Bond Movies 06 - The World Is Not Enough Read Online Free Page B

the water with immense power and strength. Giulietta thought that perhaps she could use the sheer size of thie boat to her advantage.
    Bond shot past two police boats that immediately sounded alarms and gave chase behind the bizarre arrowhead-shaped green vessel. Police car sirens were already wailing along the embankment; some emergency vehicles headed toward the SIS building, others following the boat chase from the shore.
    There were a surprising number of boats on the Thames. The cigar girl weaved in and out, almost ramming a small speedboat in the process. Bond was losing ground, but in a bid to keep pace, he corralled the boat into a hair-raising short cut, shooting underneath a pier. He was barely able to manoeuvre the boat under it, but luckily he emerged even closer to his prey.
    Enough is enough, the girl thought. She killed the motor, moved to the back of the boat and pulled a tarpaulin off a rear- mounted machine gun. She snapped on the belt, took aim at Bond and fired.
    The Q Boat continued at full speed, now up to nearly seventy knots. The bullets bounced off the chobam armour plating that Bond knew covered the surface. He set his jaw and kept going, heading straight for her.
    The girl remained calm and cool, shooting with precision. Why weren’t the bullets penetrating? He was getting closer . . . closer . . .
    Her eyes widened when she realised his boat was not going to stop. She let out a small scream and hit the deck as Bond steered his boat right over the machine gun and turret, using the girl's boat as a ramp. The Q Boat launched into the air, then dived, nose-first, into the Thames.
    She raised herself in time to see Bond turning the little powerhouse to close in for the kill. She scrambled to the helm, fired the engine again, and sped toward Tower Bridge, which was just beginning to open to allow for the passage of a small freighter.
    Bond lagged behind, impeded by the influx of heavy traffic on the water. He watched helplessly as her boat was lost in the distance. Desperate, he looked around him and saw that a shore-side fish market was not far to his left. Gritting his teeth, he cranked the wheel and veered off, up a slip way and onto the embankment. The ingenuity of the Q Boat design allowed it to hydroplane on the pavement, propelling him through the market and into a busy London street. Pedestrians screamed and jumped out of the way as he wrestled with the controls, jetting off the street and straight toward a riverside restaurant full of people.
    The boat crashed through the side of the restaurant, sending diners leaping in every direction. Waiters shouted at him, but before they knew what had happened, Bond’s boat had sprung out over a balcony and splashed down once more into the Thames.
    She was back in his sights.
    Giulietta turned back, amazed that Bond had managed to overtake her. She bore down and kept going.
    The racing boats sliced through an armada of lazy, overloaded barges, barely missing one and sending a small tidal wave over another. Then they were at an even pace. Giulietta attempted to force her way past him, but Bond punched some buttons on the console of the Q Boat and released a set of catapulting flame canisters. They shot out ahead, creating a massive wall of fire in front of them.
    Giulictta swerved her boat out of the way just in time and was forced to turn toward the very edge of the river. She knew the chase was nearly over and that she had lost, but then she saw the huge, colourful hot air balloon looming in the sky in front of her.
    Their boats were now only yards away from the Millennium Dome. A crowd of people was gathered around the balloon, which was apparently about to launch. She skidded her vessel to a stop at the nearby pier and quickly scrambled out.
    A flamboyant, wealthy celebrity was preparing to climb into the basket of the balloon. He waved to the crowd and smiled for the cameras, but Giulietta pushed through and leapt into the basket.
    ‘Hey!’ the man