Devil May Care

volunteered under age in the war and had the distinction of fighting for both sides – for the Nazis initially, and then for the Russians at the battle of Stalingrad. This happened to quite a few people in the Baltic states, as you know, according to which country was occupying theirs and compelled them to fight. The odd thing with Gorner is that he seems to have changed sides of his own free will – according to who he thought was the likely victor.’
    ‘A soldier of fortune,’ said Bond. He found his interest piqued.
    ‘Yes. But his real passion is business. He studied a year at Harvard Business School, but left because he found it insufficiently stimulating. He began a small pharmaceutical business in Estonia, then opened a factory near Paris. You’d think it would be the other way round, having the office in Paris and the cheap labour in Estonia. But nothing about Dr Gorner is quite what you’d expect.’
    ‘What sort of pharmaceuticals?’ said Bond.
    ‘Analgesics. You know, painkillers. Then in due course they’re hoping to develop neurological medicines, for Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and so on. But of course he was in a very big league there, what with Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson and the other giants. Some of them have been around since the last century. But this didn’t deter our Dr Gorner. A mixture of industrial espionage, cost-cutting and strong-arm sales techniques gave him a big market presence. Then one day he discovered the poppy.’
    ‘The poppy?’ Bond wondered whether the yoga had addled M’s thought processes. Perhaps he’d been standing on his head – though it was hard to imagine him in a dhoti.
    ‘Source of the opiate class of drugs, which are widely used in hospitals as anaesthetics. All our infantrymen carry morphine in their packs. If half your leg’s been blown off by a shell you need something powerful and fast-acting. Heroin was first legally marketed by the German company Bayer as a cough cure. Recently, of course, since people have come to understand the problems of addiction, there’s been tough legislation about such things. There’s a legal trade in opium derivatives destined for medical use, and there’s an illegal one.’
    ‘And which is our man involved in?’
    ‘The former, certainly. But we suspect the latter, too, onan increasing scale. But we need to know more, much more.’
    ‘Is this where I come in?’
    ‘Yes.’ M stood up and walked over to the window. ‘In some ways what I want from you is a simple fact-finding exercise. Find Gorner. Talk to him. See what makes him tick.’
    ‘Sounds rather psychological,’ said Bond.
    ‘Indeed.’ M looked uneasy.
    ‘Is that what you have me down for now? I thought it was going to be my choice as to whether I returned to active operations.’
    ‘Well, yes, James, it is.’
    Bond didn’t like it when M called him ‘James’ rather than ‘Bond’ or ‘007’. The personal note always preceded some disappointing news.
    ‘I want you to have some more tests with the medics and then a talk with R.’
    ‘The head-shrinker?’ said Bond.
    ‘The psychological-fitness assessor,’ M corrected him. ‘I’ve recently appointed an assistant therapist in his department. You will have a course of breathing and relaxation techniques.’
    ‘For heaven’s sake, sir, I –’
    ‘All the double-Os are doing it,’ said M stiffly. ‘009 reported immense benefits.’
    ‘He would,’ said Bond.
    ‘Which reminds me. I’ve appointed a new double-O. To take the place of 004, who, as you know, unfortunately –’
    ‘Yes. Under an East German train, I gather. And when does the new man start?’
    ‘Any day.’ M coughed again. ‘Anyway, they’re all doing it and I’m not going to make an exception for you.’
    Bond lit a cigarette. It was pointless to argue with M when he had one of these bees in his bonnet. ‘Is there anything else I need to know about this Dr Gorner?’
    ‘Yes,’ said M. ‘I believe he could turn out to be a major threat to national security. That’s why the Service has been called in. The Government is panicking about the amount of illegal drugs coming into this country. There are already three-quarters of a million heroin addicts in the United States. We’re heading the same way. And the trouble is that it’s no longer just tramps and so on. It’s our best young people who are at risk. Drugs are becoming respectable. There was a leader in The Times – The Times of all