Chapter 525 - Far Future Ch 235 – The Sargasso (1/2)
Director Grossmer's face was ashen as he finished with his Oath. He probably had more information than most on what was involved with an Oath on the Corunsun.
As it turns out, all the senior Security heads had also sworn Oaths on the Corunsun, and had been doing so for millennia. So when an actual Duke popped up, and was verified by the Corunsun, they were perfectly happy to 'usher' the senior members of the Foundation Families to the Hall for a little test to their loud promises of faithfulness and steadfast stewardship, yessirreeBob.
Briggs had displayed glacial patience with the recalcitrant bastards, and he didn't mind spending ammo on those who thought they had a choice. The fact they wouldn't swear now, basically the fulfillment of their family's promises for millennia, meant they had never been loyal, so they were basically traitors armed with knowledge of the Foundation and all its finances.
He pulled the plug on them without batting an eye. If they didn't want to be loyal, they shouldn't have worked here in the first place. Of course, if they didn't work here, someone doubtless would have tried to kidnap them and use them against the Foundation, so there was that...
”How may I serve Your Grace?” the ashen Director asked, looking like someone had just eaten his pet cat in front of him. He'd gone from being the mighty director of planets and hextillions in credits, to being the flunky to an Ancient. If he tried to rebel against the Oath, well, he'd die on the spot. The Corunsun had a reaaaally good Oath.
”You'll be obeying the orders of the Contessa here, and anyone she appoints to work with you.”
I raised my fingers and snapped them.
Ten Ranthas in some of the sexiest business attire and stilletto heels you'd ever seen came walking out from behind the throne, and fixed eyes on him like lasers.
”We'll be starting with a comprehensive financial review of your investments for the past twenty centuries, including the trillions siphoned off into private funds for your families.” His face fell even further at my words. ”Don't worry about the Foundation's actual finances, we're going to be discussing how your families are going to be paying back the approximately 10.43 quadrillion credits you owe the Duke.”
Twenty-one people fainted dead away. My granddaughters and their mother Sandra Day O'Rantha smiled the exact same way, all Legal Eagles coming for blood.
Four millennia of interest is indeed a bitch when it catches up to you.
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”I am imagining you with Legionnaire genetics, but I don't want to be eight foot tall, so I am promptly forgetting it and telling you not to indulge in that.”
He hurr-hurred cheerfully underneath me, while I ran my claws over his chest, la la la, muscles like cables, hide like steel, hair like wire, sounded like a forge bellows, la la la...
”Wouldn't dream of it. Too many doors would be too short, and I have to duck too often now.” Inconvenience more important than tossing battle tanks around, naturally.
”Miffed you can't just take your Ducal Seat now?” I asked him. It had been a long couple days taking those Oaths, but now one of his lads, Henry, was taking them for him, his Natural Leader awing the Family members being brought in in a steady stream. Their legendary loyalty was now being confirmed solidly. Their lack of loyalty in the past was also long confirmed, as the files of the security forces they'd used to enforce that lack of loyalty were pretty thorough.
By the laws of the Empire, they owed the Duke their souls, let alone everything material they owed.
”No. I'm making a bigger realm past the Rift.” With his own hands, not taking it from others. ”On the other hand, owning a couple systems or twenty does make it somewhat more convenient to set up the first Gate.”
He actually owned six populated planets not on the Imperial records. A bit of taxes were in arrears with them. Four of the planets didn't even know the Corunsuns owned them, just in case.
A Gate crossing the galaxy would open up trade with the Empire once again. Any planet that had it, if discovered, would promptly become the center of a shooting war for first the technology, then the Gate itself.
So, it had to be set up on a planet out of the eyes of the Empire. That wasn't going to be an issue. We had a rapidly growing number of covert and overt worlds falling under our umbrella, although catching up to the Empire itself, or taking away its authority over them, was going to be a monumental task they were going to fight all the way.
They just weren't looking for something as immense and well-coordinated as we were, or who could move so fast to and fro.
”So, how's it feel to be Seventeen?” he asked, chucking me on the chin. He was a Sixteen, just a Level behind me on the Racial side. All that kingdom-forming and legend-building was driving his Source nature higher. Me building all this shit for him was doing it for me!
Throne knew I wasn't going to be running all this. I had too many kids who were Naturally Talented for the job(s), and all the ambition to do them with unseemly skill and heady doses of violence if necessary.
A lot of the kids were not going Deep, realizing that we were potentially going to be around a long, LONG time, and that meant plenty of time to go Deep and have future places to put Karma. We didn't have a maximum lifespan, so we'd only ever be getting closer to middle age.
Time to go Deep and get good at everything was something the long-lived could do. Getting the job done now, and qualifying to do that job at the highest tiers, was what the demand was. Being stuck at Ten when you needed fifteen Ranks to perform at the baseline wasn't going to cut it.
”The kids are already chaffing at me to go planet-hopping. I am very shortly going to be the most-traveled person in the galaxy,” I had to laugh. ”At the rate the Map is spreading, I'm expecting to be walking on anywhere from five to ten planets a day for a while.” I would have the necessary psicrafting done in Chalice within a day or two. The necessary Karma was long since in place via Burning sizable amounts of e-platinum.
”Sparing Ronnie and Meter from doing the same,” he laughed without sympathy. It was true. She'd been the first to qualify for doing so, but she was restricted to going to places that were setting up the highest-level tech production facilities, at this time our Energized Material production facilities. Given the Marks, her personal touch generally wasn't needed except at some of the very highest-end facilities, and the girls were making it a point of pride not to need her there personally, which meant gaining Levels so she didn't have to be.
Which didn't mean they wouldn't scream if they-
-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!-
Briggs and I both blinked as that /tell went right past any filters and directly to the two of us.