The mission

Norm leads the way as we enter locale 299, passing the torn Argenper sign which hangs limply against blackened windows. Inside nothing has changed. The metal benches are still bolted to the floor, the counters strewn with disconnected cables and the encrusted paper coffee cup propped against the glass screen.

He taps in the digital code to access the main office beyond.

Whereas the room had been littered with redundant equipment, now the space is completely refurbished and transformed. Overhead monitors flash in soundproof booths. Banks of computer equipment stand by an opposite wall, the only remaining memory of the old office is the dated coffee machine.

Most booths are occupied by an agent. Towards the end of the room a huge screen shows satellite images of a complex of buildings alongside huge parabolic listening dishes.

‘Welcome to Bajada del Agrio, the Neuquén Province Chinese Space Station,’ says Norm. ‘That sixteen story antenna there has a 35-metre diameter dish aimed at deep space. It can look into distances over 300,000 km above Earth.’

‘This is why General Laura Richardson, head of the US Southern Command was so upset when she visited last month,’ says Cameron as he stares at the screen.

Now I had known of the alleged Space Station, but until now had never seen an image of it. The Argentine government under former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner had negotiated a lease of the site with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, to include a 20 kilometre exclusion zone. Until now not only did the outside world have no idea of the scale of the installation, but surprisingly, neither did the Argentine President.

‘How on earth was this put together so quickly?’ I ask, breaking Cameron’s concentration, meaning the room transformation.

‘Oh, that’s the power of the US dollar. Biden provided the funds for this set-up, the know-how and the stealth images; we provided the diplomacy with Milei,’ he replied. ‘And now agent Bond, its for you and Xiomara to prevent Peru’s President Dina Boluarte and her agents from derailing our little venture.’

‘So that’s where Dr Richard Alvarez and his little friend Jay fit in,’ continues Xiomara. ‘I wondered why they were involved. Its all to do with money and the future of South American politics.’

Cameron looks across at me. ‘Bond, when we are dealing with the Chinese, we broadly know our allies and adversaries; but here in Buenos Aires, with Peru involved, that task is considerably more difficult. Your task is to identify their interest and determine their purpose.’

I look towards Xiomara. We have already been exposed and targeted. Here is a task much greater than I could ever have imagined. Xiomara smiles.

‘No problem, David, James and I are on it!’