All That Glitters Ch. 42

"Smaller vessels, up to the size of the Whippet Class, can be built inside the shipyard. Larger vessels are built in the exterior cages. Pallanders Six is designed to allow for a Fairling Class Frigate to be built on board for teaching purposes. However, she will have her share of exterior cages. She will have six cages dedicated to each of the species of the Greater Community," François ended.

"The Byandi have known of the Djinaëte and the Asocan for over two hundred of your years, Mr. Pallanders," Mottu told him. "In all that time, we have been reliant on the Djinaëte to get around the Greater Community, they having the only ships with FTL Jump Drives. It will be a relief to finally have our own ships to conduct our own explorations and business other than waiting on the Djinaëte.

"How soon could we be included in the construction of Pallanders Six?" Mottu asked.

"We can set up a schedule to rotate your people through Pallanders Six. Once they have learned the techniques, we could employ them on this shipyard, or on Pallanders Six. We currently have a shortage of trained technicians and could use the extra labour. Your people would get hands-on experience at building all the models that we currently build on this platform, which is mostly civilian vessels. We only do refits on military vessels at this shipyard.

"You will have to ask the Navy for permission to work on new construction of Navy vessels, though I think we can arrange for you to work on the refit vessels here, if that would be useful to you?" François asked.

"You have given me much to think about, Mr. Pallanders. My government has been eager to pursue the construction of our own vessels since the offer was made last year. We are definitely eager to pursue construction work for our technicians on Pallanders Six and here on Pallanders One. My government will be eager to arrange a final licensing fee for the different vessels you construct. However, that will be a negotiating team from the Home World," Mottu answered.

François had arranged for a selection of wines and cheeses, assessed for safety for the Byandi, for the ambassador to taste. They toasted the future of their people together.

Adenomere Estate, Adenomere City, Planet Adenomere, The Adenomere System

After the evening meal, Junelliya connected the monitor in the dining room with the 24 hour news net of Inter-Planetary News Services, direct from Terra. They watched the news to determine what impression they could get about the Alliance from the Union. It was not good.

The news was fixating on the actions of the Alliance against the prisoners captured during the raid. The images of six naked people, who had been treated in a 'reprehensible' manner, were spread around all of the news services. Included was the 'assault' on Capt. Clark as he was punished for his comment in the Landstradt.

"I'm not surprised," said one citizen being interviewed by an IPNS reporter. "Did you see the images of how they treated the slaves that had been recovered? If they could do such things to their slaves, then doing what they have to the prisoners is no great shock. My question is, will the Alliance be held accountable? Will those who hurt Union prisoners be brought to trial for their ill-treatment?"

"And that is the question now before the Senate, what to do about the Alliance and its continued indifference to societal norms?" Kinder Price, a reporter for IPNS asked the question.

"After the Unification War, those who had conducted such atrocities on civilians and on military prisoners were charged with abuse of detainees. Some were executed for the things they did to prisoners. Others are still serving time even sixteen years after the war.

"This is Kinder Price, reporting for Inter-Planetary News Services," the pretty female reporter had an obviously forced smile on her face, leaving the impression that she was not impressed by all that was happening.

"Well, that was interesting," Fayad commented as Junelliya closed the link. "The Landstradt won't get that until sometime tomorrow. I wonder if they will appreciate what it means in the Union?"

"I rather doubt it," Aurelia conceded. "They are fixated on the needs of the Alliance and hold the Union in contempt. They must be shown that it is our own practices that are causing this response from the Union."

Just then, Korman came in and whispered something in Aurelia's ear. Aurelia immediately jerked upright in her chair.

"How many Mr. Korman?" she asked. The man leaned in to whisper again but she cut him short. "Aloud please, this is something that I want our guests to know about. Start from the beginning to catch them up, please."

"Gentlemen, and Ladies, the former Patriarch made a practice of addicting some of his field workers to Wort Weed. This is a class one drug that creates an amazing sense of euphoria in the user. The high one gets from this drug will cause people to do almost anything to experience it again.

"Once the field workers are addicted, they will perform at heightened levels for several weeks. Eventually, the effects of the drug and their overworking, will break their bodies.

"At this point, they would be placed into what they euphemistically called 'The Barn', to wait out their lives until the effects of the drug on their bodies kills them. The former Patriarch and his son, would then burn the barn down, cremating those inside, sometimes while they were still alive," Korman whispered the last.

"A new barn would then be built, ready for the next batch of broken field workers. They have now placed 152 broken slaves in that new barn. Today, or tomorrow, they would have torched the building," Korman finished.

"How many are still alive?" Fayad asked.

"I have know idea, sir," Korman admitted. "Know one is allowed to tend them, just to put new people in the barn as required.

"Ayesha, is there a cure for addiction to Wort Weed?" Junelliya asked.

"There is no cure, but there is a treatment regime," Ayesha responded. "Basic medical practices can bring people back from the worst of addictions. However, that can cost a bit of money."

"Rest assured, I intend to pay the costs," Aurelia stated with conviction. "Ayesha, I intend to go to that barn tonight, to see for myself and to record what is happening there. Will you come with me to give your expert witness and to help those who can be helped?"

"Yes," Ayasha answered immediately. "We will need some people who are trained in basic care to set up a triage to help those in the barn. I do have some drugs that can help fight off the effects of addiction, but only for approximately ten people. If there are more than that still alive in the barn, we will need to fill up my pharmaceuticals."

"I can call in some people from the capital, they can be here within half-an-hour. How many will you need?" Aurelia asked.

"We won't know until we see how many are still alive and what condition they are in," Ayesha answered candidly. "We must get to the barn and check it out. How far is it from the estate?"

"It is thirty minutes by ground car, less than five in the aircar," Korman answered.

"Right, have Allen bring the limo around and lets take a look at what we have," Aurelia ordered.

"Eight minutes later, Aurelia, Ayesha, Fayad, Raymond, Korman, and Allen approached the entrance to the barn. Several slaves came out of the dorms nearby, wondering what was going on. Aurelia drafted them immediately.

The group, minus Allen, entered the barn to inspect what was inside. All of their comps were recording. Ayesha swiftly checked the people and found about a third of those inside were dead. She immediately ordered the remainder to be taken from the barn out into the night air away from the fetid air inside the barn.

The state of the slaves was deplorable. Most were on the verge of death. Aurelia put in a call for emergency medical assistance and called the Office of the Attorney General of Adenomere, informing them of what she had found in the barn and requesting an investigation team.

Thirty minutes later, both teams arrived on the ground.

The investigation team took imagery of the survivors and moved inside to make a detailed investigation of the barn.

The medical team, under the direction of Dr. Seito, immediately began to wash and care for the survivors. Food, mostly soups of broth, were brought for those who could swallow it. IVs were put into every arm. It was obvious to the medical team that the survivors were suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms.

Aurelia ordered Korman to move the people around in the dorms so that they had all of the victims in one location. No one grumbled about the order after seeing those needing care, who were swiftly moved into the new dorms.

The lead investigator called Aurelia over, she brought the other witnesses.

"Lady Adenomere, while I have heard of such instances, I have never personally witnessed it. I need a statement from you and your witnesses if you please."

"Sir, this is an affront to the system of slavery that the Alliance professes," Aurelia began. "These slaves were deliberately addicted to a class-one drug in order to get better service from them. They were then allowed to work until the effects of the drugs and their own exertions broke their bodies.

"Mr. Korman informs me that he is aware of fourteen barns, filled with slaves like this, that were torched by the former Patriarch, Jaar Adenomere, and his son, Marius. This barn would have been the fifteenth.

"Mr. Korman can probably figure out the exact numbers of victims for you, but I want the former Patriarch and his son to be charged over this," Aurelia snapped.

Ayesha informed the investigator that there was a treatment protocol for addiction to Wort Weed. Most people that entered the program had an excellent prognosis for recovery.

She gave her professional opinion of the conditions of the victims she had found in the barn, backed up by vids from her comp with a running commentary.

Raymond and Fayad indicated that they had been requested as independent witnesses to this event and provided their own vids and commentary.

The lead investigator took note of all and bagged evidence at the scene. They also interviewed other slaves in the local area and were informed of the treatments they had all suffered under the hand of the former Patriarch.

Ayesha made sure that the medics were aware of what needed to be done and informed them she was on call for emergencies during the night. They would provide another doctor from the city in the morning.

Aurelia almost had a breakdown when they returned to the estate. Junelliya hugged her and boosted her strength with her empathic abilities, sending calm and love to her. The house slaves came for Lady Aurelia and lovingly brought her up to her apartments. She would have a restless night reliving the memory of the sights she had seen in the barn.

Landstradt HQ, Adenomere City, Planet Adenomere, The Adenomere System

Aurelia stormed into the Landstradt the next morning, catching all off guard. News of what she had found in the barn on her property had filtered around the Landstradt. Few would dare look into her eyes. As soon as the Chair opened the morning's session, she rose.

"Chair, on my estate last night, I was confronted with the revelation of what our slave system has finally become," Aurelia stated in a hard voice. She called up the imagery from the night before to display it before all. Not a sound could be heard in the Landstradt as the vid played.

"This is not what is supposed to be happening to the people we hold as slaves," Aurelia snapped. "We originally held our slaves as 'Indentured Servants', with the intent that they would eventually serve their time and become citizens. We have not lived up to our end of this process, nor have we lived up to any standard of humanity when dealing with our slaves.

"The ire of the Union and of the Greater Community, now sits squarely on our shoulders, placed there by our own indifference and our contempt of those who serve us. What you have just witnessed via a vid, I had to witness in person. The recordings you just saw were personally recorded by me.

"Senior medics, people with serious time in the trauma wards of local hospitals, vomited at the sights they witnessed last night. I cried myself to sleep after seeing all this in person.

"That barn contained 152 slaves, fully one third, died in that barn. Of the remaining survivors, half are in such a state that we do not know if they will continue to live or not. My House will pay the price to return these people to full health, if that is possible. But we are going to lose a few of those people, if not a lot of them. Half of the remaining 102 people are at serious risk of passing in the next seventy-two hours.

"Dr. Seito tells me that there is a medical process that can break the cycle of dependence on Wort Weed. It is not a cure. However, according to her, 98% of those that enter the program succeed in breaking the cycle of addiction. We have already begun to use her knowledge to treat the victims.

"I have been told all my life that there is No Cure for Wort Weed addiction. That means those who use Wort Weed on their slaves mean to kill them. Jaar Adenomere planned to burn down that barn, with the slaves inside. Dead or alive, they would have been cremated. He has, apparently, done this fourteen times in the past. We are currently attempting to determine the numbers of slaves he has killed in this manner.

"These are not slaves who have committed a serious offence. These are not slaves who have attempted to run away from an estate. These are slaves that Jaar Adenomere had condemned on his own responsibility and then subsequently killed.

"This is mass murder on a large scale, Ladies and Gentlemen. We are potentially looking at over a thousands slaves addicted, and then worked to death or near death. Then simply placed in the barn awaiting cremation. Alive or dead, they were cremated.

"My question is, is House Adenomere the only House that has used this practice? If not, then how many other slaves have been so horribly served by their masters?

"You ask why the Greater Community abhors slavery, now you know. It is inevitable that the masters of such a system will abuse it, often with deadly results.

"I have been subjected to the mindset of being a master all my life. Today, I revolt at the idea that someone has so much power, the power of life and death over another person, with only their personal whims to control what they do. We regularly harm, maim, disfigure, rape, and even kill our charges, on nothing more than our personal whims, not to mention the psychological impact we have over those same people.

"The Yunki twins said it best: 'We went from being among the privileged to becoming something less than human.' The fact that Jaar Adenomere could interest nine other Houses to help him take down House Yunki speaks volumes about our system of justice and our attitude toward slavery.

"The Attorney General of Adenomere is currently investigating this incident with the intent of charging Jaar Adenomere and his son, Marius, with mass murder. The actions of these two men are indefensible. Worse, are the non-actions of those of you who may have known about this situation and did not speak up about it to Jaar Adenomere or report it to the authorities.

"The Landstradt has failed its people. We must now stand as one and repair what we have wroth."

Aurelia turned and left the building, leaving a confused and shamed Landstradt behind. It would be several hours later, after a riotous morning session, that the Chair called her personally and asked her to return to the Landstradt. Her wisdom was needed...

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

Aurelia, with Korman, Junelliya, Hanalei, Sylvie, Violletiya, and Kim in tow, returned to the Landstradt that afternoon, ready to meet her critics. She was never given the chance. She was accosted at the door to the Landstradt Hall by irate people cursing her.

She never let her anger show, instead, she met every critic with a plain face, listened to what they had to say, and moved on to the next. They kept her from her seat for almost half an hour. She was halfway into the building when a bomb went off under her seat.

Panic hit the Landstradt as people tried to flee. Kim pulled the women out of the main aisle just as the rush of panicked people hit them. The rush swept by them and crushed into the main door.

Nobody was injured in the bombing, the bomb designed to take out the Adenomere seating and little else. However, many people were injured in the ensuing stampede. Thirty-five people were trampled, five of them being killed.

Medical staff and the police arrived immediately, however, Kim and Violletiya had taken control of the scene and refused to allow anyone but the investigators from the Office of the Attorney General into the immediate area around the seats of the House of Adenomere.

Violletiya had placed Aurelia, Hanalei, Junelliya, and Sylvie in the safest place possible, the seat of the Chair of the Landstradt. Landstradt security had been upset by this, however, the Chair was not.

After several hours, the Landstradt was re-opened and the Landstradt Master-at-Arms, David Multille, chief of Landstradt security, was brought before the Chair.

"Explain the lax security," the Chair boomed.

"I am sorry, Chair, but I cannot," Multille stated. "The security cameras were shut off for forty minutes during the night. That indicates that the culprit was a member of my security team or at least aided by a member of my team. We know who was on duty last night, one of them is missing. We are looking for that person now. We have a planet-wide alert on him."

The Chair was not pleased, he turned to Master Jorge Devine of the Attorney General's Office. "Your report, sir?"

"Chair, the device was a low-yield bomb designed to take out the Masters Seat of the House of Adenomere'" Jason explained. "It might have killed or injured those immediately around that seat but would not likely have cause injury to anyone else nearby.

"We found the trigger mechanism. It was a timing device that was started by a remote signal. The device was set to run for twenty minutes before detonating. The timing sequence indicates that someone had set the timer not long after Lady Adenomere entered the Landstradt. Fortunately, Lady Adenomere was stopped from reaching her seat by those who were opposed to her professed new mandates."

Jorge let that hang in the air for several moments before continuing.

"This was a deliberate assassination attempt on Lady Adenomere, from someone within the Landstradt. That it did not succeed on killing Lady Adenomere was just pure luck. However, the perpetrator did not take into account the panic the bomb would have caused. This panic resulted in more injuries than would have been caused by the bomb.

"Thirty-five people were injured in the panic, five of whom have died. This is no longer a case of assassination; this is a multiple murder investigation. When we discover who is responsible for this, and we will, that person and any people who assisted them, will be brought to trial for five cases of first degree murder, thirty cases of injury caused during the conduct of a crime, and two cases of attempted murder of Lady Adenomere and her Aide, Mr. Korman."

That brought murmurs from the audience.

"Yes, while Mr. Korman is a slave, and we normally do not prosecute the killing of a slave, in this situation, Mr. Korman is a key witness to another offence being investigated by the Office of The Attorney General. His death and that of Lady Aurelia, would have caused major problems for the prosecution of that offence. We believe this was the motive of the assassin, though we won't be able to confirm that before we interrogate that person," Jorge ended.