Chapter 2

Note: When the conversation is a telepathic exchange, it is indicated by italics font.

At breakfast on Dóchas Shannon approached the Command Staff and asked, “Could we get together this morning?”

“Sure, what’s up?” responded Joyce.

“Simply put, we think Madeline’s and Ursula’s groups are at risk.”

“What?” was the response from several of the Command Staff.

“Perhaps it would better to say, we are fairly certain the companies they work for are responsible for people disappearing from enough institutional records to make them invisible.”

“They’ve all submitted their resignations, correct?”

“Yes. Their last day is Friday.”

“Okay. We can do it as soon as we finish breakfast,” said Rusty. “Don’t hold back on using our resources.”

“We don’t think we are. The purpose of this morning’s meeting is to get your impression on what we’ve found and linked together.”

“You should probably bring us up to date on the progress of the lodge investigation as well.”

“We will.”

Later when they entered the Intelligence department Alison said, “Wow, I didn’t expect this large of a meeting.”

“Well, we thought Security should be included” replied Muireann. Those monitoring Tom, John, Madeline’s and Ursula’s groups at the conference have found a number of links to other incidents where people disappeared. When we lay it out what we found, I think you will see why we invited Security to this.”

Shannon said, “Our goal is to see if you view of the tea leaves is the same as ours. The two companies where Madeline’s and Ursula’s groups work appear to have a link to those behind the freighter operation. There are even stronger links in the information to some of the disappearances we’ve documented. If you agree with our conclusions then we need to decide what actions we will take. Stacey.”

“Thanks Shannon,” responded Stacey. “It was the comments that Kate and Danielle relayed to us prompted us to look more carefully at the operations of the two companies. This was prompted by Tom and John’s comments regarding software intellectual property, while the living room bugs were active.

“At the conference, there were two groups monitoring our friends. As was suspected and since confirmed, the monitors were hired by their employers.” With that she and several others explained the links they had found between the various groups. Stacey closed with, “This is brings us up to yesterday morning. Danny.”

He said, “With respect to Tom and John’s comments regarding intellectual property theft, they definitely have a case. To make things easier to follow, Madeline’s group works for Larry’s company while Ursula’s works for Dale’s. Both men have hidden financial interests in several different security companies. It was employees of two of those companies at the conference.

“Shortly after they began submitting their resignations, we began placing spiders into both company’s locations. While the recent information was what tipped scales, we have other data supporting this decision. Initially we had difficulty communicating with them. This was solved by placing drones in air ducts on each floor with a C&C drone overhead. Presuming no one objects we will insert ferrets tonight. This will require adding another C&C drone at each site. Muireann will now add the missing piece.”

“Thanks. We’ve known since our friends went to work their that their primary business was database design and maintenance along with the software to access the databases. Unfortunately, we did not look closely at how the customers utilize databases. Their contracts include maintaining the databases and associated user software. Many of their customers are government entities and institutions. These contracts constitute the majority of their business. We know that some people have disappeared from some of these databases. Their other customers pay about 30% more for the same level of service. Database maintenance is accomplished by running custom tailored scripts tailored to the customers needs. Based on what we learned last night, a maintenance routine is run on the database at set intervals, or on demand.

“So realizing we had suspects with privileged access, we went looking for oddities in their maintenance procedures. Why there? It seemed like a reasonable path unobtrusively delete records. With privileged access it would be easy to slip something in to a maintenance routine. A review of the maintenance scripts determined that they did everything you would expect. Although there was an odd subroutine called right at the end. When executed it set a flag on a specific record. So we searched the documentation for the flag without success. After a lot of searching, we found was a comment in the code equating the flag to a corrupt record. I won’t go into the details. Basically once this flag is set for a record, it is not easily accessible or even visible using standard database tools.

“Currently if we have the record number we can tell if the flag is set. We still need to test several aspects regarding the use of the flag. What was in that bit before it was set? What happens when it is removed? This is going to take time to sort out as we do not want to trip any intrusion sensors. Once we have a better understanding, we are considering doing a query for records with this flag set. We are considering is asking some of those who have joined us if we can look for them in the databases. If it is flag, we could restore their record which should give us an idea of what response it would trigger.

“This subroutine for applying the flag uses a list for its input. We arranged to receive a copy each time the subroutine runs. How the list is generated is unknown, but it is different each time it runs. We would like to block setting the flag on a record. How that is accomplished needs to be well thought out since it is being done on a live database.”

Róise said, “Wouldn’t it be simpler for them to just delete the record?”

“Yes. However, with the way they have it set up if this was found they could just claim it was a programming error. Of course that presumes the script and list aren’t found as well. Although called by the maintenance script, it isn’t clear where this subroutine and list resides.”

“What are you planning to do?” asked Sally.

“Check more databases to see how widespread the use of this false flag. If we find any using this flag then, we will set it up so we get a copy of the lists. We have more pieces to share before we get into those details. Bobbi.”

“Thanks. Both Larry and Dale have large homes centered on several acres. They have live in staff. The grounds and building are protected by state of the art intrusion sensors. The level of security seems to be bit extreme considering the homes location and their social status.

“Since our friends submitted their resignations, Larry and Dale have frequently talked on an encrypted private line. Thanks to the spiders in their offices, we didn’t need to tap into the phone line. Initially we were surprised by the friendly tone of their conversation. Our surprise was due to them being hostile to each other in public. They have accused the other of intellectual theft and threatened legal action.

“With respect to our friends, both plan to have a going away luncheon with our friends on Friday. They have something planned for the weekend, which is some how related to the Friday luncheon. Unfortunately we don’t know the details of their plans.”

“One more item,” said Lydia, “before we discuss how to proceed. Both company’s buildings have a very similar layout.” She went on to describe the buildings and their layout closing with, “One elevator services the parking garage, and three floors but not the fourth. The second elevator has access points for the parking garage, third and fourth floors. The second elevator requires a key card for access. It has obscure access on the third floor which is via a room connecting the third floor hall and the President’s conference room.”

“So based on what you’ve heard and found, you suspect they have something planned for our friends,” said Sarah.

“Pretty much. Based on what we’ve heard, it is difficult to rationally draw any other conclusion,” responded Muireann with many heads nodding in agreement. “Lydia didn’t mention the room off the President’s conference room that contains several locking cabinets. We’ve seen their assistants retrieve what looked like DVDs from the room then prepared them for shipment.”

“It is odd that the fourth floor can only be accessed by the elevator. Surely there must be emergency stairwell or a hidden exit. What about the plans submitted when the building permit was obtained?”

“Ah, that source was over looked. We’ll do that today.”

“You haven’t said much about the fourth floor so I presume the limited access has made it difficult.”

“It has. The closest we’ve come is by placing a spider in the duct however it can only see a portion one room. The view shows several groupings of cushioned chairs and couches around a small low table. In the center against an outside wall is a large bed with chair groupings around it. The windows are all translucent and most have drapes. It has picked up some sounds that are either talking or what could possibly be moans.”

Jill said, “Can we hear them?”

“Sure.”

After it was played Jill and Janet looked at each other and nodded then Jill said, “Based on those sounds and furniture placement, we would bet on a private brothel or sex club of some sort.”

“With access like that?” responded Mia with a puzzled expression.

“Sure. Considering they are involved in making people disappear from the databases, they could take advantage by enslaving some for themselves. So if they were operating the fourth floor as a private brothel, they could use access to the women as a perk to reward work performance. If true, it does raise a lot of other questions.”

“Like how do they get workers for the fourth floor?” responded Lydia.

“Yes. A better question is, how would they get our friends to agree?” added Danny.

“Well there is that,” replied Claudette. “Based on what we know about our friends, I see only one way it to be easily accomplished. The easiest would be to include a submissive drug in their luncheon meal and result in them being very receptive to direction. It is something they wouldn’t expect to occur on company property. Another question is, where did the others go?”

“All good questions,” said Rusty. “Intelligence department, nice work. We think you’ve read the tea leaves correctly. Now we need a strategy to ensure our friends safety and if possible help the authorities find this abomination. Our friend’s safety come first. At some point, Madeline’s and Ursula’s groups need to know what we’ve learnt. Definitely before they go to work on Friday. Whether they go to work or not, has to be their decision. Now from our perspective, besides learning what Larry and Dale plan over the weekend, what else do we need to do? How do we alert the authorities of the database issue?”

The group worked until dinner discussing different options, pausing only to snack. Several times they were able to find answers to earlier questions that caused them to go back and adjust their plan. The answers usually raised more questions but it was a worthwhile effort. By comparing employee records to public records they identified twelve employees at Larry’s and eight at Dale’s who had apparently vanished. They found a payment for a traffic citation for a former employee of Larry’s company that included a copy of the check. In checking with the bank, they learned that her accounts were closed by a person using a POA. The funds were transferred to an account at another bank then closed.

When the chime sounded for dinner Rusty said, “Okay. We’ve made good progress. We will have a look at both company’s premises on Wednesday night. Thursday morning we will go over everything then Thursday evening we brief the two groups.”

Bairre of Muireann’s Clan said, “I am concerned whether the women will be able to act naturally if they know all of this, and the expected events.”

“A reasonable concern,” replied Erin, “and one I think we all have, however I think they can easily handle it. Remember they lived through the ordeal on the freighter. We suspect there is a link between these two men and those behind the freighter, so their motivation will be strong. Besides this time they will have their links with us to help them. We need to make sure they aren’t harmed.”

“Well said,” added Sarah. “They will be the ones to decide the risk. We will endeavor to insure that risk is minimal. Now let’s make it work.”

After lunch on Tuesday, Sarah’s and Nancy’s Clans gathered to finalize arrangements for Adam’s visit. Briana and Cathan were designated to meet him at the airport. They would then take him to the nearby business airport, where one of their ‘jets’ would be waiting. Alison and Maureen would be the pilots for the trip.

A general sequence of events was worked out for his first two days at Comrie. Joyce proposed that they be totally open with him, as that’s the way they had always been. She was certain that if they weren’t, he would sense it. They would let him decide if he needed to limit his telepathic ability when he returned to duty. Joyce was positive he would, because to do otherwise was an unreasonable risk, besides, it would still be an effective boost to his security.

Wednesday after lunch the Command Staff was on Dóchas bridge when Aoife said, “Wouldn’t it be a good idea for us to move to Earth orbit?”

“Could be,” replied Rusty. “What brought this up?”

“Well if we are going to take a dream-walk to the two companies, then wouldn’t we use less energy by doing this from Earth orbit? The distance is a lot less.”

“You have a good point. We need to make sure those on Mars have sufficient supplies.”

“Engineering has projects that could be affected by moving,” said Claudette.

“Well let’s confer with the AIs and department heads,” said Sarah.

Star said, “From my perspective, moving will not cause any issues. However, based on what is planned for the next several weeks, it would be advisable to remain in Earth orbit for at least a week and preferably 2 or 3 weeks.”

“Why?”

“It gives construction crews time to start and complete changes before moving again. Also, quite a few of the crew are expecting us to move to Earth orbit due to the changing situation.”

“Okay set it up. In half an hour or sooner would be fine,” said Sarah.

It was only a few minutes later when Star said, “Everyone is ready.”

When they finished reviewing their status Rusty said, “Thanks to those in propulsion, we will depart in 30 minutes. We plan on staying in Earth orbit at least 14 days.”

Afterward Sarah said, “Star, are the crew always that aware of the ship’s status?”

“Nope. Well that is not quite true. Some departments are, but it is with a narrow view. You all share in a way that everyone has a good idea of our direction and potential upcoming issues.”

“We must never assume that is the case,” responded Aoife.

“Yea,” said Alison. “We know where assume leads, and space isn’t a very forgiving place.” Everyone laughed on hearing her comment.

At the appointed time Sarah said, “Prepare to depart Mars orbit. Navigation, initiate a plan to insert us into Earth orbit, cloaked with a stationary orbital position directly over Madeline and Ursula’s location.”

“Remember our wake and mass may disturb some of Earth’s satellites,” said Star.

“If we place ourselves in a higher orbit that shouldn’t be a problem,” said Rusty. “Let’s have our surveillance group monitor the satellites, as we don’t want any accidents. Other than that, let them worry about their satellites.”

This was only the second time the ship had moved since the accident and this was the most significant distance. The Command Staff mind-linked with Ship-control-AI, as the departure commands began to be implemented. While each had primary responsibility for one console, they also had an inherent awareness of the displays on all the other consoles. The departmental AIs, working with the crew, implemented the steps necessary to comply with the departure command. A console in each department gave the crew a view of the operation, so they could see the end result of the actions taken by their departments.

As they watched the displays, they saw their ship accelerate to leave Mars orbit, then follow an arc to bring them onto a path to intercept an orbital window above Earth. The acceleration was so smooth that no one on the ship felt any movement, though, at the same time, they knew they were moving due to the displays.

With their mind-link and integration into the ship’s systems, the Command Staff tweaked the course several times, as the ship moved to its destination. They arrived in Earth’s orbit, almost on target. Their position was directly over where Madeline’s and Ursula’s groups lived.

Command Staff said, “Departments, please advise of status.”

Sally replied, “Security console green.”

“Engineering reports all systems performed as expected,” replied Claudette.

“Intelligence reports all systems functioning, no threats noted,” replied Alison.

“Navigation has locked our position in earth orbit,” responded Joyce.

“Star Fighter 1 flight on alert, set for a 2 minute delay to launch,” replied Erin.

“Security reports shields functioning normally, operating in stealth mode,” replied Terry.

“Propulsion units normal. All parameters on target,” responded Jill and Janet.

“Medical reports everything is fine,” responded Judy.

“Security teams on alert, and in position,” replied Tara

“Communication links to all posts, functioning normally,” replied Aoife and Maeve.

“Surveillance indicates all systems normal,” replied Maureen and Siobhan.

“Secure the ship, and move to Level 5 readiness,” said Rusty.

“Star, how are the AIs doing?”

“We are in very good shape.”

“Intelligence department, you might want to use your instruments to examine the wake we created,” said Sally.

“We have. Most of it disappeared quite rapidly, but there are some faint traces.”

The Command Staff mind-linked to quickly review the details of performance while commanding their second ship movement. Once the review was complete, they felt quite satisfied with the way all the ship’s units had functioned. There were only a few miscues, but those were corrected almost instantly. As they finished, they heard their friend say, “Well done.”

“Ship’s crew,” said the Command Staff, as they sent a message throughout the ship, “Thank you for a job well done. We will be in this orbit for at least 2 weeks perhaps a little longer.”

After dinner the Command Staff went back to the Bridge. After checking the monitors Sarah said, “Shall we see if we can project our vision so we can check out the buildings where Madeline’s and Ursula’s groups work.”

They all nodded and stepped to the pillar grasping the ring. This time, there was no walk, as they moved directly to the platform in the chamber. Forming a circle on the platform with their arms interlaced and holding hands, their ethereal entity, eSarah emerged. They projected eSarah so she arrived just outside the building of Madeline’s employer. If there had been anyone around they might have thought they saw a ghost. After a moment surveying the surroundings, eSarah passed through the front door. She looked carefully around the offices, as she made her way through the building.

Entering Larry’s office, she immediately noticed four folders with their friends names on them laying on his desk. Before examining them she looked around the room and discovered several cameras with microphones discretely placed. Their were several intrusion detectors. She quickly determined that both devices were based on sensing heat. Going over to the desk, she opened the top folder reviewed the contents. Her anger blossomed as she realized the documents would give Larry full control of them via an unlimited power of attorney. Its scope was obscured as an employment contract that was auto renewing and transferable.

After eSarah’s anger had calmed some, she read through the documents again. Her first thought was how was he was going to get them to sign the documents. Even though they were cleverly worded, she didn’t think they would sign them. None of the women had any family so there wasn’t anyone with legal standing to contest such a document if they knew of it.

In the adjacent conference room she discovered more cameras. Besides the door to Larry’s office, were two other doors. One was to the storage room which contained several locking cabinets which were unlocked. She was surprised by that and that there wasn’t any sensors in the room. The file drawers were divided into sections. Each one held a set of folders. In each folder was a power of attorney plus photos of a nude woman and a DVD with the woman’s name on it. The photos showed each woman posing alone and with the others in that section. Most groups consisted of four women.

One section had the folders for his current assistant and three other women. This section contained more DVD’s than in any of the others. The DVD jackets all contained the same four names, but the dates were spread over several years.

In another cabinet were more DVD’s. There were multiple copies of some. Each had titles and names on the jackets. The background of the jacket was a photo showing four women in suggestive costumes. Quite a few had the name of his current assistant on the package along with other names. She recognized some of these names from the other groups she found in the other cabinet.

In the last cabinet, she found a selection of drugs and health supplements. Hanging on the door were dosages for each drug, along with treatment sequences. eSarah noted all the contents and instructions for further study.

She stepped back into the conference room and looked around the rooms again. The sight of the folders on Larry’s desk triggered the thought that brought the answer to her earlier question. He was going to drug them so they would sign the documents. With the videos, he would have visual evidence that they willingly signed the contracts.

“Star, please teleport a bot to this room. Intelligence a bot will soon be sending you documents from Larry’s office to copy and return. Initially she will send the drugs and other stuff. Alert Medical that they are coming and need to be analyzed as soon as possible. However, they need to be returned before the sunrise.”

“Aye,” was the response from several.

Just as eSarah finished speaking, Cheri appeared next to her and looked around.

eSarsah said, “Cheri, I am next to you but I guess you can’t see me.”

“Aye. Now that you’ve told me I can sort of sense you. I’ll send the documents on the desk first for copying. Then start on the cabinets.”

“Okay. After those folders, send the drugs then the folders in each section with the newest first. Once the folders are sent, then the DVDs. Even though we are fairly certain the sensors won’t detect you, you should stay cloaked.”

“Since I am here, can we bring more spiders and the ferrets in this way?”

“Yes. Reach out to Intelligence or Star if you need something. I’m going to check the fourth floor.”

With that eSarah projected herself up to the fourth floor. The rooms layout was like a lounge of a large apartment. There was a bar along one wall. Couches of various sizes sat around the room in clusters with end tables and fairly large coffee tables in each group. The center piece was a large cushioned platform much like a bed. Several groups of couches faced the platform. The arrangement fit with Jill’s comment. There were several doors along two walls, and entrance to a hall. Looking down the hall she could see several doors on both sides of it and one at the end. One door directly off the lounge led to a kitchenette and another to a storage area. As she turned to leave, a reflection caught her eye. Going over to look more closely at the platform, she found binding points for restraints and frowned. Looking up she saw several beams with binding points and hoists.

Next eSarah went to check the rooms off the hall. The first four were empty but tidy and looked to be well maintained. Just like the platform in the main room, there were rings on the bed frame, at places on the wall and on the ceiling.

In the fifth bedroom a nude woman was sleeping. eSarah recognized her as Larry’s personal assistant. She appeared to be dreaming by the way she was moving on the bed. Her face showed multiple expressions during the few moments eSarah watched. Some of the dreams seemed to be erotic, from the way she moved her hands and the smell of her arousal. She decided not to risk disturbing her dreams and left.

In the sixth bedroom she found three naked pregnant women laying on beds. She was shocked by their lack of legs or hands. eSarah was almost certain that they had hands and legs in the photos she saw earlier. By their appearance and that of the room, they were receiving good care and very close to giving birth. She thought about looking into their minds, but decided not to at this time. She eased back out of the room.

She looked in the other rooms off the lounge. The larger one contained devices to torment a person as it had stocks, a horse, a cross, a post, a pillory, several cages and hoists. On the wall hung many implements that could be used to torment and cause a great deal of agony. All the other rooms had a bed, a sink, a toilet along with numerous devices to restrain a person. Again the rooms were very tidy.

Deciding she had seen enough, she started to leave, and as she moved back through the building she realized that these assholes were not above booby-trapping the building. With that in mind, she made a careful search of the building and it didn’t take her long to find several.

“Star, teleport three more bots here. Make sure we have enough spiders and drones to give us good coverage. Have the bots alter the destructive devices I found so they malfunction when tripped. After that they need to look for more. If we haven’t we should have ferrets should access and copy their systems.”

“Aye. The spiders can assist with finding the destructive devices. The bots will operate cloaked and will stay until this is fully resolved.”

“Perfect.”

eSarah eased out of the building and went to Ursula’s employer. Her search went quicker, as the layout was very similar to the one at Larry’s company. Even so she was very thorough as she went through the building but in a little different order. On arriving she had bots and more drones, ferrets and spiders teleported immediately. The spiders immediately began searching for destructive devices for the bots to disable.

Bot 11 accompanied her to Dale’s office and conference room. The office layout was nearly identical to Larry’s but it was searched with the same diligence. In the storage room, there were several locking cabinets containing folders, photos and DVDs. When she opened the cabinets, she thought it looked like there were more groups. Based on the photos and associated DVD covers, it appeared that Dale had a preference for extreme cruelty. There was a cabinet containing drugs and other items. When eSarah departed, Bot11 began sending items to Dóchas to be copied or analyzed.

eSarah went up to fourth floor, where found a layout similar to the one at Larry’s. This dungeon was larger and had a larger selection of restraining devices than they found at the other company. Some of the implements were brutal and would be difficult to use without causing injury such as the brazier. The stains and odor confirmed that they had been used. In checking the other rooms she only found one bedroom occupied. In it was two women who appeared to be very tall. Their hair was so closely cropped that it was almost nonexistent. Their breasts were very large. Their nipples were swollen and wet. The wetness indicated that they were lactating. Both wore collars, wrist and ankle cuffs, which looked to be permanently fastened. Their labia were exceptionally large with rings in each lip. A bar through their clit held the two halves of its hood back.

When she returned to the ship, the Command Staff breathed a sigh of relief as they released the eSarah link. Even here in the ship, it was taxing to maintain eSarah’s presence, and still be aware of everything around her in the remote location while maintaining her composure.

“I hope we didn’t miss any destructive devices,” said Alison. Her spouses all nodded their heads, in agreement.

Star said, “The crew we sent shouldn’t have any trouble finding them.”

“Intelligence department, did you see what eSarah found?” they asked.

“Yes. A number of us are ready to do something now. No, make that all of us. We were amazed eSarah was able to maintain her focus.”

“It wasn’t easy. One critical part was remembering that old adage ‘revenge is best served cold.’ Also, it helped to keep in mind that our goal is to let the US Attorney’s office take care of this cancer.”