The blow hit James hard on the jaw, and he crashed backwards, slipping on the wet metal. Blood was drying on his lip, his eyebrow had been split in a previous blow and blood trickled slowly into his line of vision. Raising a hand he wiped away the blood from his lip but only succeeded in breaking the wound open again.
He ached; he had no idea how long they had been fighting for. He was definitely getting too old for this, he thought with a humourless grimace. Deronda matched Bond in every way, the same height, similar weight, the same speed, strength and intelligence, not to mention the same desire to win.
Their fight had led them into a long dark room, devoid of any guards, or anybody else. Like rats deserting a sinking ship, Bond thought irritably, he could only guess that everybody on board had long gone, men like that had no loyalty when it came to saving their own skin.
Somewhere far below them, a woman had screamed. The sound had wrenched at him, and he had stopped immediately, listening hard for any further noise. When none had come, he was forced to face his fear. Ashleigh was most likely dead, even if she had somehow survived Lucinda; the water level must be dangerously high down there, and with her hands tied...
His train of thought had been broken by Deronda's fist. The two men had struggled fiercely, until their battle had led them here. The electric lights above their heads flickered and then failed, sparks began to fly from all the electrical outputs.
'Give it up, Bond!' Deronda shouted, wiping blood away from the corner of his mouth. A well timed punch had knocked one of his teeth out. 'This is it. You can't win this!'
But that was just it. James Bond would never give in. Summoning his strength, he launched himself once more at Deronda.
*
On a lower level, the water level was indeed rising, but so was Ashleigh. She had found a flight of stairs, and was now hurrying up them as fast as she could, grateful that the higher she got, the less water there was.
The lights flickered above her ahead, and she hesitated. Sparks began to fly from the light socket, and with a creak as loud as the ship, the fluorescent strip crashed towards her. She screamed, and jumped back, hands over her head. This was getting dangerous, having survived Lucinda, she was now in danger of drowning or electrocution. Determinedly, she continued her haul upwards, what else could she do?
Finally she reached areas that seemed familiar, or at least their layout did. She paused, reading the deck number, and with a deep breath, plunged through the nearest door.
Thank god for small mercies, she thought briefly, the electrics were yet to fail her. There was still light and still power in this room, and by the looks of it, she was going to need both.
Row after row of computers faced her, each glowing eerily in the dim light. This was it, this was her chance.
She threw herself onto the floor next to the nearest computer, and yanked her left foot up awkwardly, ignoring the pain in her right arm. Blood stained fingers struggled to pry the heel from her thick boot. A final yank and the rubber came away easily. She smiled, it was still there. Inside the small compartment gouged into the sole of her boot, slightly waterlogged, but no worse for wear, the small disc Alec had slipped her was snug and safe in its hiding place.
Ashleigh's finger jabbed at the CD-ROM drive of the PC nearest her, it slid open with a hiss. In went the disc, and Ashleigh waited anxiously as the machine whirred and hummed into life.
A single beep, and then suddenly, the screen was filled with row after row of numbers, dashing by, seemingly random, Ashleigh stared at them, trying to see if a pattern emerged until finally, they stopped, and the access codes to Hermes were revealed to her.
