With fast fingers and a few phone calls, Villiers could have Bond out of Prague in under the hour. A flight was leaving for London in three hours, and Villiers got the agent a seat on the plane. For a second, he debated calling Bond and telling him to hire a taxi to the airport. Based on previous experience, Villiers strongly suspected that Bond would somehow translate this to "steal yourself a sports car and get to the airport." A hired car would probably be cheaper in the long run. The question was, where to send it?

There were less frustrating ways to get that information than asking Bond directly. Villiers ran a trace on Bond's government-issued credit card. The last two purchases made on the card were a reservation at the Hotel Prague Castle, and room service for the same. Villiers rolled his eyes. It must be nice to have unlimited expenses while on the job. He sighed and looked up the number for the closest chauffeur service to the hotel he could find.

Now for the dreaded phone call. After two rings he was greeted with a curt, "What?"

"I have orders from M," Villiers said without pleasantries. "You're coming back. A car will be there in fifteen minutes to get you."

There was a pause on the other end, and in the background he could hear a female voice say, "James, come back to bed. The air is cold and the sheets are warm."

Oh, God. "Is that going to be a problem?" Villiers asked.

"No," Bond said finally. "I'll be ready," and with that he hung up.

The rest of the morning was uneventful, as far as his mornings at MI6 went. Bond arrived before lunch and was ushered into M's office, and with Villier's two biggest headaches occupied, he took his lunch at his desk and caught up on his personal business. It was 8 AM in La Paz. He sent Fields a good-luck text, hoping to catch her before she left for work.

He was surprised by his phone ringing a few minutes later. "I was just thinking about you," Fields said.

"Oh?" he asked. "Why's that?"

"I'm not wearing any clothes right now."

David nearly choked. "Should I be flattered?"

"You should be," she said. "I was thinking about how much I miss you, when I've got this room all to myself. Then I was thinking about what we'd do in this room, and I got a little carried away. I have to say, you were quite impressive."

He thought about cold showers, M in her underwear, anything to keep his mind from going down the path Strawberry had laid out before it. "You'll have to tell me about it when I'm not at work," he said.

"I will. If I started now, I'd be late for work by the time I was done," she said. "Love you, David." They rang off.

He'd finished his sandwich by the time M's door opened and Bond left with a new assignment. M stood looking out a window with her back to Villiers as she gave her instructions. "Make sure Bond's up to date on our explosive friends in Madagascar, then get him to Antananarivo," she said. As a second thought, she added, "Get Carter in on this, as well. It's time he got some experience under his belt."

She turned away from the window. "You look much more awake," she said. "Don't tell me you have an espresso machine stashed in that desk."

"No, ma'am. Just a refreshing lunch break."