Shadow of the Blue Ring (8 page)

“Tell me what’s happening,” said James, “and what does any of it have to do with me?”

“With the rebuilding efforts in the alliance almost complete, the members of this council have resumed their goals of re-charting the galaxy and exploring the great unknowns of space once more. Just last week, the Churian government sent a group of ships into the uncharted region of the Blue Ring sector, that large area of space bordering the Valoran and Muiran sectors. Shortly afterwards, all contact with the ships was lost. They dropped straight off the grid and no explanation has been forthcoming about what happened to them.”

“I heard about this,” said James, “I also heard that your government had sent warships into the region to try and recover the Churian teams.”

“We did indeed,” said Artennes, “however, we have now lost contact with those two warships that we sent into the region. Just as before, they dropped off the grid with no explanation forthcoming as to what happened to them. In addition, not five hours ago, three Naisan patrol ships went missing just off the Stenness system.”

“The Stenness system?!” Ansare exclaimed, “that’s barely a two hour journey from Naisus itself!”

“Which is why we also called you here tonight admiral,” said Artennes, “your government has asked that you and the rest of the Naisan guests at tonight’s celebration return to Naisus with all haste.”

“Something about this doesn’t feel right,” said Ansare, sounding worried but maintaining his cool, “I’m sure there is more to this that you are letting on.”

“Yes, there is, and that is where captain Tavarez fits into this,” said Artennes, “this is a dangerous and precarious situation we find ourselves in and we need someone to discover the nature of these disappearances before things get out of hand, someone who has experience in this kind of dealing.”

“Let me guess…” James began, “. . . you want me to head out there and go looking for your missing ships? Surely this should be a job for a search and rescue team?”

“The last groups to go in were our search and rescue teams,” Artennes reminded him, “we have lost contact with any ships that we have sent into the area and we need to find out what has become of them. We need to know if something in the region caused them to have a major power failure or, more likely, if something attacked them. If it’s the latter then we must know who is responsible and how to counter them.”

“If we’re under attack then there is one probable culprit,” said Ansare, “do you think the Vulians could be involved in this somehow?”

“I do not believe so,” said Artennes, “the Vulians have restricted their movements to the Varduran sector since the end of the war and have rarely ventured out of their territory. The disappearances have occurred a long way out of their territory and as such, I do not believe them to be involved. Emperor Darien has sent his executor Kyrakian here on a completely different matter altogether and I have promised to meet with him after this meeting is concluded.”

James did have another theory though, one that came to him as he remembered his time on the planet Raylia where he had learned many secrets of the galaxy known to only a few individuals in the galaxy.

“The ancient Xerions…” James finally got it off his chest, he had been thinking it ever since he had heard the news, “. . . this could be their work. If they were to come across any of our ships they would destroy them for sure.”

“Yes, I had a feeling you may suspect them,” Artennes said calmly, “however I believe you may have spent too much time recalling your days in the old base on Raylia. The Xerion faction has been gone for over five hundred years and there has been no trace of them ever since. Even if they do still exist, their territory was far in the opposite direction to the Blue Ring sector. I have been to Raylia, captain Tavarez, and I have spoken to the machine you call Iyacs. It told me the same things it told you about the galaxy and it’s history.”

“Then perhaps it would be sensible to go back there for answers,” James suggested, “we know nothing about the Blue Ring sector or who might be doing this. If Iyacs can tell us what we need to know then would it not be worth at least asking?”

“This is a problem that needs an immediate solution,” said Artennes, “we do not have time to go looking through ancient records from an old Jaiytid work-station. We need a captain who stands out above the rest and who commands the respect of the entire alliance to carry out this mission and to find out what has been happening to our ships in the Blue Ring sector. Captain Tavarez, the council has decided that you are to undertake this mission.”

“You have dozens of captains at your disposal,” James reminded him, “surely you have at least one who is up to the task? Why go to all this effort to ask me?”

“You’re right, I have many good men and woman at my disposal,” Artennes replied, “but there is no captain anywhere in the alliance who can do what you have done in the past. If there is something going on out there in the Blue Ring, the leaders of this council agree that you are by far the best choice for this job.”

“Lord Artennes…” Ansare intervened, “. . . if captain Tavarez is unwilling to take on the mission, I would be happy to go in his place. Whatever is going on out there is getting dangerously close to my home planet and I would very much like to find out what is doing it and how to stop it.”

“Admiral Ansare, your name was considered for this mission, however your government has asked that you return to Naisus at first possible opportunity. They need you there, just in case the situation becomes even more dangerous. Captain Tavarez is the council’s choice to lead this mission and we are hopeful that he will agree to this mission.”

“Think about this James,” said Jamerson, “the Human race has come so far and achieved so much since you lead us to victory over the Vulians. If you turn this down, our people will lose a lot of the credibility we have gained through your actions six years ago. Do this for Earth James, I beg you.”

James had never truly lead them to victory, they had not defeated the Vulians, they had simply forced their hand and in the end they had decided it simply wasn’t worth the trouble to keep them under their own rule anymore. Of course it was mainly down to the last minute actions of Reos Darien who had effectively assassinated the executors in the throne room of the Serraha palace. With most people still oblivious to this fact and many more of the events from the revolution, James was the one who was now awarded with all of the credit for ending the war.

The doors to the council chamber opened once more and a high ranking Tolian officer entered the room.

“Forgive me lord Artennes…” he began, “. . . but executor Kyrakian is demanding that he be given an audience with you. He says it is of utmost importance that he speak with you as soon as possible.”

“Very well,” said Artennes, “I suppose I had best not increase the tensions by keeping him waiting. Send him through, we will deal with both issues together.”

Yet another figure walked into the room, wearing the uniform of the executors that James had become so familiar with over the years. He couldn’t help but feel that this man looked a little too young to be in such a high ranking position, he was definitely still in his twenties and he barely fit in with the Vulians at all, his hair a lighter shade of brown and his features not as dark as was normal among Vulians. He wondered if perhaps Darien had very different standards to his predecessor and was reshaping elements of the empire to match his own vision.

“Executor Kyrakian, you were kindly asked to wait until this meeting was concluded,” said Artennes, “surely you would do well not to interrupt this most important of matters.”

“That I was,” Kyrakian said with an air of confidence about him, “however, I believe that the my own concerns are of equal importance to your own. I was sent here by emperor Darien on a matter of utmost importance.”

“Very well,” said Artennes, “what is it that has been troubling your good emperor?”

“Nasty business I’m afraid,” said Kyrakian, “just last week, we sent three ships into the Muiran sector to recover technology from one of our abandoned bases in the area. On reaching the Calestren system, contact with the ships was lost and we have no clue as to what happened to them.”

“The Calestren system?” Said Ansare, “that’s just a short way over from the Stenness system.”

“And right in the vicinity of your home planet, admiral Ansare,” said Kyrakian, “as you can see, this leaves us with a difficult situation. With our ships going missing so close to your world, emperor Darien would like assurances that your people were not behind this incident. We do not want another war with your people right now, not after what the last one cost us.”

“I can assure you, my people were not involved in anyway,” said Ansare, “in fact our own people face the very same problem, two of our ships went missing in exactly the same manner, just a short distance from where your own ships went missing.”

“Interesting,” said Kyrakian, “may I enquire as to the nature of these disappearances?”

“Our ships have been dropping off the grid with no trace and no evidence as to what happened to them,” Artennes explained, “any ship that we have sent out to look for them has also suffered the same fate soon afterwards. The purpose of this meeting today is to look for a solution to this problem before any more ships go missing, either on our side or on yours.”

“Well then, you had better hope you find a solution soon,” Kyrakian warned, “while we do not want another war, there are some among the hierarchy that are suspicious of the fact that our ships went missing so close to Naisus. They suspect revenge attacks for our occupation of your worlds and a few among us have even suggested sending the fleet to Naisus to demand answers in person.”

“I assure you, that wont be necessary,” said Artennes, quickly interjecting before Ansare could say anything in protest, “we are taking this matter incredibly seriously and we have one of our very best taking on the job of tracking down the answers as to what happened.”

James felt Kyrakian’s gaze fall on him for the first time. Given his history with the Vulian emperor, it seemed likely that any among the new hierarchy would recognise his face.

“Ah yes, the one and only James Tavarez,” he said, “I’ve heard a lot about you from emperor Darien. It seems you gave my people quite the run for their money during the revolution, besting Maholaden, Sarkisian and even Valdor in battle. An impressive feat feat for anyone.”

“You know your emperor himself played a big part in these events too,” said James, “should I remind you of his part in these events?”

“You mean the fact that he served with you behind our backs?” Said Kyrakian, “that he left the fleet on a secret mission from praetor Dacia only to end up turning against the hierarchy and lead you and your team of rebels against his own people?”

James was unsure how to respond, he hadn’t expected Darien to be so forthcoming about his betrayals of the Vulian empire. He had expected that the new Vulian emperor would have wanted to keep his part in the events a secret to avoid a major backlash from his people.

“When Darien selected his new potential executors, he was very forthcoming about how he had taken up his new role,” Kyrakian continued, “he told us everything he had done in the war and everything he planned to do in the future and only those of us who shared his visions were to have any place in the fleet and among the new hierarchy. You may be surprised to hear it but there are many among my people who approve of his actions. They feel that without Darien’s actions, the occupation would have stretched our resources and thinned our military numbers so much that we would have eventually torn ourselves apart and the empire would have crumbled. Despite the loss of life that resulted from his actions, he did the right thing for everyone concerned. Now we can discuss who did what in the war as much as we want later on, for now we should focus on resolving the matter at hand.”

Kyrakian reminded James very much of the executor Maholaden whom he had defeated at the battle of Rosian. He was confident, articulate and had strong charisma, all the attributes of a strong leader. He was still young though and likely to be quite impressionable, Darien could definitely still teach him a thing or two. James just hoped that he never had to go up against him in battle, his predecessor had proven to be a very tough opponent and this young executor had something about him not previously seen in a Vulian leader.

“So then captain Tavarez…” Artennes returned them to the subject of the meeting, “. . . now that you have been filled in on the details of the situation, I must ask you to undertake this mission for the alliance. There is something out there in the Blue Ring sector and it is striking at our ships at every possible opportunity. We need you to go out there and discover the identity of who is doing this to us before we lose any more good people. The delegates of the Freedom Alliance have decided that you are by far the best man for the job and we hope that you will see reason and accept this mission. There is a great amount at stake here for everyone.”

“Let me get this straight,” said James, “you want me to take my ship out into the uncharted regions of the Blue Ring sector, find the missing ships, find out what happened to them and report back here without suffering the same fate as the rest of them?”

“That’s exactly what I want from you James,” said Artennes. James made the mission sound so easy when he thought of it like that. There was no way something like this would be simple, it would be a mission unlike any he had ever faced before. After six years of running around chasing raiders and carrying out routine patrols, he was suddenly faced with a mission that would be more dangerous than any he had been given since the end of the revolution. He had to be honest, it was what he had been wanting for some time now.

“I accept the mission,” James said after a minute to ponder it in his head.

“That’s excellent news,” said Artennes, “I will have my people forward all relevant information to your superior officers and…”

“. . . On one condition,” James cut Artennes off mid sentence, drawing sceptical looks from many of the delegates sat around the council table who would not have been used to people speaking to the alliance leaders so informally.