Out Of Place
AN – Thank you everyone for your reviews on the last chapter, I really appreciate the reception this story is still getting. This was another fun chapter to write, I hope you enjoy it too!
Disclaimer – I don't own Thunderbirds.
Chapter Seventeen – A soirée
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward suppressed the yawn that wanted to escape while she listened to the Interim Head of the Department of International Affairs drone on and on. Why Tobias had booked him as the after dinner speaker for this event Penelope simply did not know, the man was a terrible bore. If she had to listen to one more anecdote about a botched dinner due to a misunderstanding during a diplomatic trade mission, she was sure she would scream. Or possibly throw the bowl of trifle that she wasn't able to eat yet at him. Although… that would be a criminal waste of trifle. Trifle that she desperately wanted to taste but couldn't because the man just would not finish his tedious speech!
Finally, finally he sat back down to a smattering of lukewarm applause. Penelope sighed in relief as the waiters came out to serve the dessert. The gentleman sat next to her, a rather delightful acquaintance know as Sir Albert Hodges who had been a close friend of her father, winked and passed her the bowl that a waiter set in front of him.
"Here, Lady Penelope. I rather fear that without sustenance you may allow your enjoyment of that riveting speech to overcome you."
"I think you'll find I can contain myself, Sir Albert," Penelope replied tartly, her smile taking the sting out of her words as she gratefully received the bowl of trifle. She studied it for the moment, marvelling at the layers that were somehow still evident in the bowl. Gently, she slipped her spoon into the bowl, making sure to carefully scoop up a little of each layer for maximum enjoyment. She was just about to savour her first mouthful when her bracelet started vibrating ever so slightly, indicating an emergency call from International Rescue. She contemplated the spoonful for a split second, before regretfully dropping it back into the bowl. She nudged her wine glass ever so slightly, just enough that when Sir Albert inevitably reached for the cream…
"Oh I am so sorry Lady Penelope! How terribly clumsy of me."
"Oh how tiresome," Penelope replied, dabbing ineffectually at the wine spilt onto her dress. "You'll have to excuse me Sir Albert, I must see whether I can get this out somehow."
"Of course Lady Penelope, my sincere apologies again."
She nodded elegantly at him as she rose, making apologies to her other acquaintances at the table. She made her way swiftly out of the banqueting hall, past the odious minister who was trying to catch her attention with a toss of his floppy haired head, and into the elaborate hallway. They were in one of the more opulent venues in London, this one was once a former mansion. The hallway was richly decorated with large paintings hung on the papered wall that towered above her. Gilt furnishings gleamed at her and the marble staircase disappeared to the hall below. It was also lined with staff, useful for Penelope.
"Excuse me," she asked the nearest person, a young woman with close cropped black hair. "Can you direct me to the nearest facility where I can refresh myself? There has been a minor mishap with a glass of wine." Penelope gestured to her ruined dress and the girl's eyes opened wide as she took in the damage.
"Of course ma'am, there is a powder room just this way. Please, follow me."
The powder room turned out to be a long room, mirrors down one side and ornate sofas facing them. At the end were some toilets, although other than checking that there was no one occupying them Penelope didn't venture into them. Instead she sat on one of the sofas and removed her compact from her small bag.
"This is Lady Penelope calling International Rescue. Come in, International Rescue."
The mirror in the compact disappeared to be replaced by a screen showing the face of John Tracy. Unusually, he wasn't in his uniform although Penelope assumed that was because he was on the Island instead of Thunderbird 5. He was instead wearing a dark shirt and waistcoat.
"Hello Penelope," he replied in a friendly manner. "I see you got my message, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"
Penelope thought about the delicious looking trifle and tried not to sigh too loudly. "Nothing urgent, John dear. To tell you the truth I am at a somewhat boring function listening to a pompous windbag with an overinflated sense of his own importance discussing affairs that, frankly, I would get a more accurate picture of simply by reading this morning's papers."
John raised his eyebrows. "Sounds… fascinating," he drawled.
"About as fascinating as you are imagining." Penelope replied. "But I very much doubt you called to discuss the tedious nature of my evening John, so how can I help you?"
"I've received a message from John and Angel," immediately, John switched to professional mode. Penelope was rather impressed at how quickly he could pull on his working persona. "They have had a successful evening in Macau, so much so that they think they have identified the Hood's identity here. Well, one of them at least. Apparently the Hood from the other dimension is every bit as capable of assuming different identities as this one, but they think that it is worth following up to see if we can dig out anything about it. I've been hunting online and it seems like Mr Tseng, who is the Hood's alter ego here, has been recently exchanging emails with a British politician. Superficially they are discussing trade opportunities between the United Kingdom and whatever nation Tseng is supposed to be representing. Given that Tseng is currently running gaming tables in Macau that are fronting as a money laundering system then it is highly likely there is something more underhand going on here."
"I see," Penelope murmured. "That is concerning, but I'm not sure what proof of the Hood's criminality is going to do to help Angel and John?"
John's gaze flickered downwards, giving the impression that he was consulting his notes. "They've asked us to unearth what we can about possible locations for his base of operations. They think that there is a good chance that he is using his knowledge from the other dimension to create a hi-tech armoury here that he can then auction off to the highest bidder. To do this, he needs to be based somewhere outside of Macau."
"I think I understand." Penelope tapped her lips with one elegant finger in thought. "Do we know the name of this politician?"
"No, they don't use real names in the emails, he is just constantly referred to as 'the right honourable gentleman'."
"Typical," Penelope sighed. "What is his post then?"
"Um… hold on one moment…" There was a shuffling of papers before John triumphantly held up a document. "Here it is! He's the… something to do with the department of international affairs." John squinted at the paper. "Sorry, the print is terrible, the encryption was hard to decode and has left some of it scrambled."
Penelope's heart sank. "Not the Interim Head of the Department of International Affairs?"
John frowned down at the page. "Yes, that looks like it could be it. Why, do you know him?"
"In a manner, I've had to listen to him speak this evening for well over an hour. I can confirm he is not a riveting after dinner speaker, I guess I will now have to find out if he is an equally thrilling conversationalist too."
John winced. "Rather you than me, Penelope."
"Well, I suppose I must get back into the room and start to see what the right honourable gentleman knows."
"Thanks for this Penelope, I'll stay on the communications so if you do find anything you can let me know."
"FAB, speak to you soon." Penelope snapped the compact shut and checked again that she was alone in the powder room. That done, she opened up her small bag again and retrieved a miniature cardboard box, tied with an elegant pink ribbon. On opening the box, there was a tiny scrap of pink fabric folded neatly into it. Penelope pulled the fabric out and it unfolded into an elegant pink dress, which looked as though it was made of a fine chiffon with silk underlay. "Thank goodness for Francois Lemaire and Penelon," Penelope murmured as she quickly got changed. A quick change of hair style to better compliment the new gown and she was prepared to re-enter the function room.
The dining tables had been cleared away in Penelope's absence and now were arranged around the outside of the room. The centre was now acting like a dance floor and there was a small quartet setting up on the stage. People were mingling in groups, networking amongst themselves. Lord Tobias Denton, the host of tonight's soirée that was technically in support of a local animal shelter but which Penelope suspected was more about seeing how many people he could schmooze, materialised at her elbow.
"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward! My, you look simply delightful. How are you enjoying yourself this evening?"
"Tobias, darling," Penelope greeted him with an airy kiss on each cheek. "Why it has been simply delightful. You must introduce me to Mr Hanson later, I found his speech earlier fascinating."
"Oh you really think so?" Tobias's boyish face lit up with exuberant pleasure. "Why, I'll introduce you to him now. Say, Hanson my good fellow, do you have a moment? There is someone here I am dying to introduce you to."
Penelope tried to hide her distaste as the politician made his way over. He was an ageing man, with lank, floppy hair and yellow stained teeth.
"Hanson old chap, may I introduce you to Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward? She was longing to meet you after your speech earlier."
"The pleasure is all mine," Mr Hanson simpered, taking Penelope's hand and pressing a kiss into it. She hurriedly took it back and resisted wiping it on her gown. "Please, you must call me Graham."
"Only if you call me Penelope, Mr Hanson."
He nodded his response, plucking a glass of champagne from a roving tray and offering her a second. She took it carefully, making sure that she brushed his hand just enough as she did so.
"Y-you are an old friend of Lord Tobias?" The poor man stammered, helpless in the face of Penelope's oozing charm. Penelope arched an eyebrow and simple gave the man one of her looks. "N-not that I meant that you were old!" He tried to recover one he realised what he had said. "I merely meant to imply a long acquaintance."
"I should hope not," Penelope replied, rather tartly. "Lord Tobias and I have known each other for some time, it is true, but I'm not sure I would go as far as to say that we were old friends. Now," Penelope swiftly changed the topic, inwardly cringing for what she was about to do. "I was simply fascinated with your talk earlier on investment in businesses owned abroad, and how you so cleverly pick them to maximise potential returns. I just wondered," she lowered her voice and spoke conspiratorially. "Without telling me too much of course, but I wondered if there were any tips you had on where I could invest a little… pocket money I have managed to acquire."
The man's eyes lit up, but whether because he smelt a profit or because he simply enjoyed the sound of his own voice Penelope wasn't sure. "You liked it, did you? Well I can't give too much away, trade secrets and all," he swiftly manoeuvred them both so that they were artfully positioned away from the main body of the attendees. "But I can tell you that there are some promising enterprises I have been looking into recently. There is an investment in Asia that has recently produced some plans for a very promising range of merchandise, but needs a little financial capital to begin production. The return is all but guaranteed."
"Oh really," Penelope leant forwards, supposedly trying to catch his quiet words whilst ensuring her got a very close look at the cleavage of her dress. "That sounds all very exciting. Please do tell me more."
The minister's tongue quickly wetted his bottom lip, eyes firmly fixed somewhere below Penelope's face. "I couldn't just disclose it my dear Penelope, there are far too many people here. Perhaps we could discuss it further back at my place over a nightcap?"
Penelope tried not to noticeably shudder. "Oh my dear Graham, I'm so sorry but I am unfortunately travelling tonight. But perhaps," she looked around her. "Perhaps we may be able to find a secluded area here to continue our discussion? These old houses often have lots of small chambers, barely used nowadays."
The man's face had initially fallen, but lit up at her suggestion. "Oh of course, I do love an eager woman."
Penelope twisted her grimace into an alluring leer somehow and walked past the minister, trailing one arm along his shoulder. Whilst he followed her out she discreetly tipped a small tablet into her glass of champagne, the bubbles hiding it instantaneously.
She had calculated correctly, there were no staff waiting outside the function room now that the tables had been cleared. Other than the odd waiter carrying more trays of drinks, there wasn't anyone outside in the hallway. Penelope led the way down the hall and into a small room she had noticed on her return from the ladies – a small type of closet that was most likely used to house supplies. It was still big enough for her purposes though, as she placed her glass on a trestle table that stood against the far wall.
"This is… cosy," the right honourable gentleman leered at Penelope as he followed her in, closing the door behind him.
"Quite," she breathed, walking up to him. "Now please do tell me about this… opportunity." One hand rested delicately on his shoulder whilst the other took his glass from him and placed it with her own.
"Well, I've been in contact with a gentleman, I won't tell you his name of course, but he is based out of Malaysia. He has some incredible designs for defence vehicles that he requires funds to develop. Nations around the world will be clamouring for his equipment when he begins production. If I may be so bold, if you allowed me to handle your affairs I would provide you with suitable rewards." He licked his lips again as he concluded.
Penelope reached behind her and picked up the champagne flutes. "Malaysia, how romantic. I have always wished to visit, you know. I do believe, Graham, that this may be the start of a beautiful friendship."
He picked up his glass and grinned, even in the dim light of the room Penelope could see how stained his teeth were. "To a partnership, my dearest Penelope." He nodded towards her and took a deep drought of the champagne. Penelope raised her glass to her lips and pretended to sip with her mouth remaining firmly closed.
A moment later, the minister's eyes glazed over and he slumped backwards, collapsing against the wall next to the door. With some alarm, Penelope ensured she could still get out. Luckily the door opened outwards. Stepping over his prone form, she carefully wiped her lipstick from his glass and placed it next to his hand, switching it with her so that no one would be able to find the residue of the drug she had dropped in it earlier. Then she opened the door a small crack and checked the coast was clear.
Again, the corridor was empty so she stepped out by herself, returning to the function room and making sure that she spent time mingling so that her brief absence wouldn't be noticed. She managed to get rid of her empty glass with one of the waiters who swung by.
Eventually, it was time to retire. She visited the powder room on the way out, tapping out a quick message to John as she did so. As she exited, she saw a waiter helping a very woozy Graham Hanson out of the small closet. "Come along old man, you can't go to sleep here. Let's call you a taxi and get you home."
Penelope stepped past, exchanging a smile with the apologetic waiter. She tripped down the steps out of the building and towards the distinctive pink Rolls Royce waiting for her on the kerb, Parker standing to attention and opening the door as she arrived. "Did you 'ave a good h'evening, m'lady?"
"It was productive, Parker." Slipping into the back seat of the car she toed off her heels waited for Parker to take the driving seat. He looked at her through the mirror, frowning as he saw her tired expression.
"Ome, m'lady?"
Penelope leant back into the car with a deep sigh and thought longingly of the vast bathtub waiting for her in her house.
"Home, Parker."
