Chapter Ten
Napoleon was feeling depressed. Here he was, ensconced in a hotel room with an extremely beautiful woman, and he would have liked nothing better than to engage in an agreeable flirtation to while away the afternoon, but instead the aforementioned beauty preferred a book to his company. It was a blow to his self-esteem. What was it Illya had said earlier, that he, Napoleon, wasn't having a stellar day? Well Illya could say that again!
His communicator beeped. Connie looked over the top of her book with dancing eyes and an impish smile on her face. Napoleon grinned back and answered, "Solo here."
"Sir John Raleigh," came his English voice. "I have located the young lady."
Napoleon sat up straight. "What is her name?" he asked.
"Anneke Hendrickson, and she has the Kingdom Come formula."
"The what formula?" Napoleon was puzzled.
"I'll let her explain. Where are you?"
"At the Straschengraden Hotel, suite 204."
"Right-o, be there in two shakes, Sir John out."
It was only a few minutes later that there was a knock on the door and the familiar tone of Sir John's voice announcing himself. Napoleon opened the door and the first person to come in was the other blonde that had been at the museum this morning. She flounced in with cheeks red with outrage and her blue eyes snapping with temper. When she saw Napoleon she stopped and pointed at him.
"You!" she exclaimed dramatically. "You were the one at the museum. You are the one that caused this…this man to come bursting into my home and drag me here!" She pointed to the man who followed her in. He was of medium height and the epitome of an English gentleman. From the top of his derby hat to the soles of his leather shoes he was correctly and nattily dressed with a pleasant smile on his face. Connie noticed the smile didn't extend to his eyes, which were cool and on guard. She also noticed something else.
Sir John made the introductions. "Miss Anneke Hendrickson, this is Mr. Napoleon Solo and Mr. Illya Kuryakin (although he had never met them, he knew very well what the two top UNCLE agents looked like) and, um…" He looked inquiringly at Connie.
"Mrs. Connie Shaw," Connie answered for herself. "Please, won't you be seated," she invited.
"Charmed to make your acquaintance," Sir John bowed slightly while giving her a genuine smile that included his eyes.
"Ha!" exclaimed Miss Hendrickson. "If you had been abducted and dragged from your home, you wouldn't be so calm about it." She glared at Connie, trying to remain the center of attention.
"On the contrary, I have been abducted twice today," she smiled sweetly at Anneke. "Is there anything I can get you, Miss Hendrickson, Sir Raleigh?"
"Oh," Anneke collapsed onto a chair, the wind taken out of her sails.
"If I could have a cup of tea, that would be marvelous, and please call me Sir John," Sir John gratefully sat down also.
"I'm not sure what the amenities are here," Connie answered doubtfully, moving to the kitchenette and assuming the role of hostess. She opened a door and crowed, "Here we go, tea leaves and a tea strainer." She held up the items in triumph. "Does anyone else want some?"
The others declined and Connie put the tea kettle, also provided, on to boil while explaining, "When we were stationed in England I learned how to make English tea."
While the water was coming to a boil, Napoleon gave Sir John a questioning look, "Abducted?"
"I politely knocked on her door, ascertained that she was the possessor of the formula and invited her to come here and complete the transaction," Sir John rather wearily explained.
"He forced me to come!" Anneke interjected. She glared at Napoleon. "If you had been on time at the museum I wouldn't have been subjected to this!"
Napoleon looked at her blankly. "But I was dead on time, at exactly 11:30 I was standing at the painting."
"No you weren't," Anneke protested vigorously. "You were at least five minutes early."
"No," Napoleon was positive, "I was right on time. See, it is 4:50 now," and he showed her his watch.
"Your watch is wrong. See, it is 4:40," and she showed him her watch.
Sir John and Illya glanced at their watches. "I'm afraid you are mistaken," Illya said. "It is 4:50."
Anneke checked Illya's watch, then Sir John's and then the clock in the room. She said something in Swedish and then switched back to English. "I guess this thing lost time again." She glared at it and then reset it.
Connie was investigating the mini-fridge and burst out, "They have cream! This hotel must cater to quite a few English guests." She brought Sir John his tea and cream and received a grateful smile in return and then sat down with her cup.
"And now to business," Napoleon said. "Do you have the formula?"
"Yes!" Anneke firmly averred and added, "I also have a sample." She pulled a white 2 inch cube box out of her purse and handed it to Napoleon. He pulled the top off and saw it was packed full of soft packing. He probed inside and fumbled out a brown walnut-sized sphere.
"Be careful!" Anneke screeched. "You'll blow me to kingdom come!"
The others all gaped at her and then the innocent looking ball. "It is very unstable. If it is dropped it will explode,"Anneke explained.
Napoleon carefully repacked it. "How big of an explosion would it be?" Illya asked in academic interest.
"Oh," Anneke glanced around, "it would take out more than this room."
"Well, give me the formula and I will take them back to UNCLE," Napoleon held out is hand.
"Give? I'm not giving anything away." Anneke looked at him in surprise. "I am selling it. What is your bid?" She reached over and snatched the box out of Napoleon's hand. He decided not to fight over it.
"Bid?" Napoleon asked. "You mean you have other bidders?"
"Yes."
"Who are they?"
Anneke looked suspiciously at Napoleon, but decided it would do no harm to answer the question. "Well, there is your organization and the Charteaux Corporation…"
"Charteaux Corporation?" Illya interrupted. The three UNCLE agents stared at each other.
"The Charteaux Corporation is one of the fronts that Thrush uses," Napoleon explained to the two women. "Who else is there?" he asked Anneke.
"Baron Jurn was the other one who expressed an interest."
"Baron Jurn?" Napoleon wrinkled his nose in puzzlement. "Who is that?"
"He is an industrialist, mostly armaments. There has been speculation that he has engaged in some shady dealings before but nothing has been proved," Sir John put in, and then gave a big yawn.
"How did you come into possession of the formula?" Napoleon queried.
"My uncle invented it and I named it the Kingdom Come formula when we almost blew ourselves up," Anneke replied as she stuffed the box back into her purse. "He was a chemist."
"Was?" Connie asked with a look of concern on her face.
"Yes, he dropped dead from a heart attack. So now there is no paycheck and no pension. That is why I must sell it. After all, a girl must eat." That put her in mind of another grievance. She sat up straighter and glared at Sir John. "That reminds me, you dragged me away from my supper! The least you can do is provide my dinner."
"My husband will be here soon and we can all go and eat," Connie interjected pacifically. She turned to Sir John, "Pardon me for bringing it up, but I couldn't help but notice how tired you looked when you came in. Would you like to lie down while we wait for him? With all the beds in this suite I'm sure that you could use one. Did you have a long day?"
Sir John looked grateful. "Actually two days, I didn't get any sleep last night. I was hoping to catch 40 winks on the plane ride back to London, but…" he shrugged resignedly.
Napoleon gestured to Illya's room, "You can use that room." Illya gave Napoleon a speaking look. "There are two beds, help yourself," he said politely to Sir John.
"If you don't mind," Sir John got to his feet, "I will take a nap first and eat later, if that is acceptable to you, Mrs. Shaw?"
"Certainly, Sir John." He gave a slight bow to her while Napoleon added, "If you change your mind, we will be eating in the hotel restaurant." Sir John acknowledged the information and disappeared into the next room.
Napoleon looked with respect at Mrs. Shaw and this new facet of her character. She was observant, kind-hearted and a good hostess. He turned back to Anneke, "I will get in touch with my supervisor and see what amount of money he will authorize."
The conversation turned general until Dane arrived. He was introduced to Anneke and informed of the supper plans. They went downstairs to the nearly empty restaurant (it was too early for most diners) and the waitress led them to a table, handed them menus, and left them.
Napoleon was perusing his menu when the wine waiter came up with a bottle of wine. Napoleon waved him off, irritated at the man's presence when he hadn't decided what to order, and didn't raise his eyes from the menu.
"If you please," the waiter said in a rather high pitched voice.
Napoleon waved him off again, but then out of the corner of his eye noticed Dane look up, stiffen and start to rise, and then sit back down with his face becoming hard. Alarmed, Napoleon looked up.
And up.
And up.