REMEMBER ULYSSES by Lyda Mae (RavenDove) Huff

Chapter two: Rouge Agent

-----

Moneypenny walked down the hallway. She was going to look in on James; understandably he wasn't quite himself of late. Unfortunately he was the only hope of stopping these terrorists. They had struck again last night, and somewhere in James' addled memory may lay the clue to stopping them. She stopped at the open door to his room in the medical unit frowning. He had been there for four days now, and though his memory of his life before the mission grew clearer all the time. For some reason he drew a blank when it came to the first three weeks he'd been missing. At this point he remembered wondering parts of France; without a clue who he was or what he was doing. From there to the present was clear as crystal, but still there was that three-week blank. Mr. Wade had shown them some of what had happened during those three weeks. What she had seen wasn't pretty. It was a wonder he wasn't drooling like an infant after those bastards had tortured him. So far as they could tell he hadn't given them what they wanted. They kept at him unsuccessfully; till they thought he was a vegetable. When they thought him useless, and beyond retaliation they dumped him in an alley. As his memory began to return they thought he had played them for fools. It was then they tried to kill him.
He was sitting in a chair by a small table; playing solitaire. He seamed deep in thought, and wasn't looking at the door. "Come in Moneypenny." He didn't even look up.
"And how pray tell; did you know it was me?" She began to smile at him.
He looked up at her; a haunted look in his eyes. He wore gray trousers, and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. The shirt's material was such that you could barely see the bandages around his right bicep and abdomen. "I could feel you frowning; which I might add derailed my train of thought." He sounded a little irked. "Oh well! It wasn't going much of anywhere anyway." He leaned back in his chair. "So what did you want?"
"Just checking on how you're doing." She sounded hopeful.
"Don't you mean spying on me." He stood up and walked slowly toward her. "You can tell M; I still don't remember giving up any secrets. Under coercion or otherwise." He stood like a stone statue; with his arms crossed. The look on his face was just short of contempt.
"Not exactly the reason I came." She shook her head trying to rid herself of his misplaced anger. "From what we've found; that's not a worry. However; they struck again last night. M hopes you'll remember something we can use to stop them. We don't even know what they call themselves. They leave no calling cards, demands, or even letters taking credit."
His stance relaxed at this, and he half sat on the bed. He paused a moment shaking his own head. "For a moment there I almost had something. Right on the tip of my tung then it was gone.
Moneypenny came closer putting her hand on his shoulder. "It's alright James. If it comes to you, it comes to you. If it doesn't, that's not your fault."
He looked at her with a determined look on his face. "It's not so much that it doesn't come to me; as much as the feeling I should know." He stood again and began pacing. "There's something I knew, but I just can't remember . . . Somehow I know it was important. What was it?" The last bit more to himself than anyone else.
"Perhaps if you try not to think about it you'll remember." She was in earnest about this suggestion.
He stopped pacing, and looked right at her. "That's why I was playing solitaire." He paused a moment; coming closer and lowering his voice as he spoke. "Besides starring at walls gets rather boring after a day or two. Especially when they are the same walls." This last part he said right in her ear. He then looked out the door at the agent across the hall making a gesture of hello; which the guard returned. He glared at Moneypenny as if saying 'I know he's there.' His orders are to keep unauthorized visitors out, and to keep Commander James Bond in.
Moneypenny looked at him with pity in her heart. Here was the international British spy Commander James Bond, agent 007; unable to leave a hospital room for security reasons. "You know why the precaution James."
Again he spoke in her ear. "True, but it still makes me feel like a criminal instead of one of Her Majesty's secret agents." He sat on the bed looking at the polished floor.
Nurse Delight walked in carrying a tray. Her light auburn hair tied back in a braid; sharply contrasted the crisp white slacks and blouse she wore. She set the meal on a rolling bedside tray; then wheeled it in front of James. "Bone' apatite Commander." She turned to leave, and said as she left. "I shouldn't have to remind you what happens if you don't eat it all."
Moneypenny was confused by the remark. "What did she mean by that?"
James lifted the cover off the Main dish. It didn't look half bad; he sniffed at it stirring it around with his fork. "A standing threat." He remarked snidely "If I'm not a good little boy, and eat all my vegetables." He took on a more serious tone. "She'll have the gate keeper over there hold me down so she can force feed them to me." He gestured again to the agent across the hall.
Moneypenny couldn't help laughing at the thought. James being held down by a gorilla in man's clothing. Just so little nurse Lotta Delight could spoon feed him broccoli.
James looked ready to skin her alive. "Moneypenny I don't think it's that funny." He continued to examine his food.
"Really James, has she actually done it?" The look on her face was priceless. She was trying to be serious, but she couldn't stop laughing.
He looked up from the tray. His face was absolutely straight, and his voice sounded seriously blunt. "Yes."
The way he said it, it lost all humor. She watched him sniff at his food. "Really James, since when are you so diligent about checking your food for drugs or poison before you eat?"
He looked at the fork full of whipped potatoes, half way to his mouth. He froze, not moving for several minutes. Moneypenny was beginning to worry.

-----

James Bond entered a restaurant on the outskirts of Paris. His tuxedo made him look as dashing as ever. He strolled over to a booth where a young woman with olive skin, and straight jet black hair was waiting for him. Jeanette was her name; she had information for him. They ordered dinner and talked quietly. She didn't dare to have the stolen notes, and cipher on her. After dinner she would take him to them. The whole time she was nervous; checking to see she hadn't been fallowed. The first course arrived. He barely sniffed at his food. Thinking it safe; they ate. By the time he found out it wasn't it was too late. They both began to doze. His last memory before blackness was four large men dragging them from the restaurant.

-----

He was tied to a frame wearing only his trousers. Where was Jeanette? A thousand images. The sting of a paddle hitting his back. So much pain; intense pain. Jeanette; where was Jeanette?

-----

Moneypenny was reaching to shake James. How long had he been sitting like this? This wasn't funny.
"Jeanette!" He yelled as he jumped off the bed. He knocked over the tray; hitting his gun shot wound. Stumbling over the tray and the meal he hadn't yet tasted. He grabbed his side in pain at the blow.
The agent across the hall yelled for the nurse. As nurse Delight and the agent helped James up from the floor; Moneypenny ran to find Dr. Ekles. When she returned with the doctor, James was on the bed. There was an orderly cleaning the floor, and nurse Delight was trying to get James to calm down.
Dr. Ekles came forward pulling James' shirt away from the bandage around his abdomen. It was bloody. Nurse Delight removed the bandage; once again it would need to be re-sutured. Though this time was not as bad as the first. He sent the nurse for a suture kit, and a mild sedative. Then he told the guard to hold him down.
Moneypenny slipped into the hall, and called M. "M it's Money Penny you might want to come down to the medical unit."
There was a moment of silence. "What's going on down there?"
"I'm not sure, but something is happening. James has reopened his wound again. He yelled something about Jeanette before bumping into a tray."
"I'll be there shortly." M sounded as if she wanted to hope, but didn't dare.
Back in the room Dr. Ekles was removing the old sutures. James seamed a little calmer, but he was so quiet. "What's the verdict Dr.?" She hoped to lighten the mood.
"I'm beginning to think the only way this wound will heal without having to be re-stitched again. Would be to tie the Commander here to the bed." He sounded serious.
James gave him a lethal look. "That shouldn't be necessary Dr."
"Really; than why did you reopen it?" He hoped for a good answer.
"I remembered something, and in my haste at remembering forgot about the tray." He almost looked as if he were blushing.
M walked in overhearing this. "Really 007, it's a wonder you survived the cold war." She had a look on her face; 'this better be good'.
As the doctor re-sutured the wound, James told them what he'd remembered. "Jeanette is the girlfriend of one they call Ulysses. She found out what he was up to, and was going to betray him. His plans didn't suit her. That was why we met in the restaurant; before that night we had never met face to face. They drugged us both. After that I'm not sure; I remember images words. Mostly pain, but I can't help feeling she's still alive. I had a data tape when I met up with Wade in Germany; it was encrypted."
M spoke "He handed that over to us when he brought you here."
"She is the only one who knows where the cipher is." He thought a moment. "Moneypenny you said earlier you don't know what they call themselves."
"Yes I did. Do you know something James?" She looked hopeful.
"Pantheon"

-----

M sat in her office, going over the video tapes Mr. Wade had left. Hoping to find something, anything that could have been missed. It was late; 007 had helped a little by telling them who the French girl in the tapes was. Part of his torture had been an attempt to make her talk. Whatever was on that data tape meant a-lot to Pantheon. If only they knew where the cipher was.
Commander Bond said he could find it, if they let him return to France. Have him finish his mission.
Out of the question. He had wounds that needed to heal. Plus his memory was still in question. What would happen if Pantheon caught him again? It was just too risky. His remembering may be their only hope, but not if he got himself killed. Then there would be no hope.

-----

It had been a day since James had remembered the restaurant. He was getting tiered of doing nothing. M wouldn't let him finish his mission, but he was going too anyway. He walked to a corner of the room where the guard couldn't see. The table was in that corner; he took up paper and penned a short note. He entered the adjoining bathroom, and locked the door. Leaving the note on the wash basin, he climbed into the air vent in the ceiling by standing on the toilet. Careful of his stitches he made his way through the vent system.
When he climbed out of the system, he was in a storage room near the ground floor. He wouldn't have been able to find his way a few days ago, but now. It was where they kept some of Q's gadgets. He was the proverbial kid in a toy store.
He found himself a disguise, a few handy weapons. Some of them old fashioned. A sword in a cane, it worked with the disguise and if all else failed he could bean an assailant with it. A nice Beretta 9mm hand gun; not quite a Walther PPK, but usable. This was more like it; not like the bulky Colt 45 he'd had to use in Germany. A couple of those handy pen grenades, he hoped the box was labeled right. A nice shoulder holster for the gun. A top coat that could cerate a smoke screen. A watch, his was gone and these modified numbers came in handy. He found some regular clothes in a box. No doubt Q intended to modify them. Oh well at the moment he needed them. There was a blazer about the right size; a little lose but it would do. Matched his trousers so well, you'd think they were a suit. A tie, little bright for his taste, but after all this was a disguise. A hat a fake bearded, and a pair of sunglasses with rear view mirrors later he was ready to leave.
Good thing that he knew where to find a few pounds near by. He made it through the building, and the front doors without being noticed. Walking a few blocks to a restaurant he knew, years ago he'd found a lose brick in the men's room. He'd turned the brick into a cubby hole. Never knew when you'd need some spare change, or some extra bullets. Even in London.
When he had collected enough for a cab to his apartment; he put the brick back and left. After hailing a taxi out front; he didn't look back.

-----

It was nearing midday. They would discover his absence soon. He was careful to pack quickly. Then he washed; he'd gotten a bit sweaty and dusty climbing through the vents. Careful not to get his stitches wet; he redressed them from his first-aid supplies.
Bond took a moment looking at old scars; trying too remember where he had received each one. Bullets, knives and other things; he had faced death in many ways. He was about to stare death in the face; he knew it. Though he could not clearly see the face in his mind; he knew this was all or nothing.
Changing to a suit more his taste; he left another little note on the dresser. Leaving the cane behind; along with most of his disguise. He headed for the Chunalle. Keeping the sunglasses to see if he was fallowed.

-----