Part 1 (1/2)
RISICO
”In this pizniss is h the thick brown moustache The hard black eyes moved slowly over Bond's face and down to Bond's hands which were carefully shredding a paper o Colombo, d'Oro
James Bond felt the inspection The sa on since he had met the man two hours before at the rendezvous in the Excelsior bar Bond had been told to look for aby hi an Alexandra Bond had been anal The creamy, feminine drink was so much cleverer than the folded newspaper, the flower in the buttonhole, the yellow gloves that were the hoary, slipshod call-signs between agents It had also the greatable to operate alone, without its owner And Kristatos had started off with a little test When Bond had come into the bar and looked round there had been perhaps twenty people in the room None of them had a moustache But on a corner table at the far side of the tall, discreet room, flanked by a saucer of olives and another of cashew nuts, stood the tall-steht over to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down
The waiter canor Kristatos is at the telephone”
Bond nodded ”A Negroni With Gordon's, please”
The waiter walked back to the bar ”Negroni Uno Gordon's”
”I a hairy hand picked up the sht as a matchbox and swept it under the heavy hips ”I had to have a ith Alfredo”
There had been no handshake These were old acquaintances In the sa like ier one looked Alish
Bond returned the fast serve ”How's his little boy?”
The black eyes of Signor Kristatos narrowed Yes, they had said this man was a professional He spread his hands ”Much the sa”
The Negroni came The two men sat back comfortably, each one satisfied that he had to do with a ue This was rare in 'The Game' So nment like this, one had lost confidence in the outcoination, a faint s in the air at such a rendezvous He knew it for the sign that the fringe of his cover had already started to s fabric would burst into flaame would be up and he would have to decide whether to pull out or wait and get shot at by so
Later that evening, at the little restaurant off the Piazza di Spagna called the Colomba d'Oro, Bond was amused to find that he was still on probation Kristatos was still watching and weighing hi if he could be trusted This remark about the risky business was as near as Kristatos had so far got to ad that there existed any business between the two of theed He had not really believed in Kristatos But surely all these precautions could only mean that M's intuition had paid off - that Kristatos knew so
Bond dropped the last shred of ht that any business that pays more than ten per cent or is conducted after nine o'clock at night is a dangerous business The business which brings us together pays up to one thousand per cent and is conducted alht On both counts it is obviously a risky business” Bond lowered his voice ”Funds are available Dollars, Swiss francs, Venezuelan bolivars - anything convenient”
”That nor Kristatos picked up the folioOne should not decide important pizniss on a hollow stomach”
A week earlier M had sent for Bond M was in a bad te on, 007?”
”Only paper work, sir”
”What do you mean, only paper work?” M jerked his pipe towards his loaded in-tray ”Who hasn't got paper work?”
”Iactive, sir”
”Well, say so” M picked up a bundle of dark red files tied together with tape and slid them so sharply across the desk that Bond had to catch them ”And here's some more paper work Scotland Yard stuff mostly - their narcotics people Wads from the Home Office and the Ministry of Health, and some nice thick reports from the International Opium Control people in Geneva Take it away and read it You'll need today and et after the big men Is that clear?”
Bond said that it was The state of M's te thatto divert his staff froe, and when necessary sabotage and subversion Anything else was a misuse of the Service and of Secret Funds which, God knoere h
”Any questions?” M's jaw stuck out like the prow of a shi+p The jaw seeet the hell out of the office and let Mimportant
Bond knew that a part of all this - if only a small part - was an act M had certain bees in his bonnet They were famous in the Service, and M knew they were But that did notThere were queen bees, like the misuse of the Service, and the search for true as distinct froence, and there orker bees These included such idiosyncrasies as not eual, instantly dish family relationshi+ps withmen or women ere too 'dressy', and those who called hierated faith in Scotsmen But M was ironically conscious of his obsessions, as, thought Bond, a Churchill or a Montgomery were about theirs He nevercalled on any of the Bond out on an assign
Bond knew all this He saidon, and what lead, if any, have Station I got towards the people involved in it?”
M gave Bond a hard, sour look He swivelled his chair sideways so that he could watch the high, scudding October clouds through the broadHe reached out for his pipe, blew through it sharply, and then, as if this action had let off the sently on the desk When he spoke, his voice was patient, reasonable ”As you can iine, 007, I do not wish the Service to beco business Earlier this year I had to take you off other duties for a fortnight so that you could go to Mexico and chase off that Mexican grower You nearly got yourself killed I sent you as a favour to the Special Branch When they asked for you again to tackle this Italian gang I refused Ronnie Vallance went behind my back to the Home Office and the Ministry of Health The Ministers pressed me I said that you were needed here and that I had no one else to spare Then the two Ministers went to the PM” M paused ”And that was that I must say the PM was very persuasive Took the line that heroin, in the quantities that have been coical warfare - that it saps a country's strength He said he wouldn't be surprised to find that this wasn't just a gang of Italians' out tomoney - that subversion and not money was at the back of it” M sht up that line of argu the devil of a ti a hold on the teenagers as it has in America Seems the dance halls and the amusement arcades are full of pedlars Vallance's Ghost Squad have ed to penetrate back up the line to one of thefrom Italy, hidden in Italian tourists' cars Vallance has done what he can through the Italian police and Interpol, and got nowhere They get so far back up the pipeline, arrest a few little people, and then, when they see near the centre, there's a blank wall The inner ring of distributors are too frightened or too well paid”
Bond interrupted ”Perhaps there's protection soood”
M shrugged impatiently ”Maybe, maybe And you'll have to watch out for that too, but my impression is that the Montesi case resulted in a pretty extensive clean-up Anyhen the PM gave et on with it, it occurred to ton CIA were very helpful You know the Narcotics Bureau have a tea to do with CIA - run by the American Treasury Department, of all people The American Treasury control a so-called Secret Service that looks after drug sement Often wonder what the FBI must think of it However,” M sloivelled his chair away from theHe linked his hands behind his head and leaned back, looking across the desk at Bond ”The point is that the CIA Rome Station works pretty closely with this little narcotics team Has to, to prevent crossed lines and so on And CIA - Alan Dulles hiave ent used by the Bureau Apparently he's a double Does a little s as cover Chap called Kristatos Dulles said that of course he couldn't involve his people in any way and he was pretty certain the Treasury Depart too closely with us But he said that, if I wished, he would get word to this Kristatos that one of our, er, bestbusiness I said I would ot word that the rendezvous is fixed for the day after toestured towards the files in front of Bond
”You'll find all the details in there”
There was a brief silence in the roo that the whole affair sounded unpleasant probably dangerous and certainly dirty With the last quality in ht, sir It looks like money How much e pay for the traffic to stop?”
M let his chair tip forward He put his hands flat down on the desk, side by side He said roughly: ”A hundred thousand pounds In any currency That's the PM's figure But I don't want you to get hurt Certainly not picking other people's coals out of the fire So you can go up to another hundred thousand if there's bad trouble Drugs are the biggest and tightest ring in crinals Without looking up he said: ”Look after yourself”
Signor Kristatos picked up the menu He said: ”I do not beat about bushes, Mr Bond How much?”
”Fifty thousand pounds for one hundred per cent results”
Kristatos said indifferently: ”Yes Those are important funds I shall have melon with prosciutto haht These people have their own Chianti I commend it”
The waiter caliatelli Verdi with a Genoese sauce which Kristatos said was iarlic and fir cones
When the waiter had gone, Kristatos sat and chewed silently on a wooden toothpick His face gradually becalum as if bad weather had colanced restlessly at everything in the restaurant except Bond, glittered Bond guessed that Kristatos ondering whether or not to betray soly: ”In certain circuht be more”
Kristatos seemed to make up his ot up ”Forgive me I must visit the toiletta” He turned and walked swiftly towards the back of the restaurant
Bond was suddenly hungrier and thirsty He poured out a large glass of Chianti and sed half of it He broke a roll and began eating, s each mouthful with deep yellow butter He wondered why rolls and butter are delicious only in France and Italy There was nothing else on hisHe had confidence in Kristatos He was a big, solidsoood spirits He watched the passers-by through the plate-glassAone of the Party papers went by on a bicycle Flying from the basket in front of the handlebars was a pennant In red on white it said: PROGRESSO? - SI! - AVVENTURI? - NO! Bond smiled That was hoas Let it so renment
On the far side of the square, rather plain rooirl with the drahis face to the plate: ”He has a rather cruel sood-looking Are you sure you are right, h the rope He wiped his mouth on a napkin already streaked with tomato sauce, belched sonorously and said: ”Santos is never wrong about these things He has a nose for spies That is why I chose him as the permanent tail for that bastard Kristatos And who else but a spy would think of spending an evening with the pig? But ill make sure” The man took out of his pocket one of those cheap tin snappers that are soiven out, with paper hats and whistles, on carnival nights It gave one sharp click The maitre d'hotel on the far side of the roo and hurried over
”Si, padrone”
The man beckoned The maitre d'hotel went over and received the whispered instructions He nodded briefly, walked over to a door near the kitchens marked UFFICIO, and went in and closed the door behind him