As Bond and Cobra entered Delhi, Bond was planning to somehow separate himself from Cobra long enough to allow himself evasion, but for now Cobra basically stuck to him like a cobra on his prey. He wanted to take that earpiece out, but Cobra was watching him a little too much for him to even do it. They eventually stopped at a run-down hotel, where Bond and Cobra checked in. As they were heading to their rooms, Bond wondered if this stay was more arranged than it appeared. Perhaps the room was predetermined and bugged as a result. Maybe escape was impossible as the hotel employees worked for the new MI-6. And then there was that annoying thing in his ear. The former Ms never had to keep contact with him in a manner like this, and the new M he trusted least of all. Also, where were Q and Moneypenny? In any case, he had to get out of there and find Daya, the only close contact he had available.
Once Bond and Cobra had settled into their rooms, Bond could do little but wait for a moment of which he could seize an escape attempt. There were too many eyes around him to utilize a covert escape, so he’d most likely wind up leaving a few corpses, which was no problem for him - even if this MI-6 turned out to be illegit, he was still a legitimate 00-Agent. Bond examined the gun he was given - a Ruger P90. It wasn’t his Walther P99, but it was still a good gun to use. Unfortunately for him, the gun didn’t have any ammunition. Trying his best to avoid giving off any physical reaction, he couldn’t help but shout a couple of expletives inside his head. It was most likely Cobra who carried the ammunition and anything else necessary for the job. He had a suspicious feeling about the whole thing. He would have to carry it out - he did consider attempting to play both sides, but that would all depend on how much Cobra - or anyone else - was watching over his shoulder. If only he had one of Q’s reprogramming gadgets - that would make his life easier, allowing MI-6 to reprogram the missile once it had been launched. However, MI-6 appeared to be more of an enemy than an ally.
Bond reached for the phone and asked for a bottle of Bacardi. Moments later a female entered delivering Bond’s Bacardi. Grabbing the bottle, he barely noticed she was concealing a weapon. Assuming it was loaded, Bond launched the bottle at the back of her head as hard as he could. Following a hard thud, Bond grabbed the concealed weapon, and by the time he was able to confirm it was loaded, he had visitors. Quickly dispatching them, he grabbed their weapons for the additional ammunition. By now Cobra came out, wondering what the commotion was for, and by then Bond had already crawled out the window of his room.
Bond assumption was right - they had the room monitored, even to the point of arming the employees there. As Bond navigated across a narrow ledge on the exterior, he spotted several more armed men and women rushing out from below now trying to kill him. Easily dispatched, Bond proceeded towards a maintenance ladder, where he slid down for rapid descent. At the base, he checked back to see if Cobra was in pursuit. Not noticing him, he guessed he was off to tell the new M what Bond had done. To avoid hearing a lecture in his ear, he took out that earpiece and scrambled towards one of the dead bodies and picked up the significantly used AK47 rifle. Upon spotting more armed gunmen, he dove behind an electrical box for some temporary cover. He popped back to return some fire before dropping the gun and scrambling away from a flurry of bullets as he headed towards the streets of Delhi. He was maintaining perfect running technique during his sprint for his life, avoiding motion that created any unnecessary tension that would create drag.
***
Cobra dialed up Obsidian and informed him of Bond’s succeeding escape attempt.
“Damn it!” Obsidian stammered. “You and the entire hotel were supposed to WATCH him and ENSURE that he didn’t ESCAPE!”
All Cobra could do was apologize. “We do have people who are trying to stop him.”
“… and probably kill him. Although this could work to our favor. He knows that you were going with him to launch that missile. What I need you to do is be there. While Bond may be there to stop you, I think we may be able to… coerce him into doing our work for us once again.”
***
Bond had very little idea as to how many people were going to chase him, or for how long. All he knew was he needed to see Daya, and Cobra was likely launching a nuclear missile on his own. He spotted a civilian climbing onto a motorcycle, and Bond scrambled over to knock him off it before he could go anywhere with it. Quickly climbing on top of his newly acquired vehicle, he was also drawing the attention of not only “MI-6 Agents” but the local authorities as well. While both were trying to kill him, he’d have to make sure to avoid killing the local authorities. The rest were completely expendable as far as he was concerned. Dodging bullets and traffic, Bond was as wondering where the danger lie, in front or behind him. Arriving at an intersection, he made a tight right turn, nearly avoiding a wreck with passing traffic. For a few moments the bullets behind him died down. When they returned, Bond glanced back to see a rusty sedan closing in on him. Sending the motorcycle into a higher gear, Bond climbed off his seat and managed his way to the other side of the handles, sitting on top of the headlight. Riding the bike backwards, he reached for the pistol he acquired back at the hotel. Making sure his accelerating hand wouldn’t relax, he used his other hand to aim at the vehicle. Trying to remain steady, he tried to aim at one of the front tires. A shot and a prayer later, a bullet pierced front passenger tire, and the vehicle spun out of control, nearly hitting a local business. With only the authorities to lose, Bond tossed his pistol onto the streets and now planned on evading their sights before trying to locate Daya.
Bond made a turn into an alley, and at the dead end, he made a sharp turn that allowed him to plant a foot on the ground. Jerking his other foot over his makeshift seat, he let the bike turn by him, and climbed back on the intended seat, now zipping 180 degrees, back at the waiting authorities. Zipping through a gap, he evaded his own trap. It wasn’t long before they repositioned themselves to continue the chase, even though by now Bond had built a sizeable lead to where he could slow them down with a few risky maneuvers, something worth attempting.
***
Obsidian paced back and forth, wondering what to do with Bond’s escape. …or rather, Cobra’s failure in keeping him under his watch, which allowed the escape to happen in the first place. With Bond out of his control for the time being, he would most likely be trying to find some he knew for some answers. Bond was a man of resources, and he knew that by limiting Bond’s resources, Obsidian still had a chance to utilize a “useful idiot”.
With ease, Bond weaved the motorbike into a crowd of oncoming rickshaws. The three-wheeled taxis, panicked by the mad driver, careened in chaos amidst the busy street. One toppled over, spilling a white-clothed occupant onto the muddy roadway.
Bond looked back and smiled. The mass of confused commuters created a formidable roadblock behind him, and he could see the pursuing authorities screech to a halt behind the confusion. Turning his attention back to the road, he opened the throttle and felt the satisfying shudder of the motorbike between his legs as it bolted forward.
The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky with a vibrant orange brush. The rush of the escape fading from his veins, Bond began to enjoy the brisk ride through the slanting shadows of Delhi. Now he could formulate his next move.
First, he needed to contact Daya. If anyone in the area could help him make sense of the situation, it was her. Navigating down a side street, he spotted a dingy public telephone. He left the bike to idle while he picked up the cracked receiver and dialed the Universal Exports switchboard. “Yes,” he replied to the business-like receptionist who answered. “I need your Delhi office, extension 315.” It was strange that he remembered Daya’s number from his examination of her dossier. Everything else afterwards was so muddied. Why?
“Hello?”
Bond shook himself from his reverie. “Daya! Thank goodness you're there! It’s Bond.”
“James!” she exclaimed. “Where are you?”
“No time for that now. I need your help. Can you meet me?”
“Well, yes. Of course. Where?”
“Tonight. Tughlaqabad Fort in one hour. I’ll find you.” With that Bond hung up the phone, and thought. Could he trust Daya? What if he was wrong? If he had turned on genuine MI6 agents, there would be some serious repercussions. But his ‘mission’ was simply too dreadful to be the truth.
Bond shook the thoughts from his head. It was too late now. The bones had been rolled. His fate was in Daya’s hands. He climbed back upon the waiting bike and sped off, sending a rooster tail of dirt and pebbles into the air behind him.
…
“May this city be the abode of nomads or remain in wilderness.”
That was the curse of a Sufi saint upon the budding fort of Tughlaqabad. Only a few years after construction of the fort in the thirteenth century, the project was abandoned and left in despair, but not before the sultan Ghiyas-ud-din had erected a formidable array of ramparts and walls, some towering fifty feet in the air from the rocky earth.
And it was a perfect place in which Bond to go to ground. The fort was a small maze of roughly hewn rock walls and weeds, and Bond had found himself a safe place to hide and observe the area. He lay stealthily in the tall brown grass and watch the walls darken in the purpling night. The evening was quiet, and Bond had lain so still that a lone mongoose had wandered only a few inches in front of his face before it noticed him. The creature had stared at Bond for a brief moment with its small red eyes, and then, with a graceful alacrity, hopped away into the tall grass, its bushy tail flowing behind it. Bond smiled as he remembered Kipling’s story from his childhood about the brave mongoose and the cobra, and his faced hardened when he recalled the ominous line…”Eye to eye and head to head, This shall end when one is dead…
His musing vanished when he heard a whisper of sound. The silhouette of a lone woman walked by.
With a silent leap, Bond grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth to prevent her from screaming out. “Shush!” he whispered as he clamped her squirming body. “It’s me…Bond!” He reached into her jacket and pulled out a pistol. It was dark, Bond couldn’t see it clearly but it felt like a Beretta. He pulled his hand from her mouth and she turned to face him.
“James!” she breathed. “What is going on?”
“I need your help. I need answers.”
“You must come back with me to headquarters. M is looking for you!”
Bond’s eyes narrowed. “Are you working for him?” he growled. “Is that why you came? To send me back?”
Daya shook her head. “What are you talking about? James, there’s been trouble at MI6. Something was found on your computer that was very suspicious. And now Jari is dead. It’s best if you report to M immediately…for your own safety.”
Bond shook his head. “M? I was just with him. He sent me here, to Dehli.”
“He? James, you’re not making any sense. What’s going on?”
“M has ordered me to launch a nuclear missile into Pakistan! I want you --”
Bond never had a chance to finish his sentence. A figure jumped him from behind, clutching Bond and grabbing the wrist of his gun hand. The grip was strong and Bond could feel the pressure of the man’s hold squeezing around his neck. The pistol dropped from his hand on the rocky groundThe ambusher attempted to break Bond’s arm by bending it backward, but Bond moved with, flipping himself over and causing his attacker collapsing to the earth.
Daya screamed. “Don’t struggle, James. They’re from MI6. They want to help you!”
Bond was only half-listening. He leaped back to his feet, searching for the dropped weapon. He spied it laying in the dirt and grass, and was about to reach for it when a second man appeared from nowhere. These men are well-trained, Bond thought. Clearly professionals.
Before the second attacker could lay a hand on Bond, he sidestepped and landed a clean blow in the man’s stomach. The man doubled over and Bond shoved him forcefully into the rock wall of the fort. There was a dull thud as the man’s head made solid contact with the ancient stone and he slumped to the ground.
Meanwhile the first assailant regained his footing, and once again grabbed Bond from behind with a chokehold. Bond writhed in the attackers grip but to no avail. He felt his lungs straining for air, and clouds began forming in his vision. He continued to try to break the grip, but he was growing weaker. And weaker.
CRACK!
Suddenly Bond’s vision cleared. The attacker dropped to the ground, a very neat bullet hole in his forehead.
Daya stood frozen staring upward. Bond looked followed her starte to the top of the rampart wall. In the moonlight, a man silhouetted leveling a deadly rifle in their direction. “Did you think you could elude us so easily, Mr. Bond?”
“Cobra! What are you doing?” Bond demanded. If Cobra was indeed an MI6 agent, why was he shooting his own men? What was going on here?
“I’m doing my job.” Cobra replied. “Why aren’t you doing yours?”
Bond positioned himself between Daya and Cobra’s aim. “Careful, Daya. If he killed one MI6 agent, he’ll have no qualms of killing another.”
At this, Bond saw Cobra’s rifle drop slightly in hesitation and his head lift up in surprise.
“Daya?” Cobra whispered.
scaramanga1The English RivieraPosts: 845Chief of Staff
"Rao! What on earth's name are you doing here?"Daya cried.
Bond looked on incredulously as Daya spoke to Cobra. They spoke rapidly in their own language much too fast for him to get the gist of the conversation, his head was almost spinning -he could see that Daya was both alarmed and a little angry at Cobra. Bond decided he should interrupt as Cobra joined them at the same level having climbed down to them.
"Excuse me, Daya? Can you please explain what's going on here. This man can't be trusted and I'm not sure he is on our side."
Daya smiled "Do not worry James he is now."
Rao looked at Bond and held out his hand. "Apologies 007. It seems whilst working as a mercenary I have been working against my own sister!"
"Sister! you mean to say you two are related?"
Daya nodded, "It is true James. Rao left our family home several years ago after a family feud concerning an arranged marriage."
"I thought you said your name was Singh - erm Rao? Obviously that is a lie too as that is Sikh and you are Hindi aren't you?"
"Yes James you are right. I share the same name as Daya -but I had to change my name to prevent myself from being found."
"Oh James -we must sort this out -Rao just told me that he was working for Obsidian. We can bring him and his organisation down from the inside!"
"Yes James -I will help. For far too long I have not seen my sister -and I have been lost in a mental wilderness for just as long. We must plan our next steps carefully and not let Obsidian realise I have switched sides. I will double for you for the time being and then when Obsidian is dead I will work here in India with Daya - providing MI6 will let me."
007 was still unsure as to what to do but realised that at this moment so far away from home he did not have much choice -at least meeting up with Daya meant a message could be sent back to London, along with questions that needed answering.
"So Rao - there is no new M is there?"
"No James -that was Obsidian himself -you were brainwashed into believing that the old M had been replaced. I was sent on this mission with you so that you wouldn't be able to work that out for yourself. I was supposed to be both your back up and executioner."
"At least you're honest." said James. He resigned himself to this turn of events and looked them both in the eyes. "Ok. Daya we must get back to your place and send a message to London. Then Rao and I will continue with the operation in inverted commas as planned. Then when the time is right we will flush Obsidian out. I think we need some good illusions to be created by both the Pakistan and Indian governments -a smokescreen as it were to make Obsidian believe the mission has been a success. Perhaps London can help persuade them. I just hope this situation is going to play to our advantage. The cards have been stacked against me throughout most of this operation it seems. Perhaps the tide is changing."
Obsidian looked at his ringing phone and saw that it was Cobra calling. “Cobra? What is it?”
“I have Bond. He didn’t get far. I have talked it through with him and he appears to be responding to our instructions once again.”
“Be careful, he’s a double-oh. He may well be play-acting. Don’t let him trick you into thinking that he is working with us again – and don’t let him escape again, do you hear? If you do I cannot tell you how deadly my vengeance will be. The whole operation is in your hands Cobra , do not fail.”
* * *
Daya’s phone call was redirected twice from the secure number which she had initially called. She eventually found herself speaking to the “butler” at a stately home in Buckinghamshire. She gave him the appropriate codes and passwords and she was then put through to Bill Tanner.
“Colonel Tanner, I have just seen 007. He was brainwashed by someone called Max Obsidian, and he believed that he was sent by MI6 on mission to launch a Nuclear missile from India into Pakistan.”
“Where is James now?” Tanner asked. “Is he still with you?”
“No, he and my brother, who was also working for Obsidian are on their way to Punjab, pretending to still be on this mission. We’re going to need to provide Obsidian with reason to believe that all is going to plan.”
“Well, it’s a bit crazy here at the moment after having to relocate from Vauxhall Cross, but we’ll make a plan. I trust that you are now able to communicate with James.”
“Yes, I’ll keep you updated with what’s happening.”
“Okay, good luck.” Tanner said, trying to sound optimistic.
* * *
James Bond was also having difficulty maintaining a positive outlook. His mind was a mixed up sea of thoughts. He no longer knew what to believe – even MI6 no longer had his full confidence. He felt himself becoming overly cautious and starting to doubt even his own instincts. He knew that if it came down to a scrap at the nuclear missile site, which he was almost certain that it would, he would have to rely on his instincts to keep himself alive. He tried to concentrate only on the facts that he knew for certain. He was on his way to Punjab, pretending to be on a mission for Obsidian in which he would supposedly attempt to launch a missile into Pakistan. That was straightforward enough, but what was really bugging him was what his plan was once he arrived at the base. He would have to somehow program the missile to detonate somewhere harmless. The trouble was, where, nowadays does one harmlessly detonate a nuclear missile? The conundrum was making Bond’s already confused head spin.
Rao said very little while they were driving. Bond thought that perhaps his mind was also full of confused thoughts and ideas. He obviously knew that they were being monitored by Obsidian, and if it looked suspicious that they would be in trouble.
Rao finally broke the silence by asking, “Have you got any idea what we are going to do once we get there?”
“Well,” Bond paused, he didn’t really know what to say next, but he didn’t want Rao to see that he had no idea what he was going to do. “I guess we’ll have to adjust the missile’s guidance software and send it on a trajectory that will send it somewhere harmless, perhaps send it into the ocean.”
“Do you know how to do that?” Rao asked, looking impressed.
“Let’s just play it by ear.” Bond said with a slight grin. “I’m sure we can work it out.”
In truth, however, Bond was more than a little concerned about how he would manage to adjust the programming of the guidance software. He was by no means an expert on computers. He was a proficient computer user, of course, but when it came to complex software like a missile guidance program, he just hoped that he would be able to do it. The other concern was obviously getting it done without Obsidian realizing what was going on. Obsidian would probably have some of his own people planted in the staff at the missile base. Obsidian was not a man of half measures, and Bond was certain that he would have put security and backups in place to make sure the operation succeeded.
Bond also hoped that MI6 had made contact with the Indian and Pakistani governments. Perhaps the Indian government could send orders to the missile base telling them to remove the nuclear warhead from the missiles. But if Obsidian had moles in the base then that would work. Bond sighed and lay back in his seat, the whole thing was just an almighty mess, and he was the man in the middle of it all, the man who would have to either either pull the trigger and send the nations of India and Pakistan into nuclear war, or he would somehow have to find a way to stop it. He almost started to feel sorry for himself, but then he saw the gates of the nuclear compound looming in the road ahead, and he tried to get his mind into action mode and prepare for the showdown.
As the Aston Martin with its occupants, Cobra and Bond approached the Punjab military base, an ominous atmosphere descended on them. There was tension thick enough to be cut with a knife. Bond was still utterly confused and had no idea who he could trust, save Daya, who wasn't with him at the moment. But there was also Lissa. Yes, sweet and delicate Lissa. Bond still didn't know where she was or what MI6 had done with her. He hoped she was in a safe place. Bond knew he couldn't let his mind daydream, however. He had to think of a plan--he hoped that Cobra would have some information from Obsidian that could be of some help.
"Approaching destination," the car's GPS navigator said in a slightly robotic voice. "Estimated arrival at current speed of seventy-seven miles-per-hour, five minutes."
Cobra pulled to the left shoulder of the road. There was no traffic on the road. The place was little more than a desert wasteland, the only sign of civilization being a fence all along both sides of the road, each about thirty meters from the shoulder.
"Wait here," Cobra said. Bond watched vigilantly as Cobra exited the right-hand driver side door and walked to the rear of the car.
Bond wasn't sure what was about to happen. As a precaution, he reached inside the pocket of his light grey jacket and readied his ever-reliable Walther PPK. The gun was in his jacket when he received it from Cobra. He wasn't quite sure if it was his gun or just another twisted irony planted by Obsidian--and another inconsistency: the PPK hadn't been MI6 standard issue for some time now. However, he figured that he wasn't on an official assignment anyway (and even if he was, he couldn't remember it), so why bother using the current issue P99? He always had preferred the classic PPK's small size to the P99's comparative bulkiness.
It soon became apparent that Bond would not need his Walther as Cobra walked around to the left side of the car, carrying two Indian military uniforms. Cobra attempted to open Bond's door, but couldn't--Bond had locked it. After realizing this a second or two later, Bond quickly opened the door, unlocking it.
"Sorry, my mistake."
"It is perfectly all right, my friend." Cobra said with a light smile. He handed Bond one of the neatly folded uniforms. "Obsidian said to wear these. In the shirt pocket, you will find an ID. Be sure to use it, should anyone think of you as suspicious."
"I'll keep that in mind," Bond replied. He looked at the ID. It had no name on it, just a picture and a number. It appeared to be a perfect forgery. Upon further examination, he began to wonder who had made this... A doctor? Suddenly images flashed through his head, he felt like a train had hit him as an excruciating headache slammed into his head.
"Doctor! Where the hell are you!?"...
"He won't remember a thing you say..."
"Pemberton!!"
"As far as we know..."
"Far too... pleasurable..."
"You will not go unpunished..."
"I would have killed him eventually..."
"NOOOOO!!"
"...Mister Bond, are you all right?!" Cobra was shaking Bond violently, trying to snap him out of what appeared to be a seizure. Cobra knew that he needed one of Obsidian's pills to stop it for sure, but he had neither the pills nor the keyword to cure him. Normally that would be Obsidian's duty through the earpiece, but Bond had thrown it away a while back.
Bond was still acting like a madman, shaking his head in convulsions.
"James, think of my sister!" Cobra exclaimed.
No response came from Bond.
"Think of Daya!"
Suddenly an image of a smiling Daya came through Bond's mind. Wearing a red dress, she was holding out her hand toward him. As Bond took Daya's hand, he instantly realized he was dreaming. The image faded, and the next thing he knew, he heard Cobra's voice.
"...James... James! Snap out of it!"
Bond stopped shaking, opened his eyes and saw Cobra standing in front of him. He was back in the Indian desert.
"What happened?" Bond asked, disoriented.
"It seems that any disturbance or stress causes you to have another seizure! Like you did in Obsidian's office!" Cobra replied, frantically.
"What!? When was this?"
"There's no time for an explanation. I called my sister." Cobra held up a mobile phone. "She's on her way to meet us here. Daya is a trained medical technician."
"Won't Obsidian know you called her?" Bond asked, anxiously.
"Not with this phone. Daya gave it to me." Cobra handed Bond the phone. Upon closer examination, Bond realized it was from Q Branch. He always knew Q's workmanship when he saw it. Cobra continued. "I'm not sure how it all works, but I hear it has some other features that I was told not to mess with..."
Bond noticed what looked like a push-to-talk button on the phone, but he knew that MI6 never used push-to-talk systems. Turning the phone away from Cobra, he pressed the button. The earpiece speaker popped up, the antenna folded to the back of the phone and a rocket-propelled dart flew out of where the antenna had been. It turned itself around and headed straight for Bond and Cobra. In a panic, they both ducked down behind the left-hand passenger door, their heads just below the roof of the car, the missile just missing them. It turned once more and with a clank, it planted itself into a road sign.
Bond and Cobra cautiously peered over the car at the sign. For a second all looked clear. However, the silence was immediately broken by an explosive blast coming from the dart. As Bond and Cobra ducked underneath the car once again, the road sign was blown to pieces. The metal plate of the sign flew over the car and landed right in front of Bond.
CAUTION: EXPLOSIVE TESTING GROUNDS, it read. A hole was punched and burned directly in the center of the sign, exactly where the dart had hit it.
Cobra was clinging to the interior door handle, completely speechless. Bond was still holding the phone. Its earpiece and antenna folded and snapped back into their normal positions automatically, and a message came over the display: ONE MISSILE REMAINING. Bond calmly stood up and brushed the dust from his suit.
"If you're going to work for MI6, you're going to have to get used to unexpected explosions." Bond smiled wryly. "Oh, and I think I'll carry this." He placed the phone inside his coat pocket.
Cobra nodded in agreement. Still with a shocked expression, he replied "Yes, I think that would be the best thing..." He walked over to the uniforms that had been dropped in the sand. Cobra continued. "We have to wear these to get into the base."
"What about Daya?" Bond asked.
"She'll meet us at the base." Cobra replied. "She's using an Indian military helicopter. The commanding officers at the base already know we're coming."
"Then why do we have to wear the uniforms?"
"We don't know if Obsidian is watching. We have to keep up the charade so that no one knows except the commander. We have no idea what kind of moles Obsidian is keeping at the base."
Bond nodded and thought for a moment. "Wait," he asked, "What do we need her for? If I need medical attention, won't they have paramedics there?"
"Someone has to go on ahead and inform their superiors of our arrival," Cobra answered. "It could not be done by any other means, as one of Obsidian's moles could have intercepted it."
Bond took a moment to think some more about all this. "So you mean MI6 hasn't really spoken with the Indian government yet?"
"...Well, not yet. Not until Daya gets there."
This mission had truly reached insanity. MI6 had sent ahead one of its agents to an Indian nuclear base without letting the military know ahead of time? Bond knew this was just like the real M, however. Whatever happened, she could simply send one of her loyal Double-Oes (i.e., Bond) on a suicide mission to fetch her captured agent. Why do I always get stuck with the worst possible dirty work, he thought to himself.
Bond shook his head and walked over to the right-hand driver's door. "Come along, Cobra. We have work to do..."
The flickering lights from the bank of television monitors brought Maximillian Obsidian's handsome,hawk-like features into sharp contrast against the darkness that enveloped the rest of the room.Obsidian was watching James Bond and Cobra's every movement with considerable interest.He couldn't hear what they were saying but having witnessed the reunion between the man he'd called Cobra and the man's sister,Daya,it was easy to see that his assassin had turned against him and switched sides.The woman had vanished-no doubt to notify the authorities and thus aid in halting the launch of the missiles from the secret base near the border in Punjab.Cobra was not aware of Obsidian's satellite and the billionaire's ability to monitor the movements of his employees.No one was.
Ordinarily,Obsidian would have been incensed at Cobra's behavior, but he had another card left to play in this dangerous game.Five years ago,after Cobra had been seriously injured during a mission,Obsidian had seen to it that a miniscule receiver was secretly inserted into the Indian's right temple,below the skin and inside the bone itself.And unbeknowst to the Indian,Cobra had also been brainwashed to accept a specific keyword--uttered solely by Obsidian(for only his voice could ever make it effective)--which,at his command, would then send the Indian into action.This experiment worked brilliantly and Obsidian found great pleasure in this unique form of long distance manipulation.
Unlike James Bond(who had evidently disposed of the earpiece and was thus no longer capable of being put under his radio command),for Cobra it was absolutely impossible to avoid falling under Obsidian's control.Soon,at Obsidian's pleasure,Cobra would be instructed to kill Bond,launch the missiles, and then kill himself.Yes,Max congratulated himself,it was always wise to prepare for as many contingencies as possible--including what he considered treason from his minions.
* * *
Both James Bond and Rao Singh(for this was how 007 now regarded Cobra),had little trouble making their way via the Aston Martin on the secluded road that lead to the missile base.They were both in uniform, and were no longer very far from the thick high concrete wall that surrounded the area where the base's control compound was situated.According to Rao,who'd been there twice before while posing as an Army captain for Obsidian,the base's layout was not exactly like any of the traditional missile bases that dotted the country.
For example,in this instance,the compound itself was situated about twenty miles away from the missiles,which were mounted onto gantries that were hidden underground.When the time was right,these missiles would rise from within their underground vaults by remote control and could then be rotated to be accurately aimed at their targets, all at the flick of a switch or the press of buttons in the control room within the compound.Monitors were used to aim these weapons.Only a few people were required to maintain this base--about four or five individuals altogether,counting the guards at the gate.Unfortunately,as Rao explained,he'd learned that several of them now worked for Obsidian although he could not personally identify them,so he and Bond would have to use extreme caution.
The guards at the gate presented no major problems.They'd waved the car through after Captain Rao Singh indentified himself and explained that the man with him was an observer from Agra.The guards had looked Bond over very carefully, until 007 explained that he,"Lt.Arthur Mali",was of mixed parentage-his father being Indian and his mother British.With 007's dark tan and black hair such a circumstance seemed believable.Once everything was made clear and the proper(albeit forged) papers were displayed,there was no resistance.It was now time to contact the base's commanding officer and brief him on Obsidian's plan.
"Really?"was the response of the bearded commandant --whose name plate identified him as Colonel Hamid Chandi-- immediately after he'd been apraised of Obsidian's scheme by Bond and Rao.The Colonel,a husky man who appeared to be in his mid-forties, was standing before his desk.Two armed soldiers stood silent guard and were directly behind him holding automatic rifles.
Unlike the more classically handsome Rao Singh,the Colonel had larger and rougher facial features-including a few visible scars.Yes indeed,here was a man who'd seen plenty of action,Bond decided.For an instant,Colonel Hamid Chandi looked away from his two vistors as though lost in thought;then he turned his full attention back to Bond and Rao.The Colonel's large black eyes peered out from under thick wirey gray-black brows. "Fire a missile into Pakistan," the Colonel repeated slowly--as though tasting the words.He paused to stroke his whiskers.Then he smiled."That might start a war...what a capital idea!"He snapped his fingers and the two armed guards sprang forward to Bond and Rao.
"Kill them!"Colonel Chandi ordered.
James Bond dove to the floor mere instants before the wall directly behind him was riddled with bullets from the M-16 fired at him by one of the armed guards.As he rolled to his knees, Bond swiftly drew his Walther PPK from its holster and turned to face his adversary.007's gun barked once and the soldier dropped to the ground, a bullet between his eyes.Bond then looked in the direction of Rao and the other soldier.In the commotion,Rao had somehow managed to slip directly behind his assailant and now had a firm grip around his attacker's neck.A harsh twist adminstered by Rao turned the man's head almost completely around on the shoulders to face his back.
Within seconds Colonel Hamid Chandi fell to his knees before Rao and 007.His self-confidence was now replaced by panic.So confident mere seconds ago,the Colonel found it difficult to speak sensibilty to his captors."Please don't..."he began,"Please,I...I was only obeying Obsidian's oreders...I was..."
One well aimed bullet to the heart from Rao's Heckler & Koch automatic silenced the colonel forever.As blue-grey smoke slowly drifted upwards from the barrel of Rao's handgun,James Bond glanced at the man who'd once been better known as "Cobra".007's eyes briefly locked onto the Indian's own--at that moment they were as cold as the craters on the Moon.I'm glad he's on my side,Bond thought.
"We'd better get to the compound,"007 said."For all we know,some of the people in the missile control room might also be under Obsidian's command."
"Indeed",Rao replied.
* * *
The time has come,Max Obsidian decided as he saw Bond and Cobra emerge from the officer's quarters.The only way they'd still be free to wander now is if they've overcome my men."Time to die",he muttered to the two figures on the monitor screens.And with that,Obsidian spoke into his microphone sending a message into the receiver in Cobra's skull."Caliph 99", he rasped.
* * *
For Rao Singh it was as if he'd been hit by an electrified fist.Suddenly the entire world looked like a Hieronimous Bosch illustration.Then it swayed and swirled like a Salvador Dali painting come to life.Rao couldn't understand what was going on.He was dizzy and could barely keep his balance.And then a low sibulant voice repeated the one phrase buried deep within Rao Singh's subconscious,"Caliph 99".Slowly Rao regained his footing.He was Cobra once more and he was now under Max Obsidian's full control.As he looked at 007 the big Indian's dark eyes burned with hatred."Kill James Bond!" the voice ordered."Kill him!"
Bond had turned around to see his new colleague sway, almost as if he was being experiencing a seizure of some kind."What's wrong?"Bond asked as he immediately moved close to the Indian.There was no reply--in words,anyway--as Rao stood straight up and struck 007 across the face with the back of his left hand.This blow was so unexpected and so powerful that it sent 007 flying onto his back.The big Indian then came racing over to the momentarily prone Englishman and attempted to bring his booted right foot directly down into Bond's face.
007's instincts instantly took over as he grabbed hold of Cobra's right foot with both hands and turned his opponent's leg inward as far as he possibly could.Cobra momentarily lost his balance and fell down.He screamed in pain but nevertheless returned to his feet and continued to press his attack, as if oblivious to any physical discomfort.
"KILL HIM!!!"Obsidian shouted to Cobra.
Cobra's arms clamped around Bond,trapping his arms to his sides and causing 007 to drop his PPK.The Indian's grip began as a tight hold and it grew tighter still.All the while Cobra was smiling brightly-as if in a trance.He glared at Bond with undisguised hatred.The man's almost superhuman,Bond thought,I have no choice-I'll have to kill him--if I can...
With an effort,007 snapped his head forward-and with his forehead crushed most of Cobra's elegant acquiline nose.The Indian howled,as sharp pain shot through his brain and into his eyes.Tears streamed down his cheeks,tears every bit as warm as the blood now rolling down his chin and mouth.For an instant Cobra relaxed his hold on Bond.
And in that moment Bond brutally kicked upward and into Cobra, blindly striking the exact target he'd been aiming for-the man's groin.Cobra automatically let 007 loose and nearly collapsed in agony.Bond stepped back and looked about, frantically searching for his fallen PPK.No such luck.Amazingly,a snarling Cobra returned to his feet.
"KILL BOND!!!!"Obsidian's command roared in Cobra's brain."KILL HIM NOW!!!!!
A savage right hook sent James Bond spinning.A immediate left uppercut sent 007 reeling.Cobra then sent another fist 007's way, but this one was deflected by Bond's left forearm, as a right cross knocked Cobra off his feet--but to 007's astonishment,not for long.A left cross of equal strength had little more effect on the Indian.Although clearly affected by 007's blows, Cobra wouldn't stop fighting back.He roared with fury as he lashed out at Bond once again.Somehow Cobra managed to kick 007 along the side of his face,grazing his jaw and knocking him to the ground once more.A dazed Bond managed to roll away before Cobra could land on top of him.
During the ensuing fight Cobra drew his Heckler & Koch, but before he could aim it at 007,Bond caught the Indian's right wrist and pushed the barrel away .The gun went off with a loud > BANG <.The powerful report reverberated across the field even as it momentarily assaulted Bond's eardrums.Now nearly deaf,his ears ringing,Bond continued to struggle with Cobra over the firearm and with great effort,managed to shove the barrel directly beneath Cobra's chin even as the Indian involuntarily pulled the trigger.Blood,bones, brains and an immobile body--it's limbs splayed out awkwardly,like those of a disguarded marionette-- were all that remained of Abdul Rao Singh,the assassin once known as "Cobra".
To his great surprise,007's hearing was gradually returning and it seemed that despite the blows to his face,Bond hadn't lost any teeth--loosened a few,yes--but they could fixed.Or replaced.What was more important was that he was still alive.And James Bond was alert once again.Perhaps this sensation was the result of the rush of adrenaline that had flowed through Bond's system during the life or death combat with Cobra.Whatever it might be,at this point any past confusion seemed to have vanished.One missing day remained,and that was probably the handiwork of Obsidian,but everything else considered,that was a very small problem.
A reflection on the ground caught 007's eye.There was something glittering in the sun near Cobra's corpse.Bond knelt down and picked it up with care.To his eyes it appeared to be an extremely small receiver,little larger than a quarter of a child's tooth.Where did this come from,he wondered.Then the moment of realization arrived.It had been in Rao's head,no doubt put there by Obsidian!This object might go a long way towards explaining some of Rao's more violent criminal activities in the past.Q should examine this as soon as possible.Bond glanced up to see a helicopter circle the field and gradually begin to be lowered to the ground.007 removed his uniform jacket and respectfully draped it over the area where Rao's head had once been.
Then the helicopter set down.Oh Christ,James Bond thought as a uniformed Daya emerged from the aircraft, already in tears.She looked at Bond and then at the hastily covered remains of her older brother and began to wail.As soldiers appeared from both the aircraft and compound,Bond came forward to stop Daya from approaching her brother's corpse.At first, as he gently turned her away from Cobra's remains 007 found himself rebuffed by Daya,only to be pulled close after all.
"I saw it all from above",Daya whispered once she could find her voice."That wasn't the brother I knew,that man you,you..."she tried to say "killed",but couldn't."I can't blame you." Daya continued sadly."Rao really died long ago,when he became 'Cobra',Obsidian's assassin."
007 held Daya firmly and slowly stroked her back and shoulders.James Bond silently promised himself and this grieving young woman that Max Obsidian was going to die--and soon.
* * *
And seated before his monitors,the nefarious billionaire glanced at James Bond--whose burning eyes inadvertantly looked directly into the satellite's cameras--and for the first time in his life,Max Obsidian knew true fear.
But for now, Bond had to dispose of a few nuclear missiles, just to ensure Obsidian's failure. If MI-6 wasn't in a state of recovery, he could have Q Branch try to reprogram the missile once it was launched. But instead, he was on his own for this one. Not that it was too much of a problem for him.
He rose to his feet. "I still have a missile launch to interfere with," he reminded a still-grieving Daya. Bond hardly ever had time to grieve, and, having been desensitized to death, had little problem putting it past him.
"Right," Daya sighed. "It shouldn't be long before the military authorities arrive."
"In that case, you should wait for them," Bond replied, "I'll head in alone to assure of a thwarted launch."
"Take care," Daya responded, carrying a certain look in her eyes. Bond noticed it, but tried to ignore it.
Once inside the facility, Bond, disguised as an operative of the place, traveled through the sterile hallways of the place. His only security measure would be the security cracker in his watch. One of its many features that Q Branch equipped it with, among many other things. He would use it soon enough, reaching a keycard-locked security door. Bond glanced around the hallway, ensuring no witnesses, and used his watch to bypass the security measures. Once his always-reliable watch opened the door, Bond re-equipped it and wandered past another set of hallways, without one individual arising any sort of suspicion.
Eventually he reached the missile control room. After the watch once again bypassed all the needed security systems, he traveled up to the mainframe terminal, where one technician was already fiddling around with the missile launch controls. With a hard chop of his Walther, he knocked the female out cold. This alerted the entire room, and before any of them could reach for security, Bond quickly killed all of them. Whether they were legit employees or not was of little consequence at the moment, especially since millions more were at stake. He assumed they were all Obsidian's goons anyway.
***
By now the Indian army had arrived. Daya informed them Bond had already infiltrated the facility. For now their job was going to get the missiles out of there. The squad entered into the facility, anyone refusing to immediately surrender would be shot on sight.
***
Bond eventually noticed that something must have happened as the alarms were going off. As a result, the missile guidance controls had become locked down. He was hoping the missile launches themselves were now on delay because of the security alert. He then attempted to shut down the entire system, just as an extra measure. After a few attempts, he was able to navigate his way towards a system shutdown. With little else to do in that room, Bond started to make his way back out, and possibly towards the chaos that may have been ensuing if the miltary had arrived.
Bond ran into less chaos than he expected, most of it being from the speed at which the military was moving, clearing the building and prepping for missile transport. For now, Bond and Daya’s work was done. Bond now was thinking ahead to how he would deal with Max Obsidian, and more importantly, how he would find him.
“James, are you all right?” Daya asked.
“Well it’s nothing they didn’t train me for,” Bond smirked.
After a brief pause, Daya asked, “So what now?”
“Now,” Bond replied, “we find Obsidian and the rest of his bloodnecks. But first I think I should see M in person after everything that’s happened.”
“Sounds ideal to me. I’ll see if we can get a flight as soon as possible.”
***
Several hours later, Bond and Daya were on a private jet, heading back to Europe, courtesy of some of Daya’s connections. Bond was gazing out of a window, wondering what his next plan of action would be. For all intents and purposes, he was back at “Square One” in the search for Obsidian. He glanced at Daya, who was reading a file. Bond rose to his feet and walked to a cabinet to fill himself a drink. He offered one to Daya as well.
“Thanks for the drink,” she responded, taking a sip.
Bond gave her a nonverbal sign of recognition while drinking from his glass.
“At least it’s something to pass the time on this flight, isn’t it?”
“Well, if you wanted to pass the time, you should have told me,” Bond replied, placing his drink down and wrapping his arms around her.
(covered for content)
He started off with a simple peck on the mouth. It was barely a tease, but it was followed by something a bit deeper, longer. As he continued to heat up his makeout moment with Daya, he began undressing her by removing her shirt, letting it glide its way to the airplane floor. He returned his hands to her shoulders, slowly feeling his way down her body, by her covered breasts, and across her abdomen before reaching the top of her skirt. Relieving themselves of her skirt, Bond loosened it up enough to allow it to slide down to cover her high heels. Feeling his way around to her back, he made his way up, stopping long enough to undo her underwear. With that hanging loose, he proceeded back up to her shoulders, where this time he kept his hands there for a moment. This time when he moved his hands down, they were at the same level as his face, as he kissed his way down her neck, stopping at each of her still-covered breasts before continuing back down her abdomen. Here his face stopped, while his hands continued down to remove the bottom segment of her underwear. With Daya bottomless, he made his way back up her body, with his hands making their way to her face, and he resumed kissing her mouth once again. Eventually he moved his hands back down to remove the last piece of clothing, leaving her bare except for her high heels.
As the jet soaring over the city of Budapast, Bond buttoned his shirt while gazing upon the winding Danube below. Daya came up behind him and gently slid her hands across his chest to help him with the small white buttons. Smiling, he turned and kissed her on the neck. “You certainly made this a flight to remember.”
She smiled provocatively. “There are still many miles to London.”
“Perhaps we can convince the pilot to choose a longer route!” Bond conspired. At that moment, however, the plane banked sharply. Bond clutched Daya close to him as he braced himself against the roof of the cabin. “What the devil is going on?”
Suddenly a plasma screen came to live at the forward portion of the cabin. The familiar image of M - the real M - appeared. For a brief moment, turbulent emotions welled to the surface of Bond’s mind, but rationality beat them back as he recognized them as a side effect of Obsidian’s mind manipulation.
“Bond,” M called from the screen. “M here.”
Bond strolled to the plasma screen. “Yes?” He stared at the image of the screen. There was something disorienting about it, but familiar at the same time. What was it? And then he recognized the scene. It was the previous M‘s office -- the wood-paneled, regal lair of Vice-Admiral Miles Messervy -- the man that used to be M. But now, the current M was there. She was seated at the familiar oak desk. The laptop computer setting upon the green desktop seemed incongruous, almost sacreligious in the historic atmosphere of the office. “Where are you?” Bond asked.
“We have temporarily moved our operations to the original MI6 offices near Regent’s Park until Security feels that Vauxhall’s systems are fully restored,” M answered. “It should be soon, though.”
“Ah, I see. I assume you have something to do with our change in course.”
“That’s correct. Q Branch has analyzed the device you sent ahead - the one you found implanted in Cobra. It contained a very sophisticated transponder, designed apparently to receive transmitted data.”
“That was fast,” replied Bond. “You must have only had it for a few hours.”
“It didn’t take much time,” M answered. “You see, Shadeland has already been examining the data from the hard drive recovered from Mr. Baker’s computer. Once we were able to shut down the destructive protocols of the program, he was able to determine where the device was transmitting to.”
“That’s good news,” said Bond. “To where did it transmit?”
“It’s not as simple as that,” M replied. “It was designed into a ‘round robin’ transmission cycle. It transmitted, in rapid succession, to five different locations.”
“Five locations?” Bond pondered for a moment. “In the brief time that I worked alongside Cobra, he was able to relay some information to me concerning Obsidian’s operation. He said there were five bases, codenamed ‘Crucible,’ in which Obsidian trafficked helpless individuals for his brainwashing schemes. One of these was in India, but Cobra didn’t know the locations of the others.”
“Exactly,” M responded. “The transponder in Cobra’s head is receiving an intermittent signal from one of these locations…a location we’ve triangulated in Finland. It didn‘t take long for Q and Shadeland to complete the puzzle with both the Baker virus program and the Cobra control device in their possession.”
“It makes sense,” Bond agreed. “Whatever device Obsidian was using to transmit to Cobra’s internal transponder would be in his possession all the time. It will ping intermittently to confirm that the link is functioning. The ping must be pointing to Obsidian. So is that where we are headed? Finland?”
“That’s correct, 007. But there’s more…Remember your old friend Baba Yaga?” M asked.
“Old? Yes. Friend? No.” Bond answered. “What about her?”
“She’s definitely involved in this. It would appear that she is in charge of Obsidian’s ‘Crucible’ base in Finland. We’ve been collecting quite a bit of information from our friend Lissa.”
Bond thought of the poor young woman who was so violently thrust into this affair. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Bond had confronted the monster named Magnus who held sway over her. Now, she was lying in some hospital bed because of her flight from that tragic nightmare of a life. “How is she doing?” Bond asked.
“She’s recovering slowly, but steadily,” M answered. “She shows signs of having been subject to mental conditioning such as yourself. To what purpose, we’re not sure. It’s most likely that she was a test subject. Whatever the case, some of her earlier recollections are coming back to her. She claims Baba Yaga was responsible for trafficking her out of Russia. She was working alongside a man named Sven Kallo. But we have no records of who that might be…”
Bond digested the information. There was only one possible answer. “Obsidian. Kallo is Max Obsidian.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. Obsidian is a man who thrives on different identities. Obsidian. Mister X. Sven Kallo. He’s never the same man twice. And my guess is that Baba Yaga is actually his lover, Adriana. She was working with him when they brainwashed me. The two are a deadly pair.”
M digested the information quickly. “If that’s the case, then that links Obsidian to this heinous human trafficking operation in Finland. He’s there, Baba Yaga is there --”
Bond cut her off. “And soon I’ll be there.” 007’s face hardened into deadly steel. This was his chance. Obsidian - or Kallo- whatever he wanted to call himself -- was going to pay. He and Baba Yaga both were responsible for what happened to Lissa, Jari, and heaven knows how many others. It was going to end, Bond vowed, and he was going to end it.
M recognized the resolve in Bond’s face. “Don’t try and take this on yourself, 007. Take Daya Chauhan with you.”
“Understood,” answered Bond.
The plasma screened blinked out. And the small jet traced its arc to it’s new destination: a deadly rendezvous to end a sick and twisted masquerade.
James Bond was nervous from the moment that the aircraft landed at Tampere-Pirkkala Airport. They taxied past the airforce base and the remnants of the old air-force, the aggressive looking MiG 23 and 25 fighters stood as mementos of the past. Bond feared attack – they were now in Obsidian’s back yard once again. Bond guessed that Crucible One must be somewhere near Urjala, based on the fact that this was where he had first encountered Baba Yaga and Obsidian’s organisation.
As they walked through the doors in the blue glass façade of the terminal building, they headed for the information desk. A young woman with snow-white hair smiled at Bond and Daya, and clearly it was obvious that she could tell that they were foreigners because she asked in English, “How may I help you?”
“Could you please look up the address for a Mr Sven Kallo.”
The girl typed the name into her workstation, and searched the screen for a few moments. “Ah yes,” she said. “Mr Kallo is at number 66 Yuntolantie, which at the shore of Lake Kortejarvi, near Urjala.”
“Thanks.” Bond said, as he grabbed a map of the area and walked out of the building. He opened the map and found the lake. The glass factory was marked on the map and it was very near the address which the girl in the airport had given him. It all fitted perfectly, that was the house of Max Obsidian, and Bond was going to give him a surprise party tonight.
Bond and Daya’s first task was to rent a car – they settled for a black Toyota Land Cruiser, as Bond thought that they may want to go off road in order to get closer to Obsdian’s house without using the main roads. They also checked into a hotel in Urjala. It was not a particularly fancy hotel, but it was comfortable. They had a light lunch and then went to their room, to wait.
Bond had a shower, and when he returned he found that Daya had changed into a very inviting, semi transparent silk nightie. “It’s a bit early for that isn’t it, Daya?”
“We have hours to kill, why not make the most of this bed?”
“Why not indeed?” Bond replied, with a childish grin. “It is said to improve the eye.” He threw off the towel and joined Daya on the bed.
* * *
As the sun began to disappear over the horizon, the Land Cruiser drove off from the hotel. They were both dressed in black – Bond was wearing military trousers and boots, and a black turtle neck sweater. He had his trusty Walther in a holster at his waist. He was also equipped with a silencer, a spare magazine and a small radio which consisted of a discreet earpiece and a small microphone and receiver on the inside of his sweater. Daya was similarly equipped, so that if they became separated for some reason, they could remain in contact. Daya was also responsible for infiltrating the house. There would undoubtedly be security systems and avoiding these was Daya’s speciality. She carried a small backpack – a bag of tricks which would be useful for getting into the house.
The vehicle skirted the lake, which Bond was now familiar with, having had to take an aircraft off from here just a few weeks earlier. The sat-nav instructed Bond that Obsidian’s house was three hundred metres further on up the road. Bond spotted a small track which ran into the forest on the edge of the lake and he took the Land Cruiser off the road and into the forest. It was now completely dark, Bond pulled off the main track and parked the car in amongst the trees. He hoped that their presence would go unnoticed. There was no sign of any recent footprints, so it looked as though Obsidian didn’t have guards patrolling this part of the forest, but Bond was still on the lookout.
Bond and Daya shared a brief, but passionate kiss, before setting off through the woods. They didn’t want to use a torch and risk being seen, so they slowly made their may through the darkness, occasionally running into low hanging branches, but any discomfort that might have caused was definitely secondary to the need for stealth.
As they came to the edge of the woods, the lights of the house became visible.. The building was surrounded by a fence, but it looked as though it would be easy enough to climb over it. They edged slowly up to the fence, and Bond tucked his gun back into the holster and jumped up and got a handhold on the top of the fence. No sooner had he made contact with the metal bar which ran over the top of the wooden fence, a loud crack sounded and electricity surged through Bond. He involuntarily let out a cry of pain and fell back down to the snowy ground.
“James! Are you alright.” Daya bent over Bond’s shaking body.
“I’ll survive.” Bond said in a low-pitched mumble.
As Bond got back to his feet, they both heard a voice from within the fence. They couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it didn’t sound like Obsidian. “It must be a guard.” Bond said. The sounds of footsteps in the somewhat slushy snow started to get a little louder. Also, Bond thought he heard more than one set of footfalls. There were more, although much lighter than the man’s footsteps. “And I think he has a dog with him.” Bond said nervously.
Bond’s fears were proved correct as they heard a short bark from the dog. They scurried back towards the trees and hid themselves in the black shadows and drew their weapons. They both screwed the silencers onto their handguns. A gate slowly opened, and a man in a heavy leather coat and armed with an MP-5 submachine appeared. He stood as a silhouette against the lights from the house. Bond and Daya were hidden in the shadows, so at least they had the advantage. The dog started to bark loudly – he had obviously caught the scent of Bond and Daya. The guard unleashed the dog and he started running towards towards Daya, who was lying about ten metres from Bond.
Bond raised his gun, there was nothing he could do but shoot the dog. He quickly aimed and fired and the first bullet struck the dog’s left shoulder. It fell over with a chilling yell, and Bond quickly fired another shot and put the animal out of its misery.
The guard turned on a torch, and began to search for the intruders.
“Turn that torch off!” Bond commanded. “There are two guns trained on you, drop your weapon, and put your hands up above your head. Do not do anything stupid or we will fire.”
The guard looked terrified, he stared into the blackness of the forest, unable to see anybody, but he knew that whoever was out there had power of life or death over him.
“Daya – keep your gun aimed at him.” Bond whispered into the radio, as he slowly and quietly walked closer to the helpless guard. Bond walked up to him, held his Walther in a two-handed grip and pointing directly at the guard’s head. “You keep quiet, ol’ boy.” Bond warned him. Bond holstered his gun, and took the guard’s hand. He didn’t want to waste time tying him up, so he simply gave the man a sharp blow at the base of his neck to knock him out cold.
Daya then emerged from the darkness. “I think we just found our way in.” she said to Bond. The guard had left the gate open, and Bond and Daya creaped through the open gate and into Max Obsidian’s back garden
"We must find a place to hide," Daya whispered to Bond, who wasn't sure what was going on. There were so many plants and bushes around to block his view to the mansion, but that also meant that it would be hard for someone inside to see him. He looked around his immediate surroundings, but didn't see or hear anyone.
"Now!" Daya grabbed Bond's arm and pulled him behind a very large bush.
"What's going on?" Bond asked.
Daya took her backpack off and unzipped its main pocket. "We can't just go running in shooting, James." She pulled out a large, black colored antenna with a ball on the end the size of a golf ball, and a long cable spiraling down its shaft. When she extended it, the antenna was about a meter long.
"Hand me your phone," Daya asked.
Bond pulled the Q-Phone out of his coat pocket and reluctantly handed it to her. Contrary to Daya's opinion, he was rather used to running in shooting, although in a stealthy manner. He had no idea what Daya was doing, but it all seemed like a waste of time to him--he had a very bad man to attend to in that mansion up ahead.
"Broadcasting the Ten O'Clock News?" Bond asked, sarcastically. "Straight from MI6's field agents, I'm sure our friend Obsidian would love to see that."
Daya glared at Bond. "It's a special type of radar," she said as she plugged the antenna into the Q-Phone. Bond was rather surprised, as he didn't even know this phone had such capabilities. Instantly, the phone's screen lit up. Daya held up the antenna just enough so that it would reach over the bush. It was slightly heavy and awkward to hold, so she propped it up against the branches.
"It scans the area for moving objects like guards, attack dogs, cameras, et-cetera." Daya explained.
"Won't Obsidian's scanners catch on to this?"
"It uses a special frequency developed for radar use by Q himself. No one uses this frequency for this sort of thing, and even if Obsidian does see it on his equipment, it will only show up as interference."
Fascinated by this device, Bond watched the screen intently.
"Moving objects show up as orange," Daya continued. "Electrical devices show up as red. Everything else is green. See, right there," she pointed to the top of the screen. "There's a camera and a guard with a dog at the door of the mansion."
"But that's about a hundred meters ahead, and it's not picking up anything else."
"That is rather odd..." Daya checked the antenna's connection to the phone.
"Something's wrong," Bond said. "There should be a lot more guards here."
"Maybe he's just complacent," Daya suggested. "A little too over-confident?"
"No, I know his kind--if anything, he's just the opposite. He's the obsessive type, Daya, liable to set his defenses to overkill."
"What are we going to do?"
"Well, first we're going to put that thing away." Bond unplugged the antenna from the Q-Phone and placed the phone in his pocket once more. "If anything, Obsidian probably has sensors watching every single frequency. He's probably already on to us."
Daya was a bit worried now. She started to return the antenna to her backpack, but Bond took it instead. He threw it over the nearby concrete wall that was blocking their way to the forest.
"You don't need to be carrying that kind of weight with you, it's only going to slow you down in a firefight." He reached into Daya's backpack and pulled out a Glock 37 handgun. It was a rather large gun, but using .45 caliber bullets, it had a lot of stopping power. "If you really want something useful, use this." Bond handed the gun to Daya and peeked around the bush.
Bond could truly see now. There was a straight path leading up to the mansion, with perfectly formed and trimmed bushes lining the driveway. They were laid out in a horizontal fashion. These bushes would provide easy hiding places in case he was spotted. however there was one very tall bush with a fountain that prevented the view of the front door from the driveway. Plenty of lights were on inside the mansion. Bond looked down at the path. It was definitely wide enough to be a driveway, and fresh tire tracks were clearly visible in the heavy layer of snow that covered the pavement. Looking closer, Bond saw what looked like a Range Rover parked nearly out of vision so that the back end was the only part showing. But most importantly, there was no guard in sight.
"Let's go." Daya and Bond tiptoed along the driveway, the only noise was their feet cracking the frozen snow beneath them. Their black stealth outfits were good for hiding in dark places, but showed up terribly against the moonlit powder. As they walked along, the atmosphere become much more ominous, yet they could still see no one.
As they got to the end of the driveway, Bond pulled Daya to the side, behind the last bush.
"Get down, low." Bond whispered as they both crouched down and squeezed farther away from the driveway, trying to stay hidden. Suddenly a man appeared, carrying an assault rifle. With the man foolishly whistling, his presence caught Bond's ear just in time. As the man walked past him, Bond quickly looked around the corner to see if anyone was following him. Since there didn't appear to be anyone in tow, Bond quickly jumped up, grabbed the man in a deathlock and threw him on the ground. Before the man could let out a yell, Bond smacked him in the back of the neck, knocking yet another guard out cold. He dragged the man behind the wall of leaves and dropped him in the snow. He pushed the man underneath the bush to conceal him the best he could.
Daya picked up the man's gun. "James, do you know this gun? I've never seen it before."
Bond had a look at it. It certainly was a mean-looking weapon, but it was made of a black-colored material that Bond didn't recognize at first. Then he suddenly remembered--the statue at Baba Yaga's tavern!
"This is no ordinary gun," Bond spoke solemnly. "It's made of black obsidian glass, clearly of the tempered variety."
"A gun made of glass?" Daya asked in mild disbelief. "I didn't know that was possible."
"I didn't either..." Bond pulled out the cartridge. It appeared to use 7.62mm rounds, a common round used in automatic rifles. Bond continued. "Highly impractical, I would think... He's supposed to be a man of efficiency, yet he's using his own custom-made firearms? Rather odd, I would say."
Daya thought for a moment. "Yes, but the bullets are of a common type, it wouldn't show up any differently from any other bullet of that kind... Right?"
*******
Glassy Eyes
"Go ahead Q." M was on the phone with Q in her office.
"Yes, erm..." Q always had such a tone when something wasn't right. "I need you to come down here for a moment--there's something I want you to look at. It's about the forensic analysis on that bullet you ordered."
"How's it coming?"
"Well, we have found something, but I think you should see it for yourself."
"I'll be right down."
"Oh, and bring Bill with you! He should see this, too."
"Right away, Q." M hung up the phone. She walked out of her office. Moneypenny was sitting at her desk.
"Moneypenny," M asked, "get Tanner on the phone, tell him I need to see him in Q Branch right away."
"Yes, ma'am." Moneypenny was still confused as to why old Jari was killed like that. She knew this was about his murder. She could felt the tension, knowing that Bond was up to something at this very moment.
Don't die James, please don't die... Moneypenny thought to herself as she dialed Tanner's number. Bond was still on her list of things to-do before she died...
Tanner's mobile phone rang. He was in his car at the moment.
"Tanner here."
"Tanner, this is Moneypenny. M wants to see you right away."
"What? I was just sent home, they said they didn't need me anymore today. I'm down at the petrol station..." Ambient noises of traffic and whatnot could be heard in the background.
"It's about Jari."
There was a brief silence. "I'm on it, be there in ten minutes" Tanner replied. Moneypenny could hear the sound of a car starting followed by the phone hanging up.
"Poor Jari..." Moneypenny said sadly as she resumed what she was working on.
A few minutes later, a car arrived at MI6 headquarters. The car was a black 1975 Jaguar E-Type V12 Roadster. As the car stopped at the valet, out stepped a hasty Bill Tanner. Quickly saying hello to the valet attendant (he knew them all by name) and handing him the keys, he hastily entered the main lobby and headed for Q Branch. There were still several computer technicians working on all the computers, many of them with puzzled expressions. Tanner knew of this all too well...
As M showed up in the Q Labs, Q was examining the bullet under a high-powered electron microscope. The image was being projected onto a large wall screen.
"Ah, good to see you, M." Q greeted M without looking away from the screen.
"Good to see you," M replied.
Just as she had said this, Tanner entered the room. His hair was rather messy and his jacket was hastily put on and unbuttoned.
"Glad you could make it, Tanner," M said.
"Have you found something yet?" Asked Tanner anxiously.
"Well, that's why I've brought you both here." Q replied. "If you look closely at this image..." The bullet appeared on the wall screen in very high resolution.
"That's the bullet that killed Jari?" Tanner asked.
"Correct," Q answered, "It went straight through the chest, damaging both the heart and left lung. Evidence suggests that he died in less than a minute after receiving these wounds."
"Just long enough to pick up that book." M said thoughtfully.
"Blackstone..." Tanner mused.
Q continued. "It's interesting that you mention Blackstone, Bill. If you look closely at this image, you'll see that any identifying scratch marks on the bullet are minimal, far less than what we should be seeing here."
"So are you saying this wasn't fired from a normal gun?" M asked.
"Precisely." Q replied confidently. "This gun was made from some sort of unusual material not normally used for such purposes."
"Plastic, perhaps?" Tanner asked.
"Actually, plastic would leave more definitive marks than this." Q answered. "We've actually analyzed the few existing scratches there were and found fragmented material inside them." Q handed M a vial of very small samples. They appeared to be particles the size of salt, black in color. Q projected an image of the particles on the screen.
"Why," Tanner was very surprised, "it almost looks like..."
"Glass." M finished for him. "I'm sure of it."
"Are you certain?" Tanner asked.
"That's what our chemists have determined it to be," Q replied. "we're almost positive it's glass. Of the obsidian variety, to be more precise."
M and Tanner looked at each other. They knew what this meant.
"Damn that Max Obsidian!" M exclaimed. "This is exactly the evidence we need to take Obsidian down. I've got Bond on it already, and if there's one man for the job, it's him." M started to leave the room.
"Jari was a good friend of mine," Tanner said. "Why anyone would kill him in such cold blood is beyond my comprehension."
Q nodded in approval. "I know dear boy, he was my friend, too."
"He was a great friend to all of us," M replied. "You'd be hard pressed to find anyone in MI6 who wasn't a friend of his. Don't worry, Obsidian will pay for this. If not by Bond's hand, then by my own." M pressed the elevator button and entered. The door closed behind her.
A hunter's moon came up from over the nearby mountains and for an instant bathed Bond and Daya in its light.They moved under the nearby bushes and immediately blended into the darkness.As Bond and Daya crept along the driveway,007 noticed another building set apart from the garage.This was a long rectangular edifice near the mansion's East side.Daya and Bond heard voices coming from that direction mingled with occasional electric torch light.Guards were milling around the place.It's large enough to be a small airplane hanger,Bond realized.We'll have to take care of that,he decided.With 007 leading the way, the two agents turned their attention to this building.Raising the mysterious black assault rifle he'd taken from Obsidian's guard,007 used the gun's nightscope to determine the number of his adversaries.
The nightscope revealed four shadowy figures rotating the area around the building's large doors.Apart from three medium sized boulders which lay alongside the doors,the grounds had been completely cleared of obstructions of any kind.A close look revealed that all of Obsidian's men were dressed in dark clothing,and that two of them were carrying guns exactly like the one now in Bond's possession.The other guards held silenced AK-47s.These men swept the nearby terrain-their weapons at the ready.Bond signaled to Daya to take cover several yards away,near the building's perimeter-in a position offering her both natural cover and an unabstructed view of the guards.
Ten minutes passed.Bond reached into his coat and withdrew a smoke grenade.Taking aim,he hurled it at the feet of the guards.The plumes of smoke overwhelmed his adversaries, who bellowed in surprise and striggled helplessly as the fumes took effect.Within seconds they were all unconscious.
Four long minutes passed and once the smoke had dissipated,Bond ran down to the hanger and upon entering he saw seven private aircraft at the ready.There was no time to waste cutting the fuel lines of the planes.Instead, 007 set a C4 charge on the hanger's inside wall- he then inserted a remote detonator into the plastic explosive.
If Obsidian's here, he won't flying away,Bond decided.
Within moments the two agents again turned their attention to the mansion's garage.
Bond turned the Q phone on.It had a variety of uses and one of them was to destroy any sources of alternate transmissions in the immediate area.007 pointed it at the garage releasing a signal so high it was beyond the hearing of any living being.He and Daya watched as the remote cameras and sensors both within and outside of the garage literally exploded.The six guards inside the building raced out in anger and confusion and began firing blindly, trying desperately to locate their foes.
007 attached a silencer to his new rifle and selected his first target with care--this man appeared to be in charge of the others.Bond fired once.The black rifle made a nearly imperceptable sound and 007's target went down immediately.
Shifting his position under the bushes.Bond fired again,his next shot sending his second target spinning to the ground.Either panicked or emboldened,the other three of the guards fired back in 007's general direction.Daya brought two of them down with her silenced gun.
Minutes passed as Bond listened for any extra signs of movement.The fifth and sixth man remained hidden behind the boulders by the building's doorway.Then they ran forward, firing at 007.Bond reset the scope on the black rifle and fired in brief decisive bursts.His foes fell at once.
Bond and Daya gingerly approached the large garage.The two agents carefully entered the darkened building,sweeping the entryway with their guns.They were soon satisfied that no one else was inside.With their flashlights in one hand and their guns in the other they continued their search.What they found gave them pause.
Five automobiles were parked inside the garage.These were all impressive vehicles-most of them no longer in production.Bond and Daya glanced at a gray 1929 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost in what appeared to be mint condition.As Bond remembered,Admiral Messervy-the original M- had owned a such a car.
Another automobile-equally beautiful-was a 1939 Bentley roadster in British Racing Green.Seeing this, it was all Bond could do to keep from emiting an appreciative whistle.
The two agents paused to admire a black 1933 Hispano-Suiza Stork."It's gorgeous,"Daya whispered.Bond nodded in agreement-he'd seen a white version of this very model in the motion picture Sunset Boulevard-but he'd never been in the same room with one.
Obsidian may be mental,007 mused, but I'll give him this;he has superb taste in cars.
Then 007 pointed to the auburn 1929 Isotta-Franchini 8A Castagna Transformable parked directly across the way."Here's another work of art",he uttered.As they made their way through the building,a grey 1939 Maybach SW 42 and a dark blue Lambourghini 400 GT also caught their eyes.
Collectively, these cars represented a fortune on wheels.
"It's practically a museum",Daya marveled.
"Yes,indeed",Bond agreed,"when you have enough money, you can have all kinds of wonderful toys".
And then 007 took note of another car--this one was set apart from the others and it looked very familiar to Bond.It was a BMW 550i-a part of BMW's famed "5-Series"- and a model highly regarded by car enthusiasts throughout the world.Truly a testament to German engineereing.The last time 007 seen such a vehicle was when he'd been teamed with the American named Jason Prowess.In fact,aside from its colour, this looked exactly like Prowess's auto.
Bond walked over to the BMW 550i.The door on the driver's side was open.The windows appeared to have been newly installed and the glass itself was smoked so that people inside could see out but no one could see in.
Overall, the car was in the process of being refitted, because it had been previously been stripped, and the body had recently been painted a dark green-a shade deeper than that reserved for race cars.007 opened the hood and studied the 3.0l twin turbo inline engine.As 007 knew,this model has a six speed transmission plus a four-wheel drive and as with all BMWs,superb balance.
Inside the car was the standard X5 drive-by-wire system.And on the driver's side,hidden just beneath near the edge of the front seat-was an empty holster.That's not standard issue,Bond thought-but its exactly what Jason had in his BMW.
Bond reached into his right boot and withdrew a slim lightweight folding knife.With the press of a button on the side of the handle, a three inch blade as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel appeared.It cut right through the layer of green paint, revealing the car's original midnight blue coat.Yes-this IS Jason's BMW,Bond realized.007 scowled and thinking of Obsidian,shook his head in anger.
Daya had been watching James Bond in silence.The dark look that suddenly swept across his countenance frightened her.As if aware of the effect his expression had on the young woman beside him,Bond paused,took a deep breath and looked directly into Daya's eyes.Bond smiled once more-instantly lighting up his dark visage.
"What was wrong?"Daya asked.
"This car",Bond nodded in the direction of the 550i as he refolded his knife and returned it to his boot," belonged to a friend...he was one of our old friend Obsidian's many victims."
"I can't imagine why would he keep this when he can have any car he wants",Daya responded gesturing in the direction of the classic automobiles in the building.
"I'm not sure either",Bond responded,"but it probably serves as a kind of trophy to him".Bond then added,"It appears Obsidian was having it refurbished.It's an excellent automobile.This is the kind of vehicle a successful businessman might have.If Obsidian intended on making an escape to another country, this would probably be the best car for him to use." Bond paused, then added,"Compared to some of the more elaborate cars on the road today,this model isn't so distinctive that it'd be easily remembered."Especially once its appearance had been altered."
* * *
Elsewhere in Finland
The tall man was wearing a dark black turtleneck shirt and equally dark trousers.Black boots were on his feet.Only his hands were uncovered-except for the elaborate hood which completely covered his head.Max Obsidian was pleased with this appearance.He was now in his guise as Mister X and he was ready to complete his operation at Crucible One.The assembled workers were making excellent time.
The withered old hag everyone in the area knew as Baba Yaga slid up behind Mr.X and placed her arms around his neck.
Adriana smiled appreciatively,her masterfully applied old crone's visage producing a sickly grin more closely resembling a leer than anything else.Only the long shapely legs which only occasionally emerged from under the folds of the black gown revealed that a young woman was beneath the disguise.
Obsidian watched from a distance as the "old Witch" left the room above the factory bent over a lower railing and barked orders to the workers below.They fear her.They really believe she's the genuine article.It's truly astonishing the power certain folk tales can have on people.
As he watched Baba Yaga in action once again,Maxillian Obsidian thought back to the dream he'd had the other night after he and Adriana had left the mansion.To his amazement,this one was the most detailed of the lot.He finally felt closer to solving the mystery surrounding his family's massacre.It raises plenty of questions.Why would I be laughing and holding a gun and firing it at my mother and father?That new doctor had better find the answer to my questions--and unless he's a charlatan he'll give me answers I want to hear.
The alarm for the mansion suddenly alarm went off and Max Obsidian raced into the control room.He immediately turned on the console and watched on multiple screens in shock and anger as James Bond and that Indian woman killed his guards and broke into his mansion.He saw them enter his library and rumage through the desk in that room.
Adriana ventured into the room and looked over Obsidian's shoulders at the screens."They can't stop you now-no one can",she said.
Obsidian rose from his seat."You're right!Let them come-it ends here!"
"And won't Mr.Bond be surprised",Adriana cooed.
"Yes indeed",Max Obsidian responded as he removed his hood.Obsidian's (now)pale blue-eyes burned with anticipation.He pushed the errant lock of black hair away from his right temple.The long thin scar running down his right cheek shone against his deeply tanned face.He stroked his square jaw as he reached for the Walther PPK in his belt.
Oh yes,that damned Englishman will be taken aback,Adriana thought.
Her lover looked her way and smiled slowly-it was a cruel smile,a perfect duplication-a smile that anyone who looked exactly like James Bond would have.
Bond and Daya didn't have time for much searching, as a squadron of guards eventually flushed them out of his library. Diving through a bullet-shattered window, the two of them found themselves in a dicey situation.
"Head back to the garage - If Obsidian wants to make a getaway someone should be there to tell him goodbye," Bond directed. Daya shot back a look that read, "Are you sure you don't need the extra support?" and "Take care of yourself." Bond nodded before scrambling off in a separate direction.
Once again, Bond found himself on a madhunt, in an attempt to settle a score. He'd done it before, and it was something he knew M despised from him. He didn't know where he was - or if he was even there, but he was willing to search the entire mansion inside out to find out.
***
Daya had her own bevy of guards to deal with as Bond tracked down Max Obsidian, though they quickly were killed off by the Indian operative. When the last one was done for, she couldn't help but wonder what was happening with him. For now all he was doing was possibly searching room after room and running into nothing but guards and furniture while looking for a man who made his life miserable for a very short period of time...
Bond headed for the lowest portions of the house. It was going to be pure luck finding Obsidian within the mansion. Might as well be systematic about, he thought. If Obsidian had any specialized rooms such as a communications or computer room, perhaps they would be hidden down below.
Yanking open door after door, he continued to find one empty room after another. Finally, one door opened to reveal concrete steps descending into darkness. Bond found a light switch and saw the stairs ended at another door at the bottom.
Quietly Bond reached the landing and swung open the door. A grim corridor stretched beyond. Bare fluorescent tubes illuminated the cold white tiles on the floor and walls. A few doors were strung along the corridor, but only one was open. Bright light spilled from it into the hallway, and the still air of corridor was broken by a cacophony of crashing metal. Angry cursing echoed from the open door and Bond cautiously hugged the wall as he made his way to the door.
Bond stole a quick glance into the room from the hallway. It appeared to be some type of medical examination room. Stainless steel slabs lined the area, presumably for autopsy purposes. A large vault-like door, most likely leading into a refrigerated storage area, filled the far wall.
Bond saw the source of the metal crash and cursing. A small man was frantically digging through cabinets filled with various items: specimen jars, chemicals, drugs, and medical supplies. A large tray of surgical tools had spilled from the cabinet and were scattered upon the tile.
Bond recognized the man. Doctor Pemberton. Images flashed in his memory as he recalled Pemberton standing over him, a wicked glint in the back of his eyes as he subjected Bond to wave after wave of electrical savagery.
Pemberton hadn’t seen him. His back was turned as he chaotically pulled items from the cabinets and dumped them into a leather carrying case. News of Bond and Daya’s penetration of the mansion was apparently spreading, and the doctor was in the process of trying to make a quick getaway with his most precious possessions. But not quick enough.
Bond’s eyes narrowed as he strode into the room. Pemberton was still unaware of Bond’s presence as he rifled through his belongings. Bond stood right behind the distracted doctor. With a quick thrust of the heel of his hand, Bond pummeled the base of Pemberton’s skull. The unsuspecting doctor’s forehead crashed into a specimen jar containing what looked like a severed hand. The jars shattered, dumping a flood of flesh and formaldehyde onto the floor. A cheap shot, Bond thought, but very satisfying.
Pemberton slid to the floor and rolled over. Dazed, his wide eyes stared up at Bond, blinking through the blood that was now oozing from the gash in his scalp.
“Y—you!” stuttered Pemberton! “But you couldn’t possibly remember me!”
Bond grabbed the lapels of the doctor’s white coat and lifted him roughly from the floor. “Really? Would you care for a second opinion?” Bond violently threw the doctor over one of the examination slabs. Pemberton gracelessy cartwheeled onto the floor behind in a spray of steel surgical tools.
Bond strode to him with deadly determination and yanked him from the floor again. “Where’s Obsidian?” Bond shook him soundly. “Where?”
Bond shook him again. “Tell me!” To emphasize his point, he forced the doctor onto the examination table and strapped him down firmly. He then rolled a large bank of electrical equipment that sat on a trolley in the corner next to the slab. He picked up a set of insulated calipers, much like the ones Pemberton had used during Bond’s brainwashing process.
“No! No, don’t!” the doctor pleaded.
“Tell me where I can find Max Obsidian.”
The doctor was virtually on the edge of tears. “He’s not here. Underneath the garage. There is a tunnel.”
Bond attached the calipers to Pemberton’s temples. “Where does the tunnel lead?”
“Cr—Crucible One! It leads to Crucible One!” The doctor strained at the straps around his wrists. “You must let me go! This entire mansion is set to explode! It is a trap! You must free me!”
“And why should I do that?” Bond asked.
“Please,” pleaded Pemberton, “I was only following orders!”
“And how many times did you follow those orders?” accused Bond. “How many people suffered because of your obedience?” Bond reached for the dial on the electro-shock machine. He turned it generously.
“You can’t do this! You would never think of killing me in cold blood!” sneered Pemberton.
Bond stopped and gave the doctor a hard stare. Bond’s eyes were devoid of all sympathy. “You of all people should know…it’s never too late to change one’s mind!”
With that, Bond flipped the switch on the device. He didn’t pause to watch. He didn’t want to see. He turned his back and walked from the room, leaving Pemberton’s screams of pain echoing through the tiled corridor.
* * *
Bond dashed back up the stairway, thumbing for the communicator in the wristband of his glove. “Daya? Can you read me?”
“James!” Daya’s voice crackled from the small device. “Someone just entered the garage! A man and a woman! I think it might have been Obsidian. I’m following them!
“No!” Bond shouted. But there was no response. Blast! It would have been so simple to let Obsidian and Adriana run into the garage. Bond could detonate the charges and it would be over. But he couldn’t risk it if Daya was there.
Bond dashed through the mansion hallway. The building was seemingly vacant. If Pemberton spoke the truth, and this mansion was booby-trapped, then the guards most likely abandoned ship.
Now, Bond needed to escape himself. But he was lost. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember where the entrance was. No time, he thought. With a desperate leap, he threw himself out a large bay window. The panes of ice and glass bit fiercely into his forearms as he shielded his head from the shards.
He wasted no time. He tumbled through glass and cold snow, regained his footing, and sprinted from the mansion.
And then it exploded.
Bond could confidently say that he had never seen a mansion explode before. And it was site to behold. What, for one moment was a palatial manse, structured and ordered and pristine, erupted into a chaotic mess of brick and dust. The columns that lined the outer walls burst in the middle and toppled, as if in slow motion, into the snow beneath. Flames bellowed from the many windows as if the palace was some fire-breathing dragon. In only seconds, the mansion was reduced to a misshapen pile of rubble with flames licking the cold air, and black smoke roiling from the white snow beneath.
scaramanga1The English RivieraPosts: 845Chief of Staff
Bond's first thoughts were of Daya. Had she been caught in the blast? He ran forward at a crouch - some smoking debris still falling from the sky and hissing as it hit the wet snow. She had been on her way to the garage -he hoped that she had made her way to the tunnel that Pemberton had spoken of -the only problem was that she would undoubtedly be trapped beneath the ground with the two people she had seen, and at an educated guess Bond thought it was likely to be Obsidian and and his evil sidekick Adriana.
Just as he was about a hundred yards from the remains of the garage he heard the sounds of engines - but not car engines -two black Arctic Cat T Z1 snowmobiles came jumping into view flying across the white hard packed snow, their twin beams glaring at 007. The twin seated machines were bearing down upon him fast. Each machine carried two people -a driver and passenger. The passenger's were armed and a hail of bullets began to slice through the frosty air. Bond threw himself onto the floor and rolled -and with his gun in hand began to squeeze off rapid shots in the general direction of the nearest of the two machines. The bullets just glanced off the bodywork of the snowmobile -they were obviously reinforced with bulletproof bodies. The riders however were not so shielded and one of 007's bullets found its mark and sent the gunman sat behind the driver tumbling off the back of the T Z1. Upon the displacement of the passenger the driver felt the change of weight in his vehicle and with the sudden change he momentarily lost concentration -and in doing so lost control - the T Z1 somehow leaped in the air its front skis raised and the machines underbelly exposed -Bond fired another shot -this time a bullet hit something that wasn't bulletproof. It exploded -and once again debris hissed in the snow. One was down but no time to take stock of what was happening -the other machine was almost upon him. As more bullets hailed down in his general direction Bond ran a zig zag towards the recently demolished garage -hoping the fallen debris would impede his pursuer -he found the remains of a wall and clambered over it, and sat with his back to it as he reloaded. The T Z1 came crashing through the remains of the wall to his right and began to skid round in a uturn to bear down upon him again. This time 007 shot both the gunman and the driver successfully, and miraculously the snowmobile came to a halt literally inches from him. Ddespite the freezing temperature 007 found he was sweating. That had been close. He scanned the area and saw the twisted remains of those beautiful cars he and Daya had seen earlier -it angered him that someone like Obsidian could just so casually destroy such wonderful pieces of automobile history. He began to search for the hidden entrance to the tunnel that would lead to the real lair of Max Obsidian.
****
Daya had not been quite as cautious as 007 and upon entering the tunnel that Obsidian and Adriana had entered was surprised from behind by two of Obsidian's guards. She was quickly handcuffed and pushed forward a long the tunnel that was about eight feet high and maybe six feet wide. It had flickering strip lights in the ceiling that glowed a sort of fluorescent blue - Of Obsidian and his companion Daya could now not see anything for her vision was obscured by a hood being pulled over her head. The walk was a long one it seemed in the unexpected darkness -and in the pit of her stomach fear was beginning to build -she only hoped that James was still alive and would succeed in getting too her before Obsidian gave the order for her to be executed.
*****
007 had found the entrance -not surprisingly it was locked. He set to breaking in and knew that the longer he took the more likely Obsidian would make his escape and that Daya if not dead already was likely to die. He used
He used good old fashioned breaking and entering methods to get past the door. He fired a .45 caliber bullet from the Glock into the doorframe, which exposed the lock. Another shot fractured it, and a couple of good, hefty shoulder barges loosened the door and it crashed open. Bond heard the sound of his forced entry echoing down the long tunnel. Surprise was no longer a possibility, Obsidian knew that he was coming and Bond was simply going to have to outwit or outgun him and Adriana.
He started to run down the tunnel, knowing that the sound his footsteps were travelling down the tunnel, heralding his approach. He started to wonder how Obsidian would choose to defend himself. It would be only too easy to kill Bond as he approached down the tunnel. What Bond needed was space and cover. The tunnel offered neither, and he longed to be out of it. He started to feel claustrophobia as the corridor of concrete continued to unfold before him.
Bond’s thoughts turned to Daya. Where was she? Hopefully she had made it to the other end of the tunnel in one piece. If she had been gunned down in the tunnel, Bond would have heard it. Besides, he knew Obsidian’s type. They didn’t go for the easy shot – they wouldn’t just kill Bond as he exited the tunnel. They liked to get satisfaction from killing, and that was their fatal weakness. It was that inherent flaw in the character of men like Obsidian that had allowed Bond to get close and defeat villains earlier in his career.
Bond had run at least a mile through the tunnel when he saw a door in front of him, slightly ajar. It looked as though Daya had made it. Where she was now, Bond couldn’t guess. He went cautiously through the door, and found himself in a dark, damp room. It wasn’t dirty, but the cold moisture which seeped through the walls made it feel most uninviting. On the opposite side of the room was another doorway which led to a flight of stairs. Bond climbed these as quietly as possible and when he reached the top, he found himself in familiar surroundings – the glass factory where Seppo had tortured him. As he walked around the walls, the open space in the middle of the large workroom looked hazardous. A concrete walkway stretched across the length of the room, and led to a door on the opposite side of the room. There was a door directly beneath it on the ground floor, and Bond decided to head for that door.
Bond paused for several seconds before setting off in a sprint to the cover of some workbenches and boxes which were five meters directly ahead of him. Bond saw the concrete floor around his feet start to be torn up before he heard the sound of the gunshots. Someone was clearly waiting for him, but they weren’t shooting to kill, but rather trying to disable Bond by hitting him in one or both of his legs. Mercifully, the bullets missed him but a chunk of concrete slammed into Bond’s left leg. He felt the skin ripped open and he thought that it had cracked the bone. His leg felt like it would collapse beneath but he had enough momentum to carry him to cover and he maintained his balance before diving to the ground behind large crate.
He was truly pinned down by the man on the walkway. Daya had clearly been captured, or worse, and Bond had run straight into the trap which had been laid for him. He breathed deeply, trying to ignore the pain in his leg. Slowly he leaned around the side of the crate and just glimpsed his assailant. He knelt, with an AK-47 aimed directly at the crate. Bond tried to quickly get his handgun aimed at the man and fire a shot, but the guard’s reflexes where sharp and a bullet from the AK-47 slammed into the crate spraying splinters into Bond’s face and causing him to drop his gun.
“Come out!” the guard shouted.
Bond made no reply and again the guard ordered Bond to come out. Bond was battling to open his eyes and see as there were several tiny wooden splinters in his eyes. Once he regained a vague sort of vision, he saw that he had dropped the gun in the open. There was no way that he could get to it without being shot.
“I’m coming out!” Bond shouted, as the guard called to him again. There was nothing left to do.
However, all was not necessarily lost. Bond would no doubt be brought before Obsidian, and perhaps that would be his moment to strike. He also knew now, that it was not just about killing Obsidian and Adriana, but he would have to rescue Daya as well. The possibilities raced through his mind. The only thing that was certain was this was now the final chapter in this unfolding tale. Bond was only considering one possibly ending however. He raised his hands in the air, and walked slowly out from behind the crate. The guard got up from his kneeling position and kept his gun trained on Bond as he side-stepped along the walkway and down the iron stairs.
“Keep still.” He warned as he approached Bond.
Bond, however, was not about to make some rash sudden attack on the guard. He was about to get close to the man he had been after all these weeks, and close to him was precisely were he wanted to be.
Daya was tied down to an all-metal, medical examination chair. She was strapped to the chair with metal brackets around her arms and legs, even her head had been restrained. The only way she could look around was with her eyes. She was in another large, science fiction-like room with the angled metal ceiling. It was identical to the one Bond had been tortured in, only this one was in Finland instead of India. Although Bond would surely recognize it the second he entered, Daya had never seen any of this before. As it was in Crucible Three, there were several aluminum carts standing around, carrying various needles, syringes and vials of God-knows-what synthetically-manufactured hallucinatory chemicals.
Daya was the only one in the room, all was totally silent--except for a low humming noise coming from under the floor. Although all this would normally seem very menacing and sinister, the soft white walls somehow made it a bit comforting of all things. Or maybe it was that injection the man in the lab coat had reluctantly given her... She was in a state of relative relaxation, a peaceful feeling that grew stronger by the minute. She knew she would be out cold in only a few minutes time.
I must stay awake, she thought to herself. Where's James? Yes, dear James... Where did he go?... I wonder if he's coming for me in that green BMW... Ah, yes, my knight in shining armor.... Her thoughts trailed off into a rambling string of nothingness.
Just as she was about to fall into a peaceful sleep, a previously hidden door opened up. It seemed as though it were part of the wall until it was opened. The silhouette of a tall man in a black suit was standing in the doorway, but Daya's vision was too blurred to make out who it was.
"Are you comfortable, my dear?" The voice sounded awfully familiar, yet had a rather artificial-sounding British accent.
"...Wha--James, is that you?..." Daya asked weakly.
"Darling, everything's going to be all right now." The man stepped into the room and walked toward her. It was Bond, or at least it appeared to be him.
"James, it's you..." Daya responded. "Please, come get me out of this..."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, darling," Obsidian replied. "You see, Mister Obsidian has locked your restraints with a computer and I have no way of unlocking them."
"What? Then how are you--"
"Shh, it's all right dear." Obsidian leaned in and kissed her. The kiss lasted for several seconds. But something was amiss--even in her drugged state, Daya could tell that the man's kiss was cold, devoid of almost all emotion. These thoughts lasted only for a second however, because she suddenly felt a needle prick her arm. The thoughts of doubt instantly left her mind.
"Never mind about all this, let's enjoy our final moments together..." Obsidian said as he kissed her again.
After a few moments had passed, the door opened again. a man was being wheeled in on a hospital stretcher. The man pushing the stretcher was dressed in a pristine lab coat that didn't quite fit him, almost as though it were too short for him. It was the same man who had given Daya the injection before. The man on the stretcher was also tied down, but he had not been drugged. He was as wide awake as could be, struggling to escape from his restraints.
Obsidian pulled away from a nearly lifeless Daya, whose eyes opened slightly as she moved in and out of consciousness.
"Thank you Zimbardo," said Obsidian. "Rest assured, you will be rewarded for your compliance."
Dr. Zimbardo looked at the man on the stretcher. The man known as James Bond, MI6 Agent 007 with a License to Kill glared up at him as though he would most certainly put this license to use, had he not been tied down.
Zimbardo was instantly filled with fear at the sight of a Double-O Agent's cold-blooded eyes locked onto his own. The doctor left the stretcher in its current position and walked over to a large computer server, out of reach of Bond's vision. Zimbardo looked up at Obsidian.
"You won't get away with this, Obsidian. They'll find you, you know they will. It's only a matter of time."
Obsidian casually walked over to the cart of "medical" supplies and picked up a rather obscure-looking device. He then proceeded to approach Zimbardo.
"I've seen your daughter, Zimbardo," Obsidian replied in an all-too-friendly manner. "A very beautiful girl." Obsidian walked behind Zimbardo, who remained motionless. "Further incidences of your mentioning my name again will result in... Elimination of not only your daughter, but of you." Obsidian then slammed the device into the doctor's back, causing him to fall over. The only thing that held him up was the server he was now clinging to. Zimbardo wasn't sure if he had simply been hit with a blunt object or if he had been stuck with some sort of needle. Whatever it was, it was extremely painful.
Obsidian walked back to Daya, leaving the doctor to deal with his apparent wounds. "You see that man over there?" Obsidian gestured toward Zimbardo.
Daya looked over, inquisitively.
"This man is with MI6," Obsidian continued.
Daya was more awake now. "What is wrong with him?"
"You see that man over there?" He gestured toward the real James Bond. "He has injured our fellow doctor. You are looking at our man Obsidian. I found him looking for you. He almost killed you, Daya, but I stopped him."
Daya looked over towards Bond. "He looks just like you..."
"That is only a clever disguise." replied Obsidian with a smile.
"Don't listen to him!" The real Bond spoke up. "He's the real Obsidian! That man's playing you for a fool, Daya!"
Daya was confused. "But if he is our man, why can't you make him release me?" She asked Obsidian.
"Well... He won't give us the access code to his computer." Obsidian answered.
"He's lying, Daya!" Bond said again.
Obsidian continued. "The only thing that can release you is his computer, you see. I've tried to get the information from him, but I have had no success... I'm so sorry, darling."
"Daya," Bond yelled. "He is the one who has you locked up! You're only looking at your real captor!"
Obsidian tried to ignore Bond. His attention was focused on Daya. "Why don't we continue where we--"
"He's going to kill you!" Bond yelled across the room. "He killed your brother, and he'll just as easily do the same to you!"
Daya couldn't help but look over at Bond. A certain fear was in her eyes now.
Obsidian leaned in closer to Daya. "Remember when we made love, Daya?" He whispered to her. "Please, help me to... Remember." He leaned in and kissed her, much more passionately this time. And as this went on for a good amount of time, Daya was completely and utterly confused.
Suddenly a loud yell came from behind Obsidian. As soon as he turned to see, a hard glass bottle containing ammonia came down sharply on Obsidian's head. He fell to the floor, gasping for air as the harsh fumes engulfed his senses. Blood was dripping onto the floor. As he looked up to see who his assailant was, he saw none other than Bond glaring down at him. Suddenly Obsidian felt a very real fear--the same fear as when he had seen Bond from the satellite image in India. The eyes that stared at him had no compassion whatsoever--they were the eyes of a cold-blooded killer.
"Here. Recognize this?" Bond coldly tossed an evidence photo down to Obsidian. Obsidian picked up the photo and looked at it intently. The photo showed someone lying on an examination table at the morgue. The body had been riddled with bullet wounds.
"No... No, it can't be!" Obsidian exclaimed in horror as he saw the subject of the photo. "Simon!?"
"The very same",007 responded."Simon Obsidian--your twin brother...the man you killed years ago."
"No!"Max Obsidian cried out.Bond watched in fascination as his lookalike gaped in horror at the bloody image on the photograph."Not Simon",Obsidian croaked-his voice now a mere trace of its usually robust self."It can't be!"He seemed to be talking to himself.
For an instant there was complete silence in the room.Then a wild-eyed Max Obsidian looked up at Bond."This is a trick!A lie!!!"He waved the photograph in the air with his left hand even as he drew a slim black knife from the interior of his right boot.In moments Obsidian was standing directly behind Daya-the dark blade of his knife at her throat.
Then Max pointed at Bond and smiled broadly as he yelled "Durendal!Durendal!"His smile vanished afterwards.Confusion swept over Obsidian's features as he realized the keyword he thought he'd planted in James Bond's subconscious was taking no effect.Bond should have been experiencing a seizure of epic proportions but that was not the case.Indeed,007 was looking directly into Obsidian's eyes and smiling.
Bond responded reflectively,"Ah yes...Durendal-the magic sword that belonged to Roland."
"You should be..."
"What?Under your control,Max,'Mister X' or whatever name you're now going by--"he pointed at Obsidian--"and from the looks of things you might even try answering to my own!"Bond said savagely."Your little experiment isn't working with me.Unlike Rao-I didn't have a chip implanted in my skull!Tsk Tsk tsk!It's the little details that brought you down."
007 paused then continued,"Now, about your dead brother Simon...you remember him?The one you murdered?"
"That's a damnable lie!",Max hissed as he glared at Bond from over Daya's right shoulder.Sweat was pouring down his brow."A lie!"
Bond slowly walked forward towards Daya and Obsidian.How bizarre is this,he thought-talking to a twin of my own.If only M could see me now-she'd be amazed.Q,however,would find this fascinating.
"No,Max," 007 calmly responded."It's the truth.That's a crime scene photograph taken by the authorities on the very day your family was murdered.That picture shows what was left of Simon Obsidian-your older brother."
A dizzying array of images immediately raced through Max Obsidian's brain.Memories which until this moment had been literally erased from Max's consiousness!But here he was again--Simon Obsidian,Max Obsidian's identical twin!It was Simon who was the more popular of the Obsidian brothers.It was Simon who was considered the more charming,handsome and talented brother.It was Simon who was the son who could do no wrong-the son who was brilliant.It was Simon who was the first born son,older by an hour.And yes,it was Simon--not Max--who was the son their father favoured the most.Max Obsidian reeled with the certain knowledge his restored memory now proclaimed.It was Simon!It was always Simon!!!
In time Max found his voice."He was my twin...I hated him."Obsidian snarled."Compared to him, there was nothing I could do that could ever please my father.Simon was the Chosen One."
"And then your father got the offer from Largo.To join him and his associates in the drug trade and to assist in an upcoming terrorist operation,"Bond offered."That's when you saw your chance..."
"Yes,"Max replied,his once hostile tone now eerily calm and conversational as he recollected the events leading to his family's demise."That's exactly what happened!My father couldn't see how important the drug trade would be for our shipping line.It presented the ideal opportunity to give our family incredible control over countless people the world over!Immeasurable power!It made perfect sense-to either join in and reap the benefits, or whither on the vine."Obsidian paused and stepped away from Daya,his blade still against her throat.He continued,"But my father--of all people,my father--wouldn't countenance illegal drugs or stealing nuclear devices!As if he was somehow lily pure,the old pirate!He'd found a conscience!But I knew better.I could see the future even when he couldn't.But he wouldn't listen to me.Oh no--not me!So I made a very important decision..."
James Bond was appalled as all of his suspicions about Max Obsidian were being verified!"The raid was orchestrated by you?"Bond asked-already sure of the answer to this question.
"Of course",Max calmly responded,continuing to speak with the same disembodied tone."No one else could possibly have turned off the estate's alarms.But I did.I was ready when Largo's men arrived.No one was supposed to die,though"Max frowned for an instant-more a mock frown than the real thing-as if he felt such an expression was expected of him."No one--not even Simon(he spat out his brother's name).No,everyone was to be taken prisoner-except for me.I'd be left to run the family business.And I'd be making the right decisions."
While still giving Obsidian his full attention,007 turned and saw Dr.Zimbardo silently approach and stand by his side.The psychiatrist was still holding the knife he'd used to free Bond mere minutes before.He handed the blade to 007.Then Zimbardo turned his attention to Obsidian.
"That's not what happened,was it?"Dr.Zimbardo asked.
"No--that's not what happened.They came to kill.No one was safe.",Max calmly replied.And once again he was 15 years old and witnessing three black helicopters landing on the estate's grounds.Once again he saw the armed men emerge from the aircraft firing their weapons at everything that moved--shooting guns that fired explosives which literally blow their targets apart.Once again Max Obsidian watched in horror as the family's loyal bodyguards were killed and the attackers burst into his home.Once again Max remembered running away and hiding as he heard his sister scream in terror and his parents plead for mercy instants before they were killed.Once again Max heard his brother fire at the attackers.These memories sent a shock through his system.
"And that's when you decided to do away with your brother?"Bond added.Despite himself 007 couldn't help but by impressed by the quality of Obsidian's disguise.My god-it's like talking to my deranged twin,he thought.
"It wasn't like that",Max responded slowly."I didn't plan on killing Simon.At least at first.In fact,as I said,I didn't want anyone to die.I had been told that no one would even be hurt.I was lied to."Max paused and glanced at Daya.He held the point of his obsidian bladed knife to Daya's carotid artery.
Then Obsidian continued,his voice clear and measured."But once I saw Simon tied up and I was given a gun, I couldn't resist shooting him.I aimed at him and fired that revolver until it was empty.It felt good.I'd have shot him again if there'd been more bullets in that gun."Obsidian then paused and unconciously pushed an long lock of hair back from his forehead--an imitation of Bond's behaviour.
"Why do you think the attackers captured your brother and kept him alive to begin with?"Zimbardo asked.
"They said it was because they thought he was ME,"Max answered."ME!They were astonished to see that there were two of us.I couldn't let Simon live.Simon had to be gone forever.I had to be free."
"Did doing away with Simon 'free' you?" Zimbardo asked.
"NO!"Max roared."When I killed my brother, it was like I was killing myself!Even in death Simon overwhelmed me!!!!"Obsidian was still standing before Daya but he was now waving his blade in the air as if to punctuate his lurid comments.The false scar on his cheek shone white against his tanned face.
Dr.Zimbardo whispered to Bond."Mr.Obsidian's psychosis is an example of the fabled 'psychic link' reputedly shared by twins,"Zimbardo explained."A classic situation.One twin is injured or--as in this case,is killed-- and the survivor is greatly effected.With Max, the result was selective amnesia--resulting in absolutely no recollection whatsoever of his sibling.With all vestiges of the past removed from his consciousness,whatever Max chose not to recall never happened--at least as far as he was concerned.But that picture triggered his recovery.Try though he might,Max Obsidian couldn't erase those guilty memories from his subconscious and they were gradually returning--hence the dreams."
And this helps to explain why Max Obsidian became a master of disguise,James Bond thought--in his mind he never had an identity he could truly call his own.
Bond spoke."Simon isn't here anymore Max!Your twin won't bother you any longer.Put that knife down and give up.We'll see that you get the help you need."007 slowly approached Obsidian, his hands open and his knife hidden near the small of his back.
Suddenly Max Obsidian glared at James Bond.His eyes burned with hatred as he growled,"What do you mean my twin can't bother me anymore?Just take a look in the mirror,'Mr.Bond'--or shall I call you by your real name,SIMON?"And with that Max Obsidian raced towards James Bond,his black knife at the ready...
Bond quickly drew his own knife-it was a blade with a lexian composition handle,moulded for a steady grip.The blade itself was five inches long-hollow steel three inches at the hilt and tapered to a stiletto point.But it was nothing compared to Max's weapon.
Max Obsidian's black knife had a seven inch blade which appeared to have been made entirely of obsidian itself.For all of its outward beauty it was a brutal weapon.It was as sharp as a scalpel and in the right hands could go through flesh and bone with ease.And insane though he might be,Obsidian still looked dangerous enough to use this blade well enough to bring down an opponent.
Bond knew that in a knife fight it was absolutely essential to put the blade into an adversary with all possible power-this would decrease any chances of bone deflection and increase the opportunities of impact-shock.As far as 007 was concerned, only one man was going to emerge from this fight alive-and it wasn't going to be Max Obsidian or "Mister X" or whatever else he chose to call himself.
As the two men circled each other warily,Dr.Zimbardo raced to Daya's side and freed her from the chair.They then watched Bond and Obsidian--still exact lookalikes,even to the way they were dressed--prepare for battle.It was a strange sensation.
Suddenly Max leapt forward, knocking Bond down with a flying kick to the chest.As 007 rolled to his feet,Obsidian whirled about and thrust his blade at 007.
Bond felt numbing agony shoot down his right flank and arm,from a point where his collar bone joined the upper arm.At the same time,something hit him on the inside of his forearm just beneath the elbow. Bond's numbed fingers could not keep hold of the grip of his knife and the weapon spun from his grip and clattered onto the ground.
Pain distracted Bond and the natural reaction was to immediately clutch at its source.Instead 007 threw up his left hand to protect the side of his neck and when the next blow arrived ,it felt as though he'd been hit with the full force of a policeman's riot baton.Evidently there's a steel blade underneath, re-enforcing that outward obsidian one,Bond realized.
When Max was close enough,007 reached out and snatched hold of Obsidian's turtleneck sweater.With a pull borne of both fury and survival instinct,Bond jerked his adversary forward and off balance.A quick turn and a violent kick to the ribcage sent Obsidian to the floor.This was followed by a powerful right to the jaw.
With his opponent momentarily dazed,Bond dove for his knife and came up armed, as Obsidian pressed his attack once more.Obsidian struck Bond again with another stabbing kick.In desperation, Bond struck back,this time connecting with his adversary's stomach.Obsidian buckled in response and Bond followed that blow with one to Obsidian's chin.Obsidian let out a loud groan.
007 followed this by lashing out with his blade at Obsidian's head.This thrust would've proved fatal--impaling Obsidian's skull-- if the madman hadn't somehow ducked and turned to his left.As a result,007's blade left a long jagged scar running Obsidian's left cheek--a mark as long and deep as the false one on the right side of his face.Practically a mirror image.Obsidian screamed in pain at this wound.The faux James Bond's face bled profusely.
However,due to his earlier wound,007's body was racked with pain and his vision now began to swim and blur.Nevertheless,through some supreme effort of will,Bond managed to remain on his feet,his knife in hand,instinctively extending the blade to one side to protect it until the moment it had to be used.He crouched as he moved forward,his bleeding left arm raised as a makeshift shield.Bond knew that he had to end this swiftly-this would be his last effort.
Max Obsidian glared at 007 but in James Bond's face he only saw his hated brother Simon--the twin who wouldn't die--the enemy who even now confronted him.No more,Simon,no more!Max thought.If I have to,I'll keep on killing you until you stay dead!Momentarily distracted by these thoughts,Obsidian swung out with his knife at the man before him.
Bond dove straight at Obsidian and tackled the madman.Before Obsidian could begin to strike back,007 hit him full force with his left fist as he brought his blade upward for the kill.Obsidian brought his knife down in an effort to send its blade between Bond's shoulders.But a quick twist turned the knife in Bond's right hand up to parry Obsidian's thrust.The two men groaned and tumbled backwards,locked in a violent deathgrip.
At that moment Adriana entered the room and saw what was happening.She was a good twenty feet away from the action, but she knew that Max needed her help.She raised her rifle and pointed it in their general direction but paused in frustration.Oh no!To her dismay,Max and Bond looked alike and they moved alike.Try as she might,she couldn't begin to tell them apart.Damn!She thought.Which one IS he?They might as well be identical twins!
Since Adriana most likely wouldn't attack both James Bonds for fear of killing the fake James Bond instead of the real one, the real James Bond decided to use his opponent's disguise to his advantage, focusing his efforts solely on Obsidian. Instead of resisting Obsidian's downward stab, Bond guided it next to his head, barely avoiding a fatal stab. Not backing off for one second, he returned to the offensive with a vicious headbutt followed by a jarring punch to get Obsidian off his back. Seconds later, both were on their feet. Obsidian charged at Bond, sans knife and attempted to tackle him down to the ground. Obsidian came high, and Bond bent over, with Obsidian now on his back. Bond kept his footing, and used his left hand as a springboard that jerked him upright and loosened Obsidian's grip.
With Bond on his feet and Obsidian on his back, Bond used the stance difference to his advantage. Delivering several cold-blooded and brutal stomps to the head, Obsidian eventually grabbed the sole of Bond's foot to halt yet another stomp, and forced it aside, causing Bond to stumble slightly. As Bond stumbled trying to regain his footing, Obsidian grabbed his knife off the floor. Bond, aware of his surroundings, positioned himself carefully. He stood in a two-point stance, biding his time, hoping Obsidian would charge at him with that knife. Instead, Obsidian flung the knife across the room to the British agent, not what he wanted Obsidian to do. As a result, Bond quickly studied the knife's motions, and carefully catching it by the hilt at the precise moment. In an attempt to give Obsidian another chance at doing what Bond wanted him to do, he tossed the knife aside. Bond's knife was lying elsewhere on the floor, and naturally, Obsidian proceeded to retrieve it. This time, Obsidian proceeded to do what Bond wanted him to do. Charging at him like a berserk middle linebacker, Bond watched him zip closer and closer. When Obsidian raised his knife to strike, Bond grabbed Dr. Zimbardo and used the good doctor as an efficient human shield. Catching Obsidian by the disappointingly obvious surprise, he grabbed his likeness by the neck and wrestled him down to the ground.
Adriana's patience was running out. She wanted to separate the two Bonds, and the simplest way to do that was Daya, the only one identifiable in the room. Surely the real Bond would attempt to race in for the rescue. She raised her gun and released fire. Daya, barely noticing what she was doing, plummeted to the ground, missing a couple of shots before the gun jammed. Bond, noticing what was going on, had little choice but to ditch his opponent's disguise. Once the identical men were back on their feet, Bond attempted to ward him off with a swift uppercut punch, followed by a leveling roundhouse kick, sending Obsidian back to the ground. Using the moment of break from Obsidian, he rushed towards Adriana, who just finished clearing her gun of the jammed bullet, ready to fire some more. He tackled her to the ground, wrestling for the rifle. As the two rolled around, each vesting for control of the rifle, Bond managed just enough control to release a few chaotic bullets, which ended Max Obsidian's life.
With the fake James Bond now dead, there wasn't any question who the real James Bond was now. As Daya observed Bond and Adriana fight, there was a certain emotion displayed from him that he wanted this fight, and she received the feeling that she should stay out of it, unless he was one motion from death.
Bond was able to wrestle the rifle away, sending it in a random direction away from both of them. 'Fine,' Bond thought, 'this will have to be settled in hand-to-hand combat.' Exchanging a series of hits, Adriana eventually attempted to half-scramble half-crawl her way to her rifle. Bond grabbed at her catsuit intently, clawing his way up the outfit, until Adriana was able to fully rise to her feet, when Bond half-intentionally grabbed the zipper, causing it to slide down. Even though the means wasn't intended, the end result slowed Adriana down one last time as she now was attempting to mangle out of her catsuit, in the attempt to avoid having that become another hindrance to mobility. She was slowed down enough to where once she fully regained her composure, Bond was even with her. Now wearing only her underwear, she scrambled to her weapon, but Bond was just quick enough to catch up to her and tackle her by her ankles. She tried to wrestle free from his grasp, but this time it wasn't working. Bond rose to his feet, and still grabbing her by the ankles, dragged her to where Obsidian's knife lay, where Bond had set it earlier. As Bond was grabbing the knife, Adriana was barely able to release herself from Bond's grasp. Realizing that running was suicide, she remained on the floor, and placed her legs outside of his. Crossing her legs, Bond took a tumble on his back, reminiscent of a previous fight, one where Adriana was under a disguise. Crawling on top of him, she used one arm to grab his knife out of his hand. She was going to use the other hand to distract him, but Bond grabbed her free hand. Appearing motionless for a few moments, Adriana dove her head, first in an attempt to headbutt him. She dove her head again, this time trying to distract him using seduction. Teasing his mouth, she sensually kissed him a few times before sensually nibbling on his upper lip before violently biting down on his lower one. Bond wasn't fooled, but there was little he could have done to avoid it anyway. Barely able to do much, he tried shifting all his strength into raising one side of his body, which was enough to roll the two of them over, now placing Bond on top, and he had a split moment where he had full control over the hand with the knife, and soon he was attempting to thrust down the knife into Adriana. Seeing that once again it was going nowhere, Bond released the knife, watching it drop nonfatally on Adriana. Almost impulsively, she reached for the knife, but Bond punched her in the face to provide enough of a distraction to grab the knife and this time drove it near her heart. Once the shock on Adriana's face wore off, she lied there, bare with no disguise, and all she could do was simply give a saddened look, her final words being simply, "Oh James..."
"Famous last words," Bond quipped once he was back on his feet.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Bond. The patient you are requesting has checked out. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No. That will be all. Thank you.” Bond closed the cell phone and contemplated the snowy landscape outside the cabin window. So Lissa had left the hospital fully recovered. Where would she go now? To finally see her family again, perhaps, after so many years of being trapped under Obsidian’s thumb, as she had dreamed about?
Now, with the elusive madman finally gone, that dream would become a reality for hundreds of people. In the past twenty-four hours, Obsidian’s Crucible bases were stormed by joint forces comprised of MI6, Interpol, and local authorities. Urjala, Dehli, Capetown, Nogales, and Singapore. Five hidden compounds of slavery and torture for Obsidian’s schemes, each a storeroom of stolen lives, innocent victims awaiting the insidious brainwashing process of Doctor Pemberton.
The hidden bases were also troves of information regarding Obsidian’s network of infiltrations, identity theft operations, and black market deals. His system was breathtaking in its scope, and it was a surprise to Bond to see just where and how far Obsidian’s tentacles had reached.
And to think it was all spawned by a dark inner demon that haunted the villian’s treacherous past. Obsidian had engaged in a deadly masquerade, and the world was his ballroom. He took what he wanted, who he wanted. He pretended to be everybody, yet no one. But the mask had to come off inevitably, and when it did, Obsidian could not handle the horror of what lay behind.
As Bond watched the cold wind outside nip at the frozen ground, an uncomfortable truth gnawed at his gut. Was he no different than Obsidian? Did Bond hide from the truths in his past? He lived a life that was founded on anonymity. He was a secret, a shadow, revealing only what he chose to those he wished. He thought of Lissa, and how he had inwardly hoped that he would see her once more, but why? Would making love to her somehow quiet those demons of isolation within him? Would his domination of her make him no better than Max Obsidian?
An anxiety crept into Bond’s heart as he stared out the window. No, Bond thought. He was not like Obsidian at all. Bond knew what lay beneath his own mask. He didn’t deny it. In fact, he accepted it. And it was this acceptance that allowed him to love. The kind of love that doesn’t kill or conquer. Bond knew when to hold on and when to let go.
At that moment, a pair of soft dark arms embraced him from behind. Bond closed his eyes and breathed in the exotic fragrance of Daya’s perfume.
“Coming to bed?” she asked.
“In a moment.”
“Perhaps I can read you a bedtime story.” Daya slid a book in Bond’s hand. The title was The Art of Kama Sutra and, based on the rather colorful illustration underneath, it was definitely a book one could judge by its cover.
Bond smiled. Turning to face her, he planted his mouth on hers and drank her in. He deftly picked her up in his arms. Here was a woman who would understand him. She too was a shadow who lived under an everchanging guise. Turning his back on the cold, white world outside, Bond carried her into the dark warmth of the bedroom where, for a brief time, there would be no masks between them.
This post is meant to be an augment to DAWUSS's ending, and it is meant to be placed just before Darenhat's epilogue.
I'll be writing it as I go, shouldn't take more than a couple days to finish.
****
...Bond tried to brush off his covert outfit, but realized he couldn't with his wounded arm. He checked it to make sure it wasn't too badly damaged. Nothing a few stitches won't fix, he thought.
Daya holstered her handgun and ran over to Bond, wrapping her arms around him.
"It's all right Daya," Bond replied as he held her gently, "they won't be hurting anyone now."
They shared an embrace for a few moments, but the silence was disturbed by an ear-piercing alarm. Bond looked up and saw an intercom near the ceiling with a flashing red strobe light. A computerized voice came over the speaker: "The system has detected a fatal error... Emergency shutdown procedures will commence in ten minutes. Repeat, emergency shutdown procedures will commence in nine minutes, fifty-five seconds..."
"Pemberton, the bombs!" Bond exclaimed.
"What's going on?" Daya asked.
"This place is rigged to explode. We have to get out of here." Bond knew there wasn't much time, but he knew the way out. With a quick run, they would make it out with ample time. Bond picked up his knife and quickly wiped off the blood, sliding it back in its holster. This was his favorite knife, he didn't want to lose it. He also picked up Obsidian's glass knife, which he would give to Q to study. This might be useful, he thought. He held onto it in case he would need a weapon.
Daya was also getting her things ready. Suddenly she remembered something. "James, there are probably dozens of people locked in the glassworks facility!"
"Yes, that's right..." Bond thought for a moment as he adjusted the cuffs on his sleeves. "Obsidian's girlfriend probably has brainwashed children all over the place. Daya, you take the glassworks. You can reach it by heading out of the tunnel you came from. Check the area over, use whatever force is necessary to evacuate everyone."
"Where are you going?" Asked Daya.
"I'm going to make sure no one is still in this mansion." He took Adriana's obsidian rifle and checked it for ammunition. There's plenty here, he thought. I still have that knife if all else fails.
"Be careful, James." Daya leaned over, kissed Bond on the cheek and hurried away. Bond followed her out into the hallway. As Daya continued toward the outside, Bond made a quick check of the area. He saw an elevator about fifty feet from him. Hurrying to the elevator, he noticed the metal sign read "B." Apparently there was only one basement level, and the mansion appeared to only be two floors from the outside. There was only one option, and that was up. The elevator arrived quickly after Bond had pressed the button--thankfully, no guards were in it. It would have been a nasty surprise if he would have had to shoot someone in an elevator.
It was a luxury elevator. Green felt covered the walls, accented by wooden railings and brass handles. Very strange, Bond thought. The inside of this elevator was extremely lavish compared to the clean and sterile basement that was Obsidian's "medical facility." There were only two floors this elevator could access by using the button panel: first floor and second floor. Clearly the basement was a secret level which couldn't be accessed from the elevator--you could only use it to leave. Rather handy, Bond thought. He figured he would start from the top and work his way down. He selected the second floor and waited to reach his destination.
The second floor matched the elevator in its lavish luxury. The decor was mostly the same, except for the burgundy-colored doors that led to several rooms Bond had reached another hallway, and each room conveniently had windows showing the contents of each room. He peeked around the corner of the elevator to see if any guards were around. The building seemed completely deserted, except for the computer voice blaring over loudspeakers.
"Emergency shutdown procedures will commence in seven minutes. Repeat, seven minutes remaining..."
Bond had to hurry. He didn't want any more innocent girls to be die in Obsidian's wake, which he had a feeling was exactly what would happen if left now. Bond ran down the hallway, looking in each room. Most were office spaces. He kicked down each door to make sure no one was locked inside. When he reached the end of the hallway, there was one last door. There were no more windows, so Bond had no idea what would be behind it. He cautiously walked up to the door and listened. There were muffled screams coming from the other side. Quickly, Bond smashed the door in with one swift kick of his boot and held up his obsidian rifle.
The room was a large lobby with a very high ceiling. There was a sofa on the opposite end of the room, upon which was a rather startled Magnus, the one for whom Lissa had ended up a sex slave. Sure enough, there was a young woman being held down by Magnus, struggling under his grasp.
"Let her go, Magnus!" Bond commanded. "It's over."
"Oh, it's never over, Mister Lockhart!" Baba Yaga apparently never told this Magnus of Bond's real name. "It's not over until we die, and we are to die, this one's going down with me!"
The young woman Magnus was holding down was screaming for help. Bond couldn't let this happen.
"If you surrender now," Bond said firmly, "I'll turn you over to the authorities who may spare your life. But I won't hesitate to kill you if you don't let her go this instant." He cocked his rifle.
"Ha ha ha... You can try..." Magnus stood up. He appeared much bigger when standing. "By all means, try!" He charged toward Bond, who shot a stream of bullets into the crazed giant. It barely even slowed him down. He must have been wearing some sort of armor, Bond thought. But there was little time to think as Bond tried to duck and roll out of the way. He missed the opportunity however, as Magnus reached Bond and wrenched the rifle from his hands and slammed it into Bond's injured arm.
Bond, in a surge of energy and adrenaline, swung his leg forcefully into Magnus's. The burly man grabbed onto the nearby door handle as he fell with a thunderous crash, ripping the door off its hinges. Bond used the opportunity to run to the woman to make sure she was all right.
She stood up and grabbed Bond tightly. "Please don't leave me!" She was much younger than Bond had originally thought.
Bond nodded. "Let's get out of here."
Magnus was getting to his feet. With all that armor weighing him down, it was rather difficult to get back on his feet after such a hard fall.
Bond and the girl ran towards the door. They were going to jump over Magnus--who was still on the floor--and make a run for it. However, as they reached the gigantic man, he grabbed Bond's foot, causing him to nearly fall over. He regained his balance, reached down and grabbed Magnus's hand, trying to free his leg from the giant's grasp.
"Stop it!" The girl cried as Bond tried to free himself, but Bond's strength was no match for this madman's enormous hands. The girl, tired of the whole ordeal planted her pointed-toe, high-heeled shoe into Magnus's face.
Magnus howled in pain as he let go of Bond to grasp the girl's leg and twist it around, sending her to the floor. Bond, now free, gave him another hard kick to the head to stun him. He then held out his hand to help the girl up so they could escape.
"Emergency shutdown procedures will commence in three minutes... Repeat..."
*****
Daya, having freed all the slaves, had reached the garage, looking for Bond. Her instincts told her to run away as fast as she could, but she didn't want to leave Bond behind. The garage was utterly destroyed in Obsidian's all-too-casual rampage. She didn't know how many explosives were going to go off once the mansion blew, but she didn't want to take any chances. She ran over to the green BMW, the only car that looked remotely intact after the recent explosion.
The car was mostly mangled--Daya knew this was a long shot. She opened the door (which didn't latch anymore) and got inside. Looking for the keys, she checked everywhere inside the driver's space to no avail. Finally she got back out and looked around the garage. Close by, she saw what looked like a lock-box for keys. Running over to it, she saw that it was about as damaged as everything else was--even if she had the key to open it, it probably wouldn't unlock. She decided to do it the easy way by pulling out her Glock and firing a few rounds into the lock. Being badly damaged already, the lock broke into several pieces and the small door slowly swung open. Inside were a set of keys labeled "BMW." Since this was the only BMW in the garage, these had to be the ones...
*****
Bond had reached the main doors of the mansion. With the all-too-young girl hanging on to him for dear life, Bond kicked open the doors without hesitation. Both flinched when the freezing cold air instantly hit them both like knives after having been inside the warm and cozy mansion.
Bond had a quick look around. He couldn't see Daya, but saw a couple of guard frantically running away. One of them turned around.
"Look, it's Bond!" The observant one yelled.
"Leave him, he'll die anyway!" Another one said without looking back.
"But Obsidian will have our heads--"
Bond fired a shot into the air, immediately scaring them away like bugs fleeing with a light aimed at them. Back to business, Bond thought. He ran with the girl toward the garage. He wasn't sure if Daya was there, but it was his last hope. After listening for any signs of life as he ran, the sounds of a car starter filled his ears. Bond continued to run across the short driveway until he reached the garage. Bond was very relieved when he saw Daya, however this hope instantly sank when he heard the car starter weakly sputtering... It simply wasn't going to start. This once-proud executive car was on its last leg, if it hadn't already lost its last strands of life.
Bond rushed over, the girl still in tow.
"James!" Daya cried.
"Daya, there's no time!" Bond yelled across the room.
"Emergency shutdown procedures will commence in two minutes... Repeat, one minute, fifty-nine seconds remaining..."
"Wait, I can do it!" Daya said frantically.
The starter whirred and whined helplessly. Bond gave the fender a good, swift kick, sending shockwaves throughout the vehicle. The engine instantly sputtered to life, only a mere shadow of its former existence.
"Get in back!" Bond said to the girl. He opened the rear door for her and she scrambled inside.
Daya proceeded to leave the driver seat.
"No, no, you drive!" Bond commanded as he firmly planted his foot in the new space in the fender that his boot had already made, leaping over the hood over to the passenger side.
As he got inside, Daya asked "Why do I have to drive?!"
Bond simply pointed to the extremely large, menacing-looking Magnus that was standing nearby, laughing like the crazed psychopath that he was.
"Okay, point taken..." Daya floored the throttle, the BMW's rear tires blazing a black streak into the debris-ridden driveway.
Bond turned around and watched Magnus. He knew something wasn't right. Sure enough, Magnus pulled out some sort of remote control. Bond knew what this was--a device had most likely been set beneath the car, a device with the sole purpose of eliminating any intruders attempting to escape.
Bond reached for his Q Phone. He was going to make good use of that unfired missile. He rolled down the window of the car--thankfully the power windows still worked.
"What on Earth are you doing?" Daya cried.
"Did you know this phone has exceptional long distance capabilities?" Bond quipped as he pressed the button to ready the missile.
"Who are you!?" The girl in back screamed.
"The name's Bond..."
The phone fired the missile, leaving a bright trail of fire and smoke in its path.
"James Bond, now get down!" He reached for Daya who was in his reach and pulled her head down. The girl behind followed suit.
The missile was following an already selected path, its armor piercing needle extending as it rocketed toward its target. It hit Magnus head on in the chest. As a red light flashed, Magnus looked unconcerned as he laughed it off and reached for the button on the remote device... But before he could press that big, red button, the missile exploded.
Shockwaves could be felt inside the car as its wheels gave way to a spin. Daya quickly corrected the spin and took off through the driveway and toward the woods.
*****
Meanwhile, a badly wounded Max Obsidian tried to muster enough strength to got to his feet. There was a glaring and undying hatred in his eyes.
"Emergency shutdown in ten seconds..."
Suddenly Obsidian appeared to have had a revelation of some sort.
"Simon?"
"Five seconds...
"No, it couldn't be..."
"Three seconds...
"Wait..."
"Two seconds..."
"No... BBBOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNN--!"
*****
Bond, Daya and the girl all looked back with a sort of morbid fascination as the entire mansion exploded before their very eyes. Gigantic flames engulfed the whole scene, triggering a chain reaction of explosives that lined the driveway, whose red and yellow burning light was fast approaching. The shockwave of the mansion exploding had reached the car, sending it into another skid across the ice.
"Daya!??" Bond called as Daya--whose face had never looked so determined before--guided the BMW gracefully on what was probably the last run of its life, out of the driveway just in time to miss getting caught in the final set of explosives that lined the narrow roadway. The car smashed through the gate that blocked their way (apparently those guards that Bond saw had closed it) causing the car to spin around 360 degrees. However it regained its composure with Daya's apparently masterful driving and literally slid away from the mansion in what was the grand finale for this remarkable piece of engineering.
Just then, the mansion and all that was around it suddenly but slowly collapsed, leaving a burning and smoldering ruin in its wake.
Comments
Once Bond and Cobra had settled into their rooms, Bond could do little but wait for a moment of which he could seize an escape attempt. There were too many eyes around him to utilize a covert escape, so he’d most likely wind up leaving a few corpses, which was no problem for him - even if this MI-6 turned out to be illegit, he was still a legitimate 00-Agent. Bond examined the gun he was given - a Ruger P90. It wasn’t his Walther P99, but it was still a good gun to use. Unfortunately for him, the gun didn’t have any ammunition. Trying his best to avoid giving off any physical reaction, he couldn’t help but shout a couple of expletives inside his head. It was most likely Cobra who carried the ammunition and anything else necessary for the job. He had a suspicious feeling about the whole thing. He would have to carry it out - he did consider attempting to play both sides, but that would all depend on how much Cobra - or anyone else - was watching over his shoulder. If only he had one of Q’s reprogramming gadgets - that would make his life easier, allowing MI-6 to reprogram the missile once it had been launched. However, MI-6 appeared to be more of an enemy than an ally.
Bond reached for the phone and asked for a bottle of Bacardi. Moments later a female entered delivering Bond’s Bacardi. Grabbing the bottle, he barely noticed she was concealing a weapon. Assuming it was loaded, Bond launched the bottle at the back of her head as hard as he could. Following a hard thud, Bond grabbed the concealed weapon, and by the time he was able to confirm it was loaded, he had visitors. Quickly dispatching them, he grabbed their weapons for the additional ammunition. By now Cobra came out, wondering what the commotion was for, and by then Bond had already crawled out the window of his room.
Bond assumption was right - they had the room monitored, even to the point of arming the employees there. As Bond navigated across a narrow ledge on the exterior, he spotted several more armed men and women rushing out from below now trying to kill him. Easily dispatched, Bond proceeded towards a maintenance ladder, where he slid down for rapid descent. At the base, he checked back to see if Cobra was in pursuit. Not noticing him, he guessed he was off to tell the new M what Bond had done. To avoid hearing a lecture in his ear, he took out that earpiece and scrambled towards one of the dead bodies and picked up the significantly used AK47 rifle. Upon spotting more armed gunmen, he dove behind an electrical box for some temporary cover. He popped back to return some fire before dropping the gun and scrambling away from a flurry of bullets as he headed towards the streets of Delhi. He was maintaining perfect running technique during his sprint for his life, avoiding motion that created any unnecessary tension that would create drag.
***
Cobra dialed up Obsidian and informed him of Bond’s succeeding escape attempt.
“Damn it!” Obsidian stammered. “You and the entire hotel were supposed to WATCH him and ENSURE that he didn’t ESCAPE!”
All Cobra could do was apologize. “We do have people who are trying to stop him.”
“… and probably kill him. Although this could work to our favor. He knows that you were going with him to launch that missile. What I need you to do is be there. While Bond may be there to stop you, I think we may be able to… coerce him into doing our work for us once again.”
***
Bond had very little idea as to how many people were going to chase him, or for how long. All he knew was he needed to see Daya, and Cobra was likely launching a nuclear missile on his own. He spotted a civilian climbing onto a motorcycle, and Bond scrambled over to knock him off it before he could go anywhere with it. Quickly climbing on top of his newly acquired vehicle, he was also drawing the attention of not only “MI-6 Agents” but the local authorities as well. While both were trying to kill him, he’d have to make sure to avoid killing the local authorities. The rest were completely expendable as far as he was concerned. Dodging bullets and traffic, Bond was as wondering where the danger lie, in front or behind him. Arriving at an intersection, he made a tight right turn, nearly avoiding a wreck with passing traffic. For a few moments the bullets behind him died down. When they returned, Bond glanced back to see a rusty sedan closing in on him. Sending the motorcycle into a higher gear, Bond climbed off his seat and managed his way to the other side of the handles, sitting on top of the headlight. Riding the bike backwards, he reached for the pistol he acquired back at the hotel. Making sure his accelerating hand wouldn’t relax, he used his other hand to aim at the vehicle. Trying to remain steady, he tried to aim at one of the front tires. A shot and a prayer later, a bullet pierced front passenger tire, and the vehicle spun out of control, nearly hitting a local business. With only the authorities to lose, Bond tossed his pistol onto the streets and now planned on evading their sights before trying to locate Daya.
Bond made a turn into an alley, and at the dead end, he made a sharp turn that allowed him to plant a foot on the ground. Jerking his other foot over his makeshift seat, he let the bike turn by him, and climbed back on the intended seat, now zipping 180 degrees, back at the waiting authorities. Zipping through a gap, he evaded his own trap. It wasn’t long before they repositioned themselves to continue the chase, even though by now Bond had built a sizeable lead to where he could slow them down with a few risky maneuvers, something worth attempting.
***
Obsidian paced back and forth, wondering what to do with Bond’s escape. …or rather, Cobra’s failure in keeping him under his watch, which allowed the escape to happen in the first place. With Bond out of his control for the time being, he would most likely be trying to find some he knew for some answers. Bond was a man of resources, and he knew that by limiting Bond’s resources, Obsidian still had a chance to utilize a “useful idiot”.
With ease, Bond weaved the motorbike into a crowd of oncoming rickshaws. The three-wheeled taxis, panicked by the mad driver, careened in chaos amidst the busy street. One toppled over, spilling a white-clothed occupant onto the muddy roadway.
Bond looked back and smiled. The mass of confused commuters created a formidable roadblock behind him, and he could see the pursuing authorities screech to a halt behind the confusion. Turning his attention back to the road, he opened the throttle and felt the satisfying shudder of the motorbike between his legs as it bolted forward.
The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky with a vibrant orange brush. The rush of the escape fading from his veins, Bond began to enjoy the brisk ride through the slanting shadows of Delhi. Now he could formulate his next move.
First, he needed to contact Daya. If anyone in the area could help him make sense of the situation, it was her. Navigating down a side street, he spotted a dingy public telephone. He left the bike to idle while he picked up the cracked receiver and dialed the Universal Exports switchboard. “Yes,” he replied to the business-like receptionist who answered. “I need your Delhi office, extension 315.” It was strange that he remembered Daya’s number from his examination of her dossier. Everything else afterwards was so muddied. Why?
“Hello?”
Bond shook himself from his reverie. “Daya! Thank goodness you're there! It’s Bond.”
“James!” she exclaimed. “Where are you?”
“No time for that now. I need your help. Can you meet me?”
“Well, yes. Of course. Where?”
“Tonight. Tughlaqabad Fort in one hour. I’ll find you.” With that Bond hung up the phone, and thought. Could he trust Daya? What if he was wrong? If he had turned on genuine MI6 agents, there would be some serious repercussions. But his ‘mission’ was simply too dreadful to be the truth.
Bond shook the thoughts from his head. It was too late now. The bones had been rolled. His fate was in Daya’s hands. He climbed back upon the waiting bike and sped off, sending a rooster tail of dirt and pebbles into the air behind him.
…
“May this city be the abode of nomads or remain in wilderness.”
That was the curse of a Sufi saint upon the budding fort of Tughlaqabad. Only a few years after construction of the fort in the thirteenth century, the project was abandoned and left in despair, but not before the sultan Ghiyas-ud-din had erected a formidable array of ramparts and walls, some towering fifty feet in the air from the rocky earth.
And it was a perfect place in which Bond to go to ground. The fort was a small maze of roughly hewn rock walls and weeds, and Bond had found himself a safe place to hide and observe the area. He lay stealthily in the tall brown grass and watch the walls darken in the purpling night. The evening was quiet, and Bond had lain so still that a lone mongoose had wandered only a few inches in front of his face before it noticed him. The creature had stared at Bond for a brief moment with its small red eyes, and then, with a graceful alacrity, hopped away into the tall grass, its bushy tail flowing behind it. Bond smiled as he remembered Kipling’s story from his childhood about the brave mongoose and the cobra, and his faced hardened when he recalled the ominous line…”Eye to eye and head to head, This shall end when one is dead…
His musing vanished when he heard a whisper of sound. The silhouette of a lone woman walked by.
With a silent leap, Bond grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth to prevent her from screaming out. “Shush!” he whispered as he clamped her squirming body. “It’s me…Bond!” He reached into her jacket and pulled out a pistol. It was dark, Bond couldn’t see it clearly but it felt like a Beretta. He pulled his hand from her mouth and she turned to face him.
“James!” she breathed. “What is going on?”
“I need your help. I need answers.”
“You must come back with me to headquarters. M is looking for you!”
Bond’s eyes narrowed. “Are you working for him?” he growled. “Is that why you came? To send me back?”
Daya shook her head. “What are you talking about? James, there’s been trouble at MI6. Something was found on your computer that was very suspicious. And now Jari is dead. It’s best if you report to M immediately…for your own safety.”
Bond shook his head. “M? I was just with him. He sent me here, to Dehli.”
“He? James, you’re not making any sense. What’s going on?”
“M has ordered me to launch a nuclear missile into Pakistan! I want you --”
Bond never had a chance to finish his sentence. A figure jumped him from behind, clutching Bond and grabbing the wrist of his gun hand. The grip was strong and Bond could feel the pressure of the man’s hold squeezing around his neck. The pistol dropped from his hand on the rocky groundThe ambusher attempted to break Bond’s arm by bending it backward, but Bond moved with, flipping himself over and causing his attacker collapsing to the earth.
Daya screamed. “Don’t struggle, James. They’re from MI6. They want to help you!”
Bond was only half-listening. He leaped back to his feet, searching for the dropped weapon. He spied it laying in the dirt and grass, and was about to reach for it when a second man appeared from nowhere. These men are well-trained, Bond thought. Clearly professionals.
Before the second attacker could lay a hand on Bond, he sidestepped and landed a clean blow in the man’s stomach. The man doubled over and Bond shoved him forcefully into the rock wall of the fort. There was a dull thud as the man’s head made solid contact with the ancient stone and he slumped to the ground.
Meanwhile the first assailant regained his footing, and once again grabbed Bond from behind with a chokehold. Bond writhed in the attackers grip but to no avail. He felt his lungs straining for air, and clouds began forming in his vision. He continued to try to break the grip, but he was growing weaker. And weaker.
CRACK!
Suddenly Bond’s vision cleared. The attacker dropped to the ground, a very neat bullet hole in his forehead.
Daya stood frozen staring upward. Bond looked followed her starte to the top of the rampart wall. In the moonlight, a man silhouetted leveling a deadly rifle in their direction. “Did you think you could elude us so easily, Mr. Bond?”
“Cobra! What are you doing?” Bond demanded. If Cobra was indeed an MI6 agent, why was he shooting his own men? What was going on here?
“I’m doing my job.” Cobra replied. “Why aren’t you doing yours?”
Bond positioned himself between Daya and Cobra’s aim. “Careful, Daya. If he killed one MI6 agent, he’ll have no qualms of killing another.”
At this, Bond saw Cobra’s rifle drop slightly in hesitation and his head lift up in surprise.
“Daya?” Cobra whispered.
Bond looked on incredulously as Daya spoke to Cobra. They spoke rapidly in their own language much too fast for him to get the gist of the conversation, his head was almost spinning -he could see that Daya was both alarmed and a little angry at Cobra. Bond decided he should interrupt as Cobra joined them at the same level having climbed down to them.
"Excuse me, Daya? Can you please explain what's going on here. This man can't be trusted and I'm not sure he is on our side."
Daya smiled "Do not worry James he is now."
Rao looked at Bond and held out his hand. "Apologies 007. It seems whilst working as a mercenary I have been working against my own sister!"
"Sister! you mean to say you two are related?"
Daya nodded, "It is true James. Rao left our family home several years ago after a family feud concerning an arranged marriage."
"I thought you said your name was Singh - erm Rao? Obviously that is a lie too as that is Sikh and you are Hindi aren't you?"
"Yes James you are right. I share the same name as Daya -but I had to change my name to prevent myself from being found."
"Oh James -we must sort this out -Rao just told me that he was working for Obsidian. We can bring him and his organisation down from the inside!"
"Yes James -I will help. For far too long I have not seen my sister -and I have been lost in a mental wilderness for just as long. We must plan our next steps carefully and not let Obsidian realise I have switched sides. I will double for you for the time being and then when Obsidian is dead I will work here in India with Daya - providing MI6 will let me."
007 was still unsure as to what to do but realised that at this moment so far away from home he did not have much choice -at least meeting up with Daya meant a message could be sent back to London, along with questions that needed answering.
"So Rao - there is no new M is there?"
"No James -that was Obsidian himself -you were brainwashed into believing that the old M had been replaced. I was sent on this mission with you so that you wouldn't be able to work that out for yourself. I was supposed to be both your back up and executioner."
"At least you're honest." said James. He resigned himself to this turn of events and looked them both in the eyes. "Ok. Daya we must get back to your place and send a message to London. Then Rao and I will continue with the operation in inverted commas as planned. Then when the time is right we will flush Obsidian out. I think we need some good illusions to be created by both the Pakistan and Indian governments -a smokescreen as it were to make Obsidian believe the mission has been a success. Perhaps London can help persuade them. I just hope this situation is going to play to our advantage. The cards have been stacked against me throughout most of this operation it seems. Perhaps the tide is changing."
Obsidian....
“I have Bond. He didn’t get far. I have talked it through with him and he appears to be responding to our instructions once again.”
“Be careful, he’s a double-oh. He may well be play-acting. Don’t let him trick you into thinking that he is working with us again – and don’t let him escape again, do you hear? If you do I cannot tell you how deadly my vengeance will be. The whole operation is in your hands Cobra , do not fail.”
* * *
Daya’s phone call was redirected twice from the secure number which she had initially called. She eventually found herself speaking to the “butler” at a stately home in Buckinghamshire. She gave him the appropriate codes and passwords and she was then put through to Bill Tanner.
“Colonel Tanner, I have just seen 007. He was brainwashed by someone called Max Obsidian, and he believed that he was sent by MI6 on mission to launch a Nuclear missile from India into Pakistan.”
“Where is James now?” Tanner asked. “Is he still with you?”
“No, he and my brother, who was also working for Obsidian are on their way to Punjab, pretending to still be on this mission. We’re going to need to provide Obsidian with reason to believe that all is going to plan.”
“Well, it’s a bit crazy here at the moment after having to relocate from Vauxhall Cross, but we’ll make a plan. I trust that you are now able to communicate with James.”
“Yes, I’ll keep you updated with what’s happening.”
“Okay, good luck.” Tanner said, trying to sound optimistic.
* * *
James Bond was also having difficulty maintaining a positive outlook. His mind was a mixed up sea of thoughts. He no longer knew what to believe – even MI6 no longer had his full confidence. He felt himself becoming overly cautious and starting to doubt even his own instincts. He knew that if it came down to a scrap at the nuclear missile site, which he was almost certain that it would, he would have to rely on his instincts to keep himself alive. He tried to concentrate only on the facts that he knew for certain. He was on his way to Punjab, pretending to be on a mission for Obsidian in which he would supposedly attempt to launch a missile into Pakistan. That was straightforward enough, but what was really bugging him was what his plan was once he arrived at the base. He would have to somehow program the missile to detonate somewhere harmless. The trouble was, where, nowadays does one harmlessly detonate a nuclear missile? The conundrum was making Bond’s already confused head spin.
Rao said very little while they were driving. Bond thought that perhaps his mind was also full of confused thoughts and ideas. He obviously knew that they were being monitored by Obsidian, and if it looked suspicious that they would be in trouble.
Rao finally broke the silence by asking, “Have you got any idea what we are going to do once we get there?”
“Well,” Bond paused, he didn’t really know what to say next, but he didn’t want Rao to see that he had no idea what he was going to do. “I guess we’ll have to adjust the missile’s guidance software and send it on a trajectory that will send it somewhere harmless, perhaps send it into the ocean.”
“Do you know how to do that?” Rao asked, looking impressed.
“Let’s just play it by ear.” Bond said with a slight grin. “I’m sure we can work it out.”
In truth, however, Bond was more than a little concerned about how he would manage to adjust the programming of the guidance software. He was by no means an expert on computers. He was a proficient computer user, of course, but when it came to complex software like a missile guidance program, he just hoped that he would be able to do it. The other concern was obviously getting it done without Obsidian realizing what was going on. Obsidian would probably have some of his own people planted in the staff at the missile base. Obsidian was not a man of half measures, and Bond was certain that he would have put security and backups in place to make sure the operation succeeded.
Bond also hoped that MI6 had made contact with the Indian and Pakistani governments. Perhaps the Indian government could send orders to the missile base telling them to remove the nuclear warhead from the missiles. But if Obsidian had moles in the base then that would work. Bond sighed and lay back in his seat, the whole thing was just an almighty mess, and he was the man in the middle of it all, the man who would have to either either pull the trigger and send the nations of India and Pakistan into nuclear war, or he would somehow have to find a way to stop it. He almost started to feel sorry for himself, but then he saw the gates of the nuclear compound looming in the road ahead, and he tried to get his mind into action mode and prepare for the showdown.
As the Aston Martin with its occupants, Cobra and Bond approached the Punjab military base, an ominous atmosphere descended on them. There was tension thick enough to be cut with a knife. Bond was still utterly confused and had no idea who he could trust, save Daya, who wasn't with him at the moment. But there was also Lissa. Yes, sweet and delicate Lissa. Bond still didn't know where she was or what MI6 had done with her. He hoped she was in a safe place. Bond knew he couldn't let his mind daydream, however. He had to think of a plan--he hoped that Cobra would have some information from Obsidian that could be of some help.
"Approaching destination," the car's GPS navigator said in a slightly robotic voice. "Estimated arrival at current speed of seventy-seven miles-per-hour, five minutes."
Cobra pulled to the left shoulder of the road. There was no traffic on the road. The place was little more than a desert wasteland, the only sign of civilization being a fence all along both sides of the road, each about thirty meters from the shoulder.
"Wait here," Cobra said. Bond watched vigilantly as Cobra exited the right-hand driver side door and walked to the rear of the car.
Bond wasn't sure what was about to happen. As a precaution, he reached inside the pocket of his light grey jacket and readied his ever-reliable Walther PPK. The gun was in his jacket when he received it from Cobra. He wasn't quite sure if it was his gun or just another twisted irony planted by Obsidian--and another inconsistency: the PPK hadn't been MI6 standard issue for some time now. However, he figured that he wasn't on an official assignment anyway (and even if he was, he couldn't remember it), so why bother using the current issue P99? He always had preferred the classic PPK's small size to the P99's comparative bulkiness.
It soon became apparent that Bond would not need his Walther as Cobra walked around to the left side of the car, carrying two Indian military uniforms. Cobra attempted to open Bond's door, but couldn't--Bond had locked it. After realizing this a second or two later, Bond quickly opened the door, unlocking it.
"Sorry, my mistake."
"It is perfectly all right, my friend." Cobra said with a light smile. He handed Bond one of the neatly folded uniforms. "Obsidian said to wear these. In the shirt pocket, you will find an ID. Be sure to use it, should anyone think of you as suspicious."
"I'll keep that in mind," Bond replied. He looked at the ID. It had no name on it, just a picture and a number. It appeared to be a perfect forgery. Upon further examination, he began to wonder who had made this... A doctor? Suddenly images flashed through his head, he felt like a train had hit him as an excruciating headache slammed into his head.
"Doctor! Where the hell are you!?"...
"He won't remember a thing you say..."
"Pemberton!!"
"As far as we know..."
"Far too... pleasurable..."
"You will not go unpunished..."
"I would have killed him eventually..."
"NOOOOO!!"
"...Mister Bond, are you all right?!" Cobra was shaking Bond violently, trying to snap him out of what appeared to be a seizure. Cobra knew that he needed one of Obsidian's pills to stop it for sure, but he had neither the pills nor the keyword to cure him. Normally that would be Obsidian's duty through the earpiece, but Bond had thrown it away a while back.
Bond was still acting like a madman, shaking his head in convulsions.
"James, think of my sister!" Cobra exclaimed.
No response came from Bond.
"Think of Daya!"
Suddenly an image of a smiling Daya came through Bond's mind. Wearing a red dress, she was holding out her hand toward him. As Bond took Daya's hand, he instantly realized he was dreaming. The image faded, and the next thing he knew, he heard Cobra's voice.
"...James... James! Snap out of it!"
Bond stopped shaking, opened his eyes and saw Cobra standing in front of him. He was back in the Indian desert.
"What happened?" Bond asked, disoriented.
"It seems that any disturbance or stress causes you to have another seizure! Like you did in Obsidian's office!" Cobra replied, frantically.
"What!? When was this?"
"There's no time for an explanation. I called my sister." Cobra held up a mobile phone. "She's on her way to meet us here. Daya is a trained medical technician."
"Won't Obsidian know you called her?" Bond asked, anxiously.
"Not with this phone. Daya gave it to me." Cobra handed Bond the phone. Upon closer examination, Bond realized it was from Q Branch. He always knew Q's workmanship when he saw it. Cobra continued. "I'm not sure how it all works, but I hear it has some other features that I was told not to mess with..."
Bond noticed what looked like a push-to-talk button on the phone, but he knew that MI6 never used push-to-talk systems. Turning the phone away from Cobra, he pressed the button. The earpiece speaker popped up, the antenna folded to the back of the phone and a rocket-propelled dart flew out of where the antenna had been. It turned itself around and headed straight for Bond and Cobra. In a panic, they both ducked down behind the left-hand passenger door, their heads just below the roof of the car, the missile just missing them. It turned once more and with a clank, it planted itself into a road sign.
Bond and Cobra cautiously peered over the car at the sign. For a second all looked clear. However, the silence was immediately broken by an explosive blast coming from the dart. As Bond and Cobra ducked underneath the car once again, the road sign was blown to pieces. The metal plate of the sign flew over the car and landed right in front of Bond.
CAUTION: EXPLOSIVE TESTING GROUNDS, it read. A hole was punched and burned directly in the center of the sign, exactly where the dart had hit it.
Cobra was clinging to the interior door handle, completely speechless. Bond was still holding the phone. Its earpiece and antenna folded and snapped back into their normal positions automatically, and a message came over the display: ONE MISSILE REMAINING. Bond calmly stood up and brushed the dust from his suit.
"If you're going to work for MI6, you're going to have to get used to unexpected explosions." Bond smiled wryly. "Oh, and I think I'll carry this." He placed the phone inside his coat pocket.
Cobra nodded in agreement. Still with a shocked expression, he replied "Yes, I think that would be the best thing..." He walked over to the uniforms that had been dropped in the sand. Cobra continued. "We have to wear these to get into the base."
"What about Daya?" Bond asked.
"She'll meet us at the base." Cobra replied. "She's using an Indian military helicopter. The commanding officers at the base already know we're coming."
"Then why do we have to wear the uniforms?"
"We don't know if Obsidian is watching. We have to keep up the charade so that no one knows except the commander. We have no idea what kind of moles Obsidian is keeping at the base."
Bond nodded and thought for a moment. "Wait," he asked, "What do we need her for? If I need medical attention, won't they have paramedics there?"
"Someone has to go on ahead and inform their superiors of our arrival," Cobra answered. "It could not be done by any other means, as one of Obsidian's moles could have intercepted it."
Bond took a moment to think some more about all this. "So you mean MI6 hasn't really spoken with the Indian government yet?"
"...Well, not yet. Not until Daya gets there."
This mission had truly reached insanity. MI6 had sent ahead one of its agents to an Indian nuclear base without letting the military know ahead of time? Bond knew this was just like the real M, however. Whatever happened, she could simply send one of her loyal Double-Oes (i.e., Bond) on a suicide mission to fetch her captured agent. Why do I always get stuck with the worst possible dirty work, he thought to himself.
Bond shook his head and walked over to the right-hand driver's door. "Come along, Cobra. We have work to do..."
The flickering lights from the bank of television monitors brought Maximillian Obsidian's handsome,hawk-like features into sharp contrast against the darkness that enveloped the rest of the room.Obsidian was watching James Bond and Cobra's every movement with considerable interest.He couldn't hear what they were saying but having witnessed the reunion between the man he'd called Cobra and the man's sister,Daya,it was easy to see that his assassin had turned against him and switched sides.The woman had vanished-no doubt to notify the authorities and thus aid in halting the launch of the missiles from the secret base near the border in Punjab.Cobra was not aware of Obsidian's satellite and the billionaire's ability to monitor the movements of his employees.No one was.
Ordinarily,Obsidian would have been incensed at Cobra's behavior, but he had another card left to play in this dangerous game.Five years ago,after Cobra had been seriously injured during a mission,Obsidian had seen to it that a miniscule receiver was secretly inserted into the Indian's right temple,below the skin and inside the bone itself.And unbeknowst to the Indian,Cobra had also been brainwashed to accept a specific keyword--uttered solely by Obsidian(for only his voice could ever make it effective)--which,at his command, would then send the Indian into action.This experiment worked brilliantly and Obsidian found great pleasure in this unique form of long distance manipulation.
Unlike James Bond(who had evidently disposed of the earpiece and was thus no longer capable of being put under his radio command),for Cobra it was absolutely impossible to avoid falling under Obsidian's control.Soon,at Obsidian's pleasure,Cobra would be instructed to kill Bond,launch the missiles, and then kill himself.Yes,Max congratulated himself,it was always wise to prepare for as many contingencies as possible--including what he considered treason from his minions.
* * *
Both James Bond and Rao Singh(for this was how 007 now regarded Cobra),had little trouble making their way via the Aston Martin on the secluded road that lead to the missile base.They were both in uniform, and were no longer very far from the thick high concrete wall that surrounded the area where the base's control compound was situated.According to Rao,who'd been there twice before while posing as an Army captain for Obsidian,the base's layout was not exactly like any of the traditional missile bases that dotted the country.
For example,in this instance,the compound itself was situated about twenty miles away from the missiles,which were mounted onto gantries that were hidden underground.When the time was right,these missiles would rise from within their underground vaults by remote control and could then be rotated to be accurately aimed at their targets, all at the flick of a switch or the press of buttons in the control room within the compound.Monitors were used to aim these weapons.Only a few people were required to maintain this base--about four or five individuals altogether,counting the guards at the gate.Unfortunately,as Rao explained,he'd learned that several of them now worked for Obsidian although he could not personally identify them,so he and Bond would have to use extreme caution.
The guards at the gate presented no major problems.They'd waved the car through after Captain Rao Singh indentified himself and explained that the man with him was an observer from Agra.The guards had looked Bond over very carefully, until 007 explained that he,"Lt.Arthur Mali",was of mixed parentage-his father being Indian and his mother British.With 007's dark tan and black hair such a circumstance seemed believable.Once everything was made clear and the proper(albeit forged) papers were displayed,there was no resistance.It was now time to contact the base's commanding officer and brief him on Obsidian's plan.
"Really?"was the response of the bearded commandant --whose name plate identified him as Colonel Hamid Chandi-- immediately after he'd been apraised of Obsidian's scheme by Bond and Rao.The Colonel,a husky man who appeared to be in his mid-forties, was standing before his desk.Two armed soldiers stood silent guard and were directly behind him holding automatic rifles.
Unlike the more classically handsome Rao Singh,the Colonel had larger and rougher facial features-including a few visible scars.Yes indeed,here was a man who'd seen plenty of action,Bond decided.For an instant,Colonel Hamid Chandi looked away from his two vistors as though lost in thought;then he turned his full attention back to Bond and Rao.The Colonel's large black eyes peered out from under thick wirey gray-black brows. "Fire a missile into Pakistan," the Colonel repeated slowly--as though tasting the words.He paused to stroke his whiskers.Then he smiled."That might start a war...what a capital idea!"He snapped his fingers and the two armed guards sprang forward to Bond and Rao.
"Kill them!"Colonel Chandi ordered.
James Bond dove to the floor mere instants before the wall directly behind him was riddled with bullets from the M-16 fired at him by one of the armed guards.As he rolled to his knees, Bond swiftly drew his Walther PPK from its holster and turned to face his adversary.007's gun barked once and the soldier dropped to the ground, a bullet between his eyes.Bond then looked in the direction of Rao and the other soldier.In the commotion,Rao had somehow managed to slip directly behind his assailant and now had a firm grip around his attacker's neck.A harsh twist adminstered by Rao turned the man's head almost completely around on the shoulders to face his back.
Within seconds Colonel Hamid Chandi fell to his knees before Rao and 007.His self-confidence was now replaced by panic.So confident mere seconds ago,the Colonel found it difficult to speak sensibilty to his captors."Please don't..."he began,"Please,I...I was only obeying Obsidian's oreders...I was..."
One well aimed bullet to the heart from Rao's Heckler & Koch automatic silenced the colonel forever.As blue-grey smoke slowly drifted upwards from the barrel of Rao's handgun,James Bond glanced at the man who'd once been better known as "Cobra".007's eyes briefly locked onto the Indian's own--at that moment they were as cold as the craters on the Moon.I'm glad he's on my side,Bond thought.
"We'd better get to the compound,"007 said."For all we know,some of the people in the missile control room might also be under Obsidian's command."
"Indeed",Rao replied.
* * *
The time has come,Max Obsidian decided as he saw Bond and Cobra emerge from the officer's quarters.The only way they'd still be free to wander now is if they've overcome my men."Time to die",he muttered to the two figures on the monitor screens.And with that,Obsidian spoke into his microphone sending a message into the receiver in Cobra's skull."Caliph 99", he rasped.
* * *
For Rao Singh it was as if he'd been hit by an electrified fist.Suddenly the entire world looked like a Hieronimous Bosch illustration.Then it swayed and swirled like a Salvador Dali painting come to life.Rao couldn't understand what was going on.He was dizzy and could barely keep his balance.And then a low sibulant voice repeated the one phrase buried deep within Rao Singh's subconscious,"Caliph 99".Slowly Rao regained his footing.He was Cobra once more and he was now under Max Obsidian's full control.As he looked at 007 the big Indian's dark eyes burned with hatred."Kill James Bond!" the voice ordered."Kill him!"
Bond had turned around to see his new colleague sway, almost as if he was being experiencing a seizure of some kind."What's wrong?"Bond asked as he immediately moved close to the Indian.There was no reply--in words,anyway--as Rao stood straight up and struck 007 across the face with the back of his left hand.This blow was so unexpected and so powerful that it sent 007 flying onto his back.The big Indian then came racing over to the momentarily prone Englishman and attempted to bring his booted right foot directly down into Bond's face.
007's instincts instantly took over as he grabbed hold of Cobra's right foot with both hands and turned his opponent's leg inward as far as he possibly could.Cobra momentarily lost his balance and fell down.He screamed in pain but nevertheless returned to his feet and continued to press his attack, as if oblivious to any physical discomfort.
"KILL HIM!!!"Obsidian shouted to Cobra.
Cobra's arms clamped around Bond,trapping his arms to his sides and causing 007 to drop his PPK.The Indian's grip began as a tight hold and it grew tighter still.All the while Cobra was smiling brightly-as if in a trance.He glared at Bond with undisguised hatred.The man's almost superhuman,Bond thought,I have no choice-I'll have to kill him--if I can...
With an effort,007 snapped his head forward-and with his forehead crushed most of Cobra's elegant acquiline nose.The Indian howled,as sharp pain shot through his brain and into his eyes.Tears streamed down his cheeks,tears every bit as warm as the blood now rolling down his chin and mouth.For an instant Cobra relaxed his hold on Bond.
And in that moment Bond brutally kicked upward and into Cobra, blindly striking the exact target he'd been aiming for-the man's groin.Cobra automatically let 007 loose and nearly collapsed in agony.Bond stepped back and looked about, frantically searching for his fallen PPK.No such luck.Amazingly,a snarling Cobra returned to his feet.
"KILL BOND!!!!"Obsidian's command roared in Cobra's brain."KILL HIM NOW!!!!!
A savage right hook sent James Bond spinning.A immediate left uppercut sent 007 reeling.Cobra then sent another fist 007's way, but this one was deflected by Bond's left forearm, as a right cross knocked Cobra off his feet--but to 007's astonishment,not for long.A left cross of equal strength had little more effect on the Indian.Although clearly affected by 007's blows, Cobra wouldn't stop fighting back.He roared with fury as he lashed out at Bond once again.Somehow Cobra managed to kick 007 along the side of his face,grazing his jaw and knocking him to the ground once more.A dazed Bond managed to roll away before Cobra could land on top of him.
During the ensuing fight Cobra drew his Heckler & Koch, but before he could aim it at 007,Bond caught the Indian's right wrist and pushed the barrel away .The gun went off with a loud > BANG <.The powerful report reverberated across the field even as it momentarily assaulted Bond's eardrums.Now nearly deaf,his ears ringing,Bond continued to struggle with Cobra over the firearm and with great effort,managed to shove the barrel directly beneath Cobra's chin even as the Indian involuntarily pulled the trigger.Blood,bones, brains and an immobile body--it's limbs splayed out awkwardly,like those of a disguarded marionette-- were all that remained of Abdul Rao Singh,the assassin once known as "Cobra".
To his great surprise,007's hearing was gradually returning and it seemed that despite the blows to his face,Bond hadn't lost any teeth--loosened a few,yes--but they could fixed.Or replaced.What was more important was that he was still alive.And James Bond was alert once again.Perhaps this sensation was the result of the rush of adrenaline that had flowed through Bond's system during the life or death combat with Cobra.Whatever it might be,at this point any past confusion seemed to have vanished.One missing day remained,and that was probably the handiwork of Obsidian,but everything else considered,that was a very small problem.
A reflection on the ground caught 007's eye.There was something glittering in the sun near Cobra's corpse.Bond knelt down and picked it up with care.To his eyes it appeared to be an extremely small receiver,little larger than a quarter of a child's tooth.Where did this come from,he wondered.Then the moment of realization arrived.It had been in Rao's head,no doubt put there by Obsidian!This object might go a long way towards explaining some of Rao's more violent criminal activities in the past.Q should examine this as soon as possible.Bond glanced up to see a helicopter circle the field and gradually begin to be lowered to the ground.007 removed his uniform jacket and respectfully draped it over the area where Rao's head had once been.
Then the helicopter set down.Oh Christ,James Bond thought as a uniformed Daya emerged from the aircraft, already in tears.She looked at Bond and then at the hastily covered remains of her older brother and began to wail.As soldiers appeared from both the aircraft and compound,Bond came forward to stop Daya from approaching her brother's corpse.At first, as he gently turned her away from Cobra's remains 007 found himself rebuffed by Daya,only to be pulled close after all.
"I saw it all from above",Daya whispered once she could find her voice."That wasn't the brother I knew,that man you,you..."she tried to say "killed",but couldn't."I can't blame you." Daya continued sadly."Rao really died long ago,when he became 'Cobra',Obsidian's assassin."
007 held Daya firmly and slowly stroked her back and shoulders.James Bond silently promised himself and this grieving young woman that Max Obsidian was going to die--and soon.
* * *
And seated before his monitors,the nefarious billionaire glanced at James Bond--whose burning eyes inadvertantly looked directly into the satellite's cameras--and for the first time in his life,Max Obsidian knew true fear.
======================
He rose to his feet. "I still have a missile launch to interfere with," he reminded a still-grieving Daya. Bond hardly ever had time to grieve, and, having been desensitized to death, had little problem putting it past him.
"Right," Daya sighed. "It shouldn't be long before the military authorities arrive."
"In that case, you should wait for them," Bond replied, "I'll head in alone to assure of a thwarted launch."
"Take care," Daya responded, carrying a certain look in her eyes. Bond noticed it, but tried to ignore it.
Once inside the facility, Bond, disguised as an operative of the place, traveled through the sterile hallways of the place. His only security measure would be the security cracker in his watch. One of its many features that Q Branch equipped it with, among many other things. He would use it soon enough, reaching a keycard-locked security door. Bond glanced around the hallway, ensuring no witnesses, and used his watch to bypass the security measures. Once his always-reliable watch opened the door, Bond re-equipped it and wandered past another set of hallways, without one individual arising any sort of suspicion.
Eventually he reached the missile control room. After the watch once again bypassed all the needed security systems, he traveled up to the mainframe terminal, where one technician was already fiddling around with the missile launch controls. With a hard chop of his Walther, he knocked the female out cold. This alerted the entire room, and before any of them could reach for security, Bond quickly killed all of them. Whether they were legit employees or not was of little consequence at the moment, especially since millions more were at stake. He assumed they were all Obsidian's goons anyway.
***
By now the Indian army had arrived. Daya informed them Bond had already infiltrated the facility. For now their job was going to get the missiles out of there. The squad entered into the facility, anyone refusing to immediately surrender would be shot on sight.
***
Bond eventually noticed that something must have happened as the alarms were going off. As a result, the missile guidance controls had become locked down. He was hoping the missile launches themselves were now on delay because of the security alert. He then attempted to shut down the entire system, just as an extra measure. After a few attempts, he was able to navigate his way towards a system shutdown. With little else to do in that room, Bond started to make his way back out, and possibly towards the chaos that may have been ensuing if the miltary had arrived.
Bond ran into less chaos than he expected, most of it being from the speed at which the military was moving, clearing the building and prepping for missile transport. For now, Bond and Daya’s work was done. Bond now was thinking ahead to how he would deal with Max Obsidian, and more importantly, how he would find him.
“James, are you all right?” Daya asked.
“Well it’s nothing they didn’t train me for,” Bond smirked.
After a brief pause, Daya asked, “So what now?”
“Now,” Bond replied, “we find Obsidian and the rest of his bloodnecks. But first I think I should see M in person after everything that’s happened.”
“Sounds ideal to me. I’ll see if we can get a flight as soon as possible.”
***
Several hours later, Bond and Daya were on a private jet, heading back to Europe, courtesy of some of Daya’s connections. Bond was gazing out of a window, wondering what his next plan of action would be. For all intents and purposes, he was back at “Square One” in the search for Obsidian. He glanced at Daya, who was reading a file. Bond rose to his feet and walked to a cabinet to fill himself a drink. He offered one to Daya as well.
“Thanks for the drink,” she responded, taking a sip.
Bond gave her a nonverbal sign of recognition while drinking from his glass.
“At least it’s something to pass the time on this flight, isn’t it?”
“Well, if you wanted to pass the time, you should have told me,” Bond replied, placing his drink down and wrapping his arms around her.
(covered for content)
As the jet soaring over the city of Budapast, Bond buttoned his shirt while gazing upon the winding Danube below. Daya came up behind him and gently slid her hands across his chest to help him with the small white buttons. Smiling, he turned and kissed her on the neck. “You certainly made this a flight to remember.”
She smiled provocatively. “There are still many miles to London.”
“Perhaps we can convince the pilot to choose a longer route!” Bond conspired. At that moment, however, the plane banked sharply. Bond clutched Daya close to him as he braced himself against the roof of the cabin. “What the devil is going on?”
Suddenly a plasma screen came to live at the forward portion of the cabin. The familiar image of M - the real M - appeared. For a brief moment, turbulent emotions welled to the surface of Bond’s mind, but rationality beat them back as he recognized them as a side effect of Obsidian’s mind manipulation.
“Bond,” M called from the screen. “M here.”
Bond strolled to the plasma screen. “Yes?” He stared at the image of the screen. There was something disorienting about it, but familiar at the same time. What was it? And then he recognized the scene. It was the previous M‘s office -- the wood-paneled, regal lair of Vice-Admiral Miles Messervy -- the man that used to be M. But now, the current M was there. She was seated at the familiar oak desk. The laptop computer setting upon the green desktop seemed incongruous, almost sacreligious in the historic atmosphere of the office. “Where are you?” Bond asked.
“We have temporarily moved our operations to the original MI6 offices near Regent’s Park until Security feels that Vauxhall’s systems are fully restored,” M answered. “It should be soon, though.”
“Ah, I see. I assume you have something to do with our change in course.”
“That’s correct. Q Branch has analyzed the device you sent ahead - the one you found implanted in Cobra. It contained a very sophisticated transponder, designed apparently to receive transmitted data.”
“That was fast,” replied Bond. “You must have only had it for a few hours.”
“It didn’t take much time,” M answered. “You see, Shadeland has already been examining the data from the hard drive recovered from Mr. Baker’s computer. Once we were able to shut down the destructive protocols of the program, he was able to determine where the device was transmitting to.”
“That’s good news,” said Bond. “To where did it transmit?”
“It’s not as simple as that,” M replied. “It was designed into a ‘round robin’ transmission cycle. It transmitted, in rapid succession, to five different locations.”
“Five locations?” Bond pondered for a moment. “In the brief time that I worked alongside Cobra, he was able to relay some information to me concerning Obsidian’s operation. He said there were five bases, codenamed ‘Crucible,’ in which Obsidian trafficked helpless individuals for his brainwashing schemes. One of these was in India, but Cobra didn’t know the locations of the others.”
“Exactly,” M responded. “The transponder in Cobra’s head is receiving an intermittent signal from one of these locations…a location we’ve triangulated in Finland. It didn‘t take long for Q and Shadeland to complete the puzzle with both the Baker virus program and the Cobra control device in their possession.”
“It makes sense,” Bond agreed. “Whatever device Obsidian was using to transmit to Cobra’s internal transponder would be in his possession all the time. It will ping intermittently to confirm that the link is functioning. The ping must be pointing to Obsidian. So is that where we are headed? Finland?”
“That’s correct, 007. But there’s more…Remember your old friend Baba Yaga?” M asked.
“Old? Yes. Friend? No.” Bond answered. “What about her?”
“She’s definitely involved in this. It would appear that she is in charge of Obsidian’s ‘Crucible’ base in Finland. We’ve been collecting quite a bit of information from our friend Lissa.”
Bond thought of the poor young woman who was so violently thrust into this affair. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Bond had confronted the monster named Magnus who held sway over her. Now, she was lying in some hospital bed because of her flight from that tragic nightmare of a life. “How is she doing?” Bond asked.
“She’s recovering slowly, but steadily,” M answered. “She shows signs of having been subject to mental conditioning such as yourself. To what purpose, we’re not sure. It’s most likely that she was a test subject. Whatever the case, some of her earlier recollections are coming back to her. She claims Baba Yaga was responsible for trafficking her out of Russia. She was working alongside a man named Sven Kallo. But we have no records of who that might be…”
Bond digested the information. There was only one possible answer. “Obsidian. Kallo is Max Obsidian.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. Obsidian is a man who thrives on different identities. Obsidian. Mister X. Sven Kallo. He’s never the same man twice. And my guess is that Baba Yaga is actually his lover, Adriana. She was working with him when they brainwashed me. The two are a deadly pair.”
M digested the information quickly. “If that’s the case, then that links Obsidian to this heinous human trafficking operation in Finland. He’s there, Baba Yaga is there --”
Bond cut her off. “And soon I’ll be there.” 007’s face hardened into deadly steel. This was his chance. Obsidian - or Kallo- whatever he wanted to call himself -- was going to pay. He and Baba Yaga both were responsible for what happened to Lissa, Jari, and heaven knows how many others. It was going to end, Bond vowed, and he was going to end it.
M recognized the resolve in Bond’s face. “Don’t try and take this on yourself, 007. Take Daya Chauhan with you.”
“Understood,” answered Bond.
The plasma screened blinked out. And the small jet traced its arc to it’s new destination: a deadly rendezvous to end a sick and twisted masquerade.
As they walked through the doors in the blue glass façade of the terminal building, they headed for the information desk. A young woman with snow-white hair smiled at Bond and Daya, and clearly it was obvious that she could tell that they were foreigners because she asked in English, “How may I help you?”
“Could you please look up the address for a Mr Sven Kallo.”
The girl typed the name into her workstation, and searched the screen for a few moments. “Ah yes,” she said. “Mr Kallo is at number 66 Yuntolantie, which at the shore of Lake Kortejarvi, near Urjala.”
“Thanks.” Bond said, as he grabbed a map of the area and walked out of the building. He opened the map and found the lake. The glass factory was marked on the map and it was very near the address which the girl in the airport had given him. It all fitted perfectly, that was the house of Max Obsidian, and Bond was going to give him a surprise party tonight.
Bond and Daya’s first task was to rent a car – they settled for a black Toyota Land Cruiser, as Bond thought that they may want to go off road in order to get closer to Obsdian’s house without using the main roads. They also checked into a hotel in Urjala. It was not a particularly fancy hotel, but it was comfortable. They had a light lunch and then went to their room, to wait.
Bond had a shower, and when he returned he found that Daya had changed into a very inviting, semi transparent silk nightie. “It’s a bit early for that isn’t it, Daya?”
“We have hours to kill, why not make the most of this bed?”
“Why not indeed?” Bond replied, with a childish grin. “It is said to improve the eye.” He threw off the towel and joined Daya on the bed.
* * *
As the sun began to disappear over the horizon, the Land Cruiser drove off from the hotel. They were both dressed in black – Bond was wearing military trousers and boots, and a black turtle neck sweater. He had his trusty Walther in a holster at his waist. He was also equipped with a silencer, a spare magazine and a small radio which consisted of a discreet earpiece and a small microphone and receiver on the inside of his sweater. Daya was similarly equipped, so that if they became separated for some reason, they could remain in contact. Daya was also responsible for infiltrating the house. There would undoubtedly be security systems and avoiding these was Daya’s speciality. She carried a small backpack – a bag of tricks which would be useful for getting into the house.
The vehicle skirted the lake, which Bond was now familiar with, having had to take an aircraft off from here just a few weeks earlier. The sat-nav instructed Bond that Obsidian’s house was three hundred metres further on up the road. Bond spotted a small track which ran into the forest on the edge of the lake and he took the Land Cruiser off the road and into the forest. It was now completely dark, Bond pulled off the main track and parked the car in amongst the trees. He hoped that their presence would go unnoticed. There was no sign of any recent footprints, so it looked as though Obsidian didn’t have guards patrolling this part of the forest, but Bond was still on the lookout.
Bond and Daya shared a brief, but passionate kiss, before setting off through the woods. They didn’t want to use a torch and risk being seen, so they slowly made their may through the darkness, occasionally running into low hanging branches, but any discomfort that might have caused was definitely secondary to the need for stealth.
As they came to the edge of the woods, the lights of the house became visible.. The building was surrounded by a fence, but it looked as though it would be easy enough to climb over it. They edged slowly up to the fence, and Bond tucked his gun back into the holster and jumped up and got a handhold on the top of the fence. No sooner had he made contact with the metal bar which ran over the top of the wooden fence, a loud crack sounded and electricity surged through Bond. He involuntarily let out a cry of pain and fell back down to the snowy ground.
“James! Are you alright.” Daya bent over Bond’s shaking body.
“I’ll survive.” Bond said in a low-pitched mumble.
As Bond got back to his feet, they both heard a voice from within the fence. They couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it didn’t sound like Obsidian. “It must be a guard.” Bond said. The sounds of footsteps in the somewhat slushy snow started to get a little louder. Also, Bond thought he heard more than one set of footfalls. There were more, although much lighter than the man’s footsteps. “And I think he has a dog with him.” Bond said nervously.
Bond’s fears were proved correct as they heard a short bark from the dog. They scurried back towards the trees and hid themselves in the black shadows and drew their weapons. They both screwed the silencers onto their handguns. A gate slowly opened, and a man in a heavy leather coat and armed with an MP-5 submachine appeared. He stood as a silhouette against the lights from the house. Bond and Daya were hidden in the shadows, so at least they had the advantage. The dog started to bark loudly – he had obviously caught the scent of Bond and Daya. The guard unleashed the dog and he started running towards towards Daya, who was lying about ten metres from Bond.
Bond raised his gun, there was nothing he could do but shoot the dog. He quickly aimed and fired and the first bullet struck the dog’s left shoulder. It fell over with a chilling yell, and Bond quickly fired another shot and put the animal out of its misery.
The guard turned on a torch, and began to search for the intruders.
“Turn that torch off!” Bond commanded. “There are two guns trained on you, drop your weapon, and put your hands up above your head. Do not do anything stupid or we will fire.”
The guard looked terrified, he stared into the blackness of the forest, unable to see anybody, but he knew that whoever was out there had power of life or death over him.
“Daya – keep your gun aimed at him.” Bond whispered into the radio, as he slowly and quietly walked closer to the helpless guard. Bond walked up to him, held his Walther in a two-handed grip and pointing directly at the guard’s head. “You keep quiet, ol’ boy.” Bond warned him. Bond holstered his gun, and took the guard’s hand. He didn’t want to waste time tying him up, so he simply gave the man a sharp blow at the base of his neck to knock him out cold.
Daya then emerged from the darkness. “I think we just found our way in.” she said to Bond. The guard had left the gate open, and Bond and Daya creaped through the open gate and into Max Obsidian’s back garden
"Now!" Daya grabbed Bond's arm and pulled him behind a very large bush.
"What's going on?" Bond asked.
Daya took her backpack off and unzipped its main pocket. "We can't just go running in shooting, James." She pulled out a large, black colored antenna with a ball on the end the size of a golf ball, and a long cable spiraling down its shaft. When she extended it, the antenna was about a meter long.
"Hand me your phone," Daya asked.
Bond pulled the Q-Phone out of his coat pocket and reluctantly handed it to her. Contrary to Daya's opinion, he was rather used to running in shooting, although in a stealthy manner. He had no idea what Daya was doing, but it all seemed like a waste of time to him--he had a very bad man to attend to in that mansion up ahead.
"Broadcasting the Ten O'Clock News?" Bond asked, sarcastically. "Straight from MI6's field agents, I'm sure our friend Obsidian would love to see that."
Daya glared at Bond. "It's a special type of radar," she said as she plugged the antenna into the Q-Phone. Bond was rather surprised, as he didn't even know this phone had such capabilities. Instantly, the phone's screen lit up. Daya held up the antenna just enough so that it would reach over the bush. It was slightly heavy and awkward to hold, so she propped it up against the branches.
"It scans the area for moving objects like guards, attack dogs, cameras, et-cetera." Daya explained.
"Won't Obsidian's scanners catch on to this?"
"It uses a special frequency developed for radar use by Q himself. No one uses this frequency for this sort of thing, and even if Obsidian does see it on his equipment, it will only show up as interference."
Fascinated by this device, Bond watched the screen intently.
"Moving objects show up as orange," Daya continued. "Electrical devices show up as red. Everything else is green. See, right there," she pointed to the top of the screen. "There's a camera and a guard with a dog at the door of the mansion."
"But that's about a hundred meters ahead, and it's not picking up anything else."
"That is rather odd..." Daya checked the antenna's connection to the phone.
"Something's wrong," Bond said. "There should be a lot more guards here."
"Maybe he's just complacent," Daya suggested. "A little too over-confident?"
"No, I know his kind--if anything, he's just the opposite. He's the obsessive type, Daya, liable to set his defenses to overkill."
"What are we going to do?"
"Well, first we're going to put that thing away." Bond unplugged the antenna from the Q-Phone and placed the phone in his pocket once more. "If anything, Obsidian probably has sensors watching every single frequency. He's probably already on to us."
Daya was a bit worried now. She started to return the antenna to her backpack, but Bond took it instead. He threw it over the nearby concrete wall that was blocking their way to the forest.
"You don't need to be carrying that kind of weight with you, it's only going to slow you down in a firefight." He reached into Daya's backpack and pulled out a Glock 37 handgun. It was a rather large gun, but using .45 caliber bullets, it had a lot of stopping power. "If you really want something useful, use this." Bond handed the gun to Daya and peeked around the bush.
Bond could truly see now. There was a straight path leading up to the mansion, with perfectly formed and trimmed bushes lining the driveway. They were laid out in a horizontal fashion. These bushes would provide easy hiding places in case he was spotted. however there was one very tall bush with a fountain that prevented the view of the front door from the driveway. Plenty of lights were on inside the mansion. Bond looked down at the path. It was definitely wide enough to be a driveway, and fresh tire tracks were clearly visible in the heavy layer of snow that covered the pavement. Looking closer, Bond saw what looked like a Range Rover parked nearly out of vision so that the back end was the only part showing. But most importantly, there was no guard in sight.
"Let's go." Daya and Bond tiptoed along the driveway, the only noise was their feet cracking the frozen snow beneath them. Their black stealth outfits were good for hiding in dark places, but showed up terribly against the moonlit powder. As they walked along, the atmosphere become much more ominous, yet they could still see no one.
As they got to the end of the driveway, Bond pulled Daya to the side, behind the last bush.
"Get down, low." Bond whispered as they both crouched down and squeezed farther away from the driveway, trying to stay hidden. Suddenly a man appeared, carrying an assault rifle. With the man foolishly whistling, his presence caught Bond's ear just in time. As the man walked past him, Bond quickly looked around the corner to see if anyone was following him. Since there didn't appear to be anyone in tow, Bond quickly jumped up, grabbed the man in a deathlock and threw him on the ground. Before the man could let out a yell, Bond smacked him in the back of the neck, knocking yet another guard out cold. He dragged the man behind the wall of leaves and dropped him in the snow. He pushed the man underneath the bush to conceal him the best he could.
Daya picked up the man's gun. "James, do you know this gun? I've never seen it before."
Bond had a look at it. It certainly was a mean-looking weapon, but it was made of a black-colored material that Bond didn't recognize at first. Then he suddenly remembered--the statue at Baba Yaga's tavern!
"This is no ordinary gun," Bond spoke solemnly. "It's made of black obsidian glass, clearly of the tempered variety."
"A gun made of glass?" Daya asked in mild disbelief. "I didn't know that was possible."
"I didn't either..." Bond pulled out the cartridge. It appeared to use 7.62mm rounds, a common round used in automatic rifles. Bond continued. "Highly impractical, I would think... He's supposed to be a man of efficiency, yet he's using his own custom-made firearms? Rather odd, I would say."
Daya thought for a moment. "Yes, but the bullets are of a common type, it wouldn't show up any differently from any other bullet of that kind... Right?"
*******
Glassy Eyes
"Go ahead Q." M was on the phone with Q in her office.
"Yes, erm..." Q always had such a tone when something wasn't right. "I need you to come down here for a moment--there's something I want you to look at. It's about the forensic analysis on that bullet you ordered."
"How's it coming?"
"Well, we have found something, but I think you should see it for yourself."
"I'll be right down."
"Oh, and bring Bill with you! He should see this, too."
"Right away, Q." M hung up the phone. She walked out of her office. Moneypenny was sitting at her desk.
"Moneypenny," M asked, "get Tanner on the phone, tell him I need to see him in Q Branch right away."
"Yes, ma'am." Moneypenny was still confused as to why old Jari was killed like that. She knew this was about his murder. She could felt the tension, knowing that Bond was up to something at this very moment.
Don't die James, please don't die... Moneypenny thought to herself as she dialed Tanner's number. Bond was still on her list of things to-do before she died...
Tanner's mobile phone rang. He was in his car at the moment.
"Tanner here."
"Tanner, this is Moneypenny. M wants to see you right away."
"What? I was just sent home, they said they didn't need me anymore today. I'm down at the petrol station..." Ambient noises of traffic and whatnot could be heard in the background.
"It's about Jari."
There was a brief silence. "I'm on it, be there in ten minutes" Tanner replied. Moneypenny could hear the sound of a car starting followed by the phone hanging up.
"Poor Jari..." Moneypenny said sadly as she resumed what she was working on.
A few minutes later, a car arrived at MI6 headquarters. The car was a black 1975 Jaguar E-Type V12 Roadster. As the car stopped at the valet, out stepped a hasty Bill Tanner. Quickly saying hello to the valet attendant (he knew them all by name) and handing him the keys, he hastily entered the main lobby and headed for Q Branch. There were still several computer technicians working on all the computers, many of them with puzzled expressions. Tanner knew of this all too well...
As M showed up in the Q Labs, Q was examining the bullet under a high-powered electron microscope. The image was being projected onto a large wall screen.
"Ah, good to see you, M." Q greeted M without looking away from the screen.
"Good to see you," M replied.
Just as she had said this, Tanner entered the room. His hair was rather messy and his jacket was hastily put on and unbuttoned.
"Glad you could make it, Tanner," M said.
"Have you found something yet?" Asked Tanner anxiously.
"Well, that's why I've brought you both here." Q replied. "If you look closely at this image..." The bullet appeared on the wall screen in very high resolution.
"That's the bullet that killed Jari?" Tanner asked.
"Correct," Q answered, "It went straight through the chest, damaging both the heart and left lung. Evidence suggests that he died in less than a minute after receiving these wounds."
"Just long enough to pick up that book." M said thoughtfully.
"Blackstone..." Tanner mused.
Q continued. "It's interesting that you mention Blackstone, Bill. If you look closely at this image, you'll see that any identifying scratch marks on the bullet are minimal, far less than what we should be seeing here."
"So are you saying this wasn't fired from a normal gun?" M asked.
"Precisely." Q replied confidently. "This gun was made from some sort of unusual material not normally used for such purposes."
"Plastic, perhaps?" Tanner asked.
"Actually, plastic would leave more definitive marks than this." Q answered. "We've actually analyzed the few existing scratches there were and found fragmented material inside them." Q handed M a vial of very small samples. They appeared to be particles the size of salt, black in color. Q projected an image of the particles on the screen.
"Why," Tanner was very surprised, "it almost looks like..."
"Glass." M finished for him. "I'm sure of it."
"Are you certain?" Tanner asked.
"That's what our chemists have determined it to be," Q replied. "we're almost positive it's glass. Of the obsidian variety, to be more precise."
M and Tanner looked at each other. They knew what this meant.
"Damn that Max Obsidian!" M exclaimed. "This is exactly the evidence we need to take Obsidian down. I've got Bond on it already, and if there's one man for the job, it's him." M started to leave the room.
"Jari was a good friend of mine," Tanner said. "Why anyone would kill him in such cold blood is beyond my comprehension."
Q nodded in approval. "I know dear boy, he was my friend, too."
"He was a great friend to all of us," M replied. "You'd be hard pressed to find anyone in MI6 who wasn't a friend of his. Don't worry, Obsidian will pay for this. If not by Bond's hand, then by my own." M pressed the elevator button and entered. The door closed behind her.
Everyone in the room was left speechless.
The nightscope revealed four shadowy figures rotating the area around the building's large doors.Apart from three medium sized boulders which lay alongside the doors,the grounds had been completely cleared of obstructions of any kind.A close look revealed that all of Obsidian's men were dressed in dark clothing,and that two of them were carrying guns exactly like the one now in Bond's possession.The other guards held silenced AK-47s.These men swept the nearby terrain-their weapons at the ready.Bond signaled to Daya to take cover several yards away,near the building's perimeter-in a position offering her both natural cover and an unabstructed view of the guards.
Ten minutes passed.Bond reached into his coat and withdrew a smoke grenade.Taking aim,he hurled it at the feet of the guards.The plumes of smoke overwhelmed his adversaries, who bellowed in surprise and striggled helplessly as the fumes took effect.Within seconds they were all unconscious.
Four long minutes passed and once the smoke had dissipated,Bond ran down to the hanger and upon entering he saw seven private aircraft at the ready.There was no time to waste cutting the fuel lines of the planes.Instead, 007 set a C4 charge on the hanger's inside wall- he then inserted a remote detonator into the plastic explosive.
If Obsidian's here, he won't flying away,Bond decided.
Within moments the two agents again turned their attention to the mansion's garage.
Bond turned the Q phone on.It had a variety of uses and one of them was to destroy any sources of alternate transmissions in the immediate area.007 pointed it at the garage releasing a signal so high it was beyond the hearing of any living being.He and Daya watched as the remote cameras and sensors both within and outside of the garage literally exploded.The six guards inside the building raced out in anger and confusion and began firing blindly, trying desperately to locate their foes.
007 attached a silencer to his new rifle and selected his first target with care--this man appeared to be in charge of the others.Bond fired once.The black rifle made a nearly imperceptable sound and 007's target went down immediately.
Shifting his position under the bushes.Bond fired again,his next shot sending his second target spinning to the ground.Either panicked or emboldened,the other three of the guards fired back in 007's general direction.Daya brought two of them down with her silenced gun.
Minutes passed as Bond listened for any extra signs of movement.The fifth and sixth man remained hidden behind the boulders by the building's doorway.Then they ran forward, firing at 007.Bond reset the scope on the black rifle and fired in brief decisive bursts.His foes fell at once.
Bond and Daya gingerly approached the large garage.The two agents carefully entered the darkened building,sweeping the entryway with their guns.They were soon satisfied that no one else was inside.With their flashlights in one hand and their guns in the other they continued their search.What they found gave them pause.
Five automobiles were parked inside the garage.These were all impressive vehicles-most of them no longer in production.Bond and Daya glanced at a gray 1929 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost in what appeared to be mint condition.As Bond remembered,Admiral Messervy-the original M- had owned a such a car.
Another automobile-equally beautiful-was a 1939 Bentley roadster in British Racing Green.Seeing this, it was all Bond could do to keep from emiting an appreciative whistle.
The two agents paused to admire a black 1933 Hispano-Suiza Stork."It's gorgeous,"Daya whispered.Bond nodded in agreement-he'd seen a white version of this very model in the motion picture Sunset Boulevard-but he'd never been in the same room with one.
Obsidian may be mental,007 mused, but I'll give him this;he has superb taste in cars.
Then 007 pointed to the auburn 1929 Isotta-Franchini 8A Castagna Transformable parked directly across the way."Here's another work of art",he uttered.As they made their way through the building,a grey 1939 Maybach SW 42 and a dark blue Lambourghini 400 GT also caught their eyes.
Collectively, these cars represented a fortune on wheels.
"It's practically a museum",Daya marveled.
"Yes,indeed",Bond agreed,"when you have enough money, you can have all kinds of wonderful toys".
And then 007 took note of another car--this one was set apart from the others and it looked very familiar to Bond.It was a BMW 550i-a part of BMW's famed "5-Series"- and a model highly regarded by car enthusiasts throughout the world.Truly a testament to German engineereing.The last time 007 seen such a vehicle was when he'd been teamed with the American named Jason Prowess.In fact,aside from its colour, this looked exactly like Prowess's auto.
Bond walked over to the BMW 550i.The door on the driver's side was open.The windows appeared to have been newly installed and the glass itself was smoked so that people inside could see out but no one could see in.
Overall, the car was in the process of being refitted, because it had been previously been stripped, and the body had recently been painted a dark green-a shade deeper than that reserved for race cars.007 opened the hood and studied the 3.0l twin turbo inline engine.As 007 knew,this model has a six speed transmission plus a four-wheel drive and as with all BMWs,superb balance.
Inside the car was the standard X5 drive-by-wire system.And on the driver's side,hidden just beneath near the edge of the front seat-was an empty holster.That's not standard issue,Bond thought-but its exactly what Jason had in his BMW.
Bond reached into his right boot and withdrew a slim lightweight folding knife.With the press of a button on the side of the handle, a three inch blade as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel appeared.It cut right through the layer of green paint, revealing the car's original midnight blue coat.Yes-this IS Jason's BMW,Bond realized.007 scowled and thinking of Obsidian,shook his head in anger.
Daya had been watching James Bond in silence.The dark look that suddenly swept across his countenance frightened her.As if aware of the effect his expression had on the young woman beside him,Bond paused,took a deep breath and looked directly into Daya's eyes.Bond smiled once more-instantly lighting up his dark visage.
"What was wrong?"Daya asked.
"This car",Bond nodded in the direction of the 550i as he refolded his knife and returned it to his boot," belonged to a friend...he was one of our old friend Obsidian's many victims."
"I can't imagine why would he keep this when he can have any car he wants",Daya responded gesturing in the direction of the classic automobiles in the building.
"I'm not sure either",Bond responded,"but it probably serves as a kind of trophy to him".Bond then added,"It appears Obsidian was having it refurbished.It's an excellent automobile.This is the kind of vehicle a successful businessman might have.If Obsidian intended on making an escape to another country, this would probably be the best car for him to use." Bond paused, then added,"Compared to some of the more elaborate cars on the road today,this model isn't so distinctive that it'd be easily remembered."Especially once its appearance had been altered."
* * *
Elsewhere in Finland
The tall man was wearing a dark black turtleneck shirt and equally dark trousers.Black boots were on his feet.Only his hands were uncovered-except for the elaborate hood which completely covered his head.Max Obsidian was pleased with this appearance.He was now in his guise as Mister X and he was ready to complete his operation at Crucible One.The assembled workers were making excellent time.
The withered old hag everyone in the area knew as Baba Yaga slid up behind Mr.X and placed her arms around his neck.
"You're very handsome,my love",she rasped.
"And you're unusually striking,my dear",Obsidian responded.
Adriana smiled appreciatively,her masterfully applied old crone's visage producing a sickly grin more closely resembling a leer than anything else.Only the long shapely legs which only occasionally emerged from under the folds of the black gown revealed that a young woman was beneath the disguise.
Obsidian watched from a distance as the "old Witch" left the room above the factory bent over a lower railing and barked orders to the workers below.They fear her.They really believe she's the genuine article.It's truly astonishing the power certain folk tales can have on people.
As he watched Baba Yaga in action once again,Maxillian Obsidian thought back to the dream he'd had the other night after he and Adriana had left the mansion.To his amazement,this one was the most detailed of the lot.He finally felt closer to solving the mystery surrounding his family's massacre.It raises plenty of questions.Why would I be laughing and holding a gun and firing it at my mother and father?That new doctor had better find the answer to my questions--and unless he's a charlatan he'll give me answers I want to hear.
The alarm for the mansion suddenly alarm went off and Max Obsidian raced into the control room.He immediately turned on the console and watched on multiple screens in shock and anger as James Bond and that Indian woman killed his guards and broke into his mansion.He saw them enter his library and rumage through the desk in that room.
Adriana ventured into the room and looked over Obsidian's shoulders at the screens."They can't stop you now-no one can",she said.
Obsidian rose from his seat."You're right!Let them come-it ends here!"
"And won't Mr.Bond be surprised",Adriana cooed.
"Yes indeed",Max Obsidian responded as he removed his hood.Obsidian's (now)pale blue-eyes burned with anticipation.He pushed the errant lock of black hair away from his right temple.The long thin scar running down his right cheek shone against his deeply tanned face.He stroked his square jaw as he reached for the Walther PPK in his belt.
Oh yes,that damned Englishman will be taken aback,Adriana thought.
Her lover looked her way and smiled slowly-it was a cruel smile,a perfect duplication-a smile that anyone who looked exactly like James Bond would have.
"Head back to the garage - If Obsidian wants to make a getaway someone should be there to tell him goodbye," Bond directed. Daya shot back a look that read, "Are you sure you don't need the extra support?" and "Take care of yourself." Bond nodded before scrambling off in a separate direction.
Once again, Bond found himself on a madhunt, in an attempt to settle a score. He'd done it before, and it was something he knew M despised from him. He didn't know where he was - or if he was even there, but he was willing to search the entire mansion inside out to find out.
***
Daya had her own bevy of guards to deal with as Bond tracked down Max Obsidian, though they quickly were killed off by the Indian operative. When the last one was done for, she couldn't help but wonder what was happening with him. For now all he was doing was possibly searching room after room and running into nothing but guards and furniture while looking for a man who made his life miserable for a very short period of time...
Bond headed for the lowest portions of the house. It was going to be pure luck finding Obsidian within the mansion. Might as well be systematic about, he thought. If Obsidian had any specialized rooms such as a communications or computer room, perhaps they would be hidden down below.
Yanking open door after door, he continued to find one empty room after another. Finally, one door opened to reveal concrete steps descending into darkness. Bond found a light switch and saw the stairs ended at another door at the bottom.
Quietly Bond reached the landing and swung open the door. A grim corridor stretched beyond. Bare fluorescent tubes illuminated the cold white tiles on the floor and walls. A few doors were strung along the corridor, but only one was open. Bright light spilled from it into the hallway, and the still air of corridor was broken by a cacophony of crashing metal. Angry cursing echoed from the open door and Bond cautiously hugged the wall as he made his way to the door.
Bond stole a quick glance into the room from the hallway. It appeared to be some type of medical examination room. Stainless steel slabs lined the area, presumably for autopsy purposes. A large vault-like door, most likely leading into a refrigerated storage area, filled the far wall.
Bond saw the source of the metal crash and cursing. A small man was frantically digging through cabinets filled with various items: specimen jars, chemicals, drugs, and medical supplies. A large tray of surgical tools had spilled from the cabinet and were scattered upon the tile.
Bond recognized the man. Doctor Pemberton. Images flashed in his memory as he recalled Pemberton standing over him, a wicked glint in the back of his eyes as he subjected Bond to wave after wave of electrical savagery.
Pemberton hadn’t seen him. His back was turned as he chaotically pulled items from the cabinets and dumped them into a leather carrying case. News of Bond and Daya’s penetration of the mansion was apparently spreading, and the doctor was in the process of trying to make a quick getaway with his most precious possessions. But not quick enough.
Bond’s eyes narrowed as he strode into the room. Pemberton was still unaware of Bond’s presence as he rifled through his belongings. Bond stood right behind the distracted doctor. With a quick thrust of the heel of his hand, Bond pummeled the base of Pemberton’s skull. The unsuspecting doctor’s forehead crashed into a specimen jar containing what looked like a severed hand. The jars shattered, dumping a flood of flesh and formaldehyde onto the floor. A cheap shot, Bond thought, but very satisfying.
Pemberton slid to the floor and rolled over. Dazed, his wide eyes stared up at Bond, blinking through the blood that was now oozing from the gash in his scalp.
“Y—you!” stuttered Pemberton! “But you couldn’t possibly remember me!”
Bond grabbed the lapels of the doctor’s white coat and lifted him roughly from the floor. “Really? Would you care for a second opinion?” Bond violently threw the doctor over one of the examination slabs. Pemberton gracelessy cartwheeled onto the floor behind in a spray of steel surgical tools.
Bond strode to him with deadly determination and yanked him from the floor again. “Where’s Obsidian?” Bond shook him soundly. “Where?”
Pemberton flailed helplessly . “I…I..can’t tell you!”
Bond shook him again. “Tell me!” To emphasize his point, he forced the doctor onto the examination table and strapped him down firmly. He then rolled a large bank of electrical equipment that sat on a trolley in the corner next to the slab. He picked up a set of insulated calipers, much like the ones Pemberton had used during Bond’s brainwashing process.
“No! No, don’t!” the doctor pleaded.
“Tell me where I can find Max Obsidian.”
The doctor was virtually on the edge of tears. “He’s not here. Underneath the garage. There is a tunnel.”
Bond attached the calipers to Pemberton’s temples. “Where does the tunnel lead?”
“Cr—Crucible One! It leads to Crucible One!” The doctor strained at the straps around his wrists. “You must let me go! This entire mansion is set to explode! It is a trap! You must free me!”
“And why should I do that?” Bond asked.
“Please,” pleaded Pemberton, “I was only following orders!”
“And how many times did you follow those orders?” accused Bond. “How many people suffered because of your obedience?” Bond reached for the dial on the electro-shock machine. He turned it generously.
“You can’t do this! You would never think of killing me in cold blood!” sneered Pemberton.
Bond stopped and gave the doctor a hard stare. Bond’s eyes were devoid of all sympathy. “You of all people should know…it’s never too late to change one’s mind!”
With that, Bond flipped the switch on the device. He didn’t pause to watch. He didn’t want to see. He turned his back and walked from the room, leaving Pemberton’s screams of pain echoing through the tiled corridor.
* * *
Bond dashed back up the stairway, thumbing for the communicator in the wristband of his glove. “Daya? Can you read me?”
“James!” Daya’s voice crackled from the small device. “Someone just entered the garage! A man and a woman! I think it might have been Obsidian. I’m following them!
“No!” Bond shouted. But there was no response. Blast! It would have been so simple to let Obsidian and Adriana run into the garage. Bond could detonate the charges and it would be over. But he couldn’t risk it if Daya was there.
Bond dashed through the mansion hallway. The building was seemingly vacant. If Pemberton spoke the truth, and this mansion was booby-trapped, then the guards most likely abandoned ship.
Now, Bond needed to escape himself. But he was lost. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember where the entrance was. No time, he thought. With a desperate leap, he threw himself out a large bay window. The panes of ice and glass bit fiercely into his forearms as he shielded his head from the shards.
He wasted no time. He tumbled through glass and cold snow, regained his footing, and sprinted from the mansion.
And then it exploded.
Bond could confidently say that he had never seen a mansion explode before. And it was site to behold. What, for one moment was a palatial manse, structured and ordered and pristine, erupted into a chaotic mess of brick and dust. The columns that lined the outer walls burst in the middle and toppled, as if in slow motion, into the snow beneath. Flames bellowed from the many windows as if the palace was some fire-breathing dragon. In only seconds, the mansion was reduced to a misshapen pile of rubble with flames licking the cold air, and black smoke roiling from the white snow beneath.
Just as he was about a hundred yards from the remains of the garage he heard the sounds of engines - but not car engines -two black Arctic Cat T Z1 snowmobiles came jumping into view flying across the white hard packed snow, their twin beams glaring at 007. The twin seated machines were bearing down upon him fast. Each machine carried two people -a driver and passenger. The passenger's were armed and a hail of bullets began to slice through the frosty air. Bond threw himself onto the floor and rolled -and with his gun in hand began to squeeze off rapid shots in the general direction of the nearest of the two machines. The bullets just glanced off the bodywork of the snowmobile -they were obviously reinforced with bulletproof bodies. The riders however were not so shielded and one of 007's bullets found its mark and sent the gunman sat behind the driver tumbling off the back of the T Z1. Upon the displacement of the passenger the driver felt the change of weight in his vehicle and with the sudden change he momentarily lost concentration -and in doing so lost control - the T Z1 somehow leaped in the air its front skis raised and the machines underbelly exposed -Bond fired another shot -this time a bullet hit something that wasn't bulletproof. It exploded -and once again debris hissed in the snow. One was down but no time to take stock of what was happening -the other machine was almost upon him. As more bullets hailed down in his general direction Bond ran a zig zag towards the recently demolished garage -hoping the fallen debris would impede his pursuer -he found the remains of a wall and clambered over it, and sat with his back to it as he reloaded. The T Z1 came crashing through the remains of the wall to his right and began to skid round in a uturn to bear down upon him again. This time 007 shot both the gunman and the driver successfully, and miraculously the snowmobile came to a halt literally inches from him. Ddespite the freezing temperature 007 found he was sweating. That had been close. He scanned the area and saw the twisted remains of those beautiful cars he and Daya had seen earlier -it angered him that someone like Obsidian could just so casually destroy such wonderful pieces of automobile history. He began to search for the hidden entrance to the tunnel that would lead to the real lair of Max Obsidian.
****
Daya had not been quite as cautious as 007 and upon entering the tunnel that Obsidian and Adriana had entered was surprised from behind by two of Obsidian's guards. She was quickly handcuffed and pushed forward a long the tunnel that was about eight feet high and maybe six feet wide. It had flickering strip lights in the ceiling that glowed a sort of fluorescent blue - Of Obsidian and his companion Daya could now not see anything for her vision was obscured by a hood being pulled over her head. The walk was a long one it seemed in the unexpected darkness -and in the pit of her stomach fear was beginning to build -she only hoped that James was still alive and would succeed in getting too her before Obsidian gave the order for her to be executed.
*****
007 had found the entrance -not surprisingly it was locked. He set to breaking in and knew that the longer he took the more likely Obsidian would make his escape and that Daya if not dead already was likely to die. He used
He started to run down the tunnel, knowing that the sound his footsteps were travelling down the tunnel, heralding his approach. He started to wonder how Obsidian would choose to defend himself. It would be only too easy to kill Bond as he approached down the tunnel. What Bond needed was space and cover. The tunnel offered neither, and he longed to be out of it. He started to feel claustrophobia as the corridor of concrete continued to unfold before him.
Bond’s thoughts turned to Daya. Where was she? Hopefully she had made it to the other end of the tunnel in one piece. If she had been gunned down in the tunnel, Bond would have heard it. Besides, he knew Obsidian’s type. They didn’t go for the easy shot – they wouldn’t just kill Bond as he exited the tunnel. They liked to get satisfaction from killing, and that was their fatal weakness. It was that inherent flaw in the character of men like Obsidian that had allowed Bond to get close and defeat villains earlier in his career.
Bond had run at least a mile through the tunnel when he saw a door in front of him, slightly ajar. It looked as though Daya had made it. Where she was now, Bond couldn’t guess. He went cautiously through the door, and found himself in a dark, damp room. It wasn’t dirty, but the cold moisture which seeped through the walls made it feel most uninviting. On the opposite side of the room was another doorway which led to a flight of stairs. Bond climbed these as quietly as possible and when he reached the top, he found himself in familiar surroundings – the glass factory where Seppo had tortured him. As he walked around the walls, the open space in the middle of the large workroom looked hazardous. A concrete walkway stretched across the length of the room, and led to a door on the opposite side of the room. There was a door directly beneath it on the ground floor, and Bond decided to head for that door.
Bond paused for several seconds before setting off in a sprint to the cover of some workbenches and boxes which were five meters directly ahead of him. Bond saw the concrete floor around his feet start to be torn up before he heard the sound of the gunshots. Someone was clearly waiting for him, but they weren’t shooting to kill, but rather trying to disable Bond by hitting him in one or both of his legs. Mercifully, the bullets missed him but a chunk of concrete slammed into Bond’s left leg. He felt the skin ripped open and he thought that it had cracked the bone. His leg felt like it would collapse beneath but he had enough momentum to carry him to cover and he maintained his balance before diving to the ground behind large crate.
He was truly pinned down by the man on the walkway. Daya had clearly been captured, or worse, and Bond had run straight into the trap which had been laid for him. He breathed deeply, trying to ignore the pain in his leg. Slowly he leaned around the side of the crate and just glimpsed his assailant. He knelt, with an AK-47 aimed directly at the crate. Bond tried to quickly get his handgun aimed at the man and fire a shot, but the guard’s reflexes where sharp and a bullet from the AK-47 slammed into the crate spraying splinters into Bond’s face and causing him to drop his gun.
“Come out!” the guard shouted.
Bond made no reply and again the guard ordered Bond to come out. Bond was battling to open his eyes and see as there were several tiny wooden splinters in his eyes. Once he regained a vague sort of vision, he saw that he had dropped the gun in the open. There was no way that he could get to it without being shot.
“I’m coming out!” Bond shouted, as the guard called to him again. There was nothing left to do.
However, all was not necessarily lost. Bond would no doubt be brought before Obsidian, and perhaps that would be his moment to strike. He also knew now, that it was not just about killing Obsidian and Adriana, but he would have to rescue Daya as well. The possibilities raced through his mind. The only thing that was certain was this was now the final chapter in this unfolding tale. Bond was only considering one possibly ending however. He raised his hands in the air, and walked slowly out from behind the crate. The guard got up from his kneeling position and kept his gun trained on Bond as he side-stepped along the walkway and down the iron stairs.
“Keep still.” He warned as he approached Bond.
Bond, however, was not about to make some rash sudden attack on the guard. He was about to get close to the man he had been after all these weeks, and close to him was precisely were he wanted to be.
Daya was tied down to an all-metal, medical examination chair. She was strapped to the chair with metal brackets around her arms and legs, even her head had been restrained. The only way she could look around was with her eyes. She was in another large, science fiction-like room with the angled metal ceiling. It was identical to the one Bond had been tortured in, only this one was in Finland instead of India. Although Bond would surely recognize it the second he entered, Daya had never seen any of this before. As it was in Crucible Three, there were several aluminum carts standing around, carrying various needles, syringes and vials of God-knows-what synthetically-manufactured hallucinatory chemicals.
Daya was the only one in the room, all was totally silent--except for a low humming noise coming from under the floor. Although all this would normally seem very menacing and sinister, the soft white walls somehow made it a bit comforting of all things. Or maybe it was that injection the man in the lab coat had reluctantly given her... She was in a state of relative relaxation, a peaceful feeling that grew stronger by the minute. She knew she would be out cold in only a few minutes time.
I must stay awake, she thought to herself. Where's James? Yes, dear James... Where did he go?... I wonder if he's coming for me in that green BMW... Ah, yes, my knight in shining armor.... Her thoughts trailed off into a rambling string of nothingness.
Just as she was about to fall into a peaceful sleep, a previously hidden door opened up. It seemed as though it were part of the wall until it was opened. The silhouette of a tall man in a black suit was standing in the doorway, but Daya's vision was too blurred to make out who it was.
"Are you comfortable, my dear?" The voice sounded awfully familiar, yet had a rather artificial-sounding British accent.
"...Wha--James, is that you?..." Daya asked weakly.
"Darling, everything's going to be all right now." The man stepped into the room and walked toward her. It was Bond, or at least it appeared to be him.
"James, it's you..." Daya responded. "Please, come get me out of this..."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, darling," Obsidian replied. "You see, Mister Obsidian has locked your restraints with a computer and I have no way of unlocking them."
"What? Then how are you--"
"Shh, it's all right dear." Obsidian leaned in and kissed her. The kiss lasted for several seconds. But something was amiss--even in her drugged state, Daya could tell that the man's kiss was cold, devoid of almost all emotion. These thoughts lasted only for a second however, because she suddenly felt a needle prick her arm. The thoughts of doubt instantly left her mind.
"Never mind about all this, let's enjoy our final moments together..." Obsidian said as he kissed her again.
After a few moments had passed, the door opened again. a man was being wheeled in on a hospital stretcher. The man pushing the stretcher was dressed in a pristine lab coat that didn't quite fit him, almost as though it were too short for him. It was the same man who had given Daya the injection before. The man on the stretcher was also tied down, but he had not been drugged. He was as wide awake as could be, struggling to escape from his restraints.
Obsidian pulled away from a nearly lifeless Daya, whose eyes opened slightly as she moved in and out of consciousness.
"Thank you Zimbardo," said Obsidian. "Rest assured, you will be rewarded for your compliance."
Dr. Zimbardo looked at the man on the stretcher. The man known as James Bond, MI6 Agent 007 with a License to Kill glared up at him as though he would most certainly put this license to use, had he not been tied down.
Zimbardo was instantly filled with fear at the sight of a Double-O Agent's cold-blooded eyes locked onto his own. The doctor left the stretcher in its current position and walked over to a large computer server, out of reach of Bond's vision. Zimbardo looked up at Obsidian.
"You won't get away with this, Obsidian. They'll find you, you know they will. It's only a matter of time."
Obsidian casually walked over to the cart of "medical" supplies and picked up a rather obscure-looking device. He then proceeded to approach Zimbardo.
"I've seen your daughter, Zimbardo," Obsidian replied in an all-too-friendly manner. "A very beautiful girl." Obsidian walked behind Zimbardo, who remained motionless. "Further incidences of your mentioning my name again will result in... Elimination of not only your daughter, but of you." Obsidian then slammed the device into the doctor's back, causing him to fall over. The only thing that held him up was the server he was now clinging to. Zimbardo wasn't sure if he had simply been hit with a blunt object or if he had been stuck with some sort of needle. Whatever it was, it was extremely painful.
Obsidian walked back to Daya, leaving the doctor to deal with his apparent wounds. "You see that man over there?" Obsidian gestured toward Zimbardo.
Daya looked over, inquisitively.
"This man is with MI6," Obsidian continued.
Daya was more awake now. "What is wrong with him?"
"You see that man over there?" He gestured toward the real James Bond. "He has injured our fellow doctor. You are looking at our man Obsidian. I found him looking for you. He almost killed you, Daya, but I stopped him."
Daya looked over towards Bond. "He looks just like you..."
"That is only a clever disguise." replied Obsidian with a smile.
"Don't listen to him!" The real Bond spoke up. "He's the real Obsidian! That man's playing you for a fool, Daya!"
Daya was confused. "But if he is our man, why can't you make him release me?" She asked Obsidian.
"Well... He won't give us the access code to his computer." Obsidian answered.
"He's lying, Daya!" Bond said again.
Obsidian continued. "The only thing that can release you is his computer, you see. I've tried to get the information from him, but I have had no success... I'm so sorry, darling."
"Daya," Bond yelled. "He is the one who has you locked up! You're only looking at your real captor!"
Obsidian tried to ignore Bond. His attention was focused on Daya. "Why don't we continue where we--"
"He's going to kill you!" Bond yelled across the room. "He killed your brother, and he'll just as easily do the same to you!"
Daya couldn't help but look over at Bond. A certain fear was in her eyes now.
Obsidian leaned in closer to Daya. "Remember when we made love, Daya?" He whispered to her. "Please, help me to... Remember." He leaned in and kissed her, much more passionately this time. And as this went on for a good amount of time, Daya was completely and utterly confused.
Suddenly a loud yell came from behind Obsidian. As soon as he turned to see, a hard glass bottle containing ammonia came down sharply on Obsidian's head. He fell to the floor, gasping for air as the harsh fumes engulfed his senses. Blood was dripping onto the floor. As he looked up to see who his assailant was, he saw none other than Bond glaring down at him. Suddenly Obsidian felt a very real fear--the same fear as when he had seen Bond from the satellite image in India. The eyes that stared at him had no compassion whatsoever--they were the eyes of a cold-blooded killer.
"Here. Recognize this?" Bond coldly tossed an evidence photo down to Obsidian. Obsidian picked up the photo and looked at it intently. The photo showed someone lying on an examination table at the morgue. The body had been riddled with bullet wounds.
"No... No, it can't be!" Obsidian exclaimed in horror as he saw the subject of the photo. "Simon!?"
"The very same",007 responded."Simon Obsidian--your twin brother...the man you killed years ago."
"No!"Max Obsidian cried out.Bond watched in fascination as his lookalike gaped in horror at the bloody image on the photograph."Not Simon",Obsidian croaked-his voice now a mere trace of its usually robust self."It can't be!"He seemed to be talking to himself.
For an instant there was complete silence in the room.Then a wild-eyed Max Obsidian looked up at Bond."This is a trick!A lie!!!"He waved the photograph in the air with his left hand even as he drew a slim black knife from the interior of his right boot.In moments Obsidian was standing directly behind Daya-the dark blade of his knife at her throat.
Then Max pointed at Bond and smiled broadly as he yelled "Durendal!Durendal!"His smile vanished afterwards.Confusion swept over Obsidian's features as he realized the keyword he thought he'd planted in James Bond's subconscious was taking no effect.Bond should have been experiencing a seizure of epic proportions but that was not the case.Indeed,007 was looking directly into Obsidian's eyes and smiling.
Bond responded reflectively,"Ah yes...Durendal-the magic sword that belonged to Roland."
"You should be..."
"What?Under your control,Max,'Mister X' or whatever name you're now going by--"he pointed at Obsidian--"and from the looks of things you might even try answering to my own!"Bond said savagely."Your little experiment isn't working with me.Unlike Rao-I didn't have a chip implanted in my skull!Tsk Tsk tsk!It's the little details that brought you down."
007 paused then continued,"Now, about your dead brother Simon...you remember him?The one you murdered?"
"That's a damnable lie!",Max hissed as he glared at Bond from over Daya's right shoulder.Sweat was pouring down his brow."A lie!"
Bond slowly walked forward towards Daya and Obsidian.How bizarre is this,he thought-talking to a twin of my own.If only M could see me now-she'd be amazed.Q,however,would find this fascinating.
"No,Max," 007 calmly responded."It's the truth.That's a crime scene photograph taken by the authorities on the very day your family was murdered.That picture shows what was left of Simon Obsidian-your older brother."
A dizzying array of images immediately raced through Max Obsidian's brain.Memories which until this moment had been literally erased from Max's consiousness!But here he was again--Simon Obsidian,Max Obsidian's identical twin!It was Simon who was the more popular of the Obsidian brothers.It was Simon who was considered the more charming,handsome and talented brother.It was Simon who was the son who could do no wrong-the son who was brilliant.It was Simon who was the first born son,older by an hour.And yes,it was Simon--not Max--who was the son their father favoured the most.Max Obsidian reeled with the certain knowledge his restored memory now proclaimed.It was Simon!It was always Simon!!!
In time Max found his voice."He was my twin...I hated him."Obsidian snarled."Compared to him, there was nothing I could do that could ever please my father.Simon was the Chosen One."
"And then your father got the offer from Largo.To join him and his associates in the drug trade and to assist in an upcoming terrorist operation,"Bond offered."That's when you saw your chance..."
"Yes,"Max replied,his once hostile tone now eerily calm and conversational as he recollected the events leading to his family's demise."That's exactly what happened!My father couldn't see how important the drug trade would be for our shipping line.It presented the ideal opportunity to give our family incredible control over countless people the world over!Immeasurable power!It made perfect sense-to either join in and reap the benefits, or whither on the vine."Obsidian paused and stepped away from Daya,his blade still against her throat.He continued,"But my father--of all people,my father--wouldn't countenance illegal drugs or stealing nuclear devices!As if he was somehow lily pure,the old pirate!He'd found a conscience!But I knew better.I could see the future even when he couldn't.But he wouldn't listen to me.Oh no--not me!So I made a very important decision..."
James Bond was appalled as all of his suspicions about Max Obsidian were being verified!"The raid was orchestrated by you?"Bond asked-already sure of the answer to this question.
"Of course",Max calmly responded,continuing to speak with the same disembodied tone."No one else could possibly have turned off the estate's alarms.But I did.I was ready when Largo's men arrived.No one was supposed to die,though"Max frowned for an instant-more a mock frown than the real thing-as if he felt such an expression was expected of him."No one--not even Simon(he spat out his brother's name).No,everyone was to be taken prisoner-except for me.I'd be left to run the family business.And I'd be making the right decisions."
While still giving Obsidian his full attention,007 turned and saw Dr.Zimbardo silently approach and stand by his side.The psychiatrist was still holding the knife he'd used to free Bond mere minutes before.He handed the blade to 007.Then Zimbardo turned his attention to Obsidian.
"That's not what happened,was it?"Dr.Zimbardo asked.
"No--that's not what happened.They came to kill.No one was safe.",Max calmly replied.And once again he was 15 years old and witnessing three black helicopters landing on the estate's grounds.Once again he saw the armed men emerge from the aircraft firing their weapons at everything that moved--shooting guns that fired explosives which literally blow their targets apart.Once again Max Obsidian watched in horror as the family's loyal bodyguards were killed and the attackers burst into his home.Once again Max remembered running away and hiding as he heard his sister scream in terror and his parents plead for mercy instants before they were killed.Once again Max heard his brother fire at the attackers.These memories sent a shock through his system.
"And that's when you decided to do away with your brother?"Bond added.Despite himself 007 couldn't help but by impressed by the quality of Obsidian's disguise.My god-it's like talking to my deranged twin,he thought.
"It wasn't like that",Max responded slowly."I didn't plan on killing Simon.At least at first.In fact,as I said,I didn't want anyone to die.I had been told that no one would even be hurt.I was lied to."Max paused and glanced at Daya.He held the point of his obsidian bladed knife to Daya's carotid artery.
Then Obsidian continued,his voice clear and measured."But once I saw Simon tied up and I was given a gun, I couldn't resist shooting him.I aimed at him and fired that revolver until it was empty.It felt good.I'd have shot him again if there'd been more bullets in that gun."Obsidian then paused and unconciously pushed an long lock of hair back from his forehead--an imitation of Bond's behaviour.
"Why do you think the attackers captured your brother and kept him alive to begin with?"Zimbardo asked.
"They said it was because they thought he was ME,"Max answered."ME!They were astonished to see that there were two of us.I couldn't let Simon live.Simon had to be gone forever.I had to be free."
"Did doing away with Simon 'free' you?" Zimbardo asked.
"NO!"Max roared."When I killed my brother, it was like I was killing myself!Even in death Simon overwhelmed me!!!!"Obsidian was still standing before Daya but he was now waving his blade in the air as if to punctuate his lurid comments.The false scar on his cheek shone white against his tanned face.
Dr.Zimbardo whispered to Bond."Mr.Obsidian's psychosis is an example of the fabled 'psychic link' reputedly shared by twins,"Zimbardo explained."A classic situation.One twin is injured or--as in this case,is killed-- and the survivor is greatly effected.With Max, the result was selective amnesia--resulting in absolutely no recollection whatsoever of his sibling.With all vestiges of the past removed from his consciousness,whatever Max chose not to recall never happened--at least as far as he was concerned.But that picture triggered his recovery.Try though he might,Max Obsidian couldn't erase those guilty memories from his subconscious and they were gradually returning--hence the dreams."
And this helps to explain why Max Obsidian became a master of disguise,James Bond thought--in his mind he never had an identity he could truly call his own.
Bond spoke."Simon isn't here anymore Max!Your twin won't bother you any longer.Put that knife down and give up.We'll see that you get the help you need."007 slowly approached Obsidian, his hands open and his knife hidden near the small of his back.
Suddenly Max Obsidian glared at James Bond.His eyes burned with hatred as he growled,"What do you mean my twin can't bother me anymore?Just take a look in the mirror,'Mr.Bond'--or shall I call you by your real name,SIMON?"And with that Max Obsidian raced towards James Bond,his black knife at the ready...
Bond quickly drew his own knife-it was a blade with a lexian composition handle,moulded for a steady grip.The blade itself was five inches long-hollow steel three inches at the hilt and tapered to a stiletto point.But it was nothing compared to Max's weapon.
Max Obsidian's black knife had a seven inch blade which appeared to have been made entirely of obsidian itself.For all of its outward beauty it was a brutal weapon.It was as sharp as a scalpel and in the right hands could go through flesh and bone with ease.And insane though he might be,Obsidian still looked dangerous enough to use this blade well enough to bring down an opponent.
Bond knew that in a knife fight it was absolutely essential to put the blade into an adversary with all possible power-this would decrease any chances of bone deflection and increase the opportunities of impact-shock.As far as 007 was concerned, only one man was going to emerge from this fight alive-and it wasn't going to be Max Obsidian or "Mister X" or whatever else he chose to call himself.
As the two men circled each other warily,Dr.Zimbardo raced to Daya's side and freed her from the chair.They then watched Bond and Obsidian--still exact lookalikes,even to the way they were dressed--prepare for battle.It was a strange sensation.
Suddenly Max leapt forward, knocking Bond down with a flying kick to the chest.As 007 rolled to his feet,Obsidian whirled about and thrust his blade at 007.
Bond felt numbing agony shoot down his right flank and arm,from a point where his collar bone joined the upper arm.At the same time,something hit him on the inside of his forearm just beneath the elbow. Bond's numbed fingers could not keep hold of the grip of his knife and the weapon spun from his grip and clattered onto the ground.
Pain distracted Bond and the natural reaction was to immediately clutch at its source.Instead 007 threw up his left hand to protect the side of his neck and when the next blow arrived ,it felt as though he'd been hit with the full force of a policeman's riot baton.Evidently there's a steel blade underneath, re-enforcing that outward obsidian one,Bond realized.
When Max was close enough,007 reached out and snatched hold of Obsidian's turtleneck sweater.With a pull borne of both fury and survival instinct,Bond jerked his adversary forward and off balance.A quick turn and a violent kick to the ribcage sent Obsidian to the floor.This was followed by a powerful right to the jaw.
With his opponent momentarily dazed,Bond dove for his knife and came up armed, as Obsidian pressed his attack once more.Obsidian struck Bond again with another stabbing kick.In desperation, Bond struck back,this time connecting with his adversary's stomach.Obsidian buckled in response and Bond followed that blow with one to Obsidian's chin.Obsidian let out a loud groan.
007 followed this by lashing out with his blade at Obsidian's head.This thrust would've proved fatal--impaling Obsidian's skull-- if the madman hadn't somehow ducked and turned to his left.As a result,007's blade left a long jagged scar running Obsidian's left cheek--a mark as long and deep as the false one on the right side of his face.Practically a mirror image.Obsidian screamed in pain at this wound.The faux James Bond's face bled profusely.
However,due to his earlier wound,007's body was racked with pain and his vision now began to swim and blur.Nevertheless,through some supreme effort of will,Bond managed to remain on his feet,his knife in hand,instinctively extending the blade to one side to protect it until the moment it had to be used.He crouched as he moved forward,his bleeding left arm raised as a makeshift shield.Bond knew that he had to end this swiftly-this would be his last effort.
Max Obsidian glared at 007 but in James Bond's face he only saw his hated brother Simon--the twin who wouldn't die--the enemy who even now confronted him.No more,Simon,no more!Max thought.If I have to,I'll keep on killing you until you stay dead!Momentarily distracted by these thoughts,Obsidian swung out with his knife at the man before him.
Bond dove straight at Obsidian and tackled the madman.Before Obsidian could begin to strike back,007 hit him full force with his left fist as he brought his blade upward for the kill.Obsidian brought his knife down in an effort to send its blade between Bond's shoulders.But a quick twist turned the knife in Bond's right hand up to parry Obsidian's thrust.The two men groaned and tumbled backwards,locked in a violent deathgrip.
At that moment Adriana entered the room and saw what was happening.She was a good twenty feet away from the action, but she knew that Max needed her help.She raised her rifle and pointed it in their general direction but paused in frustration.Oh no!To her dismay,Max and Bond looked alike and they moved alike.Try as she might,she couldn't begin to tell them apart.Damn!She thought.Which one IS he?They might as well be identical twins!
=================
With Bond on his feet and Obsidian on his back, Bond used the stance difference to his advantage. Delivering several cold-blooded and brutal stomps to the head, Obsidian eventually grabbed the sole of Bond's foot to halt yet another stomp, and forced it aside, causing Bond to stumble slightly. As Bond stumbled trying to regain his footing, Obsidian grabbed his knife off the floor. Bond, aware of his surroundings, positioned himself carefully. He stood in a two-point stance, biding his time, hoping Obsidian would charge at him with that knife. Instead, Obsidian flung the knife across the room to the British agent, not what he wanted Obsidian to do. As a result, Bond quickly studied the knife's motions, and carefully catching it by the hilt at the precise moment. In an attempt to give Obsidian another chance at doing what Bond wanted him to do, he tossed the knife aside. Bond's knife was lying elsewhere on the floor, and naturally, Obsidian proceeded to retrieve it. This time, Obsidian proceeded to do what Bond wanted him to do. Charging at him like a berserk middle linebacker, Bond watched him zip closer and closer. When Obsidian raised his knife to strike, Bond grabbed Dr. Zimbardo and used the good doctor as an efficient human shield. Catching Obsidian by the disappointingly obvious surprise, he grabbed his likeness by the neck and wrestled him down to the ground.
Adriana's patience was running out. She wanted to separate the two Bonds, and the simplest way to do that was Daya, the only one identifiable in the room. Surely the real Bond would attempt to race in for the rescue. She raised her gun and released fire. Daya, barely noticing what she was doing, plummeted to the ground, missing a couple of shots before the gun jammed. Bond, noticing what was going on, had little choice but to ditch his opponent's disguise. Once the identical men were back on their feet, Bond attempted to ward him off with a swift uppercut punch, followed by a leveling roundhouse kick, sending Obsidian back to the ground. Using the moment of break from Obsidian, he rushed towards Adriana, who just finished clearing her gun of the jammed bullet, ready to fire some more. He tackled her to the ground, wrestling for the rifle. As the two rolled around, each vesting for control of the rifle, Bond managed just enough control to release a few chaotic bullets, which ended Max Obsidian's life.
With the fake James Bond now dead, there wasn't any question who the real James Bond was now. As Daya observed Bond and Adriana fight, there was a certain emotion displayed from him that he wanted this fight, and she received the feeling that she should stay out of it, unless he was one motion from death.
Bond was able to wrestle the rifle away, sending it in a random direction away from both of them. 'Fine,' Bond thought, 'this will have to be settled in hand-to-hand combat.' Exchanging a series of hits, Adriana eventually attempted to half-scramble half-crawl her way to her rifle. Bond grabbed at her catsuit intently, clawing his way up the outfit, until Adriana was able to fully rise to her feet, when Bond half-intentionally grabbed the zipper, causing it to slide down. Even though the means wasn't intended, the end result slowed Adriana down one last time as she now was attempting to mangle out of her catsuit, in the attempt to avoid having that become another hindrance to mobility. She was slowed down enough to where once she fully regained her composure, Bond was even with her. Now wearing only her underwear, she scrambled to her weapon, but Bond was just quick enough to catch up to her and tackle her by her ankles. She tried to wrestle free from his grasp, but this time it wasn't working. Bond rose to his feet, and still grabbing her by the ankles, dragged her to where Obsidian's knife lay, where Bond had set it earlier. As Bond was grabbing the knife, Adriana was barely able to release herself from Bond's grasp. Realizing that running was suicide, she remained on the floor, and placed her legs outside of his. Crossing her legs, Bond took a tumble on his back, reminiscent of a previous fight, one where Adriana was under a disguise. Crawling on top of him, she used one arm to grab his knife out of his hand. She was going to use the other hand to distract him, but Bond grabbed her free hand. Appearing motionless for a few moments, Adriana dove her head, first in an attempt to headbutt him. She dove her head again, this time trying to distract him using seduction. Teasing his mouth, she sensually kissed him a few times before sensually nibbling on his upper lip before violently biting down on his lower one. Bond wasn't fooled, but there was little he could have done to avoid it anyway. Barely able to do much, he tried shifting all his strength into raising one side of his body, which was enough to roll the two of them over, now placing Bond on top, and he had a split moment where he had full control over the hand with the knife, and soon he was attempting to thrust down the knife into Adriana. Seeing that once again it was going nowhere, Bond released the knife, watching it drop nonfatally on Adriana. Almost impulsively, she reached for the knife, but Bond punched her in the face to provide enough of a distraction to grab the knife and this time drove it near her heart. Once the shock on Adriana's face wore off, she lied there, bare with no disguise, and all she could do was simply give a saddened look, her final words being simply, "Oh James..."
"Famous last words," Bond quipped once he was back on his feet.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Bond. The patient you are requesting has checked out. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No. That will be all. Thank you.” Bond closed the cell phone and contemplated the snowy landscape outside the cabin window. So Lissa had left the hospital fully recovered. Where would she go now? To finally see her family again, perhaps, after so many years of being trapped under Obsidian’s thumb, as she had dreamed about?
Now, with the elusive madman finally gone, that dream would become a reality for hundreds of people. In the past twenty-four hours, Obsidian’s Crucible bases were stormed by joint forces comprised of MI6, Interpol, and local authorities. Urjala, Dehli, Capetown, Nogales, and Singapore. Five hidden compounds of slavery and torture for Obsidian’s schemes, each a storeroom of stolen lives, innocent victims awaiting the insidious brainwashing process of Doctor Pemberton.
The hidden bases were also troves of information regarding Obsidian’s network of infiltrations, identity theft operations, and black market deals. His system was breathtaking in its scope, and it was a surprise to Bond to see just where and how far Obsidian’s tentacles had reached.
And to think it was all spawned by a dark inner demon that haunted the villian’s treacherous past. Obsidian had engaged in a deadly masquerade, and the world was his ballroom. He took what he wanted, who he wanted. He pretended to be everybody, yet no one. But the mask had to come off inevitably, and when it did, Obsidian could not handle the horror of what lay behind.
As Bond watched the cold wind outside nip at the frozen ground, an uncomfortable truth gnawed at his gut. Was he no different than Obsidian? Did Bond hide from the truths in his past? He lived a life that was founded on anonymity. He was a secret, a shadow, revealing only what he chose to those he wished. He thought of Lissa, and how he had inwardly hoped that he would see her once more, but why? Would making love to her somehow quiet those demons of isolation within him? Would his domination of her make him no better than Max Obsidian?
An anxiety crept into Bond’s heart as he stared out the window. No, Bond thought. He was not like Obsidian at all. Bond knew what lay beneath his own mask. He didn’t deny it. In fact, he accepted it. And it was this acceptance that allowed him to love. The kind of love that doesn’t kill or conquer. Bond knew when to hold on and when to let go.
At that moment, a pair of soft dark arms embraced him from behind. Bond closed his eyes and breathed in the exotic fragrance of Daya’s perfume.
“Coming to bed?” she asked.
“In a moment.”
“Perhaps I can read you a bedtime story.” Daya slid a book in Bond’s hand. The title was The Art of Kama Sutra and, based on the rather colorful illustration underneath, it was definitely a book one could judge by its cover.
Bond smiled. Turning to face her, he planted his mouth on hers and drank her in. He deftly picked her up in his arms. Here was a woman who would understand him. She too was a shadow who lived under an everchanging guise. Turning his back on the cold, white world outside, Bond carried her into the dark warmth of the bedroom where, for a brief time, there would be no masks between them.
I'll be writing it as I go, shouldn't take more than a couple days to finish.
****
...Bond tried to brush off his covert outfit, but realized he couldn't with his wounded arm. He checked it to make sure it wasn't too badly damaged. Nothing a few stitches won't fix, he thought.
Daya holstered her handgun and ran over to Bond, wrapping her arms around him.
"It's all right Daya," Bond replied as he held her gently, "they won't be hurting anyone now."
They shared an embrace for a few moments, but the silence was disturbed by an ear-piercing alarm. Bond looked up and saw an intercom near the ceiling with a flashing red strobe light. A computerized voice came over the speaker: "The system has detected a fatal error... Emergency shutdown procedures will commence in ten minutes. Repeat, emergency shutdown procedures will commence in nine minutes, fifty-five seconds..."
"Pemberton, the bombs!" Bond exclaimed.
"What's going on?" Daya asked.
"This place is rigged to explode. We have to get out of here." Bond knew there wasn't much time, but he knew the way out. With a quick run, they would make it out with ample time. Bond picked up his knife and quickly wiped off the blood, sliding it back in its holster. This was his favorite knife, he didn't want to lose it. He also picked up Obsidian's glass knife, which he would give to Q to study. This might be useful, he thought. He held onto it in case he would need a weapon.
Daya was also getting her things ready. Suddenly she remembered something. "James, there are probably dozens of people locked in the glassworks facility!"
"Yes, that's right..." Bond thought for a moment as he adjusted the cuffs on his sleeves. "Obsidian's girlfriend probably has brainwashed children all over the place. Daya, you take the glassworks. You can reach it by heading out of the tunnel you came from. Check the area over, use whatever force is necessary to evacuate everyone."
"Where are you going?" Asked Daya.
"I'm going to make sure no one is still in this mansion." He took Adriana's obsidian rifle and checked it for ammunition. There's plenty here, he thought. I still have that knife if all else fails.
"Be careful, James." Daya leaned over, kissed Bond on the cheek and hurried away. Bond followed her out into the hallway. As Daya continued toward the outside, Bond made a quick check of the area. He saw an elevator about fifty feet from him. Hurrying to the elevator, he noticed the metal sign read "B." Apparently there was only one basement level, and the mansion appeared to only be two floors from the outside. There was only one option, and that was up. The elevator arrived quickly after Bond had pressed the button--thankfully, no guards were in it. It would have been a nasty surprise if he would have had to shoot someone in an elevator.
It was a luxury elevator. Green felt covered the walls, accented by wooden railings and brass handles. Very strange, Bond thought. The inside of this elevator was extremely lavish compared to the clean and sterile basement that was Obsidian's "medical facility." There were only two floors this elevator could access by using the button panel: first floor and second floor. Clearly the basement was a secret level which couldn't be accessed from the elevator--you could only use it to leave. Rather handy, Bond thought. He figured he would start from the top and work his way down. He selected the second floor and waited to reach his destination.
The second floor matched the elevator in its lavish luxury. The decor was mostly the same, except for the burgundy-colored doors that led to several rooms Bond had reached another hallway, and each room conveniently had windows showing the contents of each room. He peeked around the corner of the elevator to see if any guards were around. The building seemed completely deserted, except for the computer voice blaring over loudspeakers.
"Emergency shutdown procedures will commence in seven minutes. Repeat, seven minutes remaining..."
Bond had to hurry. He didn't want any more innocent girls to be die in Obsidian's wake, which he had a feeling was exactly what would happen if left now. Bond ran down the hallway, looking in each room. Most were office spaces. He kicked down each door to make sure no one was locked inside. When he reached the end of the hallway, there was one last door. There were no more windows, so Bond had no idea what would be behind it. He cautiously walked up to the door and listened. There were muffled screams coming from the other side. Quickly, Bond smashed the door in with one swift kick of his boot and held up his obsidian rifle.
The room was a large lobby with a very high ceiling. There was a sofa on the opposite end of the room, upon which was a rather startled Magnus, the one for whom Lissa had ended up a sex slave. Sure enough, there was a young woman being held down by Magnus, struggling under his grasp.
"Let her go, Magnus!" Bond commanded. "It's over."
"Oh, it's never over, Mister Lockhart!" Baba Yaga apparently never told this Magnus of Bond's real name. "It's not over until we die, and we are to die, this one's going down with me!"
The young woman Magnus was holding down was screaming for help. Bond couldn't let this happen.
"If you surrender now," Bond said firmly, "I'll turn you over to the authorities who may spare your life. But I won't hesitate to kill you if you don't let her go this instant." He cocked his rifle.
"Ha ha ha... You can try..." Magnus stood up. He appeared much bigger when standing. "By all means, try!" He charged toward Bond, who shot a stream of bullets into the crazed giant. It barely even slowed him down. He must have been wearing some sort of armor, Bond thought. But there was little time to think as Bond tried to duck and roll out of the way. He missed the opportunity however, as Magnus reached Bond and wrenched the rifle from his hands and slammed it into Bond's injured arm.
Bond, in a surge of energy and adrenaline, swung his leg forcefully into Magnus's. The burly man grabbed onto the nearby door handle as he fell with a thunderous crash, ripping the door off its hinges. Bond used the opportunity to run to the woman to make sure she was all right.
She stood up and grabbed Bond tightly. "Please don't leave me!" She was much younger than Bond had originally thought.
Bond nodded. "Let's get out of here."
Magnus was getting to his feet. With all that armor weighing him down, it was rather difficult to get back on his feet after such a hard fall.
Bond and the girl ran towards the door. They were going to jump over Magnus--who was still on the floor--and make a run for it. However, as they reached the gigantic man, he grabbed Bond's foot, causing him to nearly fall over. He regained his balance, reached down and grabbed Magnus's hand, trying to free his leg from the giant's grasp.
"Stop it!" The girl cried as Bond tried to free himself, but Bond's strength was no match for this madman's enormous hands. The girl, tired of the whole ordeal planted her pointed-toe, high-heeled shoe into Magnus's face.
Magnus howled in pain as he let go of Bond to grasp the girl's leg and twist it around, sending her to the floor. Bond, now free, gave him another hard kick to the head to stun him. He then held out his hand to help the girl up so they could escape.
"Emergency shutdown procedures will commence in three minutes... Repeat..."
*****
Daya, having freed all the slaves, had reached the garage, looking for Bond. Her instincts told her to run away as fast as she could, but she didn't want to leave Bond behind. The garage was utterly destroyed in Obsidian's all-too-casual rampage. She didn't know how many explosives were going to go off once the mansion blew, but she didn't want to take any chances. She ran over to the green BMW, the only car that looked remotely intact after the recent explosion.
The car was mostly mangled--Daya knew this was a long shot. She opened the door (which didn't latch anymore) and got inside. Looking for the keys, she checked everywhere inside the driver's space to no avail. Finally she got back out and looked around the garage. Close by, she saw what looked like a lock-box for keys. Running over to it, she saw that it was about as damaged as everything else was--even if she had the key to open it, it probably wouldn't unlock. She decided to do it the easy way by pulling out her Glock and firing a few rounds into the lock. Being badly damaged already, the lock broke into several pieces and the small door slowly swung open. Inside were a set of keys labeled "BMW." Since this was the only BMW in the garage, these had to be the ones...
*****
Bond had reached the main doors of the mansion. With the all-too-young girl hanging on to him for dear life, Bond kicked open the doors without hesitation. Both flinched when the freezing cold air instantly hit them both like knives after having been inside the warm and cozy mansion.
Bond had a quick look around. He couldn't see Daya, but saw a couple of guard frantically running away. One of them turned around.
"Look, it's Bond!" The observant one yelled.
"Leave him, he'll die anyway!" Another one said without looking back.
"But Obsidian will have our heads--"
Bond fired a shot into the air, immediately scaring them away like bugs fleeing with a light aimed at them. Back to business, Bond thought. He ran with the girl toward the garage. He wasn't sure if Daya was there, but it was his last hope. After listening for any signs of life as he ran, the sounds of a car starter filled his ears. Bond continued to run across the short driveway until he reached the garage. Bond was very relieved when he saw Daya, however this hope instantly sank when he heard the car starter weakly sputtering... It simply wasn't going to start. This once-proud executive car was on its last leg, if it hadn't already lost its last strands of life.
Bond rushed over, the girl still in tow.
"James!" Daya cried.
"Daya, there's no time!" Bond yelled across the room.
"Emergency shutdown procedures will commence in two minutes... Repeat, one minute, fifty-nine seconds remaining..."
"Wait, I can do it!" Daya said frantically.
The starter whirred and whined helplessly. Bond gave the fender a good, swift kick, sending shockwaves throughout the vehicle. The engine instantly sputtered to life, only a mere shadow of its former existence.
"Get in back!" Bond said to the girl. He opened the rear door for her and she scrambled inside.
Daya proceeded to leave the driver seat.
"No, no, you drive!" Bond commanded as he firmly planted his foot in the new space in the fender that his boot had already made, leaping over the hood over to the passenger side.
As he got inside, Daya asked "Why do I have to drive?!"
Bond simply pointed to the extremely large, menacing-looking Magnus that was standing nearby, laughing like the crazed psychopath that he was.
"Okay, point taken..." Daya floored the throttle, the BMW's rear tires blazing a black streak into the debris-ridden driveway.
Bond turned around and watched Magnus. He knew something wasn't right. Sure enough, Magnus pulled out some sort of remote control. Bond knew what this was--a device had most likely been set beneath the car, a device with the sole purpose of eliminating any intruders attempting to escape.
Bond reached for his Q Phone. He was going to make good use of that unfired missile. He rolled down the window of the car--thankfully the power windows still worked.
"What on Earth are you doing?" Daya cried.
"Did you know this phone has exceptional long distance capabilities?" Bond quipped as he pressed the button to ready the missile.
"Who are you!?" The girl in back screamed.
"The name's Bond..."
The phone fired the missile, leaving a bright trail of fire and smoke in its path.
"James Bond, now get down!" He reached for Daya who was in his reach and pulled her head down. The girl behind followed suit.
The missile was following an already selected path, its armor piercing needle extending as it rocketed toward its target. It hit Magnus head on in the chest. As a red light flashed, Magnus looked unconcerned as he laughed it off and reached for the button on the remote device... But before he could press that big, red button, the missile exploded.
Shockwaves could be felt inside the car as its wheels gave way to a spin. Daya quickly corrected the spin and took off through the driveway and toward the woods.
*****
Meanwhile, a badly wounded Max Obsidian tried to muster enough strength to got to his feet. There was a glaring and undying hatred in his eyes.
"Emergency shutdown in ten seconds..."
Suddenly Obsidian appeared to have had a revelation of some sort.
"Simon?"
"Five seconds...
"No, it couldn't be..."
"Three seconds...
"Wait..."
"Two seconds..."
"No... BBBOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNN--!"
*****
Bond, Daya and the girl all looked back with a sort of morbid fascination as the entire mansion exploded before their very eyes. Gigantic flames engulfed the whole scene, triggering a chain reaction of explosives that lined the driveway, whose red and yellow burning light was fast approaching. The shockwave of the mansion exploding had reached the car, sending it into another skid across the ice.
"Daya!??" Bond called as Daya--whose face had never looked so determined before--guided the BMW gracefully on what was probably the last run of its life, out of the driveway just in time to miss getting caught in the final set of explosives that lined the narrow roadway. The car smashed through the gate that blocked their way (apparently those guards that Bond saw had closed it) causing the car to spin around 360 degrees. However it regained its composure with Daya's apparently masterful driving and literally slid away from the mansion in what was the grand finale for this remarkable piece of engineering.
Just then, the mansion and all that was around it suddenly but slowly collapsed, leaving a burning and smoldering ruin in its wake.