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Silhouettes And Shadows


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#1 volante

volante

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Posted 22 September 2008 - 08:25 PM

Discuss this story in this thread.



Based on Ian Fleming’s

James Bond

007

Silhouettes and Shadows

By

Paul Taylor





Back Jacket Synopsis


When an otherwise impeccable financial source funds a biological weapons transaction…

…James Bond is sent to investigate the mysterious new owner of the Swiss bank responsible…

…and uncovers a powerful secret organisation that has its roots enmeshed

in the Third Reich and its sights set on challenging the superpowers of today.

The race is on to stop the weapon being deployed, but who can Bond trust?

A disgraced DOJ agent wanted by the FBI

An Israeli scientist at odds with the CIA

Even his old friend Felix Leiter cannot be relied upon in a world controlled by silhouettes and shadows







Appendix 1



Bilderberg Invitation list 2007




George Alogoskoufis, Minister of Economy and Finance (Greece);
Ed Balls, Economic Secretary to the Treasury (UK);
Francisco Pinto Balsemo, Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.
Jose M. Duraco Barroso, President, European Commission (Portugal/International);
Michel Barnier, former Minister of Affairs, (France)
Francis Pinto Balsemao, former Prime Minister of Portual (Portugal)
Franco Bernaba, Vice Chariman, Rothschild Europe (Italy);
Nicolas Beytout, Editor-in-Chief, Le Figaro (France);
Carl Bildt, Former Prime Minister (Sweden);
Anders Borg, the Minister of Economic Affairs (Sweden);
Hubert Burda, Publisher and CEO, Hubert Burda Media Holding (Belgium);
Philippe Camus, CEO, EADS (France);
Henri de Castries, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO, AXA (France);
Juan Luis Cebrian, Grupo PRISA media group (Spain);
Kenneth Clark, Member of Parliament (UK);
Timothy C. Collins, Senior Managing Director and CEO, Ripplewood Holdings, LLC (USA);
Bertrand Collomb, Chairman, Lafarge (France);
George A. David, Chairman, Coca-Cola H.B.C. S.A. (USA);
Anders Eldrup, President, DONG A/S (Denmark);
John Elkann, Vice Chairman, Fiat S.p.A (Italy);
Martin S. Feldstein, President and CEO, National Bureau of Economic Research (USA);
James Femuston, CFR (USA)
Timothy F. Geithner, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of New York (USA);
Lloyd Franklin, CFR (USA)
Paul A. Gigot, Editor of the Editorial Page, The Wall Street Journal (USA);
Dermot Gleeson, Chairman, AIB Group (Ireland);
Donald E. Graham, (CFR) Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post Company (USA);
Victor Halberstadt, Professor of Economics, Leiden University;
Jean-Pierre Hansen, CEO, Suez-Tractebel S.A. (Belgium);
Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations (USA);
Frank Heemskerk, Minister of Foreign Economic Affairs (Netherlands)
Richard C. Holbrooke, CFR , Trilateral, Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC (USA);
Jaap G. Hoop de Scheffer, Secretary General, NATO (the Netherlands/ International);
Allan B. Hubbard, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, Director Economic Council (USA);
Josef Joffe, Publisher-Editor, Die Zeit (Germany);
James A. Johnson, Tri-lateral; Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC (USA);
Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Senior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC (USA);
Anatole Kaletsky, Editor at Large, The Times (UK);
Jyrki Katainen, Minister of Economic Affairs, (Finland)
John Kerr of Kinlochard, Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc (the Netherlands);
Henry A. Kissinger, CFR, Trilateral, Chairman, Kissinger Associates (USA);
Bernard Kouchner, Minister of Foreign Affairs (France);
Henry R. Kravis, CFR, Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (USA);
Marie-Josae Kravis, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc. (USA);
Neelie Kroes, Commissioner, European Commission (the Netherlands/International);
Ed Kronenburg, Director of the Private Office, NATO Headquarters (International);
William J. Luti, Special Assistant to the President for Defence, National Security Council (USA);
Jessica T. Mathews, CFR, Trilateral. President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (USA);
Frank McKenna, Ambassador to the US, member Carlyle Group (Canada);
Thierry de Montbrial, President, French Institute for International Relations (France);
Mario Monti, President, Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi (Italy);
Craig J. Mundie, Chief Technical Officer Advanced Strategies, Microsoft Corporation (USA);
Egil Myklebust, Chairman of the Board of Directors SAS, Norsk Hydro ASA (Norway);
Matthias Nass, Deputy Editor, Die Zeit (Germany);
Adnrzej Olechowski, Leader Civic Platform (Poland);
Jorma Ollila, Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc/Nokia (Finland);
Richard Olbruk, CFR
George Osborne, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (UK);
Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Minister of Finance (Italy);
Richard N. Perle, CFR, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy ( USA);
Heather Reisman, Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc. (Canada);
David Rockefeller (USA);
Matìas Rodriguez Inciarte, Executive Vice Chairman, Grupo Santander Bank, (Spain);
Dennis B. Ross, CFR Director, Washington Institute for Near East Policy (USA);
Dr. Schily, Former Minister of Interior Affairs; Committee on Foreign Affairs (Germany);
Jurgen E. Schrempp, Former Chairman of the Board of Management, DaimlerChrysler AG (Germany);
Tager Seidenfaden, Executive Editor-in-Chief, Politiken (Denmark);
Sir David Somerset, Resident Fellow, London School of Economics; (UK)
George Soros, CFR, Trilateral (Opens Society Institue) Soros Foundation, ( USA)
Peter D. Sutherland, Chairman, BP plc and Chairman, Goldman Sachs International (Ireland);
Giulio Tremonti, Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy);
Jean-Claude Trichet, Governor, European Central Bank (France/International);
John Vinocur, Senior Correspondent, International Herald Tribune (USA);
Jacob Wallenberg, Chairman, Investor AB (Sweden);
Martin H. Wolf, Associate Editor and Economics Commentator, The Financial Times (UK);
Paul Wolfowitz, CFR, Trilateral.
James D. Wolfensohn, Special Envoy for the Gaza Disengagement (USA);
Robert B. Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State (USA); CFR
Klaus Zumwinkel, Chairman of the Board of Management, Deutsche Post AG (USA);
Adrian D. Wooldridge, Foreign Correspondent, The Economist.





















Prologue

April 2007


The sun beat down.

James Bond reclined on the rear seat of the Sunseeker Super-hawk 43 checking the charts and planning his day.

For the past month he had been island hopping, catching his meals from the sea, and eating them at a different hotel restaurant each night.

Today the cruiser was anchored thirty meters off Helengeli one of the most natural islands in the Maldives.

Situated in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India there are approximately 1,196 small coral islands grouped together in a double chain of 27 atolls, spread over 90,000 square kilometers, making it one of the most disparate countries in the world.
Composed of live coral reefs and sand bars, the atolls are situated atop a submarine ridge nine hundred and sixty kilometers long that extends upwards abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean.

But even this vast area was closing in on Bond, the previous night he had been approached by the hotel manager, who during a polite conversation over a Mount Gay rum and soda asked Bond who he was working for. His response had been that he was conducting research for the Tourist board in Male, a story Bond had found easy to maintain and hard to disprove.

The manager had then gone to great lengths to explain that his hotel had been designed and developed with the preservation of the island's fragile environment and the comfort of the tourist in mind.

Bond listened with feigned interest and made a mental note to change his cover story, to that of a serial ‘hotel’ arsonist who had been encouraged by his therapist to confront the source of his problem to in order to see if the cure was complete.

He smiled at the prospect of the revelation, not only to avoid a repeat of this ad hoc type of conversation but to stop the prospect of a communication to other hotel managers who may actively try to locate him, for a favourable report.

He glanced up from his charts, and viewed the island, nodding in approval he liked what he saw, which reluctantly confirmed that the manager had been accurate in his appraisal; the result was an unspoiled island paradise, yet with all the amenities that made you feel completely at home. Bond surveyed the lush tropical vegetation and marvelled at the contrast in colour of the completely untouched beach.

With his charts stowed away he took off his white linen shirt and fired up the engine, relishing the feel of the sea breeze on his skin, the cruiser pulled away from the island. Bond steered a course for a reef roughly twenty miles to the south, today he would dive to view the coral to take in its beauty and capture the memory, it would be his last opportunity, for tomorrow he was going to head back to the main island and book a flight to Heathrow.

Briefly he wondered what would be waiting for him back on his desk, and then without thinking he checked the state of repair of the wound on his right forearm, the scab had gone, washed away by the hours of swimming and diving, the scar would soon be non existent, but viewing it took him back to his last assignment.

It was, on the surface simple, a welcome relief from his first two “00” operations.
He had flown in to Bulgaria, found his mark, and plotted the hit, no girls to distract him, and no conspiracies to take over the world.

The mission was going as planned, but he had not taken into consideration the target would be wearing body armour; this fact had delayed the man’s death and had given him valuable seconds in which to raise the alarm.
Bond had to use his back up plan to make good his escape, but his repelling wire had snapped (a miscalculation on the breaking strength) and he had crashed through a window, the result had been six stitches in his head and a few more on his arm.

He shook the memory from his head, gunned the engine and powered away, the breeze turning into a powerful blast invigorating his skin.

The atolls of the Maldives are complex structures which are very dangerous for inexperienced navigators, but a sure way to know you are heading in the right direction in these times is to head for the boats and cruisers, anchored over the most interesting reefs, the tourist trade is all important here and a major attraction for divers from all corners or the World.
Bond secured the Super-hawk a good hundred meters from the nearest tourist cruiser and checked his equipment. Knowing his breathing rate on the surface is 15 liters per minute he calculated his consumption at 3 x 15 = 45 liters of gas per minute at twenty meters. His eleven liter cylinder was filled to 200 bar and carried a reserve of 17%. At 45 Liters/min the reef dive would be at a comfortable depth and he could stay down for a maximum of forty minutes.
These depths and times were typical of his week long diving experiences, leisurely exploring the coral reef using the 200 bar aluminum cylinders which he had rented from the commercial sport diving operation on the island. Although strictly speaking not a part of the breathing apparatus, Bond checked his Buoyancy control device, running his fingers along the joint connecting it to the diver's air supply.
Bond found the vest a most suitable addition to his kit, providing him with an easy inflation of the device. This can be done manually or via the mouthpiece, in order to save tank air while on the surface. The bladders inside the BCD inflate with air from the ‘direct feed’ to increase the volume of the SCUBA equipment and cause the diver to float. Another button deflates the BCD and decreases the volume of the equipment and causes the diver to sink. Finally he adjusted his watch to a 40 minute period and slipped quietly into the warm waters.
His world took on a different texture, the warmth caressed him and the current soothed his muscles, he powered down enjoying the feel of the crystal clear waters between his fingers.

More than 1,500 species of fish lived on this particular reef, four hundred species of corals, both hard and soft were to be found in this area alone, he had been told, so it wasn’t too surprising that other divers were actively enjoying the reef, still he made a conscious effort to keep away from the tourists.

The majority of the corals spawn gametes, which breed in mass spawning events that are controlled by the rising sea temperatures of spring and summer, the lunar cycle, and the diurnal cycle.

Bond propelled himself down to the reef, at about fifteen meters he leveled out and continued along the wall of colour, observing the many interesting species of Lionfish and Sweet-lips as they were feeding gently on the plants; a blue-faced angelfish darted ahead of him and he followed its path; in the distance he observed a one meter white tip reef shark lazily cruising his territory.

Bond always enjoyed his role of observer in this under water world, he knew there were dangerous fish out there, like the Scorpion and Stone fish, Moray Eels and Sharks, but he knew they would not attack as long as you keep your distance and don't touch or chase them! Simple!

A small shoal of angel fish loomed in front of him moving left to right as he watched one fish bent double and was propelled backward in an instant the cloud of blood obscured his view, the fish and spear drifted down not two feet in front of him.

Bond’s immediate thought was of an idiotic diver shooting at the fish for fun, but then a second spear whooshed passed his head, and he knew he was under attack, he dived down a couple of feet and used the reef for cover, hand over hand he pulled himself along the coral, doubling back upon himself he manoeuvred in and around the rocks until he saw the trail of bubbles, three of them, then in slow motion they appeared from beyond the crest of a coral outcrop, the lead diver was still armed with a spear gun the other two were reloading as they checked the nooks and crannies, and although their lazy leg lifts looked deceptively slow they were propelling them forward quickly through the large fins they were wearing.

Although he was regulating his breathing the tell tail trail of bubbles from Bond’s own tank finally gave his position away, the three men focused in on his position and they approached with unnerving speed.

They were within firing range but they kept coming, at twelve feet distance the first diver stopped and began to allow his feet to drop slowly and deliberately the lead diver brought up the harpoon gun, aimed and fired, Bond opened the valve and air whooshed out of his buoyancy vest he dropped and the spear ricocheted off his tank, turning the valve the air rushed in and Bond rose like a cork, kicking at the same time he converged the lead diver’s position he grabbed at the mans’ weapon arm, simultaneously his other hand snaked inside the clumsily formed guard and plucked at the mask, prizing it from his face, immediately he let it fasten back over the man’s eyes forcing him instinctively to use both hands to the task of replacing the mask.

Bond took the initiative and grabbed the air tank pulling the man forward, the second diver was very close now and had his gun aimed, as he fired the bubbles erupted from the path of the spear. Bond used the momentum to pull the first man into the path of the spear, it entered the mans neck and the blood billowed from the wound, Bond kept hold of the struggling man and ran his hand down his body taking a spear from the divers quarrel; flicking his legs he propelled himself under the now dead diver as he continued to run his fingers down the mans calf, success, he found, unclipped and released the razor sharp diving knife, the second diver was on him now reaching for his air pipe, Bond saw a similar knife glinting in his other hand, he brought his own knife up and slashed at the second divers arm, the rubber suit took most of the impetus out of the thrust but Bond felt the weapon cut flesh, the diver withdrew his arm from the fight, as another cloud of blood fanned out.

The third diver had carefully moved around behind Bond and was just reaching for his demand regulator when the shark brushed past him, the shock stopped him dead and the shark continued on its trajectory, having tasted the blood in the water from over one hundred meters away nothing was going to make it deviate from its target.

With morbid fascination the third diver watched the shark attack the dead man, other fish which pick up the pieces from a predator attack were now darting around the fight, Bond resisted the urge to throw up his arms in defence as the fish wriggled past him, in a moment of clarity he turned and thrust the spear into the third divers face, but the attack failed it skidded off his mask, shocked into action the attacker moved forward and grasped Bond’s hand they twirled in a morbid dance of death the air bubbles festooning the sea around them, Bond assessed the other man’s strength and slowly he was able to break the man’s grip and he thrust again, this time it penetrated the man’s throat, both his hands went instinctively to the wound, then his body went limp and he sank. Bond looked around, and saw the stain of blood hanging in the water following the blood trail he spotted the second diver as he was swimming away, Bond set off in pursuit, he needed some answers.

They were both rising fast when a second shark took the diver’s injured arm its sleek body began twisting and tearing the diver was pulled through the water his limbs imitating those of a rag doll, the next strike came without warning as a third shark tore into the divers leg. The water turned red so that the frenzied movement seemed to be behind a cascade of water, Bond slowly drifted away, keeping his arms close to his body, watching in morbid fascination as the smaller fish began nibbling at pieces of the third diver as they fell away from the torn body, the scene was becoming more chaotic as other sharks joined the attack ripping at the three dead divers.

Bond carefully released more air helping him ascend from the depths, before surfacing he took one more look down at the feeding frenzy and the grotesque silhouettes and shadows chilled him to the bone.






Chapter one

March 2003


They struck without warning.

Ten lightly armed commandos, considered to be the elite of their brigade entered the building, in the early morning light.

The commando in charge of communications disabled the alarm, and took station by the door, as he was doing this a second soldier sprinted up the stairs and secreted himself behind the artificial plants on the landing; he had a full and commanding view of the reception area below.

The rest of the unit split into four teams and began their objective to immobilize the occupants of the outlying buildings. Each soldier had a floor plan in a clear pouch on the sleeve of his uniform. The commandos drew their Glock 22’s and released the safety catches. They ran their fingers over the spare ammo in their belts; each magazine carried 13 .40 S&W cartridges they carried ten each.

The sidearm had proved most popular with the unit, and had been the handgun of choice among law enforcement agencies and military organizations around the world for the past two years. Any member of the Unit would tell you that the popularity of Glock pistols can be attributed to a number of factors. They are said to be very reliable, being able to function under extreme conditions and to fire a wide range of ammunition types.

The simplicity of the Glock design contributes to this reliability, as it contains a relatively small number of components (nearly half as many as the typical handgun) making maintenance and repair easy in the harsh desert environment. The first pair reached the blue dormitory door on the second floor of the first building; they took a deep breath and entered the room.

At that hour most of the workers were still sleeping, but even the gentle thud of the silenced pistols woke a few of the men, but all they saw were the silhouettes and shadows of their assassins on the walls of the dormitory. Death came quickly.

Returning to the reception area of the main building, they congregated by the desk under the large “Welcome to SEPP” sign. All teams gave thumbs up signals. With a simple code word the communications commando confirmed their status to the mobile HQ waiting beyond the nearest desert mountain range.

Twenty minutes later the main body of the unit poured through the doors and began a systematic sweep of the administration rooms and offices, taking the computers, emptying the filing cabinets and bagging the bodies; they worked quickly with a frightening efficiency that complemented their murderous colleagues.
The officer in command set up his command post in the MD’s office, with mock urgency he barked out a number of orders then demanded coffee; he sat in the sumptuous grey leather chair put his feet on the desk and waited for his breakfast.
He was in his early fifties, and just under six feet tall, his tight curly hair had more than a smattering of grey these days, but the brain was as sharp as ever. He took this time alone to reflect on why he was here, for just a fleeting moment the guilt overtook his emotions again and he wanted to shout out ‘Stop’, but then the reality of the circumstances took control. Soon the Allies would invade and crush Saddam and his government; any one holding power would face trail as a war criminal.
He knew it would be every man for himself. From a position of power away from Iraq he could assist the needy and the displaced, he knew there would be many needing his help, especially the men in his command who survived the oncoming slaughter.
He laughed at the justification, and almost believed it himself, but he needed something to believe in, because soon there would be no pride swelling in his chest every time he wore the uniform of the Special Republican Guard, soon there would be no uniform at all to wear.
Members of the Iraqi Special Republican Guard enjoyed a privileged position within the Iraqi army and were known as the Golden Division. This elite Iraqi Praetorian Guard was founded in 1992 and was controlled by the Special Security Organization and charged with protecting Saddam Hussein, but today their murderous mission took priority. The SRG was filled with recruits drawn from Tikrit, Baiji, al-Sharqat and small towns south and west of Mosul and around Baghdad -- areas and clans noted for their loyalty Saddam's person and regime.
All the presidential sites in Baghdad had a Brigade assigned for its protection, and their reputation for violence was responsible for many an aborted rebellion, coup, or other threat to his power.
The Special Republican Guard received better pay and benefits than members of the Republican Guard and regular Iraqi Army. In 2002 there were reportedly 12,000 members of the Special Republican Guard, drawn primarily from clans loyal to Saddam Hussein and his regime.
As many as five brigades containing 14 battalions of 1,300-1,500 men each, and also included air defense, armored, and artillery were reported to be in existence at that time.
Five hours had past since the first shot had been fired and the SRG had finished cleansing the upper floors of the factory and disposing of the bodies from the dormitories a little over an hour ago.
Now the officer in command; Colonel Karim Jaafar waited with a barely concealed frustration, he knew something that none of his men were aware of;
that the next phase of the operation was already running late.
The soldier at the window lowered his binoculars and reported “Sir. They are coming”

A plume of dust rose from the desert road, and very quickly the shimmer became the outline of a vehicle; as the car drove past the first outpost the sentries reported in to the communications team that the Professor was on his way.

Colonel Jaafar remembered the first time he met the Professor; they had spoken about the defeat which was to come and the humiliation of Iraq after the fall of Saddam.
The conversation had meandered for a couple of drinks more and then the Professor had made a proposition which Jaafar had dismissed immediately, however as the night wore on; Jaafar was able to see not only personal profit but a way to help his soon to be defeated troops. As he now walked slowly down to the reception area and out into the heat of the day, he smiled and nodded to his men, they returned the powerful signs of his leadership with glee.

Once outside Jaafar brought out a pair of Ray-ban aviators from his tunic pocket and took up the pose of the offended hero, he was the most prominent professional officer not from Saddam's immediate family circle, he had gained his position purely on merit, and his commando loved him. He knew that if they suspected that he was about to betray his country they would kill him, so he hid his eyes behind the sunglasses and reminded himself that soon this phase would be over; then his men would look to him once again for help, this thought kept him going.

The car was an old Mercedes 600 Pullman, and its chrome grill and silver paintwork had been polished with an obsession, and it glinted now in the sun, as the car slowed to a halt in front Jaafar.

The dust settled.

The first man out of the car was a small Chinese man in his early twenties, he was wearing a dark blue oriental designed suit, and although it was obvious from his features that he was oriental his hair was a dyed white blond, and his eyes were shielded behind mirrored sunglasses; he held the door open, and as the next man emerged he took off his glasses and looked on in hero worship. The elderly man took a deep breath as he acclimatized to the heat from the air-conditioned interior. His hair was iron grey but his moustache and eyebrows were as black as oil. His dark brown eyes narrowed in the fierce sunlight, and without looking left or right he walked confidently toward Colonel Jaafar.

“You’re late” snapped Jaafar.

The old man looked into the reflective surface of his glasses, his eyes burned into the Colonel’s soul.

“Colonel Jaafar, how very nice to see you again, is everything ready for me?”

“Yes Professor and it has been now for one hour” He puffed out his chest and preened himself.

The Professor turned back toward the Mercedes where two other Iraqis in European suits had joined the young Chinese.

“Come, there is work to be done” and with that strode past the colonel into SEPP reception.

The other men went to the trunk of the Pullman, took out four large bags then followed the Professor into the building.

Without hesitation they went down the wide staircase, Jaafar followed with three of his toughest commandos. The Professor stood in front of the stainless steel lift door and gently caressed the buttons, and then with a sharp intake of breath he turned and held out his hand. The young Chinese man handed him one of the heavy black bags, “Thank you Tien”

The Chinese bowed from the waist, but his eyes never left the Professor, he returned to his full height and his straight limp blond hair swung back into place.

The Professor unzipped the bag to reveal a full bio suit, the others did the same.
With well practiced patience all four donned their suits. The Professor turned back toward the lift and reached out his gloved hand and pressed the button and waited for the lift. The doors sighed open and the four men entered, Colonel Jaafar followed them in but the Professor held up his hand

“Not until it is safe”

The Colonel stepped back and the doors closed, there was silence except for the whirring of the lift motor as it descended to the lower level.

At first there had been confusion about the workings of the winch, but soon as the men mastered the controls, and they were able to begin moving the tables and benches, once they were moved to the side of the room, the men unlocked the padlocks in the recessed areas of the floor and swung open the flaps. The jibs were moved to the centre of the apertures and the winches lowered into the void, the motors hummed and the stainless steel racks began to rise out of the floor.
The two Iraqis moved forward and waved their probes over the stock and so began the all important checking of the security of the canisters and boxes.

Once the integrity of the seals had been verified they removed their Bio suits and wiped the sweat from their faces. The Professor instructed that the lift should now be sent up.

Jaafar entered the storage facility and for once in his life was lost for words.
The storage facility had racking down the centre of the room, and against the far wall, each of the shelf spaces contained a canister or box, which carried a ‘toxic’ symbol.
He instructed the soldier next to him to fetch the detail of soldiers to begin loading the first of the four 18 ton Lorries which waited in convey for the precious cargo.

The Professor and the two other Iraqis sat at a desk and worked on their lap tops.
Tien stood to one side glaring at anyone who looked in their direction.
It was a show of strength that the hardened Republican Guard found amusing
‘What is he going to do against me’ thought one soldier as they got on with their task.

Suddenly a printer whirred into life, the Professor stood up and walked purposefully to the printer, he retrieved two A4 sheets.

He looked for a rank insignia on the soldier’s uniforms, and called to one of the Sergeants in the storage facility.

The soldier was a big man, with large hands, his head snapped ‘round at the sound of the order, he stopped what he was doing and marched over to the Professor. The old man pressed the sheets into his hand.

“From this reference load in this sequence, make sure it all goes on” The sincerity was evident in his voice
The Sergeant nodded in affirmation and walked around the stock area and verified the numbers on the sheet with the part numbers on the various containers.

He returned to the desk and asked the Professor “Can you explain this number sir?”

“Of course, it’s the door combination” The Professor pointed to a door against the far side of the facility. “The stock below that number is all contained within the room beyond” The soldier thanked him and went back to the dispatch area; the other civilian’s began packing up their equipment.

Tien was busy packing the Bio suits back in their carry bags, but he stopped when the big sergeant returned, he approached the Professor again. Tien took up defensive stance, at the old man’s side.

“You are leaving?” The sergeant asked

“I’m afraid time is against us, we need to leave for Baghdad. Can I trust you to load the entire contents of my list?” The Professor was manipulating the conversation

“Yes Sir. Thank you sir, don’t worry we will, get it all” The soldier was pleased to obey the request

Tien, relaxed and turned back to his task
The Professor looked up at the proud soldier

“What is your name Sergeant?”

“Sergeant Khaldoun Hamed, at your service Professor”

“Take care of this cargo, one day it may change the face of the world”

He lent forward and spoke so only the two of them could hear “The device in location 164 is worth a king’s ransom, Saddam will be eternally grateful for whoever brings it out of the desert, whatever happens do not leave here without it”

Hamed returned to the task with gusto, shouting orders and hurrying his unit to the task in hand. The Professor, Tien and the two other Iraqis took one last look and then disappeared behind the lift door.

Colonel Jaafar remained alone in his office he had no wish to see the Professor and his party leave, but he did indulge himself one final look at the Mercedes as it drove away.

As soon as the car was out of sight he left the office and barked out an order to depart, the unit members sprang into action and filed out into their transporters.
Within minutes they were mobile.

The sun was setting as the final truck pulled away from the loading bay door.
Sergeant Hamed along with his two ‘loading’ colleagues went to the lift and marched back into reception, he handed the packing lists and the final two A4 sheets printed by the Professor to the communications commando.

“[censored]” he picked up his radio and began his report.

His face said it all; the news was not being taken well
“It was with regret that all the items detailed on the inventory list was not been able to fit on the vehicles”

One of the soldiers with Hamed whispered that it was impossible to get all the stock on the trucks provided.

“Quiet” whispered Hamed, although he agreed that it had been an impossible task.

After a few moments of chaotic shouting, a new voice spoke on the radio, it was calm and authorative. The Professor asked to speak with Sargent Hamaed, the communications commando gave the radio to Hamed, almost immediately he began nodding and muttered affirmatives, the instructions he had been given, were clear and precise.

Sergeant Hamed clicked the radio off and gathered the remaining members of the unit together and relayed the Professor’s orders.

The last of the unit hurried to their Jeep, smiling and waving goodbye, Sergeant Hamed waited impassively with the two soldiers he had nominated for what he considered an honour, and they were Privates Nabeel Ibrahim and Didar Mushir

The Jeep disappeared into the distance. The three men breathed a sigh of relief and removed their caps they went back to the storage facility and opened their rations and ate a nutritious meal. The electricity had been cut off so as the last of the light faded as the sun went down and the dessert chill seeped into the facility they settled down in the cleanest of the dormitories.

The following morning Hamed led the soldiers down to the storage facility.
Only when they had arrived at the door with the combination lock did Hamed realize he had forgotten the sheet with the combination.

“It’s OK I remember it” said Nabeel

“No, don’t touch it till I get back” and with that he ran back to the lift.
He checked his watch, knowing a truck would arrive within the hour to pick up the precious cargo.

No more than five minuets had passed when the lift doors opened again and he stepped back into the facility, he was humming a popular tune, but the sound stopped on his lips, the atmosphere had changed, a warning siren boomed out and a red light rotated casting a thousand shadows over the floor and walls.

Didar Mushir stood with his back pressed against the door his hands stretched out in front of him as if to ward off a wild animal and his face was a mask of terror.

“Didar what has happened?”

Mushir moved to one side, revealing the contorted features of Private Ibrahim.
Ever so slowly he slid down the glass panel, dead.
The room had a grey green mist curling around where the soldier had been.
Hamed and Mushir watched on in horror.

Abruptly the siren stopped. The sound of a motor started and slowly the air began to clear in the room. They stood transfixed at the window.

Hamed turned on Mushir and demanded to know what had happened

The man was terrified “He said he remembered the code, he tapped it in and the door opened, he went in then the door closed behind him and the gas filled the room” replied Mushir

The light in the room turned green. Hamed grabbed the door handle.

“What are you doing?” He said as he moved to stop him

Hamed looked deep into his eyes “We must” He tapped in the code and opened the door and went straight over to Ibrahim. Confirming he was dead Hamed took out his list and began checking the containers, in the rack opposite he stopped at shelf 164 which contained an aluminum cylindrical shaped device, he turned to Mushir

“Quickly Didar, we must get this device, the Professor was most insistent”

Mushir picked it up it was heavy, about twenty pounds. He held it away from his body and carried it out into the facility.
Hamed collected the other tubes and cases that were on the list.

The two men waited all day, no truck arrived. The telephone line had been cut, so there was no means of communication.

On the third morning, they decided to walk back to civilization, Hamed put the ‘164’ devise in a haversack, they shared out the last of their rations and as the fierce heat of the sun dropped behind the mountains, they began their journey.

It was a night they would never forget, the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions filled their ears, and the flashes left a memory of war on the minds.

They found the Jeep two hours before dawn, in the cold they waited behind the rocks at the side of the road until there was enough light to see what had happened.
Hamed looked down and re-lived the scene, their colleagues had been ambushed, and they had obviously left the Jeep for the cover of the rocks; he saw the blood spots and trails, long dried, and the spent cartridges from their returned fire, and then he saw the bodies which still lay where they had been shot.
“This is why, they did not come back, and the invasion has begun”

Mushir got the jeep going and they drove away, not toward Baghdad but toward the border a lone vehicle on a lonely road.
By midday they were just one of many leaving Iraq.
Given the absence of illicit stockpiles of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the heavy volume of traffic leaving Iraq shortly before invasion, some analysts and politicians believe Saddam Hussein may have transferred illicit material out of the country during the period leading up to the invasion. Other individuals suspect WMD may still be hidden in the country, although there is currently no evidence of this.
Colonel Jaafar had carried out his legitimate orders to remove the toxic weapons from the SEPP facility and remove all evidence and witnesses of its military existence; he had also allowed the Professor to have access to the contents of the sealed room, he knew the reward for allowing this to happen was five million US dollars, he thought the price was the life of three of his men.
The lift doors sighed open.
The storage facility was deserted, the combination door was ajar, and one man in commando fatigues lay dead on the floor. There was blood around his nose and mouth.
Location 164 which should have held the device was empty. The ‘Air’ monitor on their suits showed clear, so they removed their gas masks.
The mobile phone rang, and was answered.
“No, the device is not here. There is only one body. The other two are not here”
The connection went dead.
The other man asked “What did he say?”
Tien replied “He say find them”


Chapter two

May 2007



MI6 headquarters is known locally as Babylon-on-Thames due to its resemblance to an ancient Babylonian ziggurat. It is located at 85 Albert Embankment in the south western part of central London, at Vauxhall Cross on the South Bank of the Thames.

James Bond walked quickly through the open office area, his feet felt constricted within the leather shoes; and the noise of the busy department offended his new found sense of calm, listening to the operators talking to field agents around the world, he picked up more than ten different languages being spoken during the twenty seconds it took him to cross the office to the lift, he waited and gazed back on the scene ‘Babylon indeed’ he thought.

After the freedom of the lightweight loose fitting clothes of the past month his suit seemed to weigh a ton and the stiff collar of his pale blue sea-island cotton shirt chaffed his neck, his silk tie strangled him, he pushed two fingers between shirt and his well muscled neck and surreptitiously loosened the offending items.

Bond entered M’s outer office, and promptly collided with her new P.A
Miss Moneypenny. She muffled a surprised scream.
He recalled that on their first meeting she had subjected him to some seriously flirtatious remarks, that was just before he had left for his vacation,
he was now eager to resume the banter.
She was perhaps just thirty, about 5’ 7” with dark brown hair and the most perfectly rounded cheek bones. Bond loved her Rodean accent was sure there was a trace of the Orient in her family background.
“Oh 007 I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in” Her tone was superior with the ever present hint of ‘naughtiness’

Bond held her shoulders as they both regained their balance and composure, her blouse was pure silk.
He looked her up and down and noticed she was carrying a black plastic bin liner.

“No harm done” then “Nice bag”

She lifted it up and it rustled with shredded paper
“Its rubbish” She replied surprised at his comment

“Oh you are so right, but I didn’t want to offend your taste in hand bags”

“James” Her face softened but did not break into a smile, he could tell she was looking for a retort but their meeting was cut short by the sound of the intercom.

She lent over the desk and pressed the button “Moneypenny”
M’s voice replied “When 007 arrives can you send him straight through”
“Yes Ma’am” She let go of the button and straightened up, it was obvious Bond had been looking at her body as she had lent over, she made no movement to show this embarrassed her, she held his stare, he continued to look at her approvingly.

She continued the eye contact “Time you made an entrance”

He smiled “Just what I was thinking, what time do you get off”

“Depends on what time you take me to dinner”

“Shall we say eight?”

“You are very sure of yourself” she lent back against her desk.

“Yes I am, eight?”

Moneypenny pointed toward the door

Bond opened the door to the inner office, M was at her desk but she was not alone, he was pleased to see chief of staff Bill Tanner attending her.

M looked up “Come in 007”

Tanner had not taken well to being in the field, his memories of the recent South American operation had caused him great stress, but today, back in his familiar surroundings he looked fine. M’s hair looked decidedly greyer and her completion even paler, Bond thought she needed a break.

“Take a seat 007” M continued to sign the papers as Tanner put them in front of her. He turned and smiled at Bond but remained silent only the gentle hum from the air conditioning unit made a discernable noise.

Having finished, she handed the papers back to Tanner “Thank-you Bill”

“Thank-you Ma’am” he turned and left the office through the adjoining door.

M pressed a button on her console and the glass partition between the offices turned opaque; she withdrew a folder from her desk drawer, and placed it in between them.

“How was your vacation; fishing wasn’t it?” She asked sliding the folder across the mahogany desk toward him.

“I had the odd bite”

She tapped the desk with her finger “Well, matters have moved on; whilst you were swanking around the Indian Ocean, our intelligence has brought to light some strange business decisions that have been made by what we consider to be a ‘friendly’ institution. They are out of character to corporate strategies and personal ambitions of the donators of the money they represent”.

And so it began, no more pleasantries, not even the pretence of friendship, he reached forward and took the folder

“What’s changed?” asked Bond

“The availability of funds were approved by a certain private Swiss bank; HQ in Zurich, one which has recently gone through some personnel changes”
She tapped a button on her key pad and the large painting on the side wall faded and morphed into a monitor they angled their chairs towards the wall and M activated the screen; it dissolved into the front page of a newspaper, with a large photograph of middle aged man and a young woman, the caption revealed them as Hugh Sinclair and his daughter Daisy. The editorial described Sinclair as an American financier, the legend read - TIME Magazine cited two projects led by Sinclair and valued at $100 million which went toward internet infrastructure for regional Russian universities; and a further $5 million for the Millennium Promise to eradicate extreme poverty in Africa - while noting that Sinclair has raised $7 million to fund projects in the U.S., and given away a total of more than $6 million of his own personal fortune.
M exclaimed “Sinclair died two weeks after his bank was first linked to a hostile take over; he leaves a wife and one daughter”

“Mmm that’s an extreme F.I.F.O personnel change” Bond continued to take in the details from the screen.

M looked puzzled “F.I.F.O?”

“Yes, Fit In or…

“Yes. I understand, thank you 007”
She pressed another key and a similar screen revealed the name of Demitri Zarolin, Bond read the information - active as a philanthropist since the 70s, Zarolin began providing funds to help black students attend the University of Cape Town in apartheid South Africa, and began funding dissident movements behind the iron curtain.
A second report confirmed: - Zarolin’s funding in Eastern Europe continued through the Overt Society Institute (OSI). As of 2007 it is estimated he had given away a total of $4 million to the cause. He promoted non-violent efforts to increase democracy in many countries.
Other notable projects have included aid to scientists and universities throughout Central and Eastern Europe, help to civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, worldwide efforts to repeal drug prohibition laws, and Transparency International.
Zarolin also pledged an endowment of €42 million to the Central European University (CEU).
Bond looked up, M clicked on the next screen, which showed the ‘Daily Telegraph’ headline reporting Zarolin’s death.

M cleared her throat and said “Both men were partners in the aforementioned Swiss Bank; until that is, it was sold”.

After a pause for thought M asked “So 007, what do you know of the Illuminati and the Bilderberg?”

They faced each other across the desk “I’m not too familiar with Bilderberg policy of late, but I understood their power base is somewhat blunted, and I thought the Illuminati disbanded about a hundred years ago”

M looked up from a second file “That’s as maybe, go on”

“I believe historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, a secret society founded in the late eighteenth century by Adam Weishaupt a professor of law at the University of Ingolstadt. The movement was made up of freethinkers” he paused but it M encouraged him to continue

Bond understood that she wanted him to talk about the modern day groups that have adopted the old German name. “Buoyed by funds from the Third Reich they have used extortion and blackmail to achieve power in the shadow of many royal houses around the World, ultimately they intend to establish a world government through assassination, bribery, blackmail, the control of banks and other financial powers, the infiltration of governments, mind control, and by causing wars and revolution to move their own people into higher positions in the political hierarchy.
The last recorded meeting was about ten years ago, and comprised of an elite group of individuals who felt they were uniquely empowered to rule by the enlightenment brought about by their desire for power, their education and their superior intelligence”

“Quite,” M replied “It has long been muted, that many significant occurrences are affected by either or both of these powerful secret groups. Historical and current events are seen as logical steps in an on-going plot to rule the world through a combination of political finance, social engineering, mind control, and fear-based propaganda. Enabling a single power to rule the world as an autonomous world government, they would dictate to all sovereign states and other existing balances in world power struggles.”

Bond noticed the empty whisky tumbler at the corner of the desk; the ice was not fully melted. M was either developing a drink problem or this operation was a serious threat to the security of the UK, maybe even the world.

“Surely, that degree of autonomy is regarded as myth today, a conspiracy theory?” He tried to make it sound light

“Outwardly yes, this has always been known as the New World Order conspiracy, and refers to the theory that a group; usually referred to as the Illuminati or the Bilderberg are, where established already acting as the real power behind thrones, and are controlling world affairs through puppet governments and corporations” she pointed to the monitor again.

“Since the events at the bank, funds were made available for a Turkish company called “Bio Atul” to bid for a contract which should have gone to the Americans.
The deal allowed them to win a Biological research contract with the Iranian Government. Winning the contract means we now have no control over the Iranian war machine; and that has upped the stakes in the Middle East power struggle”

“You believe one of these organizations is responsible for the killings and is controlling the financial initiative?”

“It’s possible. That is why I want you to investigate the Bank’s new owner.
Ruthless people who have become powerful are said to have achieved a higher mystical understanding of the universe, many secret societies are concerned with this kind of enlightenment; it is not illogical to link the two”

Before he could ask for details on the owner M passed a second folder over to Bond, he opened it and read the air ticket itinerary expecting Zurich.

“Istanbul?”

“Yes, I want you to rendezvous with Sir David Somerset, his details are in the folder; he has further information on the take over of the bank and the deaths of Zarolin and Sinclair. His will be able to get you in to the Bilderberg conference”

Bond knew all the relevant details would be incorporated in the file, and as M was now busying herself on the laptop he knew the meeting was at a close.
He took the file and went to the door…

“007”

Bond turned “Yes Ma’am”

“Trust no one”

He left the office feeling decidedly uneasy.

#2 volante

volante

    Lt. Commander

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Posted 22 September 2008 - 08:28 PM

Chapter three

May 2007


The Toyota Hi-lux has gained a reputation for exceptional sturdiness and reliability, even during sustained heavy use, and is often referred to as "The Indestructible Car". Now undercover of darkness a twenty year old blue one left Tabriz and began its journey for the Iran-Turkey border at Bazargan.

Didar Mushir sat behind the wheel, he had owned the truck for over three years, and now he drove through the deserted streets, his hopes were high; beside him sat his long time friend Khaldoun Hamed his large hands wiped the sleep from his eyes. He pulled his coat tight around his neck to keep out the cold; the heater had packed up over one year ago when the vehicle passed two hundred and fifty thousand kilometers.

They had tried to sell the device a number of times, during the four years they had lived in Iran.
Terrorists wouldn’t touch it, because they didn’t understand it, and Hamed and Mushir weren’t able to shed any light on what it did or even how to set it off.

Hamed had the brilliant idea to contact the Professor, but tracing him had proved impossible. They had given up and decided to hide the device and get on with their lives, over the next year Mushir went back into Iraq and brought out their families.

They worked on the docks at Assaluyeh, the small town sometimes prefixed by the word ‘Bandar’ (meaning port) it was in southern Iran, in the Bushehr Province.
Located on the shore of the Persian Gulf some 270 km SE of the provincial capital of Bushehr, it is best known as the site for the land based facilities of the huge PSEEZ (Pars Special Energy Economic Zone) project. The town itself was of minor significance and they fell naturally into the soft underbelly of crime rife in the international port.
Soon Hamed was running a protection racket, and their strict training and military background established their reputation as ferocious gang leaders.

In November 2006 they were approached to help plan an attack on a research establishment in Israel.
Hamed traveled to Tel Aviv on a false passport and visited the Ben Guiron University. On the second day as he was checking the facility he found a magazine, on the cover was the face of a man he recognized from the past.

Back in his hotel room he rang the contact number for the editor. He jotted down the contact numbers the office gave him. Within the hour he was through to the department he wanted, without hesitation he offered to sell them a bio warfare device; this would be the break he needed.

But he was turned down.
They had all laughed at him; Hamed left Tel Aviv a broken man.

Within the pharmaceutical network words and whispers soon past the news of the ‘bomb phone call” to America during the next twenty four hours.
As Hamed waited for his connection at Tehran airport he was approached by an American tourist, they chatted politely, then the man said he was sure he had met Hamed before, and started to go through names he might remember, the first name was Dr Bakush, better known as “The Professor”.

In February 2007 Mushir and Hamed traveled to Dubai, they were met at the airport and taken to a villa in the desert. The opulence of their surroundings led them to visions of a vast family fortune. At last their dreams were coming true.

The Professor looked no older than when they had last seen him in the desert, beside him Tien sat impassively, his hair now cropped, as they sat opposite he looked at them with utter disdain.

The negotiations were short and sweet
“I want you to deliver the device to Ankara, in three months time”

Before they could answer, Tien produced a briefcase; he opened it and gently pushed it across the low glass table.

“Five hundred thousand euros”

Mushir was ready to accept, but the Professor continued “Each”

Hamed, advised caution in his colleague, and addressed the Professor “That is a long way to travel, what protection you offering?”

The Professor laughed “You will have a guardian angel watching over you at all times and one million euros waiting for you at the exchange point”

Mushir lent forward “Each?” he asked hopefully

The professor lent back and stretched his neck, opening his eyes he replied “One million euros each, for the device, your silence and your loyalty to me”

Hamed extended his hand “You have a deal”

The Professor and Tien stood up and bowed “Give them the details”

The stretch of road after breakfast had been good to them, but as they approached the border it degenerated into a long section hardly more than one car wide. It had been recently resurfaced by order of the Iranian government but there seemed to be far too much tar and far too little gravel.

But there was no other way; they drove on, Hamed knew the route would be the best chance they had of avoiding the attention of border patrols; the sun was beating down now and both men had taken their coats of. The Hi-lux was speeding through what seemed to Didar to be molten tar. The car was spattered, even the windscreen, and with certainty he knew it would never be possible to remove all the traces afterwards.
But then they would never use their old truck again, they had one million euros secured in Assaluyeh, and another two million waiting in Ankara.

The approach to the border at Bazargan was a bizarre gathering place for transportation, where camel trains, horse drawn carts and trucks of all different capacities dropped down from the farms and outlaying villages and lined up to pass into Turkey. It was probable that the camel trains would have used cross-country tracks and only took to the road to cross the border, it was also probable that a good percentage of their goods had been removed and would cross by hand during the night. To each side of the road the landscape showed a very remote vista with a stiff climb up from the border post. The Toyota maneuvered into line behind an aged truck, as they ‘stop, started’ toward the crossing the diesel fumes became intolerable. The over-laden vehicle in front heading for the border crossing was an ex-U.S. Army truck dating from World War II.
Hamed cursed their luck, and asked Allah to look down upon them.

At any other time the Iran-Turkey border crossing at Bazargan was infamous for its delays. There were always lines of parked Lorries and cars with their occupants waiting to present their papers, and it was not unknown for vehicles to be delayed for over 24 hours. Hamed thought they would die of diesel poisoning if that happened today. But today there was an additional military presence to enable the vehicles to cross into Turkey quickly, only taking an hour or so.
Hamed praised Allah for the good luck he had bestowed on them. Perhaps there was an angel watching over them.

After crossing the border the roads were a little better on the Turkish side. More new tar, but at least it wasn't liquid and they made good time. Ever since they had crossed the border, Mount Ararat had dominated the view to the north of the road.
But it had often been obscured by cloud and they were robbed of the opportunity to take a photograph on Mushir’s new mobile phone (one of many purchases he had made with his new found fortune).
They spent the night at the Otel Gez, Erzurum. They slept with the device in between them.

The following day was their last; the end of the six day journey saw the Toyota entering Ankara. The hotel provided the softest bed of the week and the following morning their business transaction provided them with enough money to last them and their families for the rest of their lives. The cash was loaded into a large black leather hold-all.

The cargo once verified had been transferred into the back of a Mercedes-Benz Atego light rigid truck and the new owners drove the 200 miles or so to Istanbul.
Hamed and Mushir watched it disappear from view, the cargo was more like a child than a device to the Professor, it had been lost, its history from conception to the present had been remarkable, now it had been found and its destiny was set to change the history of the world.
In 1968 a Russian supplied IRT-2000 research reactor atomic power station together with a number of other facilities that could be used for radioisotope production was built close to Baghdad.
April 1975 saw Saddam Hussein travel to Moscow. He asked about building an advanced version of an atomic power station. Moscow would approve, but only if the station was regulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Saddam refused.
After 6 months hard fought negotiations France agreed to sell 72 kg of 93% Uranium and Iraq built its state of the art atomic power station without International Atomic Energy Agency control at a price of $3 billion. France also provided glass-lined reactors, tanks, vessels, and columns used for the production of chemical weapons. Around 21% of Iraq’s international chemical weapon equipment was French. Strains of dual-use biological material also helped advance Iraq’s biological warfare program.
Iraq now existed in a world without the security offered by Russia; Saddam Hussein ordered the creation of a clandestine nuclear weapons program. Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs were assisted by a wide variety of firms and governments all through the 80s. As part of Project 922, the German firm Karl Kobe helped to build a chemical weapons facility in the desert; its laboratory, bunker and administrative building were successfully disguised as the pesticide plant SEPP. In readiness to repel an invasion it produced 1,027 tons of mustard gas, sarin, tabun, and tear gas.
Continuing throughout the decade other German firms supplied equipment to manufacture botulin toxin and mycotoxin for germ warfare. In 1988 SEPP (State Establishment for Pesticide Production) engineers presented centrifuge data to allow Iraq to expand its nuclear weapons program.
Italy gave 75,000 shells and rockets designed for chemical weapon use and natural low-enriched uranium. The non-profit American Type Culture Collection and the Centers for Disease Control sold or sent biological samples to Iraq under Saddam Hussein up until 1989, which Iraq claimed it needed for medical research. These materials included anthrax, West Nile virus and botulism, as well as Brucella melitensis, which damages major organs, and clostridium, which causes gangrene.
Since Iraq's nuclear program of the 80s was officially viewed internationally as for power production, not weapons, there were no UN prohibitions against it. But when the United Kingdom secretly gave the arms company Matrix Churchill permission to supply parts for the Iraqi super gun, precipitating the Arms-to-Iraq affair, the world’s intelligence began to ring alarm bells about the capability of Saddam.
In the build up to the 2003 war the New York Times published a number of stories claiming to prove that Iraq possessed WMD. One story in particular, written by Judith Miller helped persuade the American public: she wrote and showed photographs of a shipment of British aluminum tubes which were widely used to develop nuclear material. Her synopsis was in fact wrong but the tubes were incorporated in a small piece of equipment, which was completed with extraordinary skill by Dr Bakush in the Salman Pak facility and was now heading toward Istanbul.

The Nomads they had seen from the road between the Iran-Turkey border and Erzurum were almost certainly Kurds and they had passed several groups, as they made their way back toward the border they waved at the children but were never sure how we would be received. Fifty percent of the time the children would laugh and wave back, but just as often they threw stones at the battered blue Toyota.

Hamed and Mushir were laughing and singing old Army songs, the stones bounced off the battered body work “Stop, please stop” Mushir shouted
The clouds had cleared and the sun was high in the sky Mount Ararat stood in all its glory
Hamed pulled off the road, and followed a small track; he was concentrating on the road and not paying attention to Mushir’s commentary “It is associated with the Biblical story of Noah and his Ark. Some believers maintain that traces of the Ark exist on the mountain to this day”

Without wanting to enter into that particular controversy - where reason will always lose out to belief – they continued up the track.

For just one moment there was silence as Hamed switched off the engine; then they were out of the truck and breathing in the fresh mountain air.

They sat eating food they had prepared at the hotel, Hamed glanced upward in response to the sound of a light aircraft, he watched as it circled the mountain, as it passed the sun he had to look away because of the glare.
They continued to talk about what they would do with their new found wealth, when Hamed glanced up again the plane was coming back, it’s drone was the only sound, suddenly they became aware of a buzzing sound, they both looked up but the glare of the sun meant they could not make out the source.
Then dropping from the sky was a golden hang glider, the pilot landed less than ten meters from them, in between them and the Toyota.
Mushir was on his feet and moving toward the intruder, Hamed notied he had picked up a piece of wood, the intruder was dressed in black and had already unbuckled him-self from the glider.

He moved sideways to block Mushir’s path to the truck, Hamed advanced.
Mushir used the stick as a kendo sword and moved in quickly, at the last moment he feigned left and dropped right, had it been a sword he would have wounded the attacker, as it was he simply blocked the attack, and countered with a lunge punch to Mushir’s face.

Hamed was just a couple of paces away now and stooped to pick up a handful of dirt, but at that instant the attacker flicked both wrists and sent two shurakin stars hurtling toward both of them, it passed an inch above Hamed’s head, Mushir blocked the attack with his stick, but had left his ribs un-guarded, the attacker palm healed him three times within the blink of an eye, Mushir fell back but the attacker was unable to follow up because Hamed was on him, he threw a punch which was blocked with ease but the following kick should have broken his leg, instead the attacker deftly lifted it forcing Hamed off balance.

Hamed released the dirt from his hand, but what happened next defied his knowledge of fighting, the black clad attacker back flipped and landed adjacent to Mushir, he extended his arm and shattered his nose. The dirt fell in a harmless cloud.

Mushir fell back another pace, the attacker followed, his next blow seemed to go high but as Mushir blocked and looked for a counter the attacker released a handful of powder, Mushir took it full in the face. Without needing to regain his balance the attacker crouched low and spun sweeping at Hamed’s leading leg. The impact was immense, he fell heavily, feeling the thigh muscle go dead, the attacker was upon him as he took a breath, his arms snaking around his throat, Hamed looked over at Mushir, he was clearly dead.

Hamed used all of his powerful upper body strength to dislodge the deadly attack; both men rolled away from each other, Hamed looked down, and in his hand he held the hood of the attacker he looked up and there facing him was Tien.

Hamed was breathing heavily and sweating freely, Tien looked no more out of breath than if he were doing light exercises.

They both attacked simultaneously, Hamed fired out three punches that would have downed a raging bull, but Tien blocked them with ease, he responded with two round house kicks that Hamed just failed to block, he could not understand why his reflexes were so slow, then as he tried to inhale, he felt the pain in his chest, looking down he saw the star protruding from his heart, he had not seen it coming as he looked up another handful of powder hit him in the face, his lips became numb, and although he knew he had stepped back he could not feel his legs

The poison was a neurotoxin that was able to paralyse all nerve transmissions to the muscles and as he fought for breath it paralysed the muscles involved in swallowing and breathing. He dropped to his knees, Tien came forward and looked into his eyes, as life deserted them; he smiled and straightened up

Shou Hu Tien Shyr literally translated means ‘to protect or guard the second two words mean angel’
Tien retrieved the keys to the Toyota from Hamed’s pocket and slowly walked back to the truck and extracted the leather hold-all from the front seat. He manhandled the bodies back into the cab. Then he dismantled the frame of the hang glider, placing various components at strategic point in the truck

As he walked back to the dusty road the Hi-Lux exploded in spectacular fashion, incinerating the bodies and finally killing the truck.

Back on the road the light aircraft dropped from the sky and taxied along toward Tien, he jumped on board and the pilot took it back into the sky.

That night around the camp fire, the elders of a small tribe of nomads, laughed and playfully smacked the two children who were protesting loudly that it was the truth that as they had been tending the goats they had seen an angel fall from the sky and kill two unbelievers in a ball of fire before jumping onto the back of a big bird and going back to heaven.




Chapter four

June 2007


The vibrant city of Istanbul always brought out the romantic in Bond, he had journeyed to the crossroads of the two continents a number of times, and now he stood on the spot where Asia and Europe come together along the banks of the beautiful Bosporus Strait.

The Ritz-Carlton stands in the centre of this fascinating, flavourful city, epitomizing its welcoming spirit and the harmonic convergence between East and West, of past and present.
Bathed in Ottoman-inspired splendour that pays homage to the rich historical traditions of Turkey, Bond walked purposefully from the R.C bar and out onto the Güney Park Terrace, its starlit vista stretching down the bank all the way to Princess Islands, he paused at one of the many viewing platforms, leaning on the highly polished rail; Bond drank in the Bosporus scene, where yachts, ferries and speed boats rubbed shoulders with oil tankers and cargo ships. He gazed around at the other guests marveling over the busy river scene.

Down on a lower level he spotted Sir David Somerset, as he approached him Bond took in the man and his history at a single glance, his overlong grey wavy hair, his bespoke suit which was probably older than Bond himself, made him unmistakably English, he was smoking a large Cuban cigar, and appeared to be daydreaming, however his craggy face lit up as Bond approached. He instantly recognized Bond as another Englishman in this city of cultural diversity.

“Sir David?” Bond asked, and the man shook his hand, it was strong and dry.

“Sit down my dear boy” Bond sat and Somerset called over a waiter, they made small talk as they waited for drinks.
Alone, Somerset leaned forward “Do we have to say a code word or something?”

Bond took out his mobile “Oh dear I seem to have lost my mobile”

Sir David clapped his hands “That’s it my dear boy, now if I could only remember what I had to say I suppose we could start talking spy”
Bond laughed; recalling the information he had read in the file, he confirmed in his own mind how this man fitted his profile perfectly, he would have been a wonderful university professor and a worthy mentor for his students, probably the scatterbrained absentminded personality would have imparted more facts on life than they would have got from their entire time in education.

Many students who have gone on to succeed in the world of politics, business or academia who can trace their success to the years they spent at the London School of Economics. Inspired by tuition from academics who are often familiar faces, if not household names, LSE students take their first steps to greatness in the debating chambers, cafes, bars – and even occasionally in their seminar groups – during three or four years of studying.
Traditionally, the top 10 employers of LSE graduates are principally accounting, investment banking, and consultancy and law firms. Indeed, LSE is often known as the 'investment bank nursery' due to over 50% of graduates going into investment banking. LSE is often the most preferred university for employers in the private sector, financial services abroad and the City of London.

A ship sounded its horn, and unavoidably they and the other guests directed their gaze and conversations toward the exotic scene unfolding on the river.
Slowly as the conversational buzz began again between the guests Bond lent forward and said “Tell me about your involvement with the Bilderberg”

Somerset took another drag on his cigar, he slowly exhaled and gently blew a cloud of smoke into the scented air “The Bilderberg Group is an unofficial annual invitation-only conference of around 130 guests, most of whom are persons of influence in the fields of business, media and politics, including bankers, defense experts, media barons, government ministers, royalty, international financiers and political leaders from Europe and North America, I have been a member since 1980” he passed Bond a list of the guests for the Istanbul conference.

Bond looked up from the list “George Soros, I thought he was dead?”

Sir David shook his head “Oh no, George served with Prince Bernhard until 1986” Sir David lent forward and lowered his voice “The year of his involvement in the Lockheed affair” His nod closed the item.
He relaxed and let his memory take control “From ‘77 Alec Douglas-Home former British Prime Minister took the chair, followed by Walter Scheel, ex-President of West Germany then Eric Roll former head of SG Warburg and our very own Lord Carrington, former Secretary-General of NATO” He glanced left and right as if to depart some great secret “I think Eric treats it more as a jolly now, stopping at these luxury hotels and resorts throughout the world normally in Europe but once every two years or so we go to the United States or Canada”

Bond found this man very amusing and pretended to study the list some more. Glancing at the list he noted the names complimented the information he had received from the folder M had given him “I suppose its good for the duty free”

Bond folded the list, and placed it in his pocket “It’s an impressive list of people, how did the group get its name?”

Sir David examined his cigar, he let his mind drift back “The original conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg near Arnhem in 1954.
The meeting was initiated by Joseph Retinger, and others concerned about the growth of anti-Americanism in Western Europe, they proposed an international conference at which leaders from European countries and the United States would be brought together with the aim of promoting an understanding between the cultures of America and Western Europe” He placed the now dead cigar in the ashtray. “The success of that meeting led the organizers to arrange an annual conference. A Steering Committee was established, as well as organizing the conference, they also maintained a register of attendee names and contact details, with the aim of creating an informal well balanced network of individuals who could call upon one another in a private capacity…” Sir David paused and then became animated as he passionately recounted his involvement in the current issue “…and it was in such a capacity that I was recently asked to review the rationale behind a transaction and some subsequent dodgy dealings”

Bond wanted to laugh at the terminology “Can you give me some details?”

“Certainly, a dear friend of mine asked me to investigate, why her husband and other partners would want to sell their stake in a business. She wanted me to comment on how wise a decision that was”

Bond probed gently, but his patience was wearing thin “I need details, Sir David. Who’s the friend and what’s the business in question?”

“Of course my dear boy, the friend is Marion Sinclair and the business is banking. The BBH & Sons bank to be exact, it’s an old respected Private Swiss bank; these banks have a long tradition in Switzerland, dating back to at least the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. However most have now become incorporated companies, so the term Private is rarely true anymore; but there are a few such as BBH & Sons, which is a general partnership which had seven partners”
Sir David paused, but recognized Bond’s request to expand further.

“As requested, I looked over the books read the minutes, checked the e-mails and concluded it would have been madness for individual partners to consider selling at the time they did, and since this sale business started, two of the original partners have died. They were also friends of mine, Demitri Zarolin and Hugh Sinclair”

Bond nodded an affirmation that he knew the men or at least their fate
“So the bank has how many partners now?”

Sir David continued “One and he is destroying the bank’s reputation. The money has been very badly invested, and the companies and their ‘product’ well…”

“You think the money is being used for the wrong purpose?”

“Yes I do, Bio Atul is not a company we should be investing in. The declared purpose of the Bilderberg was to make a common political policy between the United States of America and Europe in their opposition to the global threat to their monetary interests. The reasons for and the beneficial destinations of the money from BBH & Sons contravenes that policy”

“How are the Bilderberg and the bank linked?” Bond had picked up on the word ‘we’

“Most Bilderberg members have invested money in the bank at one time or another. With a strict understanding that money is to be used for exacting the groups’ policy; not this…” He turned away in disgust

“So is anyone else is asking questions?”

Somerset smiled “They will be over the course of the conference, but it won’t be public. David Rockefeller once said ‘We are grateful to the Washington Post and the other great publications whose directors have respected the promise of discretion. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity. What he meant was we do not talk in public”

Bond replied indicating the invitation list “I understand how easy it must be to maintain anonymity; some of the Western world's leading Press, financiers and strategists are on the list. Do you get the feeling there is a new direction within the group?”

Now Somerset laughed out loud, Bond was finding this old fossil easy company “No, the group's secrecy and its connections to power elites have always provided fodder for those who believe that the group is part of a conspiracy to create a New World Order. But we know the world, no matter how sophisticated will never be prepared to march towards a world government, and will never want peace and prosperity for the whole of humanity; it’s just not financially viable"

Bond probed “So you doubt the theory that the Bilderberg intends to dissolve sovereignty of the United States and other countries and form a supra-national structure similar to the European Union”
“That’s a mute point, but not high on the agenda” Sir David continued "But in the void of information created by such aloofness of say the Illuminate, the extraordinary conspiracy theory has grown up around us. The one aspect of Bilderberg that irks many is its secrecy, another one is the identity of its participants. Looking at the list of regular "Bilderbergers," one cannot but think that these are really "the people that run the world". Veterans like Kissinger, Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski are joined every year by newcomers such as former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle and countless others. Every year, the list also includes important "media people" from influential outlets such as The Financial Times, Washington Post, The Economist, The Times, Le Figaro and Die Zeit. The picture becomes complete with C.E.O’s from the world's biggest companies such as Coca-Cola, Fiat, Suez-Tractebel, Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum”
With such a mixture, conspiracy theories abound; the most famous one being the "invisible hand" theory. According to some, those who are lucky enough to attend the meetings and get a blessing from the "inner circle" witness breath-taking career leaps. An "obscure governor" from Arkansas, one year after attending the Bilderberg meeting in 1991, became the President of the United States, while Tony Blair of Britain was elected prime minister three years after his attendance in 1993. But why did Margaret Thatcher, a regular Bilderberger, lose her job as Prime Minister in 1990? The theory says that she lost the support of Bilderberg because she did not accept the transfer of British sovereignty to a "European Super State." Of course, John Major, who took the job as Prime Minister after Thatcher, was also a Bilderberger.
One may choose to believe or not, but the secrecy of the meetings - no cell phones, no getting out of the hotel during three days, no notes, no interviews - creates fertile ground for conspiracy theories. When senior representatives of media giants such as the FT, the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post attend the meetings every year and next to nothing is printed in the same papers about Bilderberg, one starts to wonder."
Bond thought about the weight of Sir David’s comments and noted ‘These are the real people running the World’ then summed up the information and made a statement
“You think someone from the illuminati has infiltrated your group?”

Sir David was guarded again, he looked directly into Bond’s eyes, and knew this was a man he could trust, he dropped the ‘Old Eatonian’ act and sat forward lowering his voice “In a nutshell my dear boy, yes. Members have floated from group to group over the years in an attempt to obtain or weld more power. But this time it just feels so much different than ever before”

“Who do you suspect?” There had been no shock when the name Illuminati was mentioned. The group which was said to have dissolved many years ago was apparently still very much in the picture.

“From my investigations with the bank and if I were a betting man I’d put my money and yours on Ernst Stavro Blofeld”

It was a name Bond had not seen on the list. “Where can I find him?”

“Here, tomorrow. Yes, my dear boy, I can introduce you”

“If you believe he is batting for the other side…” Bond felt his use of the term would not be taken the wrong way, and as Sir David made no protest he continued “… and he was not on the original list. Why is he being invited?”

Sir David nodded “Well you see, he is the man who bought the bank, right now he controls the investment and spend of the most powerful men in the western civilization”

#3 volante

volante

    Lt. Commander

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Posted 22 September 2008 - 08:31 PM

Chapter five

June 2007

The large oak doors shut with a satisfying clunk, and for just one moment the security staff breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and then they returned to their watching brief.
The clock was ticking; Bond knew he had just three hours to explore the bank while all the delegates were safely encased at the conference. Out of touch from the outside world, no cell phones, no interruptions.

The taxi journey was pitifully slow and thirty minutes had elapsed before he arrived at the Istanbul branch of the BBH & Sons bank.
Bond entered the ornate façade of the bank; handing over a wax sealed envelope he asked to see the Manager; he waited in a small comfortable room whilst his letters of introduction from Sir David were checked. Satisfied of his authenticity the Manager escorted Bond down to the vault.

The manager was in his early thirties and prematurely bald, his dark skin highlighted his brown eyes and his accent was barely noticeable, with well manicured hands he gestured and explained the procedure for using the system, and with a curt bow he left. Bond checked his watch, another thirty minutes gone, alone, he activated the screen, and a small ergonomically friendly seat unfolded from the wall, he sat down and entered Sir David’s password and the system welcomed him. The file archives unfolded on the screen. Bond scanned through the private folders, detailing the chronological e-mail trail from Zarolin opposing the attentions of Blofeld.
Using the database Bond activated a member search, he typed in Blofeld.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld born August 12 1954 Zagreb, Croatia.
Gained American citizenship July 4 1985.
CEO Worldlife HQ Hong Kong.

Worldlife is the world's largest privately owned company, offering a global advisory service to health insurance companies through its in-house profiler data software “Stavro”.
The software is also used by all major multiples in their “loyalty card programs.”
Identifying spending trends on credit cards, “Stavro” can be utilized in a number of ways to catalogue information on people and demographic trends.
Former board member of America’s Council for Foreign Relations.
Championed the Croatian human rights organization Aid77 which contributed to ending Soviet political dominance in Eastern bloc countries.
Known for having donated large sums of money in a failed effort to defeat President George W Bush's bid for re-election in 2004.
Most recent photograph shown on CBC March 12, 2007, as a backdrop to a report endorsing Barack Obama for the Democratic candidate for the 2008 elections.
One of the ‘Famous Four’ known for "breaking the Bank of England" on Black Wednesday in 1992.
Estimated current net worth of around $8.5 billion; ranked by Forbes as the 80th-richest person in the world.
Bond’s battle clock was screaming at him to return to the conference, the anticipation of meeting Blofeld during lunch outweighed the desire to probe more into his background. Reluctantly he closed down the program, and left the vault.

As Bond walked through the reception area he became aware of a fracas by the door. Two security guards were escorting a young woman, who was protesting their intentions in a loud America accent and a flurry of golden hair. Bond followed them through the door and down to steps to the road.

A taxi was waiting and the guards were pushing the girl into the back seat.
Bond approached the scene, one guard was applying pressure to the girl’s shoulder, the sleeve of her expensive black dress tore under the movement revealing her sun kissed skin, without hesitation Bond struck, using the knuckle of his forefinger he hit the guard in the kidneys, the big man spun round instantly ready to counter, but he recognized the look in Bond’s eyes and quickly withdrew his attack, with a broad smile he gestured for Bond to get into the taxi. His name tag said ‘Ozat’

The car door slammed and the driver sped off. The girl used both her well manicured hands to straighten her necklace as she barked out an address. The car filtered into the traffic. She ignored the torn dress and began to text, as if realizing she was not alone for the first time she looked over at Bond.

“If you’re looking for a thank-you, thanks” her eyes returned to the cell phone and she continued to text.
“No. Thank-you it’s not often I get that much entertainment at the bank…” Bond stopped talking he had recognised her perfume; the scent conjured up memories he would rather forget, his heart skipped a beat. The Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is one of the oldest pharmacies in the world. He had been told that the store in Florence first opened to the public in 1612, and that the fragrances were based on recipes that the Dominican friars had been developing (using herbs from the monastery gardens) since the 13th century. He could almost hear Vesper telling the story.
She tutted loudly, but continued to busy herself on her Vertu mobile. The noise broke the spell.

Struggling to regain control Bond continued “So, what was the cause? Exceeded your overdraft?”

Her clothes, make-up and jewelry complemented the Melograno and made a mockery of the statement, but she had ignored it anyway. With a flourish she pressed send, and then threw the mobile into her Louis Vuitton handbag.

Bond lent forward, trying to get her attention, he had regained control “Erm, how about, a family member has been tricked out of an insurance payment, and you wanted to remonstrate with the new owner of the bank?”

Her eyes narrowed and she turned slowly toward him, she viewed him anew.

Bond smiled confidently “You are wearing black, so I assume you are still grieving for a loved one, Father I expect. Your necklace is from the Daisy collection by Georg Jensen and appears to mean more to you than your torn Millie dress; so I’d say it’s of great personal value, am I correct? Daisy?” Although her skin tone was much darker and the short black hair of the photograph replaced with long subtle blonde tresses, Bond had recognized her instantly as Daisy Sinclair

Her mouth was wide open “Who the hell are you?”

“The name’s Bond…

The taxi received a violent shunt from behind it slewed to the left and hit a bicycle, its rider screamed and disappeared from view. The driver frantically turned the wheel and the tyres screamed, but the car was hit again jolting them forward, now Daisy screamed, the taxi mounted the pavement and began to slow, the driver cursing and gesticulating wildly. Bond saw the car which had hit them; as it pulled along side, the rear window was opening and a Heckler and Kotch G36 assault rifle was beginning to home in, he pulled the girl onto the floor.

The driver became aware of the danger, he braked and the other car sped past, a hail of bullets smashed through the side windows exiting through the rear. The sound was that of tearing metal as more bullets hit the front door and raked down the bonnet, then came a second impact from the rear, but not a sudden jolt as before, this was a prolonged push, the taxi driver gave one muted cry and slumped over the wheel, Bond knew he was dead, leaning over he tried to pull him away from the wheel but another rake of gunfire smashed into the bonnet and then the driver, Bond ducked down behind the seat as the bullets thudded into the upholstery, now out of control the car swerved and hit the safety chain, the pressure from the car behind was constant and in an instant the chain burst apart the links pinged and zinged in all directions, the front wheel dropped over the edge, Bond sat up and reached for the driver again and began to push his body away from the wheel, for an instant he grabbed the steering wheel and turned it away from the edge and the taxi began to come around, but the roar of the engine from the car behind, alerted the pair that their attackers had accelerated and engaged again, the steering wheel spun out of Bond’s grip and for a moment the taxi teetered on the edge, then with an abrupt change in direction it plummeted down into the Bosporus.

As it hit the water they were thrown back on to the rear seat, pieces of glass tore at their clothing; the taxi began a lazy roll and the water poured in through the shattered windows, it was freezing and the shock galvanized them into action, they tried the doors but there was no give, the taxi sank like a stone altering its trajectory as the nose dropped, the dead driver took the force of the water and his body began to slide over the front seat, the water was up to their shoulders, they began taking deep breaths and as the water was at their chins they took one last look around and gulped in one last breath of air, within seconds they were submerged, she tried the door handle again but it would not move, the pressure of the water had sealed the doors closed; the light was fading as they sank, desperately they began looking around for a way to escape, together they realized there was only one way out, she could just make out the blurred form of his thumb as it formed the international “OK” signal, quickly the couple struggled out through the rear window, the corpse of the driver floated grotesquely after them, its hand touched her leg and in the cold silent chaos she screamed.

The momentum was still forcing them down, sucking at their tired bodies, he pulled her from the clutches of the dead taxi driver, once free from the interior she began to drift away, and he arched his body and went for her, grabbing the girl around the waist, feebly she struggled against his grip.

He kicked hard and felt his foot knock against the boot of the taxi, she was still struggling in his arms and he steadied himself then kicked for all his worth, aiming for the surface, pieces of broken glass were bouncing off them and his lungs were bursting, air was seeping from his mouth in a cascade of bubbles, knowing there was only seconds of air left in his reserves, he pushed on. If Daisy were in the same condition as him she would be taking in water very soon, he knew time had run out.

She was not helping, her efforts were focused on trying to free herself from his embrace, then he felt the life go from her and he could see her arms dropping…

…He could see, there was light, they were nearly there, if only she could hold on, he kicked again but the power was gone from his legs, they were so close to the surface, so close to leaving this nightmare.

With a flourish they broke the surface, she was in his arms but not moving, the vivid flashback of Vesper urged him on, he felt a presence out to his left and he struck out for it, now there was sound, noise and a shape, he took in another lung full of air, the shape was huge in his vision, realizing it was a boat, he focused on the solid safety it represented, he became aware of people shouting, then suddenly in front of him , a life belt bobbed on the surface, one more kick one more stroke and they were on it.

He held her close to him and grabbed the belt, in an instant they were moving again, the crew on the ferry were pulling them toward safety. Hands were reaching down, and pulling them from the water and after scraping over the side, suddenly they were on the deck, crew members and passengers alike were crowded around, he would not let her go, he knew if he let go of her she would die, he could not bear to lose another in this way, but his strength was all but gone and the helping hands dragged them apart, above the voices he heard her cough and splutter, the sound galvanized him into action, breaking free from the arms of their rescuers he took her back in his own arms, and immediately her eyes opened and for the first time she smiled at him.

…James Bond”



Lunch had been served and as the dessert plates were being cleared away Sir David decided he was waiting in vain for Bond to arrive, fearing the worse he decided to visit his room and report the matter to London.

With a heavy heart he returned to the conference hall, the doors were already closed, ‘how long had he spent on the secure line to London?’ Security fussed over him and ushered him into the conference room. The other delegates showed little interest as the lone man arrived late, with a minimum of fuss he was hustled into his seat by a small female security guard, absentmindedly he thanked her and with an admission of defeat he sat at his desk and tuned in to the afternoon speaker.

To his surprise there had been a change to the running order, and standing on the podium was Ernst Blofeld

It was like watching three different films, the man was large in stature standing over six feet tall, but his movements and gestures were gentle and precise yet his voice held the attention of the room, it boomed loud and clear but was calm and confident and one would have thought it came from a much more rugged man, yet the eyes were in a different state they blazed in defiant anger, a crazy fire burned, when the three different forms came together it gave off a terrifying vision, but one which was compelling and difficult to resist.

His hair had been shaved to minimise the fact he was balding, and he wore a short goatee beard slightly longer then a six o clock shadow. His crisp white silk shirt was tailored by the finest Saville Row had to offer, and his royal blue suite shimmered as he extenuated his speech. Sir David shook himself out of the hypnotic spell cast by Blofeld’s presence and he focused on the speech

“Aside from the Iraq quagmire, energy problems continue to dominate your agenda”
It was a statement and although true was spoken as a reprimand.

He continued “Oil and natural gas are finite, non-renewable resources. Once used it cannot be replenished. As the world turns, and as oil and natural gas supplies dwindle while demand soars dramatically, especially with Indian and Chinese booming economies who now want all the trinkets and privileges of an American way of life, we, as the Planet, have crossed the midpoint of oil production and discovery”

Blofeld had moved away from the podium as was speaking from memory, he held the most powerful men in the World in the palm of his hand “From now on, the only sure thing is that supply will continue to diminish and prices will continue to increase.
In these conditions world conflict is a physical certainty”

There were many cries of derision, candidates held up there folders, and made indication they wanted to speak to answer and hopefully to calm the raising tension in the room. Blofeld took a sip of water, not because of his nerves but simply to allow the tension to rise.

Blofeld smoothed his non existent hair and continued “End of the oil means the end of the world's financial system, something which has already been acknowledged by Wall Street.
Oil prices rose in 2006 from $80 per barrel to $105.
During 2007 this continued to rise and now hovers around $150 per barrel.

No wonder the President of the European Commission, announced several months ago during the unveiling of the new European energy policy that the time has come for a post-industrial age. To bring the world into this post industrial age, you first need to destroy the world’s economic base and create another Great Depression, when you come out of that, you need to be holding the keys to Iran. Gentlemen, Iran is the country we need to own, act now before it’s too late”

There was uproar from the room, Blofeld left the podium and handing his papers to Mr. Sharpe, (one of his bodyguards), left the conference room. The bodyguard was a large man, with short hair and a black leather jacket, the briefcase he put the papers into seemed tiny in his large hands.

Two local police officers escorted Blofeld and Sharpe through the corridors into the kitchen and out of the rear entrance to their car.

The Mercedes S class was air-conditioned and glided smoothly through the Istanbul streets “That went well sir” said the bodyguard, Blofeld nodded in smug agreement.

“Thank you Mr. Sharpe”

Mr. Sharpe poured champagne into a flute and passed it to his boss, for such a big man the act seemed clumsy, and only when Blofeld held the flute in his hand un-spilt did Sharpe relax he coughed to get attention “There was an incident at the bank this morning; the Sinclair girl was asking to see you again”

“And the outcome?” his mouth softly formed the words

“She won’t be asking anyone anything ever again, Ozat and his crew saw to that” He folded his powerful arms and his leather jacket squeaked at the constriction.

The driver (another bodyguard) laughed in approval.

“Excellent news, drive on Mr. Vaughan, don’t spare the horses” But Blofeld sensed this was not the end of the story, and raised his eye brow to draw the rest of the story.

“Also a representative of Sir David Somerset a man named Bond, attended the vault, he left with Ms Sinclair.”

“His fate, the same answer as before I hope?”

The bodyguard nodded, his bullet shaped head and close cropped hair seemed out of proportion in the confines of the car. Blofeld sat back and opened his lap top

“Excellent. Find out what he accessed in the vault would you Mr. Sharpe?”

Sharpe was pleased to report a success and licked his full lips “Already done sir, he did a search on you and the bank acquisition folders” His mid American accent became more pronounced but the Slavic foundation remained.

Blofeld nodded slowly “Mmm, can you get Ozat to visit Sir David tonight; I would like to find out why MI6 wants to know such things about me”

“Of course sir” Sharpe looked over at the driver who turned slightly and nodded in silent agreement “Mr. Vaughan and I would be delighted to bring Sir David to the boardroom ourselves”

“Thank you gentlemen, but I need you for something more important”

“I will speak with Ozat, as soon as we reach the factory”

“Excellent, make sure no one sees him leave the hotel”

The car drove on, within the hour they arrived at Dr Bakush’s bio chemical plant
Bio Atul, the large sprawling buildings were well lit and heavily guarded.

The Mercedes glided through the gates, and up to the main building.

Dr Bakush was busying himself at a centrifugal machine, but as Blofeld and the two goons approached he turned it off and moved to the middle of the room to welcome them, although it was a friendly act it also put a barrier between Blofeld and the device “Ernst, how did the conference go?”

Blofeld cut through the pleasantries “My dear Professor, where is it?”

Bakush nodded in resignation and reluctantly led Blofeld, Mr. Sharpe and Mr. Vaughan into the adjoining office, where sitting on a stool next to the newly procured device was Tien, he was playing with a Philippine butterfly knife, his skill was fantastic but his discipline seemed to waiver in the presence of his peers as he eyed the westerners with a barely concealed rage. He spun the knife around even faster; the blade was just a whirl of deadly steel.

Blofeld ignored the distraction and ran his hands over the smooth polished steel device; it was cool to the touch. Bakush had repeatedly told Blofeld of its existence and of its potential, and since the evacuation of SEPP Blofeld had longed to see it to feel the power of his future.

“When will the Coag be ready?”

Bakush came forward to distract Blofeld from the device, he looked as if he were jealous of anyone else touching it “Within the week, but I have told you the Iranian phase can go ahead without the Coag”

Blofeld turned to face Bakush “But without the Coag I only get an 80 % success rate, at best a 65% coverage” he continued to look at the professor but spoke to Tien
“Will you please stop playing with that?”

Tien looked at Dr Bakush, who indicated he should cease his actions. Tien put the knife in his pocket and cracked his knuckles

Blofeld said to Tien “Very impressive” he continued to look at him as he spoke to Bakush “Will you collect it from Shanghai?”

“No I will have it brought here; I do not want to be parted from the device again” he stood in front of it like a protective parent

“Not ever?” said Blofeld as he slowly swung round to face Bakush

“Not until phase three” Bakush undid his white coat and plunged his hands in his pockets; he was making a stance and wanted everyone to see that he commanded respect, in his own company.

“Wise professor, very wise”

Blofeld looked around the room as if just noticing something was missing, something he felt should be there, and he slowly walked back to where Tien was sitting and asked “Tien, Where is Aki Danni?”

Tien replied slowly “She wait for you in Hong Kong”

“Good. Will you tell her that I will be in Hong Kong at the end of the week” He was about to leave when he thought better of it “Oh and tell her to be ready for me” Blofeld winked then turned and trailed his fingers across the device. He gave a sharp dramatic intake of breath and gathering his people together he left the room with Bakush, Sharpe and Vaughan close behind.





















Chapter Six

June 2007

Their appearance at her hotel reception desk caused a few disparaging looks from the other guests, Daisy collected her key and asked for a second which she gave to Bond. In her room she went straight into the bathroom and turned on the shower, appearing briefly at the door to throw Bond a towel then disappeared into the shower to wash away the stink of the river.

Bond pealed off his wet clothes and toweled himself dry.

When she emerged from the bathroom, her skin looked radiant; her hair now wet from the lavish shampoo glowed golden, but her black roots were just starting to show through.

She studied Bond, he had told her he worked for the British government, perhaps this was more than she could have hoped for; the silence between them grew and she knew she would have to confide in him.

“All this isn’t just about my inheritance and family revenge. I work for the United States Department of Justice”

“So it’s Agent Daisy Sinclair; so how was this, an official visit?”

She paced the room, Bond noticed the strong line of her calves as she pirouetted on the balls of her feet “A little over six months ago I was seconded into a group led by senior FBI agent Daniel Jacobs” she felt the need to explain “The FBI is the primary investigative arm of the DOJ” Bond nodded in compliance. Suddenly she felt foolish; of course he would know the function of the agencies.

She was drawn to his physical presence, naked save the white towel around his waste; she forced her mind to concentrate. “Its prime mission was to investigate the deaths of four of America’s most influential financiers. All had died suddenly, mysteriously and over a very short period of time”

“I probed through the usual channels but all the leads I turned up were dead ends, until one night I confided in a colleague from a previous mission, he double checked some of the statements and bingo, we found a connection. In the initial statements of the pathologists, two had reported that a possible cause of death was poisoning.
The statements that my team had to work with had had this line removed. We jumped on a plane and interviewed the third Doctor; he concluded it was a distinct possibility. I flew on to review the fourth scene again, and Rick went back to report our findings. Two days later as I was discovering that all the victims had been poisoned, using the same obscure toxin; Rick was being pulled out of the Anacostia River” her features darkened at the memory.

She looked into Bond’s eyes and regained her courage “Then I got a phone call from my Father” She recounted that they had met in Miami. “He told me he had known the four victims and they were at one time or another part of a secretive international group of financiers and business moguls. He also told me he had been part of the same group”

“The Bilderberg?” Bond checked his clothing which was draped over the sun chairs on the balcony

“No, the Illuminati”

Bond remained calm, he had a million questions in his head but he wanted her to continue, once she had purged her soul he would begin to piece together his plan.
He went to the mini bar and began to prepare drinks.
After a long silence she began to talk again

“Problem was that although the toxin was ‘unknown’ to the pathologists I had the inside track on where it had been developed. I told Jacobs.
Next day my log - in was denied, I phoned my boss again and he arranged a meeting, but I knew something was not right, I was so scared, I didn’t dare go to the meet, but I hid where I could see him, after what seemed like an eternity Jacobs realized that I was not going to show, he called in the troops. I saw that there were some pretty heavy agents waiting to grab me… or worse”

Bond had made her a drink and now he handed it to her. She sat on a chair and stared into space “I phoned my only friend at the DOJ she told me I was reported to be "Off the reservation" and that I should lay low until whatever was going down was over. So I high tailed it to the Keys and caught a cruise ship. Two weeks later I was a tanned blonde in Europe, and my Farther was dead.

“So when did Blofeld show up on your radar?”

“He was already there. Blofeld and this toxin go hand in hand. I had a toxin link to the deaths, I had a motive; the acquisition of the Bank, and suddenly Mr. Blofeld was the new owner, with a cast iron case to keep me from my Father’s money”

“I take it, today was not your first attempt to speak to him?”

She laughed and shook her head, her hair returned slowly to its normal position.
“No, first time I tried was months before this, and it was all to do with the toxin connection, you see I was already working on Project Bacchus”
“Sounds liberating, tell me more”
“Bacchus was a covert project initiated by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency US Defense Department to determine whether it is possible to construct a bio-weapons production facility with off-the-shelf equipment. It ran for two years, in a facility that was constructed in the Nevada desert, majoring in the production of an anthrax-like bacterium known as Danthrax. The participating scientists were able to produce about one kilogram of highly-refined bacterial particles. The project's name refers to the Greek god of wines - Bacchus because wine is produced though fermentation, like the bacteria. The facility was built and funded by Blofeld”
“Why did you want to speak to him at that time?” Bond asked
“There were rumors he was selling the poisons and bacteria”
“But no proof?”
“No” she shook her head again
“And since the death of your Father?”
“Yes, just once. I tried to kill him on that occasion” She looked at Bond for some sign of understanding, but he looked accusingly at her.
“He had destroyed my life. If Marion (my Mother) hadn’t been there…” she let the explanation hang in the air.
Bond had assumed the four financiers would have been, if not members at least sympathizers of the Bilderberg, if Daisy had understood correctly and these men had leanings toward the Illuminati, then why were they being eliminated, and how was Daniel Jacobs and the FBI implicated.
Bond looked at his watch “I need to get back to the Ritz” he knew that Blofeld would have been made aware of the events of the day, and now Bond needed to preempt his next move.

“I’ll get dressed and come with…”

“…no you stay here, as long as Blofeld thinks you are dead, you will be safe here”

He jotted down his mobile number “Get yourself a new ‘pay as you go phone’ then call me”

Bond put on his damp suit and left, he needed to talk this through with Sir David.

Ritz Carlton Hotel

Hours had past, since the conference had finished for the day, Somerset sat alone in is room answering the messages left on his mobile. Now he threw the phone on to the bed, and began thinking about what had been said, suddenly the door bell rang, shocked at the sound he asked…

“Who is it?”

An urgent voice replied “Quickly, its Bond” This sent his heart rate sky high and he rushed to the door, pulling it open with a verve he thought he had lost years ago, the man called Ozat was waiting for him.

Bond tried for a third time to contact Sir David, but just got the engaged tone.
Security was heavy at the front entrance and on impulse Bond told the taxi driver to go to the back of the hotel; his intention was to attract the minimum amount of attention from security when he entered the hotel.

Ozat and Sir David were approaching the rear entrance, when they met up with a second guard dressed in overalls; he was holding an Uzi sub machine gun and standing by an open laundry basket
“Get in”

Sir David climbed into the container.

Bond tried one more time to reach Sir David, but the phone seemed to have been switched off. The rear entrance was deserted.

Two men pushing a laundry container exited by the black rubber entrance and were approaching an Iveco Daily van; Bond observed as he paid off the taxi.

They pushed the large wheeled container out onto the loading dock, and into the back.
It took Bond just one second before he realized where he’d seen the man in the grey overalls before. It was the security guard from the Bank, the man called Ozat.

They jumped down from the dock and climbed into the cab.
The taxi had already left the car park and there was no other transport in the area.

The Iveco started up and drove away, the rear entrance area was still deserted, Bond thought ‘the World’s most influential men are staying in this hotel and yet a laundry van is allowed to drive out unchallenged’ he knew something was very wrong and ran through the delivery area, to the small staff car park beyond; it contained two cars a bicycle and an array of motorcycles.

Two members of staff were smoking by the back of the first car.
“Are any of these yours?” asked Bond

The first boy pointed “The Suzuki”

Bond quickly looked over the machine a 250 trail bike, it must have been 30 years old, and the once gleaming red paintwork had faded to a dull orange

“Keys” He shouted

In a panic the boy threw over his keys and Bond kick started the bike

“Just going for a spin” and with that he opened the throttle and began his pursuit of the Iveco. The light was fading fast and the bright lights on the street and other vehicles glared into his eyes, the van was about 100 meters in front of Bond and he overtook two cars in quick succession, but was then forced to brake as the next car decide to turn without warning, Bond hurled the bike to the left and gunned the engine, looking up he saw the Iveco make a right turn, Bond edged closer to the turning and zipped across in front of a car which blasted its horn in disapproval.

They were going south through the Dolmabahce district and heading for the river, the van then made a casual left and fell in with the pace of the evening traffic.
The summer breeze from the river had turned chilly as they continued across the Bogazici Bridge and soon were on the Asian side of the city.

The Iveco had stopped at lights at the end of a long straight street, Bond slowly drove up behind, suddenly the reversing lights came on and the van accelerated back toward the bike, Bond clicked the lever into first and maneuvered the Suzuki around the van, but as he approached, the passenger door flew open and Ozat emerged, raising an Uzi sub machine gun, as Bond pulled along side he lent the bike over and slammed into the door smashing it against the big man, Ozat grunted in pain and pushed back, forcing the door open, and knocking Bond off the bike, the Iveco moved forward its tyres spinning for grip, it sped through the intersection and veered right hitting another car, sparks showered both vehicles, Bond picked up the fallen Uzi and the Suzuki and gave chase, up ahead the van hit another car which then slewed across the road into the path of a flat bed truck carrying fencing panels, the collision sparked off a number of scrapes and bumps, accumulating in drivers getting out of their damaged cars and remonstrating with each other, the wooden panels were strewn across the road forming a barrier to Bond’s progress, he gunned the throttle again and hoped that the panels would hold the weight of the bike.

The Suzuki roared up the ramshackle ramp skidding and slipping and soared through the gap, Bond lent back and allowed the bike to fly through the air and come down on the back, as the rear wheel bit into the roof of car the grip returned and the bike shot forward again, Bond hung on as it bumped down onto the bonnet then a bone jarring impact as he hit the road, he lent forward and swung the bike around, he weaved through the traffic the engine screaming but another car had stopped so he bumped up on to the footpath to avoid the other damaged vehicles left in the path of the fleeing van. Bond jinked around a startled pedestrian, dropped the clutch and bounced back onto the road

The Iveco veered left and ascended a hill Bond followed gaining as it slowed noticeably at the summit of the hill, Bond was almost upon them, suddenly it stopped and the rear doors opened Ozat knelt in the back and aimed a handgun, Bond saw the muzzle flash so he braked and threw the bike to the ground it skidded and slid along the road, he rolled to the side as gunfire erupted all around him, Bond swung the Uzi up and returned the fire, Ozat shouted to the driver and the van moved off, Bond aimed and shot at the tyres, he left the cover and began to chase the van up the hill but it stopped again and this time when the doors opened a ball of fire erupted as the container was pushed off the back, the fiery missile hurtled down the road, Bond ran to head off the container, grabbing a handle he used his weight to slow it down and brought it to a halt by turning it into the kerb, he opened the lid to see if Sir David was inside, too late Bond realized his mistake, the Iveco was reversing fast down the hill, and standing in the back was Ozat, his head bleeding from the impact with the door, now his gun was pointed directly at Bond and his grimace was deadly, but the driver could not see the fallen Suzuki, it hit and bounced over the bike the jolt knocked Ozat off his feet the gun discharged into the roof of the van, and as the truck braked he came tumbling out and fell headlong into the flames of the container.

“Howzat” said Bond as he closed the lid on the man’s screams locking the handle over the catch. He sprinted to the back of the truck. Inside he found Sir David covered in a blanket, he gestured for him to keep quiet.

The driver was shouting “Ozat, do you have him?” The engine was revving in anticipation of a fast getaway.

Bond answered “No, he doesn’t” and hit him on the side of the head with the Uzi. Bond lent over and opened the door pushing the man out he took control of the Iveco and drove away.

Bond shouted back “Sir David, you an come up front now” as the old man came through the curtains Bond said “I need to ask you a question, could Hugh Sinclair have been involved with the Illuminati?”

The diplomat came through and sat in the passenger seat he looked totally disoriented, he thought Bond had been killed, but here he was driving him to god knows where. He thought about the question “No, that is to say I couldn’t rule it out, you see dear boy, the ideas are so similar; well let’s just say that all the good eggs aren’t on the same side”

“I’ll take that as a yes. So why would the Illuminati want to get rid of its own man at your bank?”

“Perhaps Hugh did not agree with a particular directive, it’s not all black and white at the top you know” Somerset smiled and raised his eyebrows.

The van bumped and banged down the road.

Sir David realized they were not heading back to the Ritz “Where are we going?”

Bond smiled “You told me you had a friend called Marion Sinclair”

Sir David looked more confused than ever “Yes I do, she’s here?”

Bond eased the van around the corner “No, but her daughter is”

“Her daughter? Daisy, oh my word, Daisy is here in Istanbul, she is a secret agent as well you know, she will know what to do?” Sir David clapped his hands and slapped Bond on the shoulder trying to urge the truck forward. “Daisy Sinclair is here in Istanbul, well I never. Bravo dear boy bravo, oh yes she will know what to do”

“Yes, I’m sure she will”

Bond parked the Iveco two blocks away from Daisy’s hotel, and then hailed a taxi to enable them to arrive with some semblance of authority.

The World Park was the best hotel in the region, commanding a prime place in the historical Eski Şehir (Old City) peninsula of the European part of Istanbul, between Sirkeci and Eminönü.
Shock seemed to have set in with Sir David who was limping heavily and suggested he wait for Bond and Daisy in the bar.

Going up in the lift Bond checked his appearance in the mirror, there was oil and grime on his forehead and chin, his left cheek was badly grazed and there was dried blood on his face which had dripped onto his collar; the left arm seam had burst at the shoulder of his jacket, not one of his better looks.

He took the spare key from his pocket and opened the door. The room was in darkness, carefully he went through to the bedroom, the bed was made and empty, on an impulse he opened the wardrobe door, Daisy’s clothes had gone. There was the faintest of noises from the front room, Bond pulled out his Walther P99.

A male figure was silhouetted in the doorway, he turned on the light. “Hello James”

“Felix, what on earth are you doing here?” asked Bond putting his gun away.

“I was intending the nail the [censored] of the young lady staying in this room, and you?”

“More or less the same. What’s your girl called?”

“Daisy Sinclair, wanted by the CIA FBI and DOJ” Leiter paced around the room.

“Popular girl, what’s the charge?” Bond kept his emotions in check

Felix continued to look around the apartment as he spoke…

“Poor little rich kid landed a plum role at the DOJ thanks to Daddy’s connections. Things were going fine, but Daisy wanted more, she begged her way into a position at the FBI, and was heading a high profile murder case. Problem was she was not sharing some vital evidence with the team” Leiter raised his eyebrows.

He continued “When her boss, senior FBI agent Daniel Jacobs discovered the faux pas Daisy did a disappearing act”

“Turns out the prime suspect, one Dr. Emil Bakush was an old friend of her Father’s.
As Jacobs and the team closed in on the good Dr. Daisy’s daddy turned up dead”

“No honour amongst thieves; did you ever catch up with this Dr. Bakush?”

“Not yet, he did a runner back to his adopted home, Turkey. That’s where I came in. We traced him to a chemical company just outside Istanbul”

“I bet it’s the same company that just won the contract to supply Iran with Biological weapons”

“Very good James, go to the top of the class, and guess who provided the funds for the deal”

“A private bank…”

“…yes Daisy’s private bank”

“Daisy’s bank?” Bond fought hard to keep the surprise out of his voice

“Yep, Daddy had shares; I’d say our girl is worth about $14 million dollars”

“I thought a man named Blofeld now owned the bank?”

“Ah Ernst Stavro, he is turning out to be a bit of a disappointment to us. We hoped he would be one of the good guys, gave out all the right signals, but we think he is mixed up in this caper” Felix looked long and hard and Bond’s suit

“A caper Felix?” Bond theatrically straightened his jacket, and looked affronted.

Leiter turned and headed for the door “Come on brother”

“Where are we going?” Bond asked following him

Without turning back he said “I’m going to introduce you to my tailor”

“We need to pick up a friend of mine from the bar”

“Really? I checked the bar before coming up here and did not see anyone I thought would be accompanying you”

“Um, not really my type, but I think you two will get along swimmingly”

Leiter led the way with a spring in his step and a smile on his face

#4 volante

volante

    Lt. Commander

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Posted 22 September 2008 - 08:33 PM

Chapter Seven

1945 -1975


On April 30th 1945, as the Battle for Berlin raged above him, German dictator
Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker along with his new bride Eva Braun.

In his will Hitler appointed his successors; Karl Dönitz as the new President of Germany and Joseph Goebbels as the Chancellor. However Goebbels committed suicide on May 1st leaving Dönitz as sole leader of Germany.

Karl Dönitz continued to act as the German head of state, but his Flensburg government (so-called because it was based at Flensburg and controlled only a small area around the town) exercised little influence after the military surrender May 8th.

Weeks past before the Allies realized they had a problem, although the German armed forces had surrendered, they had failed to use the document created by the "European Advisory Commission" and so the Flensburg government was still in a state of war.

On May 23rd a British officer was sent to Flensburg to issue Eisenhower's order to dissolve the government and ordering the arrest of its members.

The devolvement of the government was considered a very important issue, because just as the civilian and not military, surrender in 1918 had been used by Hitler to create the "stab in the back" argument, the Allies did not want to give any neutral regime a legal argument to discredit their right to plunder the coffers of the Third Reich.

Dönitz held out, and unable to come to terms the Allies simply decided not to recognize the Fensburg government and signed a four-power document instead creating the Allied Control Council which included…

…The Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socıalıst Republics, the United Kingdom and the Provisional Government of the French Republic.

The document stated that these Countries assumed supreme authority with respect to Germany, including all the powers possessed by the previous German Government, the High Command and any state, municipal, or local government or authority.

During the following months, thousands of displaced persons scattered throughout a war torn Europe were on the move. Many innocent people uprooted and torn from their homes had no families to return to because they were either dead, missing, or were now somewhere else across the continent.

Most were victims of the Nazi aggression while others were just attempting to escape the advancing Soviet armies of Joseph Stalin. Intermingled within the crowds of displaced persons were some of Europe’s most notorious war criminals, individuals who had the blood of millions on their hands.
During this period, the Holy See (the central government of the Catholic Church, headed by the Pope) conducted a lobbying campaign to the Allies to permit the provision of spiritual and material assistance to the victims. The Vatican has consistently claimed that during this period that they were uninterested in the true identity of any individuals in receipt of their humanitarian assistance.

(NOTE The Holy See should not be confused with the Vatican City State, which came into existence in 1929, while the Holy See dates back to early Christian times. Ambassadors are officially accredited not to the Vatican City State but to "the Holy See" and papal representatives to states and international organizations are recognized as representing the Holy See, not the Vatican City State.)

Unfortunately, a few high ranking priests who were connected to the Illuminati not only knew who these criminals were, but they actively sought these men out and gave them extra assistance.

Years later it became public knowledge that war criminals like Klaus Barbie, Adolf Eichmann, Heinrich Mueller and Franz Stangl escaped war torn Europe thanks to the Illuminati’s involvement with the Catholic Church.
Most of these men escaped with the help of one department run by one man, a Roman Catholic Bishop named Alois Hudal, Rector of the Pontificio Santa Maria del Anima.

During the war Hudal served as Commissioner for German speaking Catholics in Italy, as well as Father Confessor to Rome’s German community. Hudal harboured anti-Semitic feelings and his pro Nazi stance was well known throughout the Catholic community.
During Hitler’s rule, Bishop Hudal often spoke about the unity between the Catholic Church and the Nazi government.

During this period of confusion members of the Illuminati seized the opportunity and focused their activities on a plan which grew from the simple attempt to locate and plunder the ill gotten Nazi treasure (from information given by the escaping criminals) into a full blown project capable of stabilizing the industrial and financial state of Europe in the wake of the World war.

As the profits and power continued to grow the Illuminati became the force behind a number of very successful political and financial machines, which for the next eight years controlled as many as 75% of Europe’s leading companies and had enough covert political clout to directly influence the outcome of the likes of Presidential elections.

In 1954 the Americans fought back, they initiated the Bilderberg group to rally support for the USA in Europe. Thus the battle was then fully engaged with only one goal, to discredit the other faction and assume complete control of all major countries and establish a New World Order.

But the Illuminati already had a network of agents and a powerbase with over fifty years experience, their members were ruthless not only in business but in their life philosophy. This was never going to be a fair fight and the power balance of the cold war shifted constantly.

During the two years following the cease fire, Illuminati members masterminded an integration of the Nazi war criminals who had evaded capture into positions of responsibility where their skills and life experience would be beneficial to the Illuminati cause.
Those that were not receptive to the idea of working for a new greater good were executed or turned over to the authorities.

In June 1947 three such men were repatriated into Europe. One was a former Nazi scientist named Gerhard Lenz, he had witnessed the deaths of several of his friends and had vowed to get revenge. But he needed to bide his time.

They housed him in Trieste, where by arrangement he met and married Elsa Blofeld a chemist from Karlovac.
The church was instrumental in fabricating parish records, and the couple took her name and moved to Zagreb. In 1954 they named their first child Ernst.

Together they built up a family business but over the years their profits were taken by the Illuminati controlled government. Lenz was instructed to assist scientists in a government facility and felt that he was more of a prisoner now than if he had been taken by the Americans. He contacted his Illuminati master, who in turn asked his superiors for further help, in the form of relocation, but no help came, the measures they put in place were weak and ineffectual.

Lenz, had one more ace to play; he decided to take action himself, and in 1960 went back to Germany to meet with the main Illuminati council. He was amazed to see individuals who had been supportive of the Third Reich living in the open. He was dismayed to learn that these people were living a lavish lifestyle, exploiting many war criminals to further their riches.
He decided to breakaway from their restraints and initiates a subversive group to undermine the Illuminati.
Selling the family home, he begged stole and borrowed enough money to pay for the other two repatriates to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Here he sought out Bishop Hudal and during a private audience he outlined a plan to shift the balance of power away from the Illuminati and back into the hands of the church. Hudal took the bait and the church financed a mission to give aid to a number of families in Salzburg who had suffered at the hands of the Nazis, in truth Lenz was recruiting a reliable group of supporters and he was able to lead them to a network of caves in Austria where a sizeable cache of art had been stored.

In the years between 1961 and 1966, carefully and selectively the art was sold; traded or auctioned the proceeds passed through the church and helped Lenz to amass a fortune for his own personal war chest.

During that time they met every other month in the cellar of a church in Koblenz, where the pitch soaked torches burned bright.
Over the years Lenz had gathered faithful but disillusioned Illuminati members who wanted the fame and fortune enjoyed by the main council. He fed their dreams of power and used their skills to undermine the Illuminati shadows.

In 1967 the 13 elite members felt they were ready to take on the main council.
They swore an oath to avenge all those who had died in vain because of the ineffectual management of the Illuminati or the interference of the Bilderberg.

Lenz himself led the ceremony and swore a blood oath that the blood spilt would not be in vain, and until vengeance is complete he asked for the spirits of his fallen comrades to watch over him and his group, and thus their organisation would be called Spectre with a philosophy that forms a "Weltanschauung" (German for 'Worldview')

Systematically the Spectre group identified the traditional Illuminati old guard (called angeli rebelli) for death. It was the years of the ‘Cold War’ where spying was practiced by all European countries. The deaths of many an official was passed off as enemy action, but no one understood who the enemy really was.

Under an assumed name Lenz traveled to Moscow with his family, where Elsa set up a family home and Ernst received schooling. The information he passed over to the Kremlin led not only to the deaths of many European agents but the shift in power of many businesses
Throughout this period, rivalry between the two superpowers was expressed through military coalitions, espionage, weapons development, industrial advances, and competitive technological development. Both superpowers engaged in costly defense spending, a massive conventional and nuclear arms race, and numerous proxy wars. As the war machine took up more and more resource, Spectre infiltrated many businesses throughout the World.
In the absence of a declared war between the US and the Soviet Union, the rival states participated in a half-century of military buildup and political battles for support around the world. These activities included the significant involvement of allied and satellite nations in local "third party" wars. Companies involved in Arms, or military sciences thrived, whether they be run by Bilderberg, Illuminati or Spectre sympathizers.
Enrst Blofeld continued his schooling in Moscow; he was keen to graduate into the K.G.B; however a freak accident meant that the family had to return to Germany in 1975. The family that were living as the Blofeld’s were involved in a car accident, if any one of them had died it would be impossible for them to integrate into the business world that was planned for Ernst.
…and so the family traveled back to Germany and assumed their original identities.
One year later Ernst Blofeld packed his bags for the U.S.A he had won a scholarship at Princeton University. Gerhard and Elsa emigrated six months later to take up their positions as department heads of their company Worldlife.



Chapter Eight

June 2007

Bond was patched up by the base Doctor, and went through a rigorous physiotherapy session which concluded with two jabs and cup full of painkillers followed by three stiff whisky and sodas and twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep.

His suitcase had been delivered to the base, and his clothes laundered and ironed plus a new Tom Ford suit courtesy of the CIA and then there was the aroma of coffee, all was waiting for him when he awoke.

Within an hour of M giving clearance for the next phase of the mission, the C130 transport plane was gathering speed down the runway.
The flight took little over an hour, and they landed in the late afternoon at the inland airport and military airbase of Sde Dov. The airfield is located a few kilometres from the centre of Tel Aviv on the west coast.
Felix turned to Bond as the large fern green Ford 4 x 4 pulled up on the tarmac “It’s a little less formal than Ben Gurion Airport, don’t you think”

Within five minutes of landing they were on the main motorway to Tel Aviv and only thirty five minutes from the CIA HQ.

Tel Aviv has become a hub of modern high-rise architecture due to the soaring price of real-estate in the city. From the comfort of the air-conditioned car they saw the Shalom Meir Tower, Israel's first skyscraper, which was built in Tel Aviv in 1965 way off in the distance. The Azrieli Center, composed of three buildings one square, one triangular, and one circular usurped that title and impressed the travelers as they past; although it’s not the tallest it is certainly the most impressive buildings, the country's tallest wholly residential building, the Neve Tzedek Tower, is in the south of Tel Aviv.

Bio Atul Boardroom Istanbul

Mr. Sharpe put down his mobile, he approached Blofeld and spoke softly so only he could hear “Ozat is dead, the man Bond killed him and escaped with the old man Somerset, they have not returned to their hotel”

Blofeld was sitting in a large leather chair at the head of the Boardroom table he stretched his hands out over the polished wood, he inclined his head and replied in the same soft tones “You told me Bond was dead” his eyelids fluttered

Sharpe felt his stress level rise “Sir, Ozat assured me that Bond had been killed”

Blofeld held the tone again but the words were chilling “Now Ozat is dead, I see a pattern developing” He thought through the events “If Bond is still alive, the Sinclair girl could also be alive” He waved away Sharpe’s protest “I know I know Ozat assured you, well I suggest you take Mr. Vaughan here and go and find this Bond character and ask him where he has hidden Miss Sinclair”

Sharpe stood up “Yes sir”

Bakush was sitting to his right and after reading an e-mail added to the sense of dismay “I have just heard the Dr. Anavitz will visit Ben Gurion over the next three days” He inclined his head waiting for an instruction, when none came the Professor continued “Perhaps you would like Aki Danni to perform some surveillance?”

Blofeld shook himself out of the malaise. He knew he was close to moving into phase 3 of his project, all had been going to plan and now this man Bond was sticking his nose in, as if Sinclair wasn’t a big enough thorn in his side “Yes, do it. I want a report every day” He slapped the table and then looked directly at Bakush “Make sure Aki Danni is in Hong Kong for my arrival on Saturday”

CIA Situation Room Tel Aviv

James Bond read through the CIA reports on the latest wave of terrorist attacks.
Letters and packages containing the poison Danthrax a virulent form of anthrax had been sent to the offices and in some cases private homes of many of the world’s leading industrialists and financial advisers. Fifty people in Europe, forty-five people in the US, thirty in China and three in Turkey had so far tested positive to exposure to the Danthrax strain.
The powder sent in all cases was reportedly milled to a fine particle size of between 1 and 2 microns (thousandths of a millimetre) and caused pulmonary infections upon inhalation.
The strain had the ideal characteristics for a biological weapon targeting humans; in so much as it has a high infectivity rate, coupled with high potency, non-availability of vaccines, and delivery as an aerosol.
The following diseases are most likely to be considered for use as biological weapons because of their lethality (if delivered efficiently), and robustness (making aerosol delivery feasible).
The biological agents used in biological weapons can often be manufactured quickly and easily. The primary difficulty is not the production of the biological agent but the delivery system in an effective form to a vulnerable target.
Anthrax is considered to be the most effective agent for several reasons. First, it forms hardy spores, perfect for dispersal aerosols. Second, pneumonic (lung) infections of anthrax usually do not cause secondary infections in other people. Thus, the effect of the agent is usually confined to the target. A pneumonic anthrax infection starts with ordinary "cold" symptoms and quickly becomes lethal, with a fatality rate that is 90% or higher. Finally, friendly personnel can be protected with suitable antibiotics.
A mass attack using anthrax would require the creation of aerosol particles of 1.5 to 3 micrometers any larger and the aerosol would be filtered out by the respiratory system any smaller and the aerosol would simply be inhaled and exhaled.
Also, at this size, nonconductive powders tend to clump and cling because of electrostatic charges. This hinders dispersion. So the material deadly in itself must be treated with an ‘insulate’ to allow better dispersion.
The aerosol must be delivered so that rain and sun does not rot it, and yet the human lung can be infected. There are a number of technological difficulties in milling to this accuracy, and the only known equipment was lost during the Iraq invasion.
To cause pulmonary anthrax, clumps of inhaled spores must be between one and five microns wide, the optimum size to penetrate the lungs, the machining is critical.

Two examples were also received at media offices in New York and Florida and after examination by the US health authority was pronounced as the same strain.

The evidence was undeniable as individual as a fingerprint, it had been milled to such a fine standard that the particles were identical - a process only fifty percent as fine was known to be technically challenging to even the most expertise biological experts, leading to claims that whoever made it has some serious backing.

Make no mistake this strain could be used in an air attack by an aerosol dispersion method using a Coagulating Acceleration Microchip.

CIA offices in New York, Washington and Boca Raton, Florida had also been hit.

Bond looked at Leiter “Someone’s been busy”

“This all suggests a single source responsible for all incidents. There were also similarities between the letters that carried the Danthrax to NBC and to Senator Tom Daschle's office in Washington on Monday. But information is not yet available on the strain used in the Arrarat incident”

“What are the odds on that strain being different do you think?”

“That’s a long shot”

One wall of the situation room was covered with flat screen monitors, one monitor depicted a map of the world which pulsed with different coloured lights.
Leiter explained the different colours; red represented a receipt and death, yellow marked colleagues and business links. Green marked intended receipt addresses.
A Violet light marked the latest known position for Blofeld
And a pale blue one depicted Dr. Bakush. Square pulses of the same colours were locations visited or known haunts. A large golden light shone in Hong Kong

“What’s that?” Asked Bond

“The Golden light? That’s World-life Head Quarters the smaller ones are subsidiaries, you can see that the latest information shows Blofeld and Bakush are still at the Bio Atul Istanbul facility. I’d love to move in and take them out”

“…and risk another wave of Danthrax to get them released?”

The other monitors were showing the cities where the recipients of the Danthrax had been based. By moving the curser over the lights details of the victims and their company interests were highlighted. All the victims were involved with government-funded operations. Leiter continued to monitor the updates

“So where do they have the ability to mill the poison to such a fine quantity?”

Filix looked guilty “We had a similar wave in the States, started a little over a year ago, although the identity of the Florida/NBC toxin was not confirmed as Danthrax. The reports hinted that it was a virulent "Ames" strain, and that meant it could, I repeat COULD have been home made in the US, the strain they identified was produced by the US bio weapons programme.

“Project Bacchus?” asked Bond

“How the hell did you know about that” asked Felix

“A little bird told me”

“Of course it was the Bacchus experiment that Daisy Sinclair was involved in.
The project proved that such toxins are not that difficult to produce.
In its last year of operation, Project Bacchus, succeeded in covertly producing one kilogram of a non-pathogenic bacteria similar to anthrax. The bacteria were milled to particle sizes of 3-5 microns with machinery bought on the open market in the US.
The specialized equipment they would need to allow them to mill to the optimum size, is going to be a very rare piece of equipment, but it must exist somewhere in the world, or least in any of these facilities” Felix indicated the screens.

“Milling dried anthrax cultures to this size, is considered the most technically challenging step in making anthrax weapons. The Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute, a think tank in Washington, says such particle sizes from the terrorist wave indicate some sort of state sponsorship".

"Or they could just acquire the know-how from Iraqi scientists, or renegades from the former Soviet programme, perhaps? Said Bond

“Not that easy, Project Bacchus was run by the Iraqi scientist Dr. Bakush known as the Professor he is an expert, but he could not achieve the one to two microns”

Bond checked the screens “So the Danthrax must have been produced in one of the seven Worldlife facilities”

“Yeah it seems that way, that’s why we are watching them 24/7” he continued to move the curser.
Bond felt a thought explode in his mind “Felix, I have a bad feeling about this, from what I understand the Danthrax sent to individuals could have done just as much damage even if it had been milled to only half the accuracy?”

“That’s right. We think he is delivering a message to the World”

Both Bond and Leiter turned in the direction of the new voice.
The woman had entered the Situation room unnoticed, but as they saw her they could not take their eyes from her.

Her dark skin was clear and radiant, and formed the perfect canvass for her even darker almond shaped eyes shaded as they were from the light by her natural long black lashes. She was wearing heels but they were sensible, and with this slight boost she was almost the same height as Bond, her jet black hair was brushed back in a simple manner, and her open stance said she couldn’t care less about the latest European styles or fashions, and this statement made her very desirable. If she was wearing make up it must have been applied with great skill, and from what Bond could see of her this would not have been the case, he therefore surmised her skin tone and colouring was perfect. Her figure was disguised underneath the white clinical Laboratory coat, but Bond had already mentally undressed her before the next words were spoken, and he was pleased with what he imagined.

Leiter made the introduction and broke the spell “Dr. Leah Anavitz may I introduce…”

“Bond …James Bond” he moved forward and shook her hand, seizing the initiative

“What kind of message Dr. Anavitz?” Bond thought how different she was to Daisy.

She looked toward Leiter then turned defiantly back to Bond “That the Professor has a strain of Danthrax that can be deployed in a Biological Warfare device”

“He has a bomb” Bond clarified

“Yes, undoubtedly” From the corner of her eye she saw Leiter raise his shoulders as if to start a protest, but Bond continued to look her directly in the eye

“Then why has he not deployed it?”

She looked at Leiter, but continued to address Bond “Because your Mr. Blofeld is a terrorist, and that means he wants to terrorize people, how better to demonstrate that than allowing your pet psychopathic Doctor to show the world you have a bomb that can almost kill to order”

Felix cut in “That’s just a theory”

“Yeah, but shared by most of the top brass at EN Back” her mouth was perhaps a little too big and her nostrils flared as her anger rose, but they were miniscule flaws in an otherwise unblemished appearance and personality.

Bond interrupted “What makes you think it’s possible?”
She looked up through her black eyelashes “In 2002 we were aware of Biological Warfare devices being milled and assembled at the Salman Pak facility”
Bond asked “Where is Salman Park?”
Leah gave a quick diversion from her narrative “It’s an Iraqi military facility near Baghdad. At one time, it was the center of Iraq’s biological and chemical weapons programs”
“Thank-you” Bond lent against the desk and absentmindedly began to move the curser around the screen, highlighting the latest information
Felix joined in the conversation and added matter of fact “The Salman Pak facility is located approximately 15 miles south of Baghdad on a peninsula formed on the eastward bend of the Tigris. The facility grounds comprise approximately 20 square kilometers. According to the Federation of American Scientists, the facility was a key center of Iraq’s biological chemical weapon program. The laboratories in the complex researched anthrax, botulinum, clostridium, perfringens and mycotoxin” he returned his attention to the monitors
Dr. Anavitz continued "Salman Pak was overrun by American troops on April 6 there no sign of any weapons or the machinery to produce them; but they found a written account that products were taken to a secret location probably SEPP. That’s a chemical weapons facility in the desert; its laboratory, bunker and administrative buildings were successfully disguised as the pesticide plant called SEPP. State Establishment for Pesticide Production” She shook her head to emphasize she wanted to get back on to the plot
“In November 2006 the National Bio-defense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, we call it EN Back were contacted and asked by one Mr. Khaldoun Hamed if they wanted to buy a Biological bomb” her face was a mass of expressions, showing the utter improbable aspect of the conversation
She was pacing in front of Bond and her hands became more animated as the conversation continued “We thought it was a hoax, but later we were informed that during a number of interviews with prominent Iraqi defectors, there were many stories mentioning that a “Something” had gone missing, spirited from SEPP by two Special Republican Guardsmen. Hamed was a name that was mentioned, then we confirmed that was the name of a Sergeant in the SRG”
Leah’s face became serious and Bond lent forward for the punch line to the tale
“Last month dental records identified Khaldoun Hamed and Didar Mushir another guardsman as the men that had died from a rare type of neurological anthrax poisoning on Mount Ararat”
Bond thought through the scenario “The bomb is in Istanbul” it was a statement more than a question
“You catch on fast Mr. Bond” Leah relaxed at last she had someone that believed her and understood the problem her smile was contagious.
“The World’s most influential good guys are all in Istanbul right now; shouldn’t we be the least bit nervous about the bomb going off?”
Leah answered in a soft reassuring tone “You didn’t hear what Blofeld said at the conference did you?”
“No” Bond was warming to her personality and her friction toward Leiter.
Her eyes glinted as she continued “Mr. Blofeld feels Iran holds the key to World domination, we think he will start his attack in Tehran”
Felix stood behind her shaking his head, Bond ignored him.
“Then why is Felix and the CIA so sure you are wrong?”
She glanced behind at Leiter, and then turned her back on him again; her mind was made up as to who she needed to help her. “Because after the American invasion of Iraq, Dr. Bakush went over to the States and the CIA set him up in a facility in Nevada, and told him to make biological bombs. He did, and then he started killing people with the leftovers. Now they don’t like to admit that they have ever heard of The Professor”
Bond turned toward Felix “I thought your terrorist friend Blofeld had funded the Bacchus project in Nevada?”
Leah looked back at Bond and pouted. Felix began to fidget
Bond began to laugh “Oh dear Felix, you mean Blofeld was linked to the CIA as well?”
Leiter moved forward and stood in between the two of them “Now listen you two, Bio Atul has won a contract to supply Tehran with biological weapons, that is why Blofeld and Bakush are there in Istanbul, they don’t want to blow Tehran up they want to do business with them”
Bond interjected “Is that business in the interests of the USA?”
“Of course not, that’s why we want to take these people out”
Suddenly the monitor started beeping
Thankful for the distraction Leiter brought their attention to the monitor the text next to a green light was flickering “Check this out it’s a live link”

Bond and Leah watched a blurry security camera picture from the HKio Tec Industries underground car park, it showed a shadow on the wall approaching a car, a second camera cut in showing the car (a Maseratti or an Alfa - Bond thought) evading the security barrier at the main gate, the security officers had emerged from a small Security building.

“Remarkable” Bond looked quizzically at Leiter. Leah was stood close to Bond he could feel the heat from her body, as he turned to look at Leiter he edged closer to her, she did not move away.

Leiter smiled at the sarcasm, he clicked over to camera three, which showed a number of people leaving the main entrance and gathering in the car park by the security building.
Leiter held up his hand to stop another comment, and then used it to pick up his mobile, cutting off the tacky “stars and stripes” ring tone

Felix looked up from the mobile “HKio Tec officially puts this down to a fire alarm being accidentally triggered. Our local intelligence tells us the lockdown is as a result of an intruder alarm”

Bond thought about the car evading the security “Licence plate?”

Leiter was already on another call. He put down the phone and smiled “Our people tell me they can sharpen the image up with the help of their latest computer. Unfortunately the picture enhancement process, will take a couple of hours”

Bond turned to Leah “Dinner?”

She kept her position “Yes that would be nice, I will need to change”

“Not from where I’m standing”

They left the Situation room together, Leiter remained, he was under no illusion that the invitation to dine did not extend to him.

#5 volante

volante

    Lt. Commander

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  • 1926 posts
  • Location:GCHQ

Posted 22 September 2008 - 08:35 PM

Chapter Nine
Shanghai

With the sound of the intruder alarm, blaring in their ears the HKio Tec security guards ran from their security post, a red sports car leapt out of the underground car park; with all haste they dropped the barrier in a hope of capturing the intruder. The car swerved to avoid the descending barrier. The Alfa Romeo 8C screamed down the road in the direction of the docks but the HKio Tec Security was in pursuit. The car boarded the ferry and screeched to a halt, the old ferry cast off its ropes and slowly moved away from the dock out into the wide fast flowing Huangpu River but not quickly enough to prevent a security camera recording the Alfa’s licence plate. On board the ferry the intruder jumped out or the Alfa and Daisy Sinclair looked back at the skyline dominating Jinmao Tower and Shanghai Global Financial Centre.

Tel Aviv

Dr. Leah Anavitz was 38 but she looked much younger she had spent the past three years since her appointment with EN Back working by day with deadly viruses and their antidotes, by night she would shrug off the mantle of the scientist and live life as if each day were her last. Before leaving Israel she had spent a number of very happy times at the restaurant that she had recommended to Bond, and as she drove up into the hills the memories came flooding back she told him of her dream. “I try to spend at least one day of every week living life like a fairy-tale; just to relax from the buzz of the city. So please James just close your eyes and imagine the shore of a warm and caressing sea, a small gulf and an ancient port with fishermen's boats bobbing on a clam sea”

Bond closed his eyes and let the rhythm of the Volvo caress him, he felt it stop.
She whispered in his ear “What do you think?”
Bond opened his eyes. She and parked on the crest of a small hill, in a comfortable quiet grove surrounded by the vibrancy of southern green plants overlooking
Tel Aviv. The evening breeze complemented the open top car.

She gestured for him to look behind and he followed her gesture down the other side of the hill. The village was set out on each side of a narrow winding street, in which a dozen or so small houses and workshops and galleries were situated.

“It’s nearly as beautiful as you” He walked around the car to be with her. Leah activated the automatic roof turning the C70 into a coupe.

Bond helped her out of the car. She had changed into a mid blue silk blouse and a tight white skirt the shoes were mid blue and much higher heels than before. She had only applied a little lipstick but the effect was stunning.

Leah blushed at the remark but was not embarrassed by it “This is the fairy-tale of Old Jaffa, one of the most beautiful and picturesque corners of Israel, my parents brought me here as a child”

He offered her his arm and she took it, the night air was cool on their skin and the mood was light as they walked down the picturesque cobbled street with its houses in the eastern style, enjoying its sea landscape, soon they were going down to the port, where black stones - Rock Andromeda, were all around,

“Here you find the most romantic restaurant Aladdin”

They entered the establishment, there were three other couples sitting at their tables and some well established locals at the bar.
The combination of the intimacy of the interior with delicious kitchen smell enhanced the romantic feel to their evening.

They were met by the patron who spoke in soft tones, Leah laughed at his questions. They followed him through the low beamed interior, she translated “He said that the sea breeze was best for lovers, and there are two open verandas which are very private”

Bond and Leah became absorbed in the atmosphere of the far past. “Every time I come here I feel like an immigrant, who has just walked off the ship in the Holy Land for the first time, like a simple visitor in this fairy tale country”

Bond gently broke the magic and asked her about her work “How long have you been away from Tel Aviv?”

She was so relaxed her recollection seemed to describe her work like it was a pass time rather than a job “Just over three years. I still miss all this” she looked around at the spectacular view and let the traditional music complement the waves beating against the sand.

She looked deep into his eyes “EN-back is a government bio-defense research laboratory created by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and located at Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD”

She took another drink of the sweet wine “It was created quietly a few months after the 2001 anthrax attacks, the NBACC (pronounced EN-back) is intended to be the principal U.S. bio-defense research institution engaged in laboratory-based threat assessment and bio-forensics. EN-back is an important part of the National Integrated Bio-defense Campus (NIBC) also based at Fort Detrick for the US Army, National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Agriculture”

Bond sat fascinated by the description of her work

“It’s important to remember that all the classical and modern biological weapon organisms are animal diseases, the only exception being smallpox. Thus, in any use of biological weapons, it is highly likely that animals will become ill either simultaneously with, or usually earlier than humans. Indeed, in the largest biological weapons accident known -- the anthrax outbreak in Yekaterinburg in the Soviet Union in 1979, sheep became ill with anthrax as far as 200 kilometers from the release point of the organism from a military facility in the southeastern portion of the city (known as Compound 19 and still off limits to visitors today”

They left the restaurant and walked along the shore, Leah was passionate about her responsibility “We have developed a robust surveillance system that is vital to human clinicians and veterinarians who can now identify a bio-weapons attack early in the course of an epidemic, permitting the prophylaxis of the disease in the vast majority of people (and/or animals) exposed but not yet ill. For example in the case of anthrax, it is likely that by 24 - 36 hours after an attack, a small percentage of individuals (those with compromised immune system or who had received a large dose of the organism due to proximity to the release point) will become ill with classical symptoms and signs (including a virtually unique chest X-ray finding, often recognized by public health officials if they receive timely reports). By making this data available to local public health officials in real time, most models of anthrax epidemics indicate that more than 80% of an exposed population can receive antibiotic treatment before becoming symptomatic, and thus avoid the moderately high mortality of the disease”

“How does that stack up against a quick release, like the Tokyo tube incident?”

“You can kill a lot of people if they are all close together in a confined space, but if you are tying to take hundreds of thousands of people, it will take some time”

“The goal of bio-defense is to integrate the sustained efforts of the national and homeland security, medical, public health, intelligence, diplomatic, and law enforcement communities. Health care providers and public health officers are among the first lines of defense. In some countries private, local, and state capabilities are being augmented by and coordinated with federal assets, to provide layered defenses against biological weapons attacks. The traditional approach toward protecting agriculture, food, and water: focusing on the natural or unintentional introduction of a disease being strengthened by focused efforts to address current and anticipated future biological weapons threats that may be deliberate, multiple, and repetitive.
The growing threat of bio-warfare agents and bio-terrorism has led to the development of specific field tools that perform on-the-spot analysis and identification of encountered suspect materials. One such technology, being developed by researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), employs a "sandwich immunoassay", in which fluorescent dye-labeled antibodies aimed at specific pathogens are attached to silver and gold nano-wires” Leah paused for breath.

“Why are you here, you don’t seem to agree with the CIA line?”

“Researchers at Ben Gurion University have developed a different device called the Bio Pen, essentially a "Lab-in-a-Pen", which can detect known biological agents in 20 minutes and begin to formulate a vaccine to counter act the virus. The CIA want to use it to flush out the terrorists, I’m here to make sure that does not happen”
“I must get one for Christmas”
“I don’t believe in Christmas James but I do believe the Bio Pen can nullify an air borne attack, unless of course they have a Coagulating accelerator microchip, then nothing can stop it”
Bond felt that what she had said was important but at this time the words meant nothing to him, he desperately wanted to kiss her.
She looked at him again and her voice became thicker with passion, her tone became automated as if reciting a well known poem, she began to undue his shirt “All you need to know is where and when. Unfortunately the where has to be within a one mile radius of the initial detonation” She continued looked at him and her vulnerability was overwhelming.
Bond lent forward and kissed her, the passion of her work was nothing to the pent up emotion she released as she kissed him back. She removed her shoes and they lay together on the cool sand.
CIA situation room Tel Aviv
The computer had done its work; Leiter was able to identify the licence plate on the film, and almost instantaneously the information on the car typed itself on the screen.
Make: Alfa Romeo 8 C
Owner: Hertz Car Hire
Current Lease: Daisy Sinclair

So the intruder was Daisy Sinclair, ex-DOJ agent with a price on her head.

Shamarha Cove Tel Aviv
The luminous dial on his watch showed 01.15 am as Bond and Leah walked lazily up the hill back to her car. There was a chill in the air, but the walk had kept them warm. Leah searched in her bag for the keys and joked “I might have lost them on the beach”

She pulled them out and jingled them in front of his face “Voila”
The Volvo was not alone as it was when they left it, but it was flanked by two vehicles, one either side, the first was a large dark Chrysler 300C and the other a small white Citroen van.

Bond noticed there was movement inside the Chrysler but suddenly the doors of the van flew open and in the same instant the rear doors opened on the 300C.
The interior lights of both vehicles cast a distorted shadow as six men jumped out.

Although it was dark Bond could see the machine pistols in their hands
“Stay where you are. Do not move” the voices were hard and menacing, and Bond heard the Uzi 9mm’s cock for action.

Leah screamed and broke away from Bond’s side, “Leah don’t” he moved to catch her but the gunmen nearest to her shouted another warning then came the flash and rasp of the gun from the gunman on the far side, as the trigger was pulled, the bolt slid forward and hit the breech, thus interfering with the aim acquired by the shooter, the rain of fire arced up, and the gunman fought to bring his weapon down and under control so his finger tightened even more and prolonging the burst.
Daisy fell to the road.
Bond began to move toward her but a voice from behind stopped him in his tracks.

“Stand perfectly still please Mr. Bond” it was the voice of an oriental woman and in the silence after the gun fire was totally out of place. Another gunman closed in on Bond and barked out an order “We want some information from you, so don’t think your death will be as quick as that bitch” His was an American accent but the phrasing was east European and it came from a huge head with Slavic features that sat upon a black leather jacket. Bond made no move. The men surrounded him

“Get your hands up” He shouted and gestured with his eyes but his Uzi remained rock steady on his chest.

Bond raised his arms slowly. Behind him the sound of dainty small footsteps padded over to where Leah lay, Bond was now able to see the woman as she looked down at the body, her appearance was as bizarre as her voice; her makeup was perfect and dramatic with her hair piled on top of her head, constrained by a red silk ribbon and what looked like two chop sticks, her dress was traditional, and even in the darkness he could see it was red silk with a Qipao brocade black dragon.

In the right environment she would have looked elegant and feminine, with face and neck framed in a high standard princess collar, she looked at Bond from behind her dark eyes and as she moved back from Leah’s corpse, her smooth naked leg was revealed from the side opening of the thigh high slit.

The man in front of Bond spoke again “What have you done with the Sinclair girl?”
Before Bond could answer the oriental woman confirmed “Dr. Anavitz is dead” then she looked at the gunman who had killed her “You fool” she hissed and without pause she pulled one of the chopsticks from her hair, and putting one end to her rouged lips she blew. The thin dart hit the man in the throat; he dropped the Uzi and grabbed his neck then he dropped to his knees looking at the woman. He made a gargling noise and fell forward hitting the road next to Leah.

Bond took his opportunity, and kicked forward into the gunman’s groin, Sharpe doubled from the agony of the well placed kick. The other gunmen tried to bring their weapons to bear but Bond had moved to keep the big man between himself and them.
Bond hit the big man on the bicep and then punched him in the neck, with his grip compromised he grappled the Uzi away from the man’s grasp.

Bond moved quickly dragging the off balance Mr. Sharpe with him, his feet desperately trying to find purchase on the road; the other gunmen were shouting and moving into a better position trying to get off a shot. Sharpe rallied and used his strength to halt Bond’s progress by dropping to the ground, Bond was exposed and loosed off half a clip of ammunition in the direction of the Woman and gunmen.
But he was off balance and the bullets pinged into the ground and ricocheted into the night.

The gunmen all dived to the ground and by the time it took them all to get back into an attacking position Bond had reached the van, wrenching open the drivers door he breathed a sigh of relief to see the keys dangling from the ignition, then came the first raft of gunfire, Bond used the van as cover and returned fire spraying bullets over the roof, the two gunmen on his left dropped to the ground, bullets thudded into the van’s bodywork in return.

Bond turned and fired again, the first shot hit the nearest attackers gun hand and he dropped his Uzi, the second shot took him square in the chest and he died before hitting the ground, but another attacker had come over the bonnet of the van and reached down for Bond grabbing his collar, Bond twisted and brought the man over his shoulder, they both got to their feet but Bond reacted first and fired a kick to the man’s chest, following it up by sweeping his legs from under him, as he fell Bond sprayed the area to the front and then rear of the van with gunfire until the hammer fell on an empty chamber, then he threw himself behind the wheel and started the engine, slamming the gear shift in reverse he dropped the clutch and shot back reaching for the drivers’ door as he moved, he felt the slight impact and grunt as he hit another of the gunmen, then the glass shattered on the open door, Bond hit the brakes and lent out of the van picking up another one of the discarded Uzi’s, just then the windscreen shattered, in the lull after the gun fire burst, Bond, showered in broken glass sat up and fired back through smashed windscreen where a gunman was standing, the bullets ripped into him and the gunman spun around and dropped to the road. Another gunman arrived at the passenger window gripping Bond’s arm, Bond turned the Uzi and fired the rest of the clip through the window splintering the rest of the glass, then he got a good hold and closed the door, he accelerated blindly another twelve feet then pulled the hand brake on and the van skidded to a halt.

Bond put it into first gear and gunned the engine, the van found some grip, and Bond made good his escape, he felt the impact of more bullets as they slammed into the bodywork and dashboard, then he was into the first bend. He had arrived at this hill top paradise with his eyes closed; now he was careering down the hill escaping a hell on earth in the pitch black, the wind rushed in through the shattered windscreen.

The dark of the night was nothing to the darkness that cloaked his heart.
Where ever this mission took him he made himself a promise that Leah’s death would be avenged.
CIA situation room Tel Aviv
The door opened and Felix turned in his chair to see Bond entering to the Situation room, Bond had a look about him which influenced Leiter’s initial comment. “We are all very sorry about Dr. Anavitz; she was a very popular member of the team. Are you OK James?” Bond nodded in the affirmative.
Leiter drew Bond’s attention to the main screen “Look, Blofeld is on the move”

The system had picked up that an airline ticket had been activated in his name and Blofeld’s passport had been checked at the Airport.
Bond noticed the destination was Hong Kong.

Felix opened an identikit package on the PC, which would link in and allow an almost real time search of the CIA database “We have a video call with M in one hour, lets see if we can identify Leah’s killers”

M knew there would be trouble which ever decision she made.
That very afternoon the Prime Minister himself had applied pressure for MI6 to comply with the American position. In the dark recess of her mind she wondered on the real power behind the decision making logic on this case.

Bond had put forward a compelling argument to go to Hong Kong and tackle Blofeld head on.
Leiter was firm that the CIA wanted the primary action to be against Miss Sinclair.

Bond had to concede that he was unsure of Daisy’s motives or current allegiance, but argued that if she were in Blofeld’s employ she would eventually travel to Hong Kong

The CIA wanted all major stakeholders to understand the role of the key players. They were unsure of the result of the HKio Tec break in and felt it would allow the pieces to fall in to place if they understood her bargaining position.

Leiter explained that the CIA team had formulated a plan whereby Bond would travel to Shanghai, and meet with Sinclair and get her to divulge her position. If she were in league with Blofeld she would act as a gateway and allow Bond access to Blofeld. The bait would be the Bio Pen technology.

Bond relayed the concerns that Leah had had about using the Pen as bait.
“Dr. Anavitz was absolutely against any information from the Ben Gurion University, especially on the Bio Pen being leaked to an enemy power”

Leiter could not look at Bond as he gave the counter argument “In the interests of World safety, Dr. Cohen, Head of Bio research at the Ben Gurion University has given his consent to use the Bio Pen as bait”

M called for a recess. The atmosphere was very tense in the situation room as the minutes ticked by.

Suddenly the phone rang and Leiter keyed in the code, M returned to the main screen, by the look on her face Bond knew he was destined to go to Shanghai.
















Chapter Ten

Shanghai

Shanghai's relatively small city centre makes it easy to navigate. It consists of two basic districts, Pu Xi (western town) and Pu Dong (eastern town), which face each other across the Huang Pu River. As a general rule, Pu Xi embodies "Old Shanghai" and Pu Dong represents "New Shanghai." This is characterized by the stark contrast of the modern and historical architecture that like on either side of the river, namely the early 20th century architecture of the Bund on the Pu Xi side and the most conspicuous modern architecture of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the Grand Hyatt Shanghai on the Pu Dong side. Fifteen years ago it was nothing but farmland, but in just five years the Pudong New Area had been transformed from a sleepy second rate commercial district into one of the foremost world class financial and trade zones in Asia. Over 300 of the world’s top 500 enterprises have opened branches in Shanghai, while many other companies had their research and development centres or headquarters there.

James Bond's contact in Shanghai was senior FBI agent Daniel Jacobs. They met at the Wai Wai bar in Park97, it was here that the old money veterans mixed with the nouveau rich in a hedonistic mix.

Bond wanted to hate Jacobs; after all if Daisy were telling the truth, this man was a traitor, murderer and cohort of Bakush and probably Blofeld.
The man himself was however charming and from the first minute they met, good company. For an American his taste in clothing was conservative a lightweight grey suit, and his choice of venue wonderful.
‘An excellent place to spend a night or two’ Thought Bond.

There were three popular food and entertainment areas that catered for all tastes, the Baci Restaurant for Italian cuisine, Tokio Joe Restaurant with its authentic Japanese cuisine and the California Club fresh from Hong Kong made up the heart of Park97. Compared to the Xin Tian Di, the nightlife here is not all that showy but exuded an everlasting international glamour.

With elegance, exoticism, top-class European wine and music, Park97 has a special charm.
After dinner Bond and Jacobs walked through the bustling streets to ‘Guandi’

Jacobs explained “It’s the most noted club here; it was the first superior club to open in China after Taibei's ‘Cash Box’ was burnt down”

A stunningly beautiful girl in a fully traditional vibrant red dress welcomed them into Shanghai's oldest, most renowned gentleman’s club “Hello, please call me Wan, I am here to help. Can I help you?”

Her name tag said ‘Kan Suk’ and Bond remarked “I’m sure you can”

“The Guandi is the best in Shanghai…” Said Jacobs as he removed his jacket, he sat at a low table close to the window yet suitably out of the eye line of passers by.
“… and most importantly it’s opposite the Oriental Riverside Hotel Shanghai”

Another equally beautiful girl took their drinks order. “You wish to drink here or would you like to come through to the main room?” she asked

“We have to talk business, so we will drink here for now” Jacobs said with a smile.
The girl bowed and went to collect their drinks.

Bond looked over at the main entrance; it was the first and still is the only hotel categorized as a 5-star Convention Hotel in Pudong. Located in the heart of Shanghai's Financial & Trade Zone district it is just southwest to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

Jacobs had chosen the bar, restaurant and club because of their location to the hotel, and not just the notoriety and certainly not because of their accessibility from other parts of the city. With its various modern transportation systems struggling to cope, travel elevates the stress levels for most of any journey across this large city.
Shanghai's first cross-river tunnel, the ‘Dapu Road Tunnel’, was desperately in need of help and each car and truck that struggled through it whispered a silent prayer for the sister tunnel to be completed quickly, to help ease traffic congestion, and with the 2010 World Expo only just around the corner the city planners were experiencing the same levels of stress as the commuters.

Bond was dreading the onward journey especially now after alcohol, but Jacobs had come up trumps again, he had made a reservation for Bond at the Oriental.
“Not only because it’s the best in Shanghai, but it’s also the hotel in which Daisy Sinclair is staying”

James Bond walked through the sumptuous reception area to the check in desk.
“Good evening sir” said the receptionist in her royal blue uniform.

“I have a reservation, in the name of Bond” he said confidently

“Of course Mr. Bond” she checked through the reservations and came up smiling as she saw the room he had booked “We have pleasure in offering you the ‘Royal Suite’
I hope you will enjoy”

“I will” Bond had that mischievous look in his eye as he took the key.

After checking in Bond took the lift down the underground car park, and strolled around the expensive European marques; soon he spotted Daisy's Alfa and placed the tracking device under the nearside fender.

The Royal suite was well accommodated and the view was superb, but it was the bed he was looking forward to.

After a good night’s sleep he was ready for her.
Daisy drove steadily toward the west of the city, the six lane highway was the most direct route to Hongqiao International Airport (Rainbow Bridge International Airport). Bond knew it was one of the two airports in Shanghai in the still relatively urban area of the city. They had decided that Jacobs should stay undercover, well out of Daisy’s sight, and so Bond tailed the Alfa at a safe distance, the Ford Kuga he drove was not uncommon on the city streets and blended in to the morning commute.
Jacobs fed Bond almost constant updates via his mobile. About a mile from the airport she indicated and left the main highway.
Bond reported in. Jacobs responded that there was a private airfield further down the road. Minutes later he confirmed that her clothes and passport were still at the hotel.
The opinion was she was not leaving the country.

“Perhaps she is meeting someone?” Jacobs offered

Daisy drove into the airfield, the red Alfa followed the signs which had a black helicopter silhouette emblazoned on its bright yellow background.

She parked the car and walked into the “Fei Lung” terminal office.

Bond pulled off the road and parked behind a small hanger. Daisy and a small Chinese man were walking toward a Bell 407 Jet Ranger Helicopter.

“Bond; the company are a Helicopter charter company, she’s going to take an Ariel trip around the city” Jacobs was trying not to laugh but the relief in his voice was infectious.

The Bell 407 is a popular helicopter because pilots like to fly in it. This helicopter is used to quickly fly people from one city to another city. This helicopter can carry 6 passengers. The helicopter can fly very fast at nearly 256 km/h. The pilot was obviously enjoying showing this wealthy American tourist around his machine.
Bond asked Jacobs to book him a flight with another company, he had to follow her.

“Be careful James its hard to hide in the sky”

“If it’s just a tour, they won’t be suspicious of another chopper following around the tourist spots”

The pilot and Daisy climbed on board, the engine fired up and the rotor began to whirl.

“Hurry up Jacobs, or I will lose her, which office do I go to?”

Bond broke cover and ran to the office across from the helipad. Not that he thought he would be able to book a flight but that he recognised the Cessna 175 Skylark sitting on a grass airstrip. Bond had flown the four-seat, single-engine, high-wing plane a number of times. As he reached the aircraft he began a pre flight check. A grubby looking mechanic began shouting and gesticulating for him to leave the area.

“Get me a Chinese speaker, and explain I need to borrow this airplane”
He handed the mobile to the mechanic standing by the wing. A furious conversation took place and Bond realized he had to do something; the man was going red with rage, so Bond took out his wallet and took out the largest notes he could find, and thrust them into his oily hand. The mechanic changed his tone. Bond pointed toward the wooden chocks in front of the wheels and without a backward glance opened the door. The mechanic was bowing and smiling at Bond as he locked down the fuel flap. Bond taxied to the end of the strip swung the old Skylark around and set off in pursuit. He knew that flat out the Jet Ranger could out run the Cessna, but if the trip were genuine, they would not be planning on travelling at top speed.

Once airborne Bond gained height and took station above and behind the Jet Ranger.
They were heading back toward the city.
Bond took stock of the situation, he realized how foolish his decision had been, and what a dangerous position he had put himself.
He could remain in pursuit for maybe (he checked the fuel gauge) forty minutes.
But then where would he land?
The mechanic may have reported the plane stolen, if so would there be a police chopper after him.
He quickly put the mistake behind him and re-focused o the task at hand.

The Bell swooped low and followed the river into the city, the urbanization sprawled out beneath them. Then it took a sharp turn in, and began to climb, still heading for the centre the chopper flew on. They pasted over ‘Square Pagoda Park’.

As they began to close in on the skyscrapers the pilot slowed down and they dropped into a wide canyon of glass and steel.
Daisy fidgeted in her seat, gleefully looking around her like a schoolgirl on a date in a convertible, checking out her reflection in the double glazed windows of the tower blocks.

The Jet ranger continued into the heart of the city, it gained height and circled the Shanghai World Financial Centre. The pilot explained
“It is a mixed use skyscraper which will consist of offices, hotels, conference rooms, observation decks, and shopping malls on the ground floors. The hotel component will open with 175 rooms and suites in mid-2008 as the Park Hyatt Shanghai”

Daisy nodded enthusiastically

“Today the skyscraper stands at 492.3 meters (1,615 ft) and is the tallest structure in China, including Hong Kong, as well as being the world's third tallest building 101 story high”

Very pleased with himself the pilot turned and flew east, within minutes they were converging on two office blocks, the pilot banked and headed for the smaller of the two at only forty stories high. Adjusting the angle of the rotors he placed the Bell down on the Helicopter pad on the roof.

Bond swooped down and observed Daisy rushing to the entrance of the glass and steel structure on the roof. It was an imposing entrance nested among the lift gear.
The Jet Ranger took off. He felt foolish and alone, he had no way of communicating with Jacobs, and only a vague idea which way was back to the airfield. He circled one more time.

A Handsome Chinese couple met Daisy at the door, the man gave her a warm towel to refresh her face, and then the woman took over and escorted her down the fastidiously clean marble stairs. At the next level the women pressed the button for the lift. They fussed over her for the entire two flight journey.

Decision time, he could follow the Jet Ranger back or…

… Bond banked the Cessna and approached the taller of the two buildings, dropping the speed and raising the flaps on the small craft the Cessna landed, and with the deftest of touches Bond corrected the trajectory, the plane continued to slow then, slipped over the edge of the roof, with the flaps extended it glided, similar to a flying fox, and touched down on the roof of the second building, Bond applied the brakes and the plane twisted and skidded, a gust of wind caught the left wing and tipped it up Bond steered into the wind and brought it down onto its three wheels, he continued to turn and stopped the aircraft next to the entrance.

Bond walled down the stairs, and entered the lift; vaguely surprised it was only designed to go two flights he pressed the button.
As the door opened he strode out into a sky high reception area, a beautiful Chinese woman in a crisp white uniform looked up from her desk; she was totally confused to see someone come down alone without the usual reception committee

Tiny and bird-like she came around the desk “Do you have an appointment sir?”
“No I just dropped in, what do you have?”

She bowed and presented him with the menu.

“Please sit down here” she showed him to a seat “Please to choose your treatment”

Now it was Bond’s turn to look surprised, he read the first page of the menu, and understood this was not a restaurant but a Health Spa.

“I’d like to surprise my fiancée, which room is she in?” Bond began walking away from the woman.

“But who is your fiancée sir?” she followed him

“Daisy Sinclair”

The woman brushed past him, her scent was fragrant and the starchiness of her uniform rustled in the silence of the corridor “Please to follow me”

Daisy had undressed in a private changing room the size of a small hotel bedroom, she had put on the black swimming costume provided by the Spa and wrapped the white fluffy cotton dressing gown around her. She left her clothes on the single bed unlocked the inner door for the small room and entered the pool area.

It was humid and fashioned as a tropical lagoon the water looked so inviting and she knew it was going to be just the right temperature. The soft cascade of the waterfall was broken by exotic foliage. She was met by a beautiful girl in a short white tunic; she offered Daisy a refreshing warm towel and escorted her to a solarium area

Daisy reclined on a chez lounge, she allowed her body to relax. This week had been hell. Come to think about it the last four months had been hell. Today she had decided to put all the madness to one side and pamper herself in a way she felt she deserved; she placed the towel over her eyes.
It was going to be a day to remember at Shanghai’s number one spa for the rich and famous, she stretched out like a cat; nothing was going to spoil her day.

“Excuse me Miss Sinclair, look who is here”

“Hello Darling” Bond knelt and kissed her cheek

She handled the shock very well removing the towel she exclaimed “James! How wonderful to see you”

He settled himself on the bed next to her “I didn’t think you would be keen to get back into the water so soon after Istanbul”

They drank green tea and she began to recount the events after he had left her at the World Park.

“I went to buy a new mobile” She let her gown fall open so Bond could see her long legs

“I was in the hotel jewellers, picking a new model when I saw some of Blofeld’s men, I could not take the chance on being caught so I high tailed out of Turkey”

A short squat woman in a loose white tunic collected Daisy and Bond; she led them to a treatment room. In the herb scented room they were treated to relaxing traditional music, Daisy lay on the couch, the woman took off her jacket to reveal arms that bulged with muscles, she deftly applied oil to Daisy’s back and neck, clearly annoyed at Bond’s presence she began to massage her patient with a rough piece of seaweed and went about the task with a high degree of spite working her fingers into Daisy’s tender muscles.

During her massage Daisy confided in Bond that she had acquired a “Coag accelerating microchip” from an acquaintance in the city.
Bond remembered its importance from his conversation with Leah.

“If I am correct about Blofeld’s plans to detonate a bio device this piece of equipment is vital for his success, make no mistake James this will allow us to get very close to him”

“Us? When I get a fix on him I am all for letting the ‘Cavalry’ get him” Bond waited for a response

“Right now I’m not sure if there is a cavalry; you do remember I told you about the FBI man. Jacobs?”

“Yes why?” he prompted

“He’s here in Shanghai, I’ve seen him; he was talking with a man called Tien, and he’s on Blofeld’s payroll. It proves that Jacobs is working for Blofeld, him and god knows who else”

“So why are you still here, why not ‘high tail it’ out of Shanghai?” the sarcasm was lost on her as the masseuse pummelled her with the seaweed

“Now is not the time to run, now is the time to finish him off. The microchip is something he needs badly; only one company has the technology to produce a Coag accelerating microchip. HKio Tec Industries here in Shanghai and they can’t sell it to Blofeld”

“Describe Jacobs to me” Bond asked changing the subject

Daisy gave all the features and statistics of the man Bond had met the night before, he was still unsure of his allies. Daisy was helped off the couch and allowed to rinse the pungent smelling exfoliate from her skin.
The masseuse left the room, Daisy sat up on the couch.

“James; are you willing to come with me to Hong Kong and kill Blofeld”

“I will agree to go to Hong Kong with you to meet with Blofeld but I would prefer to see him brought to justice by the proper authorities at the present” Bond was still unsure if it was a trap, but knew he had to go all the same, he was sure of one thing though, he knew Daisy had stolen the microchip two nights ago, when he watched her on film.

Daisy picked up the knife that was used to cut the seaweed and running her finger down the blade said “I’ll give him a present” her voice was chilling

Bond and Daisy walked back to the changing room. At the door, she complained that the masseuse had hurt her neck, Bond lent forward and kissed her, as he pulled away she reached up and kissed him hard on the lips they continued to embrace and Daisy reached behind her and opened the changing room door and pulled Bond inside.

After they had made love Daisy ordered drinks “Nothing alcoholic or vintage I’m afraid, but it will re-hydrate us. Nothing can spoil today I just know it”

Bond had dressed but Daisy was still naked beneath the sheet; the attendant knocked and came into the room with the drinks on a large silver tray, he smiled warmly at Daisy, then suddenly he realized she was not alone; Bond gestured for him to put the tray on the table, then Daisy screamed “Tien” she leapt at him

Without pause he snapped a side kick into Bond’s kidneys, he punched Daisy in the chest and knocked her back on the bed. Bond turned but Tien was on him, two, three punches came instantly Bond blocked two but the third rocked him on his heels, Tien advanced, he threw a wire over Bond’s neck, but Bond elbowed him in the ribs, and slipped out of the noose, Tien un-hooked the noose and turned the weapon into a steel whip, he swung it in a figure of eight around his body, then like a cobra he struck, the steel ball on the end of the wire flicked out and cracked into the mirror behind Bond’s head, one inch to the left and he would have been killed, Bond fired a front kick which caught him in the solar plexus, Tien backed off but Bond got inside his guard and hit him with an upper cut and followed it with a right cross which knocked him to the ground, Bond moved to finish the man, but he launched a kick from the ground which knocked Bond back into the wall, Bond grabbed the bottle and brought it down on Tien’s advancing arm, the whip fell to the floor. Tien threw a shurakin with his other hand; Bond blocked it with the bottle which smashed it careered off into the wall. Tien’s hand went into his jacket again and a blur of motion was followed by a blinding flash of light which blinded Bond, without thinking he ducked and moved to the left then lashed out with a kick which caught Tien more by luck. Tien backed off, Bond heard the door opening, but his impaired vision meant there were just light and dark shadows, Daisy screamed a warning and Bond felt the Walther in his hand, he loosed off a shot, his vision now returned and he took stock of the situation.

A second attacker had entered and Bond had shot him in the shoulder, but in the confusion Tien had grabbed Daisy now both men were using her as a shield, they backed out of the door and slammed it shut. Daisy screamed again and Bond flung the door open only to find her standing naked in the corridor, the sheet was on the floor further along the corridor, Bond rushed past and chased Tien and his partner.
“James” Daisy cried out. Bond turned and seeing her predicament picked up the sheet and put it around her shoulders.

“Friends of yours?”

“Yeah, ex boyfriends insanely jealous”

Bond opened the door “Get dressed” he then placated the real attendants who were fusing, an attendant was already cleaning the blood spots from the carpet.

Bond went into the room and closed the door “Well?”

“That was Tien, I told you he works for Blofeld usually as a bodyguard for Dr Bakush, I am not acquainted with the other man”

“And what did they want here?”

She bit her lower lip “I told you that I had acquired a microchip. Well actually I stole it from a company called HKio Tec. I think the intended customer wants it back”

Bond moved close to her face “Well he should have just asked, after all we do want to trade don’t we?” He held the door open for her, but as they left the room Daisy turned and asked “How did you know I was here?”

“I followed you”

Daisy laughed thinking he was joking “I’m going back to my hotel, I’ll ring some people see if I can get us a meeting”

Outside the skyscraper the heat, buzz and noise of the city intensified, they had been waiting for only one minute when Daisy’s Alfa pulled up at the kerb, driven by a liveried Oriental Riverside employee.
She took her mobile from her handbag “What’s your number?”

“I lost my mobile”

She gave him her card saying “Get yourself a new ‘pay as you go’ phone and call me”

Bond took the card “I will”

She jumped in and the Alfa entered the traffic flow.
As she disappeared from view the Ford Kuga pulled up, Jacobs was driving, Bond got in “Here, you forgot your mobile” he gave Bond his phone. “Where to?”

“Back to the Guandi, I need a drink” Bond sat contemplating what had happened, Tien could well have been there to take back the microchip by force, but alternatively he could have been there to receive it. Either way he knew they would be going to Hong Kong to meet with Blofeld. This would end in death, whose he was not sure, yet. He felt it fortunate that he the Bio Pen had been kept a secret. Thinking of the Bio Pen, he thought of Leah. After what had just happened with Daisy at the Spa, Bond actually felt guilty. Yes he needed a drink in a sleazy lap dancing club to get his world back in prospective.

Dr. Bakush took the telephone from one of his technicians “Hello Daisy”

“Hello Dr. Bakush I’m just calling to tell you I have a Coag accelerator microchip for sale, are you interested?”
Bakush replied “Yes my clever little girl, very interested. Where are you?”

“I’ll be in Hong Kong tomorrow; would you care to meet me there?”

“Tien is in Shanghai, I can arrange for him to collect it from you”

“He already dropped in to say hello, his manners are terrible. When I part with the microchip, it has to be the end of the bad blood between us. I want Mr. Blofeld’s personal assurance that I’m off his hook, this needs to be a very public affair”

“Ok I will charter a flight from Istanbul, and get the assurance you need”

Bond’s Hotel Room

Bond rang room service “I’d like you to deliver a Bottle of Bollinger 53 and caviar for two, to room 600 in thirty minutes”

I’m sorry sir the guest in room 600 checked out one hour ago”
The sound of the door bell forced an end to the conversation; Bond opened the door to find a bell boy offering an envelope from a tray. Bond opened the envelope it contained a note from Daisy saying “call me” and an airline ticket to Hong Kong.

#6 volante

volante

    Lt. Commander

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  • Location:GCHQ

Posted 22 September 2008 - 08:38 PM

Chapter Eleven

Chek Lap Kok Airport Hong Kong

The Hong Kong international opened for commercial operations 6 July 1998 following a challenging project to construct the airport on a largely artificial island reclaimed from Chek Lap Kok and Lam Chau. The two former islands that were leveled comprised of approximately 25% of the surface area of the airport's 12.55 km² platform.
It is connected to the northern side of Lantau Island near the historic village of Tung Chung, which has expanded into a modern new town. Land reclamation for the airport added nearly 1% to the entirety of Hong Kong's surface area.

It replaced the former Hong Kong International Airport popularly known by its former name Kai Tak, which was located in the Kowloon City area with a single runway extending into Kowloon Bay close to the urban built-up areas. The inhabitants of the city could be seen praying every time a ‘Jumbo’ came in to land, but it was then and still is today a city with a contagious sense of energy, Hong Kong lies on the southeast coast of China at the mouth of the Pearl River. Visitors to Hong Kong find its fusion of cultures both fascinating and engaging, where ancient Chinese traditions are retained alongside fantastic modernity.

In one of the thirty two executive lounges, Jacobs and Bond were introduced to a Chinese government agent named Mi Wai by Leighton Stonehouse the head of section HK.

Wai was a barrel-chested bull of a man, his hands were callused and his thick stubby fingers seemed unable to bend in the simple act of shaking hands.
He was polite and his English was very good, it became obvious that he was acting upon orders and would rather be anywhere else than acting as a policeman to the agents that had arrived in his country, this manifested in a facial tick as he constantly tried to release the tight fitting collar of his shirt from biting into is powerful neck.

To the contrary Leighton Stonehouse was a thin and willowy chap standing well over six feet tall, his beige linen suite had seen better days and his attitude for a diplomat was poor, he was probably a left over form the days of colonial rule, and Bond opened his memory bank to understand if they had met when he was here last.
His voice was thin and reedy, and he had an annoying habit of smoothing down his moustache before he spoke.

After the usual pleasantries he instructed “Whilst you are on Chinese soil all actions have to be approved by Mr. Wai, do I make myself clear 007?”

“Perfectly Mr. Stonehouse, and how does Mr. Jacobs have to report in?” Bond had already taken a dislike to the man, and was sure he would have remembered him if they had met before. This must be dislike at first sight.

Stonehouse turned to address Jacobs, his manor condescending yet humble, he practically wrung his hands as he was talking “A Mr. Leiter will be arriving on the next flight to take overall responsibility for the operation, he will liaise directly with Mr. Wai, until then just follow your current orders and then inform Mr. Wai if you need anything” It was clear that Stonehouse thought this operation was just a mere annoyance from his regular duties, and welcomed the fact that the CIA were going to take charge.

Bond thought it odd that MI6 would relinquish control in a former territory “Have you received any direct orders from M for me?”

“Not exactly, but there is an odd looking chap waiting for you at the car rental, he apparently has your instructions” Stonehouse then went on to give an agenda of where the operations centre would be, and that they were all welcome to dine with him later in the evening.

Bond ignored the request to travel together to the Ops centre “Then I’d better go and find him, excuse me gentlemen” Bond was about to leave when he turned and added “I will naturally seek approval from Mr. Wai, if I feel there is any ambiguity in any orders I receive”

Mi Wai bowed apologetically “Thank-you Commander Bond, I look forward to seeing you for dinner” his final bow was just a slight lowering of the head but his movement indicated he did not expect to see Bond again during his stay.

Q was pacing impatiently, looking up and checking imaginary problems with the curtains that ran the length of a DAF car Transporter.
As he recognised Bond he stopped the pretence and strode purposefully over to him, his Harris Tweed jacket blew open and flapped as he gathered a good head of steam.

“Ah, 007 do you realise what problems I’ve had in getting this” he indicated to the truck with a movement of his thumb “Into the country?” He spoke quickly but each word was clearly pronounced. Every word was accompanied by a nervous movement of his hands.

“I’m sure you’ll tell me Q” Bond waited for a retort, but instead Q just turned his back, hurriedly walked to the back of the DAF and began to open the rear doors of the Transporter.
‘Nobody wears Harris tweed anymore’ Bond thought and followed him at a more leisurely pace.

They had met only twice before, the first time he had asked to be addressed as Major Boothroyd, and he was preceding over a weeks’ course at Hereford on the use of plastic explosives, there had been an incident toward the end of the course when Bond and an SAS major proved that they could achieve the same destructive results using only two thirds of the amount of explosive that Major Boothroyd had prescribed.
The incident involved a horsebox which after having its tow-bar blown off ran down a slight incline and smashed into the Major’s brand new Morgan 2+2.
Bond had protested his innocence by using the argument that he had no access to any additional explosives, and he had used all he had been issued because he had used the prescribed weight on all the set tasks.

Boothroyd had been mortified when on that grey rainy day in November; M had come into his workshop at Vauxhall cross and introduced Bond as the new double 0 agent.
All through the briefing he constantly kept an eye on Bond making sure all his equipment was intact at the end of his tour.
He had weighed Bond and kitted him out with a leather belt that had a thirty meter rappelling wire hidden inside. “Don’t worry it will hold you” He had said with a reassuring nod as Bond was leaving.

Bond was now lost in thought, remembering how the wire had snapped on his mission in Bulgaria; weighing up whether Q had deliberately given him an inadequate piece of equipment; he tried to dismiss the thought.

The clear crisp English tones brought Bond back to the present “Now listen carefully 007 the Aston has had a few new optional extras installed”
Bond ignored him and squeezed inside the Transporter as two work-men placed ramps against the bed of the DAF.
Then suddenly he knew he was right, it had been deliberate ‘Crafty old sod’ thought Bond, giving the man more respect than ever before.

In the confines of the garage area the engine roared like an angry lion
“Slowly, 007 slowly now” Q guided the car back.

The gleaming black Aston Martin DBS reversed down the ramps Bond blipped the throttle and it came alive, screaming to be released onto the open road.
Bond reversed the car slowly along the road forcing Q to walk along side, every time Q opened his mouth to explain the purpose of an ‘extra’ Bond revved the engine.

Q threw the envelope in through the open window, frustration showing on his face.

“Here are your orders 007” He shouted above the roar of the V12

“Thanks Q, oh by the way which hotel am I booked into?”

“We’re both booked into the Peninsula” Q’s intention was to travel with Bond…

“Ok I’ll see you there” Bond floored the accelerator and the DBS was free.

Lost for words Q’s jaw dropped and he pushed back his Harris Tweed jacket put his hands on his hips and watched the Aston disappear.

The Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong

The Peninsula Hong Kong has long been hailed as one of the finest hotels in the world. Created 80 years ago in the glamorous 1920s, the legendary "Grande Dame of the Far East" continues to set hotel standards worldwide, offering a blend of the best of Eastern and Western hospitality in an atmosphere of unmatched classical grandeur and timeless elegance.

The Peninsula’s rich interior is every bit as spellbinding as the colourful tapestry of the Hong Kong you leave outside when you enter the hotel. Cocooned in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, James Bond ignored the myriad of shops, markets, department stores and museums on his journey from the airport. The Aston Martin was like a time machine, just moments before he was cruising along the harbour front’s dazzling "Avenue of Stars". Then an unlikely lull in the traffic allowed him to zip away from Temple Street and rocket down to Nathan Road's glittering 'Golden Mile'. He was so absorbed in the sheer enjoyment of driving that he hardly noticed the pretty girls milling around the entrances of the stylish restaurants, bars and clubs of Knutsford Terrace. Ultimately, whilst other modern Asian cities wrap you up in an artificially-created surrounding, Hong Kong allows you to experience life and culture at its exotic, atmospheric best.

The hotel's celebrated fleet of Rolls-Royce Extended Wheelbase Phantoms, gave Bond another sense of pride, as he drove into the car park, together with The Peninsula's helicopter shuttle service from the hotel's rooftop helipad, he felt comforted at the ease of transport options (after his mistake in Shanghai he was taking no chances). Bond drove up to the hotel and briskly jogged up the steps; other hotel guests were taking advantage of the luxurious transportation from Hong Kong International Airport and were purposefully exiting from the back of the Phantom. Bond was buoyed by his surroundings and began to look forward to eating in the five star restaurants.

Bond’s luggage had arrived earlier and was already unpacked when he was shown into his 25th floor Grand Delux Harbour View suite. Strangely the bell boy just bowed politely and left him in the opulent dining room. Bond became wary. As the door closed he made his way through the living room and into the bedroom area, then he heard the water and saw that there was light coming from the bathroom, he took out the Walther P99 and quietly entered through the open door. The humidity and heat hit him.

Through the corner floor-to-ceiling windows Bond could see the 270° panoramic view of the harbour and Hong Kong skyline, but in the foreground languishing in the opulent Jacuzzi bathtub drinking champagne sat Daisy Sinclair; Bond re holstered the gun and knocked on the open door to attract her attention.

“All that money for a room with a view, and I have to share”

“Oh James, I didn’t expect you so soon, I will be out of here in a minute”

Bond removed his jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt “No you won’t”

“Um you are always getting into hot water with me” she raised her glass then offered it to Bond.

It had been a long journey from Istanbul through Tel Aviv and Shanghai to the ultimate luxurious relaxation with champagne with a beautiful woman in his favourite hotel in Hong Kong.

She poured another glass for herself; absently she said “Bakush was very impressed with my merchandise”

“So am I” Bond pressed the button on the side and Daisy giggled as the bubbles and expectation assaulted her body “Let’s not talk shop”

Worldlife HQ Hong Kong

The garage areas were as clean as an operating theatre and under the harsh strip lighting Blofeld and his beautiful Chinese girlfriend Aki Danni were admiring their latest advancement in technological warfare.

“It’s called a Fast Attack Vehicle, designed to hunt and destroy other vehicles” Blofeld was almost salivating over the weaponry amassed on the body work.
World-life had commissioned ten FAVs to protect ‘Red Cross’ convoys in war zones. “There is a wonderful irony to the fact that it will be a war zone of our own making and the FAVs will be crucial in the counter attack program for any opposition when we deploy the Bio Devise in Tehran”

The FAV was a high-speed, lightly-armored buggy-like vehicle modeled on the Desert Patrol Vehicles first used in combat during the Gulf War. Due to its speed and off-road mobility, the DPV’s were used extensively during Operation Desert Storm. Dr. Bakush had first hand experience of being hunted down and fired upon from American Special forces.
Blofeld had taken the original design by Chenworth Racing, California, his FAV, was powered by a 250 hp VW engine for a payload of 1500 lb, and was capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds. The FAV would travel on an open road at speeds up to 110 mph and could traverse gently undulating sand tracks at 80 mph
Blofeld’s team had modified the FAV to carry two heat seeking missiles and allow a heavy .50 caliber M2 Browning machine gun to be maneuvered and fired from a heads up display voice control helmet worn by the driver, two lighter 7.62 mm M60 machine guns, and two AT4 anti-armor weapons completed the mobile arsenal. They would be transported into the city by helicopters, and had a six hour running capability.
Mr. Vaughan, still wearing the sling from his brush with the Citroen van in Tel Aviv entered the garage area with Dr. Bakush
Blofeld turned from the FAV “My dear Dr. have you got your machine with you?”

Bakush ignored the sarcasm in his voice “Yes, I told you I did not want to be parted from it”

“But it should be in Istanbul, just as you should be, making me some more wonderful Danthrax, so we can destroy Tehran, that’s what I pay you for” His voice raised to a crescendo “Why are you here?”
Bakush remained calm, he was enjoying the moment and took a little time to watch Aki Danni touching the guns and missiles on the FAV, he drew himself to his full height “I know where to get a Coag from”

Blofeld listened with intense concentration “Is it the one from HKioTec?” He asked, his eyes sparkled

The Professor accepted the tension was over “Yes it appears so”

Pleased with Bakush's news, Blofeld wandered over to the FAV and hugged Aki “Where is it? When can I see it?”

“Some old friends have it, and they want to meet with us here in Hong Kong”

Blofled’s mood became lighter Aki kissed him on the cheek “Then the answer is simple, invite them to my party tonight”

Bond and Daisy were scanned in through the high-security entrance for the party.
Most men were in dinner suits as was Bond, but he received many admiring looks from the female party goers as he crossed the main room, but the star attraction was Daisy, she wore her hair up which extenuated her long neck, and the diamond necklace she wore as a choker reflected the light in a thousand facets. Her dress was an exclusive by a chic French designer; she took the admiring looks from both the men and women. Bond took two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter, but was unable to take a sip because the crowd was parting in front of him and the host eased through the elite of Hong Kong.

“Good evening Mr. Bond I’ve been expecting you” Blofeld and Aki both bowed in the traditional way instead of shaking hands. Mr. Vaughan and Mr. Sharpe flanked them on either side. It was the woman he had first seen on a hillside in Old Jaffa, her ruthless execution of the man who had killed Leah was not seen as an act of compassion but one of murderous evil. The man Bond had identified as Vaughan from the CIA records had his arm in a sling; Bond delighted in the memory of hitting him with the van. The second bodyguard looked even bigger than Bond remembered; his head had been shaved since they last tangled. Daisy came from behind Bond and faced her nemesis.

“Miss Sinclair how lovely to see you again”

She had her hand in her handbag “I have a present for you” Daisy took two steps forward putting herself between Bond and Blofeld; she pulled her hand free, thrusting forward toward Blofeld’s heart.

Blofeld gasped and stepped back, the two bodyguards crowed in around him.

Bond grabbed Daisy and turned her, using his body to shield her from a counter attack, but none came.

Blofeld took his hands away from his chest; opening his fingers he revealed a small microchip. “The Coag accelerating microchip, thank-you Daisy”

James Bond felt very alone, the waiter arrived and presented them with drinks.

“Come let’s go somewhere more secluded” Blofeld left the party room with Aki Danni and Daisy on his arms, Vaughan and Sharpe closed in behind Bond who understood their intention was for him to follow the trio up the staircase.

Inside Blofeld’s office the music was just a distant buzz; the two bodyguards searched Bond and Vaughan took the Walther, then they took up station by the door.

Blofeld pressed the intercom “Professor, can you come up to my office please, I have a Coag microchip for you” he touched Daisy’s necklace with is finger tips “Beautiful”

He gestured for Bond to sit down “Why don’t you girls go and play” Aki kissed him and left the room with Daisy.

Blofeld held the microchip between his fingers looking at it from all angles “When people are poor, they don’t spend money, they don’t travel, and they don’t consume. They get angry and they want to fight. A colleague of mine was very adept at allowing people to fight, a little war here a little war there. He was progressing nicely up our little corporate ladder”

Bond sipped his drink and replied “It always pays to have friends in high places”

“Yes progressing nicely, until he met you Mr. Bond” Blofeld’s eyes narrowed

“Dominic Greene was holding the Illuminati in check. When you killed him and stopped our little real estate game in South America the bad guys took over, and set about making the world a very dangerous place to live in”

“Couldn’t you stop them?” Bond allowed the sarcasm to flow

“I am one of the bad guys” Blofeld indulged himself with a summary

Bond interrupted “I won’t argue with that”

“You really don’t know who you are dealing with do you Mr. Bond?”

“Enlighten me Mr. Blofeld”

Blofeld laughed without humour “Ah the old Illuminati joke, I am not the Illuminati” His face set in a serious scowl “Members of the Illuminati who had become loyal to my father over the years had often spoken of how the Illuminati were just a shadow of their former selves just a ghost of the power they once wielded” He stood up and paced the room.
“It was in a church in Koblenz that they decided that Spectre would a fitting name for the organisation that would rule the world as faceless entities, as silhouettes and shadows behind the public face of sovereignty”

“Ah Spectre, not a lot of substance there” Bond tried to goad…

…but Blofeld continued “Mr. Bond please show some respect, we are ridding the world of all the namby pamby do gooders from the Bilderberg and the ineffectual Illuminati bully boys, Spectre are going to succeed where they failed for the past 100 years”

“That’s a bold claim, and so last century”

“As the economic impact sinks in, the after effects of life without the ever present Oil will become evident in the form of a breakdown of civilization, I foresee the United States will be forced to challenge Europe, Russia and China for the hegemony of control of the ever depleting hydrocarbon, non-renewable reserves, most of which are contained in the Middle East. I intend to be there to distribute the wealth”

“What will you use as collateral?”

“A very sophisticated biological device will be detonated in Iran; the government will soon come to realize if they want to be part of my new world order they must accept treatment from Worldlife’s health care companies”

Blofeld lent forward and whispered “We already have the antidote”

“Spectre controlled Companies will then pioneer alternative fuel and power supplies, which we will sell to the highest bidder”

“So after the anthrax virus you will spread the spectre virus”

“Oh that’s very good Mr. Bond. But you are exactly right, we want some people culled but we don’t want the technology or the infrastructure of a country spoiled, quite the reverse of bringing a country to its knees by flooding it with drugs, as the British did with China; we will make them antidote addicts” Blofeld laughed

“Why now” asked Bond

“We have already seen Moscow making a deal with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan over the transportation of gas to Europe, thus leaving the US geo-strategic tactic of driving a wedge between the Central Asian countries and Russia in shambles.
The US says this is "not good for Europe", but the Europeans are encouraged.
Iran, overnight has become America's last hope in the energy war. I’m going to close the lid on that particular Pandora’s Box.

Bond wondered how much of an ace his next piece of information would be “We have a Bio Pen that will neutralise the effects before any real damage can be done”

Dr. Bakush had entered the office un-noticed by Blofeld “Um that sounds like the Ben Gurion University talking, but with the Coag in our device your little trinket is useless, and we have the equipment to manufacture more Danthrax”

Blofeld handed the microchip to Bakush then continued “France, Russia, Japan and China are investing heavily in Iran, the world has drawn a line in the sand and the U.S. has been told not to cross it. There is blood in the water, and that usually leads to a good fight, especially when Russia betray Europe and use the supply of gas to blackmail you into cutting the ties with America”

Bakush added “The New World Order needs control of the region, not only for its oil reserves but, most importantly to help it sustain world economic hegemony”

“Heard, it all before Professor. Today Iran tomorrow the World” Bond continued to stare at Bakush.

Blofeld spoke quickly as if to do so would prove his claims correct “This strategy will work Mr. Bond; it will leave regional states weak and the domains of sectarian sheikhs with little or no sovereignty and by implications, a rapid slowdown of their economic development. Worldlife will be just that, join us, support us and we will let you live”

Bond shook his head and argued “Regional chaos favours the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, which in turn reinforces the process of political & social disintegration you won’t stop to that”

Blofeld made an aerosol noise and a room spraying action “We as a society are at the crossroads. In almost every corner of the planet, stress points are beginning to fracture. The road we take from here will determine the very future of humanity. A strong hand on the tiller is essential.
It was your former British Prime Minister John Major, who stated that the world is steered by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes” spittle formed at the corners of Blofeld’s mouth

Bond knew he had him going “No Blofeld you are wrong, you will be stamped out like every other cowardly terrorist; the Iranians will look upon you as a rabid dog rather than a god”

Blofeld slammed his fists against the table “It’s not God that will bring you out of the New Dark Age. It will be me that answers the people’s prayers. Only I can provide the right answer to their questions”

“You’ve answered my question Blofeld you are insane, this conversation is going nowhere, if you don’t want to buy the Bio Pen technology, I’m going to join the ladies for a martini” Bond picked up his glass stood up and turned away

“If you can leave this room alive Mr. Bond I will buy you that drink”

Vaughan pulled Bond’s own gun out from his sling but Bond was quicker and thrust the glass toward his face, as he raised his gun hand to block the attack Bond broke the glass on his hand he released the gun and howled in pain, Bond crouched and caught the Walther before it fell then powered up from the floor barging Vaughan against the wall, Bond turned and fired and Mr. Sharpe clutched his chest and died before he hit the floor, Bond turned and elbowed Vaughan on the temple, stunned he stood swaying from the impact Bond drove the palm of his hand into Vaughan’s nose driving the bone into his brain and killing him instantly. Bond replaced the P99 in its holster opened the door and re-entered the party.

The music played and the girls danced, Bond tried to make sense of the information, as he walked back to the bar but then what was there to make it complicated.
Long before Greene’s death the Illuminati had been experiencing an internal struggle. Some ten years ago the founders, either dead or dying, believed that they should disband, as the Illuminati had played its role in the world; the old guards were labeled angeli rebelli, and had been systematically eliminated over the years by Spectre.

The new leader of Spectre was the son of its founding member Gerhard Lenz, and he had decided to focus the direction for the group, he was determined to eliminate all internal opposition within what remained of the Illuminati. It is his plan to force a coup in Iran which would welcome Spectre controlled companies to control all Middle Eastern recourses thus enslaving Europe, naturally the current World Order would disintegrate; and then Spectre would rule where the Illuminati were once destined. Blofeld had been playing for time until Bakush had become re-united with the equipment to produce a constant strain of Danthrax.

So all Bond needed to do was stop Bakush putting the Coag accelerator microchip into whatever device it was designed for, then stop the Biological device that Blofeld had boasted about from being exported by Bio Atul and exploded in Iran.
Expose Worldlife’s plan to blackmail the world into using its antidote, destroy its reputation and kill Blofeld. What could possibly go wrong?

Daisy and Aki Danni were already at the bar, Bond joined them.
Bond knew the Bio Pen was superfluous to requirements now had the microchip and that meant Daisy was in Blofeld’s employ.
But Bond asked himself the question ‘why did she want me to accompany her to Hong Kong if she were working for Blofeld, this was needless’.

Blofeld joined Bond at the bar with two Chinese heavies standing as executioners at a safe but lethal distance “It’s my round Mr. Bond”
The party was well underway. Daisy and Aki joined the other guests on the dance floor, rhythmically swaying to the music.

Suddenly four black-clad commandos appeared repelling down the outside of the building. They slapped the plastique against the glass and it shattered the windows allowing them access, Bond instinctively drew the Walther, however Blofeld just smiled as the security system activated a series of automatic machine guns which pivoted from the ceiling, each targeted and began to cut down the commando unit. One fell to the floor, scattering the party revellers, the others hung from their ropes their lifeless bodies gently banging onto the windows.

“The building has the latest defence technology. It’s the future” Blofeld explained.

Aki Danni relieved Bond of the Walther; Blofeld noted the action “But thank-you for your concern Mr. Bond”
Other party goers began screaming while a number were already rushing to the exit, leaving the room of death was their only thought.
Blofeld looked around the fast deserting room “Looks like the party is over Mr. Bond, so where do we go from here?”
Daisy was on the move which gave Bond some precious seconds to formulate a plan, she approached Bakush and kissed him “Good night Professor” he caressed her.
Bond hoped his over zealous action would provoke a reaction but she responded by staying in his embrace for just a second too long. All eyes were on the bizarre scene. Bond was expecting to be detained at any moment so he decided this was his best chance to escape, although he was un-armed he knew they must still consider him dangerous, but no move came.
Daisy was still attracting attention as she retrieved her handbag, Bond knew if he moved they would kill him but he had no other plan than to attack; and then as she stood up with her bag Bond realised she was intending to leave. As she walked past Bond she held out her hand as if to shake his own, in a reflex reaction he took her grip, he felt her slipping something to him. Bond knew it is time to get out, and it appeared Daisy intended to go with him.

Through the mist of confusion Bond spoke “I think its time we were leaving Mr. Blofeld, thank you for a most enlightening evening”

Blofeld bowed slightly and gestured toward the exit “Then I will bid you a good night Mr. Bond. Aki you can give him his little gun back now”

Aki Danni took the magazine from the Walther and handed the gun back to Bond, he put it inside his jacket “Sometimes it’s the little things that can save our world”

“It’s my world Mr. Bond not ours, now go and report back to your superiors, I think you will find yourself on the next plane to London, and thanks once again for the microchip Miss Sinclair, I will see if I can get the charges against you dropped”

Taking Daisy by the arm he left the party expecting a bullet in his back at any moment from the automated guns in the ceiling they made their way quickly to the exit without looking back.
If they had turned they would have seen Dr. Bakush heading back to the laboratory, like a child with a new toy.

Bond knew there would be other chances of killing Aki Danni, he had not forgotten the promise he had made to avenge Leah’s death, but the balance of power was not with him at the moment and he desperately wanted to understand what part Daisy was really playing.

In the lift Bond opened his hand and looked down at a microchip nestled into his palm, the words "HKio Tec Industries" were engraved upon it, he looked at Daisy, and she shrugged her shoulders
“Sorry James I couldn’t tell you what I was up to before now it was a secret.



Chapter Twelve

The meaning of secrets
Streets of Hong Kong

At the heart of the DBS beats the six litre V12 hand assembled engine, giving the power balance to the light, agile and beautiful sports car. Bond was showing restraint in both his driving speed and interrogation of Daisy, his anger was flowing from him through the steering wheel and into the car, it responded by giving him effortless performance, begging to be driven hard yet showing impeccable manners at low speed.
Bond drove though the streets of Hong Kong, Daisy sat silently beside him.
When the driving experience of the car had subdued him enough, he forced his mind to begin the questioning “I think it’s about time you told me about the meaning of your secrets”

“Yes James” Daisy took a deep breath

“Tell me why you acquired the microchip from HKio Tec in Shanghai”

“I stole it to stop Blofeld getting it, it was being prepared for Blofeld, and I knew it was the only way I could get close to him”

“I thought you were going to kill him if you ever got that close”

“I hope I have done”

“Explain”

“The microchip had to be the real thing in order to persuade Blofeld that I was serious about helping him and getting off his hit list, it was the only way I could think of where I could get inside his security system, but hey, I switched the real microchip for a fake before we left”

“You could have been killed; you saw the way his defence system dealt with the intruders”

“Yes” Daisy’s voice broke and she began to sob

“They were your people?”

In between the sobs she replied “Yes they were mercenaries I hired to be a distraction to allow us to escape, after I had completed my objective”

Bond thought about her words “Daisy what did you do when I was with Blofeld and you were on your own?”


Blofeld's underground control centre

The Professor placed the microchip in the laptop.
He immediately contacted Blofeld on the intercom “It’s a fake”

Blofeld turned away in disgust; with careful deliberate movements he pulled out his mobile “Tien take the FAV for a trial run will you. Mr. Bond has an Aston Martin; you don’t like Aston Martin’s do you Tien?”

Tien had been waiting all night hoping to see some action, like a fighter pilot he scrambled with amazing speed, he zipped up the black leather motorcycle suit and pulled the helmet over his head; carefully he eased his way into the FAV and started the engine. A technician plugged a jack plug into the helmet and instantly the heads-up display illuminated. The heavily armed vehicle rumbled out of the door and sped away, in pursuit of Bond.

The professor had overheard the instruction to Tien and his anger and frustration got the better of him, he hit the intercom transmit button again and spoke to Blofeld. “Ernst, please you must listen Bond has a Bio Pen, and the girl has the real chip; you can’t kill them”

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do Professor” Blofeld shouted into the intercom

“But Ernst without the Coag we won’t get the coverage we need to take out Tehran”

“Then we’ll just have to take out a smaller city” he looked out over the Hong Kong skyline the dead commandos still made for a gruesome decoration outside his windows “It’s a warm night here, people will have their windows open, they might catch a cold” Blofeld quickly calculated the amount of damage he could inflict on the World’s economy by infecting Hong Kong “We’ll call it Asian flu”

Bakush pleaded with Blofeld, he hated to think of his beloved bomb not killing his mortal Iranian enemies “What about the master plan, what about Tehran?”

“That can wait; I want the Sinclair girl out of my hair once and for all”

“But if we use the current Danthrax strain here, we won’t have enough for Iran”

“You’ll just have to make some more for me, you have the equipment now and I have the money” Blofeld cut off the connection, his rage was at an uncontrollable stage

Streets of Hong Kong

The British influence in Hong Kong was constantly infiltrating the senses, driving on the left; more European cars; road signs just like back home and the ubiquities traffic lights. Bond and Daisy were waiting at the traffic light at the Char, Victoria intersection when they noticed a strange vehicle speeding past a bus, it skidded around the corner in front of them and sped away it reminded Bond of a cross between a dune buggy ad a stock car, it reminded Daisy of the desert pursuit vehicle that the SEAL’s had used to invade Iraq. The wind pushed Tien back into his seat, and the four point seatbelts held him firmly as the FAV screamed around the corner. The display bleeped red and the GPS sat navigator told him to ‘turn around at the first opportunity’ Tien hit the brakes and the FAV did a 360 turn and avoiding an oncoming car he weaved through the oncoming traffic and streaked down the street in pursuit of the Aston Martin. Daisy looked behind as the sound of cars braking to a halt became more frequent.

“James I think we have a tail”
Bond checked the mirror the FAV was approaching fast.
Tien flicked the infra-red targeting switch and heard the steady pitch confirming he had a lock on the DBS.
First Tien used the built in 7.62 mm M60 machine guns, he wanted to disable the car and take Bond out man to man. The rounds hit the road and as the guns changed their trajectory the tracer rounds got closer to the back of the DBS. Bond saw the tracers in his mirror and swung the Aston across the road, Tien followed the Aston across the white line and the 7.62’s ripped into a car stationary at the road side, he took his thumb off the trigger and changed direction. The lock on was still beeping so Tien decided to swallow his pride and use the heat seeking missiles.

The computer confirmed the contact address and Tien hit the fire button.
The missile rocketed away the force buffeted the FAV which caught Tien out the FAV swerved and he had to fight to control the car as it fish tailed up the road.

Bond’s finger prodded the defense panel and a flair launched itself from the rear diffuser area the phosphorous ball reached a height of sixty feet before the missile smashed into it the explosion rocked the high rise buildings in the narrow street, and a thousand windows shattered the glass shards cascaded on to the street below and sprinkled all over Tien’s unprotected body, the leather suit deflected the shards and the speed he carried through the maelstrom took him away from the main damage. ‘Perhaps that was not a good idea’ thought Tien, he slammed his foot on the brake and the FAV skewed around another corner following the Aston. Inside the helmet he smiled and slid the safety off the heavy .50 caliber M2 Browning machine gun, allowing it to be maneuvered and now it could be fired from his heads up display voice control helmet.

The Aston zoomed down a long stretch of road accelerating to over one hundred miles per hour, Tien accelerated and as Bond slammed the brakes on to negotiate another bend Tien shouted “Fire” the Browning burped and the heavy caliber shells streaked away. Bond dodged the fire by whipping the Aston round another sharp corner.
Daisy screamed and looked at Bond for some support, his face was a mask of concentration, his hand hovered over the defence panel again, and now a smile crossed his face, Daisy could not tell which look frightened her the most.
Bond realized the FAV was locked in to his movements

Tien, still in pursuit, had to drive wildly to dodge the time-delayed mines, laid out by the Aston ahead. The explosions rocked the city streets. The orange balls of flame light the night sky with a deadly consequence. Bond now wanted to sucker the FAV in closer to allow him to drop more mines.
Tien was pleased that the car was now keeping pace close on Bond's tail, imitating the Aston's every move as they encountered more slow moving traffic, soon he would have him, Tien accelerated and tapped the back of the DBS it spun and Bond fought with the wheel to regain control, as soon as it did he floored the accelerator and sped away. Bond allowed his pursuer to catch him again; when he felt he was locked in he began to smoothly increase his speed. Not far now, he glanced at his Seamaster, not long now.

Bond dropped a gear and made a sharp turn so that the Aston Martin screamed into Man Kwong Street the signs in English were just a blur as the sped past. Tien did not even notice the information which stated Central Ferry Piers 7 and 8 ahead.
Bond pressed his foot down and the Aston responded by accelerating at lightning speed. Daisy turned to look at him in absolute horror.

“I saw you do the same sort of thing in Shanghai” There was that smile again.
The ferry had already left the pier and was well under steam. The Aston rocketed off the dock. Tien's car, with its targeting software locked in followed less than thirty feet behind, its control software imitated the speed increase, Bond and Daisy held their breath as the DBS flew over the end of the pier. Daisy screamed as the DBS soared through the ever increasing gap between pier and Ferry, the Aston smashed through the wooden safety barrier and crashed into the benches on the back of the ferry splintering them into a thousand pieces, the FAV leapt the gap behind them but the heavy artillery pushed the nose down and the car hit the water and cart wheeled once before settling. Tien winded struggled to release the safety belt in the rapidly sinking killer-car as Bond and Daisy get out of the DBS

“Well at least we know the airbags work”

“That was lucky”

“Not really I remembered the new pier opened for service on November 12, 2006”

Daisy shook her head, totally unimpressed.

They looked back beyond the sinking car and the desperately struggling Tien, to the mock-Edwardian pier at the terminal and its clock tower; at that moment the electronically-controlled bells began to toll, Bond knew that the sound was similar to the tone of the Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier bells. But he thought better of telling her at that moment.
The Star line security guards gathered around the couple and the car.

The police were waiting for them at Hung Hom Pier.
Through the general melee and mired of voices Mi Way, pushed his way through the crowd. He checked the crashed Aston and the damage it had done to the ferry, and then he turned to Bond and Daisy “In a hurry Mr. Bond?”
Bond gestured toward the DBS “Thought it was going to turn into a pumpkin”
Mi shook his head, and gestured for them to follow him.
Mi Wai and two agents led to Bond to a Landrover “Special treatment for you Miss” he indicated that Daisy should get into a second Police car.

Once underway the second Police car split from the convoy Mi Wai explained
“We are going to see Mr. Stonehouse”
Universal Exports "Far East" Offices
The Police Museum is housed in the former Wan Chai Gap Police Station, which is located at 27 Coombe Road, The Peak, Hong Kong. It has a total floor area of 570 m². Over 600 exhibits are displayed on the ground and first floor of the Museum; the other two stories are where MI6's Far East offices reside.
The Landrover pulled up outside. Mi Wai and the two agents escorted Bond in through the front door.
They asked the duty officer for Leighton Stonehouse the section chief, and were taken to his office.
Bond was ushered inside and was surprised to see both Stonehouse and Q.
As Wai began to explain the all the charges against the British citizen, Q greeted Bond with an un-typical show of emotion, clapping him on the back and warmly shaking his hand “Oh James it’s marvellous to see you again”
Wai waited until Q had finished speaking and then continued reciting the long list of misdemeanours. Stonehouse nodded in grim affirmation to the charges and then launched into a scathing reprimand “Now listen here Bond, I received a letter late last night signed by the Secretary of the Chinese Government. It accuses you of the HKio Tec robbery in Shanghai, and says that the British secret service were responsible for a commando attack at a party at the offices of one of China’s most valued residents”

“Not guilty”

“No, you don’t understand, they are demanding that the British Intelligence agent responsible for the atrocities leave Hong Kong immediately”

“Blofeld told me he would get me on the next plane back to London; he has a contact here in the government and apparently one in the British government too”

“That’s the most ridiculous story I have ever heard” Stonehouse was getting more and ore angry, his hand was constantly up at his moustache.

“And are you refusing to believe that Blofeld has anything to do with terrorism and blackmail Mr. Stonehouse?”

“I am ordering you to return to London and report to M. These men…” he gestured to Wai and the two agents “…Are to escort you to the airport”

“Go to hell Stonehouse, tell me where I can contact Felix Leiter, he is in charge of this operation now”

“Sorry Bond he did not arrive as planned, I am in charge here, and I am ordering you back to London”
The three Chinese moved in.

“I don’t know who’s paying your wages these days Stonehouse, but if it’s Blofeld you can tell him I’m not getting on any plane” Bond drew the Walther and caught the first guard by the shoulder spinning him around he covered his throat with his forearm and pointed the gun at the man’s head. The second guard came in low form the side Bond kicked him in the face, using his human shield as balance, Wai backed off.
Bond dragged the man to the door then pushed him inside as he slammed the door closed behind him.

Bond stormed out of the museum.

“I better go after him” said Q

The three agents began to get to their feet

“No leave him; we’ll let the Chinese pick him up, OK Mr. Wai?” replied Stonehouse picking up the telephone. He gestured to the three goons to go after him

“You better wait in the rest room Q this is not going to be pretty”

Q nodded in agreement and left the office, however he fitted a small plug into his ear which allowed him to listen in to Stonehouse’s telephone conversation, via the bug he had planted in the office phone.

“Bond called my bluff, and escaped, Wai has gone after him” Stonehouse confessed.

“You fool Leighton, I told you to kill him as soon as the Chinese brought him in” the voice replied

“Well he’s out there, and you can bet your bottom dollar that he will go after Blofeld”

“There’s no way he will be able to get into Worldlife, and the Chinese will pick him up sooner or later” the voice started to laugh “Sooner or later, either way it won’t matter”

“Why?” asked Stonehouse

“I hope you are up to date with your jabs old boy, cause Blofeld is going to release the biggest bag of bugs the world has ever seen”

“What, here in Hong Kong?” Stonehouse shouted. Q did not need the bugging devise to hear the panic in his voice

“You better believe it buddy, either make an appointment with your local Worldlife nurse or be on a flight out of China before midday, and if you run into that Sinclair bitch, don’t breath in” the voice laughed

“Blofeld is going to use the girl?”

“You better believe it”

Q continued past the rest room and making sure he was not being observed left the museum.

Outside the night air was cold against his face, he buttoned up his Harris Tweed jacket and looked at his wrist watch, it was nearly one o clock, but Q was not interested in the time, he was only interested in confirming that the tracking devise he planted on Bond during his greeting was working. With a satisfying bleep he set off down the road.
Twice Q thought he’d lost him, but then the bleep started again as Bond checked for a tail. The journey took just over one hour and Q was totally out of breath when he arrived at an apartment building in Kowloon.
Q knocked on the door and said “Hello dear, is Johnny in?”

Bond recognised the code and opened the door “I hope you weren’t followed” He pulled Q into the apartment “Give me your mobile, mine has been blocked”

“No, that won’t do any good 007” Q said “The standard procedures that MI6 and the CIA have initiated will prevent you communicating with M or Leiter, and you certainly won’t be allowed to leave the country by any normal means”

“I won’t be leaving, but you will, now give me your phone”

“That’s all very well 007 but I’m worried about the millions of people who will die and I’m very worried about Miss Sinclair and I’m sorry to say that I’m worried about you, I’m not going anywhere”

“You don’t need to worry about me” said Bond “What do you know about Daisy?”

“Blofeld has her, Stonehouse mentioned that he was going to use her, I think she is in real danger”

“Listen Q I have to get into Worldlife and stop Blofeld from detonating the bomb”

Q did not even bother to protest, he knew it was the only way

“And I have to do it quickly” Bond said

“Why?” asked Q

“Because Daisy left some kind of bomb in Blofeld’s private rooms that is set to explode this morning, I would like to get her out before that happens”

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes then Bond said “OK here’s what we are going to do”

#7 volante

volante

    Lt. Commander

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  • 1926 posts
  • Location:GCHQ

Posted 22 September 2008 - 08:39 PM

Chapter Thirteen
Worldlife HQ Hong Kong
The 58 storey Worldlife HQ was located on the Queen's Road in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island it stands 688 feet tall. Construction started in 1997 and was completed in 2000. The building has a unique semi circular floor plan and although the front entrance is on the 'ground floor' commuters are taken through a show room of products via a set of escalators to the 3rd floor elevator lobby and reception desks.
Worldlife HQ stands on the slope of a hill so steep that the building has a back entrance leading to the car park and garage areas on the 17th floor towards Kennedy Road. Up to that floor are the residential apartments for the employees.
There is a swimming pool, gym and exercise area on the roof of the main building on the 18th floor, which also doubles as a function room for corporate parties, the windows that had been broken by the gunfire of the previous night had already been replaced. Above that floor the shape then becomes a more conventional square sky scrapper occupying the rear right third of the semi circular area. Its four corners are however sculptured to take the panoramic lifts.
Laboratories and administration offices occupy the next 30 floors. Then the building changes shape again for the final 10 floors into a circular pencil thin high rise culminating in the rocket shaped communications rod. A revolving restaurant was planned for the 57th floor which is the top commercial floor, but when Blofeld bought the building for Worldlife in 1998 he decided this particular feature would be for his own personal living quarters overlooking other buildings below and the harbour it completes a 360-degree rotation each hour.
The 58th floor houses the machinery for the nine internal lifts. Passengers can take either the eight office elevators (internal and faster) or the four scenic elevators (with a view) with their winding gear domed on the roof of the 48th; all the way from the lobbies on the 3rd and 17th floor, to the 48th Floor, where they transfer via a mini-sky-lobby to the smaller elevator in the central core of the tower which takes you up to the 56th. The 48th floor houses all the maintenance areas.
The 56th floor is where the CEO has his office. From the floor the building appears to be made completely from glass with only the domes and the building's 'bumps' between the windows being of a chromed appearance, each of the bumps has a built in window-washer guide rail.
At 06.45 hrs Q drove the small Toyota Hi ace van into the car park. He and Bond were dressed as maintenance associates Q stopped the van close to the doors and they briefly shook hands then Bond was gone. He walked quickly through the corridors without challenge. Q had modified two security passes; one allowed him to ‘clock in’ the second overrode magnetic locks. He entered the lift furthest away from the reception and travelled from the 17th floor to the 48th floor with only two stops. Once on the 48th he made his way to the ‘fire control’ maintenance room.
Bond opened his bag and took out the countdown device, it was the size of a credit card and Bond slipped it through his overalls and into his trousers pocket. Carefully he pulled out the mines. All was quiet, then suddenly…
…“You are supposed to check with me before doing something controversial Mr. Bond” Mi Wai stood at the door with a 9mm Browning automatic in his hand.
“Please to leave everything as it is, and accompany me” Wai gestured for Bond to raise his hands.
Bond complied and left the room, in the corridor the two agents that had escorted him earlier were waiting.
They entered the small central lift “On you knees, hands in pockets”
On impulse Bond pressed the countdown device in his pocket, he was unsure of the maximum time he had until the mines exploded, hopefully it would be a full sixty minutes, they travelled up to the 56th but instead of entering the CEO office they climbed the stairs to Blofeld’s personal rooms
Blofeld's Penthouse

Blofeld was at his desk reading through a letter of some description. He wore a dark blue business suit.

“Check out the view Mr. Bond it is spectacular” He did not raise his head but simply pointed with his finger for Bond to go around the central pillar

On the other side Bond was dismayed to find Daisy slumped on an “evac” chair,
Bond would have rushed to her for he could see she was in great distress, she was obviously ill and had been drugged her head hung limply from her shoulders, Bond wanted to go to her but she was encased in a large plastic bubble.
Blofeld came from the other direction holding an envelope in his hand.

Bond was shaking with anger, in a low growl he said “What have you done to her you…”

Blofeld interrupted “… Monster, madman. Please spare me the rage” He threw down the stiff cardboard envelope “She sent this to me, she intended to kill me” He lent forward inclining his head and made a steeple with his fingers

Bond looked directly at him “You know how this will end”

Blofeld looked around the room, Mi Wai and the two Chinese agents were covering Bond “I know how it will end, but I don’t think it’s the same as your version. Ebola is usually classified as a bio safety level 4 agents, as well as a Category A bioterrorism agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has the potential for use in biological warfare. Its effectiveness as a biological-warfare agent is compromised by its extreme deadliness and its level of contagion: a typical outbreak spreads through a small village or hospital, infects the entire population, and then runs out of potential hosts, dying out before reaching the wider community.
It is also significant that none of the strains of Ebola known to cause disease in humans have been found to be airborne—only one strain known as Ebola Reston (after the city of Reston, Virginia where it was first identified in Green Monkeys) is believed to be airborne. Guess what she has, she will be dead within two days”
“And are you just going to watch her die?”

“No, Mr. Bond I’m going to let her go and you too”

“Really”

“Yes, you see we are all immune to the virus I have injected her with, by the time you get her to a hospital she will have affected 100 people or more, by dinner time tonight that figure will have risen to five thousand”

“She’s your bomb isn’t she?

“Yes, and you will introduce her to the good people of Hong Kong” Blofeld looked at his watch “Chop chop Mr. Bond you don’t have all day” He turned away “We have Dr. Bakush to thank for all this, much better to use the girl than waste my precious Danthrax”

Bond rushed forward picking up the envelop on the move , unzipping the bubble, he entered it, the air was stale and putrid and as he touched her he recoiled for her burning skin, she felt hot and clammy, he lifted her head and she tried to talk but all that came out was small bubbles of saliva.
Blofeld laughed at his attempt to move the chair “Please tell the hospital she is suffering from Ebola hemorrhagic fever. She was injected four hours ago” He checked his watch “Better make that five”
Bond knew the virus was lethal, but Daisy was not showing any of the symptoms normally associated with the virus, just a generalized malaise.
The cause of death was usually due to hypo-volemic shock or organ failure within forty eight hours of infection, with the last twelve containing internal bleeding. Mortality rates are extremely high, with the human case-fatality rate ranging from 50–89%, depending on viral subtype.
Bond was moving across the office as Blofeld shouted “Remember to tell them Ebola is potentially lethal since there is no approved vaccine available, but they can buy the latest Worldlife product from all good retailers”
Bond pushed the chair, Daisy’s head lolled from side to side as he rushed to the lift, Mi opened the door and as the two agents stood either side of Daisy he waved them good bye.

At the sky terminal Jacobs was waiting with Aki. The two Chinese agents remained by the central lift.

“Hi James, I see you got the girl at last” Jacobs pressed the lift button and the monitor above the lift door began to raise
As they got closer, Jacobs saw how ill Daisy looked and he recoiled in fear and took an involuntary step back

Bond saw the fear in his eyes “Forget to take your pills?”

“Hell no, got um right here” He tapped his breast pocket

The lift arrived and the doors sighed open, Bond pushed Daisy in between the doors and then stopped, he turned toward Aki “I made myself a promise to kill you”

Aki bowed but her eyes never left Bond’s “Please to try”

Bond turned toward her but lunched a vicious back kick which hit Jacobs, the blow took him completely by surprise, he bounced off the wall and dropped to the floor, Bond was on him in a flash, he felt inside the man’s jacket and pulled out a hard plastic wallet from the left pocket and a Browning 9mm from a holster under his arm, he felt rather than saw Aki attacking him, he expected the blow to come, but when it hit he was shocked by the power, Bond moved quickly shaking the stars from his vision, he stuffed the wallet into his own pocket and transferred the Browning into his shooting hand. Jacobs had recovered quickly and was closing in by Aki’s side.
Bond was confidant he could take them both on, but Aki delivered another powerful blow to his chest and 007 fell to the floor.

Jacobs moved in quickly and stamped down on Bond’s ribs but he was rolling as the blow hit, he attempted to put Jacobs between himself and the woman, in the background the two Chinese agents had drawn their guns and were aiming at Bond. “He’s mine” Aki shouted, her voice high and reedy.

A four inch dart thudded into the carpet next to his hand; Bond realised he had grossly underestimated this woman; he knew he had to take her out quickly.
The lift doors gently closed on the chair and bounced open, Daisy sat in a drugged stupor as the doors gently closed against her.

Bond was back on his feet, he lashed out at Jacobs and caught him with the second attempt, he spun off his shoulder and attacked Aki, but she caught Bond’s arm and flung him across the room with a classic Ju Jitsu move. With this manoeuvre however Aki's wig was dislodged revealing the lank hair of Tien.

Suddenly Bond felt a whole lot better about killing a man; he launched himself into the next attack. The timer clicked to zero and the mines Bond had left in the control room exploded, the building shook and shuddered, the lift dropped only by a couple of inches but it was enough to tip Daisy from the chair, as she fell to the lift floor the chair turned as the door closed on it and squeezed it back on to the landing. The outer doors gently closed.

The lift began to descend, Bond had to stop it, he made his move but Tien stepped in front of him and fired three quick blows but Bond was weaving with the blows, he fired back with a jab which broke Tien’s nose.
He staggered back three paces, his hands involuntarily flew to the blood which was dripping into his mouth. Bond kept an eye on Tien as he arrived at the lift door and pressed the ‘up’ button, hoping to stop its decent, but as he heard Tien scream and saw him attack again he knew he needed to pull a rabbit out of the hat.

Tien caught Bond in the ribs, and fired out his hands to lock them around Bond’s throat, the grip was vice like and he felt powerless to loosen it, then he remembered Q’s second card and careful not to alert Tien to his movement he pulled it from his back pocket, with one almighty push he twisted and threw Tien against the wall, Bond dropped his weight and bringing his feet up flipped Tien over, the man struggled to get up, the dress impeding his progress, the blood form his shattered nose spraying into his eyes, his face a mask of blood, in an instant he charged again and dived at Bond; but he had already slammed the card against the lift door lock, the doors sighed open and Bond deftly side stepped Tien’s lunge, he swung his fist to assist the dive and Tien plunged through the open doors into the gaping lift shaft and smashing in to the lift roof.

Bond turned to Jacobs “Going down”

Bond kept his finger on the button and suddenly the number monitor began to rise again, the lift was coming back.
Smoke still poured out of the maintenance room and now the first flames licked at the door. Jacobs ran back toward the central lift to Blofeld’s office “Take him” he shouted to the two Chinese agents; they drew their weapons again but Bond had already aimed the Browning, he shot the first agent as the second agent charged in.

The lift arrived and Bond took the card away from the lock; he blocked the second agent’s punch with his other arm and aimed a kick to his midriff, the man fell to the ground but raised his pistol as he did so, the first agent was back on his feet and only two paces away. Bond caught the wrist of the fallen man and twisted his hand, the gun went off shooting dead the first guard, taking the gun from the man, Bond shot him in the head and stepped backward into the compartment, he picked up Daisy’s body and sat her in the corner.

The fire was raging and spreading into the sky lobby.
Bond grabbed the wallet from his pocket and opened it; it contained two hypodermic needles which were accompanied by 5 tiny vials of liquid.

Bond filled the needle from the first vial and administered the needle directly into Daisy’s arm. The flames were now taking hold in the sky lobby and Bond jabbed at the control panel the elevator started to go down, but not at the normal speed, the explosions must have knocked the gearing into emergency mode and they slowly passed the 47th floor the flames licked into the top of the lift because the inner doors had remained open so that the wall was moving upwards as they descended, changing from brick to dull metal as they passed the floors.

The alarms were sounding as they slid past the 44th, Bond knew he would be infected by the virus himself and needed to take the antidote; he filled the second needle from the second vial, and plunged the needle into his own forearm.
It was as if all the lights in the world were flickering in his head, the drug coursed through his veins heating his body, he had to sit down, smoke was pouring into the lift, suddenly he felt that the elevator had stopped between the 40th and 39th floor.

Bond looked at the control panel, it was not descending, then over the sound of the alarms he heard the lift being torn apart, the ceiling disintegrated and a naked human foot appeared from within the smoke.

Bond shook his head ‘I’m hallucinating’ he thought but the sparkle of the dress brought him back to reality. Tien dropped down from the emergency hatch as he landed he hit Bond hard on the side of the head, Bond slid down the wall, the smile returned to Tien’s battered face as he reached for his enemy.

Bond opened his eyes, the monitor glowed 38th floor, the lift was continuing to descend, Bond thought that maybe it was all just an effect of the drug but Tien hit him again and he knew he must concentrate on the attack, Bond became aware of the feeling of heat on his back which brought him back to reality again, he realised Tien was holding him against the wall and he was scraping up the lift shaft, Bond flicked out his arm and caught Tien square on the nose, he howled in pain and Bound fought his way down the wall and found purchase against the shaft, they fell across the lift floor and rolled over Bond ended the move on his back their faces were just inches apart, Tien growled and screamed like an animal, but Bond had got his hands against his chin and was forcing his head back, Tien rolled over onto Daisy and she grunted in response, Bond used the moment to gain momentum, He got to his knees and hit Tien with an uppercut, Bond was on his feet his head was clearing fast, he glanced at the monitor floor 30.

Daisy began to cough. Slowly she got to her knees.
At this distraction Tien attacked again, in the confides of the lift there was nowhere to hide, each attack had to be blocked, Tien had got a good hold and was forcing Bond’s head back against the wall but he managed to get his fingers into Tien’s throat and he squeezed and forced Tein back across the width of the car, Bond felt he had the advantage at last, but Tien was standing on Daisy’s leg she whimpered in agony and Bond had to move position to ease her pain, slowly Tien got one hand inside Bond’s guard, and eased the pressure, he forced Bond back toward the open door again, Bond felt the rough wall rubbing against his back, then with a crack Bond fell against the outer doors of floor 29.

Bond’s thighs hit the bottom of the door sill, and he was forced forward as the descended past the floor and started to go past the wall again, he scrabbled for purchase against the rough surface, then he hit Tien in his armpit, Tien winced and Bond seized the opportunity, he turned Tien and threw him against the lift side smashing into the mirror, as he bounced off Bond caught him with his forearm, as Tien struggled for balance Bond shoved him against the wall, They arrived at floor 28 Bond held Tien against the outer door with one arm and felt inside his pocket for the Browning but as he brought it out Tien smashed it from his grip, the gun fell down the shaft, Bond felt in the pocket again and this time gripped the magnetic door lock card he reached out with the card and tried to hit the emergency panel but he was an inch away he could not move without releasing his hold, with his attention divided Tien had got his fingers into Bond’s neck and was cutting off his blood supply, only seconds remained before Bond would have to yield, his arm began to drop and he could feel the strength sapping.

Then Daisy reached out her arm and took the card, she fell against the panel and the outer doors began to open, smoke poured in Bond immediately caught hold of Daisy’s shoulder and pulled her from the panel, the card fell to the floor and the outer doors closed trapping Tien’s dress, the top of the lift continued to descend as Tien was pinned against the outer doors of floor 27, the lift roof touched his hair, and he turned his head to the side to ease himself into the gap, his face scraped against the lift as it continued to descend, then it caught his chest, his hands flew up to ward off the steel frame, but it slid down his body, Tien screamed again, his legs kicked wildly, and Bond released him and stood away.

They continued to descend to the 26th floor squashing and dragging Tien’s body down the shaft, Bond helped Daisy back to her feet, but she was still unable to focus on the scene. The dress must have been ripped out of the outer doors and his legs continued to kick feebly as the lift continued down.
Daisy looked up into Bond’s eyes and in a weak whisper she asked “Has Tien gone?”

Only one of Tien’s feet remained in view “Almost” replied Bond

Daisy shook her head “Was he wearing a dress?”

“Yes, mind you he always was a bit of a drag”

Daisy saw the envelope on the lift floor and tried to reach it, the effort was too much and she fell back into Bond’s arms “Open the envelope” she whispered.

The lift stopped at the 23rd floor, the outer doors opened and more guards were waiting their guns trained upon the occupants.

Daisy spoke again, this time it was stronger and more urgent “Open the envelope”

Bond ripped the tear strip off, it acted like a pin being removed from a hand grenade, a low rumble shook through the building, the noise increased to a roar, like a powerful waterfall the guards turned and ran. Bond pushed the card against the panel and the doors closed the lift descended, then the lights went out and the lift came to a shuddering halt.

In the darkness the sound of wrenching metal played tricks on their minds.
Then ever so slowly they felt the lift twist in the shaft. Bang, the cables holding the lift sheered and whipped above them the lift fell like a stone

22, 21, 20, the momentum slowed as the emergency brakes bit into the shaft guides, it slowed and stopped at the 19th floor. Debris was falling onto the roof of the lift, smoke and dust were thick in the air Bond placed the card against the panel and the outer doors opened, they were just one foot below the lip of the floor, more debris smashed into the roof and the lift shuddered and dropped another foot, Bond got Daisy to her feet. “Come on”

He pushed her toward the gap, she placed her elbows on the lip and tried to pull herself up, Bond pushed her and she was half out when the lift dropped again, Daisy screamed and Bond pulled her back into the lift as it fell and the top dropped past the lip like a guillotine. The light faded as they plummeted down another floor, the brakes bit again and the lift slid onto the 18th floor, as soon as the gap was wide enough Bond pushed Daisy out into the corridor.

Another massive crash onto the roof, and the lift dropped again leaving only a few inches gap, in the split second he had had enough light see he watched in horror as two guards stooped and picked up Daisy whilst a third pointed his gun in through the gap, Bond grabbed the barrel and pulled the gun; the guard was forced into the shaft, and as the lift dropped again and the man’s screams and the sound of gunfire, echoed above him, the lift slid down to the 17th floor, it stopped and creaked the brakes were holding and Bond hauled himself out into the corridor, he checked to see if the gun he had acquired was loaded, it was and set off to find the fire escape, Bond crashed through the door and raced up the stairs.

The guards hadn’t really got a clue what to do with Daisy, and with their communications channels dead they stood over her watching pieces of the upper tower falling and crumbling, their comrade and been killed and as Bond burst through the escape door they were arguing about what to do next, the building had obviously suffered a bomb explosion and pieces were still falling to the ground and smashing into the building; 007 caught the first guard by surprise, firing a short burst from the semi automatic gun, the man dropped with his amazed expression still in place, the second guard stepped away and began to aim his weapon, Bond slid along the floor and shot at the man’s legs, in agony he dropped his gun and fell to the floor clutching his broken knee, more guards came down the stairs and emerged from the fire doors, Bond sprayed more fire in their direction, the hammer fell on empty he threw the gun in their direction and picked up the second semi automatic, after one more burst Bond collected Daisy and they made their way to the fire escape, one of the guards picked up his gun and loosed off a shot but Bond turned and fired killing him instantly.
Another guard grabbed hold of Bond and he used the butt of the gun to hit him across the face.

Daisy opened the door and took two more unsteady steps down the stairs and then collapsed, Bond put the gun on her lap and picked her up and continued down.
Once in the main lobby they blended in to the scene of mayhem and confusion, of people running aimlessly.

The car park was solid with cars that their owners had abandoned in their attempt to flee the stricken building, the dust was thick and heavy at the entrance. Daisy looked at Bond, and he asked “Just how much explosive did those Mercenaries use?”

Daisy took a deep breath and answered “’bout a million dollars worth”

Bond needed to get to a hospital fast but he needed to avoid contact with people, this seemed a good way, but it would be tough and he didn’t know what to expect when they got outside.

“Bond. Quickly over here” Bond looked into the murk of the entrance and made out the bird like figure of Q, beckoning. They picked their way over. Q helped carry Daisy outside where they could see the results of the explosives, the majority of the damaged section had fallen on the roof of the main building, but on the way down it had cut into the square tower, they had to climb over a large piece of concrete, but within five minutes they had reached the Hi Ace van. Only when they were on their way to the hospital did Bond explain the fact that Daisy and probably himself were carrying a highly contagious virus. Daisy did not hear what Q said in response, and Bond thought it might just be a physical impossibility to comply with the instruction.





































Chapter Fourteen

Soft sleeper

Q spent two nights in the isolation ward before being discharged and Bond was released forty eight frustrating hours later.
Felix Leiter had flown in to supervise the operation and met Bond in his Grand Delux Harbour View suite at the Peninsula.

Leiter explained that Daisy was responding well to treatment and was going to be transferred to Shanghai. Leiter then asked “Are you ok to drink?”

“I’ll take the risk” replied Bond. Felix went over to the bar and prepared two large Bourbon and soda’s, he handed Bond his drink and continued
“Well, the good news is that the vaccine formulated by the institute for tropical medicine in Shanghai, has been shared with the South America and African institutes, there will be enough antidote to combat the Ebola virus winging its way to local hospitals within forty eight hours”

“I hope Bakush doesn’t get a Nobel peace prize for this”

“More good news, the Professor’s body was found in the debris, along with the ‘164’ milling equipment and the Coagulating accelerator microchip”

Bond smiled, and thought of Leah “…and Blofeld?

“Bad news I’m afraid James. No trace”

Bond shook his head “She should have used more explosives”

“Even more bad news, the collapse of the building caused the deaths of fourteen people, and over one hundred had to receive hospital treatment. How they are going to deal with demolishing the tower is beyond me” Felix continued “Silver lining though, the CIA and Interpol are assisting local agencies in closing down the remaining Worldlife companies, many individuals were found to be pumped full of the vaccine, and have been arrested”

Most of Bond’s objectives had been achieved but there were still some lose ends that he wanted Felix to help him with “Daniel Jacobs, Mi Wai, and Leighton Stonehouse any news Felix?”

“Sorry James, I should have said Stonehouse was arrested two days ago in Bangkok, he had vaccine on him too”

Bond hoped he was suffering in a local jail, Leiter continued
“We believe Jacobs and Wai escaped with Blofeld”

They continued to talk about the case until Bond expressed a need to leave for the station; he was really looking forward to seeing Daisy again.

The Shanghai-Kowloon through Train is an intercity railway service jointly operated by the MTR of Hong Kong and China's national rail service.
Leiter had insisted on driving to the station, a decision that made them dangerously late. The Kinki Sharyo SP150 engine stood in its entire splendor ready to pull the ten sumptuous passenger compartments. The Chinese government had commissioned one such carriage to carry Daisy to Shanghai and the tropical Medicine institute that wanted to see her once more before letting her back into civilization.

When fully loaded the train can accommodate 454 passengers; sweeping them non stop for the 1991 km journey. The service operate along the East Rail Line in Hong Kong, crossing the boundary between Hong Kong and mainland China at Lo Wu and continuing along the railway network in China to Shanghai.

The journey time is approximately 20 hours and travels along both the Jingguang railway and Zhegan
Daisy had already been helped aboard, by the time Felix and Bond arrived; they raced onto the platform and entered the compartment shown to them by the local police.

With departure from Kowloon mid - afternoon, one can settle into the comfortable compartment after a lunch at one of the local restaurants and watch the world go by.
Daisy however had all her meals for the journey neatly packed in a box, to be cooked and administered by her traveling companion. “This is Suzi” Announced Daisy and the little Chinese attendant bowed in response.
“I’m sorry I cannot come with you but I have been instructed to go to Bangkok and accompany Stonehouse back to the UK”
“That’s ok James, I’m told that I will not be set free for at least another week, perhaps we could meet up?”

“Sure, I’d like that very much” replied Bond

Leiter’s conversation was a little more embarrassing “Welcome back to the reservation Miss Sinclair”

“Thank you Mr. Leiter, it sure has been a bumpy ride”

Bond passed her a small black velvet bag and said “Call me”

Then they left.

The train pulled away, right on time and as they passed through the towering high rises of Kowloon, Daisy opened the bag “I surely will Mr. Bond I surely will” the bag contained a mobile phone.

Within the hour they passed silently through the modern satellite city of the New Territories. The surprising ultra-modern metropolis of Shenzhen appeared to be like a mini Hong Kong. The economic boom in this region of China was very evident.
As the urban high-rise turned to rural low-rise and the concrete became fields, the skies cleared and the pale evening sun came out. The cloud that had shrouded the city for the whole day was highly localised, Daisy guessed it was a combination of moisture from the sea and traffic pollution. With absolutely no fanfare they crossed the Chinese border. If Suzi hadn't been looking out of the window at the time Daisy would have missed the simple barbed-wire fence and river crossing. There was no stop, and no officials came through the train. As the train passed through rural settlements which were being displaced by industry, they entered the vast suburban sprawl that is the modern city of Canton.

As the Kinki rocketed across the border between the S.A.R and mainland China at Lowu; its rhythmic motion acted as a lullaby to Daisy who dropped off into an undisturbed sleep.

The local police had been very helpful and thanked Bond and Leiter for their assistance in the Worldlife matter.
Leiter turned to Bond and said “They lost a lot of face over the defection of Mi Wai, don’t you think?”
Bond’s mobile rang, he thought it would be Daisy “Ah, hello Bond, are you still at the station?” it was Q
Bond replied “Yes Q, why?”

“OK will be there in a moment I have something for you” He hung up.
Bond thought about getting a taxi as he had no desire to speak with Q at this point in time, but Leiter persuaded him to wait for the fastidious Englishman. ‘Oh well, if it keeps me out of Leiter’s car, then it can’t be all bad” thought Bond.

Had they not waited things would have been totally different.

A station porter began speaking to the officer in charge, immediately he became agitated and looked nervously over at Leiter and Bond, he called for two of his officers to go with the porter, they left at a run, the officer came over to them.
“Mr. Leiter, Mr. Bond, our porter has just reported that six passengers have turned up late for the train, they were most apologetic but claimed they were delayed”
Leiter looked for the punch line
The officer continued “All the tickets were scanned, all the seats were taken”

It was six o clock in the evening, at the busy Hung Hom station but Bond became aware of every single sound, it was as if his brain had separated every sound and analysed the results; without a discussion on the matter Bond knew that the seats had been taken by Blofeld, Jacobs and Mi Wai, the other three were probably heavies.

Then another sound fell into place behind him a V12 engine had just been switched off. Bond turned and ran toward the sound and saw Q getting out of the Aston Martin.
Bond dived into the driving seat and started the engine and the car screamed away from the kerb.
Leiter and the police officer met up with a started Q “That seems to have been well received” said Q as he watched the DBS drive off into the distance.

After dinner and drinks in the Dining Car, the passengers retired to their comfortable compartments for a good night's sleep with the prospect of a fascinating tomorrow. Daisy had eaten from the prepared meals with Suzi and was feeling very depressed about spending the night on board, she had left her new phone switched off, but now as the sun set she thought about contacting James Bond, then something caught her eye and she began a conversation with her nurse. The train traversed the vast expanses of rural China and cross the mighty Yangtze River Bridge at Wuhan.

Bond swore to himself, he had tried Daisy’s number four times, and had left a message each time. Now he phoned Leiter “Felix, can you get a fix on me?”

“Yes James, what have you got in mind?”

“Plot my route, and get a helicopter to meet me, I have to get aboard the train”

Leiter replied “Give me ten minutes”

The helicopter was waiting for him at the border. Once they were airborne Bond called Leiter on the radio “What’s the status of the train”

“As you would, appreciate, the control rooms are telling us the train is not responding to communications”

“Get the passenger list, and contact them on their mobiles”

“We have tried that, but the signal has been blocked for the past fifteen minutes”

There was perhaps only twenty minutes of light left, and then he would have to trust the skill of the pilot and crew to get him on the train.
Suddenly he remembered what M had said to him as he left her office “Trust no one”

They had flown for another hour when the crew helped Bond into the harness, and he stepped out into the void. The wind took him it was dark and they were flying at nearly 100 km per hour, the line was let out and he descended on to the high speed train below.

In his own mind he had decided never to look up or attempt to see if a tunnel was coming up, however reality took over and he kept raising his head to see his impending doom, but in the dark he could see nothing the noise of the wind rushing past him was deafening, suddenly he hit the roof and it knocked the wind out of him, but he kept enough strength in reserve to attach the sucker pad to the train. The line was going tight and threatening to pull him back off the train.
Rolling on to his side he un clipped the harness and the helicopter lifted away.
The wind tore at his hair and face and made movement difficult, slowly he attached the second sucker pad, then he moved levering his weight over it, he released the first one and moved backward. He needed to drop down between the baggage car and the rear engine, the next movement took him to the edge of the carriage, his legs dropped down, but in doing so his head and upper body lifted, the wind tore at his head tilting it back and then the sucker failed Bond swung out his feet dangled in the air unable to get a grip, he fought to get the sucker pad on the back of the carriage but the effort was too much, then the second pad began to slip, Bond had to make a decision either to lose the second pad or use it now, with a super human effort he threw his arm forward like making a punch and the pad stuck to the carriage face, he carefully brought his legs in and un hinged the first pad, he dropped into the gap. It stuck, now he needed to climb up one hand over the other he climbed up until his feet found purchase. He rested for a moment and then clipped himself to the pad. Releasing his hand he felt for the door release, his fingers were numb from the cold. He felt the slot and then pulled it the door exploded outward into the gap and Bond was able to crawl inside. He lay on the floor for two minutes before slowly getting to his feet, he pulled the door closed, and caught his breath.
After taking off the heavy flight suit he checked the firing mechanism on his Walther P99 and then the robust opening mechanism of the Harkins Triton knife with its 154cm machine honed blade. Then slowly he went into the baggage car.
A train guard lay dead at the foot of his desk. Bond stepped over him and tried to open the door, it was locked, Bond pulled out his skeleton keys and soon he was able to open the adjoining door and he went through into the first passenger compartment.

The train was eerily quiet the contrast to the biting wind of out side made Bond feel warm and secure, so he drew his gun to remind his of his purpose tonight.
Quickly he jogged through the compartment, and eased through the adjoining doors; at the far end of the car he saw a figure standing with his back to the door, even in the subdued lighting he recognized Mi Wai.
Bond crept forward.

Daisy had woken with a start and checked her watch, she had dozed for nearly two hours, she was thirsty and bored, she called for Suzi, but the little nurse did not move, she called again still nothing. She tapped her fingers on the mobile, her face brightened and she switched it on, a pronounced ding announced she had four messages from ‘James’

Bond waited for Mi Wai to step forward into the next compartment as he did so, Bond made his move, timing the swish of his doors to that of Mi Wai’s; almost upon him Bond gripped the knife in his hand and raised his arm.
His mobile rang.

MiWai turned at the sound and got his arms up in a cross block trapping Bond’s knife hand, he draped his top hand over Bond’s wrist and drew him down but Bond stepped forward at the critical time, just as his balance was going and used his left arm to hit Mi over top of his guard.
They both spun around and crashed through a ‘Sleeper’ compartment door,
Mi attacked with low kicks to the body and legs, his balance was superb,
Bond grunted with the effort of his blocks, Mi’s power was immense,
Bond was economical with his knife attack, but the noise of the ringing mobile and the fight triggered another problem in Bond’s mind the people were remaining asleep, they had been drugged.
Mi parried another knife thrust and it dropped to the carpeted floor.
Mi attacked now using his weight he thumped Bond into the window, Bond brought both arms down on Mi’s neck, but he was unaffected and had managed to get both his powerful arms around Bond’s body, one more thrust like a rugby player surging forward in a scrum and the bear-hug was complete, he pushed the top of his head under Bond’s chin and began to squeeze.

Bond brought his hands down and wormed them into Mi’s face seeking his eyes,
he pressed his thumbs into the eye sockets, Mi twisted his head to the side and Bond changed his attack he jabbed his thumb directly into Mi’s eye and the big man screamed in pain, relaxing his grip. Bond drove his elbow down into Mi’s face and the release was complete, Bond got in behind Mi and pushed him toward the window but it was toughened glass and did not break, Bond took out the Walther, but Mi held his wrist turning it away as the gun turned Bond shot the window, it shattered, and with one more thrust he upended Mi through the hole. The calm of the small bedroom was shattered and anything that was not nailed down began to swirl in the air, Bond left the compartment and closed the door behind him. His mobile rang again.

Bond answered his mobile as he was walking through the corridor, he was only four cars away from her “Sorry Daisy I was busy seeing an old friend off”
It was at this precise moment that Jacobs placed his gun against Bond’s head.

“Hello James, nice of your to drop in, now just throw your little gun up there some”
Bond followed the instruction; Jacobs came forward and frisked him, stopping at the extra Walther magazines, removing them he pulled back
“Turn around, slowly”
Jacobs had backed away, and gestured for Bond to enter the sleeper car.

Inside Blofeld reclined on the seat, he was dressed in casual trousers and a thick black woolen jumper, twirling a hat on his finger.
“How very innovative of you, how did you get on board the train” He help up his hand to stunt any reply “Don’t tell me I do not want to know” Blofeld looked out of the window for a few moments and then said
“If you are here, then people know I’m here, now does that mean I have to change my plans” He thought for one second “No”

Bond said “When the train pulls in to Shanghai, the authorities will be all over it, you don’t stand a chance”

Blofeld sighed heavily and shook his head “Thank goodness you did not say ‘end of the line’ doesn’t matter I won’t be on the train. You have caused me no end of problems Mr. Bond, you and Miss Sinclair in there” he gestured along the train, he lent forward “I had a billion dollar business, which is being closed down as we speak, my show piece HQ has been destroyed, and many of my network have been arrested, it could take me weeks to get back on my feet, fortunately I still have friends in very high places, you won’t stop me Mr. Bond”

“I will stop you Blofeld”

“Yeah, you and who’s army?”

“Chinese Peoples army for starters”

Blofeld shook his head again “When the train arrives in Shanghai the police and the army will traipse all over it, interviewing the passengers, and then after they realize they have no information, they will all be released. 300 people will be rushing home or going to business meetings or flying to far flung destinations”

Bond dreaded what was to follow.

“We estimate over 50,000 people will be infected during the next 48 hours, you see I have learned from my mistake with Daisy, this time I will have 300 Daisies”

“We have a vaccine for the Ebola”

“Oh, this is not Ebola, this is much scarier, I’m going to name it the Spectre virus, and after all you gave me the idea in Hong Kong”

Bond’s mobile rang again, and Jacobs moved in to take it from his pocket.
Bond swiveled and hit him in the face with his elbow, dropping his hand and grabbing Jacobs’s gun arm he began forcing him to aim the weapon at Blofeld, both struggled to get their balance.

Blofeld reached forward for his case and took out his own gun.
Jacobs’s gun went off firing a round which thudded into the seat not two inches from Blofeld’s leg, but he did not flinch, instead he took hold of his gun and brought it to bear on Bond, seeing the danger Bond struck Jacobs again between is upper and base of his nose and ducked out of the car, the big gun fired and the bullets sliced through the thin wall and embedded themselves in the corridor window, a second gun shot followed, Bond dived forward and grabbed his gun, turning over he fired at the door which Jacobs had just peered around forcing him back inside.

Bond inched himself back along the floor. Once more Jacobs tried to get out, and Bond fired again, this time hitting him in the shoulder, Jacobs fell back crashing against the door frame then disappeared back into the compartment, then the door opened in the adjacent compartment and a lady in a toweling dressing gown, beckoned to Bond to enter her sleeper car,
Bond dived in and away from the immediate danger.
Sitting on the bed was Sir David Somerset. Sitting opposite him was Daisy, her hands were tied behind her neck, she looked like a naughty schoolgirl sitting with her hands on her head, Bond looked her up and down, her ankles had been tied and her mouth had been taped.

"Come in my dear boy. Marion, this is James Bond, 007 from Her Majesties'
secret service"
The woman growled in application and Bond turned his head to look at
her, she was joined at the door by Blofeld.
Sir David requested the Walther, which Bond tossed on to the seat; Blofeld threw an ammunition clip on top of it.
Sir David put one into the other “It’s been a long time since I held a gun”

"I see you have met my friends in high places, Sir David is the UK's
most senior consultant for all the most sensitive of strategic plans, Marion Sinclair was the second wife of Hugh and benefactor of his estate, Daisy you already know"

"I would have said how the mighty have fallen if he has to come half way
around the world to do his own dirty work"

Sir David smiled and shook his head as if despairing of a child’s inability to understand a simple concept "Oh, it has to be me dear boy, because I have the Diplomatic immunity, when we leave the train, my party will be whisked away without any questions…"

Bond interrupted "That will be nice for you and your girl friend"

Blofeld coughed to be excused "The lady is with me"

Bond turned again "On the rebound from Tien?"

Blofeld laughed "Very funny Mr. Bond, but not as funny as when Daisy has
to call me Daddy"

It crossed Bond's mind that Daisy was involved with Blofeld for just a
fleeting moment, then he remembered all the danger she had been exposed
to, and that put her firmly back on his side, he nodded to her as a reassuring gesture, she smiled back with her eyes.

Bond noticed a pile of foil containers and empty water bottles, the same as he had observed in Blofeld’s compartment.
“I see you don’t like the local food”

“No, leaves a very bitter after taste”

Blofeld gestured, that Bond should move toward the dinning car.

As they entered the Stewards behind the food bar stood up and bowed to
Blofeld, the fact that they were not phased by the gun in Blofeld’s hand told
Bond that they were another part of the problem.

“Halt” Blofeld looked at his watch again, and then spoke to the
Stewards “The effects of the sleeping drug will be wearing off soon,
prepare for visitors, make sure they enjoy their breakfast, and make sure they all enjoy the free water"

Just then an elderly couple came into the dinning car.
Blofeld hid his gun behind his hat “Keep going, time that you became more familiar with the Air conditioning unit on this train”

They went through the final corridor; Bond noticed it had an emergency door like the one at the back. In the engine room, Bond was bundled into the Air conditioning area.
Blofeld called to the driver, he joined them he was holding a Taser gun.
The unit itself was about 12 feet long, and Bond was imprisoned in the steel cage that surrounded it, the ends were both flush with the walls, only the front was meshed, giving legitimate workers a couple of feet to work in, the door which opened inward, was secured with a sliding bolt.
The driver shook the Taser at Bond “Any problems buzz buzz”
Blofeld said “I think you get the message”
The Taser fires two projectiles that administer an electric shock in the 200 to 300 kV range through a thin, flexible wire, rendering the victim helpless

"It’s standard equipment for all employees; just in case of trouble. We don't have much time Mr. Bond; soon I will contact the authorities in
Shanghai and reveal that Sir David and his party need to leave the train before it reaches Shanghai”

“You’ll be arrested as soon as you set foot in China”

“I don’t think so Mr. Bond, all ready the press are breaking the story of the terrorist attack on my HQ, soon I will be vindicated; I told you it could take weeks for me to recover from the Hong Kong incident”

Sir David had joined them and cut in “We have a secure passage booked to a Red Army air base; we will be on our way to…”

“OK, no need to go into detail” Blofeld cautioned “Go back and keep an eye on the girl, you know how she and mummy get on”

Sir David left the engine room. Blofeld checked the lock and followed him.
The driver made a couple of feints with the gun, Bond thought he would have to be very close to the mesh to administer an accurate shot. The driver went back to his seat, content the prisoner could not attempt an escape without alerting him.
Bond removed his left shoe and pivoted the heel a second skeleton key arrangement dropped free, after replacing the shoe he set about picking the lock.
“Hey you come take a look at this” Bond rattled the cage, the driver lumbered up in front of him ranting in Chinese, he attempted to get an aim on Bond with the Taser but Bond get moving from side to side, as soon as the driver had committed to moving past the door Bond wrenched it open and lunged at the astonished man.

Blofeld confirmed that the Red Army General was in place, he put his mobile back in his pocket “Time to go”

With just one piece of hand luggage each they left the soft sleeper compartment, and waited in the corridor. The Steward was explaining to a party of students that the train was going to make an unexpected stop.
Marion Sinclair noted “Shouldn’t we be slowing down?”
Blofeld’s mobile began to ring
“I don’t know” was his reply to the question “is everything in order, you are coming in very fast”
The train sped past the small country station
Red Army General watched as the Kinki continued with a pause to its rhythm.
“Sorry Mr. Blofeld the deal is off”

Blofeld turned to Marion and Sir David “Wait here”
He hurried through the compartments. As he got to the engine it was clear that all was not well. Bond was gone and the driver was dead.
The windscreen was smashed, with a broken star pattern in the centre, the driver was tied to his seat with the Dead mans handle stuffed into his mouth.
Blofeld’s rage was immense he tried to slow and stop the train, but nothing he pressed or pulled had any effect on the speed of the train, he took out his Browning 9mm and shot the control panel, sparks erupted but no change in speed. Then he shot the driver, his dead body making no move “Useless”
Then his mind began to function again ‘where was Bond’ he thought. He put a bullet into ever possible hiding place, one bullet ricocheted into the windscreen blowing in the damaged glass, the wind howled in, and deadly shards of glass flew at him. “Nothing’s gonna stop this train now”
“Who said anything about stopping it”
Bond fired the Taser gun, it hit Blofeld who began to dance as the current coursed through his body, with a supreme effort he brought the Browning up and fired it, but the recoil flipped him out of the open windscreen, Bond let go of the gun as it snaked over the instrument panel and out of the windscreen.

Bond opened the emergency exit again and climbed outside he disconnected the carriages from the engine. Within a minute a small gap had grown to a couple of feet as the carriages began to slow Bond jumped across the growing gap and opened the corridor door he went through the compartments and ran through the dinning car stopping at the bar to slam the Stewards head on the counter.
Passengers were beginning to panic coming out of their compartments to see why the train was slowing.
Bond continued to push through the growoing throng of people, then he saw them.

Daisy still tied and taped was being taken to rear of train by Marion and Sir David.
Bond followed. Another Steward pushing a trolley attempted to block Bond’s way. Bond snapped his neck and continued to gain on Daisy. One more car to go.

At rear of the last car, Bond pulled up suddenly, the noise of the wind was noticible, slowly he entered the corridor. Sir David was holding Bond’s Walther in one hand and Daisy in the other, Marion was a pace behind them. As Bond stepped closer they threatened to push Daisy out of the door.

Bond took the advantage “Better do it now, because the train is slowing down”

Sir David hesitated for one instant, but that was all Bond needed he kicked the gun out of Sir David’s hand and charged forward, but Sir David slipped and fell out of the open door taking Daisy with him, Bond got his arm around her body and Sir David was hanging on to her waist. Bond held on to the door and braced his body into the frame using his legs against the bulkhead.

Marion advanced with the gun that Sir David had dropped. Bond recognised it as his own. “Let them go or I will shoot you, and you will all die”

“…and if I drop them, what’s in it for me”

“I’m a very rich lady, drop them and let’s talk”

Bond lent out of the train Sir David was slipping, soon the weight would be in his favour. He needed just one minute, he had to think fast.

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“Don’t worry about that, I could have just shot you, which must mean something?”

The door was flapping against the side of the compartment, Bond shifted his weight once more, looked deep into the eyes of Marion Sinclair and then let go.

Quickly he stepped away from the void and faced Marion Sinclair.

She smiled up at him “So I do mean something to you?”
She dropped the gun to the floor and raised her arms to embrace him “Do you trust me now?”
“No” replied Bond and picking her up threw her out of the open door.

Instantly he was at the door where Daisy was fastened over the top locking mechanism. He lifted her off and brought her in.
She stood shaking as Bond lent past her and closed the door.
“If you’re looking for a thank-you, thanks”

“Have you eaten anything prepared on the train?”

“No, all my food was prepared by the hospital”
“Good, then I think that’s all the loose ends tied up”

Daisy gestured that she was still tied up “I’m feeling a little vulnerable right now. Do you think you could untie me?”
Bond stood in front of her pressing her body back against the bulkhead and ran his hands down her body. They kissed “Don’t you trust me?”

“No” she replied

Bond took out the knife and cut her bonds. She rubbed her arms to start the circulation
The train had slowed to a about 10 miles per hour
“I don’t like loose ends” Bond looked out of the window “Looks like it’s going to be a nice day”
“Not for you 007, just one loose end too many” Jacobs was leaning against the door frame, he was deathly white and there was a lot of blood on his jacket he sensed the train slowing “Too slow to throw you off, so I guess I’ll just have to shoot you”
Train rolled to a stop, there was silence.
When the gun shot came it was all consuming in the small corridor, even the sound of the cartridge being ejected was loud.
It was as if a giant hook had pulled Jacobs back into the compartment.
In his place was the smoke from where the bullet had been.
Daisy stepped forward, the Walther P99 still smoking in her hands
Bond took the gun from her and put it into his holster, she lent against him and he caressed her in his arms “If you’re looking for a thank-you, thanks”


James Bond will return in

To Kill and Die for.

Edited by volante, 28 September 2008 - 05:28 PM.


#8 volante

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Posted 23 September 2008 - 06:33 PM

.

Edited by volante, 25 September 2008 - 04:16 PM.


#9 volante

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Posted 23 September 2008 - 06:35 PM

.

Edited by volante, 25 September 2008 - 04:15 PM.


#10 volante

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Posted 23 September 2008 - 06:38 PM

James Bond will return in

To Kill and Die for.

Edited by volante, 25 September 2008 - 04:10 PM.


#11 volante

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Posted 05 October 2008 - 10:43 AM

Cover shot