Chapter 14

The next evening at seven-thirty Steve found himself waiting for the appearance of the women. With all four of them attending the gala, earlier he had volunteered his services to help them prepare. It was with delight that he had massaged oil, first into Anna’s lovely body, and then Maria’s. Both times he ended the massage by kissing their bare slits, and both times triggered a flood of their virginal juices that he licked up and savored. With Anna he had lightly kissed each of her tiny nipples and bit them, triggering another flow of her juices as she wriggled her body in utter delight.

Then they appeared and stood side by side. All Steve could do was to shake his head. All four were incredibly beautiful. He helped them on with their coats: full-length minks for Anna and Maria, an incredible Russian sable for Karla — it had appeared in the hands of an armed courier who had flown it in from Saint Petersburg, a gift from Andy and Ken — and a beautiful chinchilla for Barb. Her comment when she saw the magnificent coat was to shake her head sadly and wonder how many poor little chinchillas had been sacrificed to make it. Maria merely said that they could not have died happier, knowing they were going to keep Barbara Sloan warm.

Steve slipped on a white silk scarf after Barb made a final adjustment to his white bow tie, and straightened the Distinguished Service Cross that he wore on a ribbon around his neck. On his chest were miniatures of five other medals for bravery.

She stepped back, looked him over and said, “I have never seen my beloved husband look more handsome than he does tonight. My darling,” she added, “you look utterly magnificent in tails. Really, you do.”

He looked into her eyes but found no sign of teasing. Instead he saw only the incredible love for him. Moving close, she raised her lips and the two kissed tenderly to the sighs of the other girls.

Going down to the waiting Rolls, Steve’s eyes widened as he saw four motorcycle policemen on their bikes with their engines idling. As soon as he settled himself beside the driver — he was riding in front to provide more room for the women in their ball gowns — four sirens came to life and behind two lead motorcycles with their blue lights flashing the Rolls moved out toward the presidential palace. After checking his watch and their location he realized that the police were operating on a strict timetable set to bring them to the door at precisely eight o’clock.

Rolling into the palace grounds, the police shut down their sirens but their blue lights continued to flash. When the limousine rolled to a full stop, footmen opened the doors and handed the women out. As Barb took his arm, he noticed that the four police officers were now flanking the doors of the car and saluted in their smartest style when Karla appeared.

As they were ushered in, the majordomo arranged them so that he and Barb were first. Arriving at the entry to the ballroom he found it crowded with people on both sides. At the end of the room stood Václav Havel, waiting to greet them. When he and Barb appeared, the herald cried out, “From the United States of America, representing Kendy Company, its president and chief executive officer, Mr. Steven Sloan, and his wife, Barbara!”

There was applause and then silence. Not knowing exactly what to do, Steve moved off to the side and found himself only inches away from the CNN television reporter covering the event.

Suddenly, twelve uniformed trumpeters appeared and formed two lines with a wide corridor between them aimed at the waiting president. Bringing up their trumpets, they sounded a stirring fanfare and then brought the instruments down to their hips as they stood at attention.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” trumpeted the herald, “Her Royal Majesty, Karla, Queen of Bohemia, Duchess of Brandenburg, Contessa di Savoi; with her attendants, Maria, la Duchesse de Bourgogne, Marquessa de Toledo, Countess Jutland; and Anna, Marquise de Flandres, Contessa di Pavia.”

With her head high and looking every inch the queen, Karla advanced down the row of trumpeters followed by Maria and Anna.

“Darling,” Barb whispered, “have you ever seen anything like this? She is a queen, and they are truly noble!” Quickly Steve pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to Barb. She used it to wipe the tears of joy from her eyes.

In the utter silence that followed the announcement, Steve could hear the CNN announcer whispering, “Queen Karla is wearing a magnificent gown from Nita Lucas of Bergdorf Goodman, New York, as are the members of her court. The couturiers of Paris and Rome must be seething with envy right now. This is the most important social event in Europe in at least ten years, and the guests of honor — all nobility from the oldest houses on the continent — are wearing gowns from New York!”

She continued, “Her Majesty is wearing a crown or tiara — I’m not sure which it is — that has just been recovered after having been lost for over 100 years. We learned that it was ordered for an ancestor, the Queen of Bohemia, by her husband and lover, the King. While it is truly priceless, CNN has learned that it was shipped here to Prague with armed couriers and insured for $10 million. Similarly — and, we learned, Nita Lucas gets the credit again — the tiaras worn by Duchess Maria and Marquise Anna were also originally made for female ancestors with the same titles they so proudly bear.”

She paused for a moment and then continued, “I see the Duchess of Burgundy, and I marvel. This is a title that dates back, literally, to the time of Charlemagne. Certainly, it is one of the oldest — if not the oldest — title of nobility in all of Europe. It dates back over 1,000 years!” she exclaimed breathlessly.

“Folks, with the collection of titles here, we have the very bluest of blue blood. There is scarcely an area in Europe not represented. As we watch these women move down the ballroom, the only word that comes to my mind is ‘regal.’ Never have I seen such incredible beauty and such perfect carriage. We will learn more about these women when they are honored by President Havel.”

At that moment the majordomo appeared at Steve’s side and indicated that he and Barb were to follow the queen. The man whispered an apology for leaving Steve alone but added that he didn’t want the Sloans to find themselves halfway to the president when the fanfare sounded. Offering Barbara his arm, they walked side by side toward the president in Karla’s wake.

After being greeted by the president and being lined up behind him in a row, there was thunderous applause from the crowd. Steve was delighted to see Paula Wilhelm and her husband in the line with them. Going to the microphone, Havel began his address.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome!” Then turning toward Karla he said, “And I wish particularly to thank Queen Karla for so graciously allowing me to use her house and this ballroom.”

Karla laughed and said he was most welcome.

Then, once again looking out over the crowd — he was speaking from an elevated rostrum in order to be seen — he continued, “We are here tonight to publicly honor a number of people. First are the Sloans.”

After pausing for a moment he continued, “It is said that the Americans are the most generous people on the face of this earth. I don’t know if it’s true or not. But I do know that I personally know of no other people so generous. What has the United States of America done for us? Not much. Of course, fifty years ago, they liberated us from the oppression of the Nazis. Then less than ten years ago after persevering — often alone — for nearly 40 years more and after spending hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of American lives, they defeated the Evil Empire.

“But what have they done for us lately?” He smiled as he continued, “Well, I’ll tell you what they did — or more accurately, what a single American did — affecting us here tonight. As you know, this gala is being held to benefit children left orphaned by the Soviet occupation.

“First, I want to tip my hat to the wisest member of the government, the Home Minister’s ... secretary, Paula Wilhelm. While the rest of us were fearful about charging 2,500 crowns per ticket, she was fighting for a price of 25,000! After being dragged, kicking and screaming, she finally gave in at a price of 5,000 crowns.”

He grinned and continued, “She did it to save her friend some money. You see, Paula is a very close friend of Barbara Sloan. Yesterday, at lunch with the Sloans she explained the situation. Then she told them that tickets to this affair were being scalped for... 25,000 crowns! Does that sound like a familiar number? The amount of money she insisted from the very beginning we should charge?

“Well, she returned from lunch yesterday with a check from Mrs. Sloan — in the amount of $640,000!” Looking around the room he said, “While some of you paid $1,000 for your ticket, please keep in mind that the Sloans have paid 340 times as much for theirs! She said that it was a marvelous cause and she wanted to support it. Could I please hear a round of applause for a very generous American and a wonderful person, Barbara Sloan!”

Turning, he went to Barbara, drew her to the podium and raised her hand in his. When he did there were thunderous cheers from the crowd. To Barb, Havel said, “Mrs. Sloan, there are no words adequate to thank you for your incredible generosity. On behalf of the people of the Czech Republic and for myself, thank you.” Again there were cheers and applause.

Again addressing the crowd Havel continued, “It was only a little over four months ago when, at the behest of our chief of government, Herr Klaus, I went out to the airport to greet some visiting VIPs. It was my first meeting with the Sloans. When they deplaned, I was impressed with what a physically magnificent couple they were. But a short time later, again from Klaus, I heard that they were really airheads. Vividly I remember Mr. Sloan giving a speech in grammatically perfect — but aurally awful — Czech. I now know that both he and Barbara Sloan speak Czech better than I do.

“But what brought the Sloans to our country? Mr. Sloan is president and chief executive officer of Kendy Company, a little known and very private American company with business interests around the globe. Still I know next to nothing about Kendy. But I do know that, having acquired Skoda Works — to the quiet cheers of our ministers who were delighted to get that white elephant off our hands — they have utterly transformed it. Today, Skoda Works looks better than it ever has in its history. All of its buildings have been cleaned and thoroughly modernized. Skoda Arms has again taken its position as one of the world’s preeminent suppliers of high-precision arms.

“But now there is also an enormous and complex business manufacturing china, glassware, and tableware for the whole world. In addition to trainloads of products rolling out every day, there are now at least ten 747 air freighters that leave daily, most headed for the United States. There is also a large and growing business engineering and producing pollution control equipment for the world. We could operate for the next ten years, at least, on the business from eastern Europe alone. Where did this business come from? From the perceived need to clean up the complex in order to stop polluting our air and our water.

“Where once we looked to the smoke belching from the Skoda stacks as a sign of jobs, now we have more jobs and better jobs than ever before ... and no smoke! I am told that in the spring we will see flowers bloom at Skoda for the first time in history. Trees are being planted. And guess what else? The canteen is doing a booming business selling tiny lapel pins with the Skoda trademark in gold. Who is buying these pins? Tourists? Hah! The Skoda workers are buying them — and wearing them — as a sign of their pride in their company.”

After looking around the room, he continued, “Is that all? For Sloan and Kendy? Hah! Twenty percent of the stock of the company is being offered for sale to the employees at extraordinarily attractive prices. Why? So they will be owners, too. They think of it as their company, and now it’s becoming a reality. Is it successful? You bet! Our Minister of Finance is about to cut tax rates — again — because Skoda is generating so much money, directly and indirectly. Because, you see, aside from the direct payroll, Skoda is creating thousands of support jobs in hundreds of small companies. It is a smashing success.”

After another pause, he continued speaking in a confidential manner, “You know, several years ago, when we were trying to bring our country into existence, I visited the United States and gave a whole series of speeches. After one such speech a young woman came up to me with a book in her hand. She was very sincere, as I recall. Very proudly, she congratulated me and presented me with the book. Glancing at it, I saw the title was The Third Way, or some such. It describes the joys of state socialism on the Scandinavian model. I recall returning it to her with the words, ‘It doesn’t work, either.’

“Ladies and gentlemen, it now gives me great joy to present to Mr. Steven Sloan the Medal of Merit from the Czech Republic for extraordinary service to our economy, to our people, and to our country!”

When Steve came forward and stood at attention before him, Havel said, “For those of you interested in such things, around his neck Mr. Sloan — Major Sloan — is already wearing the United States Distinguished Service Cross. This medal, ranking just below the Medal of Honor, is awarded for gallantry in combat far above the call of duty. But then on his breast he wears five more medals for heroism in combat.”

Looking Steve in the eye he said, “Major Sloan, it’s clear to me that you are no stranger to receiving medals: medals awarded for performance at great risk to your own life. Sir, the service you are performing for our people may not have required such risk, but it is appreciated as much. Thank you, sir!”

After Steve returned to his place in the line, Havel continued his address. “This brings me to the next award. Would Maria, Duchess of Burgundy, and Anna, Marquise of Flanders, please join me.”

Although they were startled at hearing their names called — and totally unfamiliar with the titles of address — with perfect aplomb the two sisters joined Havel at the podium. “At this point a comment or correction or something is really required,” he began. “It applies equally to Queen Karla. You see, the herald announced only their most senior titles. Had he recited them all, I’m certain these beautiful women, as healthy as they are, would have collapsed from hunger before he finished. But just with respect to the ones you heard, there are titles from our country, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, and Belgium.”

He grinned and shook his head. “But that’s not the point, nor the reason they are here tonight. The reason they’re here is two computer programs, Helper and Mayday. These two programs are published by a U.S. company, Noble Software.” He paused for a moment and shook his head. “Notice how the Americans are everywhere? I’m told that Helper is the fastest selling software in our country. Just imagine all our hard currency rushing over to the United States. And then there’s Mayday, a brand-new program, just released.”

This time he shook his head in apparent sheer disgust. “Would you believe it? It’s not even out yet, but already its advance sale exceeds Helper’s total sales.”

Then he grinned in a complete change in apparent attitude and said, “Ain’t multinational companies wonderful? You see, Noble Software is a U.S. company, incorporated in the state of Delaware. But guess what? Eighty-five percent of Noble’s stock is owned by Czech taxpaying citizens. At least we hope they’re going to pay taxes.”