Bond Movies 06 - The World Is Not Enough (3 page)

She frowned. ‘Contrary to what you may believe, Double-

0 Seven, the world is not populated by madmen who can hollow out volcanoes, fill them with big-breasted women, and threaten the world with nuclear annihilation’

Bond grinned at the irony of her remark as he stepped over to the ice bucket. He picked up two cubes and plopped them into his tumbler.

‘It only takes one,'he said.

M ignored the quip and walked around her desk and assumed a relaxed position on the edge of it. ‘Any leads on the sniper?’

‘No. The hotel room was clean. Professional job.’

M pondered this as she took a sip from her drink.

Bond noticed a report on the desk that was stamped with a strange seal. He took a closer look and saw that it was from the Russian Atomic Energy agency.

‘Is that the stolen report?’ he asked.

M nodded and handed it to him. Bond set down his tumbler and began to thumb dirough the document.

‘Yes. Classified, from the Russian Atomic Energy Department. All it does is assess the computer bug threat on the nuclear arsenal in the former Soviet Republics’

Neither of them noticed that the ice in Bond’s tumbler was beginning to fizz.

‘What would King want this for?’ he asked.

‘As I told you before, it wasn’t what he thought it was. He was led to believe the document was a secret report that identified the terrorists who’ve attacked a new oil pipeline he’s building in the region. Kazakhstan . . . Azerbaijan . . . that part of the world. He's had quite a bit of trouble with bands of local tribesmen who get hold of explosives and vandalise his operations. He thought the report would pinpoint who the real culprits are and he could go to the proper authorities with it. But when he discovered the report concerned nuclear weapons, he turned it over to me, immediately. It turns out the thing’s worthless. It’s nothing new to us.’

The ice continued to fizz, unnoticed.

‘Interesting,’ Bond said. ‘So Sir Robert gave this worthless report to MI6, and then we received a call about the money?’ ‘That’s right,’ M said, a bit perturbed that Bond was going back over details. ‘We received a message that Sir Robert could have his money back. All we had to do was send someone to Spain to pick it up from a Swiss banker. We sent you.’

‘It’s all a bit of a mystery, isn't it? Everyone in that bank office died, except the girl. And me’

‘Remember, you’re the one who drew a weapon first. You might have come out of there with the money and without an incident. I’ve already lost one Double-0 this month, I don’t need to lose another.’

Bond ignored the reprimand. ‘But why give back the money in the first place? It doesn’t explain why someone wanted me to get out of that office in Bilbao alive . . . with the cash . . .’ He paused for a moment, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together. It was then that he felt the strange bubbling where he had touched the ice. His eyes darted to the tumbler. The ice was boiling!

What the hell? he thought. He sniffed his fingers, identified the smell, then dropped the report on the desk. ‘King! The money! M, it’s a bomb!’

Bond was halfway out of the door when M stabbed at the intercom. ‘Moneypenny! Stop King!’

Sir Robert and an MI6 aide were unaware of the sudden alarm as they walked toward the security area of the building. King’s only thoughts were on the money, which was still lying on the tray, wrapped in plastic. Security bars were between him and the cash. An official produced a bag and moved toward it, saying, ‘We haven’t finished checking it yet, sir.’

Sir Robert waved him away. ‘I'm sure it’s all there. If you can’t trust MI6, whom can you trust?’

The official hesitated a moment, then decided not to argue with one of the more powerful men in Britain. He placed the money inside a canvas bag, opened the gate and handed the cash to King.

‘Thank you,’ the tycoon said. He heaved the bag over his shoulder. ‘Quite heavy, isn’t it?’ he said to the aide and proceeded to walk alone into the corridor leading outside.

Bond, rushing through the building, took a short cut through the Q Branch laboratory, where Major Boothroyd and his technicians were busy working on a strange, half-built boat suspended over a water tank. Q was startled as Bond ran past them.

‘Where’s the fire, Double-0—?’ Boothroyd asked, but Bond was already gone.

He rounded a comer, took a flight of stairs three steps at a time, and bolted into the security area. ‘Stop! King!’ he shouted.

But the call was muffled where King was walking. His mind was so focused on the money that even he didn't hear the serene hum which his lapel pin began to emit.

Bond reached the lower corridor’s open doorway just as a massive explosion rocked the building, and all hell broke loose. Fire blasted out of the corridor, knocking Bond back and to the floor. The entire structure shook for a moment as a lower tier gave way, its roof and a wall collapsing amidst the smoke and flames.

Giulietta the cigar girl sat in a Sunseeker Hawk 34 at the edge of the Thames, eyeing the destruction that was caused by the little device that Renard had created. The fools at MI6 had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. She picked up the FN FAL sniper rifle and lined up the infra-red telescopic sight on the billow of dark smoke that was pouring out of the hole in the building.

Just as Renard had predicted, James Bond stumbled out of the wreckage, peering around and attempting to find the source of the mayhem. She took careful ami and activated the laser.

Bond coughed and rubbed smoke from his eyes, shaken from the blast but unharmed. But Sir Robert and a small section of SIS headquarters had vanished in the blink of an eye. The culprits had to be nearby, watching.

He waved the smoke away and then noticed the wand of red light pointing at his chest. Instinctively he dived for cover just as the powerful, high velocity bullets blanketed the area. He crawled behind a stone wall, drew the Walther and prepared to return fire. He scanned the area but the bullets continued to fly over his head. Bond snaked on his belly a little further out so that he could see more clearly.

She was on a sleek high-tech boat, approximately a hundred yards from the shore. He immediately recognised her as the girl from Bilbao.

Realising that she had Med to kill the MI6 agent, Giulietta’s only goal now was to get out of there alive. She dropped the rifle and gunned the engines, speeding off down the river.

Determined, Bond jumped up and raced back into the wreckage and chaos that the building had become. Q was not going to like it, but there was only one thing to do.

The Q Branch boat had been lowered into the tank, temporarily forgotten, and now Major Boothroyd and his men were busy checking reports of damage, sounding alarms and sealing off passages. They didn't notice James Bond as he ran into the room and leapt into the boat.

Bond stared at the mystifying number of buttons and gadgets on the console, gambled and pressed a red button. The engine roared, and the boat shot out of its berth.

Boothroyd looked up in horror. ‘Wait! It's not finished!’

The vessel, a one-man sprint boat that was compact, slim- lined and built from scratch, soared out of the SIS rubble and into the Thames. The craft was lightweight and very sensitive to Bond’s guidance. It spun around in the water, out of control, but Bond gripped the steering wheel and pulled it hard to the right. The boat levelled out, but its momentum nearly caused it to capsize. It took Bond approximately twenty seconds to get the feel of the controls, and then he steered the boat in the direction of the escaping assassin. He revved the engine and tore through thie water after her.

Giulietta could see Bond's boat in a side mirror. He was gaining fast. She pushed her own engines to the limit, roaring to a new level of speed. The Hawk 34 was a luxury vessel capable of fifty-four knots, but Giulietta found that the boat’s many extras - a full camper/suntop and tonneau, wetbar, refrigerator — were a liability now. It was meant to be a pleasure cruiser, not an escape boat. Still, the craft propelled through the water with immense power and strength. Giulietta thought that perhaps she could use the sheer size of thie boat to her advantage.

Bond shot past two police boats that immediately sounded alarms and gave chase behind the bizarre arrowhead-shaped green vessel. Police car sirens were already wailing along the embankment; some emergency vehicles headed toward the SIS building, others following the boat chase from the shore.

There were a surprising number of boats on the Thames. The cigar girl weaved in and out, almost ramming a small speedboat in the process. Bond was losing ground, but in a bid to keep pace, he corralled the boat into a hair-raising short cut, shooting underneath a pier. He was barely able to manoeuvre the boat under it, but luckily he emerged even closer to his prey.

Enough is enough, the girl thought. She killed the motor, moved to the back of the boat and pulled a tarpaulin off a rear- mounted machine gun. She snapped on the belt, took aim at Bond and fired.

The Q Boat continued at full speed, now up to nearly seventy knots. The bullets bounced off the chobam armour plating that Bond knew covered the surface. He set his jaw and kept going, heading straight for her.

The girl remained calm and cool, shooting with precision. Why weren’t the bullets penetrating? He was getting closer . . . closer . . .

Her eyes widened when she realised his boat was not going to stop. She let out a small scream and hit the deck as Bond steered his boat right over the machine gun and turret, using the girl's boat as a ramp. The Q Boat launched into the air, then dived, nose-first, into the Thames.

She raised herself in time to see Bond turning the little powerhouse to close in for the kill. She scrambled to the helm, fired the engine again, and sped toward Tower Bridge, which was just beginning to open to allow for the passage of a small freighter.

Bond lagged behind, impeded by the influx of heavy traffic on the water. He watched helplessly as her boat was lost in the distance. Desperate, he looked around him and saw that a shore-side fish market was not far to his left. Gritting his teeth, he cranked the wheel and veered off, up a slip way and onto the embankment. The ingenuity of the Q Boat design allowed it to hydroplane on the pavement, propelling him through the market and into a busy London street. Pedestrians screamed and jumped out of the way as he wrestled with the controls, jetting off the street and straight toward a riverside restaurant full of people.

The boat crashed through the side of the restaurant, sending diners leaping in every direction. Waiters shouted at him, but before they knew what had happened, Bond’s boat had sprung out over a balcony and splashed down once more into the Thames.

She was back in his sights.

Giulietta turned back, amazed that Bond had managed to overtake her. She bore down and kept going.

The racing boats sliced through an armada of lazy, overloaded barges, barely missing one and sending a small tidal wave over another. Then they were at an even pace. Giulietta attempted to force her way past him, but Bond punched some buttons on the console of the Q Boat and released a set of catapulting flame canisters. They shot out ahead, creating a massive wall of fire in front of them.

Giulictta swerved her boat out of the way just in time and was forced to turn toward the very edge of the river. She knew the chase was nearly over and that she had lost, but then she saw the huge, colourful hot air balloon looming in the sky in front of her.

Their boats were now only yards away from the Millennium Dome. A crowd of people was gathered around the balloon, which was apparently about to launch. She skidded her vessel to a stop at the nearby pier and quickly scrambled out.

A flamboyant, wealthy celebrity was preparing to climb into the basket of the balloon. He waved to the crowd and smiled for the cameras, but Giulietta pushed through and leapt into the basket.

‘Hey!’ the man shouted, but she shoved him away. In one swift move, she cranked open the gas nozzles and the balloon rose with surprising speed.

Bond steered his craft toward a slipway adjacent to the pier, punched a button, and shot into the air. The crowd below watched with open mouths and unbelieving amazement.

The Q Boat sailed through the air just beneath the rising balloon. With split second precision, Bond reached up and grabbed one of the ropes dangling from the balloon. The boat fell away, hitting the ground and erupting into a ball of flame. The crowd screamed and began to disperse. Few, though, could take their eyes off the man who was now being carried precariously through the air.

The balloon soared higher and higher. Giulietta pulled a Beretta from a holster at her side and fired over the side of the basket. Bond swung back and forth underneath, like a pendulum, avoiding the bullets and praying that she didn’t get lucky. He strained to pull himself upward as the arc of his swing under the basket provided cover.

Giulietta continued to fire but stopped when she heard the rumbling noise approaching the balloon. Looking up, she was terrified to see three Westland Lynx police helicopters closing in on her.

Bond was getting closer to the bottom of the basket.

Giulietta pulled a knife from a sheath on her ankle and considered going for Bond’s rope. Instead, since the helicopters were looming, she decided there was only one alternative.

Bond’s arm appeared over the rim of the basket. He looked up just in time to see the girl slash one of the gas hoses. A loud hiss drowned out all other noise as the balloon filled not with hot air, but with gas. As she put her hand on the flame regulator valve, Bond realized what she was planning to do.

‘Stop!’ he shouted. ‘Don't! I can protect you!’

The brunette beauty simply looked at Bond and gave him a sad smile.

‘Not from him,’ she said.

She pulled on the regulator. Bond pushed himself away from the basket as a four foot lick of flame shot up into the balloon. He plummeted downward as the balloon exploded in a massive fireball, taking Giulictta the cigar girl with it. The police helicopters swerved out of the way just in time, avoiding further disaster.