office, Goldeneye was stepping into, what to most, should have been considered the Lions den, depending on who Terrance sided with. As he stepped through the door, he heard an unfamiliar voice say, "Mike, is that you?" As he started to turn toward the voice, he saw Terry, with blood pouring down his scalp, pointing a gun at the person that Michael was turning toward. As he took all of this in, he started to pull his gun from the quick draw holster that he had gotten into the habit of keeping on him at all times, ever since M had sent 005 to kill him. As he completed his turn, gun already pointed, he chuckled. "Ahh, they sent you. I'm insulted. They could at least sent a double 0." As 03 looked at Michael, she suddenly couldn't kill him. She set down her gun, and knelt before him as though she were praying. "If you are going to kill me, could you get it over with." she said, her voice shaking. As Goldeneye looked at the woman, Terry walked toward the pair, grabbing the weapon from the table that 03 had sat it on and hefted it approvingly. "Well, since MI-6 switched to the P-99, I hardly ever saw these anymore." he said as he handed the classic PPK to Michael. He took it without a word, and pointed it at the top of 03's head. As she looked up at him, he saw fear in her liquid brown eyes. "Why did you join MI-6, 03?" he asked her as she placed her hand on a table. " So, so, so?" she started to say. As Michael moved closer, a sixth sense in Terry began to quiver. Without a word, he pointed his gun at 03, and shot her in the head. Goldeneye jumped back, startled, and whirled on the younger man, pointing his gun at Terry's forehead. "What in the hell was that all about?!" he roared at Terry, who simply pointed at 03's corpse. It was then that Michael noticed the steak knife in 03's lifeless hand. "I apologize, Michael, but it was for your own good." He then took a gamble, and turned his back on his friend, walking back to the bar. As he watched Terry walk away, he realized that he was right in trusting him. As he walked toward the bar, he heard sirens in the distance, getting louder. "Damn, didn't count on that. You got a back door to this place, Terry?" Goldeneye asked as Terry was briskly walking towards the back. "Follow me. There is an old bomb shelter back here. You'll be safe. I may not be an agent anymore, but I pay taxes on this bar. I'll get rid of them." As Hunter stepped down the steps, Terry flashed him a thumbs up, and closed the hatch. Once he had done that, he walked back to the bar, just in time. At that moment, the door to the diner opened and a voice asked, "Mr. McCanless, are you here?" As Terry walked slowly around the bar, hands to his sides, he realized that the officer had to have seen the body by then. Sure enough, the officer ran toward the corpse, already on his radio, calling for backup. "What happened here, sir?" the officer asked as he approached Terry, quickly frisking him for weapons. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure. I was sitting at that table, counting the day's receipts, when this woman walks in, waving a gun at me, and yelling for me to give her all of the money. When I started to get up, she clubbed me with the butt of her gun. I tripped her, we scuffled, and she went after the steak knife. As she lunged at me, I grabbed her gun and shot her in the head." Terry said to the young man. "This is the gun you used?" the officer asked as he held up Terry's unregistered Webley with two fingers. "Yes, but unfortunately, you won't get any prints off of it." Terry said as he walked to the bar to grab the officer a bag for the gun. "Really, and how do you know that, Mr. McCanless?" the officer asked, suspicious. "Well, because that particular gun, as you will notice, has a raised diamond shaped butt. Unfortunately, it is very hard to get prints off those." "Okay" said the police officer, "we may have a few more questions for you, Mr. McCanless. Do not leave the island, and we will call you when we need you." Terry nodded his assent and told the man that he had no intention of leaving the island anytime soon. With a nod, the officer left. As Terry started to walk back to the entrance of the shelter, Michael was already stepping out of it. "How did you know that the officer had left?" Terry asked, and then he realized that his eye was glowing. "Oh, stupid question, I guess. You'd better get out of here. Pretty soon, this place will be swarming with police." Michael nodded in agreement, pulled out a card, and handed it to Terry. When Terry took it, Michael said, "When you are done with the police, come to this address." As Terry looked at the card, he realized with a start that this was the address for Ian Fleming's home, Goldeneye. "How did you?" he started to ask him, but when he looked up, Michael was gone.
　

[Jaws0178]

Chapter Six
As the plane touched down in Macao, Bond's mind was elsewhere. He was remembering the last time he had met Lazar. He was wondering if Lazar was even still at the same address. The voice of the pretty flight attendant broke his reverie, "Mr. Bond?" she asked as he realized with a start that the plane was nearly empty. "Must have been more tired than I thought." he said as he sheepishly retrieved his carry on bag, and started to disembark. "Umm, Mr. Bond?" the stewardess asked as she walked toward him, holding out his P99 with two fingers. "I believe you misplaced this?" As she held it out, Bond quickly felt under his arm, where sure enough, his Walther was missing. As he took it from her, he wondered how he had missed that. "Christ, I must be getting old." he thought to himself as he got off the plane. As he walked into the terminal, he saw a pretty young lady with short black hair and a sign that read "J. Bond." As he approached her, he noticed how young she looked. She couldn't have been more than 22. "Can I help you, sir?" she asked, as James realized that his mind had started to wander again. "Stay focused, James." he admonished himself, as he told her who he was. "James Bond? No, I am waiting for a Jason Bond, sir. Oh, I believe I see him now. Jason!" she said as she noticed a gentleman that looked a lot like an American actor that James had seen in one of those spy movies recently. As he looked around, he saw another young woman with a sign that read "James Bond." As he approached her, he realized that she was looking at him rather strangely. "James?" she asked, hesitantly as he approached her. As he looked more carefully at her, he realized he knew this girl, but he couldn't think of where. "I'm sorry. Apparently, my memory is going. I know you, but I can't recall where." The girl laughed, and said, "That's not surprising, sir. I'm Midge. If you will recall, I worked for Regina Smythe." Suddenly, it all came back to Bond; Kamal Khan, Octopussy, the Faberge egg, Gobinda, and Vijay. "How is Regina?" Bond asked, and immediately knew something had happened since he last been there. Midge's face underwent a subtle change as she informed him that Regina had died about three years previously. "When Regina died, we buried her on the island, and went our separate ways. Every year however, we go back to the island to pay our respects, and spend the week there. I actually joined MI-6 after she died, at her request." As Bond nodded, understanding, Midge asked if the carry-on was all he brought. "He who packs lightest, and all that." he replied, and immediately regretted it, remembering Easy St. John and how she was killed. As he was reminiscing, he noticed that Midge was taking his carry-on and carrying it toward a car. She was halfway there, when she realized that Bond was not following her. "Mr. Bond?" she asked as she started to walk back toward him. Suddenly, and without warning, Bond had his P99 out, and was looking around. It was then that she noticed that there was a red beam pointing toward her chest. Acting purely on instinct, she dived out of the way, which probably saved her life. As the shot hit the ground, Bond was already in motion, running for the second floor of the airport, as Midge pulled out her trusty PPK. As Bond saw this, he quickly put his P99 back in its holster, and yelled "Midge, my case. PPK in compartment!" As Midge took all this in, she tossed 007 her gun, and ran for the car to retrieve the gun. As Bond ran up the stairs, he checked the magazine of the PPK, noting that it was fully loaded. As he reached the top of the stairs, a shot suddenly destroyed a pane of glass next to him. Suddenly, he heard laughter. "Are you alive, Mr. Bond?" he heard his assailant say. As Bond tried to place the voice, he saw Midge ascending another set of stairs that would give her a better vantage-point. Bond took this chance to pull out the magazine of his borrowed PPK, replace it with one of his own, empty the magazine, and tossed it away, toward the middle of the terminal. Laughter again, and "Nice try, Mr. Bond. How stupid do you think I am?" The more the person talked, the more 007 was sure that he recognized the voice. "Wait, it couldn't be? I killed him." Bond thought to himself as he spared a glance toward the other stairwell. He saw that Midge was nearly at the top. He then risked a glance over the top of the stairs he was on to find out who this guy was. Sure enough, it was Tee-Hee and he was pointing his gun towards Midge. As Bond took all of this in, almost if by instinct, his gun was up and he squeezed off two shots toward Tee-Hee's shoulder. The shots found their mark, and the big man was caught off-guard. As he started to stumble, Bond was up and running toward him with the intention of tackling him. However, Tee-Hee was too quick for him, and dodged out of his way, taking a bead on Midge again. By this time, however, Midge was nowhere to be seen. "Damn, where did she go?" Bond heard Tee-Hee saying as he searched for the young lady. By this time, Bond had regained his footing, and was sneaking up behind the big man. As he approached him, he noticed that he had gotten his mechanical arm replaced. As Tee-Hee started to quickly turn around at Bonds approach, the veteran spy already had a bead on him. "You might as well give up, Tee-Hee. You've lost." As Tee-Hee started to set his gun down, Bond heard footsteps quickly approaching from the left. As Bonds attention was focused toward the steps, Tee-Hee took the opportunity to trip Bond up. "Hold it right there!" Bond heard Midge yell as Tee-Hee started to run. Then he heard the rapid report of Midge's PPK. As he got up, he noticed that Tee-Hee was trying to pull himself toward the steps. Bond grabbed up his PPK, and ran toward the steps, grabbing Tee-Hee's shirt before he could get down the steps. "Did Goldeneye put you up to this!" he asked angrily as he flipped the man over, and jammed his PPK into his temple. "Answer me, damn you!" he yelled as he heard Tee-Hee's death rattle. "Damn it!!" he shouted to the fates that control death. as Midge walked up to him, he turned around, pointing his gun at her. "James, James! It's Midge!" she said, fearfully. As the adrenaline rushed from his system, James Bond slumped against the wall. The last thing he heard was "Oh, my God, James!"

[Jaws0178]

As James Bond was being loaded onto a stretcher, R was approaching a non-descript house in Surrey. On the porch, he saw Major Boothroyd, better known as Q, sitting, sipping at a cup of tea. "Ahh, William." the Major said as R started to come up the steps toward the older man. "Can I interest you?" he said as he indicated his cup and motioned him toward a seat. "Why, yes Major." R replied as he took the proffered seat. "Tut, tut, William, I'm not in the service anymore. Call me Archibald." As he said this last part, the front door opened, and the Major's grand-daughter, Samantha walked out. "Ahh, Sam. I'd like for you to meet William. He's the new Quartermaster at MI-6." As R shook the teenager’s hand, Sam asked, "Are you going to ask Grandpa to come out of retirement?" As R assured the girl that that was not his intention, the girl said "Oh." and walked away. As they watched her leave, Q asked, "So, is James behaving himself?" "James is James, Maj- Archibald." At that moment, R's pager beeped. "Always with the timing, right Q?" he started to chuckle until he noticed what the message was. "Oh Christ! I need to use your phone. James is in hospital with adrenaline poisoning." As Q handed him the phone, he stood up. "I'm going with you. No arguments." R merely shook his head, as the phone connected with M. "M, I just received a page. Go secure." Sideways, he looked at Boothroyd, "Is this phone secure?" The Major nodded and said, "Press 719 and then star. It will automatically go secure." As R did so, he heard two minute beeps. "James has been admitted to the hospital in Macao with adrenaline poisoning." As the Major heard "Macao", he leaned over to R. "Let me see that." he said. As R handed him the phone, Q heard M saying, "I’m booking you on the next flight there, R." "Better make it two tickets, M." he said as he filled her in on what Bond was doing in Macao in the first place. "Lazar has since moved from there, and frankly, James is going to need help to find him." There was silence on the other line for about thirty seconds, and finally M said "Very well. Request approved. Oh, and Major? It's good to hear from you." As the Major hung up, he briskly walked into the house, and retrieved his bag. As the major was doing this, Terrance was walking up to a box at the entrance of Goldeneye. As he pressed the button on it, he couldn't help but notice a blue Ford Crown Victoria sitting across the street. "Yes." said a metallic sounding voice from the speaker, breaking Terry from his thoughts. "I'm here to see Michael Hunter." Terry said as he watched the Ford move on. "Maybe I'm just feeling paranoid" he thought to himself as the gates started to open. As he walked through the courtyard, he saw the door open. He saw a bodyguard walking toward him, eyeing him suspiciously. As the guard approached him, he said in a deep baritone voice, "Spread your legs, please, and get against that wall." As Terry moved to comply, he was frisked very thoroughly. When the man was finished, he asked for the card that Michael had given him earlier. As Terry fished it out of his breast pocket, he noticed a dark green Dodge Viper sitting in the driveway. "Beautiful car." he said to the man as he handed the card over. "Yes, it is, isn't it?" he heard a voice say from the door. As he turned to look at the speaker, he suddenly was slammed into the wall. "Did you ask to move, maggot!" the bodyguard shouted as he pulled a .45 out of a holster, and jammed it into the back of his neck. "Vladimir!" Goldeneye said as he walked calmly down the stairs. "Sorry, sir. I have yet to see his admittance card, sir!" the man said as he snapped to attention and saluted the man. "At ease, Vladimir. This is a friend of mine." Michael said as Terry cautiously moved away from the wall. "Sir, yes sir!" Vladimir said as he moved to parade rest. "Michael, I think I was followed." Terry told his friend as they moved toward the entrance. "Oh, you mean the Crown Vic? They didn't follow you. They know I bought this place. Shall we?" Goldeneye said as they approached the door. As the two men were walking into the manor, the occupants of the Crown Victoria, a man and a woman, walked up to the gate. As they did so, Vladimir stood in front of it, asking, "Can I help you?" "Yeah", said the man in a decided Southern accent "we want a room for the night. Isn't this a hotel? It sure looks like one to me, how bout you, honey?" The woman, who was in her mid to late 30's, said in a Mid-western drawl, "Oh, it sure does, sweetie. Why, I think I've heard of this place. Isn't it called "Goldeneye"? Maybe that would explain that strange man we saw walking in." As Vladimir was listening to all of this, his internal radar was practically humming "Danger". "It was formerly a hotel, however, it has been purchased as a private residence, so I am afraid I will have to ask you to leave before I have to call the local authorities." " "Private residence""? the man sputtered, "How can a person buy a whole hotel as a "private residence". You don't have to worry about calling the police, I believe I'm going to. Come on, baby, This is bull. Couple can't even get a room cause all these rich crazies buyin up everything. It's Communism, I tell you." Vladimir watched the pair as they walked off, until they got around the corner, and then he walked up to the door of the manor to report to "The Boss."
　

[Jaws0178]

Chapter Eight
Meanwhile, in London, M was having a briefing with Sir James Maloney, the physician that MI-6 kept on staff. While his primary focus was the mental aspect of health, he also had a fairly successful practice dealing with the physical side. "Tell me, doctor. Have you ever seen an agent of 007’s caliber suffering from Adrenaline poisoning?" M asked as Dr. Maloney sat down opposite her. "Well, to be perfectly frank with you, Barbara, no, I haven't. I'm afraid that 007 may be simply getting too old to continue on as a 00 agent. He has been active for nearly forty years. Even 00s have their limit." The middle aged doctor said as he sipped at his cup of Earl Grey tea, a habit from his days of pulling double duty at the trauma center, where you always needed energy. "What you are suggesting, James" said M as she sipped at her whiskey "is to retire one of the few 00s that has survived this long. I mean, Bond is the 00 branch." Before M had even finished, Maloney was shaking his head. "Retire? No, not at all. My suggestion is this: allow 007 to finish his current mission, whatever it may be. Upon successful completion of this mission, give him a choice. He can either teach any class of his choice at the Academy, or he can be placed in a position that is not as stressful. Simple as that. Now, if you will forgive me, I have to get back to my practice. Always a pleasure, Barbara." the doctor said as he stepped out of M's office. As the door closed, M picked up her extension to the ever-efficient Moneypenny. "Miss Moneypenny, put me through to Macao. Tell them I wish to speak with R." As she waited for the call to connect, she wondered how she was going to be able to face the mirror after this. While all of this was going on, however, Major Boothroyd was contacting Lazar, the arms manufacturer that had supplied Francisco Scaramanga with his deadly "Golden Bullets." As he approached the building that Lazar was living in, he saw the security camera that he knew would be there. In fact, he thought to himself, after his encounter with 007, I would have been surprised if it wasn't there. As if reading his thoughts, Lazar's voice suddenly issued from a speaker to Boothroyd's left. "Can I help you?" he asked suspiciously. "My name is Archibald Boothroyd. I am a friend of an old friend of yours, James Bond. I was wondering if I could have a word with you." After thirty seconds, he heard a metallic beep issuing from the door. As he went to grab the door, it came open and a massive man walked out, motioning the major to the wall. As Boothroyd did as he was bidden, the man frisked him roughly but thoroughly. As he finished, he motioned to the door. As Q stepped in ahead of the man, he noticed Lazar standing on the other side of a pane of glass, watching him no doubt, to see if he was going to draw a gun. As the older man started to raise his hands to show that he was unarmed, his mute companion started to push him ahead faster. As they finally got to the room in which Lazar was, the other man said simply, "Clean", took one more disgusted look at the major, and walked off. "You have disappointed him." Lazar said as Q watched the man stalk silently away. "He was hoping you would try something." As Lazar started to turn around, Q said "Are you helping Scaramanga." He didn't know why he said it, but it had an effect on Lazar. He turned back toward the older man slowly, appraising him in a new light. "I am not. Ever since he turned rat on me, and got me locked up for illegal weapons trafficking, I have washed my hands of Francisco Scaramanga." As Q looked at the aging weapons dealer, he noticed that Lazar did look a lot more built then his file photo showed. "As a matter of fact, I no longer manufacture illegal weapons. That went out with the Cold War. However, I will enquire to some of my old contacts as to who is dealing in weapons these days." "It’s not weapons, its electronics." Q said to the mans retreating back The man paused, and continued walking.