Jon was having a peaceful and quiet evening watching the World Series on TV in his hotel room. There was a knock on the door. It was a signal knock that meant a courier just delivered a message at the door. He usually waited a few minutes before opening the door. He tried to pretend that he did not hear the knock. His duty to God and Country would not let him do that. Slowly he opened the door and retrieved the package. Yes, it contained his next assignment.

The package contained a civilian passport, a travel itinerary, cash and credit cards, and the necessary tickets. The instructions directed him to immediately go to Marseilles, France; travel like a tourist by cruise ship to Beirut, Lebanon; meet and mix with whom ever he wished to be with, and wait for further orders.

He smiled and thought to him self, “This is going to be a vacation.” He got ready for the Air France “red eye” flight to Paris. That was not the first time he’s done that. He often traveled incognito as a tourist. Very few people knew that John Napa is Special Undercover Agent Jon X of the Secret Spy Arm (SSA) of the Federal government.

He was the only passenger in first class. Flight attendant Angelina greeted him, “bonjour Jon, allez-vous à Paris pour affaires ou pour le plaisir?” Translated: “Hello Jon, are you going to Paris on business or pleasure?”

“Plaisir. Je vais à Marseille prochaine.” Translated: “Pleasure. I'm going to Marseilles next.”

"Dommage, nous aurions pu avoir beaucoup de plaisir à Paris.” Translated: “Too bad, we could have had a lot of fun in Paris.”

French was one the languages he mastered. He was a linguist. Besides his mother tongue English, he mastered a half dozen other languages. That included French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Arabic. He was also well versed in the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.

Angelina was a friend. He had dated her in the past. They spent a couple of nights together at one of the swanky hotels in New York.

Halfway through the flight, Jon laid the back of the seat into almost a flat position. He wanted to take a nap. It was peaceful and quiet. He dozed off into the world of dreams. It looked very real when Angelina approached him with her red thong in hand. It felt very real when she laid on top of him. “Am I dreaming or is this for real?” He asked himself. Not a word was spoken. She smiled and walked away.

The next thing he felt was Angelina shaking him and saying, “We arrived. We’re in Paris. Time to wake up.” Jon looked a little groggy. He was fully clothed. “You must have had a dream full of action. You were shaking and breathing hard. I hope that I was in that dream.”

“Yes you were.” Jon said.

“Good, maybe next time we'll do it for real”. Angelina said as she smiled and walked away

His connection to Marseilles was on a commuter plane. It was on the runway warming up. He was the last passenger to board. The plane took off as soon as he boarded.


Marseilles, France

His reservation took him to the Hotel de Grande, a new and very plush facility. His reservation was for a one-day/one night stay before boarding the cruise ship. The hotel was full of lovely ladies. He could hardly wait to make his play for one or two of them.

The first to catch his eye was a statuesque peach blonde with hazel eyes. She was a beauty. He thought that she probably belonged to someone. He wanted to take the risk and pursue her. He approached her slowly. “My name is Jon. Can I buy you a drink?”

“Yes, you can. My name is Angela. Are you staying at the hotel?” She answered in her sexy French tongue.

“Yes I am. Let us get a table and get to know each other.” He answered.

“You’re an American. I want to tell you in plain English that we do not need to waste our time sitting at a table. I am ready to go to your room and make love. By the way that’ll cost you one thousand.”

“Wow, one grand a throw? That is a little steep.”

She quickly answered, “If you want the best it is going to cost you. I work for the hotel. If you change your mind and still want me, I’ll be sitting at the bar.”

He watched her wiggle her butt as she walked away. She really knew how to strut her stuff. “I never paid for sex and I’m not going to start now.” He mumbled as he ordered a double scotch on the rocks.

He started checking the other ladies. He wondered how many of them were prostitutes. About that time three lovely young ladies walked in together. They sat at the table next to him. They were giggling and very occupied in their conversation. They were British. They ordered Bloody Mary cocktails. After a brief pause Jon introduced himself and offered to buy them a drink.

“Sure, why not.” Answered the blonde. “ My name is Megan.” Then pointing to the brunette, “this is Angie and the red head is Susan. Would you like to join us?”

“Yes, as I said, my name is Jon.”

“Are you here on holiday or business?” Asked Megan.

“A little bit of both. I’m taking the cruise ship to Beirut, Lebanon, then I’ll attend to some business.”

“Oh, that is great. We’re taking the cruise ship to Beirut also. We’ll be working at the Cabaret Leban. Maybe you can come and see us.”

“That’ll be great. I’ll plan to do that.”

“Our troupe has nine girls. We’ll be meeting six more girls in the morning. We’re scheduled to board the ship together.”

“Are the rest of the girls as lovely as you?”

“I think so.” Answered Megan. “Three are French, one is Swedish, and two are Italian. The nine of us have been in Paris rehearsing for four weeks.”

“That sounds wonderful. I’m anxious to see your act.” Answered Jon. His thoughts wondered back to earlier days and of his wild experiences with some of the cabaret girls in Paris and Singapore. This would be his first visit to Beirut.