Bond was on the other side of the building, when in the quiet of the night, he heard the scuffling from the west. He froze, and with a sinking feeling, noticed that guards which had patrolled to the east of him, had now abandoned their posts.
He could obviously see the advantage to this, the guards apparent stupidity worked in his favour. There was no reason to relax just yet. But he knew what the sounds, and the guards disappearance had meant. He forced it from his mind. He worked alone. If they had been captured... then they had no one to blame but themselves and their own stupidity or inexperience... He didn't want to work in a team, he had been forced into it, he could work alone again now. But...
The decision was made in a split second, he turned and ran back the way he had came.
The screaming and the shouting hit him first, and there was genuine fear in those cries. He put on a burst of speed, nearly sliding as he rounded the corner, and stopped dead.
Ashleigh, pinned on the floor, surrounded by guards, yet still trying to twist away from them, one simply reached down, and Ashleigh slumped. There was no sign of Dmitrov. Two of them lifted her prone body, while the others spoke rapidly in Russian. One distinguished himself as the leader, the voices carrying in the cold night.
'There is a third,' he gestured, 'Find him.'
Bond had already hung around far too long, and he was extremely exposed. Sprinting away he cursed to himself, time had been lost, two agents taken, he had to get inside, and he had to do it now. There was no point in struggling into the basement and hoping to covertly work through the building, he had to get to Kain and Dmitrov. He paused for a moment, and surveyed the situation.
Alec Trevelyan had been in his mind recently, and now something Alec used to say came back to him. Half of everything is fate. The other half is luck. And it appeared that tonight, James Bond's luck was in, as his attention was caught by the events at what appeared to be the main gate. A large lorry had pulled up, its headlights slicing through the night. With a slow, measuring glance at the building, Bond decided that this would be his best opportunity, and decided to take his chances.
Inside the lorry, Leon was bored, and tired. Every month he made a delivery to this place, always late at night, and he hated it. With its stupid argumentative guards and oppressive looks, it always gave him the creeps, charity or no charity. God only knew what they did with the animals he delivered, but they needed enough. Leon shuddered, rather the animals than him. As usual his plan was to get in as quickly as possible, get the things signed for, then get out as quickly as possible and home. Ahead of him, the sliding metal doors slid up for him, into the same usual warehouse, still in the smallest building, covered in ivy, and as utterly depressing as the rest of them. As he drove under the door, there was a loud thud, and a squawking began in the back, a horrible half human cry that shattered Leon's nerves every time he heard it. Banging on the panel that separated the cab from its convoy, he screamed at it to shut up, and turned up the radio.
Inside the solitary scientist waited. Leon slid from the cab and handed the paper work to him. 'Sign,' he said in a bored voice. The scientist, doctor, whatever he was, did so in the same bored manner. Moving round to the back, Leon opened up the lorry, and removed the orangutan that was housed there.
'So what do you guys do with these things?' he asked. The science guy just looked at him. 'Oh right...' Leon shut up, he never got a straight answer from any of these guys, he didn't know why he bothered sometimes.
Well, it was over for another month, Leon thought relieved as he backed out the warehouse, and not a moment too soon.
Inside the scientist was thinking along the same lines, his shift finished soon, all he had to do was deal with the shipment, and he could finally get home. The footstep behind him startled him.
'Finally, one of you bastards have decided to help me,' he turned, and stared at the tall dark haired man that stood in front of him, dressed head to toe in black, and most definitely not belonging here. 'Who the hell are you?' he challenged.
In one swift movement, Bond had the cord round the man's neck, and pulled him close. 'Nobody important,' he muttered as he fought to hold the dying man, who was pressed back against Bond, his hands pulling at the thin wire around his neck. Finally though his struggles desisted, and Bond let him slump to the ground. With a small click the wire slid back to be concealed within his watch, handy little device that, he thought, he believed Q had borrowed the idea off the Russians in the first place.
Rummaging through the lab coat pockets, he found what he was looking for, a small swipe card, for a moment he debated putting the lab coat on as well, before deciding that there was no point. There was no point in trying to blend in, if anyone saw him, well, they'd get similar treatment to the man who had provided the card. Now, to find Ashleigh and Dmitrov.
White corridor, after white corridor faced him. Bond slipped down them as quickly as possible, disturbed by the increasing amount of airlocks he saw, and how sanitised everything was. And if they were holding a virus as dangerous as Hermes, they would need the airlocks.
It, of course, couldn't last long. The guards were well aware their security had been breached, and the hallways were plunged into sudden darkness. Next moment, an ear splitting alarm began and the red emergency lighting came on. This was not good, Bond decided with a grim expression, this could only mean they had found the scientist in the warehouse. Swiping the card into a key slot, his theory was confirmed as the access light refused to turn green.
Nothing else to do but run. He ran, trying to reach the door at the other end of the corridor, only to be met by guards pouring through it. He ran back... more guards.
And so, standing alone in the length of corridor, Bond realised the game was up. Outnumbered at least ten to one, he realised that it would be difficult for even him to get out of this one. And sometimes, a sacrifice was needed...
