Chapter 1 – Remembrance
Tuesday Noon
'Stanislav Berkut'
'What?'
'My name is Stanislav Berkut, what is yours?' said the newly introduced Stanislav
'James Bond, so you are from Krasnoyarskii with an accent like that'
'You have an excellent ear Mr Bond, yes indeed I am from Krasnoyarsk although I studied at your Cambridge and got a double first, would you care for a refresher James?'
'Why yes Scotch straight'
James leans against the bar with his back to the waiter and watches carefully over the room, in front of him seating sparingly are numerous couples and women flirting with the high rollers fresh from their games on the green felt, with chips in their hands and alcohol in their blood tomorrow both of those shall be gone and so shall the women. James thinks to himself about this, knowing from his own experiences in at royale les euax facing le Chiffe and at Blades challenging the cheating Sir Hugo Drax. Here he looks at the men with knowing pity and also recalls his own time when having that attention from the females, the thrill of the win and the weight of the chips in his hand with fondness.
Now he has a boss who sees him as a liability, a tool which once was sharp and completed jobs with ease, now is rusting and dull with age. In his beloved Mi6 there are now female agents almost equalling the men in number. He is on the outside of the agency now, younger agents will think of him as being over the hill and out of touch. Bond has something to prove, not to other 00’s, not to M but only to himself.
Out in society, drugs are entering into the public culture with pop bands openly using them, the youth have changed, Woodstock in America has become a legend, the first people had visited the moon and returned and a president had been shot dead and the Munich Olympics have been attacked by terrorists and unrest is felt throughout the middle east. All around Bond life is changing and he is not moving with it. For the last 10 years he has been taking part in less and less activities through his work, being confined to welcoming a desk and a future of viewing reports for other agents and spending time at gentlemen's clubs around London often accompanied by M.
In fact it has been 4 years since the Dr Gorner and Bond's first and last time in Russia, even then he was having second thoughts about his usefulness to M and how much longer he could keep up the lifestyle. So far what has he got to show for it all as he scratches the scar on his left hand, Ш a reminder of a mistake in his past and one he will never forget.
In the four years since the passing of Gorner under the boat in Paris, Bond has tried to keep a strict regime of fitness, not to the standards that an active agent would be expected but more than enough for his current position. He stands there wondering what would happen if he had to face any one of those agents of SMERSH or SPECTRE again right now, would his body stand up, would his reflexes be sharp enough to pose a challenge. Bond knows there are enemies out there, people who would like to end his life and maybe the only reason he is still alive is that he is no longer important or a threat to anyone anymore.
Stanislav returns with two drinks, and passes one to James, 'You look distracted Mr Bond'
'Oh yes, thank you for the drink, they have a good scotch here you know, one of the finest'
'Yes so I have been told' said Berkut as he took his coffee in one go
'What are you doing here in Geneva Mr Berkut; it is a long way from Krasnoyarskii if you don’t mind me asking of course?'
'Not at all sir, I am here for the competition, I represent business concerns and the runner of the race tomorrow will be a concern for my associates'
'Oh you are referring to the water speed attempt; I understand the Americans are hopeful with their machine'
'The smart money is said to be with them, indeed it is and may I ask you of the same question sir?'
This is the first time Bond has really looks at his new companion in the face, something which during the height of the training he would have done before the first words were spoken and for a moment he was taken aback both at his lapse in concentration and at the appearance of Mr Berkut. He was taller than Bond by half a foot and cast an impressive shadow, slender and carries himself well, bonds training told him that this was a man who has been trained in similar skills and arts which Bond also has been.
His face is classic Russian, with strong features, high cheekbones and narrow eyes, not that of the orient but noticeably different to James. His left eye however is simply not there, skin from Stanislav’s cheek flows up to his forehead covering the entire eye socket with skin. Something like this must have been a birth defect and which the man has had to live with since then, this however has not stopped the man from achieving some success in life as Bond sees the man’s watch, and can tell that he suit is not a cheaply made and is of similar quality with the one which Bond is wearing. Bonds reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out his cigarettes after offering one to Stanislav both men light up the Balkan-Sobraine made especially for Bond. After that he caught himself starring for a second at the face and almost like the man reads Bond’s mind, he says
'It’s from birth you understand, I am quite alright with it, some people prefer not to look, what do you feel when first seeing my appearance sir?'
'I see a man who is confident and successful in his life, a focused man intent on achieving his goals'
'Great answer Mr Bond'
'Thank you I thought so'
'Have you seen the boats yet?'
'No I was going to make a trip to the harbour after lunch'
'Great, my organisation has access to the machine, I will invite you have a have closer look than the public does if you wish?'
'That would be splendid sir'
'Great we shall depart at 1.30 sharp from outside the hotel, my driver shall take us there'
With that Stanislav left the gaming area of the hotel De le Piax without another word or any gesture of leaving, Berkut walked purposefully towards the exit, just like the men who Bond imagine he is to do. This left Bond alone with his thoughts about what just happened and a slight concern about the man from Krasnoyarskii. Something about the man reminded Bond of old feelings which right now he was unable to quite recall. He ordered another drink and lights a cigarette and let all concerns leave his mind about that man. Instead he walked to the sitting area outside of the bar which has a view over the entire harbour, from here James can see numerous boats of different sizes travelling through the waterway, can see the engineers busily working on engines and preparing the machine for demonstration later in the day.
Helicopters are patrolling the bay, the sound of the rotors filing the bay with noise, there TV crews setting up equipment around the location at key vantage points. Bond stood there stock still taking in the sights and all the time some slight smell of danger had crept into his head, there in the background something was calling out to him, something that his training would have picked up on if his senses were at their height, for now he will have to endure the uncertainty. Bond looked down at his new Omega watch designed to his specifications and collected from the store facing Lake Geneva, he has a strong feeling of pleasure looking down at the complicated face of his time piece. Remembering that this one is simply a watch without any of the special extras ingeniously crafted by the Q branch, it is an extremely expensive watch and that is all.
Bond begins to recollect colleagues from the past, remembering how many of them had made it to the semi retirement that he has, and he can’t think of one who is still alive or not still on active service, is he unique in this, as being the only agent who has survived the term of duty as a double 0? How many people who have served in the same way as James can say that they have lived, and what kind of existence is this, Bond is aware that he left loose ends in the course of his work and that people out there could be waiting for him?
At any point as he stands watching the activity out on Lake Genève, an agent of Blofield could stab him in the back. Those are the thoughts which Bond has to deal with each and every day, a certain level of alertness has to be maintained by him, but for how long and when can he ever tell himself that the threat is not there anymore. There can be no warning or letter confirming that he can relax and that no one will be waiting for him around the next corner, this is the curse and the lasting legacy of his lifestyle. More and more he finds himself starring out into the distance and forgetting the environment, returning to past events and excitement and wishing for some of the same feelings to enter his life again, to feel the strength in his old bones again, to feel the weight of a PPK tucked under his shoulder again. He was bolted out of the reminiscences by sirens blaring past the hotel; police and ambulance are racing south along the Quai Du Mont Blanc. With that Bond return to the bar, orders another scotch, drinks, pays and leaves.
Bond walks in the same direction as the sirens took only moments ago; his destination is Le Rouge et le Blanc, 5 minutes stroll from his hotel and facing the Rhône River. There he is greeted warmly by the maître d and is shown quickly to his normal table when seated the lunch menu is presented by an attractive young woman sporting a knee length red skirt, tight around her thin waist, a white blouse as is the uniform of the restaurant, hugging her figure and breasts. Bond stares at her for a second and takes in all the details, in this way his training is still shinning through and has never been sharper when measuring women. He looks again as she walks away with his order for vodka, watching carefully as she shakes her way skilfully between the tables and brings a smile to his cruel lips when she begins flirting with the bar man, the playful flick of her hair when he makes a joke, and a brief contact as the drink is passed over. This is the first time he has seen this girl, not a major thing but he felt he was familiar with all the workers here, quietly drinking the vodka, bond wonders again what would he have done years ago when presented to with such an example of youth, would he have let her walk away so easily. The question has no change for an answer as another man, who Bond had failed to witness walk into the restaurant, sat down at his table.
‘James, I’m glad I found you in time’
‘Mathis, it’s great to see you old friend, what have you been up to young man and what are you doing here? I’m sure you are missing your wife and your mistress.’
‘James I am here since my boss thought it was a good idea that I watch over you’
‘Rene, slow down just what are you talking about, would you like some wine?’
‘Ok just one, but James this is not the best place to talk’
‘Rene, I haven’t eaten, can this wait?’
‘No James this cannot wait, we should drink quickly we have to leave, and I have a driver outside waiting’
‘Are you going to tell me anything about this Mathis, call it professional courtesy so I know what I’m walking into?’
‘James, M is dead’
End of Chapter 1
I hoped you enjoyed the first full instalment of James Bond and Death waits for no man (even if it the title has been described as ‘not very bright’ :( ) and that the writing style is at least similar to Flemings, and if you wish to find out all the locations mentioned then check Google earth (i used it a lot during the writing all the shops, hotels, restaurants and road names are real, i wonder if that is advertising?) and historical events should put the story into a certain year.
I went through quite a lot of research for this story even if it was wrote in about 8 hours spread over two days, once i started i couldn’t stop it and the story fall into place. It is much different to the original plan and that i will keep for future reference :)
I even went to the point of photo shopping own face to better imagine what Stanislav Berkut would look like and right now i am still tinkering with little points in the story, when will i learn?
0 comments:
Post a Comment