Chapter 102

Tuesday

Eight Days To Go

I sat by the pool holding Susan, Julia and Julie knelt beside me, both having refused to sit in a chair or lounger. But I knew that they used them when I wasn't there.

Sasha had returned home late yesterday and seemed to be in a passionate mood. We had made our love, wildly, then more slowly, more touches and caresses the second time. This wasn't the first time that she had been so insistent that we make love. But it had been a little unusual.

I just sat, cuddling Susan, and thought.

Nigel Williams had asked for a meeting tomorrow. Jill had put it in the FDD, I wonder what he wants?

Nigel asking for a meeting; usually if he wants to see me he just turns up and depends on Sasha or Cecy bullying me into seeing him. That's another thing that's just very, very slightly odd.

Birmingham

The hospital CEO looked at his new paediatric consultant. She was Chinese, no-one would ever have expected such a young doctor to be personally recommended by Dr. McCraken, but he had brought her into the hospital himself.

And Dr. Lu was a tartar. She demanded the highest standards, of cleanliness and nursing.

And, it would seem, of equipment. He looked down at the pile of broken monitors and unusable equipment that had been dumped on his desk. Well, OK, maybe, just maybe, some of this was his fault for buying the cheapest that he could find. But didn't everyone cut corners like that?

Dr. Lu carefully placed a large envelope on the CEO's desk. He opened it, glanced at the photo's inside and blanched, how the fuck had they found out????

Stuttering slightly he said, "I'm ... We can ... I'll get these replaced as soon as I can doctor." He gave a little, nervous, laugh.

"Tomorrow," said Dr. Lu.

"Pardon?"

"I need this equipment tomorrow. Otherwise, I shut down the unit." Dr. Lu started the CEO directly in his eyes, her gaze never wavering for a second.

"Tomorrow, well, I'll have to see what I can do, procedures you know."

"You didn't go through procedures," Lu almost spat that word, "To get this heap of shit. Get me the equipment I need or I close the unit and go to the papers."

"OK," his voice was little more than a squeak.

He watched as Lu left his room, she barely stood four foot six inches tall, but he felt as though she had towered over his 6' 1''.

London

"I know," said Bertie.

That shocked Sally. She only realised that there was something strange about this whole ... thing, yesterday. It was only when she went through everything that had happened, getting everything in order, that she realised something was strange.

"What do you mean, you know?" asked Sally.

Bertie came to her and gently held her hands. "Sal, pet, do you trust me?"

"With my life," Sally answered without hesitation.

"Then I ask you to trust me for another two weeks. In two weeks time you will have all of the answers, or," he added ominously, "It won't matter."

Sally looked at him, "Two weeks then." She kissed him, a quick peck on his cheek. Then she kissed him again, this time with passion.

Martinè

There was something I could do, something useful too.

"Julia, can I have a phone?" I was just about to say 'please' when I spotted the sparkle in her eye. "Now," I said.

Julia laughed, "That's better, Master," she said as she handed me a Blackberry.

I dialled, well, I selected the name I wanted from the contact list and pushed the green button. That was close enough for me.

Trystan answered within two rings. "Good morning, Baron. It would seem that whatever I do to preserve my peace, your experts overcome. I won't ask how they found out my new telephone number; neither will I get my people to change it," he sighed, "Again. What can I do for you?"

"Who do I talk to in your navy about this idea of a joint training establishment here in Martinè?" I asked.

I could hear the surprise in his voice. "Oh! Please give me a few minutes to talk to a few people in our Ministry of Defence. I'll call you back on this number, or rather I would call you back on this number if it was not my Mother's home phone. Perhaps you'd better call me back in say ... an hour?"

"An hour then, Trystan." I agreed and then hung up. I smiled to myself, Karolina and Ela really did like playing games with Trystan's security people. Now I did laugh out loud, spoofing his mother's telephone number. That had to be their best yet.

Umber came out to me and knelt, "Master, there are two people here to see you, Madame and Monsieur Silviece."

Ummm ... their timing could have been better, but I didn't want to put them off.

"Have them shown into the library and have," I thought for a moment, "Have someone entertain them. Give them my apologies as I shall be busy for the next hour or two. And it will be lunchtime before we've finished; ask them if they'd like to stay for lunch."

"Certainly, Master." Umber ran lightly away. I do like watching that girl.

I turned back and settled into my chair. Susan started grizzling, hunger or nappy, either one Julia would be the best person to take care of our daughter. Julia was standing ready to take the baby as I made up my mind to part with her.

"Thanks, Julia," I said with a smile.

"Master, it is my responsibility to look after our child, a responsibility that I take great pride in."

"I still wish to thank you though, my girl," I teased, giving a bit of a growl.

"Then this girl is happy to please her Master," Julia replied laughing.

I sat deep in thought, staring without seeing. Wondering what the 'odd' things meant.

Then I remembered Collette, Trystan would be happy to hear about his daughters progress.

"Girl!" I called.

"Master," replied Catharina.

I looked at her, Catharina had settled down a lot since her first few days as a body slave. She now understood me a little more. And she understood her place in relation to the gold-collared girls.

"Catharina, go and ask Elastic how Collette Bonner is progressing in her training. Quickly now."

"Yes, my Master." She called as she ran away. I watched her for a moment, very nice, not up to Umber's standard, but nice.

In only a few minutes Catharina returned and gave her report. I smiled. A father likes to know his children are doing well.

Julie handed me a phone, "It's time to call Monsieur Bonner again, my Master."

"Thank you," I said distracted, thinking about children.

The phone was ready for me, I pressed the green button.

"Baron, you are very punctual I see. I have some answers for you. The man that you should speak to is Admiral Hock. He is the admiral responsible for training. However, he is also quite ... set ... in his ways. He is of the opinion that he should have fought at Trafalgar. Then we would have won." Trystan laughed, "His is, of course, right. The French would have won, but only if he'd been one of Nelson's officers. The man you need to speak to is Captain le Comte Debussey. He is the one who actually does the work."

"Thank you, Trystan. I have some news for you too. Collette will be returning home soon. She is graduating from the Finishing School with Honours."

"Thank you for this news, Baron. I shall look forward to seeing her again." I could hear the pride in his voice. "I thank you, Baron, for allowing Collette to study at your school. It will give her career a tremendous boost, and silence a large number of her detractors."

Our conversation finished, we hung up.

But what Trystan said got me thinking. 'My' school, well if it was my school, why don't I do something to stamp my mark on it? I had an idea, and sat developing that idea for a while.

"Master, your guests are waiting," Julie reminded me.

Damn, I really wanted time on this. "Notepad, and quickly girl!" I demanded.

A pad was thrust forward. I quickly sketched out my ideas and a few notes. "See that this gets to Karen as soon as possible." I ordered.

Julie took the pad, "Yes, Master. Karen is here today Master, shall I order her to see you?"

I thought for a moment, "Yes, but only when she's had time to think about that." I pointed to the pad. "I want the 'Karen' touch on this."

"I'm sure that she will be pleased to assist you, our Master." Julie said with a smile. She ran away to deliver my notes to Karen.

I went to the library to see what Jean-Paul and Analise wanted. I think I should come clean about the training camp as well.

"Good morning Baron," said Jean-Paul, as I entered.

"Jean-Paul, Analise, what can I do for you?"

Analise pulled out a large envelope, "Baron, it is our pleasure to give you the deeds to the two farms and the waste ground that borders your estate."

I took them and placed them on the table between us, "Analise, Jean-Paul, thank you. I hope that you have found," I nearly said 'competent, ' but that would have insulted Analise, "Experienced legal representation?"

Analise smiled, "Baron, we have managed to retain a very old firm in Paris." She named a very famous, and prestigious, legal firm who usually undertook work for the French government. "They said that they have wanted to work with Dempsey and so are giving us quite a large discount on their normal fees."

I smiled at their success, though I wondered how much of that was due to Nigel Morton having a few words with his French colleagues.

"Now Jean-Paul, Analise, I want to talk with you about my plans for these properties. I want to get the old training ground back in service as a joint training camp for our navies..."

Jean-Paul shocked me by dropping to his knees, grabbing my hand and kissing it.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. You cannot know what this means to us. The training grounds used to be our livelihood. And now you're going to give us back our pride. Baron, this is a proud day for us. I knew that you would be our saviour. Thank you, Baron, Thank you."

I looked at Analise, she had tears running down her cheeks. "Baron, we must go and tell the townspeople, they need to know this news as soon as we can get it to them. They will praise your name and light candles for you, Baron."

"Go and tell your friends then," I said. "Tell them that the Baron is going to take over their town and that there will be work for everyone willing to do it. Tell them to get ready to reopen the shops and cafes. Hotels and restaurants will also be needed. There will be nearly 600 people coming soon. So you need to prepare for them." They both looked like young children receiving instructions from a parent. Open and trusting ready to do what was needed. I promised myself that I would not abuse that trust. These people would be treated as I myself would like to be treated. The golden rule, do unto others as you would like to be done unto you.

They left, talking excitedly. I was glad that my needs and theirs matched so well.

I'd just started to sip a mug of tea when Karen came in. She hugged me tightly.

"How are you, my precious girl? Are you enjoying being a professor?"

"Oh Master, it's so much fun. But you were right about people trying to get on my courses. I've had a number of very rich people, rich but talentless people, willing to pay almost anything for a place." She shook her head thinking about those attempts. "But there is one girl, her college professor wrote to me, the girl, Gillian, couldn't afford the course fees, but she is so talented, and so, so driven to learn and succeed. I have allowed her on my course and have paid the fees myself. Master, you should see her working, she's a demon. I have to remind her to eat and sleep..."

"Umm..." I interrupted, "I wonder who that reminds me of?" I said with a laugh.

"Yes, Master, me. But isn't a teacher supposed to pass on the lessons she's learnt?"

"Of course she is. This student of yours; where does she live? Has she enough money for food, clothes, materials, and some relaxation?"

Karen looked a little sheepish, "Master, I never thought of any of those things," she shrugged. Well, as a slave, Karen had always had everything provided for her. So, naturally, she wouldn't have thought about them for her students.

"Make sure that she has a good wage, if she's trying to save pennies here and there, she won't be giving your course all the effort that she could. She needs to be able to have enough money to go home occasionally, to dine out a couple of times a month. She needs to be able to live, not just exist."

Karen nodded, "Yes, my Master, I shall ensure that she is provided for when you have finished with me."

"Good." I said firmly. "Now, what do you think of my idea?"

Karen put on a light green beret, pulled down the right-hand edge as the military prefer, and stood, almost, at attention.

I looked at her beret; it was just the same as normal. Then Karen turned, just visible, peeking out from under the fold, was a tail-like strip of ermine. It wasn't blatant, but it was quite notable.

It was just what I wanted.

"How many can you make?" I asked. I wanted these ermine berets for the four top members of each graduating class. They truly would be the best of the best.

Karen smiled, "The farmers in your new estates have been plagued with ermine recently. I think that they can supply me with as many furs as you want."

She removed that beret and replaced it with another. The ermine here had a golden tinge.

"Is that dyed?" I asked.

"No Master, this is the natural colour. Only a very few furs have this golden sheen, I was thinking about this colour for the top graduate."

"I agree, let's see what Elastic thinks of them."

I called Elastic and she came down to my underground office.

"Boss, I think they're great," she said.

"And there's a 'but' in there somewhere." I said.

"Yes, Boss. Something like this would have to be authorised by FONT, and he's just an obnoxious, senile, woman hating, old twat."

I laughed, "Come on Elastic, don't beat about the bush, just say what you mean."

Elastic looked at me, one of 'those' looks.

I decided to have a word with Hiscock, the Cabinet Secretary, if he can't help me get Elastic promoted, I doubt anyone could. I wouldn't want to ask 'Call me Dave, ' the PM, he's a politician and as greasy as they come. Civil servants, on the other hand, always say what they mean. You might not understand what they actually say. But, if their words are properly analysed, you'll find that they don't lie.

"Boss, if you can get these past Admiral Montcloud, I will gladly present them to the top graduates."

Elastic turned to me, "Boss, this is how Traditions and Customs are started. Someone has an idea, someone with the balls enough to go against the current regulations, with a good idea, an idea that improves the service. These berets will do that. People will be looking for them, the wearers will have pride in their accomplishments, and their shipmates will have pride that a wearer of this special beret is in their team, on their ship. Yes Boss, this could have benefits in a number of ways. If only we can get FONT to approve them."

"Oh, he'll approve them, I'll make sure of that," I said quietly to myself.