Chapter 23

The layout of the mansion and grounds had been obtained, advice from the security trainers and consultations with the Havildar had a proposed suite /room occupancy laid out. The Nancarrow suites had somehow been arranged about McCock's suite.

In the best traditions of the service, the Avers chef finangled a place in the party and thoroughly enjoyed himself in a large kitchen and luxuriated in the wealth of 'new' foods for the duration. He was also able to draw upon the Ghorkhali knowledge for some very appetising dishes.

The party had nothing scheduled for two days and so scattered about the local area admiring scenery, lake, historical buildings and a female reconnaissance of the latest fashions. The local fashion houses did significantly benefit by the need for 'dressing up' for the first event scheduled — the formal handing over of the orbiting yards at a ceremony followed by a reception at the Beau Rouge Hotel.

During his apparently meaningless meanderings about Geneva, McCock, who had been educated in one of the great defence academies of the Galaxy, was suffused with a tremendous sense of humility as he remembered the origins of the efforts to decrease the horrors of war. It was in this city that the first First Geneva Convention was signed dealing with the care of the wounded following the ground work of the Hague conventions. In this city, that purpose was expanded to protection at first of prisoners of war and then to non combatants. As politics spread to Solar space, this city hosted the conferences which produced the Fifth and Sixth Geneva Conventions and later the Seventh and Eighth Geneva Convention to minimise the horrors of Galactic War.

There was a tinge of anger mixed in that feeling at those who deliberately did not disclose to their audience that it was the responsibility of the authority in whose control POWs and non-combatants were, not to expose "protected persons" to risk near targets of military value.

But, of course, hysteria always prevailed over reason in politics.

One reason for McCock's visit was to attempt to head off such an abuse.

The staff meetings on Gorgipest had included discussions on how to present the effects of the TQO's raid on New Liege. It had been decided that as Mountserrat had not made any statement about such an event, that the tale of the tramp freighter would be pursued accompanied by queries of the listener if they had heard from their consol / factor / agent / representative in New Liege. McCock was relying on "Bethune's" not only carrying Ambassador Wangfor but also mails from Harbouria.

The imminent arrival of "Bethune" if she was on schedule, was casually dropped into the conversation by the 'connections' of Bollard House. The reception was attended by representatives of the Embassies to the United Solarian World Senate, multinationals with interests on Harbouria and local representatives of the world's fax organisations among others. So coverage was widespread. The McCock staff then spread across the continents pursuing their obvious interests in one area and then returning to their base in Geneva where Sir Henry Bollinger sat like a spider in its web gathering and collating his information.

The ladies had the added benefit of combining business with pleasure as shopping does allow such wide spread contacts from shop attendants, fellow shoppers, social climbers wanting a moment of glory, fashion editors and unofficially representatives from governments who just happened to shop there; and the wives, mistresses, concubines and partners of interested parties.

Nancy Alma Nancarrow was almost immediately contacted by Mountserrat's Embassy to USW and information was exchanged informally. Nan was on a holiday but arrangements were put in train for an informal get-together of top brass.

Thus it came to pass five days after arrival in Geneva that Mr H.M.S. McCock accompanied by a small staff, the Dowager Duchess of Western Hove, Sir Joshua Galbraith and Sir Henry Bollinger paid his respects to Ambassador Abraham Lindsay, Baron Westlake.at the Royal Embassy of Mountserrat and his small staff.

Pleasantries were exchanged and tea dispensed with the ubiquitous biscuits. They seated themselves about the low table in the alcove of the Ambassador's office and then began the serious exchanges of information.

The meeting was coming to a close; Sir Henry and McCock exchanged glances, Sir Henry cocked his head to one side as if listening intently and then nodded at McCock. McCock passed across a letter from GmBH endorsed "For Eyes Only". After thoughtfully considering the envelope and McCock for a minute, Westlake retired behind his desk and perused the contents. There was no sign on his feature of the mental calculations which must have been swirling across his neurones.

"Please retire to the bar, I'd like a personal word with Mr McCock before he leaves." Both sides departed, all wearing precisely neutral expressions.

"Now, McCock, what's this all about?"

McCock produced a plain metal covered PDA and passed it to the Ambassador.

"This is one of a small number in existence made in one of my facilities. It is slightly different to the models we hold in that you can use it as a satellite com on Old Earth. To activate it you need this small stick key inserted into the slot in the face of the panel, it is specifically coded for that PDA alone, so don't lose it. If on the other hand you don't want it to get into another's hands break the stick and the PDA is useless and believe me, no one will get any information out of it. There is also an activation code on this card to bring up the numeric panel for establishing a link. You can of course leave it lying around as you will be carrying the PDA at all times but to be on the safe side put it in a secure place. This number you should memorise and then destroy the record. The PDA can be encrypted to your desire by keypad selection and yes, we can record and with some difficulty decrypt the com but it does take some days. My experts do not believe any one else has that capability."