It was on a Friday afternoon at four o clock when Miss Moneypenny walked into James Bond's office.
There he was, fast asleep, with his fingers still clutching his beloved Chesterfield Plain cigarette.that was burning a hole in some top secret document that , it seemed, he had been trying to read.
The place stank of Vodka, Rum and Brandy, and, of course, those strong American cigarettes of which were about twenty or more in the over flowing ashtray.His normal mixture of special Balkan and Turkish Cigarettes made for him by Moorlands, he had put on hold, as he had recently returned from the states with a 200 pack of Chesterfield.
She shook his shoulders.
He sprung to life.
' Ah, Miss Moneypenny,' he sounded quite sober, ' I was just dreaming of you You were....'
'No time for that James'
' You know, I think time is an illusion,' Bond replied, without any follow up to explain his statement..
She looked at him sternly. At those cold eyes, the sharply carved face, the smart dark suit, and knew that, no matter what, he would always make her heart flutter.
She brushed aside her female instincts, and said sharply,' M wants to see you now. He said that it's very urgent '.
Bond reached for another Chesterfield, inhaled deeply with a hiss, remembering vaguely his breakfast of 2 large cups of really strong coffee from De Bry in New Oxford Street, brewed in a Chemex Coffee Maker, and an egg served in a dark blue egg cup with a gold ring round the top, boiled for 3 and a third minutes
This had been followed by Wholewheat toast, Jersey butter and a choice of Tiptree Strawberry jam, Cooper's Vintage Oxford marmalade, and Norwegian Heather honey from Fortnum and Mason.
His Scottish housekeeper had done the honours for him.,proudly telling him that the eggs were French.
Bond, in his usual hungover state at that time of day had wanted to blurt out,'Why not get English ones ?'
but the two strong coffees had stopped him saying this, and he had murmured' Well, that's interesting',
Then he thought of the pub across the road; the two double vodkas followed by two double rums and a great Steak and Kidney Pudding with chips with a huge dollop of Colman's Mustard.As an encore he had ordered a triple Metaxa Brandy- he considered this the best brandy in the world- it was Greek, and to his mind far superior to any brandy he had ever tasted. Also, as far as he knew, this was the only pub in London that sold it. The reason it was sold here was because the owner had some Greek blood in him.
No wonder he had fallen asleep.
' On a Friday afternoon, for God's sake ', he muttered, but he stood up and straightened his tie.
He stopped halfway to the door.
' Please , bring me a coffee when I am in with M. I think I'll need it'.
She smiled. She loved doing things for him.
' Of course,' she said and opened the door for him.
M was sitting , looking out the window with his pipe in his mouth.
.Bond detected that he was smoking the remarkable Player's Navy Cut Brand, which meant that M had changed his brand , which he only did when he was worried
M turned from the window and blew a cloud of smoke in Bond's face.
Bond relished the delicate strains of such a remarkable blend of tobaccos, and quickly pulled out his packet of Chesterfields, and lit one.He exhaled with a hiss.
M looked tired, perhaps he had a hangover, Bond wondered; he did look worried .
He re lit his pipe, and pushed the ashtray towards Bond.
Bond sat in the chair by the desk and looked at the grey clouds that seemed to be getting darker and darker each second outside of the window. It looked like rain, or , possibly, a storm.
' I'm afraid , we have a big problem,' M. said.Bond took another drag of his cigarette and said , ' Well, that I have gathered sir .'
' Good, good ',M replied turning back to the window as the rain started to lash down with a ferocity seldom seem.
M was silent for a minute as if ingesting the weather outside his window.
He suddenly turned back to face Bond.
' You know, of course, of the Germ warfare, or Biological Warfare Establishment that is Porton Down, where hundreds of soldiers etc have been given biological weapons to see what this does to them ?'
A bloody disgrace, Bond thought.
' Yes, I do know , ' he replied , as he flicked his cigarette ash into the ashtray.
.M sat stock still for a moment as if lost in thought.
He emptied his pipe, then getting another one from his desk draw filled that one up.
He lit it slowly, then turned to Bond.
' I' m afraid the unthinkable has happened,' he said slowly.
' Unthinkable, what do you mean ?' Bond responded.
The pipe had gone out. M lit it again with an air of impatience.
' One of the biological weapons,in particular, Novichok, which kills on contact with people, has
somehow leaked out from Porton Down.'
' If the people of Salisbury ,or for that , matter , the whole of England, know this, it would mean that we would have to shut down Porton Down , and the Government does not want to do this, so it is essential that the public do not know that this has happened.'
Bond looked at M in amazement.
' Where on Earth do I come into all this ?'he asked.
Then the phone rang.
M was very polite and almost crawling much to Bond's annoyance, to whoever it was he was speaking to.
M sat back and smiled.
''You have no active duties for a while do you James,'he asked politely.
' No, you know , I don't' . he replied.
M rubbed his hands together; the worried look had gone from his face.
' Well, get on the phone to all the main newspapers and tell them that Russia is to blame.'
' But, that's a bloody lie , ' Blond blurted out , suddenly realising that the drinks of earlier on, had now caught up with him.
Miss Moneypenny walked in.
She placed two cups of coffee on M's desk .
She smiled at them.
' They both contain a bit of rum in them, ' she said, ' I thought you'd both need it '.
M smiled. ' Thanks Moneypenny, ' he said,
Bond took the coffee and got up. He looked at his watch.
Only one hour until he could go to the pub.
Mike Selley.
See Alsohttp://mikeselleylyicsplus.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-evil-porton-down.html
.
There he was, fast asleep, with his fingers still clutching his beloved Chesterfield Plain cigarette.that was burning a hole in some top secret document that , it seemed, he had been trying to read.
The place stank of Vodka, Rum and Brandy, and, of course, those strong American cigarettes of which were about twenty or more in the over flowing ashtray.His normal mixture of special Balkan and Turkish Cigarettes made for him by Moorlands, he had put on hold, as he had recently returned from the states with a 200 pack of Chesterfield.
She shook his shoulders.
He sprung to life.
' Ah, Miss Moneypenny,' he sounded quite sober, ' I was just dreaming of you You were....'
'No time for that James'
' You know, I think time is an illusion,' Bond replied, without any follow up to explain his statement..
She looked at him sternly. At those cold eyes, the sharply carved face, the smart dark suit, and knew that, no matter what, he would always make her heart flutter.
She brushed aside her female instincts, and said sharply,' M wants to see you now. He said that it's very urgent '.
Bond reached for another Chesterfield, inhaled deeply with a hiss, remembering vaguely his breakfast of 2 large cups of really strong coffee from De Bry in New Oxford Street, brewed in a Chemex Coffee Maker, and an egg served in a dark blue egg cup with a gold ring round the top, boiled for 3 and a third minutes
This had been followed by Wholewheat toast, Jersey butter and a choice of Tiptree Strawberry jam, Cooper's Vintage Oxford marmalade, and Norwegian Heather honey from Fortnum and Mason.
His Scottish housekeeper had done the honours for him.,proudly telling him that the eggs were French.
Bond, in his usual hungover state at that time of day had wanted to blurt out,'Why not get English ones ?'
but the two strong coffees had stopped him saying this, and he had murmured' Well, that's interesting',
Then he thought of the pub across the road; the two double vodkas followed by two double rums and a great Steak and Kidney Pudding with chips with a huge dollop of Colman's Mustard.As an encore he had ordered a triple Metaxa Brandy- he considered this the best brandy in the world- it was Greek, and to his mind far superior to any brandy he had ever tasted. Also, as far as he knew, this was the only pub in London that sold it. The reason it was sold here was because the owner had some Greek blood in him.
No wonder he had fallen asleep.
' On a Friday afternoon, for God's sake ', he muttered, but he stood up and straightened his tie.
He stopped halfway to the door.
' Please , bring me a coffee when I am in with M. I think I'll need it'.
She smiled. She loved doing things for him.
' Of course,' she said and opened the door for him.
M was sitting , looking out the window with his pipe in his mouth.
.Bond detected that he was smoking the remarkable Player's Navy Cut Brand, which meant that M had changed his brand , which he only did when he was worried
M turned from the window and blew a cloud of smoke in Bond's face.
Bond relished the delicate strains of such a remarkable blend of tobaccos, and quickly pulled out his packet of Chesterfields, and lit one.He exhaled with a hiss.
M looked tired, perhaps he had a hangover, Bond wondered; he did look worried .
He re lit his pipe, and pushed the ashtray towards Bond.
Bond sat in the chair by the desk and looked at the grey clouds that seemed to be getting darker and darker each second outside of the window. It looked like rain, or , possibly, a storm.
' I'm afraid , we have a big problem,' M. said.Bond took another drag of his cigarette and said , ' Well, that I have gathered sir .'
' Good, good ',M replied turning back to the window as the rain started to lash down with a ferocity seldom seem.
M was silent for a minute as if ingesting the weather outside his window.
He suddenly turned back to face Bond.
' You know, of course, of the Germ warfare, or Biological Warfare Establishment that is Porton Down, where hundreds of soldiers etc have been given biological weapons to see what this does to them ?'
A bloody disgrace, Bond thought.
' Yes, I do know , ' he replied , as he flicked his cigarette ash into the ashtray.
.M sat stock still for a moment as if lost in thought.
He emptied his pipe, then getting another one from his desk draw filled that one up.
He lit it slowly, then turned to Bond.
' I' m afraid the unthinkable has happened,' he said slowly.
' Unthinkable, what do you mean ?' Bond responded.
The pipe had gone out. M lit it again with an air of impatience.
' One of the biological weapons,in particular, Novichok, which kills on contact with people, has
somehow leaked out from Porton Down.'
' If the people of Salisbury ,or for that , matter , the whole of England, know this, it would mean that we would have to shut down Porton Down , and the Government does not want to do this, so it is essential that the public do not know that this has happened.'
Bond looked at M in amazement.
' Where on Earth do I come into all this ?'he asked.
Then the phone rang.
M was very polite and almost crawling much to Bond's annoyance, to whoever it was he was speaking to.
M sat back and smiled.
''You have no active duties for a while do you James,'he asked politely.
' No, you know , I don't' . he replied.
M rubbed his hands together; the worried look had gone from his face.
' Well, get on the phone to all the main newspapers and tell them that Russia is to blame.'
' But, that's a bloody lie , ' Blond blurted out , suddenly realising that the drinks of earlier on, had now caught up with him.
Miss Moneypenny walked in.
She placed two cups of coffee on M's desk .
She smiled at them.
' They both contain a bit of rum in them, ' she said, ' I thought you'd both need it '.
M smiled. ' Thanks Moneypenny, ' he said,
Bond took the coffee and got up. He looked at his watch.
Only one hour until he could go to the pub.
Mike Selley.
See Alsohttp://mikeselleylyicsplus.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-evil-porton-down.html
.
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