Jack Of All Trades (Erotica)

They heard the frustration in Ray’s voice and Cha’Risa smiled. She knew this was the kind of issue that drove Ray nuts. Holes in security were his personal torment which was ironic for someone who exploited these same security flaws for what he did.

“Going back to the content of the message from the board, it looks very promising,” Ray’s voice picked up a little energy. He was getting closer to his quarry.

Another screen capture loaded and they saw a message referencing four numbers; two multipart ID’s, a shipping ID, and a number representing a very large number of credits.

Ray continued. “Most would find the message to be meaningless but the first two ID’s use a structure I’ve seen before. They represent individuals who work for a government agency on Earth. I’m going to look up the ID’s. Be right back.” A time jump in the recording. “The first ID belongs to Goodson from when he worked as the Director of the Trade Commission. Drumroll please! The second is the ID for Jack Danner, Earth’s Trade Commissioner for Altaria. The shipping ID tracks to a warehouse on, you guessed it, Rehm. Coincidence? I think not!” Ray crowed.

“So the message is the kidnapping request directed specifically at Goodson. He’d recognize his own ID and he obviously still had access to the Trade Commission’s personnel data. The rest of the message was the instructions, get Mr. Danner to that shipping address for this much money. I could probably spend additional time on reviewing past messages and find others directed to Goodson. Someone was working with him. Keeping him ahead of his hunters. I’m going to bookmark that task as well.”

The team heard him sigh and smiled to themselves.

“Now that I have the actual message ordering the abduction I will track it back to its source. There are approximately thirty staff accounts that have access to the message board internally. The message to Goodson was created with an ID that belongs to a staff member who no longer works for the organization. The ID and account should have been retired. What the creator of the message doesn’t know is that all records track the terminal ID of the user as well. Looking through the logs it seems the message was created by… shit. Hang on. I have to double check this.” Another time jump occurred in the recording.

Ray’s voice returned and seemed a little shaky. The team exchanged glances.

“Well, there’s no mistake. The terminal in use when the message was created belongs to Ruan Steyn’s executive secretary, Avery Mansfeld.”

“Son-of-a-bitch!” Cha’Risa growled as Nann scowled. Maxim and Leo uttered some quiet Russian curses. Here was the source of their current misfortune.

“The man has access to every bit of secret and privileged data that passes through the Security Council. He’s protected by being at the very center of the most secure network on Earth behind multiple levels of security and the strongest firewalls they could build.” Ray chuckled. “Too bad for him I wrote most of that system. I’m going to hack into his workstation. Yes, I understand the severity of this breach of security I’m about to undertake but the evidence warrants it and I believe it’s necessary. I’m going to do a file dump of his workstation. Performance is going to tank on his machine so there’s a chance he’ll guess he’s been hacked but it’s my best option for gathering as many of his files as I can get.” The timestamp on the recording jumped again and multiple files highlighted in the folder.

“I- I did better than I thought before his workstation was pulled offline. I’ve attached the most incriminating files to this report. The entirety of what I collected has gone into Earth Security Council Deep Storage. No way to erase that without destroying the entire building. You’ll find the files under my name plus the keyword ‘Shanghai Insider’. The most important files are the extra contact list and the ledger. They were encrypted but seriously? Most of the names in the contact list meant nothing to me until I began linking them to their roles in government offices, the military, industry, and the media around the world. The ledger shows how the names from the contact list are all on the payroll of Mansfeld. The account he transfers funds from takes deposits from an offworld account which is a dead end to me.”

There was some rapid typing and Ray’s voice came back on. He sounded nervous.

“There is some seriously dangerous information in this report. I’m going to file it in my personal data cache and send a copy to the Major’s account. Then I am going to disappear for a while. With all the poking I have done today that just seems prudent. Stay frosty!”

Ray’s digital signature was attached to the report.

That’s where the transcript ended.

“Good work Ray. Your best yet,” Nann said quietly.

A grim expression on her face, Cha’Risa looked to the others. “We need to get this contact list and ledger to Rosseau and MacDenny. US Brigadier General Thane and Russian Colonel General Zutkov should also get the information. You’ll note their names are not on the list. Speaking of which, the list can’t be considered complete. There are likely many people below these names who work for them in that capacity.”

“Ruan Steyn isn’t on the list.” Hellna remarked.

“He’s being manipulated by his secretary, the actual power behind the scenes.” Nann replied.

“What’s your next move?” Hellna asked.

“We’re done running. Now we go on the offensive.” Seeing Gee’s troubled look she added, “Peacefully.”

The three days after the explosion were very tense. At any moment Jack expected First to slam through the doors, fry his brain and kill the others. His childish attempt at rebellion came back to haunt him every night in his dreams.

They slept. Worked out. Ate. And repeat. None of the tasks he’d been told he would be doing came to pass.

Jack abstained from any further sexual intimacy but each night the two females would slip into his bed to take comfort in being held close.

Joseph seemed to be doing well. He ate his meals and slept through the night. The constant presence of both Eve and Stella who took turns cuddling the child close against their warm fur seemed to keep him content.

In the late afternoon of the fourth day three Allsa Komanae guards showed up and guided them out of the barracks, across a wide courtyard and into the main building. This was supposed to be the Prime’s Palace but it just looked like a larger version of the square boxes infesting the rest of the city. There was no art or style to the building just larger rooms. Now that he was trapped inside an Allsa Komanae environment Jack was getting a very clear picture of the culture and perceptions of the race and it was frighteningly empty of beauty. There was no soul. The cubist skyline was mechanically cold.

They arrived in a vast chamber with a central dais with a throne mounted at its top. They were currently behind it.

Jack looked at his companions to see if they found this as ridiculously theatrical as he did but saw they were actually unsettled by it. Even Kekk looked nervous. Jack wondered if he was missing something or maybe he’d watched too many bad movies.

As they were led around to the front of the dais they saw someone was sitting on the throne. The Prime had arrived? Now Jack felt his nerves jump. There had been no warning! No time to prepare!

Once they’d moved far enough around to see past the sides of the chair Jack realized it was just First sitting in the Prime’s throne. Obviously she hadn’t arrived yet. Jack felt his body relax and looked once more over at the others.

Eve was carrying Joseph and held him close. Eyes on the floor and gently trembling.

Stella was studiously staring at the floor as well and Jack could see the tension in the corners of her lovely eyes.

Kekk had his head tipped forward but was looking at him out of the corner of his eyes. He seemed to be telling him to look down as well.

Fire danced through his nerves and Jack hit the floor, hard.

“Your continued insolence is becoming intolerable,” First muttered, its smooth voice echoing slightly from its lofty position in the huge room. There was an edge of tension in its voice that hadn’t been there before.

Jack stayed down on the floor as the cool surface counteracted the memory of the heat in his limbs. He turned his head so his companions could see he wasn’t dead. He winked at Eve and her eyes flared with… something. So many emotions rushed by in them he caught his breath.

“Get him on his feet,” First growled to the guards.

Jack felt their hands grip his arms and he was pulled up to a standing position. His legs trembled but held. He kept his eyes on the floor and the guards stepped back.

“We’ve been in contact with the Prime’s ship. She’s close and will arrive in two days’ time. When she arrives there will be a grand celebration and the transfer of ownership will commence.” Jack detected a hitch in First’s voice. Something about that transfer was bothering it. It might have been… fear.

“Preparations are commencing rapidly now and the Allsa Komanae will be ready when our leader takes… this throne.” Again, Jack heard the edge of fear. Something bad was coming for First or it thought so at least.

There was a deep boom sound from behind the group. Jack was the only one to look over his shoulder to see the three Allsa Komanae running towards the throne. Jack felt a flash of flames over his body causing him to stagger before he regained his footing. It had seemed more like a distracted lash than firm discipline as First was staring angrily at the new intruders.

“What is it? Can’t you see I’m busy?” First growled.

The new three moved closer to the dais and the center took one more step. “Apologies First. Second and Third are dead.”