POV: Lyra
Ellia and her assistants sorted out the financial audits in Christian's office aboard the station, explaining to us how everything was arranged. We started going through the data stacks together. Russell somehow managed to convince his mother and me that he'd be a good, quiet little boy doing his homework at a small corner console in the office while the adults around him worked. Orion didn't mind since the child was far enough away from me.
Since Ellia, Brigetta and Oliver were blackmailed into fabricating the audits without question, they never dared to scrutinize how the funds in the five people's accounts were connected to each other. They were just told to change the figures so that the amounts resembled those of other government officials. In essence, the analysis on the real audits had to now start from scratch. After comparing the data streams, we found a pattern in the incoming and outgoing credit transactions of the five people in Ellia's list.
Every cycle for the past eighteen years, large sums of credits would be deposited into the five people's accounts. But the credits didn't come from a government account. The funds that were channeled into the five people's accounts came from twenty different galactic bank accounts. So it would seem that the government funds were first deposited into the twenty different accounts, then transferred to the five people on the list.
What was odd was this: on a rotation basis, four of the five people in the list would transfer twenty percent of the siphoned sums to a corporation. The fifth person would transfer forty percent to the same corporation. Each person on the list would take turns being this fifth person to transfer forty percent every cycle.
As for the corporation they transferred the credits to, it changed every five years. For the first five years, it was to Rénova Galactic Industries. In the subsequent five years, it was to Hanabell Stellar Corp. In the following five years, it was to a firm called Tellilla Cosmic Associates. And in the final three years and early this year, the credits were transferred to Wu Bi Universal Corporation. Brigetta and Annie looked up the names of these corporations on the galactic registry. The first three didn't exist. The most recent one, Wu Bi Universal Corporation, had more than ten subsidiary companies across different systems, which in turn had further subsidiaries. The chain was long and seemingly infinite.
When Annie made everyone pause to take a break while she, Christian and Oliver went to the kitchenette to get everyone a nutrient snack, I went to stand in front of the huge transparisteel window in the office and stared into the void of space. The stars twinkled against the darkness, three moons of different compositions visible from our orbital position.
Orion approached and joined me at the window. His hand rested on my shoulder, and his thumb started drawing comforting circles on my skin as he desperately tried to ease my tension. The neural sparks from his touch helped, but my mind was still racing.
He activated our private mind-touch, his tone low and ominous. Looks like you were right. There is someone we don't know yet.
I prefer to be wrong about this.
He kissed my temple before continuing through our link. We'll find out who it is... or who they are. We're making good progress already. We'll figure it out.
I know that. I just... hope that we'll figure everything out before anyone gets hurt. I looked at Russell, who was concentrating on his homework display, before I continued through our mind-touch. We promised to protect them, Orion. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to any of them.
"Hey, come here." Orion said soothingly and pulled me into an embrace as he whispered, "They'll be safe here. We'll catch these culprits before anything happens." He pressed his lips to my forehead, and when we turned back to everyone in the room, I dropped my worried expression, replacing it with a calm demeanor. Can't let them see me worried. They need to feel safe.
Christian, Annie and Oliver re-entered carrying trays of synthesized pastries and nutrient pudding. Russell's eyes snapped up when he saw the food and he looked at his mother, as if asking for permission. Ellia gave him an approving nod, granting him permission. And Russell's face lit up with joy as he left his homework and ran towards the snacks.
He took two pastries from the tray and ran towards me, lifting one up in my direction. I smiled and accepted the pastry from Russell before pressing a kiss on his forehead and thanking him. The little boy was ecstatic as he dashed back to his mother's side to tell her that Aunt Lyra gave him another kiss.
Knowing how Orion would react—his Lyrokan consciousness getting jealous of a four-year-old—I pressed a kiss on his cheek after Russell left. Orion's annoyed expression turned soft, and he returned the gesture on my nose before we joined the others on the couch, with me seated on his lap. His possessiveness is actually endearing sometimes.
The families seemed to be finding it easier to be around the royal family, and they spoke and laughed more freely than when they first arrived. We helped Annie send the trays back to the kitchenette. Russell followed closely behind, carrying two emptied cups as he followed the adults. He refused to leave until the three adults he followed made their way back to the office.
We continued investigating Wu Bi Universal Corporation. On the galactic net, the corporation was registered as being a textile manufacturer. However, there was no such brand in any system's market. We then thought that the corporation manufactured fabrics and clothing for other brands and companies. But to our dismay, there was also no such information to confirm our thoughts. The corporation's business dealings were encrypted and confidential so no one knew who it was doing business with. Orion and Christian said they had to pull a few strings through their government channels to dig deeper into Wu Bi. That evening, there was nothing more anyone could do.
After bidding our goodbyes, Orion, Christian and I left to attend dinner in the main dining hall. When I wasn't looking, Christian activated a private mind-touch with Orion, shooting his cousin and best friend a sad but grateful expression before getting into his transport pod. Orion returned his smile but the Emperor himself looked sad too.
He got into our own transport where I was already waiting and started the engine. Orion started pondering on the best way to tell me what Christian had just told him. It wasn't something that he, Christian or Annie liked to bring up but I was practically family... well, family-to-be if one wants to get technical... and optimistic. Even so, I had the right to know.