Chapter 11
As promised, Rathaus had long since departed when Nerys woke up late the next morning. Although, she had always been an early-riser, the former resistance-fighter found that lately she was exhausted all of the time. Nerys told herself that it must be her pregnancy. True, she had had more energy when she had carried Kirayoshi, but Bashir had told her that every pregnancy played out differently. She certainly felt more complacent than she had during her earlier pregnancy.
The colonel lingered over her breakfast, served to her in bed, enjoying the opportunity to be able to do so. The morning sunlight flooded her bedroom through its enormous windows. The room was decorated in Rathaus' lavish taste, and was quite unlike her more understated style, though he had thoughtfully had a Bajoran prayer mandala placed there. She did love its balcony, however. It towered over the lawn and was wide enough for a small table and comfortable chairs, the perfect place to sit and contemplate the landscape beyond.
After breakfast, she called Alsasia for her tour. The older woman arrived quickly, bringing a maid with her so that Kira's room could be straightened immediately. Alsasia was an older woman of indeterminate species. She was quiet and obviously efficient but was uncomfortable answering questions about herself. Kira was unable to learn much about her other than that she was a life-long resident of Windau, but had only recently been employed as housekeeper. The other maid said nothing besides wishing Kira a good morning.
Despite Alsasia's reluctance to talk about herself, she gave a detailed tour of the house. The building was impeccably decorated, filled with the collected treasures of exotic worlds. The floor plan included several lavish guest suites and sweeping reception rooms, though its master rarely entertained there and kept only the minimum number of employees required to run the sprawling estate. Very few of those employees stayed overnight on the estate and those that did maintained regular homes in one of the planet's small communities.
The only residence of consequence on the small agricultural planet of Windau, it dominated both its landscape and economy. The estate itself covered several mountain rifts and valleys. Concealed from the view of the great manor house was an active, modern farm. The grounds produced a great deal of the planet's food. Rathaus was particularly fond of his lavish stable of thoroughbred Vicarian Razorback horses and had reserved huge chunks of pasture land for their use.
The most notable feature of the property, despite its size and many beauties, was its security system. Attributed to Rathaus' eccentricity by the local residents and his few friends, the security system was a state-of-the-art celebration of force-fields and detection equipment. Rathaus liked his privacy.