M007

   (When we last left Fred, he had escaped and was gaping at John Smith, the head of M007)

   But Fred only gaped for a little.  He skillfully turned his astonished gape into a scornful laugh.
   “John Smith?” he asked. “Is that the best alias you could come up with?  And M007?” he laughed again.
   John smiled wanly. “My real name is actually John Smith.  Nobody believes me when I first tell them.  I cannot imagine what my parents were thinking.”
   Fred stopped mid-laugh. “Wait, so your name really is John Smith?”
   John sighed. “Yes.  I did just say that, didn’t I?”
   “Yeah, but, I mean, M007?  What’s that supposed to be?”
   “I suppose you could call it a British intelligence agency.”
   “Suppose?” Fred raised an eyebrow. “It isn’t?”
   “Oh no, it is,” John assured him. “It’s simply one that no one knows exists.  Not even the government.”
   “Then who established it?”
   “I’m afraid I’m not authorized to disclose that.”
   “I thought you were head of this super secret agency.  How can you not have authority?”
   “I simply don’t.”
   “Fine.  I’ll ask Alexander then.”
   John laughed. “Alexander may be able to do a lot of things, but he can’t talk.”
   Fred poked a finger at him. “That’s what you think.”
   “That’s what I know.”
   Fred adopted a superior look and didn’t reply.
   John sighed again. “Fred, if you even want to hope to secure this job, you’re going to have to cooperate, just a little bit.”
   “Okay,” Fred held up a finger. “On one condition.”
   “Which is?”
   “I get to keep Alexander.  You are authorized to negotiate, right?”
   John nodded once. “Yes I am.  And I might be able to find a way to let you have Alexander.”
   Fred grinned and leaned back. “Great!  What do you need me to do?”
   “We need you to keep an eye on Jonathan Toque for us.”
   Fred sat up straight at that. “What?  No way!  That’s what they wanted me to do.”
   “They?”
   “The guys who kidnapped me back there.”
   “Ah,” John nodded. “The Terrorists.”
   Fred rolled his eyes. “Duh.  Of course they were terrorists.”
   “No no,” John shook his head. “Not just terrorists. The Terrorists.  Italicatized and capitalized.”
   “The Terrorists?  Who are they?”
   “The ones who just kidnapped you.”
   “Well I got that part.  I meant, who are they besides that?”
   “Ah.  They are the ones you never hear about.  The ones who are always in the shadow of the PEANUT terrorists.  Apparently they aren’t happy about that anymore, if they ever were.”
   Fred to a moment to assimilate the information before proceeding. “Okay, so, why are you all so interested in Jonathan?”
   “Because he’s an interesting man,” John said, enigmatically.
   “Don’t be enigmatic,” Fred retorted. “Give it to me straight.”
   “I’m afraid I can’t.”
   “Oh yeah?  Why not?”
   “It’s classified.”
   “Oh darn it all.  Am I gonna have to learn everything from Alexander?  Maybe I should just ride in the trunk with him.”
   John grinned. “That could be arranged.”
   Fred glared at him. “I was joking.”
   “I wasn’t.”
   Fred glared harder and didn’t say anything.
   The car pulled to a stop.  Fred looked out the window and saw that they were in front of the hotel he had been kidnapped from.
   “Jonathan took a room here even though the attendant was killed,” John said. “He’s got courage.  Now of course we can’t force you to help us, Fred, but it would be better for everyone if you did.”
   “Do I get Alexander?”
   “Not until after you’ve helped us.”
   Fred frowned and got out of the car.  As he was about to shut the door, John stuck a car out.
   “Take this,” he said. “In case you want to call me.”
   Then he shut the door and the car sped away.
   Fred looked down at the card.  It read “007-DONT-ASK”.

   To be continued…