Chapter Eighty Five - The Entrepreneur

There were many powerful families within the Empire, the Imperial Family with its many prince and princesses, political families such as the Welhaven's and Bodensteins, military families such as the Krauses and business orientated families such as the Bristol's and Sisulu's. But one should never underestimate the ability of the entrepreneur.

Jariden Thaulow was a self made trillionaire. Slice him in half and one would likely find the word businessman written in his core. He had fairly good psionic potential as well, it was this talent that helped him to soar through the heavens into the stars and beyond. He could sense who to trust and know instantly who had lied to his face. He had started out during his teens, walking pets, gardening and helping cash strapped inheritors sort out the nests of their deceased relatives. He came from a world, named Zaethea, which was could be considered on the poor side, where healthy young men and women often fled from in order to seek their fame and fortunes. Many people required a youth with a strong back and he was able to provide. He used his quick mind to invest in stocks, not always succeeding, but the number of times he hit it big time outweighed the misfortunes.

During one of the clearances, he came across a beautiful glass wares set and suddenly knew what he wished to invest in. Over time, and while he continually laboured physically, he found talented glass artisans and formed relationships with them. One was willing to experiment with different imported sands for him and they discovered a handful of worlds with sand that could produce variances in colour and even texture. Land was bought and a small factory, but his secrets were sold to another glasswares manufacture who were able to mass produce what he could not. His factory was taken, but he simply started again with his trusted artisans.

Eventually, their glassware was discovered by the elite who did not want mass produced products; who would show off something that everybody could purchase? Their unique products came to be in demand and they carefully tailored their wares to this niche market. Their earnings built quickly, but Jariden thought it wise to try to break into the general market for stability. They were first successful with their Nebula range, tumblers, pint glasses and wine glasses, each with a thumbnail bead placed in the base or stem that resembled a star cluster seen at a distance. They later extended this range to include plates and bowls when they discovered a type of glass that was almost as strong as metal and was resistant to extreme temperatures.

Jariden also acquired a few struggling glass manufactures by way of overtaking, including the one who had brought them to their knees on their first attempt to rise.

He was now nearing the age of forty and had decided it might be time to settle down. He had not expected that his parents, born of poverty and a little naive when it came to matters of the upper class, would fall head over heels for the first woman from an elite family to approach them and nearly force said woman onto him. Her name was Haellen Krause and she was the only daughter to an old military family, who happened to be very influential in certain circles. According to that woman, she had felt he was the most suitable match for her; he was handsome and innovative, intelligent and strong and she was beautiful to look at and with many contacts in both political and military circles as well as other old elite families. As he had no one else in mind, he agreed with her proposal and they became engaged with the intent to marry. She did, however, wish for her brother's blessing, but the man was always busy, so their meeting was frequently delayed.

His perceptions were sent askew, however, when he took a first class transport liner from Le Huxia, where he had just had just spoken to the governor about a potential new factory on one of its moons, towards the planet he currently lived on Danatus3.  The ship was accosted by Pirates.  In a certain way, it was all rather civil, although many of the passengers did not think so; how dare these uncouth vagabonds hold up their ship and take what is not theirs!  He was rather of the opinion that these people were stupid for having their wealth on display. He had kept his belongings simple, it had just been a business meeting after all. Unfortunately, he had been wearing a small gold stud in the shape of a Z, something he had commissioned when he had reached his first million. The Z was stylised, the shape of the Z in the logo of Zaethean Glass.

A young boy who had barely hit his first growth spurt had noticed it and taken a liking to it. "Hand it over," the blond, curly haired brat had demanded. He had narrowed his eyes, slightly defiant, but had not said a word. Pirates were not afraid of killing people and an earring, no matter what it meant to him, was not worth losing his life over.

The boy had grinned as he inspected his booty, the cheeky expression somehow innocent, despite his immoral actions. His baby blue eyes sparkled. Jariden had been startled by this boy's sweet look, his eyes followed him as the rough pirates who raided with him simply shook their heads, even looked apologetic when they looked at him. Jariden was not bothered by these looks of sympathy, something else had caught his attention.

The boy had gleefully joined two other boys, who looked like they could only be just twelve, such young children were already living as pirates? But what caught his attention more was the fact that these two were perfect images of each other. They were identical. They had silver-white hair that reached just past their shoulders and was tied at the nape and large black eyes.

"Look, guys!" The blond brat beamed, holding the stud to his ear.

"It suits you," one of the boys said softly.

"Are your ears even pierced, Zee?" The other asked. "If not I could do it for you." He pushed the stud against the older boy's ear.

"Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!" The lanky boy complained, but the twins simply laughed at him. Something stirred in Jariden, something he never knew existed within him and he vowed to himself that he would get that gold stud back and pay back the brat that had claimed it.

This thought was still occupying his mind a month later. Investigators he had hired had failed to find the pirates who had held up their transport, nor had bounty hunters who were hired by several elite families and who had happened to lose items that day. Despite there being an obvious clue to this ship, having identical twins in its crew, no one could discover their whereabouts. He sighed, should he stop concerning himself over it? It was just an earring after all. He could have a better one made...

Two bright, vivid blue eyes haunted the darkness of his mind and he slammed his fist against his desk.

"Are you well, Jariden?" a woman asked.

Jariden opened his eyes and saw his fiancée standing at the door. "I'm sorry, Haellen, I hadn't heard you enter." The woman approached his desk on her seven inch red heels, lengthening her already long legs. The brunette plumped her lips in a pout.

"I suppose you also forgot that we are meeting my brother today?" He winced, admitting to himself that this was true.

"Of course not," he lied. "Just give me a few moments and I will be right with you." Fortunately, he kept a suit in the cupboard next to the ensuite built for this office just for such occasions when he did not have time to return home.

After changing into the dark grey suit and forgoing the tie, he joined Haellen in the Rolls Runabout parked at the front of the building. He hesitated as he entered. It appeared that it would not just be the three of them for dinner.

"Jariden, dear," Haellen spoke with a slightly affectionate tone that made him frown. "This is my friend, Catalea Reichart. She will be joining us for dinner."

"It's an honour," the pretty, fairly petite girl smiled.

"Reichart? Of Reichart international?" He enquired, lightly.

The girl nodded. "Actually, it is my uncle who is the CEO now." Nothing else was spoken as the ship flew to their destination, an upmarket little restaurant that was becoming fashionable in elite circles on this planet.

Aldon Krause was waiting for them there. Jariden could not see much resemblance between the siblings, with the exception of their black eyes.  Haellon proceeded with the introductions, but failed to notice the pained look her brother gave her after he was introduced to the friend. It seemed his fiancée's plans included more than just gaining blessings for her marriage.

He tried to recall what he knew about the man. Some twelve years ago, his wife had gone missing, only to reappear two years later, preserved in a void coffin in space. There had been nothing else in the news about the matter, as if many facts had been suppressed. Haellon did not speak well of her brother's dead wife, not even offering respect for the dead. She claimed that the woman had left him a shell of himself on disappearing and just when he was beginning to get over her, she showed up dead. Jariden's instincts told him there were more to this that what she said. Haellon never lied to him, but that did not mean she did not exaggerate or hide the truth sometimes. Everyone had their secrets, so he just let it be.

The atmosphere during their meal was slightly strained, possibly due to the addition of the fourth person and said person happened to have a bad reaction to the sauce of the main course. Apparently, the girl was allergic to shellfish, but failed to inform anyone when the waiter asked if there were any issues they might have with the fixed menu. Haellon tried to encourage her brother to see the girl to the hospital, but was rebuffed.

"I'm sure she would be more comfortable with someone she knows taking her," Aldon advised, "not a stranger who barely spoke with her." Haellon did not look pleased.

"Well then, I suppose this gives you and Jariden a chance to get to know each other," she decided and left the two men alone. Aldon settled the bill after she left.

"I need a drink," Aldon said as they exited the restaurant. "I'm sorry about my sister."

"I'm sorry about my fiancée," Jariden replied. Both men chuckled, finally breaking the ice.

"Are you sure you want to marry her?" Aldon asked. Jariden did not answer as those blue eyes bothered him once more. "Never mind.  Do you know anywhere quiet with decent alchohol on this planet?" Jariden nodded and led him to Troy's. It was an out of the way bar above a cafe that he frequented often. Haellen did not know about it, she would have considered beneath them, even though Troy's was clean and fresh in appearance. They also stocked his glasswares.

Aldon became really drunk, really fast and lamented loudly. The man could clearly hold several glasses of wine, as he had drank two bottles at the restaurant with no effect, but one vodka on ice had tipped him over completely. "Bloody Haellen. Stop messing with my love life. She knows I'm not over Myha, yet she keeps bringing those floozies she calls friends to my door."

"Myha was your wife?" Jariden asked as he sipped his shot of whiskey.

Aldon nodded. "I wasn't good to her at first, she tried her best and was a good wife. I grew to like her. But Haellen never thought she was good enough for me, kept saying I should divorce her when she couldn't get pregnant. But she was about to give birth when she disappeared, so Haellen had to shut up! Why did she have to leave me?"

Jariden was surprised. He hadn't know Aldon's wife was pregnant before she vanished, that was never mentioned in the press. The galaxy thought Aldon was childless. Did the baby die with the mother? Jariden was hesitant to ask, when Aldon continued his drunken rambling.

"Should have told me it was twins, it didn't matter, we could have tried again, Myha," Aldon began to cry. "My silver haired Myha..."

"Twins?" He wondered aloud.

"Myha was pregnant with identical twin boys when she disappeared," Aldon was getting drowsy, but did not stop the words from spilling past his lips. "Didn't know... doctor mentioned it... wasn't pregnant anymore when we found her..." he suddenly began to snore, his face resting on the bar. Several things clicked inside Jariden's mind and he wondered what Aldon would do if he knew his sons were alive.