"Nice to see you awake, Miss M."

 She was groggy. The last thing she remembered was a gunshot and then blackness. "Just call me 'M', " she said weakly. "I don't like pleasantries too much."

 She looked around at her surroundings. There was a stream of light coming from the far window of her "cell". Well, it wasn't actually a cell since it didn't have the trademarks of a cell. It was more of a square room about 5 yards on each side with two windows on the one wall- whose blinds were down at the moment except for the far window which had a crack of light coming through.

 "Very well, then, M," said a man in black, "I suppose you know why you're here." He stood over her like she was her slave. Of course, she knew that she was nobody's slave.

 She tried to move her hands, but they were tied behind back very tightly. There wasn't much of chance of escape--not just yet. She looked at her right shoulder. The bullet from the gunshot seemed to have only just grazed it, which was good. There wasn't really major damage from what she could tell. *Oh well,* she thought, *I may as well play along until I can think of something.*

 "No," she said, 'I don't know why I'm here. Although, I doubt you'll ever get away with this. I have operatives who'll--"

 "--come to find you?" he continued. "I don't think so. They don't even know you've gone."

 "Impossible!" she retorted. "How do expect me to believe that?"

 "Because," he replied, "you already left with 'Bond'. "

 XIA #1 - From UNIT with Love
Chapter 9 - The Great Deceiver
by Jefferson Eng

 Sing hymns, make love, get high, fall dead.
He'll bring his perfume to your bed.
He'll charm your life 'til the cold winds blow.
Then he'll sell your dreams to a picture show.
-King Crimson, "The Great Deceiver"

 At that moment the balcony door swung open and James found himself looking into his own reflection.

 Josef Braun held a pistol to the head of Jo Grant. Looking past her, Bond could see the Brigadier and Sergeant Benton tied up inside.

 "Now, gentlemen" Braun smiled. "You are to accompany me. He noticed Bond fiddling with his cufflinks. "I should warn you, Mister Bond, that this gun is very sensitive, and the slightest jolt to my person could set it off". Bond was still. "Now, as I was saying, my master seems to think it would be particularly amusing if you were both to play a part in the instigation of the great plan, however unwittingly". He smiled at some private joke. "For myself, I merely wish to keep you alive long enough to prepare a more painful means for your destruction."

 "Foolish dreams for foolish people as someone once said," said a strangely familiar voice--familiar to the Doctor, that is.

 Braun turned around to see a middle-age woman with shoulder length hair. She was supposed to someplace else...not here. Not at this time. He made sure of that. He tried to react, but he was already unconscious from a blow to his head. He didn't even realize his gun was taken out his hand by Bond.

 "Well, I'm sure that's enough tension for today," said the middle-aged woman looking at the unconscious body. "Now, Doctor aren't you going to introduce me?"

 The Doctor was amazed. He didn't expect her to show up after all that had gone before. "Liz?" he said dumbfounded. "Elizabeth Shaw, I never thought I'd ever see you again."

 "Yes, well, after getting a visit from this person here," she pointed to Bond, "I just couldn't extract myself from this situation."

 The Doctor shot a glance at Bond. "So you've already met then."

 Bond looked at the Doctor and Liz. "Well...er...um..."

 "Yes, well, I can understand considering your superiors wanted to find out who they were working with," said the Doctor. "The Brigadier would have done the same if the positions were reversed."

 "Ahem!" The small voice came from the corner behind Liz. It was Jo. "Are you going to talk like old friends all day or aren't you going to introduce me, Doctor?"

 I am the one who guided you this far,
All you know and all you feel.
Nobody must know my name
For nobody would understand,
And you kill what you fear.

 I call you for I must leave,
You're on your own until the end.
There was a choice but now it's gone,
I said you wouldn't understand,
Take what's yours and be damned.

 In the night, he's a star in the Milky Way.
He's a man of the world by the light of day.
A golden smile and a proposition
And the breath of God smells of sweet sedition.
-King Crimson, "The Great Deceiver"

 "Hello, this is the main office of Her Majesty's Secret Service Taskforce. May I help you?"

 "Mary, how nice to hear you voice again," said Bond on his portable phone. "Get me M on the phone please, dear."

 "I thought she was with you." replied Mary.

 "No," replied Bond, "she isn't."

 "I could've sworn she stepped out of her office with you."

 "Well, thank you, Mary. Take care."

 Bond turned to the Brigadier, the Doctor, Liz, and Jo and put his phone away. "Well, M's not in her office which means that Braun must have taken her to the Master."

 "How are we supposed to find her and the Master then?" asked Jo. "Are we supposed to split up and try to find them?"

 "What a splendid idea, Jo," said the Doctor ecstatically.

 "Yes, we're agreed then." replied the Brigadier. "I'll take my men and we'll post ourselves at the Southbridge School where this whole mess started."

 "While Liz and I--" started the Doctor.

 "Doctor?" questioned Liz.

 The Doctor was confused. "What's the matter, Liz? Don't you want to come along?"

 "I admit that we had some good times together and I'm partially to blame for our falling out. Yet, I don't think it's my place to be with you."

 The Doctor felt disheartened. "It'll be just like old times," he said.

 "You sentimentality is touching, Doctor," sadi Liz chokingly, "but I don't think so."

 "I see," replied the Doctor. "Take care at Cambridge, then." He then turned to James and Jo. "I suppose the three of will track down the Master then."

 Liz watched the Doctor, Bond, and Jo get into Bessie while the UNIT troops rolled off to the Southbridge. Nobody noticed the tear the fell off her cheek. And nobody noticed the her attacker that came up behind and knocked her down from behind.

 To Be Continued (with a very bloody mess in its wake)

 [1] Words for Chapter 7.25 copyright 1980 Genesis "Guide Vocal"