Disclaimer - I don't own the legal rights to James Bond, any related characters, or any other trademarked characters, brands, or items within the story.
A/N - Just a really short chapter for now. More coming soon.
DragonTyc - Thanks for your review. I hope you continue to read and enjoy the story.
James Bond tried not to think of the physical lashing he had taken at the gala, or the verbal lashing he would take in a few short moments. Instead, he concentrated on remembering exactly how it had felt when he had made love to Iva Hotbod a couple of hours earlier.
She hadn't been sure at first if it would be appropriate, but then they had come to an agreement that they both needed to take their minds off of their recent failure, and the ensuing mess it was to cause.
Iva had grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes with wanting. His hands went to her back and slowly caressed it, feeling the curves of the shoulder blades and spine beneath the drab gray dress and then, with great pleasure, unzipped it. With the dress falling away, James had continued feeling her body.
Then she pulled him onto the bed. They looked at each other as two people condemned to death, and they made love to each other with all of the fire and passion that had aroused.
"I hear the gala didn't go so well last night, James."
The small, girlish voice awoke Bond from his reverie and snapped him back to his painful reality. Miss Moneypenny, M's personal assistant and Bond's long-time admirer, looked at Bond with the utmost sympathy. Bond leaned forward on her desk and offered a friendly smile.
"It wasn't exactly my idea of a party."
They were at the Austrian safe house Bond and Iva were meant to have escorted Koehler to. The fact that Bond was here without Koehler meant M would be here longer, rather than her own office back in London.
"Austria hasn't been to kind to me either," Moneypenny said, holding up a scarred fingertip. "Just this morning, I got a paper cut."
Bond chuckled.
"That's my Penny," he said. "The unsung martyr for Queen and Country. England will never know the sacrifices you've made."
"Would you like to buy me a drink later?"
Bond sighed.
"God knows that after M's through with me I'll need one," he said.
"You'd better go in there now," Moneypenny said. "She's pretty hot."
"That's news," Bond said, and he pushed through the door into the next room.
Barbara Mawdsley, known better by the code designation "M", was Bond's superior. She had inherited the designation and the position from Admiral Miles Messervy. The new M's approach to the job was much different than that of Messervy's, who had become a close friend to Bond. While James Bond and Barbara Mawdsley had clashed at first, they had come to develop a mutual respect for each other.
As M, Mawdsley ran a tight ship. It was a very serious job, and Bond wouldn't have had it any other way. But the new M's strict approach left very little room for Bond's sometimes unorthodox methods, and he knew it would be especially difficult to make M see his point of view concerning the fiasco that was the gala earlier.
M said nothing at first, simply staring coldly at him. He took Moneypenny's warning to heart. M certainly was not to be trifled with tonight.
Finally, she spoke.
"I would never expect this level of incompetence from you," M said. "You and Double Oh Four had only one objective: prevent Wolfgang Koehler from abduction. And what happened?"
M paused before answering her own rhetorical question.
"He was abducted! Double Oh Four already gave her complete report of the night's events."
Bond knew the point M was rising. He had made a judgment call. Now he had to defend it.
"I figured the abductors needed Koehler alive," he said. "I calculated that Double Oh Four's life was at greater risk."
"We don't just give out Double Oh designations! She knew the risks, just as you do!"
M rose from her seat and stared out the window at the falling snow.
"Have you any idea what Koehler was working on?" she said.
"No, ma'am," Bond replied. "I was told that information would be available only on a need-to-know basis."
"He called it the Heracles project," M said. "Koehler cooperated with many world renowned scientists. The idea was to create a formula that would interact with enzymes inside the human body to strengthen them, physically and mentally. It would be able to cure sickness and disease and create faster, stronger, smarter human beings. Koehler had intended the formula for medicinal use, but when he realized certain individuals would be interested in the military ramifications, he panicked."
Bond nodded slowly, starting to understand the extent of M's frustration.
"And now Koehler has vanished into thin air," M said, turning back to Bond.
"Not quite," Bond said. "Double Oh Four is with Q's assistant, working at the latest incarnation of the Identigram. She believes she can identify the man who was impersonating Koehler."
Miss Moneypenny led Iva Hotbod into the room. Iva looked awkwardly from Bond to M, and then she handed her superior a file folder. M leafed through the papers inside.
"One Morris Klein," Iva said. "A career criminal who was recently paroled. His areas of expertise include disguise and torture. He frequently haunts the Oberdeutch Club, not far from here."
"In that case, you two had better go after him. Be careful… and try not to botch this one up!"
A/N - That's all for now. Please review, Happy Hannukah, Joyous Kwanza, and Merry Christmas!