the plane throbbed on, high above the weather, over the great moonlit landscape. the lights had been turned out. bond sat quietly in the darkness and sweated with fear at what he was going to do.

an hour before, the girl had brought him dinner. there was a pencil hidden in the napkin. she had made some tough remarks for the benefit of oddjob and gone away. bond had eaten some scraps of food and drunk a good deal of bourbon while his imagination hunted round the plane wondering what he could conceivably do to force an emergency landing at gander or somewhere else in nova scotia. as a last resort, could he set fire to the plane? he toyed with the idea, and with the possibility of forcing the entrance hatch open. both ideas, seemed impracticable and suicidal. to save him the trouble of pondering over them, the man whom bond had seen before at the bo ac ticket counter, one of the germans, came through and stopped by bond's chair.

he grinned down at bond. 'boac takes good care of you, isn't it? mister goldfinger thinks you might have foolish notions. i am to keep an eye on the rear of the plane. so just sit back and enjoy the ride, isn't it?'

when bond didn't answer, the man went on back to the rear section.

something was nagging at bond's mind, something connected with his previous thoughts. that business about forcing the hatch. now what was it that had happened to that plane, flying over persia back in '57? bond sat for a while and stared with wide, unseeing eyes at the back of the seat in front of him. it might work! it just conceivably might!

bond wrote on the inside of the napkin, 'i'll do my best. fasten your seat belt. xxx. j.'

when the girl came to take his tray bond dropped the napkin and then picked it up and handed it to her. he held her hand and smiled up into the searching eyes. she bent to pick up the tray. she kissed him quickly on the cheek. she straightened herself. she said toughly, 'i'll see you in my dreams, handsome,' and went off to the galley.

and now bond's mind was made up. he had worked out exactly what had to be done. the inches had been measured, the knife from his heel was under his coat and he had twisted the longest end of his seat belt round his left wrist. all he needed was one sign that oddjob's body was turned away from the window. it would be too much to expect oddjob to go to sleep, but at least he could make himself comfortable. bond's eyes never left the dim profile he could see reflected in the perspex oblong of the window of the seat in front, but oddjob sat stolidly under the reading light he had prudently kept burning, his eyes staring at the ceiling, his mouth slightly open and his hands held ready and relaxed on the arms of his chair.

one hour, two hours. bond began to snore, rhythmically, drowsily, he hoped hypnotically. now oddjob's hands had moved to his lap. the head nodded once and pulled itself up, shifted to get more comfortable, turned away from the piercing eye of light in the wall, rested on its left cheek away from the window!

bond kept his snores exactly even. getting under the korean's guard would be as difficult as getting past a hungry mastiff. slowly, inch by inch, he crouched forward on the balls of his feet and reached with his knife hand between the wall and oddjob's seat. now his hand was there. now the needle-sharp tip of the dagger was aimed at the centre of the square inch of perspex he had chosen. bond grasped the end of his seat belt tightly in his hand, drew the knife back two inches and lunged.

bond had had no idea what would happen when he cut through the window. all he knew from the press reports of the persian case was that the suction out of the pressurized cabin had whirled the passenger next to the window out through the window and into space. now, as he whipped back his dagger, there was a fantastic howl, almost a scream of air, and bond was sucked violently against the back of oddjob's seat with a force that tore the end of the seat belt from his hand. over the back of the seat he witnessed a miracle. oddjob's body seemed to elongate towards the howling black aperture. there was a crash as his head went through and his shoulders hit the frame. then, as if the korean's body was toothpaste, it was slowly, foot by foot, sucked with a terrible whistling noise through the aperture. now oddjob was out to his waist. now the huge buttocks stuck and the human paste moved only inch by inch. then, with a loud boom, the buttocks got through and the legs disappeared as if shot from a gun.

after that came the end of the world. with an appalling crash of crockery from the galley, the huge plane stood on its nose and dived. the last thing bond knew before he blacked out was the high scream of the engines through the open window and a fleeting vision of pillows and rugs whipping out into space past his eyes. then, with a final desperate embrace of the seat in front, bond's oxygen-starved body collapsed in a sear of lung pain.

the next thing bond felt was a hard kick in the ribs. there was a taste of blood in his mouth. he groaned. again the foot smashed into his body. painfully he dragged himself to his knees between the seats and looked up through a red film. all the lights were on. there was a thin mist in the cabin. the sharp depressurization had brought the air in the cabin down below the dew-point. the roar of the engines through the open window was gigantic. an icy wind seared him. goldfinger stood over him, his face fiendish under the yellow light. there was a small automatic dead steady in his hand. goldfinger reached back his foot and kicked again. bond lit with a blast of hot rage. he caught the foot and twisted it sharply, almost breaking the ankle. there came a scream from goldfinger and a crash that shook the plane. bond leapt for the aisle and threw himself sideways and down on to the heap of body. there was an explosion that burned the side of his face. but then his knee thudded into goldfinger's groin and his left hand was over the gun.

for the first time in his life, bond went berserk. with his fists and knees he pounded the struggling body while again and again he crashed his forehead down on to the glistening face. the gun came quavering towards him again. almost indifferently bond slashed sideways with the edge of his hand and heard the clatter of metal among the seats. now goldfinger's hands were at his throat and bond's at gold-finger's. down, down went bond's thumbs into the arteries. he threw all his weight forward, gasping for breath. would he black out before the other man died? would he? could he stand the pressure of goldfinger's strong hands? the glistening moon-face was changing. deep purple showed through the tan. the eyes began to nicker up. the pressure of the hands on bond's throat slackened. the hands fell away. now the tongue came out and lolled from the open mouth and there came a terrible gargling from deep in the lungs. bond sat astride the silent chest and slowly, one by one, unhinged his rigid fingers.

bond gave a deep sigh and knelt and then stood slowly up. dazedly he looked up and down the lighted plane. by the galley, pussy galore lay strapped in her seat like a heap of washing. farther down, in the middle of the aisle, the guard lay spreadeagled, one arm and the head at ridiculous angles. without a belt to hold him when the plane dived, he must have been tossed at the roof like a rag doll.

bond brushed his hands over his face. now he felt the burns on his palm and cheeks. wearily he went down on his knees again and searched for the little gun. it was a colt -25 automatic. he flicked out the magazine. three rounds left and one in the chamber. bond half walked, half felt his way down the aisle to where the girl lay. he unbuttoned her jacket and put his hand against her warm breast. the heart fluttered like a pigeon under his palm. he undid the seat belt and got the girl face down on the floor and knelt astride her. for five minutes he pumped rhythmically at her lungs. when she began to moan, he got up and left her and went on down the aisle and took a fully loaded luger out of the dead guard's shoulder holster. on the way back past the shambles of the galley he saw an unbroken bottle of bourbon rolling gently to and fro among the wreckage. he picked it up and pulled the cork and tilted it into his open mouth. the liquor burned like disinfectant. he put the cork back and went forward. he stopped for a minute outside the cockpit door, thinking. then, with a gun in each hand, he knocked the lever down and went through.

the five faces, blue in the instrument lights, turned towards him. the mouths made black holes and the eyes glinted white. here the roar of the engines was less. there was a smell of fright-sweat and cigarette smoke. bond stood with his legs braced, the guns held unwavering. he said, 'goldfinger's dead. if anyone moves or disobeys an order i shall kill him. pilot, what's your position, course, height and speed?'

the pilot swallowed. he had to gather saliva before he could speak. he said, 'sir, we are about five hundred miles east of goose bay. mr goldfinger said we would ditch the* plane as near the coast north of there as we could get. we were to reassemble at montreal and mr goldfinger said we would come back and salvage the gold. our ground speed is two hundred and fifty miles per hour and our height two thousand.'

'how much flying can you do at that altitude? you must be using up fuel pretty fast.'

'yes, sir. i estimate that we have about two hours left at this height and speed.'

'get me a time signal.'

the navigator answered quickly, 'just had one from washington, sir. five minutes to five am. dawn at this level will be in about an hour.'

'where is weathership charlie?'

'about three hundred miles to the north-east, sir.'

'pilot, do you think you can make goose bay?'

'no, sir, by about a hundred miles. we can only make the coast north of there.'

'right. alter course for weathership charlie. operator, call them up and give me the mike.'

'yes, sir.'

while the plane executed a wide curve, bond listened to the static and broken snatches of voice that sounded from the amplifier above his head.

the operator's voice came softly to him, 'ocean station

charlie. this is speedbird 510. g-algy calling c for charlie, g-algy calling charlie, g-algy…'

a sharp voice broke in. 'g-algy give your position. g-algy give your position. this is gander control. emergency. g-algy...'

london came over faintly. an excited voice began chattering. now voices were coming at them from all directions. bond could imagine the fix being quickly co-ordinated at all flying control stations, the busy men under the arcs working on the big plot, telephones being lifted, urgent voices talking to each other across the world. the strong signal of gander control smothered all other transmissions. 'we've located g-algy. we've got them at about 50 n by 70 e. all stations stop transmitting. priority. i repeat, we have a fix on g-algy…'

suddenly the quiet voice of c for charlie came in. 'this is ocean station charlie calling speedbird 510. charlie calling g-algy. can you hear me? come in speedbird 510.'

bond slipped the small gun into his pocket and took the offered microphone. he pressed the transmitter switch and talked quietly into it, watching the crew over the oblong of plastic.

'c for charlie this is g-algy speedbird hi-jacked last evening at idlewild. i have killed the man responsible and partly disabled the plane by depressurizing the cabin. i have the crew at gunpoint. not enough fuel to make goose so propose to ditch as close to you as possible. please put put line of flares.'

a new voice, a voice of authority, perhaps the captain's, came over the air. 'speedbird this is c for charlie. your message heard and understood. identify the speaker. i repeat identify the speaker over.'

bond said and smiled at the sensation his words would cause, 'speedbird to c for charlie. this is british secret service agent number 007,1 repeat number 007. whitehall radio will confirm. i repeat check with whitehall radio over.'

there was a stunned pause. voices from round the world tried to break in. some control, presumably gander, cleared them off the air. c for charlie came back, 'speedbird this is c for charlie alias the angel gabriel speaking okay i'll check with whitehall and wilco the flares but london and gander want more details…'

bond broke in, 'sorry c for charlie but i can't hold five men in my sights and make polite conversation just give me the sea conditions would you and then i'm going off the air till we come in to ditch over.'

'okay speedbird i see the point wind here force two sea conditions long smooth swell no broken crests you should make it okay i'll soon have you on the radar and we'll keep constant watch on your wavelength have whisky for one and iroas for five waiting good luck over.'

bond said, 'thanks c for charlie add a cup of tea to that order would you i've got a pretty girl on board this is speed-bird saying over and out.'

bond released the switch and handed the microphone to the radio officer. he said, 'pilot, they're putting down flares and keeping constant watch on our wavelength. wind force two, long smooth swell with no broken crests. now take it easy and let's try and get out of this alive. as soon as we hit the water i'll get the hatch open. until then if anyone comes through the cockpit door he gets shot. right?'

the girl's voice sounded from the door behind bond. 'i was just coming to join the party but i won't now. getting shot doesn't agree with me. but you might call that man back and make it two whiskies. tea makes me hiccup.'

bond said, 'pussy, get back to your basket.' he gave a last glance round the cockpit and backed out of the door.

two hours, two years, later bond was lying in the warm cabin in weathership charlie listening dreamily to an early morning radio programme from canada. various parts of his body ached. he had got to the tail of the plane and made the girl kneel down with her head cradled in her arms on the seat of a chair. then he had wedged himself in behind and over her and had held her life-jacketed body tightly in his arms and braced his back against the back of the seat behind him.

she had been nervously making facetious remarks about the indelicacy of this position when the belly of the strato-cruiser had thudded into the first mountain of swell at a hundred miles an hour. the huge plane skipped once and then crashed nose first into a wall of water. the impact had broken the back of the plane. the leaden weight of the bullion in the baggage compartment had torn the plane in half, spewing bond and the girl out into the icy swell, lit red by the line of flares. there they had floated, half stunned, in their yellow life-jackets until the lifeboat got to them. by then there were only a few chunks of wreckage on the surface and the crew, with three tons of gold round their necks, were on their way down to the bed of the atlantic. the boat hunted for ten minutes but when no bodies came to the surface they gave up the search and chugged back up the searchlight beam to the blessed wall of iron of the old frigate.

they had been treated like a mixture of royally and people from mars. bond had answered the first, most urgent questions and then it had all suddenly seemed to be too much for his tired mind to cope with. now he was lying luxuriating in the peace and the heat of the whisky and wondering about pussy galore and why she had chosen shelter under his wing rather than under goldfinger's.

the connecting door with the next cabin opened and the girl came in. she was wearing nothing but a grey fisherman's jersey that was decent by half an inch. the sleeves were rolled up. she looked like a painting by vertes. she said, 'people keep on asking if i'd like an alcohol rub and i keep on saying that if anyone's going to rub me it's you, and if i'm going to be rubbed with anything it's you i'd like to be rubbed with.' she ended lamely, 'so here i am.'

bond said firmly, 'lock that door, pussy, take off that sweater and come into bed. you'll catch cold.'

she did as she was told, like an obedient child.

she lay in the crook of bond's arm and looked up at him. she said, not in a gangster's voice, or a lesbian's, but in a girl's voice, will you write to me in sing sing?'

bond looked down into the deep blue-violet eyes that were no longer hard, imperious. he bent and kissed them lightly. he said, 'they told me you only liked women.'

she said, 'i never met a man before.' the toughness came back into her voice. 'i come from the south. you know the definition of a virgin down there? well, it's a girl who can run faster than her brother. in my case i couldn't run as fast as my uncle. i was twelve. that's not so good, james. you ought to be able to guess that.'

bond smiled down into the pale, beautiful face. he said, 'all you need is a course of tlc.'

'what's tlc?'

'short for tender loving care treatment. it's what they write on most papers when a waif gets brought in to a children's clinic.'

'i'd like that.' she looked at the passionate, rather cruel mouth waiting above hers. she reached up and brushed back the comma of black hair that had fallen over his right eyebrow. she looked into the fiercely slitted grey eyes. 'when's it going to start?'

bond's right hand ? came slowly up the firm, muscled thighs, over the flat soft plain of the stomach to the right breast. its point was hard with desire. he said softly, 'now.' his mouth came ruthlessly down on hers.

the end