day forty-seven & forty-ate on the hotel patio

Sir Wellington Moonboots, the celebrated engineer spider passed by. He took a good look at the big web the spiders had made. 
"That's a big one! he said. 
He ran around the spiral thread and up and down the radials. He checked the main rigging, mainstays and anchor points. He scrutinised some knots. He climbed the impedial and expedial ladders. He performed flexibility and tensile integrity tests and measured the thread-width for conformity to the official standard. He evaluated the specifics and made a  general assessment and finally said, "Good job, boys!"

day forty-seven & forty-eight back at Kola Nut Hotel

Meanwhile, Fred and his spider friends have been spinning a big web on the patio of the Kola Nut Hotel and discussing some complex mathematics. In particular, they are debating 1xX. Slider says 1xX=1; West-sider says it=X. Fred thinks it's x. Snyder insists it's 8. Alfa Romeo is sticking with 11. Spy and Louis are sitting on the fence.

day forty-eight and soup

"Yes of course!" said Benny. "It will be an honour to serve Your Excellencyness with some soup. Today's special is beetroot." 

"Beetroot?" said the Emperor.

"Er.. Yes," said Benny. "I have made it especially for Your Excellency's visit!"

A slightly awkward pause. "It's very good!" said Ron.

"Well, then we will have beetroot soup!" said the Emperor decisively.

"Thank you," said Benny."And if your Highnose likes it, I would like to name it in your honour."

"Well, then I hope I will like it!" said the Emperor.

The Emperor, and his footmen and generals tucked in to Benny's "special" beetroot soup. One of the generals spluttered a little, but dutifully ate it up when he saw the Emperor had polished his off. "You must give me the recipe so that I can have the Imperial Kitchen's Head Chef make it!" said the Emperor. The general gave a little snort, but disguised it as a cough. "It will be known as Emperor Peng Win Glorious Imperial Beetroot Soup!"

"Thank you!" said Benny, relieved.

day forty-eight and a V.V.I.P.

"Who's there?!" said Ron instinctively. Benny gave him a very stern look.

"The Emperor!" came the reply.

"The Emperor who?" said Ron. He couldn't help it.

"The Emperor Peng Win! And he commands that you open the door!" Benny opened the door quickly.

The Emperor and his retinue entered the Soup Shack. "Are you the proprieter of this establishment?" asked the Emperor, looking at Benny. 

"Yes, I am, Your Excellency. Benny, at your service," replied Benny, hitting a strong but humble tone.

"So this must be Ron!" said the Emperor.

"Yes, I'm Ron," said Ron. "At your service, Your Eggsellency."

The Emperor stroked his Imperial moustache.

"I have come here today to offer my profound gratitude to you, Ron, for saving the lives of the passengers and crew of Flight..." one of the footmen whispered in the Emperor's ear, "... of Flight X252. For your bravery and selflessness I award you the highest honour at my disposal: the Emperor's Big Gold medal."

The Emperor took the medal from a case held by a footman and put the ribbon over Ron's head. "Thank you very much." said Ron, "I like it!"

The Emperor smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it! Wear it with pride, you are a hero!""

"Yes, I will," said Ron. "I won't sell it."

"Mmm," said the Emperor. "Now, Benny."

"Yes, Your Highness?" said Benny.

"I understand that you also played a part in this rescue, by beating-off the attackers when they returned to assault the airship a second time," said the Emperor.

"Yes, but.." said Benny.

"But nothing, Benny. I also owe you my sincerest gratitude for your actions," said the Emperor. "I have a very special gift for you." 

The Emperor took an object from a case held by another footman. It was a small model of the Imperial Palace in a glass dome, which was full of water. The Emperor gave it a gentle shake and gave it to Benny saying, "Look, it's snowing!"

"Thank you very much, Your Niceness." said Benny.

"And also I grant you the right to put "By Appointment to His Excellency, Emperor Peng Win II" on your shop sign and menu and letters etc.  You can stick it wherever you like within reason."

"Thank you very much, Your Highnice," said Benny.

"And now I'd like to try some of your famous soup!" said the Emperor.

day forty-eight and a gasp

The fantastically large Imperial Zeppelin, with it's black upper part and white lower part, made the airship Ron had travelled in look like a birdkid's party balloon. As Ron and Benny peered through the window of the Soup Shack, they could not see the ends of it. They could plainly see the Imperial crest on the side of the zeppelin and signs of unhurried activity were visible through the gold portholes of it's gondola.
Ron and Benny then gasped as a long gangway was slowly lowered from the underside of the gondola to the ledge below. It was like a chute rather than a staircase. After a minute, some penguins, obviously members of the Emperor's retinue, slid smoothly down the chute one-by-one, head-first. The penguins stood up on the ledge and saluted as a loud fanfare blurted out.  This was followed by the appearance of the Emperor himself, who regally descended the chute feet-first. The Emperor, flanked by his footmen and generals, approached the Soup Shack. He was an imposing figure, wearing a long red gown with a white fur collar, and a gold crown which reflected the pale sunlight. Ron and Benny jumped away from the window, their hearts beating louder than the now much quieter idling engine of the zeppelin. They took a deep breath....

"Knock, knock!"

day forty-eight and louder and louder

Now Ron could hear the deep rumble of the Imperial Zeppelin's mighty engines, and it was getting louder and louder. "We've got about five minutes!" said Benny, starting to clatter about in the Soup Shack's kitchen. Ron got involved in the panic, first putting the spoon in his jacket pocket and his comb in the cutlery tray, and then running around between the tables like a fool.
The sound of the zeppelin was very loud by now, and the pots and pans in the kitchen were all vibrating or swinging on their hooks. Then the tables started shaking and one of the chairs actually fell to bits. Some spoons left out on the tables stood up and did a frantic jig, and a can-opener performed a whirling, high-kicking Cossack-dance. Salt and pepper pots tumbled like skittles and threw out their contents in curvy white and beige arabesques. Cans of food in the cupboards spun like tops and the letters on the menu board were jumbled-up to spell out terrible obscenities. The floorboards screamed as their edges strained against each other and the walls and ceiling wobbled like sheets of cardboard jelly. The room then started to become dark and Ron and Benny went to the window and looked out. The Imperial Zeppelin was now hovering just five or six metres above the ledge outside the Soup Shack. It was very, very, very big.

day forty-eight and a hero

Ron ate the soup Benny had made (beetroot, for it's restorative power) and felt much better. His aching eyelids, beak, wing-arms and other parts were soothed and he felt strong enough to stand up. He wanted to look in a mirror, but Benny said he didn't have one, so Ron picked up a spoon and examined himself in that. 
Well, his quiff was wonky but he could soon fix that... and the black eye... well it looked kind of cool! Ron set about restoring his hair with his silver comb while Benny explained that Emperor Peng Win had heard about Ron fixing the hole in the airship and saving the lives of all the passengers and crew, and wanted to personally say well done and thank you. "You're a hero!" added Benny. Ron was just absorbing that when Benny suddenly exclaimed, "That's him!"
"Unh?" said Ron, still holding comb and spoon.
"The Emperor is here!" said Benny. "I can hear the Imperial Zeppelin!"