The barracuda surprised them by opening its jaws to an angle of ninetydegrees, revealing the sharp rows of teeth that were capable of tearing outchunks of flesh in an instant. It closed its snarling mouth just as quickly,leaving a half-inch gap.Had it yawned?It was easily a twenty-pound fish. One of the most dangerous predators in thesea, the barracuda is an eating machine that rivals the ferocity of a shark.This one swam lazily along beside them, watching. It was curious about the twostrange larger fish that had invaded its habitat.James Bond had never cared for barracudas. He'd rather be in a pit full ofsnakes than in proximity to one of them. It wasn't that he was afraid of thembut merely that he found them mean, vicious, and unpredictable creatures. Therewas no such thing as a barracuda in a good mood. He had to be on his guardwithout showing fear, for the fish could sense apprehension and often acted onit.Bond looked over at his companion. She was handling it well, watching thelong, slender fish with fascination rather than trepidation.He motioned for her to swim on, and she nodded. They decided to ignore thebarracuda, which proved to be the best tactic. It lost interest after a fewminutes and swam away into the misty blue.Bond had always likened the undersea world to an alien landscape. It wassilent and surreal, yet it was full of life. Some sea flowers shot down holes inthe seabed as the two humans moved over them. A small octopus, or"pus-feller" (as Ramsey, his Jamaican housekeeper, called it), waspropelling itself along the orange-and-brown-colored reef. Patches of sea grasshid the domains of the night-crawling lobsters and crabs.They swam toward the beach, eventually reaching a spot where they couldstand. Bond pulled off the face mask and snorkel. Helena Marksbury emerged fromthe water and stood beside him. She removed her own mask and snorkel andlaughed.

"I do believe that fish wanted to take part of us home as asouvenir," she said."It wasn't interested in me," Bond said. "It was staring atyou. Do you usually have that kind of effect on barracuda?""I attract all the meat eaters, James," she said with an invitingsmile.March in the Bahamas was quite pleasant at eighty degrees Fahrenheit. The hotsummer was just around the corner, and Bond had decided to take a week's leavebefore then. It was the perfect time of year to be in the Caribbean. He hadoriginally planned to spend the holiday at Shamelady, his private home on thenorth shore of Jamaica, but changed his mind when Helena Marksbury said that shehad never been to Nassau. Bond offered to show her the islands."Where did everyone go?" she asked, looking around at the emptybeach. Earlier, there had been a few other snorkelers and sunbathers in thearea. Now it was deserted.It was just after noon. Helena looked around for some shade and sat in thesand next to a large rock that provided some shelter from the fiercely brightsun. She knew she had to be careful not to get too much of it, as she had alight complexion and burned easily. Nevertheless, she had worn the skimpiestbikini she could find. She was most likely the only person who might notice aflaw-that her left breast drooped slightly lower than her right-but Helena knewthat she had a good body, and didn't mind showing it off. It just proved thatnobody was perfect.They were on the southwest side of New Providence Island, the most populousof all the Bahamas. Luckily, Bond had found a villa at Coral Harbour, somewhatremoved from the hustle and bustle of metropolitan Nassau, which is the centerof commerce, government, and transportation, on the northern side of the island.Here they were surrounded by beautiful beaches and reefs, country clubs andexclusive restaurants.

"What am I supposed to wear tonight?" she asked him as he sat downbeside her in the sand."Helena, I shouldn't have to tell you how to dress," he said."You look marvelous in anything."They had a dinner invitation at the home of the former Governor of theBahamas, a man Bond had known for many years. They had become friends after adinner party at which the Governor had presented Bond with a theory concerninglove, betrayal, and cruelty between marriage partners. Calling it the"quantum of solace," the Governor believed that the amount of comforton which love and friendship is based could be measured. Unless there is acertain degree of humanity existing between two people, he maintained, there canbe no love. It was an adage Bond had accepted as a universal