They stepped out of the bright sunlight and into the control centre. The place was a shambles. Emergency illumination was in use until electricity could be restored. Technicians were busy tinkering with equipment that wasn’t working. Elektra King was huddled with a couple of policemen. She nodded an acknowledgement to M. She had pointedly ignored Bond since their encounter in the library in Baku.
‘Double-0 Seven, I’d like a word,’ M said, pulling him aside. She threw a look to Robinson and the bodyguard, indicating that she wanted some privacy.
‘I want an update,’ she said, tersely. ‘Where do we stand?’
‘Renard bribed people at the Russian Atomic Energy Department and in the Russian Army. He got a transport plane and a bomb. I still don’t know what he plans to do with it. apparently, though, they landed here last night. Renard and his men killed several workmen, the security guards . . . Then they started to destroy things, as you can see. His motive is unclear. They left the stolen plane on the airstrip, and it’s completely empty. It appears to me that he still has that bomb.’
Bond took the locator card out of his pocket and handed it to her. ‘One of Renard’s men removed this locator card from the bomb. So we can’t track it.’
She looked at it, turning it over.
‘M —,’ he hesitated.
‘What?’
‘With all due respect,’ Bond said, ‘I don’t think you should be here.’
A flash of anger crossed M’s face. ‘Need I remind you that you’re the reason I’m here, Double-0 Seven? You disobeyed a direct order, and left that girl alone.’
‘If I hadn’t left her alone, we wouldn’t know that Renard is in possession of a bomb. And perhaps that “girl” isn’t as innocent as you think.’
‘What are you saying?’
Bond brought his voice down further, stealing a glance at Elektra. ‘Suppose the inside man — the one who switched King’s lapel pin — turned out to be an inside woman?’
M blinked, incredulous. ‘First she kills her father - then attacks her own pipeline. Why? To what end?’
‘I don’t know,’ Bond admitted. ‘Yet.’ His theory sounded even more absurd with M listening.
‘Then let’s deal with what we do know. We’ve got a dying terrorist with a nuclear bomb in his pocket. We don’t know his plan, or where he’s taken the weapon.’
‘Yes. But if it’s revenge - to finish what he started in London — he’s got you right where he wants you.’
The lights suddenly powered up as the workers succeeded in restoring electricity. The monitors that lined the room flashed on. and a huge satellite map of the pipeline appeared on a wall-sized screen. The technicians scrambled to their posts to inspect the machinery’s usability.
‘M . . .’ Elektra called. She was studying the pipeline map. ‘We’ll talk about this later, Double-0 Seven,’ M said, then moved toward Elektra.
‘Look at this,’ Elektra said, pointing to a flashing red light. ‘That’s not right. It shouldn’t be there.’
Robinson asked, ‘What is it?’
‘An observation rig,’ Elektra replied. ‘Travels inside the pipe looking for broken seals. It performs all kinds of tasks, much like a robot. It runs automatically, but there’s nothing scheduled —’
‘Shut it down,’ Bond said.
A technician flicked two switches. The light continued to flash. Confused, he tried others, but there was no change. ‘I don’t understand,’ he said. ‘It won’t respond.’
Christmas Jones appeared next to them and said, ‘The place is clean. There’s no sign of-’
‘— the bomb is in the pipeline,’ Bond said, cutting her off. ‘My God,’ Elektra said.
All eyes followed the route from the flashing light to the large mass of animated derricks on the eastern end of the map.
Robinson announced what they all realised simultaneously, ‘It’s headed for the oil terminal.’
‘Where it can do the most damage,’ Bond said. ‘Elektra, have your men evacuate that terminal.’
She bristled at him. ‘Now do you believe me?’
The look on Bond’s face revealed his inner struggle. Was she right?
Elektra turned to the technician. ‘Do it. Tell them to evacuate, then clear this room.’ The man immediately got on the phone.
Bond looked at M. ‘He’s going for the oil,’
‘Of course,’ M said, studying the map. ‘The one pipeline the West is counting on to supply our reserves for the next century.’
The doubt in Bond’s mind still nagged him. ‘But why? What’s in it for him?’
M shrugged. ‘Revenge, as you say? Who knows, with a man like Renard? Chaos follows him wherever he goes. Do you have an idea?’
‘Maybe,’ Bond replied, studying the map. He turned to another technician. ‘How far is that rig from the terminal? And how fast is it travelling?’
The man checked his read-outs before replying. ‘It’s a hundred and six miles from the terminal. Going seventy miles an hour.’
‘We’ve got less than ninety minutes,’ Bond said, thinking quickly. If he could get into the pipeline in front of the rig with the bomb, he just might be able to jump aboard and take care of the weapon. ‘Is there another rig?’
‘There are several stored at random locations throughout the pipeline.’ The technician flipped a switch and another light blinked on the pipe map. ‘There’s one parked in the same passageway. Ahead of it.’
Perfect. Bond turned to Robinson. ‘Can you get me out there? Fast?’
Before Robinson could say yes, Christmas cut in. ‘Wait a minute. Are you going to try to do what I think you’re going to try to do?’
‘What do I need to defuse a nuclear bomb?’ Bond asked.
‘Me,’ she said, smugly.
11 - Pressure in the Pipeline
The Eurocopter swooped along the pipeline until it came to the nearest access hatch from the parked observation rig. The chopper set down and Bond, Christmas and Robinson jumped out. Bond and Robinson turned the wheel on the hatch and got it open. Christmas, wearing a backpack full of tools, went in first. Bond followed.
‘I'll be waiting to hear from you,’ Robinson told Bond, handing him a radio. ‘Good luck.’
The light from the open hatch illuminated the circular tunnel just enough for Bond and Christmas to find their way a few metres in where they found the rig. It was red and ring- shaped, resembling a doughnut on wheels, with two seats and a storage area for equipment and heavy objects. The thing was filthy with grease and dirt.
‘You take the controls,’ Bond said as they climbed aboard. ‘We’ve got to get up to speed before the other rig catches us.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I’m guessing we only have a few minutes. Do you know how to drive this thing?’
She examined the sparse control panel. There were only two toggle switches: ‘on/off' and ‘forward/reverse’.
‘It doesn’t exactly take a degree in nuclear physics,’ she replied. She flipped the ‘on’ button and the rig lurched forward. It was slow-moving at first, but it gradually picked up speed on its own. The headlamps adequately lit the dark tunnel ahead of them, but there was something about the ride that was decidedly like a carnival haunted house attraction. Bond half-expected a fake skeleton to jump out and frighten them.
‘Is there a way to make it go faster?’ Bond asked.
‘Not that I can see,’ she said. ‘It just gains speed on its own. Unless someone at the control centre stops it or we manually throw it into reverse, I imagine it’ll get up to sixty or seventy miles an hour pretty soon.’
Bond looked behind them but saw nothing but darkness. There were no tail lights on the rig.