The Decanter of Decay.

[maddox]

This is IC, but about impossible to know. Please accept that premisse.

Paul Timbre, once the most powerfull businessman in France, is now a social paria. His impulsive conduct in front of the elected leaders of France did cost him his social standing, and now it is known that he can be outfoxed, the industrial connections he had are on an all time low. His money making sceme on Masque was turned against him, and now his firms have to deal with lost profits because not 1 battleship was build, but 2 Ultra Arcadia types , Occitanie and Britannie.
Monsieur Timbre was brooding on revenge, and by accident he got the means.
The Radium girls, normaly an industrial situation that shouldn't even reach him but should have been handled by the factory leadership, gave him a surefire means to hurt the leadership of Glorious France.

At the same time, his new Portugese friends are giving him power behind the screens in such messurments a new yardstick is needed.



The financial shockwaves of the Radium Girls lawsuit are barely absorbed when Woodrow Wilsons new world peace promoting plan hit the diplomatic circles. The hurriedly response from the French government giving a perfect opportunity.


Jean, here are the papers you'll need at L'usine de Lumiere Froide. If anybody tries to stop you, or dispute the orders, make sure the director of the plant contacts me. If not, fine. After  getting the material requested you go to the metal workshop of Vuitton. Createur Maxime will take over from there.

At once monsieur Timbre.



L'usine du Lumiere Froide. Jean arrives and presents the papers to a succession of people, untill he ends up with the new supervisor.

Mes oui monsieur. But I have to warn you, carrying this amount of radium will cause skin burns you if you hold it longer than 5 minutes. If you want to be safe, you'll need a lead lined container.

Make it so, I have a long journey to make, so, prepare the sample for such an occation.


Monsieur, Monsieur I need your signature on this paper.   Monsieur!  MONSIEUR!!! (trying to catch up with the Renault town car Jean uses for transportation.)


20 minutes later, delayed for 8 minutes by a broken down taxi.  

Ah, Monsieur, you're bringing the alloying metal for the pewter ,to enhance the special decanter ordered for the special occassion in Richmond?

Yes, here is the material. Be carefull with it, it's more precious than platinum.
by the way, my boss pays enough for this job to get a very solid travel case for the decanter. If I can suggest a thing, use the lining of the crate in the new travel case, just to keep in the mood. I don't have to ask that the large LV signature is prominent.

[maddox]

A week later, the decanter resting in a exquisite Louis Vuitton flat top travel chest. On it's way to Richmond.  

A series of bought and forged letters designate Jean as a French ministry of Foreign affairs courrier.
With all the important envoys attending the Richmond Naval Gathering,  the CSA customs and secret service are doing a extremely good job.
The papers presented. Politely they ask to inspect the contents of the chest.

Jean opens the chest ,and decanter with a florish, one of the customs agents sniffing the great bouquet of the very expensive Dutch Highland single malt. The readely coorperation and the expensive, but harmless cargo just makes it easier to go trough.

Once in Richmond, he contacts one of the best escort providing services money can buy. And after carefull selection, the one girl with the best thespian and autoritive skills is selected.


During the Richmond meeting concerning Warship limitation Minister Capet traveled along with Minister Lebrun, with a message to be delivered in President Wilsons hands.

But the unsceduled apperance and the working around the Richmond meeting prevent Capet meeting Wilson.

During those days , were Capet is cooling his heels and heating up his temper, a young lady with a regal demeanor approaches him. Once the 2 are in more private quarters, the ladies behavoir changes. After rebuffing his avances, pushing him forcibly in a chair and having a derringer appear in her dainty hands.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Capet, I'm send by my employer , to tell you, you have big problems. If you deliver that message from Premier Galpoux, peace will be evaporating like a dollop of ether on a hot plate. If you don't you failed your duty. My employer is working on the Paris side of the equation, but you must stall for time."

You b... , do you really think Grange can command me. Advice yes, at best, but command no. Go tell your master that I will try to stall, but the message will be delivered, unless the Premier tells me to do otherwise.

If you believe that, fine. But for now, you will comply. As well known, the stick and carrot methode works fine. You have seen both. If you do the job well, your carrot will have a nice time.

[maddox]

During the days of the Richmond meeting, Createur Maxime is in agony, almost dying.

As his lifemate fears, the exurbinant lifestyle and the frequent visits to Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire shows itself in a horrible disease, one that rots teeth in the mouth, bloody, weeping sores erupt on the most unlikely spots , vomit and diarea ,when availabe, are thin, dark of blood. Hair and nails let lose and fall of. And only the most heavy doses of injected morphine can dull the pain.

The doctor and nurse that helps Createur Maxime at his opulent home are doing their best, but alas, nothing they do can do anything more than dull the pain and get some nourishment in the poor mans body. As a last ditch messure, they use blood transfusions from his lifemate(who has the same blood group, as determinated by the doctor, using Karl landsteiners guidelines on blood compatibility) , who is eating the most rich, nutrient foods as possible, and is in himself accepting blood transfusions from other suitable healty donors who are getting well payed for the strange job.

Week after week this game between life and dead goes on.

[maddox]

A timejump, and unless the Nverse gets destroyed by aliens, it's a rather normal outcome of 1 of the sidelines on the Decanter of Decay line.

June 1928, Createur Maxime, bald, toothless, and losing his vision due cataract is working tirelessly on a bronze statue, commissioned by the French Government.  A hommage to the visionair Confederate President Woodrow Wilson. 
But it's an work of pennance, needed doing,and from the inner strenght of a real artist a real artwork is created. The angular realism in the large bronze bust heralds a new artform to come.



The final cast, the polishing of the bronze to make it shine as a mirror, the sculpting to make the smooth casting angles into the angular forms Createur Maxime envisions. Feverish ,hurried, but not hastely done, strength fading. Chest pains and a wracking cough temporary interrupting the work.

Yes, Yes. Finaly the vision is finished.

The artist crumbles in the arms of his lifemate. Exhausted by the final artwork, the cancer eating away the lungs and the 9 year long ordeal after the other Great work, the Silver and Gold decanter.

After wispering some endearments, the eyes, already shaded by the film of cataract dull permanently. But by a fluke of nature, the bust seems to glow in the rays of sunlight falling trough the large windows of the workshop.

[Kaiser Kirk]

ooc, I like the title of this story btw

[maddox]

Thanks for rekindling this Carthaginian.


Mid May 1919. French Polynesia,  Chateau Timbre.

Monsieur Timbre, J has send a telegram.

Yes, give, and you may go
After using the book code, the random words in the telegram show this. The used book moves from 1 side of the small library to the other.

CSA cruiser in Brest stop. package Institute Curie stop. No diplomatic reaction stop.

A frown followed by a smile is all reaction Timbre shows.


Paris
L'Instute Curie.

Professeur Henry is dilligently working on distilling the radioisotope from the sample from the beautifull,but deadly decanter. 
And it's clear radium is in there, all the tests show that the original composition was radium chloride dissolved in silver. A lot of radium chloride. The molten silver must have glowed deep blue when the alloy was prepared. The person working on this must have had a lot of knowledge, or he would be in hospital and probably dead by now. And such a case, right after the Radium girls case, would have been reported right away.

That rules out that the decanter was made in France, even if all the paperwork available points out that the decanter was ordered by the French ministry of Foreign affairs.

What state has acces to the large amount of radium, has a reason to kill President Wilson and would like to blame France for it?

France doesn't have own worked sources of pitchblend or uranium ore, and the institute has the means to make radium chloride , but only in small ammounts, not industrial scale, like so many laboratories. The only factory working with such amounts of radium is L'usine de Lumiere Froide. And that's right in reach. I'll write that in my report. I doubt it, as the factory is already under a microscope. But it's the only source of radium in such amounts in France.
Then we have to look into the Biraco factory in Olen, The Netherlands.
The others with capacity, the Habsburgs with the mining operations in the Monts Métallifères and the Gran Colombians who took over the mines in Katanga from the Dutch.

Lots of variables. Unfortunatly.

[The Rock Doctor]

Back in Cartagena, President Alizandro has a strange dream about a Frenchman shoving him into the path of a bus...

[Borys]

Ahoj!

The others with capacity, the Habsburgs with the mining operations in the Monts Métallifères

Interesting. I've always known these mountains as the Rudawy, which would be [very] Old Polish for Ore Mountains.
Borys