پولدارترین مرد جهان

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Richest Man in the World

The next day, Goldfinger gave Bond and Tilly a lot of work to do. They had to prepare maps, timetables and lists. As they worked, Oddjob guarded them carefully.

At the end of the day, Bond received a note from Goldfinger. It said:

At 11 a.m. tomorrow, the five gang leaders and myself will take a plane trip. We’re going to fly over Fort Knox to study the positions of the buildings and roads. The plane will be flown by my pilots. You will come with us. Miss Masterton will stay here.

G.

Bond sat and thought. Finally, he took a sheet of paper and typed out the details of the robbery of Fort Knox. He rolled the paper into a tiny cylinder. Then he took another sheet of paper and typed this message: URGENT. THERE WILL BE A REWARD OF $5000 FOR THE PERSON WHO DELIVERS THIS MESSAGE TO FELIX LEITER AT PINKERTON’S DETECTIVE AGENCY, 154 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK.

Bond rolled the message around the cylinder of paper and wrote $5000 REWARD, in red ink, on the outside. Then he wrapped sticky tape around the message on the cylinder. He stuck the paper cylinder to his leg with more sticky tape.

The next day, Bond went in the plane with Goldfinger, Oddjob, and the five gang leaders. They flew over Fort Knox to study the plan of the town. As the plane was flying back to New York, Bond went into the toilet. He knew that this was his only opportunity to try and stop Goldfinger.

Bond knew that after the plane landed, cleaners would come and clean the toilet. So he took the paper cylinder off his leg and stuck it under the seat of the toilet. The words $5000 REWARD were very clear, and a cleaner would see it immediately.

Oddjob was waiting outside the toilet. When Bond came out, Oddjob pushed past him and looked suspiciously around inside the small room. But he didn’t lift the toilet seat. He came out again and shut the door.

When Bond walked past her, Pussy Galore looked at him thoughtfully.

During the next three days, Bond felt very nervous. He kept thinking again and again about the message under the toilet seat. Had anyone found it? Would they believe the message? Or perhaps the plane hadn’t been cleaned yet.

Bond thought about what would happen if the message was delivered to Felix Leiter. Felix would fly to Washington and contact the FBI and the Army. Perhaps he would even talk to the President of the United States. They would stop Goldfinger’s plans. But nothing happened.

Then, in the afternoon of the day before the robbery, Bond received another note from Goldfinger. It said:

The first part of Project Grand Slam has been successful. Get on the train at midnight. Bring copies of all the maps, timetables and lists.

G.

That evening, Goldfinger, Bond, Tilly and the gangsters met at Pennsylvania Station. Ring, Midnight, Strap, Solo and their men were dressed as medical workers. Pussy Galore and her girls were dressed as nurses. Goldfinger, Tilly and Bond were dressed as doctors.

The Superintendent of the station approached Goldfinger.

‘Dr Gold?’ he said. ‘I’m afraid that there’s bad news from Fort Knox. All trains are being stopped at Louisville. But don’t worry. We’ll get you and your Emergency Team there. What’s happened to the people at Fort Knox? What illness do they have?’

‘We don’t know yet. That’s what we have to find out,’ said Goldfinger in a gentle voice. ‘But we believe that it’s very dangerous.’

‘Well, good luck, Doctor,’ said the Superintendent. ‘Everyone is very proud of you and your Emergency Team.’

‘Thank you, Superintendent,’ said Goldfinger. He moved away and gave orders for the gangs to board the train. Bond was put in a train compartment with Tilly. They were guarded by Goldfinger’s Korean and German staff.

As Pussy Galore walked through the compartment where Bond and Tilly were sitting, she stopped by Bond’s seat for a few seconds. Her dark violet eyes stared into his grey-blue eyes.

‘Mr. Bond,’ she whispered. ‘If anything goes wrong with this plan, I’m sure that you’ll know why.’ Then she walked on.

It was a long and difficult journey. Some of the employees of the railway were still on the train. So the gangsters couldn’t drink whisky, or smoke cigarettes, or start fights. They had to behave well and pretend to be medical staff until they reached Fort Knox.

Bond thought again and again about the drug in the water ply. Had the people of Fort Knox drunk the water? Were 60 000 people already dead? Or had Felix Leiter got Bond’s message?

Bond knew what he must do. He must get close to Goldfinger and kill him.

At six o’clock the next morning, the train reached Louisville. Goldfinger said that there were not enough protection suits for everyone. So all the railway’s employees left the train, except for the driver.

A few minutes later, Bond felt the train almost stop, then start again. He knew that Goldfinger had killed the driver. Goldfinger was now driving the train himself.

Then Mr. Strap came hurrying through Bond’s compartment. ‘We arrive in ten minutes!’ he ordered. ‘Put on your protective equipment!’

Bond went to the toilet and closed the door. He removed the small knife from the heel of his shoe and pushed it into the belt of his trousers.

Ten minutes later, the train began passing houses on the edge of Fort Knox. Bodies were lying everywhere on the ground. No one was moving. The people didn’t look as if they were asleep. They looked as if they were dead.

‘Those poor people,’ said Mr. Billy Ring, and laughed. The train continued on slowly and Bond saw more and more bodies of men, women and children. He looked carefully to see if any of them were moving, but they weren’t. There was no sound at all.

At last, the train stopped at the sidings near the Bullion Depository. All the leaders of the gangs and their people were wearing their protective equipment. The doors of the train opened and different groups of men and women got down on to the platform. One group of men - the Assault Group - was carrying the atomic bomb. The five gang leaders were in the Command Group with Goldfinger, Oddjob, Bond and Tilly. Goldfinger ordered them to climb onto the roof of the first train carriage. From this position, they could watch the Assault Group running towards the Bullion Depository.

‘They’ve gone through the gates,’ said Mr. Jack Strap excitedly. Bond looked and saw an extraordinary sight. In the middle of a large field was the huge building of the Gold Vault.

Hundreds of bodies were lying on the ground around the vault. The soldiers were still holding their weapons.

Everything was very quiet. Trucks belonging to each gang were waiting on the roads at the edge of the field. Bond looked at the bodies on the ground. Were any of the soldiers alive? None of them moved.

The Assault Group was moving towards the main door of the vault. Goldfinger looked at Bond, his pale blue eyes were shining with triumph.

‘I was right and you were wrong, Mr. Bond. Soon I will be the richest man in the world. And then we will say goodbye. Thank you for the help which you and Miss Masterton have given me.’

Bond knew that he and Tilly were not important to Goldfinger any more. Very soon, Goldfinger was going to give an order and Bond and Tilly would be killed. But Bond had decided that, whatever happened to him, he would kill Goldfinger first.

Suddenly, Bond saw something moving high in the sky above them. It was a helicopter and it was flying fast towards the Depository. Then everything happened at once.

The ‘dead’ soldiers suddenly jumped up from the ground and pointed their weapons at the Assault Group. Now troops were guarding the door of the vault again!

A loud voice came from a loudspeaker in the helicopter. It gave the order, ‘Stand where you are! Drop your weapons!’ But then the shooting started.

Bond grabbed Tilly’s hand and jumped down from the roof of the train carriage onto the platform. He heard Goldfinger shouting to Oddjob.

‘Get Bond and the girl! Kill them!’ Oddjob started running down the platform.

‘Run, Tilly! Run!’ shouted Bond. He began pulling Tilly along the platform. But she let go of his hand and tried to climb into one of the carriages of the train. Bond stopped, took the knife out of his trouser belt, and turned towards Oddjob.

Oddjob stopped running, pulled off his bowler hat and threw it at Tilly. It struck her on the neck. Without a sound, she fell backwards onto the platform in front of him.

Oddjob leapt towards Bond, and tried to kick him. But Tilly was in his way and he missed Bond. Bond swung his knife at Oddjob but the Korean knocked it out of his hand.

Oddjob leapt at Bond again. His feet struck Bond’s shoulder and Bond fell to the ground. The powerful kick had sent a terrible pain through Bond’s body. For a few seconds, Bond closed his eyes and waited for Oddjob’s next kick. But nothing happened. Suddenly, Bond heard the sound of three long, loud blasts from the train’s horn and he looked up. To his surprise, he saw Oddjob running away from him. He was running along the platform, towards the train. The train had begun to move. Oddjob caught up with it, jumped up into a carriage, and disappeared inside.

Bond stood up, holding his painful shoulder. Suddenly, he heard a shout behind him. He turned and saw Felix Leiter running towards him. The FBI agent was wearing a military uniform. Bond walked along the platform. He was very happy to see his good friend again.

‘So you got my message about Goldfinger’s plan,’ said Bond.

‘Yes,’ said Felix, smiling. ‘We arrested the members of Goldfinger’s staff who were going to put the drug in the water supply. But we wanted to trap Goldfinger too. We had found out about his plan. But we didn’t want him to suspect anything. So we pretended that everyone in Fort Knox had drunk the water and died.’

‘But Goldfinger has escaped,’ said Bond. ‘He’s driving the train. Oddjob and the gang leaders are with him.’

‘One of our planes is above the train now,’ replied Felix. ‘It’ll follow the train. We’ll catch Goldfinger.’

‘Thank you for saving my life,’ said Bond. ‘But I’m afraid that it’s too late to save Tilly Masterton.’

He walked with Felix to where Tilly was lying on the ground.

The girl’s neck was broken and she was dead.

Bond stood and looked down at her. He felt sad as he remembered the proud, pretty girl in her Triumph sports car.