Chapter 11 Fatal Mistakes
Bond pulled up at the Hungarian border, he and Harry jumped out of the car. An officer arrived in a vehicle and waved them over. The officer took them to an open field nearby to await the arrival of King's helicopter.
They didn't have long to wait as a military helicopter arrived and they jumped on board. Bond instantly began getting ready as he fitted himself with tactical gear, thermal black turtleneck and trousers, vest belt full of rounds, and a knife. Harry copied the movements from the gear King had brought with him.
"What is your plan Bond?" King asked as he hung onto a strap overhead to keep from falling. He watched as Harry and Bond got into their gear and armed themselves for close combat.
"Q said the last car is Sokolov's and I will drop onto it while Harry tries to follow."
"He will hear the helicopter."
"I know but I'm hoping that the New Year's celebrations on the train might be to our advantage. We will also be dropping from a high vantage point and as quickly as possible to allow you to leave for the next stop."
"Are you sure about this Harry?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, we got them into this Arthur so we have to see it through to the end."
"I have other agents closing in on Alexei in Turkey as does Mr. Tanner. We hope that they will be taken shortly.
"Good." Bond answered as he double checked his gun.
On the Orient Express:
It did not take long for the stop at the Hungarian border to be over. The agents didn't even come into their car. M assumed a bribe was given to keep them away from her. Anton and his men were on high alert as two were on the platform looking for any sign of MI6 or the Kingsman organization.
The train was underway again and Anton breathed a sigh of relief. "You see my dear, we are away without delay.
"You thought they would attack the train to get me, so don't pretend that you are really all that confident in this ill advised kidnapping." M said with a flippant wave of her hand.
"Only thirty minutes until midnight my dear."
"Yes and I hope you die of a heart attack because of your erectile disfunction tablets!"
Anton began to laugh as he invaded her space again to give her another glass of champagne. He leaned in and kissed her cheek as she tried to pull away. "I look forward to our private New Year's celebration ангел."
The distant yet familiar sound of helicopter came to M. The door opened as one of Anton's men followed by another left the train car to look for the sound and the commotion of the next car suddenly spilled into theirs as some drunk young people surged in past the men. Anton stood in front of M as he began yelling at them all to leave.
The armed men pulled out their weapons and forced the eight to ten drunken revellers back into their other car. M looked and saw that one of the revellers looked familiar.
M needed to distract Anton so she grabbed his drink from where he placed it on the table and emptied the contents of her watch into the drink. The revellers left and Anton's men came back into their car. Anton sat relaxing on the sofa in front of his spiked drink.
M needed to distract him and his men now that she knew that MI6 was here to get her. She didn't want any unnecessary deaths. Not to mention she had questions she would like to pry out of this man.
Anton's comment about honey and bees came back to her as she walked over to stand in front of him with an empty champagne flute for him to fill.
Anton looked at her questioningly as he refilled the goblet and smiled. "You are coming around to be more celebratory? That is very good."
"Well you could say that I would rather be drunk and not remember the rest of the evening and that would make more sense." M smirked back at him and winked.
That had the desired effect and Anton pulled her down onto his lap. M was startled by the move but it did serve as a fantastic distraction. Now if she could only get him to send his men out of the car to the one filled with New Year's partiers it would eliminate that threat and then he would become pliable to suggestion and eventually fall asleep. Bond and Harry could then remove Anton and she would be able to question him more later from his cell.
Anton kissed her neck and M tried not to recoil in disgust. He took a small sip of his drink and M downed hers. His hands moved up her side to cup her breast as he placed his drink down. He was now too interested in her sudden compliance than his drink, which was unfortunate.
"It has been a long time since I snogged on a sofa." M giggled from the feeling of his hot breath on her neck and chest as she reached over and poured herself another class and drained it. "I didn't think that you would choose to do this with an audience. If you don't finish yours I may just finish it for you." M said handing Anton his glass of drugged champagne.
It had the desired effect as Anton yelled to his men in Russian. "Leave us! I will call you if I need you and be ready for the next stop." He said absently, as he licked the side of her face to her ear. His then tongue trailed down to her cleavage as he pulled her closer and held her against him. He did take another sip of champagne but then placed it back on the table as he reached to the ice bucket with a fresh bottle beside the sofa.
Anton poured her another drink and M smiled and paused as she brought it to her lips. She downed another glass and he refiled it as she giggled. Thank god she had years of practice at drinking champagne and regardless of how drunk he got her M could always manage to keep her wits about her. M did hope that Bond hurried the hell up!
Bond and Harry were likely taking care of Anton's men in the next car and M had no idea if Chester was alive or dead but she assumed that he lived. They could hear a distant sound of shouting from other parts of the train.
"10...9...8...7."
Anton kissed M holding her head with one hand and the other held her waist as she sat across his lap.
"6...5...4...3."
M tried to pull away if for nothing more than air, as the distant pop...pop of gunshots sounded as well as screams.
Now if you were in an innocent line of business, that did not often include such sounds of chaos, you would dismiss this noise as the sound of a rancorous New Year's party.
However, neither M nor Anton Sokolov were that innocent.
"2...1...HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
At that moment screams of celebration turned to screams of terror as shots rang out and Anton stood suddenly dumping M unceremoniously to the floor of the train car. His gun was out of it's holster and his drink dislodged from its place on the table and dumped on the rug by M.
Damn it! He didn't ingest enough of the drug!
Anton pulled M up off the floor and held her in front of him as he headed to the bedroom.
"Give up Anton Sokolov. They're here and if you want to survive...I suggest you surrender."
Anton's lips were so close to her ear, that his fast paced breathes demonstrated his nervousness as the sound of fighting made it's way from the neighbouring train car.
Anton pushed M into the bedroom and locked the door, shoving a chair under the handle. M's eyes widened in surprise as he pushed her onto the bed. M rolled over from her prone position and was shocked to see he still had plans to take her regardless of the fact that her rescue was imminent.
"Are you honestly going to continue to try to function with all this going on. Really? I think you need to reexamine your survival instincts!"
The bed dipped with weight as Anton kneeled on the bed after removing his jacket and tie, beginning to open his shirt. M was scared to move at all by this point.
There was a pounding at the door and then a crash from the other room as if everything were being tossed. The train was now screeching to a halt. If Anton had not pushed a chair up under the door handle Bond would have gained entry.
Bond landed on the roof of the third last car with Harry coming in a close second. He used hand signals to tell Harry to enter the car and cause a distraction while Bond would jump to the car Q had identified as the one containing M and Sokolov.
Bond and Harry pushed the revellers from one car into the next. Unfortunately there were three of Anton's armed guards that they could see and several members of the train security within. The guards were trying to stem the tide of swelling revellers surging into the car with champagne, music and pushing drunk dancers.
"Bond you get M I will deal with them."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am." Harry looked at his watch and began yelling at the top of his lungs. "TEN...NINE." The entire car erupted in drunken shouts of their own as Bond pushed his way to the door between cars, Harry in front of him having grabbed a bottle of champagne which he uses to swing at the first guard as he connected with the man's head with a dull thud as the brute hit the floor.
Bond punched his partner standing by the door before he could react to the action of his partner going down hard. The man's nose crunched under the force of Bond's punch. Bond followed that blow with a vicious kick to the man's ribs as he fell to his knees and then collapsed on the floor.
Bond moved quickly through the door and looked in the window of the next car looking for any more hired guns. It seemed clear so he tried the handle but it was locked. He pushed down on it hard and broke it off sliding the door open. There was no one in the car. He noticed a door suddenly open from the side. The water closet door opened and revealed a surprised man from Sokolov's household.
Bond rushed him crashing into the bar cart as they tumbled on the floor. The man struck out at Bond but he was not fast enough and Bond hit him to a prone position and then shot him.
Bond rushed to the far door and the bedroom as the train screeched to a halt. He had expected as much once the shooting began. Damn Sokolov to hell, he would finish this now! Bond tried to kick in the door to no avail.
There was no chance to get in that way. Bond looked around the room desperate for an idea. He saw the window. He holstered his gun and made his way out the window gripping the small edge as he moved up along the outside of the train.
Once Bond reached the window he peered through and growled involuntarily as he saw M sprawled on the bed and Anton tossing his tie across the room.
Bond pulled himself up onto the top of the train and laid on his stomach. Bond attached a small cable from his belt to the top of the train and if everything worked as planned he would swing into the car feet first and stop that man from touching the love of his life.
Bond leaned over and used the palm of his hand to slide the window open, as the wind and snow whipped at him. The storm was increasing and the temperature was dropping. He opened it and then stood, turned around pulled his cable taut and jumped while swinging out and away from the carriage. Thankfully this stunt was far easier now that the train had stopped. As he hit the floor Bond hit the cable release and went for his gun just as Sokolov went for his.
The wrong gun sounded and a blast of burning burst in his upper left arm as Bond just ran and charged towards the man.
Suddenly the window in the bedroom slid open as two feet followed by the body of James Bond flew into the room. He landed on his feet dramatically and reached for his gun in its holster.
"You!"
007 rushed over as Anton managed to take his gun from the back of his trousers. M kicked out her foot and knocked the gun from his hand as a shot rang out.
"Yes me. Give up now Sokolov!" Bond tackled him pinning him to the bed beside M. Bond took a few good shots to Anton's head to stop any more urge to fight them.
"Not so nice being pinned to a bed involuntarily now is it! I told you, you risked your life on a complete fool's errand." M said viciously angry.
Anton turned his head to her. "Love is never a fool's errand ангел."
M snorted derisively. "It isn't love if it's not reciprocated. What you have is a sick obsession for two woman from your past. I am neither woman. I'm not your wife, I'm not even the same woman you met all those years ago in London. I grew and changed...something you apparently were unable to do. You need therapy more than you need me."
"So kill me then. If I cannot have you...I might as well die."
M frowned at him as she climbed off the bed and stood beside Bond who still had his knee painfully in Anton's back. M found Anton's gun on the floor and moved to hand it to Bond when she saw the blood.
"007, you're hurt." M saw blood oozing out of the arm of Bond's shirt and grabbed a pillow case to tie around his upper arm. She knew he had been hit but had to wonder at how badly.
"Thank you M." Bond said nodding adding, "It's nothing...had worse." M didn't doubt it, she had seen the reports. Bond looked at her slowly up and down to ensure that she was truly alright. It was not sexual but analytical in nature but still made her feel somewhat naked under his gaze.
"Let's get him in the other room shall we." M said shivering because of more than the open window, as Bond smiled down on her. M was still clothed in her evening gown with a rosy red flush on her face but she looks unharmed thank god.
"Yes ma'am. Looks like I arrived just in time...for New Years ma'am." He pulled Anton up, as M removed the chair from under the door handle and then pushed him through the bedroom door none too gently. Bond dropped him into a chair in the main cabin. It was a mess with a dead man in the corner.
"Your timing could have been more perfect had you been back in time to collect us in Vienna. Is Chester alright?"
Bond nodded while he continued to hold the gun on Anton. He felt guilt at her remark. She was right, it never should have gone this far. He should have sent Harry with the art on his own.
"Just think about moving and inch Sokolov. I am not the one who wants you alive." Bond spat at Sokolov.
"You are a fool to think I had not thought of this!" Anton swore. His nose was bleeding and there was a bruise forming on his face from where Bond must have hit him when he first burst in the room. He rubbed his hand where M kicked him and M couldn't help but feel proud about managing that. Bond would have been killed by him if she hadn't.
The only reason that M could figure why Anton didn't shoot Bond the moment he crashed into the room was that he was too close to her on the bed and his shock at his abrupt arrival delayed the reaction. Or the drug he imbibed earlier had finally hit him.
Bond handed M the gun and told her to cover him as he headed out the door into the next car. The sounds of the fight there now shifted closer as shots rang out along with the sound of smashing glass and people yelling.
"You did this. You couldn't let me win. Why couldn't you just be her….why...why did she have to die and you live to torment my memory of her? Stubborn...beautiful...woman! Why must I always be drawn to...stubborn...sexy...dominating...women? Why couldn't you just be my ангел?" Anton spat in anger as he sat forward in his seat.
Bond was trusting M to cover him, while he went to help Harry but could she pull the trigger if he tried anything? M was no agent, this was not a normal occurrence for her regardless of her position in MI6.
"You cannot have your loved one back and why would you even think to replace her with another. Move on...it is unstable to look for someone like the one you've lost! I would never search for someone to replace my husband and we had over 40 years together."
"You were truly the lucky one of the two of us. I did think you would eventually come around...that you would have learned to love me if I treated you like the Queen that you are."
"You cannot force love on another person and ever expect it to work. It's an illness of the mind to obsess about love and attraction in that way."
"What of Chester King and his love for you?"
"It has never been obsessive. His attraction was from a distance and he and I led separate lives for the most part. Perhaps he may have been a closer friend to my husband over the years had he not openly express his attraction for me. But at least he was honest about his feelings and never did anything like what you have done. Chester King will respect my desires now, as he did then when I married his friend."
"You pretend to be his wife, that would not be an easy task for him to deal with. He did so only after you were widowed to try to seduce you."
"Perhaps."
"Did it work for him?"
M paused to think on that for a moment. "No, he and I will only ever be friends."
"When you recover from your grief over your husband will you not seek the comfort of such an old friend?"
"Not in that way. Will you cooperate with us and tell me who told you who I was. Who arranged for this to happen? Anton if you agree to help us it will go better for you; because I think you've been used as a pawn."
"A pawn? No I planned this...everything. They didn't expect this to happen when they told me, they could never have known...unless."
"You were manipulated by a man or organization that I've made an enemy of in the past."
"No...they were just…"
"Giving you free information on the head of MI6 for what reason?"
"I just…"
Again over the din was the sound of a...or maybe more than one helicopter coming towards them.
M actually looked momentarily sympathetic and then Anton struck. He grabbed her gun arm pulling her forward into his grasp and the two of them tumbled down onto the sofa in a twist of arms and legs. The gun fell to the floor and Anton picked it up and smirked at her.
Search lights were shining from outside the car as Anton pulled her up and towards the rear bedroom exit.
"No!" M screamed as he pulled her towards the exit out into the snow.
Anton had paused only to grab their coats and armed men rushed in and ushered the two of them off the train and into the snow covered field.
M assumed instantly that whoever helped Anton had come to claim her as their prize. Two of the armed men picked M up off the ground and carried her towards the helicopter.
M could just make out Anton following them through the wind carried snow with others following him at a distance. M couldn't even gage how many there were and none of these men had been on the train with them.
Harry barely kept his balance as the helicopter lowered him and Bond to the top of the Orient Express. The wind and snow made visibility low and footing extra treacherous. Bond manage to land and crouch first and he only made a cursory glance back to see that Harry had indeed landed.
Bond nodded at Harry and began to move down to in between the second and third last car of the train. Chester said he had requested the last car but they couldn't confirm until they arrived at the station in Vienna.
Harry dropped down behind him as he opened the door and walked into a party in progress. The may have had more stares but for the drunkenness of the car's occupants.
"We could use this rowdy bunch to our advantage." Harry said looking around.
"You encourage them to move cars and surge into the next so we can move our way towards M."
"Alright everyone party's moving to the next car!" Harry shouts in exuberance. "Come on! Let's get this party in gear and take over the next car!"
The drunken noise and shouts were deafening as they herded the group into the second last car and one party surged into another. As soon as they moved through the doors with limited pushback. Bond and Harry divided and headed towards the men that were obviously guards.
This is where it all got tricky. Bond ushered some of the revellers to move into the final car. To test the resistance from within. They were quickly forced back and two remained in the party car with them guarding the door. Bond and Harry dodged around the car moving towards the two guards.
Bond moved towards his goal of saving M while Harry dealt with any armed resistance on the train. Not an easy task when there are so many civilians having a good time.
Bond punched one down to the floor and out the door between cars, headed after M. Harry took another with a champagne bottle but then they started shooting and then the screaming started.
Harry thought he could hear the din of Arthur's helicopter hovering nearby while following the train. The shots went high luckily and Harry started yelling out a countdown. He had no idea if it was actually close but hoped these people were drunk enough to have though the guns were crackers of some sort.
"10...9...8!" Harry elbowed one in the face and he went down hard. It took time for him to move about the car but managed to bring another down and disarm him. The rowdies tried to move ahead into the cabin Bond headed into but had been stopped by some armed men in this car taking over a defensive position by the door as they scanned the car for Harry.
A man grabbed Harry from behind and he lifted him off the floor and over. Some of the occupants saw his gun in hand and screamed and that was when the train screeched to a stop. Someone had pulled the emergency cord because of the scuffle. For a moment he thought he saw Bond peek in and down the two guards at the door as he entered but he quickly disappeared again.
Harry managed to get to his feet once the movement of the train stabilized and stopped in the middle of an open area. Harry took the offence then and downed the rest as fast as he was able. Harry pulled zip ties out of his gear and tied up those men on the ground that were still breathing.
"Everyone move back to that car!" Harry yelled and the stunned passengers were more than willing to oblige. There were searchlights from the air outside the train. Harry moved cautiously to the next car. There were a couple of dead guards and no sign of M or Bond. Harry moved to the back of the car to see the door smashed open to the bedroom.
That did not sit well with him. The door off the train was open with cold air flowing in. Harry jumped off the train seeing Bond running into the field barely illuminated by the moon and the distant lights on a helicopter.
What the hell is going on? Harry could hear and then see the lights of another helicopter in the distance. Harry ran after Bond into the snowy field.
As the men carried M through the snow storm towards the lights in the field she could barely make out Anton following behind. She did hear the men taking her speak in Russian and they were not working for Sokolov.
M realized that she needed to fight now. She squirmed and kicked at the men but they continued moving towards their objective. Over her captor's shoulder she could see Anton making his way closer and she could hear he yell at them, "cтоп!"
Anton knew now that these men were not his and he was trying to get to M. M realized that she had a better chance with a lovesick Anton Sokolov than she did with whoever was in that military helicopter and had so obviously set this event in motion.
Once the men carried her closer to the military helicopter, the door slid open she could see a man within dressed in a suit and wool jacket. He was familiar. "Janus." One of the men called to him as he turned and was now close enough for M to make out the scared half of his face.
"No!" M kicked at the two men holding her and caught one hard enough that he let go her legs and she wiggled violently enough for the one holding her at the waist dropped her into the snow. M rolled away from them as well as she could with her long coat wrapped around her in nothing more than an evening gown and heels.
Shots rang out above her as she rolled and crawled away from the direction of fire. The wind was whipping up the snow and the drone of the helicopter was overwhelming enough that M hoped that she could slip away. Anton must be shooting at them and they were returning fire.
A strong arm grabbed M and pulled her up off the ground. She turned to see Anton as the helicopter began to lift off and two dead men lay on the snow staining the white with the red of their blood. More shots were being fired at the helicopter from the distance. Another helicopter was arriving and shooting at the helicopter as it took off and made way as quickly as possible away from the obvious arrival of MI6 reinforcements.
Search lights were aimed into the field from the train now as M made out the silhouette of two men making their way across the field. Anton held M standing in front of him, putting her between him and Bond.
The sound of helicopters still dominated the area and helped churn up more snow.
Suddenly another shot rang out and Anton began to crumple to the ground, as M pulled away from his now loosened grip.
M turned to see others walking towards her as more shots rang out from the direction of the train. M had no idea what direction to run. Anton groaned from his place on the ground and then pointed his gun at M. She froze and tensed as a sudden arm came around her middle and lifted her up out of the cold snow and a shot sounded out.
To be continued...
