Golden Bat – Chapter Six
James Bond was studying his laptop with an intensity he usually reserved for women. This data was not only interesting, it was damning. He took a sip of his drink he had next to him. Two single bourbons with some ice that wasn't being given a chance to melt. He gulped it down and went back to looking at the data. Without breaking his gaze at the laptop he added some more bourbon into his glass.
They were hiding something in the Wayne Tech factory he had broken into, that was for sure, and it looked like they might be hiding a nuclear bomb - but what did they want it for? There was a Wayne Tech Satellite launching pad just outside of Gotham. With those facilities and a multiple nuclear warhead at his disposal, Bruce Wayne was a nuclear power all by himself.
The guards he employed were all ex-cons as well and some of them had links to some of the more famous local gangsters. To be honest, this Damian Alvey character tended to deal with all the business for Wayne Tech. He looked at the Wayne website. Wayne Tech was just one arm of a multi-billion dollar industry. What was concerning him was that Bruce Wayne had still not issued any demands. Normally it was along the lines of "Pay me $100 billion dollars or I start wiping out your cities. I'll start with London." That would have his employers jumping up and down. But still, Bruce Wayne was already a billionaire. Why would he want more money? What could be his motivation? Then again it could be more money he wanted. For some people it was like a drug. They could never have too much.
He skimmed through Bruce Wayne's biography again. He lost his parents at a young age. When he was eighteen he spent a few years travelling the globe. That part of his life was pretty much undocumented. Who had he met in his travels? Had his views on the world changed then? The past few years he had been living the life of a wealthy playboy. The society pages often ran articles on the latest women in his life. Those missing few years concerned Bond. He had met several "sleeper" agents in his life. Agents of the communists who spent many years in England settling in with a wife, family and a job but all the while their loyalties lay with Mother Russia. When the signal went out they carried out whatever they had been tasked to do.
Was Wayne like that? The Russians were apparently itching to reclaim their lost territory, and Wayne was giving it to them on a plate by stealing warheads and showing the area was unsafe and ungovernable. Something the Russians, not surprisingly, wanted to put right.
It was obvious that he had two priorities. Find and remove the nuclear warhead to safety and secondly eliminate Bruce Wayne. Without their leader most gangs tended to head back under whatever rock they crawled from. He got out his gun from its shoulder holster and checked and cleaned it methodically.
He looked at his watch. He had better get ready; the charity function was soon. The perfect opportunity to eliminate Bruce Wayne.
Two hours later, Wayne had calmed down a bit. He did not trust Damian Alvey now at all. It was his fault, he supposed; he had been so busy being Batman and Bruce Wayne he had left the business side on one side. As long as the money kept coming in he pretty much ignored all the reports that landed on his desk.
Alfred was fussing about him as usual as he put on his tuxedo. He looked in the mirror. He was still glaring. He relaxed a bit and the normal Bruce Wayne smile broke out of the steel.
Alfred drove him down to the event. His hands were drumming against the seat with impatience.
"Are you not well, sir?"
"I'm fine, Alfred, but I might be poor company for a while. How long does this function go on for, I've got some serious investigations to do?"
"Till they run out of champagne I think, Master Bruce. You know, apparently Miss Selina Kyle will be there as well…"
"Right, right."
"I think you two would make a lovely couple."
"Alfred, please. I get enough of those comments from my PA, Miss Lee." He looked at Alfred suspiciously. "Are you two trying to get me settled down?"
"I wouldn't know Miranda at all, sir."
"Ah ha! Miranda! I thought so, you two are on first name terms now then? Well, in future could you two keep your comments strictly to do with work?"
"We do only talk about work, sir. You are our work."
Bruce shook his head. "Okay Alfred, we're here." They were outside Gotham at the revolving restaurant. It was set on the edge of a lake and view rotated round showing the lake, forest and mountains on one side and the Gotham skyline on the other..
Alfred got out of the car and opened the door for Bruce. "Have a good evening, sir. I'll park in the underground car park. Give me a call when you've finished."
"You needn't bother with that, I'll get a taxi home."
"I insist, sir. I'll be in the area," he said mysteriously.
"Who are you meeting?"
"Just a friend, sir."
"Not Miranda?"
"It might be sir, it might be!"
Bruce was shocked to see a twinkle in the old man's eye and a spring in his step as he sat back in his car. He shook his head and smiled as he saw Alfred drive off. With those two plotting against him, he was in serious trouble!
There were several dozen journalists photographing people as they walked in. He gave them his best Bruce Wayne smile and strolled up to the building. He took a deep breath and turned around to go into the restaurant.
This was a charity evening. They had cleared the tables away and set up the place like a casino. The place smelt of smoke and sweat as people lost and won fortunes. The idea was that people would gamble money so they would have a good time and give to charity. It seemed a strange idea to Bruce. He did not like gambling. He gave himself a wry smile as he thought, or not gambling with money anyway.
The place was full of rich young Gotham socialites all in their expensive tuxedoes and dresses. The women were all wearing the very latest in tight fitting clothes, or at least the ones who had the figures to flaunt it were, and there were a lot of them out tonight.
In one corner of the room he could see Damian Alvey, the director of Wayne Tech, talking to Nicholas Bennett, head of the financial auditing company Wayne used. He didn't know they knew each other. There were several other men about he didn't know as well. They were in tuxedoes but judging by the size of them they would be happier in the gym. Damian raised a hand when he saw Bruce and gave him a friendly smile. Strange, considering the chewing out he gave him earlier.
One of the men standing next to Damian was well over seven foot tall. He was hiding in the shadows and trying to stay out of sight but it was difficult for a man of his size. He could swear he saw his teeth glint like metal in the half-light of the casino.
He would talk to Damian later; his mobile phone was ringing. He looked at the screen. It was Robin. He strolled into a corner and answered the phone.
"Hey B, it's R."
"Have you got the information?"
"You don't make life easy do you? Oracle and I have been working on this the past three hours. We hacked into the CIA system first; they have a total of 35 firewalls! We only got past them by…."
"Sorry R, I haven't time for this, who is he?"
"His name is James Bond. British Secret Service. One of their top agents apparently. He's an assassin but very highly thought of by the CIA as well. We only found him because the CIA mentioned him dozens of times. That led us to the MI6, British intelligence services. Don't know what case he is working on now but he has stopped several global threats, numerous wars and has personally removed at least three despotic regimes. He is one of the good guys, although his methods are a touch lethal compared with yours."
"Thanks R, I'll be back in touch shortly." He slid the phone shut and put it back in his pocket. He looked about the room.
He could see Selina Kyle, looking as elegant and treacherous as ever, talking animatedly to a man over on the edge of one of the tables. A man he recognised.
He strolled over to her. "Selina, good to see you again. Who's your friend?"
The man turned around. He was a tall good-looking dark haired man but he had a dangerous air about him. He was also the man Batman had caught breaking out of Wayne Tech. A very dangerous man indeed.
He put out his hand. "The name's Bond, James Bond."
Bruce Wayne shook his hand cautiously. "Wayne, Bruce Wayne."
"He's British, Bruce," said Selina while poking him playfully in the arm with one finger. "He says he works for…"
"International Exports," said Bond, not smiling. "I'm here on business. Do I take it you are our host for this evening?"
"Yes. Well it was arranged by Wayne Tech, a branch of the company I own. Damian Alvey is the real host."
Selina ran a hand down Bond's chest. "James was going to show me how to play poker."
"If you play with me you might lose your shirt."
"Is that a promise?"
"It's a fact."
Bruce cut in. "Selina, I was going to show you the…" He thought quickly. "Art work they have here. Quite extraordinary brush strokes from a new artist in town."
Selina looked over at Bond. "Apparently James is a bit of an artist with strokes."
"Really. Really. Can I have a word with Mr Bond a moment, please?" He glanced at Selina then added a bit of the Batman steel to his words. "Mr Bond and I have some important information to talk about."
"It would be a pleasure, Mr Wayne." He put an arm out. "After you."
"No, after you."
"I insist."
"You two are so cute. Like the three stooges," said Selina. "You know I don't know which one is better looking?" She looked from Bruce to James and back again. She took an olive on a cocktail stick from a nearby tray and started nibbling it while looking at the two men. "It's a tough question alright, I might have to think about it long and hard."
Bruce pushed Bond away. "We need to talk. Good night, Selina."
"Good night Selina, don't wait up."
Bruce Wayne pushed Bond towards one of the private function rooms to the side of the restaurant. He nodded to Damian Alvey as he passed him and pushed Bond into the room. He slammed the door shut and then stopped.
Bond had backed away a few paces and was pointing a pistol at him. "I didn't think you would make it this easy for me."