HOSTILE TAKEOVER

ONE

James Bond stood naked on the balcony of the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile gazing over the Paris skyline as a cooling summer breeze tried in vain to mask the smell and memory of passionate sex.

He had been to Paris many times before but each time he came, silk threads of nostalgia fell over him as he remembered coming here for the first time when he was sixteen and losing his virginity.

Bond couldn’t help admire the engineering feat that was the Eifel tower rising in the distance, and beyond that, the La Défense district with its post-modern architecture and massive Grande Arch and somewhere in the void, he could hear a saxophone playing Dave Brubeck’s Take Five.

His silhouette leant in the dark against the side window as the City was slowly beginning to stir from its gentle slumber.

He had struggled to sleep even after fucking, but the events in Tokyo still played heavily on his mind and he was restless.

Passenger jets blinked warning lights off and on as they approached Charles de Gaulle international airport where Bond had been several hours earlier.

The room was elegantly decorated and he usually stayed here when he was in Paris and the management knew his eclectic tastes.

He placed the empty glass in his hand onto a small table which was on the balcony as the cold black water of the Seine cut across the city.

His meeting with M and the other French dignitaries was not until eight that morning as he contemplated trying again to sleep or pour another drink.

“Revenir au lit mon amant. Je dois vous avoir à nouveau.” purred a voice coming from the bedroom. Bond turned his head in the direction of the voice and smiled. His choice had been made for him. He could see the Air-France stewardess uniform lying on the floor where it had been removed in a hurry some hours ago and he now walked back inside and turned on the shower.

He didn’t ask if she wanted to join him but as the refreshing water began to wash away the evidence of last night’s activities, he felt her standing behind him and her soft hands snake under his arms and begin to explore his chest and his stomach, and then slowly work further down.

Chapter One

Tu Me Manques

The French Ministère de la Défense, Jean~Yves Etienne, the director of DGSE Pierre Dubois, Lord Carrington and the head of section six of British intelligence are standing in the womb of a very large building site.

It will be the home to the French Ministry of Defense at Ballard when it is complete.

Most of the outer building is finished and an official ceremony will take place late next year, but for now, this is no photo opportunity.

The previous meeting yesterday evening had been to discuss the French involvement in the ECHELON program and although this was only a first initial meeting, the Americans had been reluctant at first, so MI6 agreed to test the water and see if the French would be of any kind of benefit to the UK USA endeavor.

The four of them are flanked by several other people in hard hats and high-viz jackets and dotted around them are French secret service agents and also agents from MI6.