Rider Meets Bond
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Alex Rider or the iconic figure, James Bond. They belong to Anthony Horowitz and Ian Fleming respectively.
Chapter Ten: From Italy with Love
The dull hum of the Renault Laguna's V6 engine was the only thing that could be heard inside the French automobile as it made it was along the outskirts of London. Inside, the lone passenger could be observed handling a Glock 22 whilst piloting the vehicle with his other hand. Following his original escape from Italy, he was now headed to Great Britain's capital to meet up with his support team. Earlier in Lyon, he had managed to eliminate an Interpol agent whilst relieving him of his personal vehicle and firearm. Since then, the passage into England was made easier with constant alternating between vehicles acquired through illicit means. The time spent within the vicinity of Interpol's headquarters had not been entirely fruitless as Petrovsky received updated information on his wanted status and search pattern. Law enforcement officials in the United Kingdom had kindly notified the world policing force of his APW (all-ports warning) status, which effectively restricted passage into the country via airports; ports and international railway stations. Several times he was forced to slow the car to a crawl as a mist thickened to fog and drowned the road.
A brief flashback occurred in Petrovsky's mind whilst he deftly maneuvered the car to turn a sharp corner along the highway towards London. Originally left for dead by the board of Scorpia, he had never thought he's see any part of the world again, let alone Venice. He had always been taught that the end justified the means, as he fought diligently to safeguard Scorpia's existence during their turbulent beginning. The board had chosen to overlook the fact that he had sacrificed blood and tears to watch his organization blossom into the world's foremost terror organization. Scorpia differed greatly from the other terrorist factions that claimed their acts of monstrosities in the name of religion. For the former espionage agents that formed the board, they were simply interested in selling their services to the highest bidder. In its youth, Scorpia struggled to convince potential customers of their services, given the lack of credentials and prestige. Petrovsky acted swiftly to convince them otherwise, instructing several Scorpia agents to eliminate those responsible for his expulsion from the Army.
This brought Scorpia greater standing in the world, as potential customers began queuing for their services. One after another, projects and funding seemed to pour into the agency's coffers as they grew in stature and notoriety. This had not escaped the notice of numerous intelligence agencies as they began to piece together what little information they had of the previously unknown terror organization. Soon enough, news of defection by a high-ranking North Korean general began to circulate in espionage circles. A potential client lined up the monetary reward of $5 million for the assassination of the renegade. The Scorpia board initially considered the tempting monetary reward at hand whilst analyzing the potential success of the mission. The mission was deemed impossible, given the nature of the impenetrable fort that was his home and was voted down.
Petrovsky had begged to differ as the view of $5 million would've greatly improved Scorpia's coffers and enabled them to enhance the organization's structure. Having single-handedly eliminated virtually every living soul in the general's dwelling, he returned to Scorpia triumphant with the knowledge that he had secured crucial funds for Scorpia to have a strong presence in the world. Petrovsky's actions sent tremors around the world as intelligence agencies acted fervently in their pursuit to update what little knowledge they have of Scorpia. The acts had also not gone unnoticed by the board as they voted unanimously for his immediate removal and elimination. The celebratory dinner from which Petrovsky shared with his fellow board members presented the perfect opportunity to remove the Russian colonel.
Hence, Petrovsky was stunned to awaken from his stupor to find himself striped naked along a frozen river bank in Siberia. Hyperthermia should've grievously affected the former Russian colonel, had it not been for an unwary fisherman who was unfortunate enough to attempt making an honest living that day. Police officials found his corpse floating along the river bed several days later, striped of every article of clothing which he previously had on him. From there, Petrovsky had attempted to escape the frozen wasteland and return to Venice to seek his revenge on the traitorous acts of the Scorpia board. It irked him to discover that the board had proceeded to approve the purchase via lease of Malagosto and the subsequent development of infrastructure to turn the island into a facility for training and assessment of future agents with the funds from his mission.
However, the escape from Siberia proved to be much more difficult upon Scorpia's discovery that Petrovsky had survived the ordeal, following reports from their agents in the field. Tasked with eliminating their former leader, he was then driven into the Siberian forests whilst attempting the escape his demise. This led to the speculation and eventual acceptance that he had succumbed to bitter cold and starvation. Unfortunately, Petrovsky merely baited time whilst he waited for the opportune moment to exact his revenge on the Scorpia board for his exile. Two decades passed and Petrovsky had turned into a myth in Scorpia folklore, many agents unaware of the organization's dark past. Despite that, Yuan Zhi had not forgotten about the Russian colonel himself. He was well-aware of the once existence of the disgraced leader and he established a taskforce to discover his whereabouts. The arduous search almost yielded nothing as Petrovsky made little sign of his existence within the Siberian peninsula. However, he was soon located when one of the taskforce's members unwittingly intruded his cave dwelling and met his early demise.
Upon meeting the triad leader in China, he was granted access to the purported plan to overthrow Scorpia as the world's foremost terrorist organization. The success of their arrangements hinged on the need for a leader to generate internal turmoil within Scorpia and accomplish their target. After all, what better way to announce your presence than taking out the world leaders at the G8 summit? The ambitious plans of the Chinese leader did not matter to the ex Russian colonel. He had merely relished the sole opportunity to exact his revenge on the Scorpia board for their treachery. At that moment in time, nothing else mattered; other than the screams of agony and the look of terror on their faces.
The constant thuds of rubber soles onto the tarmac could be heard as a lean young man ran through the streets of the Italian capital. Stopping momentarily to cast his eyes in the alleyway behind him, he was perturbed to find it desolated. He had almost been certain that he was being stalked from the moment he entered the café fifteen minutes prior. Running his wrist across his forehead to cast away several beads of sweat, he proceeded to continue his terror-stricken run from his unknown assailant. Leaping across two empty rubbish bins and scaling the fence wall that blocked the opposite end of the alleyway, he seemed more relieved upon landing at the base. As he were about to dust off the remnants from his imaginary chase, he yelped out in terror as he was grasped by a pair of strong hands and cast into the fence.
"BOND!"
"Well, I see you still remember your old friend. What's the matter, Giuseppe?" 007 casually asked, as he slammed the Italian against the fence once more to emphasize his point.
Chocking in grief and terror, Giuseppe Rossi could barely breathe as he struggle to meet the cold stare of the British secret agent. "Wha- What do you want from me?" he attempted to divert 007's attention whilst reaching for his holstered Glock 17 that sat snugly behind his back.
"For starters, I'd like for both of us to remain intact at the end of this conversation," Bond affirmed as he swiftly disarmed the younger Italian agent with one deft flick. Pressing his Colt deeper into the espionage agent's back, he conveniently ejected the magazine from the Austrian handgun and subsequently dropped the semi-automatic weapon onto the ground.
"Now that we've exchanged formalities, why don't we try this again?"
Nodding his head in defeat to affirm 007's request, Bond proceeded to release his grip on the agent, allowing him to slump feebly onto the dusty ground. "What do you want from me?"
"I'd like to understand how Scorpia's undoing came without the knowledge of AISI (Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Interna)?"
Shaking his head in mock disbelief, Rossi proceeded to stutter incoherent mumblings; similar to that of a babbling toddler.
"Wrong answer. Let's try that again, shall we?" Bond queried as he lifted Rossi onto his toes and slammed him against the barbed wire fence with the Colt at his temple. "You have three seconds before I pull the trigger. One…two…"
"OK, OK! I'll tell you…but you must protect me!" he uttered through trembling lips. Rossi proceeded to wipe several random beads of sweat that had begun to drip profusely from his forehead as Bond's grip on his collar loosened. Taking a sigh of relief, Rossi proceeded to begin his tale to 007.
"Our intelligence service has gone to the dogs. We've become the laughing stock of the espionage world. Forget the KGB, CIA or MI6…We'll be lucky if we even get scraps of information, these days. The problem we face here is corruption, right to the office of the direttore! Without our assistance, Scorpia would not have successfully purchased that piece of land in Malagosto which they call their recruitment centre!"
Having persuaded Rossi to provide insider information, 007 decided to ultimately release him to continue with his tale. Past experience dictated that Italians are extremely well-versed in the art of telling tales. There was no real need to maintain an iron clad grip onto his shirt once Bond deemed it was safe for him to maintain his tale.
"…For decades, we've been on Scorpia's payroll, in exchange for our intelligence contacts from around the world and insider information. That man, Rider…How else did you think they managed to discover his whereabouts after his betrayal? Every year, our director receives a hefty pay check, courtesy from the world's foremost terrorist organisation."
This information was new for James, as it was often perceived that Scorpia had an inside man within MI6 that alerted them regarding the whereabouts of John Rider. They had not anticipated for the treachery of their fellow allies within the intelligence community to divulge trade secrets to the adversary. Nonetheless, there was one entry on the agenda for the bi-monthly Joint Intelligence Committee that was for certain, upon submission of a scathing report from their legendary espionage agent.
"So, this would put all our estimates of Scorpia's influence within the intelligence community to be wide of the mark. For decades, we've always assume d that they've controlled one tenth of the world's terrorist plots; when in fact they've actually masterminded a far greater amounts of carnage..."
"Si, signore."
"This is significant information, something that might've crossed a patriot's mind like yours to turn into a whistleblower. Perhaps you'd like to enlighten me once more as to why I shouldn't utilize that license of mine, Giuseppe?"Bond spat out, almost disgusted with the assertions of corruption.
"And who is there to turn to, Signore Bond? Things work a little differently here in Rome. The difference between retiring with your pension and in a coffin lies with your ability to maintain silence and moving on with your job. I'm already risking too much..."
Those were the last words to past the lips of Giuseppe Rossi as the clandestine alleyway was filled with eruptions of smoke grenades and heavy gunfire from all directions. With split second reaction, Bond ducked behind the waste containers; effectively shielding himself from the massacre that occurred before his very eyes. As Bond watched the life drain out from the lean Italian spy's eyes, he gripped his Colt as he primed himself for the assault by what he presumed to be Scorpia agents. Leaning outwards as the smoke began to clear from the narrow alleyway, Bond tallied three agents that were sensibly hesitant in charging blindly into the passage.
Checking the ammunition in both magazines, 007 steeled himself just as the three men began to cautiously approach Rossi's corpse. The reward that lay in store for the first man to reach Rossi was two bullets to the head and a further bullet into the chest, as Bond launched himself into the offensive. Having caught them by surprise, the remaining agents fared little better against the British spy. The second agent was dead before his body hit the ground. Whilst the third agent managed to unholster his arsenal and attempt a pot shot that buried itself into the concrete wall behind 007, Bond needed no second invitation to finish the remaining assassin as Bond subsequently emptied the Glock's remaining contents.
Upon closer inspection, Bond discovered that he had just murdered three AISI agents; presumably under the order of the direttore. The events that culminated had now spiralled out of Bond's control as he sought to dispose of Giuseppe's weapon. No doubt Alan Blunt wouldn't be pleased with his findings but he had taken necessary precautions to prevent an escalation in the already-tense interagency relations between the British and the Italians. Pausing for a brief moment of silence in the memory of his departed ally, Bond finally disappeared into the winding dark corridors in the midst of police sirens.
I realize that it has been nearly two years since I've last updated this story. I sincerely apologize for my transgression and hope to make up for it during this chapter. Feedback is always appreciated.