Chapter 13
Helicopter's lit the blackened sky, spotlights reflecting off the ripples the rotating blades create in the water below. The rifle barrels of the men within the flying machine follow and target in the night below.
The rapid sound of gunfire increases the cacophony of sound that drown out the shouts of men below.
Within the house below people shout over the sound of gunfire and smoke that drift into the room. Silva prowled the corridors as he shouted orders and pushed men out of his way.
"Get them! I need time!"
M sat at the table still sipping her wine and wondering what would happen. She thought it safer to stay where six would find her easily. They would be watching her heat signature from the satellite above.
The door to the dinning room opened with Severine rushing in and looking worried. "Come...quickly!"
"Where? They are coming for me. It would be best if you stay with me so that they can find us both."
"You don't understand. Come. We have to leave before…"
Severine pulled M from her seat. She headed for the door and out into the hall. There were shots fired in the front part of the house and smoke was beginning to permeate the house. Severine canted under her breath "2...1...0...3; 2...1...0...3…"
M thought it was taking too long for Bond and the team to finish this. She had not anticipated that Silva had enough men to mount this kind of defense.
"What is 2103 why are you repeating that?"
Half way down the hall Severine pushed a panel revealing a hidden door and steps down towards the basement. "Where are we going? Do you have access to the garage?" M asked as they descended into the dark. Another small door opened into another hallway and Severine continued to pull her along to a keypad.
"The code for the safe room...remember it."
M nodded and followed her. "How will they find us if we're in a safe room hidden in the basement? Wouldn't it be prudent to drive away while they are distracted?"
"You don't understand his plans. He was expecting them to come...he planned for this…"
The lights flickered and a small explosion hit and echoed through the house. Dust fell from the ceiling. The light disappeared with another explosion.
A flashlight appeared out of nowhere and a growl. "Where do you think you are taking my prize?"
It was not the voice that M had hoped to hear.
"I was just trying to…"
Silva growled and closed the distance between them as the lights flickered back on. He grabbed Severine by the neck and pushed her up against the wall.
M could see the panic in Severine's eyes as Tiago squeezed.
M screamed…"STOP IT!" She pounded her small fist on Tiago's back...
But Severine's neck snapped and he callously dropped her to the floor and turned on M who was shaking in shock by this time. Damn him!
"Why!" M cried to the large looming man who was about to finish whatever he planned for her.
Where the bloody hell was Bond!
Bond continued driving through the Italian countryside, his heat racing. Was he going the right way? Where was M? "Damn it Q! Hurry up and find her."
His mobile rang and he hit the button on his headset. "What?!"
"We've found her! Or I should say she contacted us. Oh how times have changed. They forget that landlines still exist yet always take the mobile thinking they have removed all chances to call for help."
"Q...tell me!"
"You need to turn around Bond. You've passed the correct road. There is a team heading in a Blue Thunder helicopter with six team members. Their ETA is 24 minutes and they will be expecting you to be going in hot.
"I will be there in 10."
Bond accelerated as the destination Q sent was on his mobile to guide him. He would need to stop short of the destination to get ready and approach from a better angle. The distraction of the helicopter arriving would allow him to slip in and kill the man who took M.
Bond found the lane and pulled off into the ditch on the opposite side. He hopped out of the car and opened the boot to find his go bag. He armed himself after changing into black tactical gear quickly. All pockets contained extra clips and a knife was strapped to his thigh.
Bond alerted Q through his earpiece as he started to jog down the lane towards the house. There would be cameras in the trees, he knew that but there was no visible response yet.
Bond heard the distant sound of the helicopter and lights around the compound turned upward.
Bond rushed for the fence line and hopped over it landing in a crouch as a guard ran towards him shouting. Bond shot him and he dropped dead to the ground. Bond had to move as he went for the back of the house as the helicopter arrived, opening fire on anyone aiming a gun towards them.
Bond saw other guards and dispatched them with almost effortlessly brutal efficiency. Bond's blood pounded in his ears as he moved to the back door just as men started flooding out. Bond hurled himself towards them shooting and dogging fists as he took out three men. His clip emptied Bond dispatched the fourth by throwing his knife at the man't neck.
Bond retrieved his knife, wiping it clean on the victim's clothing before re-sheathing it and swapping out clips as he entered the house. The troops were already exchanging firefights on the front of the massive home.
"Q let the ground troops know I entered from the rear of the building,"
I will Bond, And do be careful 007.
Bond ignored the front of the house. There was no way that the madman was not stowing M away from all of that. Bond ran to the first set of stairs that he could find, in the kitchen.
He went down cautiously. Moving down the hall, he heard the distant sound of blasts and plaster falling from the ceiling. Smoke began to fill the hallway and he heard a scream "STOP IT!"
That was M. Bond ran down the long hallway…
Silva pushed M through the open door of the safe room. "What are you doing?!"
A beep sounded from his com…"Attention….Troops have entered the building...orders! orders?"
Silva grumbled…."why now...Fight them damn it!"
"Come again? Orders not clear?"
Silva pushed M into the safe room and then went back into the hallway to issue the orders to his men. M slammed the door shut behind him.
M knew he had the code to get in but at least this would stop him from blowing up the entire house on top of them as he had suspected he had planned. It would be a perfect way to play dead and by that logic there must be another way out.
M turned on the lights and moved into the room. There were racks against the walls full of supplies. She passed them looking for a weapon. There was a room that was the beginning of an apartment. There were electronics and a small lounge as well as what she assumed was a bedroom, bath and kitchen.
M searched for weapons and had just noticed a panel that she was positive would show her what she was looking for when the door opened as an explosion shook the house.
James saw a glimpse of white hair disappear through a doorway as she was pushed by the hulking man who had taken her. He yelled into a com unit as he held a detonator switch.
Bond had to get that away from him before he could kill him. He rushed the man tackling him from behind and grabbed the device but Silva fought back. He rolled over trying to steamroller over Bond. The two rolled around on the floor grunting like animals fighting over food.
"Nice to meet you too Mr. Bond" Silva grunted.
"Where is she?"
"Safe. Can we stop all this rough housing and just speak like civilized gentlemen?"
They each had a hold on the other's hands to prevent a killing blow with a knife or gun.
"How civilized are you? I don't kidnap people."
"No you just kill them. For her. Really Mr. Bond, I thought you would be far more curious as to why all this is going on."
"I don't trust you not to stab me in the back." Silva relaxed his grip on Bond's writs. Bond pushed him away, grabbing the black detonator that he had been holding and backed up against the opposite wall. Bond cautiously watched Silva while looking at the detonator in his hand,
"What were you going to do with this?"
"I think that you should give that back to me agent Bond."
"Really and I think you need to open that door and let M come with me. You can't win. The team is clearing out your men as we speak."
"That would be what you think. But you do not know that for certain Mr. Bond." Silva spoke in Spanish into his headset and they heard more gunfire and another grenade went off sprinkling dust and debris from the ceiling down upon him. He looked unhappy with what was said and tore off the headset tossing it to the ground and crushing it with his shoe.
Bond didn't like the way he looked and it wasn't really directed at him which was a surprise. "Q...status update."
Static sounded over the line.
"What's the matter Agent Bond, orphaned son of Andrew Bond…"
"We're...underground." Bond protested but he knew that if there was static that they were being scrambled intentionally and for that to happen...Silva had expected them to come. This was an invitation not a hideaway or escape.
"Who's home is this?"
Silva smirked and began to extend his arm towards the keypad controls on the door.
"Get away from that door." Bond said, worried about him ducking into the room and hurting M before he could dive through the door.
"But why agent Bond? I think it's high time the three of us had a chat about our future."
"Why would we want to do that?"
"Because there is far more going on here than you have yet to imagine. And I want to know if mother has figured that out yet."
"Mother?"
"Well you have to admit she gave birth to the both of us in a way. Yes...yes...you don't want to think of her like that but to me...it's more than a turn on and quite oedipal, yet it still the best term to use for the woman who shaped MI6 through force of her will alone."
"Why are you doing all this? Why didn't you just kill her for your revenge and me while on the ship? Her daughter? You have had all the opportunity but yet you play cat and mouse?"
Silva was about to push in the numbers when the door suddenly swung open shocking the tall blonde man and obscuring him from view. M looked across the hall seeing Bond before her standing there with his mouth open. "Bond, good get in here I need you."
Silva peaked around the door and M recoiled. "Well mother, both your boys are home. I think it's time we had a discussion."
To be continued...