Setting the Table

Bond woke up the next day fully relaxed. He looked at his clock which read five past eight. He got out of the bed, and walked toward the bathroom. He was already completely naked so when he got to the bathroom he turned on the shower and walked straight in with out waiting for it to warm up. As Bond bathed himself he thought about his new assignment. He knew he couldn't just walk in there and try to casually talk out the information from Lasko. Bond had already set the tone that he was uninterested about Majed, so it would too suspicious, for him if he just started asking questions. So there was only one way to do it. He must get the information with out Lasko knowing it, a real stereotypical spy job. But how would he do that. He would have to figure out some way of either getting into the building and finding the where they would keep all the secret files, or tracking Lasko in a shadow operation and try to pick up any information on Majed that he may talk about. Bond thought for awhile and concluded that his first plan would be easier. Bond also had to "leave the country". Bond knew that if Lasko does have the ability to gather important information he could also have the ability to track his whereabouts. Bond stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. Satisfied with his current plan, he dressed himself in his usual black suit. He holstered he now beloved Walter ppk in his under arm holster under his left arm. He walked out of his room and toward the elevator. He was taken to the lobby floor where he was stopped by a concierge calling his name.

"Mister Bond, Mister Bond!" Bond stopped and was greeted by the concierge. "You have a message" he took out a piece of paper and gave it to Bond. Bond took it, thanked him and continued his journey. He took look at the sheet he was given. It had what looked like an address on it.

255 Codrington Street.

Bond put the sheet back into his pocket. He walked out side and found his car parked in the front. He got into it and drove off. His original plan was to make himself a travel arrangement, but now this popped up. Bond thought it better to follow the note, so drove out of the hotel and toward the address. The drive took him a good half an hour due to heavy traffic. Once Bond reached the destination, he parked his car right outside of the building marked as 255. He got out and walked toward the building which wasn't anything to impress about. It was a small business like building the walls where gray and the doors where stiff. Bond walked inside to find that it wasn't much different. It was dirty and covered with dust. The building had obviously not been used for years. Bond walked around, not knowing what he was to find in the old structure. Bond proceeded and as he paced around he walk toward the middle of the small reception room. When he had reached the center the floor gave a sudden jolt then began a slow control decent downward. Bonds first reaction was to jump off, but he thought better of it, he was curious to see where he was going, and overall, why it was he who had been sent there. Bond reached the basement and the platform stopped moving. Bond walked off and as soon as he did it started to go back up. Bond looked around and saw nothing but dusty furniture and a foundation which seemed unstable. He walked around and a bit more wondering what this was all about.

"Well, Mr. Bond, what do you think of it?" came a voice behind Bond. The voice was a bit high pitch, like a woman's. Bond quickly turned around to find that it was a woman. She was tall with a nice figure. Bond noticed that she was also a bit of a strong woman with thick thigh muscles and strong arms. She wore very casual cloths, jeans and a T-shirt.

"I think it's quite nice" Bond put a smile on his face. "Miss."

"Fraud, Libitina Fraud. Now you're probably wondering what this is all about."

"The thought did cross my mind."

"Welcome to section 'S' Mr. Bond" Libitina walked over to a wall and pushed a button. Suddenly the walls all started to move, turning around to show there backside. Each wall showed now showed wide variety of weapons, and gadgets. Bond now knew where he was. England has a section in almost every major country which deals with the local problems of its district. Section "S" was in charge of Sydney and the surrounding area. Bond was now in the heart of the weapons storage. Bond walked from one end of the room to the other inspecting all of its contents.

"Nice little collection of toys you have here" said Bond. "I don't think they will be much use for my current assignment."

"Yes, well they are always here. But if there is anything you need, anything at all just let us know" said Libitina.

"Yes, well now that you mention it there are a few things I could use. Firs off, is there a place to stay in here?"

"Oh yes right through that door" Libitina pointed at a door straight in front of her. "it's small but cozy. The bathroom is right next to it."

"Great, I'll need a place."

"Aren't you checked in at the Hilton hotel?"

"Yes, but I'll need to check out soon. Have to make it look like I have left the country."

"Ah, yes, almost forgot, you on a spy job. You'll to be sneaking around that damn new intelligence building."

"What do you mean by damn?"

"Oh, they guy who started it, Mr. Laurth Lasko, he's not too much of a nice person. I used to see him around when he was part of the section. But now he has gone up in the world, and locks us lower people out."

"Yes, well, at least we are on the same page now. That building he's in, do you by any chance of blueprints of it."

"Ah, yes, I thought you'd want those. I even have better then just blue prints. Libitina walked to the other side of the room, she took out a large piece of paper which was rolled up. He brought back to Bond and the unrolled it. She spread across the floor. It had a full layout of the building.

"Now if you look at this layout we have marked down some of the vital key points and objects. These red marks signify security cameras and there range of view. Down here is what you're going to want to get to, the main file storage rooms. Now as you can imagine it's pretty well guarded. First you will to get into the communications room. From there you can enter the filing room. Now only personal are allowed in the filing room and it is guarded by both men and secure doors. So you can't just walk blow your way in."

"Hmm, point taken, so how do you propose that I do get in?" Bond put a little emphasis on the word "do".

"Simple, only the personal are allowed. Libitina took out a small card from her pocket. You have been official hired as a new communicator." She handed the card to Bond. Bond looked at it. It had his face portrait on it and a bunch of fake info.

"Mr. Steven Berkoff?"

"Yes, that was just one of our names we had in out database. So, Mr. Berkoff, I guess you'll want this map. Well, we can actually do better. Libitina took off a watch she was where on her left hand. This is from your friend "Q". It doesn't have all those nice lethal devices in it though."

"So what does it have? I know "Q"; he wouldn't just make a nice watch."

"Yes well, this watch has this whole map of the building in memorized inside it. It's small, but does its job." She pushed a button and the watch went from showing the time and date to a map of the building. "Now as you can see it is zoomed in on one room of the building. Use the side buttons to scroll through out the layout." Bond watched as she demonstrated it.

"Well, with that thing, I don't have any more excuses for being late to work."

"It is also a miniature camera. The lens is right here" Libitina pointed to a spot on the side of the watch in between two buttons. "Just hold this button for 3 seconds and it will take one picture. Memory can store 5 shots. It hooks up to the computer where you can download and send them to your government."

"Neat tick."

"Yes well anyway, tomorrow you will leave for your new job. You can catch up on some rest if you need to."

"Yes, well there is one more thing I must do" Bond said. "I need to make some travel arrangements and check out of my hotel."

"Ah yes of course, I can book you on the next flight to England."

"That would be splendid." Bond look around the room with a inquisitive look on his face.

"How exactly do I get out of here?"

"Oh" Libitina walked to a wall and pushed a button. The platform started to come back down. "There you go and to get back down just bush in the specially marked brick. You see it. The platform got to the bottom and Bond walked on. "Oh wait, one more thing, here is the number for here. It's a secure line so don't worry about calling from anywhere or at any time."

"Thanks, I'll see you in a little while."

"It's going to be a pleasure working with you Mister Berkoff." Bond smiled back at her

"I'm sure the pleasure will be all mine." Then the platform started to bring Bond back to the main level.