All That Glitters Ch. 36

"I think Denders needs something big as an attraction at the resort as their amusement park is just a little too small to draw large amounts of tourists in, especially in the summer months. The attraction would have to be significant as people are still skittish to be on the West Coast since the great earthquake that took so much of the original coastline two centuries ago, which is why the West Coast is such an affordable area.

"You do not need to worry though as, geologically, that area is very stable now and your investment there is not at risk.

"Still, from the financial statement I have received for the last three years of activities that Andjuran was a stockholder, it looks rather nice. Your shares will net you something on the order of ten to fifteen million credits annually from the operation under current circumstances. Any improvement in bookings will only add to the annual dividend.

"The Johal Compound, on the other hand will become a liability to you all too soon," Jean stated. "The staff is being educated through the IPPF victims fund and, with no one using the property, they will not want to stay on if they have no significant employment. You will have to give some serious thought as to what to do with that property.

"All-in-all, the properties you have received, with the exception of Bonn, are going to provide you with a nice annual return.

"You could reinvest your returns in more property or make it available for your stock and bond issues. So far, the stocks that I am working with for Liea Samson are making returns exceeding thirty percent annually. I can't say that will continue, as most financial assets seriously worthy of investment usually make between ten to twenty percent annually, however, the stocks that we have included are good investments as they are currently up and coming businesses, such as Aruna Labs, Pallanders Shipyards, Les Armuriers Laundray, and of course, Liramor Holdings. The last will cost you the most to buy but will give you dividend returns exceeding fifteen percent annually. In most stock and bond issues, that number is a solid return.

"When we have taken your 75% and converted it to stocks, bonds, and property, you will be left with roughly 78.2 million credits going to your discretionary fund. Add the 58 million already there, plus some residual and you will have a total of 141 million in your discretionary fund at the end of this month. At 5% annually, that will bring you be receiving 587,500 credits per month from bank interest alone. Your properties should provide 258 million credits annually, issued as quarterly dividends of 64.5 million credits, with 16,125,000 credits going into your discretionary fund, minus taxes, each quarter, the remainder being applied to investments. I cannot tell you at this time what the final tax bill will be per month as some of your investments will give you a break on taxes. Look to having to pay roughly 42% in taxes or roughly 6.8 million credits in taxes. That should leave you with 9,352,500 cash reserves every quarter in your personal fund.

"The remaining 312 million I will apply of your initial stock and bonds issues that I have developed with Liea; they will provide you with 9.36 million credits per year at current rates, again divided 75% / 25%, leaving you with 2.34 million credits annually into your discretionary funds, minus taxes, at current rates of return. Those rates will be flexible and will change on a monthly basis.

"At a 42% tax rate, that should leave you with 982,800 credits annually into your discretionary fund. That will only go up as we buy more stocks and bonds.

"Overall, that will mean that this year you should see 38,284,800 million credits in your discretionary fund."

Liea was watching Hanalei's reactions to the figures that Jean was pushing at her, smiling at the look of shock on the poor woman's face. She remembered her own reactions to the figures that Jean was throwing at her when she first became unbelievably rich.

"I did manage to put in an order on one of the two Princess Class private yachts taken back by Pallanders," Jean continued. "It will cost you close to twenty-seven million credits to buy, but you will have a personal yacht less than fourteen months old in your possession.

"Painting and outfitting the ship could cost another ten million credits dependent on what you want to do but at the current costs of these ships new, that would still be a significant bargain. I deducted the 37 million credit expected cost from your initial estimates of your discretionary fund. Should you choose not to purchase the ship, that sum will change the final annual tally.

"However, I can only hold that bid so long, I need an answer from you as to purchasing it or not," Jean said.

"I would advise you to take up that offer, Hanalei," Liea told her. "I have seen how convenient it is to have such a vessel at one's disposal."

"Let's do that then, please," Hanalei stated. "If you could pass on my contact information to Pallanders, we can settle on a livery and interior design for the ship and see what the final costs will be."

"As to that, do you know when you will be shipping the check to me?" Jean asked.

"There is a newly-opened outlet for Liea's bank here on Liramor-23, which also happens to be the bank that our Trine uses. They opened it yesterday with an eye to future use by the Greater Sentient Community in dealing with the Union, but it has proved to be a boon to the various shops on the platform and of course the workers.

"I have given the two checks to them, telling them to deposit the checks into two accounts for me. The first account is my discretionary account. The second account is for the larger check and you will have access to that account," Hanalei explained, sending her banking information to him from her comp.

"As per your suggestion, I wish to do the same as Liea and split the returns as we discussed earlier, please.

"The bank knows you by reputation and knows that you deal with Liea's accounts, so they will be happy to work with you.

"One of the great benefits of the ICS system is that the banking community can now complete transactions from almost anywhere in Union space as if they were conducting transactions on any given planet. Those accounts should now be open on Liramor Prime as well as the local bank outlet here," Hanalei stated.

"Ah, someplace else to park your money, then," Jean said with a smile. "It did not occur to me that the ICS could be used in this manner. It would be prudent to invest some funds in the group that controls the money flow of financial institutions as they will likely be making generous returns in the next couple of years as the banking system adjusts to the availability of instant money transfers to banks all over the Union and, in fact, all over Interspecies space."

"Very well then, it will take a few days to set up your portfolio of stocks, bonds, properties, and other items. I will get back to you by the end of the week, or I can send you secure e-mails as I make the purchases. Either way works for me.

"I will also look into what I can do in the Bonn issue. If it were here on Liramor Prime, I would know what resources I can put together to roust this managing group from your properties. As it is on Terra, I will have to look into what resources would be available to me. That could take a few days or even weeks.

"One final note. You will need to hire a few personnel, including a PA, a bodyguard, and any additional servants as required. Let me know how many and their proposed annual pay and I will work out a method of payment for them.

"I will keep you in the loop on all other items that we have talked about today. When I have any noteworthy information, I will contact you and explain your options. Have a good day, Mrs. Anar." Jean signed off.

"Well, that was interesting. You seem to have been born under a bit of a lucky star," Liea proclaimed.

"Not just me, Liea. It appears my Trine exhibits the same traits," she replied with a smile.

The two sat and talked about the people that Hanalei might need to hire, and how much their services should cost.

Piscium Family Quarters, Liramor-23, Piscium System

"We're home! Junelliya called out as they entered their apartment. She saw Hanalei sitting on the couch with Ikekia in her arms. They were watching a colourful children's show together.

The Fayea and Juneya flew over to the couch, Kit Keening to the baby, while Haya landed on Hanalei's shoulder and rubbed her head against her ear, rumbling her purr for her bond mate.

Junelliya came over and placed the chest she was carrying on the coffee table and held out her arms for the baby, who Hanalei promptly gave over. Hanalei turned to Fayad and received a very tender kiss from him, then turned her face to Junelliya to receive a kiss just as tender.

Junelliya played with Ikekia for a bit, before she began to fuss.

"It's feeding time," Hanalei said with a smile, as she bared her breast for the baby.

"What have you brought with you?" Hanalei asked.

"A gift from the Kumar-Pair. I am almost afraid to open it, as she insisted that I not until I got home," Junelliya explained.

The chest was two of Junelliya's hands long, two hands wide, and about three quarters of her hand tall. It was made of highly polished wood and bound in dark metal, making it look like an old time pirate chest from the vid classics, though the top was flat, so more of a box than a chest. The facets on the front and top were sculpted with scenes of the Goddess, the entire piece painted and lacquered, the box alone was an exquisite piece of art.

Junelliya broke the seal and lifted the lid. An envelope sat on top, and she pulled it out, noting colourful gems laying in the felt lined box hidden by the envelope.

She opened the envelope and began to read the Pod-Drran script.

Atohan:

You have been so selfless in all your activities for OUR people, counselling US in ways that WE would not have thought to think, cajoling the Pod-Drran to work together toward a common goal with a better future. All of this and your selfless actions in the assassinations attempts against US, have left US in a way that WE must act to honour you. WE cannot thank you enough for all that you have done for US and the Pod-Drran.

In this small chest are jewels from the treasury of the Imperial Palace. These gems were plucked from garish and over-sized crowns, and other be-jewelled objects that previous Kumar-Pairs have had made for themselves, at great cost to the people.

The precious metals from those objects has been melted down and returned to the treasury, the gems sitting unused. They are but a handful of gems available in the Imperial Vault.

The treasurer tells US that these gems are worth approximately 10,000,000 Layes. WE know that you will say it is too much, however, you are wrong. These gems will never go back to the treasurer and will only lead to temptation to be used by future Kumar-Pairs creating more of a drain against the treasury. WE would rather they be used by you for the good of others, or for yourself as you deem fit.

Please accept this as the least of the gifts WE could give you.

Your Friends

Kumaraie Ne-Maj Se-Lam-Raie, and

Kumaroe Jarl Se-Lam-Sai-Roe

The official seals of the Kumaraie and Kumaroe were embossed over their signatures in the heavy paper of the missive as well as the signature and seal of the Imperial Treasurer.

The trio investigated the jewels in the chest, which came in all sizes and colours. They were cut in the Pod-Drran fashion but sparkled equally brilliantly though differently from gems cut in the more familiar human styles.

Junelliya opened her comp and contacted Liea.

"Hi, Junelliya," Liea responded.

"Hi, Liea," Junelliya responded. "I'm wondering if you have a jewelry expert on your ship. We have just come into possession of some amazing Pod-Drran gems and need someone to look at them."

"I do not, however, Carl Acry, at Acry Jewelry, H-Deck in the Concourse, is a Certified Gem Appraiser. You could ask his opinion. Is this about a certain small chest that I am hearing of?"

"It is," Junelliya admitted. "News travels fast on the platform."

"Despite the fact that we have the population of a medium sized town, news does indeed travel swiftly around Liramor-23," Liea laughed. "When do you plan to see Mr. Acry? I would like to see what you have."

"If you are on the platform, we are headed there now," Junelliya told her. "See you there."

They quickly decided to go to the shop as a family, taking the baby and the Cats with them. They met Liea near the shop and saw Fiona doing some window shopping and Mind-Ur was nearby as well. Junelliya invited them both.

"Oh, is this the chest everyone is talking about?" Fiona asked.

"Yes, we are just headed into Acry Jewelry for an appraisal. Would you like to see what's in the chest?" Junelliya asked.

They all crowded into the shop which, fortunately, didn't have any costumers at the moment as it was not that large a space.

"Mr. Acry, I am Junelliya Herlan and I have just come into some gems presented to me by the Pod-Drran. I would like your appraisal on them if you would." Junelliya stated, opening the chest for everyone to see.

Carl pulled a light box and placed it on the counter. He turned it on and opened the chest, quickly surveying the letter, scanning it with his comp and having the language matrix translate it, before placing the jewels on the light box in order of size and then colour. There were approximately thirty gems in the chest all of significant size.

The Pod-Drran cut to the jewels refracted the light in many different and unusual ways. Carl looked at each carefully and passed them under several instruments, then turned to look at his customers.

"The first three, these smaller ones at four carats each, have small occlusions in them, in other words, flaws. That means they are not as valuable as the rest. However, their size and cut would mean they would be worth something in the order of 40-50,000 credits each," Carl stated, surprising Junelliya.

"These four medium sized ones at nine to twelve carats, are similar to diamonds in makeup but of a colour I have never seen before. If you were to sell them, I would sell them at auction, as collectors would bid heavily for them and their final price will likely easily exceed a million credits each because of their rarity and collectability.

"The five larger ones at fifteen, twenty, twenty-three, twenty-five and twenty-eight carats, are superb jewels and the Pod-Drran cut makes them distinctive. Gems of this quality and size usually sell between three to five million credits. Again, I would sell them at auction, as their unique cut would make them collector pieces and, in the right auction, could fetch an even higher price.

"The remaining gems are all nice gems but not of the quality of the ones that I pointed out. They would still fetch a handsome price on the open market, easily exceeding 500,000 credits apiece.

"The letter given to you by the Kumar-Pair can be used as a letter of authenticity, which would mean the higher quality gems would have a better chance of reaching the upper limits of price in any specific auction.

"Overall, I think that I would appraise the chest at between fifteen to twenty million credits and, at the right auction, that could close in on the thirty-million credit range, possibly more. Congratulations, Mrs. Herlan," he finished.

Junelliya was stunned. The Kumaraie had told her that she thought the chest worth ten million Layes. The Layes was currently assessed at 92% of the Union Credit. But the actual value of the gems on the open market far exceeded what was expected.

"I will have to let the Kumaraie know that these jewels are far more valuable than she expected. I will have to find a way to return them" Junelliya said.

"You cannot do that, Junelliya," Mind-Ur told her. "The Kumaraie made these a gift to you and you have accepted that gift. If you were to return them, that would be taken as a great insult. Whether you want them or not, these are now yours."

"She tricked me," Junelliya said.

"Quite ably, too," Mind-Ur agreed with a smile.

Conference Room Eight, India Deck, Liramor-23, Piscium System

Junelliya, Hanalei, Fayad, Ikekia, the Cats, Vangeliya, and Heyya, were in the smallest conference room on India Deck, waiting the arrival of the Toolend.

"Are you sure you need us, Junelliya?" Vangeliya asked.

"The two of you have been my instructors in empathic training for so long now. You, Vangeliya, as a Grand Master Empath, have more experience with the ins and outs of the Council of Empaths," Junelliya explained. "I'm still learning all about the Council of Empaths. You are far more familiar with the Council and how it operates that I am," Junelliya explained.

At that moment, Mayute, the Toolend Ambassador, Augraf, the senior Toolend, Fiona, and her aide, Cdr. Malteyea, came into the conference room.

"Good evening, Junelliya," Mayute spoke. "Thank-you for arranging this space for training."

"It is for my training, Mayute," Junelliya said with a smile. "And I do not want to be in my quarters for this until I get far more comfortable with what I am manifesting."

"We understand," Mayute said.

"You are Augraf," Junelliya said. "You are the elder Toolend in this system. You should have been the ambassador here, but you chose not to be?"

"I initially did not want the post, thinking it to be a small one," Augraf stated. "As such, the assignment was given to Mayute, who would normally not have received it. Now that I, and many other Toolend of appropriate age, are interested in this post, Mayute is not interested in giving up her position."

"The humans have a saying, 'Finders keepers, losers weepers'," Mayute intoned seriously, gaining laughter from the humans.

"You brought Augraf because he is the elder of your people here and the most experienced with teaching your people how to use their powers," Junelliya stated.

"I see what you mean," Augraf said verbally to Mayute, then turned to Junelliya. "Your abilities are similar to our young who are just coming into their powers, Junelliya. The young go through a phase where they just seem to know what they need to know, but do not know how to consciously use their powers to gain that information.

"Those that do learn to consciously do so, will advance quickly in their telepathy. Those that do not, will go no further in their abilities. For you, we must determine if you can progress beyond this stage," Augraf advised her.

"I see," Junelliya said. "My training as an empath is still not complete. I am very new to my powers, which seem to be quite extraordinary according to the Council of Empaths."

"We tend to rank our people on a scale of one to ten, in five main categories: 1) their raw power, 2) their ability to read others, 3) their ability to use their power to influence (help) others, 4) their experience, and 5) their maturity," Vangeliya explained. "The first three criteria are referred to as the basic profile.

"Experience and maturity are a function of training, experiences, and fine control. Maturity is not necessarily a function of age but, generally speaking, the more experience and practice a person has the more fine control they exhibit," Vangeliya finished.

"I seem to be turning this model upside down as I seem to have a remarkable amount of innate control over my powers," Junelliya told them, smiling.

"We have a similar model, however, we do not gauge raw power, as most telepathy is using our power with extreme dexterity. Control is our axiom. It is very difficult to read someone's mind without letting them know that you are there.