A dark glint of something shone in 007's eye as he looked out into the snow covered plane. He had convinced Lauren to rest, while he watched for their rescuers. The black object against the snow came in closer and became recognizable as a helicopter. He drew the PPK from the shoulder holster inside his jacket and wondered if the copter was enemy reinforcements.

The helicopter continued to approach.

Suddenly an inside tunnel in the cave exploded causing flames to erupt into the alcove that protected Bond and Zuber. The heat from the flames awoke Lauren and in a cloud of dust automatic fire blasted into the room. Bond aimed into the smoke and pointed it at the first thing he saw. His gun went off and the grayish figure hit the dirt. Zuber looked around in confusion and yelled, "What the hell is happening here?"

Double-O Seven looked into the smoke before yelling, "Just-just get on the ground!" With that he fired twice more into the smoke. Someone grunted and the gun fire ceased. He turned and ran into the smoke crouching down near the first body. The man looked up into James Bond's eyes and spit. Bond slammed his fist down into the man's face causing a snapping sound to come from his neck. The helicopter was coming closer as was apparent by the thumping of the rotor blades.

"James, there is a helicopter out here, it has some markings on it, it says- uh it says something in-it's some acronym. Sorry."

Bond turned his head and looked at the helicopter. The smoke blurred the scene but the side was visible enough to see the letters S-P-E-C-T-R-E on the side. "LAUREN! Get in here!" he watched her stand to her feet and run into the smoke before he added, "Quick"

She reached Bond and saw the dead man on the ground. She turned her head as a wave of nausea passed over her. He looked around the cave-no the explosion had destroyed the tunnel and had caused a cave in. He grabbed her by the arm and put her into a small hole in the side of the alcove. He grabbed the body of the dead mercenary and ran out towards the helicopter.

He brought the PPK up and fired three shots into the windshield of the aircraft. The copter, to protect the pilot and the co-pilot brought the helicopter down a bit lower.

Lauren looked over and saw the smoke begin to thin. Since she was little she had had a soft stomach and couldn't stand too much blood or gore, so when James ran up and hurled the body of the mercenary into rotor blades the blood that flew out from body. The blades shattered at the pressure of the body and pieces of it flew everywhere slamming deep into the ground and cave sides. One shard nearly hit James as it flew right passed his left arm. The helicopter dropped from the air and fell towards the ground below.

The explosion of the fuel tank of the copter breaking and the sparks from the systems igniting the liquid shook the whole mountain. He came to the back of the cave and was stunned when he saw what had happened.

A piece of the rotor blade had been slammed through Lauren's chest and had pinned her to the wall. Her eyes were rolled back in her head and blood had soaked her clothes. She was dead.

He searched the remaining body for ammunition and found a nine millimeter clip that he took out of a PPK. Nothing else was on the body.

The MI6 copter came an hour later like personally promised by M. He got in and placed the pistol into it's holster under his now blood splattered blazer. He watched the scenery outside the window pass by and with sorrow he said his last good byes to Lauren.



The helicopter landed on top of a small platform a little bit away from London. James took off his coat and kept it in the helicopter. He then approached the BMW waiting for him to get into. The car started momentarily and thirty minutes later he was in front of the MI6 headquarters building on the edge of Thames.

Inside the HQ he went to the elevator and keyed it to open. On the third floor he got off and walked to his office, wanting to see if he had anything in his inbox-nothing. He then got out from his desk and approached the door. It swung open and in walked Bill Tanner the Chief of Staff the SIS.

"Excuse me," they both seemed to rattle off at the same minute. A second later and Tanner said, "James, M wants to see you in her office ASAP."

"Okay Bill."

James pushed pass Tanner and walked towards the elevator hitting the button, sending himself to the fifth floor of the building. He adjusted himself on the way to his boss's office so he could make himself look presentable. He opened the door to M's domain and his eyes met Moneypenny's. "Moneypenny, you look more radiant each and every time I lay my eyes on you."

She laughed, "And James you are still just as full of your self as you were the first you laid eyes on me."

She stood up from her desk and walked over to the man wrapping her arms around him. "Double-O Seven I'm glad you back and well."

"I am too."

With that he walked into M's office.

His boss was sitting at her desk apparently waiting for James to get there. When he entered she stood. "Double-O Seven I'm glad to see your well but I'm putting you on assignment."

Bond walked over to a chair and sat down, "Thank you."

"The woman you saved on that train, Lauren Zuber, was as you might know a member of the Parliament. I want you to find out who she is and why those men were trying to kill you."

"Yes ma'am."

Bond stood up and looked at his boss. "M, there is something else that I saw when I was up in that cave. Before you got here a helicopter flew by."

"Did it fire any shots?"

"No. I first thought it might be the mercenary's reinforcements, but then when it got close I read the side of it. SPECTRA was printed on the side of it."

M looked at him and recounted the attempts of SPECTRA on James's life. He had escaped everything they threw at him but some of the most dangerous men in the world were in the Soviet organization. The only real wonder was what it was still doing operational.

When the USSR went out of commission so did SPECTRA, or at least it was supposed to have gone out of commission. The thought that they had come back through some underground organization was frightening.

M cleared her throat, "That is interesting. For the time being I have gathered some papers for you on Ms. Zuber. I want you to find out what she was pressing for. Maybe that would give us some information on why terrorists would want her dead."

Bond nodded his head and said, "Yes ma'am."

Double-O Seven opened the manila folder in his inbox and grabbed out the handful of papers on Ms. Zuber. He pulled the first one out and began reading it. It was her general description and a short biography of her life. She enjoyed swimming, golfing, was a master cook-he flipped to another page. Her father was a member of Scotland Yard from 1975-1995 where he was murdered by a group of men called the Union.

The Union, that was interesting, Bond had no idea the Union had roots that far back. He put down the paper he was reading and pulled out another which was the report on her father's death. The police had apparently found him in his office slumped over his desk, his throat slit from ear to ear. There had been a note found on his body. The note had read: To close for comfort.

That was all Bond needed out of that piece of paper so he put it on his desk. He thought for a second before he put his hand on the telephone and picked it up. He dialed up his contact at Scotland Yard.

Daniel Smith stood from his desk placing a pile of papers into the outbox. He grabbed his coat and pulled his hat off the hat rack when his phone rang. He walked to his desk and answered it.

"Daniel?"

"Why hello. Is that you James?"

"Yes it's me."

"What can I do for you." Bond settled in his chair and picked up a piece of paper from his desk. "I need to know some information about a-a George Zuber. He worked there until '67."

"A little past my years but I'll work on it. What exactly do you want to know about him?"

"I need to know what he was working on before he was killed. Dan I need as soon as possible."

"Sure, I'll help you out. I'll have it faxed when I can. Well I have to call my wife and tell her I'll be working late tonight."

"Thanks Dan."

Bond hung up the phone and read more into the files he had on Lauren. It looked as if she had been pressing to go help the US. with the war on terror. Bond put the packet down having found what he needed. He pushed himself out of his chair and headed to his BMW Z3 for the ride home.