The Sleeping Army Awakes

Part 3 Noodles

Miles from the mine and its surroundings known as Kopce Milosti, or in English, the hills of grace, the two New Eaton former classmates, Sir Percy Mac-ham Dodds minor and Sir Gilbert Scrivener minor scrutinised each other's faces from opposite sides of the luncheon table. Sir Percy Mac-ham Dodds had recently purchased most of the lower slopes and virtually all the land surrounding Kopce Milosti, but much to his annoyance, not the mine and not the upper reaches of the hills because these were already owned by the navy. For some reason, the navy seemed reluctant to relinquish the land, even though it was hundreds of kilometres inland. Sir Gilbert Scrivener had been rather keen on owning it all but had been beaten to it by his old school chum.

"I tried to buy that land you rotter!" Sir Gilbert complained. "You knew Fredding well that I was going to build my new meat processing plant there. It has plenty of salt, almost on site and it has an abundance of water. But what could you possibly want with the land."

"I know that you tried to buy the land... but as usual you failed!"Sir Percy laughed spitefully because his only reason for purchasing Kopce Milosti had been to deprive Sir Gilbert of it. "Just face it Gilly! You were just too mean to up the ante to the going rate."

"But I was willing to pay over the market rate!" Sir Gilbert blustered.

"And you wouldn't have got the mine or the salt anyway..." Sir Percy laughed. "the Slavik navy wants it though only Fred knows what for!"

"I can get anything I want Perseus!" Sir Gilbert refuted.

"And you didn't bribe the right people Gilly." Sir Percy said.

"But Perseus I bribed almost everyone in Europe!" Sir Gilbert refuted.

"But you didn't bribe the right people Gilly... or you didn't bribe them enough you duffer." Sir Percy said. "You just have to admit that I am better at this game than you are."

It was unlikely that Sir Gilbert was going to do anything of the sort. He merely grunted in reply.

The two school pals, Sir Percy and Sir Gilbert, were sitting at the top of the tallest building in the world known locally as the carbuncle because from a distance the top of it looked like a red gemstone. It was in a really salubrious area, in Soho, in London, England, a province of the American Federation, in a restaurant whose only means of access was by helicopter. This spire was next to a building called the pineapple and across the road from the pinnacle.

"The Twin Towers of Grace will be the statement of the century!" Sir Percy proclaimed, taking a large slurp of brandy and spilling a little on the table as he clumsily replaced the glass back on the table.

The sheer size of the three metre diameter ebony dining table divided the two parties so effectively, that they might just as well have been having their meal by video conference. The physical separation between them made it difficult for each of them to study each other's imperfections. The table rivalled the famous one in Camelot, but the three metre table was tiny compared to the distance between the two of them, and the subject, of their conversation.

Over the sound system, the twanging of traditional Chinese instruments prompted Sir Gilbert to put his hand to his ear, to hear Sir Percy was saying. The twanging was accompanied by a soprano, who seemed only vaguely aware of the key she was singing was in, to the untrained ear western ear. The combined effect of the distance and background noise prompted the worthies to raise their voices into the microphones in front of them.

The pair were ensconced on plush red velvet chairs with gilded frames, at the largest table in the establishment, close to the emergency exit,in case of trouble. Their respective security teams lined the escape route. The table of honour was located on a raised platform, to the rear of the gaudily decorated Chinese restaurant, and though it more commonly it sat twelve people, today it only had two chairs. The two worthies shifted their weight on their seats, seeking a point of balance on the over-stuffed upholstery. Despite their plush gold and red coverings and apparent opulence, neither chair was actually very comfortable. To a casual observer, had they been allowed into the venue, the two men's movements might have resembled sumo wrestlers at the start of a contest. Every small motion or hesitation was noted by the other. Enmity and distrust oozed through every pleasantry and smile.

"Seat not comfy Perseus?" Sir Gilbert teased. "Neither is mine. Feels as though they've stuffed the cushion with bones."

The sound system continued the rather nasal singing punctuated by drums and cymbals.

"You've aged Gilly and you've put even more weight on since our last meeting!" Sir Percy remarked cattily, "I can't believe that you have so many grey hairs already. Are you keeping up with your monkey tablets?"

"As said by the cauldron to the kettle! You're not exactly Dorian Fredding Gray yourself." Sir Gilbert countered, "I see that your waistline is expanding faster than your property empire. And I had to sack that doctor, the incompetent fool, well I did a little more than sack him... I fired him..." he paused for dramatic effect, "out of a cannon actually. The swine kept telling me what to do. You must lose weight Sir Gilbert. You must give up this. You must give up that!" He mimicked.

"You didn't really fire him out of a cannon did you?" Sir Percy laughed. "You can be a bit of a bastard at times you old sod."

"Of course I did. One can't have the menials bossing one about you know.The customer is always right and here I might also be the patient... but I was also his customer."

This got a cursory nod of agreement from Sir Percy.

"He made a bloody great dent in the lawn. The gardeners were up all night patching it up." Sir Gilbert commented, "Or was it a great bloody dent in the lawn? Certainly there was a lot of blood. We took bets on how far he would fly and Ruthers was exactly correct. Don't know how the man does it."

Ruthers took a step back behind the body guards to avoid being questioned on the subject. As usual he had made the necessary enquiries and calculations before the cannon had been fired.