Chapter Text
After Bond interrogated the Captain and his assistant, he placed them inside a small warehouse with no windows and a sturdy metal door that only locked from the outside. That warehouse would be their prison cell until the British transferred them to HMS Nelson.
Four enemies remained, one in the engine room and three at the lowest deck close to the nuke. They were trapped but they remained armed and dangerous. What if they somehow escaped and ambushed Bond and Smith? For that reason, the British decided to capture them, disarm them, and place them in the warehouse with the other two enemies.
Capturing the enemy in the engine room was easy. He was alone, he had no place to go and he was outnumbered two to one. Realizing resistance was futile, the SPECTRE trooper surrendered the moment Bond knocked on the engine room door.
The three enemies at the lower deck were trickier. For starters, they outnumbered Bond and Smith. In addition, there was an underwater hatch down there the crew of Disco Volante had frequently used to transfer drugs to narco submarines. They also had used it to launch the submarine that had stolen the nukes in the Atlantic. What if they used it again to escape and transfer the nuke to their submarine?
As long as enemies remained at the lowest deck, Bond could not stop them from opening the hatch. Could he just wait for HMS Nelson to arrive? After all, the yacht was now stopped and it would not reach its rendezvous point with the submarine. The latter would have to travel for hours to meet them. But what if the submarine came before the British warship? Could Bond risk that?
Since a nuke had the potential to kill hundreds of thousands, Bond could not afford to take the risk. He had to neutralize the enemies at the lowest deck, despite the fact his only support was a wounded SAS Sergeant. Fortunately, the enemy had provided him with a solution to his problem.
In his attempt to kill Bond and Smith, Largo had equipped two of his troopers with grenades. But Bond and Smith had killed them before they had used them. Now the grenades remained for Bond to use, an ideal weapon for the task at hand.
Using his walkie-talkie, Bond contacted the remaining enemies. He explained them their situation: he controlled the upper ground and they were confined in a small area. He would use the upper ground to drop them grenades from openings in the ceiling. The confined space guaranteed the grenade fragments would kill everyone down there. The only way for them to survive was by surrendering.
“I will give you five minutes to decide,” 007 said. “When the deadline passes, I will drop the first grenade and I will keep dropping one every minute. Out.”
The three SPECTRE troopers wanted to fight back but the situation was hopeless. Despite their numerical superiority, they were trapped in a small area, unable to fight back.
“OK,” one of them replied after two minutes. “We surrender.”
“Good,” Bond said. “Approach the exit closest to the bridge one by one, unarmed, and with your hands up.”
The SPECTRE troopers did as ordered. Bond opened the door just enough to let the first one out. Afterwards, he closed it, locked it carefully and ordered the enemy to face the wall. When the enemy complied, 007 searched him for concealed weapons while Smith covered him with his pistol. Satisfied the enemy was unarmed, they escorted him to the makeshift prison, locked him in with the other three already there, and returned to arrest the two remaining enemies.
Six minutes later, all six enemies were locked in the warehouse. Bond placed a chain to its handle for added security and he and Smith returned to the lower deck. The nuke was chained there but they ignored for the time being. Their task at hand was to to jam the underwater hatch to preventing anyone from opening it.
After they hatch was jammed, the two British returned to the bridge. Smith used his walkie-talkie to talk to the pilot.
The helicopter onboard HMS Nelson had a three hundred mile range, meaning it could take off, fly at a straight line for three hundred miles and fly three hundred more to return to its point of take-off. Alternatively, it could fly for six hundred miles straight but it would be out of fuel at the end of its journey.
HMS Nelson had been seven hundred miles away from the SPECTRE facility when Guiness and his men parachuted next to her, much more than the maximum distance the helicopter could normally cover. To improve maximum distance, the helicopter crew had removed all weapons systems, making the machine light enough to carry additional fuel. They had succeeded but barely. When Bond and the SAS parachuted for their attack, the helicopter had barely enough fuel for ten minutes of flight.
Fortunately, the deal Bond had made with Ramirez included landing for refueling in his compound. The drug lord had aviation fuel he used for his private helicopter, so logistics were relatively easy. After the British parachuted, the Royal Navy chopper landed in his compound, got refueled and was back to action within a few hours. The only drawback was that Ramirez had no military grade refueling facilities, something that delayed the process and forced Bond and Smith to hunt the nuke driving a jeep instead of flying.
When the helicopter finally took off, it greatly assisted Bond and Smith in their mission, providing transportation and covering fire from a captured machine gun. After the two men succeeded, they no longer needed aerial support and the helicopter returned to the captured SPECTRE compound to start transporting the nukes and the SAS.
Inside the enemy compound, Colonel Guiness swept the area with his nigh vision binoculars. All the compound was under Ramirez's control, with the exception of the warehouse where the nukes where. The Colonel had four of his men close to the nukes and he with other three remained on the roof. Fortunately, all of his men had survived the attack.
Most enemies were dead. Only a handful had survived and had escaped in the jungle. Unfortunately, the nuclear scientists were among the dead, shot in the back by SPECTRE troopers. Perhaps Largo had given the order himself or one of his subordinates had taken the initiative to silence them for good. M would never learn their secrets now.
Guiness made some calculations. HMS Nelson was traveling at twenty-five miles per hour and she had been seven hundred miles away from Colombia when the SAS had parachuted next to it. It would take her twenty-eight hours to cover the distance. Out of them, seven had already passed, five of them flying in the helicopter and the rest fighting. They would have to spend the next twenty-one hours waiting for the warship to arrive.
As long as SPECTRE still had troopers left, the SAS and Ramirez's men were allies. But now that SPECTRE was no longer a threat, what would the drug lord do? Would an immoral man like him honor his deal? Or would he take advantage of his numerical superiority and try to steal the nukes?
There was another problem. There had been ten tonnes of drugs in a warehouse. James Bond had blown half of them up but the rest remained intact, a prize for Ramirez and his men. Would Ramirez prevent them from entering the warehouse and get some free stuff as a victory bonus? What if his men took some of the stuff, became high and uncontrollable and attacked the SAS? A general firefight would follow. Oh yes, the next twenty-one hours would be far more dangerous than the previous two.
Fortunately, Bond contacted him with with a solution that greatly simplified things. Since he and Smith had captured Disco Volante and since the yacht was only fifty miles away, they could temporarily transport the nukes there. It was a neat way to avoid trouble.
It took one hour for the helicopter to reach the compound, strap the first nuke under it, take-off, reach the yacht, unload it on deck where Bond and Smith tied it with steel cables, and return to take the second. Within three hours, all nukes were onboard Disco Volante and the helicopter made a last journey to pick up the SAS.
It was six am when the SAS boarded Disco Volante. The yacht's deck was too narrow for the helicopter to land but the sea was very calm and the chopper had floats so it landed on the water next to the ship. Upon stepping on deck, Colonel Guiness breath a sigh of relief. The nukes were finally safe and all of his boys were alive! And last but not least, they had taken their revenge!
It would take seventeen hours for HMS Nelson to arrive. Until she came, 007 and the SAS searched Disco Volante for every piece of intelligence they could find. They rifled through Largo's cabin, the bridge, the crew cabins, even the engine room. Soon they had filled a bag with various pieces of information: documents, hard drives, photographs...
Two hours after the SAS landed on Disco Volante, Ramirez had Madeleine released. His men put her on a plane, flew her to a small airfield outside Bogota where two of his men drove her to her hotel. Shortly before eleven am, she entered her hotel room and phoned James, something that delighted him.
“I am going to get a hearty breakfast and a shower now,” she told him. “See you!”
“You deserve it Madeleine,” Bond replied. “See you in a few hours.”
A few minutes later, Bond received a second phone call. This time it was Ramirez.
“I understand you don't trust us,” the drug lord said. “You assumed we might steal the nukes for ourselves.”
“The thought crossed my mind,” Bond admitted.
“You are a smart man Mr. Bond. And I admit I was tempted. But I don't want to mess with a nuclear power and your allies the Americans.”
Bond had expected the answer. No, Ramirez had avoided stealing the nukes but not for moral reasons, just out of self-preservation. He sighed but he decided not to press the issue.
“You have won Ramirez. SPECTRE is no longer a problem for you. The NATO will hunt them down and they will never recover. You will expand your empire unopposed and you will make a handsome profit from the drugs you might find. I suggest you leave it at that.”
“I will Mr. Bond. And you are right about the cocaine. I found five tonnes of the stuff in a warehouse. It won't go to waste.”
Bond took a deep breath. How many people would die Ramirez distributed the stolen drugs? He set the thought aside. SPECTRE would have done the same anyway. At least blowing half of it up saved some lives.
“You have your nukes and Mrs. Swann is free,” the drug lord said. “I have my freedom from SPECTRE and five tonnes of cocaine. You kept your part of the deal and I kept mine. Our business together is finished. Goodbye Mr. Bond.”
Bond's next phone call was to his boss.
“Congratulations 007,” M said when Bond had finished talking. “Now, I have some news that might interest you. Q has found the mole. She is Barbara Simmons, head of MI-5.”
“Simmons? I have a request sir.”
“I am listening.” Bond told him what he wanted.
“Done,” M said. ”First thing when you return to London.”
“Actually, it will be the second.”
A few hours later, HMS Nelson arrived. The ship's crew transferred the four nukes in one of the lowest decks for storage. Guiness posted two of his troopers there to guard them.
The six captured SPECTRE troopers were escorted to the brig. Two SAS troopers stood on the door with orders to prevent anyone from approaching.
After these arrangements were over, Bond visited Sergeant Smith in the ship's infirmary. The ship's surgeon was about to operate on him.
“How is the arm Sergeant?” Bond asked.
“The bullet broke something but the doctor will fix it,” Smith replied. “He said I will be OK in five to six days.”
“That's great news Sarge. Be strong. Our country needs people like you.”
Bond and Smith exchanged some pleasantries for a few minutes until the surgeon politely told him the operation was about to begin. Bond saluted the Sergeant and left.
After his visit to Smith was over, Bond prepared to leave. The helicopter had refuelled and was waiting to transport him to Bogota. Colonel Guiness approached him with the bag containing all the intel they had found on Disco Volante.
"Time to return to London Colonel," Bond said. "I have some unfinished business to attend to. How about you?"
"I will return to England with the nukes and the prisoners. My orders are to guard them until we reach Scapa Flow."
"If that is the case, this is where we say goodbye Colonel," Bond said. "Thank you for your assistance. Your people are really the best."
"Thank you 007," the Colonel said. "We did our duty and we took our revenge for our boys in Scotland."
"I can feel you Colonel," 007 said. "After all, I was there, nearly dying in the process."
The two men shook hands and Bond boarded the helicopter. His destination was a small airfield where Enrico Hernandez was waiting for him. A plane would take him to Bogota where a private jet would take him and Madeleine back to England, the same one that had brought them in Colombia.
A few minutes later, the helicopter with 007 took off. While flying, Bond noticed the ship's deck gun was firing. The target was Disco Volante. The Royal Navy wanted to exact its final revenge against the ship responsible so much trouble. Within three minutes, the rapid firing gun had fired about sixty shells, totally destroying the SPECTRE yacht.
Three hours later, James Bond finally met Madeleine! She rushed to hug and kiss him.
“We have made it,” he told her. “We won. Time to go back to England.”