24-05-2019, 04:13 PM
"Well, he was keeping it in a cooler tied under the dock, so it was never really ON San Finzione soil, and it was clever enough that I can't be upset. The man cheated fair and square. Plus, one of the primary virtues of this country is Hospitality. It was wrong of me to limit your ability to accommodate your guests."
"And how're the new additions to the Royal Family?"
"Good. Sorry they're not here to meet. Jeanne took them to Seattle, they're with Troy and their other family right now."
Mander got a mild look of disappointment.
"Hoped your Seattle mates'd be around as well. Claire's told 'em they're welcome to visit the island. Susan's the only one who's shown an interest."
He approached the stairs and she stopped about four stairs up so that she could, for once, stand eye-to-eye with the man who'd saved her life more than once, and for that service, had his own tropical island where he lived with his "Birds."
"You have a swimming pool." Helen told him. "I know you met them during a crisis, when Julie wasn't entirely herself. The only thing that normally puts her there is Troy going anywhere near a swimming pool. Not any other water, it's gotta be a pool. They could take a boat across the ocean to GET to Mander Island and stop to swim along the way and she'd be happy until they got there, and Julie saw the pool. She would then grab Troy by the arm and say 'Deathwater Pit! We're going home NOW, Troilus, and at least YOU are never coming back!' Why I said back before you met them the first time that one topic you do not bring up at ALL is 'You should get a pool.'"
"Noted." Mander replied, shaking her hand. "A place like this's gotta have more than one, though. Not like ya got a weird thing for them like Kiburi. I'm sure you've an employee gym in this place and so on; you've got reasons to have more than one. What do ya do with the pools you got here when they come round?"
"Procedure once we've confirmed An Equals Situation at the castle is to clear, drain, and lock down our swimming pools until they leave. That appeases Julie." Helen smiled at him again. "Come on, I'll show you to your room, it's right next to theirs. Someone can get your bags."
Mander looked back at them, then hefted the clanking metal one over his shoulder.
"Just that one, if they don't mind." He grinned.
* * *
"Business?" The castle gate guard asked the man from the studio. He'd stopped them and was questioning the driver while others inspected the van.
"Vehicle maintenance." The man in the studio maintenance jumpsuit replied.
"I thought there was to be no shooting here today." The guard asked suspiciously.
"There is not." Replied the man. "The vintage vehicles being left outdoors until filming resumes require more upkeep than simply being covered."
It sounded reasonable to the gate guard. The ones who'd been looking under the van found nothing, nor did the ones looking through their toolboxes and the vehicle, so he allowed them to enter the Castle grounds, pointing them to the set. He then raised the barrier and allowed them to pass through.
When they were out of sight of the gate, he took out his phone. When they were at the set, he called Dietz.
"We're in, sir. They bought it."
"Of course, Potentially Useful." Heinrich Dietz replied on the other end. "You have all the right paperwork. Dummkopf at least found out that, based on the last incident at the castle, a communications jammer will be activated once you begin, so this will be the last time we speak until it is over. Do I have to tell you not to fail and what to do?"
"Nein, sir." He replied as the other men began removing the coverings on the smuggling compartments inside the van. "We are all committed."
"Then Heil Hitler, Potentially Useful."
"H... heil Hitler, sir." He said before hanging up.
Potentially Useful got out of the van and started walking toward one of the Panzer tanks, untying the straps on the tarp. As he did so, the workers in the van overturned their toolboxes, dumping them onto the floor, and began filling them with belts of machine gun ammunition and shells for the main gun before getting out to begin their maintenance on the tank.
* * *
"And how're the new additions to the Royal Family?"
"Good. Sorry they're not here to meet. Jeanne took them to Seattle, they're with Troy and their other family right now."
Mander got a mild look of disappointment.
"Hoped your Seattle mates'd be around as well. Claire's told 'em they're welcome to visit the island. Susan's the only one who's shown an interest."
He approached the stairs and she stopped about four stairs up so that she could, for once, stand eye-to-eye with the man who'd saved her life more than once, and for that service, had his own tropical island where he lived with his "Birds."
"You have a swimming pool." Helen told him. "I know you met them during a crisis, when Julie wasn't entirely herself. The only thing that normally puts her there is Troy going anywhere near a swimming pool. Not any other water, it's gotta be a pool. They could take a boat across the ocean to GET to Mander Island and stop to swim along the way and she'd be happy until they got there, and Julie saw the pool. She would then grab Troy by the arm and say 'Deathwater Pit! We're going home NOW, Troilus, and at least YOU are never coming back!' Why I said back before you met them the first time that one topic you do not bring up at ALL is 'You should get a pool.'"
"Noted." Mander replied, shaking her hand. "A place like this's gotta have more than one, though. Not like ya got a weird thing for them like Kiburi. I'm sure you've an employee gym in this place and so on; you've got reasons to have more than one. What do ya do with the pools you got here when they come round?"
"Procedure once we've confirmed An Equals Situation at the castle is to clear, drain, and lock down our swimming pools until they leave. That appeases Julie." Helen smiled at him again. "Come on, I'll show you to your room, it's right next to theirs. Someone can get your bags."
Mander looked back at them, then hefted the clanking metal one over his shoulder.
"Just that one, if they don't mind." He grinned.
* * *
"Business?" The castle gate guard asked the man from the studio. He'd stopped them and was questioning the driver while others inspected the van.
"Vehicle maintenance." The man in the studio maintenance jumpsuit replied.
"I thought there was to be no shooting here today." The guard asked suspiciously.
"There is not." Replied the man. "The vintage vehicles being left outdoors until filming resumes require more upkeep than simply being covered."
It sounded reasonable to the gate guard. The ones who'd been looking under the van found nothing, nor did the ones looking through their toolboxes and the vehicle, so he allowed them to enter the Castle grounds, pointing them to the set. He then raised the barrier and allowed them to pass through.
When they were out of sight of the gate, he took out his phone. When they were at the set, he called Dietz.
"We're in, sir. They bought it."
"Of course, Potentially Useful." Heinrich Dietz replied on the other end. "You have all the right paperwork. Dummkopf at least found out that, based on the last incident at the castle, a communications jammer will be activated once you begin, so this will be the last time we speak until it is over. Do I have to tell you not to fail and what to do?"
"Nein, sir." He replied as the other men began removing the coverings on the smuggling compartments inside the van. "We are all committed."
"Then Heil Hitler, Potentially Useful."
"H... heil Hitler, sir." He said before hanging up.
Potentially Useful got out of the van and started walking toward one of the Panzer tanks, untying the straps on the tarp. As he did so, the workers in the van overturned their toolboxes, dumping them onto the floor, and began filling them with belts of machine gun ammunition and shells for the main gun before getting out to begin their maintenance on the tank.
* * *
Like, Comment and Give Rating.
![[+]](https://xossipy.com/themes/sharepoint/collapse_collapsed.png)