All That Glitters Ch. 38

Having said that, there will be things that you cannot divulge to the household, not even the Masters," Aurelia warned. "I will advise you on what I want kept private, and what you can freely divulge to the house."

Aurelia opened another bag and pulled out some personal comp units.

"These look like cheap units; however, they are anything but," she told her staff as she passed out the comps. "This one is yours, Cierra, as my PA. You will all need to learn how to discreetly use your device. Make a mistake of displaying their full capabilities in the wrong place and it will likely cost you your life.

"The same holds true for the rest of you. These are enhanced devices. Do not let on to their capabilities beyond these rooms. If anyone askes, show them the basic features, nothing more," Aurelia ordered.

"Forgive me, May and Mei but from your tattoos, I believe that you were members of the Yunki Clan before?" she asked, getting nods from the two.

"As part of my economics studies, I had to look into the 'failures' of several minor and major families. Any that had dealings with the Adenomere's were more than a little suspect. So I had people look deeper into things. I now have a file on them that will be sent to prosecutors should anything happen to me."

"If you stay here, it will happen to you, Mistress Aurelia," May spoke openly, getting a nod from her sister.

"Yes, well it was pretty obvious that the Adenomeres are only interested in me for my dowry. They plan to get the money from my father. Unfortunately for them, my father will not release the dowry until I marry. It seems that they do not realize this. I will have to look into why," Aurelia mused.

"I know why," Cierra said. "I overheard them saying that they have taken out a lean against the dowry and a loan against that lean."

"Do you know how much the loan is for?" Aurelia asked.

"The entire amount, as far as I am aware, Mistress," Cierra replied.

"That makes sense, in a way," Aurelia said. "Why would they want to take out a loan on it though? They only had to wait a few more weeks and then they would have been able to pressure me into giving them the money."

"The Adenomere fortunes are not as sound as they make them out to be," Cierra explained. They needed to get the loan no later than last week in order to make a payment they owed."

"It is illegal to issue a loan on a promissory note that has not been fulfilled," Aurelia thought aloud. "They might be able to place a lean against the dowry and make arrangements for a loan but until the promise has been fulfilled, no bank would cough up the money."

"The Adenomeres, or at least the senior branch of the Adenomere Family, are the Senior Governors of the Planetary Bank of Adenomere," Cierra informed Aurelia. "They probably used their influence to force the bank to give them the loan."

"Which is also illegal," Aurelia stated. "Do you have proof of this loan?"

"It should be on the house computers but you will have difficulty getting into them, they are well guarded," May said.

"You might be surprised," Aurelia said, with a smile. "Most families will spend a lot of money to protect their computers from outside penetration but will spend very little on internal security. They usually only protect computers with basic passwords within the family.

"Do we have a house computer in my apartment?" Aurelia asked.

"Yes, it is in the coms unit in your study," Cierra said. At a raised eyebrow from Aurelia, she added more. "This used to be the apartment of one of the Adenomere daughters. It has not been used for some time and was hastily cleaned up before your arrival. I was one of those who cleaned it.

"One of the things that Master Adenomere's PA had asked him was whether to create an account on the computer before you arrived.

"The Master told him that things had to look good in case there was an investigation. I did not understand what that meant until earlier this evening, when it became obvious that the Adenomere's intended to do away with you, Mistress Aurelia," Cierra finished.

"Now that you are my servants, I may have inadvertently placed your lives at risk," Aurelia told her staff after a moment's reflection. "For that, I apologize. If any of you wish to return to the Adenomere staff, I will allow for that."

The two Yunki sisters gave each other a look, then bowed to Aurelia. "We will remain with you, Mistress," they replied in unison, in a manner that only twins could.

Jirani and Kodani curtseyed and said much the same. Cierra just smiled. "I will never have the opportunity to be anyone's PA but yours, Mistress Aurelia. I will remain with you."

Allen, was already hers and Aurelia knew it but she appreciated the nod he gave her.

"The Adenomere's are not noted for their kind treatment of slaves. Going back to them will not guarantee that we will be safe in any manner," Cierra finished.

Aurelia's comp beeped and one of the diamonds on the device lit up red. She pressed it and got a sound that assured the link was now secure.

"Yes?" Aurelia queried.

"We have an initial report. The team sent to kill you was supposed to make it look like the van had been robbed. They were instructed to kill both you and the driver. Leaving the driver alive would have looked suspicious," said the disembodied voice.

"Do we have confirmation as to who made the contract?" Aurelia asked.

"No. We will likely not get that from the assault team. That might be known at a higher level but not at the level of the team," came the reply.

"Thank-you, keep digging, please," Aurelia ordered.

"You will be billed accordingly," the voice cautioned.

"If you find out what I want, it will be money well spent," she ended. The connection abruptly closed.

"Things will happen quickly over the next few days," Aurelia warned them. "There is a lot for me to teach you, and lots of training to make you an efficient team for me.

"Cierra, where are the staff quartered?" she asked.

"There are rooms here in your apartment for up to twenty staff, Mistress," Cierra replied.

"How many rooms are in this apartment?" Aurelia asked.

"Your personal apartment consists of your bedchamber, your private bath, your study, your PA's study, next door to your study, a sitting/receiving room at the front of the apartment where you may entertain guests, ten rooms with double beds for your staff, each with a small bathroom with shower adequate for two slaves, a full kitchen, and a dining area for your personal staff, Mistress," Cierra replied.

"We will have to bring in provisions for the kitchen then. Make arrangements on that Cierra, let me know if you have any problems that arise from the provisioning.

"Do any of you have personal items in your old rooms that you need to retrieve?" Aurelia asked.

They all looked down, shaking their heads no.

"Are any of you skilled seamstresses?" Aurelia asked.

Kodani raised her hand. Aurelia smiled. She pulled another suitcase and opened it on a table, displaying new outfits in Adenomere colours but distinctly different from what the staff was currently wearing. The material was also in much better condition than the tattered outfits they were currently wearing.

The staff all smiled.

************

Jaar noted the slave named Cierra approaching him and his PA. She stopped several paces away and waited quietly to be recognized. Jaar thought to just ignore her but decided to find out why she had been sent.

"You may speak, Cierra," he intoned flatly.

"Master Adenomere, Mistress Aurelia would like to have the presence of you PA to confirm items she has found on the computer in her study," Cierra spoke, her head down.

"And what is it that she has found on her computer?" Jaar asked.

"Mistress has found many viruses on her computer, Master. Some have been there for some time, others are more recent, sir," Cierra informed him.

"Some time?" Jaar asked.

"Yes, Master," Cierra replied. "Mistress believes they might have been placed on the house computers from an outside source. Some are no longer active, sir, while others still are. She believes that the house computers may have been compromised for as much as ten years or longer, sir."

That surprised Jaar, who believed he had the best computer security that money could buy.

"And the more recent ones?" he demanded.

"They seem to be from an internal source, which leads Mistress to believe that the house may have one or more spies in it, sir," Cierra replied.

Jaar looked at his PA, Korman. "Finish the task that I have given you, then attend to Mistress Aurelia and determine what may be on her computer," he ordered. Both slaves bowed as he walked away.

"I shall relay to Mistress that you will attend shortly," Cierra informed Korman, giving him a bow in respect of his position as the PA to the Master of the House.

************

Korman pushed the call button and announced himself to Mistress Aurelia's apartments. The door opened to show Allen, in a new uniform, waiting to escort Korman to his Mistress.

"Thank-you for coming so quickly Mr. Korman," Aurelia stated as he was announced to her study.

"Cierra informed Master Adenomere that you found some interesting items on your computer, Mistress Aurelia," Korman replied.

"Yes, please come look. I used a rather new anti-virus program and it produced some interesting finds," Aurelia explained. "I was surprised at the number of items that it found, and more importantly, that those items have been on the house computer for some time going back as much as fifteen years."

Aurelia showed him what she found. There were fourteen items that had been on the computer for as long as fifteen years. Only three of those items were still operating, indicating that the user(s) of the non-operational viruses had not even bothered to remove them from the computer. The three active ones had been on the computer for almost ten years and were constantly sending data to an unknown source.

"Can you trace where these viruses are sending their data, Mistress?" Korman asked.

"I could, if I were on New Hadria, however, I do not yet know Planet Adenomere's Internet that well, so cannot do that here. With the limited experience I have here, I would risk exposing myself to those who planted the items," Aurelia informed Korman. "You will have to assign someone for that. I could probably tell you what information they have pulled over the years, however, I would need better access to the house computer to do that."

Korman played around some on the computer, looking for telltales on the programs that could help in his search. He then looked at the internal items. Two were ones he had deliberately placed to track Aurelia's computer. The other three he did not recognize, which meant that she had probably uncovered a spy in the house. He once again played around on the computer, attempting to see the data end point of the program. It appeared to be within the house.

Korman took a copy of the data and thanked Mistress Aurelia for her diligence, bowed and left, Allen escorting him to the apartment threshold.

"Well, that was interesting," Cierra commented. "Why would you give them this information, Mistress?"

"I need to be seen as supporting House Adenomere, Cierra," Aurelia told her. "That might give them pause in their current schemes against me.

"That being said, the real reason I wanted to give him the data was to see him play with it on my computer. That will allow me to figure out the control functions of the house computer and allow me to place a 'back-door' program into the computer system that will allow me access to the house computer," Aurelia told her PA, who gave her a look of surprise, causing Aurelia to laugh.

"I was the spoiled, pretty daughter of Armstrong Gordon, Cierra. I had a lot of time on my hands and made sure to study the things that would be important to me. I learned to follow the markets at my fathers knee. Our house computer expert taught me all about computers and the New Hadria Internet. I learned a few things about protecting myself from the Gordon house bodyguards.

"Father spoiled me rotten, so I played the part. He gave me 500,000 AP a year, expecting me to spend it frivolously. I led him to believe just that, while I used the instructions he gave me to play the markets, making a tidy fortune for myself. My father does not know of this, if he had, he would never have let me out of the Gordon house.

"While I am pleased to be away from House Gordon, I am not so pleased that I am to wed into House Adenomere, or with the dowry that father agreed to, to cement our relationship with House Adenomere.

"Father has lost his business perspective. He needs to step down as Head of main the branch of House Gordon and as the Head of The Gordon Companies Ltd. before he damages both," Aurelia mused.

Aurelia opened the computer. Cierra was shocked to see that it was still open on Korman's account. Aurelia answered the surprised look on her PA's face.

"Korman thought he had closed out his account, however, I had placed a pattern buffer on my computer. It prevented him from closing his account while appearing that he had.

"No more questions for now, I need to work swiftly to close out his account before he gets back on the house computer," Aurelia ordered.

She swiftly delved into the computer's programming, looking for one specific line of code. When she found it, she added some lines of coding, then swiftly closed out.

"What did you do, Mistress?" Cierra asked.

"I added some codes to a specific line within the basic program. It allows me to open a backdoor into the computer, without informing anyone that I am there. I will give it a day or so before I use it.

"More importantly, it is your death to know this information, Cierra, if anybody in the house discovers your involvement. Make sure that you do not give up this information nor give other members of my staff this information," Aurelia cautioned.

"Understood, Mistress."

Construction Bay-21, Liramor-23, Piscium System

The Fellowship was together for another training session with Junelliya. The entire Fellowship was present, including the two babies, the Cats, Fiona, Dr. Leanora Galt, the members of the science team that had always been present when invited, and now there was Takebayashi Urano and six Toolend.

The Fellowship formed a circle with the Trine at its top, Junelliya in the center, she and Hanalei holding the children, and Vangeliya at the bottom, the two other GMEs on either side of her, the remaining members completing the circle.

Outside this circle, the six Toolend formed their own circle. The science team formed their own larger circle filled with instruments.

Vangeliya addressed the group. "Please calm yourself and find your center," she instructed.

Vangeliya had advised Violletiya to watch Junelliya carefully while she centered herself. Violletiya easily found her center, even with half of her attention devoted to Junelliya. She was shocked at how swiftly Junelliya centered herself, even more so when Junelliya pushed her calm out around the circle, helping the others center themselves.

What surprised Violletiya even more was when Junelliya reached out to include the entire room filled with scientists, Toolend, her Trine, and the other empaths. Violletiya's surprise was complete when Junelliya included the Cats.

Vangeliya had not given any further instructions to Junelliya, waiting to see what she would do. Junelliya did not disappoint her.

Junelliya had included everyone in the room within her mind but she got a mental nudge from the side. She looked over to see her daughter, Ikekia, holding her hands out, her fingers gently wiggling. Junelliya smiled. She could almost hear her daughter saying her favorite word: 'Ug!'.

Yes, little one, I will include you too, she thought, gently connecting with her immature mind.

Junelliya looked down into the eyes of her own biological daughter, Zarrenia. Her eyes were opened wide and she had a tiny smile on her face as she looked up at her mother. Junelliya smiled at the antics of her daughter, and included her in the connection, passing the emotions of both of her daughters to the group as a whole. While their thought processes were immature, their love was open and honest, especially Ikekia, whose emotions were much more mature than Zarrenia's.

The group took in a collective breath when they discovered just how special was the love the children had for their mothers, the emotions being shared with them through Junelliya.

"That's not supposed to happen!" Violletiya whispered to Vangeliya.

"There are a lot of things that are not supposed to but do happen when Junelliya is around," Vangeliya whispered back, though the whisper was loud enough to be heard by all in a room gone silent to experience the depth of the children's emotions.

"I am so lucky to be part of this Fellowship," Dr. Galt said from her place to the right of Violletiya, speaking her thoughts aloud. From around the shared link, everyone openly confirmed the same emotion.

Using her powers, Violletiya expanded her awareness within the link that Junelliya had formed. She was surprised to find the Toolends there, revelling in the emotions that formed the core of the emphatic link they were in. There was an undercurrent moving between the Toolend, that Violletiya suddenly understood was their telepathy on display. She could not read it; however, she was able to sense it.

"Be nice to the others," Junelliya spoke, all understanding that she was rebuking the Toolend, as a mother would rebuke her children for being naughty, for using their ability to keep others out of their thoughts.

"Forgive us, Junelliya," Augraf said aloud. "We meant no offence to those who cannot be part of OUR mental link.

"Why can they not be part of it?" Junelliya asked.

"They do not have the ability to use telepathy," Mayute replied in the growing silence.

"Nor do I," Junelliya countered.

"Shall we try something then," one of the other Toolend asked.

"You are Mandenn," Junelliya stated, surprising the Toolend who had spoken. "You are older than Augraf and have come here on his insistence, though you first thought that he was being silly to pander to us humans."

The Fellowship smiled when they felt surprise run through the link. Junelliya had obviously scored on the Toolend.

"I have reached three hundred of your years," Mandenn replied, confirming Junelliya's statement. "I have been asked to attend here because you apparently displayed the same ability that I have."

"You mean telekinesis," Junelliya stated. "You are one of the Pan of Toolend that can manifest this ability. However, you did not come here to determine if I was capable of this, you came simply because you wanted to see the Interspecies Embassy of Liramor-23."

"This one displays the ability to 'mindread'," Mandenn said.

"We already knew that, Mandenn," Augraf reminded him. "What we need from you is your insight into the other phenomenon that she has displayed, your ability."

"Why are we here?" Mandenn asked.

"We are here because this is a training session for Junelliya," Vangeliya informed the Toolend. "We are her Fellowship, a term for adult members of a training session for Empaths.

"Despite her apparent abilities, Junelliya is still new to her empathy. She is also a much more powerful empath than any empath previously encountered," Vangeliya finished.

"The link between us, the one that Junelliya has formed, is only one-way?" Mandenn asked.

"No, we can all provide stimulus to the link, though some of us are more able to do so than others," Vangeliya advised the newcomers.

"Yes, we can see the difference between you," Mandenn returned. "All of you pale in comparison to Junelliya.