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"Shit! Freeze that Geneviève!! I have not authorized any withdrawal of that amount and certainly not from my comp. Don't release that or any other funds until I arrive personally to confirm it. Is that understood?" Liea ordered as sternly as she could.
"Yes, madame, thoroughly understood. Is there a problem?" She asked nervously.
"Yes, I might have been hacked," Liea advised. "Let me contact my security team and I'll see if I can get back to you by 09:00. In the meantime, I want you to make discrete inquiries as to the holder of the receiving account. Don't send anything to my comp. I'll contact you through the hotel or through my security team."
"I understand, madame." Geneviève advised. "I have an acquaintance that works at that branch. We'll see what we can find. Nothing goes out today from your account unless you authorize it in person. I shall inform M. Brilliant of this situation."
"No!" Liea exclaimed. "We don't know who might be involved, so keep this to yourself for now. Do you authorize the transfer or is that done by someone else?" Liea asked.
"I set up the transfer, but a transfer of this magnitude can only be authorized by the Branch Manager or the Chief Financial Manager of this branch. Once it is set up, it then has to be sent to one of them for their signature before the transfer," Hiliere informed her.
"OK, set everything up but don't send it for their authorization. See who comes to inquire about it, if anyone. That will give me time to get things moving here. Thanks, Geneviève! You may have just prevented a sizable theft and saved your branch from the loss of a rather angry customer!" Liea praised her.
Liea called the VSC hotline and advised them of situation, asking for assistance in tracing a possible hack on her comp. Fifteen minutes later, Jean Scimate appeared at her door along with Lissette looking much the worse for wear. Liea gave her a worried look but Lissette informed her that she was waiting for the hangover pills to kick in.
M. Scimate had set Liea's comp down in a cradle attached to a very sophisticated laptop unit. He asked her where she had been over the last twenty-four hours and whether she had noticed anything unusual. Lissette remembered the face exploding from the dance app at the club the night before. Now they had a reference time and place to work on.
It didn't take long. The missing face was identified as a computer student at one of the local universities. Thirty minutes later, a rather dishevelled and frightened young man was sitting in Liea's living room. Along with more than a dozen specialists from VSC and Analisa Talbot's personal security team.
Luc Branchette was a savant level computer student at university. When informed of the fact that his app had been used to fake a transfer on Liea's comp, Luc suddenly got very angry.
"How dare you accuse me of stealing from you!" He shouted at Liea. "My intrusion on the app was for a friend of mine who is studying statistical analysis. He wanted real life, real time stats to look at and we hit on the dance app from the clubs."
"Whose suggestion was it to use the dance app?" Analisa asked the young man.
"George's," he replied. George Princen turned out to be an alias. The man in question was studying under that name to avoid scrutiny from the university. It turned out that 'George' was actually Gregoire Phiata, son of one of the biggest crime lords in the region.
Luc was starting to look worried. He realized just how stupid he had been, helping out a 'friend' who turned out to be exploiting him to steel money. Someone had brought Luc's computer equipment and he quickly set it up, running through his programs until he found something out of place.
Luc had created a program to exploit a fault in the code on the dance app. It allowed Luc to review the information available on the app without being noticed by the app's security program. Luc's program provided eighteen lines of statistics, including age, sex, number of dances, VIP room visits, and other rather innocuous items.
However, in a little-known program, designed to increase the efficiency of the display on the holo-vid cards on Luc's computer, were three short lines of unnecessary code. When examined, they secretly placed a 'backdoor' entrance to the comp in question and transferred ALL information being received from the dance apps to Luc's original program to a site on the dark web, along with the code for the backdoor.
The dark web, sometimes known as the 'deep web', was principally used by the criminal underbelly on all human worlds. It was a way of secretly planning thefts, buying and selling illegal items, and otherwise circumventing lawful review of a planet's internet system. People had to know how to get into it, and the secret was protected jealously by the criminal underworld. Betraying the secret meant a slow and painful death to those that did.
Luc gave a rather predatory smile and he started to follow the information. The VSC computer specialists watched in awe as this young man slipped through the dark web without leaving a trance, following the brief glimpses of the program he was searching for. They might have been able to do the same, but with nowhere near the speed and efficiency that Luc showed.
Luc found several points of intersection for the program, including different banks around Liramor Prime. He followed the trail of the large transaction ordered the night before and discovered that the account the money was going to was a 'through transfer' account, only opened for the day. Once money went into the account, it was to be broken down into parcels and sent onwards to different banks and from there to money lending institutions. The account would be closed by 13:00 that day. It was now just shy of 10:00.
VSC contacted the national police and passed them the information on the end points of the transfers. The money would go into the hands of money mules who were looking to get a fictitious loan for various amounts. They would then bring the cash to another location, transferring it into smaller amounts so that it could not be traced back to the mules, and thus the money lending institution. Those final accounts were not known to the program, but the police could enact their own investigation.
Liea's funds were safe. The police had a viable trail to follow, even after the through transfer account was closed. They had the end points of the transfer, with numbered accounts that could be viewed at the money lending outlets.
Days later, Liea would learn that the national police had hit the Phiata Crime Family hard, breaking open the family's financial information by a 'lucky break' when petty criminals were noted taking out loans from small financial institutions. It was not previously known to police that the Phiata Family owned these institutes through dummy organizations and were using them for money laundering. The police were able to backtrack on much of the money coming into these institutions and thus locate much of the Phiata Family's hidden money sources.
VSC was deliberately kept out of the press information. But they were happy. They had just made a new recruit whose computer skills where nothing short of amazing. Luc Branchette really didn't have a choice but to agree to become a member of VSC. Despite his innocent intentions, he had hacked a very secure dance app used by most of the club's in the capital. Under the law, he could have been jailed for years. Now he had people backing him, an excellent salary, and the availability of some of the best computer equipment he had ever seen. It was a win-win for Luc, Liea, the banks, the national police, and VSC.
**************
As her branch manager had originally predicted, when Liea received the new royalties, the main branch of her bank insisted that she transfer her account to them. Her account number wouldn't change, but the location of her bank would.
The main bank was larger and more opulent than her original branch, and her reception was impressive, with several people rushing to attend her. Analisa Talbot put a stop to that immediately, stressing security concerns. Liea would enter the bank and move to an unobtrusive door behind which were bank personnel who would tend to her personal needs, and those of other rich and famous patrons. The purpose was to make her presence in the bank as unobtrusive as possible.
Analisa worked with bank security to enact a method of watching people watching that door. These would be the people that bank security and VSC needed to investigate.
Now, Liea could enter the bank and quietly do her business. She also had direct contact with several managers and the general manager, though she missed the more personal contact with M. Brilliant and Geneviève Hiliere. The effects of her tremendous wealth were beginning to catch up with her.
****************
Captain Raymond Clark came in on the supply run from Liramor-23 on the following Monday morning. Liea was out when he arrived at the Eclipsa Hotel but had left a note for reception to key his biometrics to her suite.
Raymond went up to the suite and took out his dress uniform to hand to the valet with instructions to have it cleaned as quickly as possible as he had a brief to give just after noon. He took some time to place his kit in the large closet in the bedroom noting the expensive gowns and clothes that hung there. Liea had been busy he mused.
Next order of business was to get himself cleaned up. He entered the luxurious shower and took his time to wash up. Drying his body, he did a quick shave then grabbed a towel to dry his hair. Naked, he walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom still drying his hair and heard the gasps of several voices.
He pulled the towel down to his chest and saw Liea and Annette just inside the bedroom doorway, and two other women just behind them. All of them were looking rather fixedly at his naked body. Liea and Annette came forward to engulf him in a three-way hug that started to arouse him.
Breaking the hug, he looked behind his two friends at the other women and raised an eyebrow at Liea, who laughed.
"Lissette Blanche, my new EA, and Analisa Talbot, my head of personal security, this is Captain Raymond Clark of the TUSN Civilian Liaison Authority, and my mining partner from Liramor-23," she said by way of introduction to all. "He is on Liramor Prime to brief Liramor Holdings on things going on in the Piscium System."
The two women deliberately came forward to shake his hand and, quite frankly, to get a closer look at this remarkably handsome and fit man. They both noted the Black Lightning tattoo on his left breast.
Lissette heard the chime of the door and slipped out to answer. A minute later, she returned with Raymond's freshly cleaned uniform.
"Oh, thank-you," he said, "I have to get ready for a brief this afternoon."
"Do you need help dressing?" Lissette asked, "I have been helping Ms. Samson, and would be happy to help you as well," she told him cheekily.
Raymond declined, to the giggles of the four ladies, who left him to get dressed.
The ladies were sitting in Liea's lounge when he came out in full uniform. Lissette and Analisa had thought that seeing Capt. Clark naked was amazing, but the full effect of this very handsome officer with all his medals was something else. They both gasped as he came into view in the doorway. Overall, the effect of all the bling on this stunningly handsome man made for a sight that made the two ladies feel tingly all over.
"My brief is at 14:00 hours but I'm not sure how to get there," Raymond admitted.
"That's alright," Annette assured him, "I'm at the brief as well so can take you with me when it's time to go."
They ordered something light to eat and whiled away the time until 12:30. The two left, leaving Liea, Lissette, and Analisa to giggle about the rather handsome captain staying with Liea for the next few days.
******************
Raymond's brief went well, with plenty of questions about events in the Piscium system. In reality though, most were more interested in the additional parts of Raymond's claim. He informed them that arrangements had been made to cut and move the claim to the platform for processing within the next two months, to coincide with the end of processing of the first portion. Overall, the senior management of Liramor Holdings was very pleased with the brief.
Annette brought Raymond back to the hotel and the two stepped into Liea's suite to find the ladies trying to determine what to do for the evening.
Raymond went back into the bedroom to shower and change.
While Raymond was out, Analisa had introduced Liea to her new personal bodyguard, a young Asian woman by the name of Kimiko Oshiiru. After the incident in the night club, it was decided that Analisa would step back a little to oversee operations around Liea, while a new personal bodyguard would be with Liea at all times.
"My job has been shifted to be more of coordinator for your security detail," Analisa explained. "You need someone by your side at all times which means a new bodyguard. I remain your PSec, but no longer your direct bodyguard. Though I will be with you quite often."
"Please call me Kim, Ms. Samson," said the young woman as she bowed to Liea.
"Please call me Liea, Kim," Liea stated. "If you are going to be with me all the time, we will have to be more open with each other. I assume she is competent?" Liea asked of Analisa.
"Despite her age, she is one of our best," Analisa assured her. "Of all our bodyguards, she is the only one who has ever put me down."
Liea, Lissette, and Kim sat and talked for most of the afternoon as the three got to know each other better.
****************
Raymond woke in Liea's large bed, once again between the very warm and very naked bodies of Annette and Liea.
He quietly slipped out from between them and into the bathroom to do his business. He pulled on some exercise gear and headed to the gym on this level that he knew had been appropriated by VSC.
There were several people in the gym going through training and practice. He sized them up as he entered, instantly determining who was the greatest threat. The only one he couldn't place was the new woman, Kim, Liea's new bodyguard. She was giving pointers as instructor to those in the gym.
After warming up, Raymond put some light gloves on and slipped out of his shoes leaving his feet bare. He started hitting the large bag with hands and feet, putting more force into each strike, as he moved harder and faster.
Several minutes later, he had worked up a good sweat and looked around for the weights when he noted Kim watching him, a curious look on her face.
Kimiko (Kim) Oshiiru, was the quintessential Japanese woman. Small and delicate looking, she was anything but. Her family was the modern equivalent of the ancient Ninja. Though they no longer called themselves Ninja. She had trained from early infancy in martial arts and was deadly with almost any hand-held weapon. She was deadly even without a weapon.
In the old Japanese language, Kimiko meant 'child without equal'. And Kim was that. She excelled in all her training and schooling, was extremely intelligent, and could speak a dozen languages fluently.
She had watched as Raymond had exercised on the heavy bag and recognized that he was someone with training. She wanted to see what he was capable of, so signalled him over.
"If you are going to be around my charge, I will have to know how good you are at protecting yourself," she told him, inviting him onto the training mat.
The diminutive woman stood across from Raymond, hands at her side in a relaxed position, waiting for her opponent to make the first move. She moved a few paces and faced him; her right side slightly open giving him an invitation to make the first move.
Here I am, the nice soft kitten waiting for you to come stroke me, she thought to herself, begging him to attack while appearing not to know that she was vulnerable.
The ends of Raymond's mouth turned up in a very slight grin, his head shook slightly back and forth telling her that he would not fall into her trap.
Determining that this time her ploy would not work, Kim attacked first. In two quick moves, she planted her left foot then brought her right up and around in a sweeping back quick meant to catch Raymond at the shoulders. He easily blocked the kick and took out Kim's planted leg with a tap to the back of her knee.
Feeling herself going down, Kim rolled away from him and sprang quickly to her feet, facing her opponent. She found him standing much as she had been, in a relaxed pose facing her.
Kim leapt into the air and made several kicks at Raymond's head as her forward momentum propelled her into his space. He easily blocked each kick in turn, moving backwards with Kim's momentum.
As Kim's feet touched the ground, she slipped down and spun around clipping the feet out from under her opponent. Raymond found himself rolling desperately to keep away from the tiny woman.
Raymond rolled back to her feet, his hands up and extended in blocking mode, only to find that Kim had moved with him and was now inside his block. Kim grabbed Raymond's hand and threw her feet up to lock around his arm. Using her momentum and weight, she unsuccessfully attempted to pull Raymond to the ground. Raymond's strength was her undoing as he simply held up his arm and swatted at her with the other.
Kim dropped off his arm as she saw him move, certain that she would not like to be hit by him after observing what he done to the heavy bag. She rolled away and ended up facing him again, both now a little more wary of the other.
With a sudden burst of speed, Kim stepped forward and through a powerful punch at this midsection. Raymond blocked it and the three successive punches that followed and followed up with several blows of his own which Kim successfully blocked.
Kim stepped back and shook her hands. She had blocked his punches, but shit did those blows hurt!
Raymond moved. Despite his size and bulk, he moved surprisingly quickly almost catching Kim off guard. Almost. Kim rolled to the side, away from Raymond's charge, but he stuck his foot out and caught her off guard, sending her sprawling.
Raymond moved toward her, trying to get on top of her before she could move, but Kim had anticipated that. She rolled onto her back, grabbed his hands and placed her foot into his stomach, rolling over backwards to throw him up and over her head.
Raymond rolled with her and, instead of landing hard on the mat, rolled out of her grip and into a standing position. He immediately turned to tackle her again, but she wasn't there, having rolled away and come up on his right facing him.
"Holy shit! Someone is holding their own against Kim!"
The comment had come from off the mat. Raymond realized that while he enjoyed facing off against the diminutive fighter, she was the instructor here and he couldn't show her up without her losing face against the other members of her team. He resolved to let her defeat him, but he wasn't going to make it easy for her.
He moved, once again showing his impressive speed. He threw several kicks and punches that Kim successfully block and then counter attacked against him with a flurry of kicks and punches of her own that Raymond blocked.
She stepped back and stumbled, and Raymond pounced. He realized immediately that it was a faint. As his right foot was coming down, her left leg was shooting out, intending to catch him with her foot atop his upper right leg. Instead of placing his foot where she expected it, he stepped wide, causing her to miss his upper leg and plant her foot inside of his legs.
