Active Duty Chapter 30
As soon as their plane touched down, M and Eve were whisked away in a van with blackened windows. Their destination was still uncertain, but what little M could see led her to believe that they were being taken away from the city centre.
James and Jack arrived moments earlier via military transport and were already reroute to a safe house on the outside of town to meet with both the American and British agents who had been assembled to carry out the mission of rescuing M and Eve, as well as, capturing Sergei Mirrinov. Along with the teams, Jack had somehow managed to convince the Russian government officials to lend them a few trustworthy operatives for the mission. Their knowledge of the surrounding area would prove to be quite useful, and due to the gravity of the situation, the extra back up couldn't possibly hurt.
"How the hell were you able to get us Russian agents?" asked James as he continued to watch the small GPS screen Q had given him
"I very nicely explained that this is a matter of National Security, and we were going in with or without their permission. I also mentioned to them the latest evidence we found with regards to Mirrinov and may have suggested that unless they cooperated, that information might happen to find its way to the nearest worldwide media outlet. Can you imagine how it would look for the government to have given one of the most notorious cold war criminals immunity? Once they had time to think about it, they were more than willing to help us out with this joint venture of ours"
"Well played my friend" replied James with a smile
Once they had arrived at the safe house, Jack went around taking a count of how many men they had at their disposal as well as an inventory of weapons and other gadgets that were avilable.
"Any news on M or Eve?" asked Jack as he put on his glasses and inspected the gadget that James was holding
"No, it appears that we were right and they are being taken to Kolbino"
"What the hell is in Kolbino?" asked Jack
"A fortress that's what" came a reply from a tall, clean shaven man standing in the doorway
"Victor...how nice of you to join us" replied Jack as he crossed the room to shake the man's hand
"Jack" replied the man "It's really been too long. You should have given us more notice and we could have rolled out the red carpet, no pun intended" he said with a laugh
"Yeah, well about that...we never intended to be here or I would have given you a heads up on the situation"
"If I recall, you tried, but you just didn't have enough evidence at the time"
"Well we do now, in spades I might add"
"I've had a chance to briefly look at what your people have sent over and it is more than enough for us to bring him in..."
"Well if you thought what we sent was enough then you will be elated to find out that he has kidnapped the head of MI6 and her secretary and is having them brought to him as we speak"
Victor's expression immediately turned very serious
"Jack, we knew that if we were to go in after him there was a good chance he would be killed, but this puts a new spin on the problem"
"What kind of spin" asked James sounding a bit worried
"And you are?" asked Victor
"James Bond, British Secret Service... and you are?"
"Sorry James...Victor Federov, Meet James Bond. Victor is head of Russian Counter intelligence."
"Mr. Federov" replied James coolly
"I take it you know the head of MI6 and her secretary"
"You could say that" snapped James
"Gentlemen. Gather your men and meet me in the sitting room. If this plan has any chance of working, it will need to be precise down to the millisecond. Mirrinov is an excellent straightest and will have planned for almost every conceivable form of retaliation" replied Victor
"He's a cheerful ray of sunshine isn't he" replied James as they followed Victor to the sitting room
When they arrived at their destination, Eve and M were once again pulled from the van, marched across a small courtyard, thru a large, heavy looking door, and then down a dimly lit hallway to a room with one extraordinarily small window. Once they were in the room, their hands were freed from the hand cuffs and they were left alone.
"Well...so far so good" said Eve in an attempt to lighten the mood "At least they've kept us together"
"Don't count on it" replied M rather stoically "This is what he did last time...let us believe that we were safe, but we weren't...far from it in fact"
Eve put her arm tentatively around M's shoulders in an attempt to keep her calm.
"He'll find us" she said quietly
"I know, but what will happen when he does? Mirrinov isn't going to just let him walk in here to get us. We have to find a way to help from the inside. Eve, whatever happens, just know that I am so sorry for getting you involved in all this" said M as she turned to the younger woman with tear in her eyes "I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, but..."
"M" replied Eve "This isn't your fault, so don't you dare go blaming yourself. There isn't any place I would rather be than right here with you, and I will do whatever it takes to keep YOU safe so don't you forget that" she said bluntly "Rememer that I'm an agent as well and my duty is to protect you"
"Thank you Eve, you're a good girl" replied M gently cupping Eve's face and resting her forehead against Eve's
They could hear the echo of footsteps coming closer and with every step, M's entire body tensed. As the door opened, M could see the silhouette of a man standing in the doorway. The man entered the room and grabbed Eve's arm, roughly pulling her away from M and dragging her from the room as he slammed the door behind him. As she heard the bolt slid across the door she slid down the wall and began to cry. "I've got to pull myself together" she thought to herself as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks
"Damn it" snapped James as he pace around the room
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"They've been separated" replied James "We've got to get in there"
"Well what did you have in mind? Just walk up and ring the doorbell and ask if they would be so kind as to return your wife and her secretary" snapped Jack out of frustration
"His wife?" asked Victor as he walked into the room "You didn't tell me she was his wife"
"Well, not yet, but when this is over..."
"Mr. Bond, we will do everything in our power to get them back, but for now you have got to remain calm. Maybe this isn't the best place for you to be right now" replied Victor
"This is exactly where he should be. He is her top agent, He will have no problem keeping his emotions in check, and if anyone can get them back in one piece it's 007" said Jack
"I hope you're right, for their sake"
TO BE CONTINUED...