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Bond s produced and twirled round the finger and stuck back in the waistband He got up and ne into the useful glass and leant against the buffet and studied the latest handout from the Jaa's passkey sounded in the lock Scara the sh of the house chaer and tell hiht I'll fix the details And say ato seal off this roo so much bad workmanship around the place Okay? Then drinks and dinner and bring on the dancing girls Got the picture?"

Jahtly as he went to the lobby door and unlocked it E& OE (errors and oht that he had indeed now "got the picture" And it was an exceptionally clear print in black and white without fuzz

10 - Belly-Lick, etc

In the back office, Ja Nick Nicholson and Felix Leiter agreed they had enough on the tape, supported by Bond, to send Scaraht, one of the disposed of and try and get enough evidence to have Garfinkel and, better still, Hendriks indicted as accessories But they didn't at all like the outlook for James Bond Felix commanded him, "Now don't you move an inch without that old equalizer of yours We don't want to have to read that obituary of yours in The Tiuy you are nearly made me throhen I saw it picked up in our papers I da the record straight"

Bond laughed He said, "You're a fine friend, Felix

When I think of all the trouble I've been to to set you a good example all these years" He went off to his roos of bourbon, had a cold shower, and lay on his bed and looked at the ceiling until it was 8:30 and time for dinner The meal was less stuffy than luncheon Everyone seeone, and all except Scaraa and Mr Hendriks had obviously had plenty to drink Bond found himself excluded from the happy talk Eyes avoided his and replies to his attempts at conversation were monosyllabic He was bad news He had been dealt the death card by the boss He was certainly not a man to be pally with

Dinner--the conventional "expensive" dinner of a cruise ship--was as predictable as such things usually are The waiters brought on the desiccated srained black caviar, fillets of some unnamed native fish (possibly silk fish) in a cream sauce, a "poulet supreravy), and the boishly on, the dining-roole" with the help of potted plants, piles of oranges and coconuts, and an occasional stem of bananas --this was a backdrop for the calypso band, which, in wine-red and gold-frilled shirts asse "Linstead Market" too loud The tune closed An acceptable but heavily clad girl appeared and began singing "Belly-Lick" with the printable words She wore a false pineapple as a headdress Bond saw a "cruise ship" evening stretching ahead He decided that he was either too old or too young for the worst torture of all, boredoot up and went to the head of the table He said to Scara to bed"

Scaraure the evening's not going so good,paid for You act as if you know Jamaica Okay Get those people off the pad"

It was many years since James Bond had accepted a dare He felt the eyes of The Group on hi to show off, like thethe drums Stupidly, he wanted to assert his personality over this bunch of tough guys who rated hinificant He didn't stop to think that it was bad tactics, that he would be better off being the ineffectual lia Give a didn't move He looked up at Bond with surprise and controlled uncertainty Louie Paradise shouted thickly, "C'uy can produce"

Scaraa reached for his hip pocket, took out his billfold, and thumbed out a bill Next he slowly reached to his waistband and took out his gun The subdued light froold He laid the two objects on the table side by side Jaun and hefted it He thumbed back the hammer and twirled the cylinder with a flash of his hands to verify that it was loaded Then he suddenly whirled, dropped on his knee so that his airound, and, his ar in the confined space The music died There was a tense silence The reround with a soft thud The girl stood under the spot and put her hands up to her face and slowly folded to the dance floor like soraceful out of Swan Lake Thethe shadows

As chatter broke out a The Group, James Bond picked up the hundred dollar bill and walked out into the spotlight He bent down and lifted the girl up bv her are He said, "That was a fine act we did together, sweetheart Don't worry You were in no danger I aiet ready for your next turn" He turned her round and gave her a sharp pat in the behind She gave hilance and scurried off into the shadows

Bond strolled on and cae here? Who's in coaunt Negro, got slowly to his feet The whites of his eyes showed, He squinted at the golden gun in Bond's hand He said uncertainly, as if signing his own death warrant, "Me, sah"

"What's your naht then, King Now listen to a's friends want so plenty of rus up S to tell on you And get that pretty girl back, but with only half the clothes on, and tell her to co "Belly-Lick" very clearly with the blue words And, by the end of the show, she and the other girls have got to end up stripped Understand? Now get cracking, or the evening'll fold and there'll be no tips at the end Okay? Then let's go"

There was nervous laughter and whispered exhortation to King Tiger frorinned broadly "Okay, captain, sah We was just holding off until the party got warmed up a little He turned to his et some steam up with Daisy and her friends" He strode to the service exit and the band crashed into its stride

Bond walked back and laid the pistol down in front of Scara, inquisitive look and slid it back into his waistband He said flatly, "Wematch one of these days, ?"

"Thanks," said Bond, "but my mother wouldn't approve Would you have some rum sent over to the band? These people can't play dry" He went back to his seat He was hardly noticed The five men, or rather four of the, were straining their ears to catch the leords of the Fanny Hill version of "Iron Bar" that were coirls, plu but white sequined G-strings, ran out on to the floor, and advancing towards the audience, did an enthusiastic belly dance that brought sweat to the temples of Louie Paradise and Hal Garfinkel The nuhts were dowsed, leaving only the circular spot in the middle of the floor

The druan a hasty beat like a quickened pulse The service door opened and shut, and a curious object heeled into the circle of light It was a huge hand, perhaps six feet tall at its highest point, upholstered in black leather It stood, half open on its broad base, with the thu The dru figure slipped through, and after pausing in the darkness,jerk of belly and limbs There was Chinese blood in her, and her body, totally naked and shining with palainst the black hand As she jerked round the hand she caressed its outstretched fingers with her hands and ar motions, cliuorous, but explicit and ingenious, acts of passion with each of the fingers in turn The scene, the black hand, now shining with her oil and see white body, was of an incredible lewdness, and Bond, hi with rapt attention, his eyes narrow slits The druirl, in well-simulated ecstasy, mounted the thurind of her ruh the exit The act was over The lights ca the band, applauded loudly The a clapped his hand for the bandleader, took a note out of his case, and said so to him under his breath The chieftain, Bond suspected, had chosen his bride for the night!

After this inspired piece of sexual dumb crairls, only after her G-string had been slashed off with a cutlass by the bandleader, was able to squirhteen inches off the floor on the top of two beer bottles The first girl, the one who had acted as an unwitting pineapple tree to Bond's William Tell act, ca of "Belly-Lick" that got the audience straining its ears again, and then the whole team, less the Chinese beauty, caa and Hendriks refused with adequate politeness and Bond stood the two left-out girls glasses of chane and learned that their names were Mabel and Pearl while he watched the four others being almost bent in half by the bearlike e hoods as they clumsily cha-cha'd round the room to the now riotous music of the half-drunk band The cliy was clearly in sight Bond told his two girls that he a was looking elsewhere, but, as he went, he noted that Hendriks' gaze, as cool as if he had been watching an indifferent film, was firmly on him as he made his escape