'Give me your watch,' James hissed, and then as Ashleigh hesitated, he repeated the order. 'Give me your watch.'
Discreetly as they walked along the deck, Ashleigh slid her hand into her sleeve and reluctantly began to undo her watch. She didn't want to lose it just yet, it was the first time she had been issued with the heavy dialled, black strapped watch by the Q department, and her pride at the instrument was immense. Now she had no choice but to give it to him, but as she didn't have any better plans, she hurriedly obeyed James.
With a final tug, the strap worked free, and she secreted it in her palm, feeling the bunched up strap dig into her palm. She was walking close enough to James so that they were shielded; quickly she passed him the watch.
Staring fixedly ahead he worked on it, his fingers knowing the familiar buttons and functions of the watch, Ashleigh could only presume he was setting the explosive device that was wired into the dial. She swallowed, wondering what he had in mind, still they walked along the deck, but the next time they crossed one of the many grills that were set into the metal, James let the watch fall into the depths of the hull. Ashleigh heard it bounce against the metal bars, and then land somewhere deep below them with a hollow thunk.
Ashleigh glanced at the stony face of her godfather as they walked, his jaw was set, no emotion as betrayed upon his features, and she realised that he had faced hopeless situations many times before. It was his job, the double 0 agents always assigned the most dangerous of missions, sent in blindly, never knowing if they were going to return or not. It was a small comfort that James had returned many times before. If she had to be in this situation, then 007 wasn't a bad agent to be with. She only hoped that whatever plan he had up his sleeve was going to work.
Inside the ship everything was cold, clinical and metallic. It reminded Ashleigh of the research facility; even the faceless armed guards seemed familiar. The two agents were marched to the centre of a large control room, and surrounded by guards. Silently they waited, unsure of what was going to happen next.
Ashleigh had never laid eyes upon Caleb Deronda, and at first she didn't realise who the handsome man in front of her was. He walked towards the agents with his arms held wide, as if in welcome, or to prove that he wasn't armed. He smiled at Ashleigh, and she found herself hesitantly smiling back, her brow furrowed as she felt unfamiliar feelings course through her. She had been expecting an ogre, a monster, not this suited, classically handsome man, who appeared to be in his mid to late thirties. His brown hair had a tendency to curl, she noticed, and his eyes were a sludgy green. She had the sudden urge to laugh madly, and felt the room tip beneath her feet, only James grasping her arm stopped her from falling to her knees.
'007,' he said in greeting, polite and charming, a small smile on his face. He turned to Ashleigh. 'And this must be Agent Kain.'
Ashleigh nodded dumbly, feeling completely out of her depth once more. 'Pleasure to meet you both at last. I only wish it could have been in better circumstances, I have so many questions to ask you both.'
'Such as?' Bond was deliberately cold.
Deronda barely battered an eyelid as he turned back to Bond. 'I'm intrigued by many aspects of your work, 007, but one thing fascinates me is how you managed to escape my compound.'
'You already know the answer to that question, Deronda.'
'Yes, we do.' A clear, cool, crisp voice, with little trace of an accent rang out through the ship. On a metal walkway above them, a woman stood, blonde, petite and delicate. Her appearance disguised her true nature, as Bond knew only too well. She was looking down upon them with an expression of distaste on her pretty face.
Ashleigh's first impression of Lucinda Elliot was of a walking china doll. Her brown eyes met the icy blue pair of the other woman, and immediately knew that this was a rival. It was a deep, innate reaction, and she was overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of hatred she had for this woman, despite never having met her before.
Bond saw the way Deronda's eyes flickered towards Lucinda. There was a look of controlled anger on his face, as if he did not welcome this interruption. With a tight smile on his face, he turned once more to his hostages.
'I believe you've already met Lucinda Elliot, my colleague.'
'Now, now Caleb, that gives the wrong impression of me,' Lucinda's blue eyes glittered as she appeared to tease the man in front of her, 'I'm actually his business partner.'
Regally she made her way down the metal steps until she was level with the group. Obediently the circle of armed guards parted to let her pass. With a staggering amount of self possession she stalked up to Bond, and laid a hand upon his cheek.
'James, such a delight to see you again.' She smiled, and Ashleigh felt a shiver pass down her spine. 'Although I do hope this time you refrain from knocking me unconscious.'
Bond merely stood there, his jaw tensed against her touch. There was no hiding how much he despised this woman.
'There will be time to talk with our guests later, Lucinda,' Deronda said, in a cold voice. Turning, Lucinda smiled at her partner.
'Of course there will be. I just wanted to familiarise myself with them once more, and I do believe that we haven't been introduced.'
Once more she was staring at Ashleigh. With the woman standing in front of her, it was increasing difficult not to ignore, or be intimidated by her presence. Although it was with a degree of satisfaction that Ashleigh noticed she had a good three inches of height on the smaller woman.
'My name is Ashleigh Kain,' Ashleigh said quietly, refusing to let this woman intimidate her.
Lucinda cast a slow glance over her, still with the smug little smile on her face. 'I had thought as much. So you're Alec's new little whore.'
Ashleigh stared blankly over Lucinda's head, feeling the urge to flinch fill her. Just hearing this woman say his name was enough to send a shard of pain through her.
'That is enough, Lucinda!' Deronda's anger was plain to hear.
For a moment it seemed like Lucinda would openly argue with Deronda, but at the last minute she bit her tongue. Turning she smiled at Ashleigh. 'You and I shall have to talk later, just you and me, perhaps compare notes on Alec.'
Ashleigh stayed silent, fearing the tirade that would flow from her if she were to open her mouth.
'I hardly think we can be described as guests,' Bond intervened, 'I believe hostages would be a better choice of word.'
'Hostages?' Deronda gave a hollow laugh. 'Whatever made you think that you and Miss Kain are hostages, Bond?'
'If we are guests, why was it necessary to blow up our transportation, killing two innocent men in cold blood?'
'A regrettable loss. But entirely necessary. We require your cooperation, Bond, we believe that you have something in your possession that we need. And we would be most obliged if you would hand it over now.'
For once Bond was surprised. 'I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about.'
The simple charm that Deronda exuded immediately disappeared. 'Don't play games, Bond. We know that either you or Agent Kain has it in your possession, and if you do not hand it over now, the consequences will be severe.'
His face was flushed an ugly shade of red, and a there was a bitter curl to his lip. When there was no response, he turned away from them. 'Take them down to the hold. Separately.'
Lucinda looked ready to protest, but an angry glance quelled her. This was the time for a united show of power.
Guards stepped forward, grabbing James and pulling him backwards. As another grabbed her elbows, Ashleigh fought back. 'We're talking about a disc, right? A small disc?'
Lucinda stopped, and turned round, her eyes glinting. 'Let her go,' she ordered the guard. 'You were saying, Miss Kain?'
Ashleigh stepped forward confidently. 'A small silver disc. Blank, about so big,' she held up her left hand, curling her fingers to indicate the size.
'That's right,' Lucinda said warily. Bond, still held back by the guards, watched with concern as Ashleigh spoke.
'Alec Trevelyan took it.'
'We know that, Kain. What we want to know is where it is.'
'He showed it to me. He was bragging about how important it was to you, and how he had taken it.'
'Ashleigh,' James tried to warn her, not clear on what she was doing.
'He told me I could use it, that if I had it, I was the only person that would be able to bring you down.'
It seemed Lucinda had heard enough, her breathing had quickened, her cheeks were flushed as she yelled at the guards. 'Search her!'
Hands were roaming over her body, tugging at her, sliding inside her clothes, desperately Ashleigh tried to ignore them. 'You won't find it,' she shouted, 'He wouldn't give it to me.'
Lucinda shot a glance at one of the guards, who shrugged. 'It's not on her,' he confirmed. 'Although we did find this.'
They had ripped her silver pistol roughly from her ankle, the holster tearing at her skin. She tried to ignore the stinging, and stood there, waiting for Lucinda to speak.
Lucinda took the gun and examined it, it was a pretty, but lethal little trinket, and Ashleigh was curiously attached to it. She hated seeing it in the other woman's hands.
'Alec gave you this?' Lucinda asked curiously.
'Yes. After the first night we spent together.' Ashleigh shrugged. There seemed no reason to deny it now.
'Strange,' Lucinda ran her eyes over Ashleigh again, sizing up her rival, 'Alec isn't usually so generous with his gifts.'
Ashleigh's eyes narrowed under Lucinda's scrutiny. This woman was telling her in no uncertain terms that she too had been Alec's lover. It did nothing to endear her to Ashleigh.
Lucinda was still staring at her, with the same curious expression on her face. 'Who would have thought that it would be a British spy that would make Alec rediscover his feelings?'
Still held in a tight grip, Bond could do nothing but stare at the blank face of his goddaughter. She had finally learnt how to keep her emotions in check, but having witnessed the scene of mere hours ago, knew how much she would be hurting right now. It did nothing to lessen the desire to kill Alec. He was helpless now.
'Enough.' Deronda stepped forward, and gazed at Ashleigh. 'She doesn't have the disc, Lucinda, she's worth nothing to us.'
'Don't be a fool, Caleb!' Lucinda snapped. 'She's worth everything to us. How else do you think we're going to get Alec and the disc here? Tell him we have his precious little whore, and that we'll be sending her to him in a box if he doesn't cooperate with our demands.'
She was raving, screaming orders. 'I want a ship to shore message sent to Alec Trevelyan, I don't care how you do it, I want him here, and I want him here now!'
Bond glanced once more at Ashleigh as guards moved again to restrain her. Pulling her back he was surprised to hear a hollow laugh tear from her throat.
'You think he'll come for me?' she rasped. An almost manic grin tore across her face, and for a moment Bond wondered if they would have to deal with two hysterical females. 'Do you really think Alec Trevelyan gives a fuck about me?'
Lucinda hesitated, and turned at Ashleigh's words. 'What did you say?' she hissed, stalking over to where the other woman was being held.
'I said, do you really think Janus will come for me? That he'll be willing to give up your precious disc for a British spy? He doesn't want me anymore! He dumped me. He used me, and then he dumped me, as casually as every other woman he beds! So demand he comes and gets me, ransom me off, he's not coming. You've lost Elliot! You've lost!'
Lucinda's face was inches from hers, bright red with fury, she was actually shaking with rage. Reaching up, she slapped Ashleigh hard around the face, to get her to stop laughing, to take out some of her anger on her, her fingers clawed as she struck the pale skin of Ashleigh's cheek, her nails gouging out three parallel gashes on Ashleigh's face.
Still shaking, she turned to Deronda. 'You deal with him,' she spat, pointing at Bond. 'I'll deal with her.'