The Name Is Bond

The girl with the rippling mane of long blonde hair, her svelte body wrapped in a short red dress which showed off her mile-long legs, sashayed to the bar where her prey sat on the barstool. He was a mouth-watering specimen of manhood, tall, lean and dressed to the nines in a hand-made suit. As she sidled up and sat on the barstool next to him showcasing her legs to the best effect, he glanced appreciatively at her and she saw that he had a chiselled jaw, a thin silver scar on his right cheek and blue-grey eyes. His mouth was a bit cruel and his eyes were cold, but that only added to his allure as she introduced herself and her eyes shot him an invitation he could not miss.

He raised his glass to her in a salute as he said “The name’s Bond.. James Bond. I…”. He stopped abruptly as his wrist watch set up an incessant beeping. It was an emergency code which indicated that his presence was immediately required at the Secret Intelligence Service Headquarters. “Hold that thought..,“ he said to the girl, as he pressed a quick kiss onto her pouty red lips and strode out of the bar where a valet quickly brought around his Aston Martin DB5. 

Within no time he had traversed the streets of London and was seated at the desk of M, the head of the Secret Service. She looked agitated as she spread a series of photos on the desk and ran him through his next mission. The photos showed an oceanic background with seamen on a ship lowering what looked like a nuclear warhead into the water. 

M explained, “Intelligence reports show that a nuclear warhead is being lowered into the Pacific Ocean and is most likely to be set off at a particular time. The area where the warhead is being lowered is identified as being rich in methane hydrates, which is a source of natural gas. The exploding nuclear warhead will heat up the ocean floor converting the crystalline nature of methane hydrates to its gaseous form. The villain seems to have invented the method to trap this gas and convert it into fuel, which he could sell to third-world countries and make himself a few trillions richer. This explosion in the ocean would rock the ocean floor and set off waves in all directions having catastrophic effects on the bordering countries. He has to be stopped at any cost.”

James was fully alert now as he considered all the possibilities. “ Any update on his location ?” he asked. 

“Yes,” replied M, “Tapping into the communications to the ship show that orders are being issued from a remote jungle in Indonesia. He has kept himself far away from the action, hasn’t he ? Also, the time to set off the explosion has been recorded at 10.38 a.m. which is a little over 10 hours from now. You have to get to Indonesia and neutralise the threat.

“And how do you propose I get from London to Indonesia in that time frame ?” asked James skeptically.

“Well, that requires me to call Q who will brief you. Good luck James and God speed, “ said M.

Q, the weapons expert walked in and took James to a hangar where he showed him a sleek aircraft, the likes of which James had never seen before. “The ConCorJet,” Q said proudly, “ faster and safer than the Concord, not available to the public yet. It will get you to Indonesia in time.”

James marvelled at the gleaming aerodynamic specimen as Q handed him his weapons. A small Walther PPK firearm, a smart phone with a separate heat sensor, and a specially equipped wristwatch. He made him change his suit blazer, to one which had a slightly padded back. 

In no time, the ConCorJet had taken off and James went through all the details of the mission and decided to take a nap to refresh himself . By the time the jet made its final descent into Indonesia, James was primed and ready for action. A helicopter dropped him off close to his destination in what looked like the thickest jungle of Indonesia, before flying off.

James walked slowly through the jungle hoping that no hungry predators were lurking around. He had many skills but his ability to fight off wild animals had not been tested yet. His smartphone showed him the villain’s GPS location and he had the heat sensor out which showed him if there was any human movement. As he neared the location, he could see red and yellow shapes on his heat map which indicated the presence of men in the vicinity. Though it was broad daylight, the thick trees let very little light filter in and James chose a vantage point to hide and check out his surroundings. 

A large clearing had been cut out into the woods, where the villain’s hideout was located. There was a small log cabin in the centre of the woods, next to which stood a helicopter. A little distance away stood a ramshackle hut likely for the guards. There were about 6 men wearing army fatigues patrolling the perimeter holding Kalshnikov rifles. It looked like James had his work cut out for him. He looked at the weapons with him and realised that he would have to grab atleast one of the Kalashnilov’s to help him get to the cabin at the centre.

Staying behind the trees James made his way through the forest, till he had reached the point behind the hut. There was only one guard posted there and James went as close to him as possible, while still keeping behind the trees. He let out a low whistle. The guard cocked his ears and walked towards the trees to check out the source. James had his tiny dart gun out and ready. He let loose a tranquilizing dart which sunk into the guard’s neck. The guard toppled like a log and James quickly pulled him behind the trees and divested him of his weapons, a mean looking knife and the Kalashnikov rifle.

He slipped from behind the trees and sneaked inside the hut from the open window on the rear wall. He was pondering his next move when the door of the hut slowly opened. James had just enough time to hide behind the door as one of the burly guards walked in. James lifted his rifle and brought the butt down hard on the guard’s head. The guard collapsed with a grunt. 2 down and 4 to go. James opened the door and looked at the two guards a little distance away. He opened the door and banged it shut. The guards looked up and one of them indicated to the other to go have a look. As the guard came close to the door, James let out a second dart. Seeing him fall, the other guard let out a loud shout and came running. James took him out with the knife. 

The guards who were on the other side of the cabin came running hearing the loud shout. Seeing the two guards fallen, they started pumping the hut with bullets from their rifles. James lay prone on the ground as the bullets ripped apart the hut. After a minute all was quiet, and suddenly the silence was broken by the TWIP-TWIP-TWIP of the helicopter rotor starting up. James realised that the villain was trying to make his escape on the helicopter. He lay still for a bit willing the guards to come inside and check the hut. Once they did, he was ready and in a minute had pumped bullets into both of them. He ran out towards the helicopter which was about to take off but the wind from the rotors blew up a sand storm which momentarily blinded him. Once his vision cleared, the helicopter was about 10 feet up in the air. James aimed his wristwatch at the helicopter and a rope coiled inside leapt out and the ends wrapped around the landing skids. James hung precariously from the rope as the helicopter pulled him upwards and then he quickly pulled himself up using the rope and grabbed on to the landing skids. 

The helicopter listed to one side with his added weight, but James had grabbed onto the door handle and now stood on the skids as the helicopter soared above the tree tops. He yanked open the pilot’s door ,grabbed him by the neck and threw him out of the chopper. He quickly took the pilot’s seat and righted the helicopter which continued to fly above the jungle. He turned towards the villain, fully expecting to have a gun trained on him, but the villain in his hurry had only managed to escape with the remote control of the nuclear bomb clutched to his chest. He unfortunately had to wait for the exact time to press the button and there were about 5 minutes to go. James aimed a punch to the centre of the villain’s nose and executed a neat upper cut below his jaw. The villain who had wanted to dominate the world, passed out cold on his seat. James, now clutching the remote, jumped out of the helicopter and the parachute which popped out from his padded suit, helped him land safely on the ground. In a minute, he had opened the remote and deactivated the bomb. Only then did he pause to let out a sigh of relief.

The next evening found James in the same bar again. His work had been praised and the Prime Minister had personally called to congratulate him. The same girl appeared once again and this time James had no reason to decline her invitation. They walked out of the bar together.