CHAPTER ONE – 003
"Next door on your right, 003."
He held his gun at the ready as he hurried through the hallway.
"How many hostages did they get?" he whispered so that only M could hear him through his earpiece.
"Six," she replied.
He tried to hold his tongue but failed.
"I could've stopped them and you know that," he said.
"Perform your orders, 003. Do not question them. There are still two captives in that room."
Reluctantly, he did as he was told. There was a light coming from the room ahead. When he reached it, he peered in. The walls were made of glass and they looked out across the heart of London. Beautiful, but not quite comforting in the middle of a hostage situation on the 31st floor of a skyscraper. There was a muffled sound of a woman crying and as he took a second look, he could make out three figures. Two of them, a man and a woman, were tied together back to back on the ground. There was another man standing next to them.
He overheard the man say something in Chinese and a second later the sound of a gunshot filled his ears. He ran into the room, his gun pointed at the man who was pointing his at the head of the woman. The other hostage was dead.
"I suggest you put that down," he said to the man.
He laughed and cocked his pistol.
"If I had four guns on me, I wouldn't be laughing," 003 suggested.
The man looked him up and down. 003 raised his hand and held up one finger. Three bright red dots appeared on the man's chest a moment later.
"Put the gun down," he said as the man looked down at the lights.
He raised his hands in the air and took a step back. He lowered his right hand to place the gun on the table beside him in an act of surrender, but as soon as the metal hit the wood, shots rang out and the glass windows shattered all around them. The man fell backwards and landed on the floor with a thud. The bullets stopped.
"003, do you read me?"
He ran over to the woman to untie her.
"Why were those shots fired?" he asked, angrily.
"Get the girl out of there and down to the 1st floor. We have paramedics in the lobby."
"M, why were those shots fired?" he yelled.
There was no reply.
The woman had silent tears falling from her eyes as he cut the rope from her. He noticed that she was covered in the blood of the man she was tied to. Once he freed her hands, she quickly tore the duct tape from her mouth and moved herself away from the lifeless body behind her.
"Thank you," she said, a few tears still traveling down her cheeks. She stood herself up and brushed the small pieces of glass from her hair and shirt.
"Did they get it?" she asked, turning to him.
"No," he replied. "We were able to move the information from the system in time."
She nodded and then bent down to the dead operative and removed something from his coat pocket. It was a small timer, reading 05:31 and falling with every second.
"Tell MI6 to clear the building," she ordered, showing him the timer.
"M," he spoke. "Get everyone out now and far away from the building. Evacuate the area. We have five minutes."
He looked back at her.
"Let's go."
They ran from the room and down the hallway. He stayed a few steps ahead of her.
"They cut the power to the elevator, we'll have to take the stairs," he said, pushing the doors to the stairwell open.
"Will we make it in time?" she asked, worriedly.
"We don't have another choice so we'll find out," he answered.
It seemed as though they were flying as they rushed downwards at a speed she didn't even know she could run. Her lungs burned and her shins felt like they would shatter at any moment. She guessed it was better than being blown to pieces. When they finally reached the bottom, he asked how much time was left.
"Forty-one seconds," she said, concernedly.
The red exit sign was a blur as they sprinted out of the building and into the chilly air. She followed him as they pushed themselves further and further away from MI6's Foreign Intelligence building. The streets had been cleared and there was no person or vehicle in site. Her heart throbbed wildly in her throat, making it even harder to breathe. She quickly glanced at the timer.
"5 seconds!" she yelled.
He stopped next to a tall brick building called Vanilla Café as she came to a halt besides him. He grabbed her and pulled them against the wall facing opposite of the skyscraper. As he did so, the sound of the explosion filled their ears. She felt the ground shake ever so slightly beneath them as they stood against their barrier, trying to catch their breath.
"003, are you there?" M sounded through his earpiece.
"Vanilla Café," he answered.
"Stay there. We'll send a car."
He peered over the corner of the wall to get a visual on what had happened. Smoke was emanating from the scene. From what he could see, the 31st floor no longer existed. He moved back and turned to face her. She had finally caught some of her breath.
"Anna Davis," she managed. "Nice to meet you, 003."
Headlights appeared swiftly on the road next to them.