Q

[0_0_7]

The robbery had been a success, for all intents and purposes. The heist had taken place in the night and the burglers had done their homework. A drill had been used through the meter thick concrete wall, leaving a hole big enough to crawl through. Then they'd rustled the cage by using a pipe cutter on the bars. It seemed they'd been after the money and bearer bonds but a few safe deposit boxes were open. One of which had had a separate, private alarm wired to Six. There was a slip in the system, though, and it wasn't until the morning crew came onto duty that anyone noticed the blinking light.

THe Quartermaster was immediately dispatched with his ever loyal double-o at his side. Bond was along merely as muscle. Whatever had been kept in the safety deposit box was above his pay grade. Q would know, though. Q always knew.

Comments

[quartermaster_q]

Q couldn't help but admire the work that had gone into the robbery. Honestly, it was rare to see such thought put into your average bank robbery these days.

"Can I see the box?" Q asked, nodding for Bond to pull it down for him. "I have an inventory list here on my phone. If we're lucky, they took nothing of real importance."

[0_0_7]

Bond reached up and pulled it down, surprised that it was much heavier than he thought it would be.

"Are bricks on the inventory?" he quipped, putting it on the table for Q.

[quartermaster_q]

"Mmm, no, but there is a hard drive from the late 1980's," Q said, glancing at the list again. "I imagine that's got a bit of weight to it."

[0_0_7]

"I think it's still in here," he said, lifting the lid. Inside was the hard drive and a box filled with 3.5 inch discs, and then a collection of 5.25's. there was room for more and it was obvious something was missing from the space.

[quartermaster_q]

Q hummed, then frowned.

"It appears we're missing a few items. Two zip drives, and a decoder," he sighed, looking slightly put upon.

"I suppose this means we'll not be stopping for tea."

[0_0_7]

"I'll check with the police to see if they've had any leads. I'm going to guess there's no video, but there might have been a hair or something. I've seen the police procedurals..." he smirked, putting no faith whatsoever in the police.

[quartermaster_q]

Q offered what was nearly a laughed, then nodded as he locked the box.

"I'll secure the remaining items and meet you at the car," he replied.

[0_0_7]

It took Bond a bit of time to find someone who was authorized to talk to him and he got what little he could, then made his way to the car.

He slid into the driver's seat next to Q. "He didn't even know how to find his own arse. We're going to have to do this the hard way. What's on the zips? Anything anyone would want to buy? I can reach out to people."

[quartermaster_q]

"Honestly? I'm not certain there's a market for it. The zips contain old decoded transmissions. Gulf war era intelligence," Q replied, looking genuinely puzzled. "Nothing terribly shocking or valuable- as far as I'm aware. However, I've never seen the data before, and it was never catalogued in our modern systems."

[0_0_7]

"Why would anyone want that?" Bond asked. "Other than Asange, who cares?"

[quartermaster_q]

"Your guess is as good as mine, double-o seven. ...Though there's always the possibility that there's something hidden on the zips. Scrambled into the other data, or buried beneath it. It certainly wouldn't be the first time," Q noted.

[0_0_7]

"Whatever the reasons, we need to get them back. Now, how to go about finding something so bloody ancient. Would they need special equipment? Can we track...I don't know, sales of zip readers from the nineties?"

He was clearly out of his depth with old tech.

[quartermaster_q]

"I can try, but honestly, if I was going to buy a zip drive, I'd go to a boot sale or swap meet- Much cheaper, and impossible to trace," Q pointed out. "I don't think it's the seller we should try and hunt down- I think we need to find the buyer."

[0_0_7]

"I think it's equally unlikely we'll find anyone, but that may be the way to go. Isn't there a better catalogue of what might be on them back at HQ?" he asked, his frustration clearly building. Bond didn't like the impossible. All he needed was an in and he'd have this sorted but at the moment it seemed dark.

[quartermaster_q]

"Not if the information is hidden, no. ...You were an active agent then, weren't you? Can you think of anything going on at the time that might have been swept under the rug?" Q asked.

[0_0_7]

Bond went quiet, thinking of anything he could. He gave up and shook his head.

"Yeltsin was president of Russia- the Wall had come down, but that was mostly a metaphor. America was in Kuwait and we supported them. The Serbs and Croats began fighting and the UN left Sarajevo and the world watched it burn. There were the Afghani refugees fleeing to Pakistan. Or it could be something so much less significant..."

[quartermaster_q]

"Perhaps we ought to go see M," Q suggested. "There are a few files even I don't have access to, after all. Perhaps there's something I've not seen."

[0_0_7]

"She would have known," Bond said quietly, then turned the car toward HQ so they could see the Minister. Surely he'd have something to point them in the right direction.

[quartermaster_q]

Q was silent for the majority of the ride, tapping away at his phone until they arrived at HQ. Only then did he seem to return to the real world, following at Bond's side as they headed into work.

"Ah, Double-o seven, and our very own Quartermaster. What a rare treat," Eve said glancing up from her computer and then getting to her feet to greet the pair with a smile. "He's in a meeting, you might have to come back later..."

[0_0_7]

"We can't. There's been a security breach and we need Eyes Only information...if he even has it," Bond said. "We can wait, but the sooner the better."

She only had to look at Bond's face to know it was serious.

"I'll ring him," she said and went to the phone. A short, quiet call and then she gave the pair a placid smile. "Ten minutes. Have a seat, won't you?"

[quartermaster_q]

Q hated waiting outside M's office. It was like waiting to see the headmaster- and though he and Bond had done nothing wrong (recently), he fidgeted just a bit in his seat.

[0_0_7]

It was ten minutes on the dot when the door opened and out walked 002 and 019 along with Tanner.

"You can go in now, Bond. Q," Tanner said in his calm, polite manner. Bond rose and lead Q inside. He got to business as soon as the door was shut, explaining to M about the robbery, the drives, all of it.

M accessed files on his computer, Eyes Only as Bond had thought. It didn't take long before he had an answer.

"In November of 1992 there was a fire at Windsor castle. It was quite bad..."

"I remember. Fifty million in damage. The papers screamed about the spoiled royals," Bond said.

"Yes. Well, those Zip drives contain secure data linking the fire to IRA operatives," M said. "There's nothing concrete, but it could be damaging information right now when we've been at relative peace with the northerners..."

"Someone's going to try to start a war," Bond said, the truth of it dawning on him.

[quartermaster_q]

"It seems that way," M replied, frowning slightly, then glancing at Q. "I don't suppose there's any way of tracing them."

Q pursed his lips slightly, looking thoughtful. "There's a slim chance- and I must emphasize the word slim here- That they contain early RFID chips. I'll have to go through the archives and look- but if they were chipped, I could, possibly, track them. Maybe. ...Though it would take quite a bit of doing."

[0_0_7]

"I can't stress how important this is, Q. We have such a fragile peace. Do whatever you must," M said.

"And my orders, sir?" Bond asked.

M paused.

"You'll do whatever you must as well," the Minister said.

[quartermaster_q]

"You can help me in the archives, Bond. A lot of it hasn't been digitalized yet, or re-digitalized anyway. I'll need help moving boxes," Q confessed, getting to his feet and offering M a nod.