Free Ojbect by Viola Grace Page B

days, and then, I will resume my original position.”
    Bella was unsure. “My assistant? I thought I would be beginning at the bottom.”
    “Your scores and life experience have placed you in an administrative position at your entry into the court. Congratulations.”
    Bella mentally shrugged. Apparently, her endless hours in a dizzying array of offices filing and processing every type of paperwork in existence, while fending off the hands and other advances of the men she worked for, had actually counted for something.
    “Please, lead on, Accountant Tweff.”
    He nodded and led her through the halls of the hospital, signed her out at the front desk and escorted her into a transport set on a rail in the paved surface.
    They settled into the pod, and the vehicle started to move.
    “All of the pods will take you to the palace if you simply put your hand on the ident pad. Your registration is your key to returning home. You can travel to any point in the cities or local provinces and a pod can still bring you home automatically.”
    “Good to know.”
    “It is the first of many safeguards in place for our citizens. You are not yet a citizen, but you are officially part of our government.”
    She inclined her head. “I thank you for your efforts to instruct me.”
    The formal words were natural to the Kloa. Their entire society was designed to keep people in the places they earned. Even the nobility gained rank in their own circles.
    Tweff wasn’t particularly chatty, but he was informative when it was something necessary.
    She was walked through elaborate and gilded hallways until they reached her quarters in a more modest segment of the structure.
    The moment she had keyed the lock to herself, he swept her away to the dining hall for administrators. He showed her the protocol for lining up to eat and carrying her tray through the proper station in the right order.
    Once they were seated together, she asked him. “Are you originally from Kloa?”
    He shook his head. “Almost no one is. Their restrictions lower their alliances to formal arrangements. It has crafted a low birthrate, but their egalitarian hiring methods has brought alien talent from across the Imperium.”
    “Like me, though I came from the Alliance.”
    “Precisely. You are managing to eat well with the restrictions of the mask. Most newbies end up with half of it in the mesh.”
    Bella had released two points on the frame, held the drapes away from her neck and she lifted small portions of her meal into her mouth with her other hand. Her practice over the last few weeks was proving useful immediately. It was nice to know.
    “I practiced what I could. The rest is all going to be learned.”
    Tweff nodded. “And that is as it should be.”
    She ignored the ominous tone in his voice and finished her meal, watching the others in the room to see what they were doing with the plates.
    Everyone left the plates and trays on the table when they left.
    When Tweff prepared to rise, Bella got up ahead of him and walked toward the door. He chuckled. “You do learn fast.”
    Relief spilled through her. She had correctly guessed a meal, now what about her work?
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    It took her six months to rise from administrator to auditor. Bella was completely used to moving around in the mask and grey uniform, but she did occasionally startle herself when she saw a reflective surface.
    Today, she was working for the court records and doing an audit of the expenditures of Lord Korkham. He had deducted a number of unusual items, and it was up to him to prove that they were expenses to benefit the court.
    “Lord Korkham—”
    “Yes, Auditor Banks?”
    “The largest deduction in question is for a private club. The Face-to-Face Club . What benefit did this have to your negotiations or other transactions on the part of the court?”
    He paused, his black suit and mask completely still. “You are an alien, Auditor Banks?”
    “I am.”
    “Have you been