Shadow of the Blue Ring

by Jerome Kelly

  * * * * *

  Ravenn had indeed outdone himself for the evening, the transports that carried the guests to the grand hall of Lahara were nothing less than the most luxurious Churian equivalents of a limousine. The vast majority of the guests had already arrived and were making their way towards the magnificent Grand Hall of Lahara, a building that dwarfed everything around it and was quite honestly, the finest construct in the entire city.

  “I can honestly say that tonight really is going to be a night to remember,” James said as he observed the grand Hall, “I don’t think Ravenn could have picked a better spot if he tried.”

  The Grand Hall was a massive golden-orange building constructed at the centre of one of the many tropical gardens in the city. There was a large stream of guests heading into the hall from the transport hub nearby, many of them the darker skinned Churians but a healthy scattering of the lighter skinned members of the other races among them. One of them in particular caught James’s eyes and he had caught hers too.

  “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Exclaimed an excitable Loca Morelli, “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.”

  “Good to see you Loca,” James said, giving her the complimentary hug, “and don’t worry, there was no way I was going to miss this one, the entire Vulian armada couldn’t have stopped me being here. I was hoping I’d run into you here too.”

  If James was not a married man, he would have had difficulties resisting the temptations of this woman, even she had outdone herself this this time. She was kitted out in a wonderfully stylish black dress that highlighted every one of her near-perfect features. She would be commanding a fair amount of attention over the course of the evening.

  “So… Six years huh?” Said Morelli, “time really has flown by hasn’t it? How have you been?”

  “I’ve been Ok I suppose,” James replied, “things haven’t been easy back home, what with the rebuilding efforts and everything that goes with it. How about you? What happened to you after you got back to Voronia?”

  “Straight back to work, not a day’s break,” said Morelli, “had to start from scratch pretty much, the chimera plans were still aboard the Morning Star when it went down so I lost pretty much everything I had been working for. I guess I thought I wasn’t coming back from that mission and I probably wouldn’t be needing them again. Oh well, I’m working on some new projects now, hopefully I’ll have them ready by the end of the year.”

  Morelli’s chimera suits had probably been the only reason any of them were still alive now. Their protective qualities had helped them survive against impossible odds on the surface of Vulia and live to finish their mission to overthrow the Vulian hierarchy. It was a shame the plans had been lost but with Morelli’s technical capabilities, there was every chance she would deliver something equally as impressive in the near future.

  “Wait… !” Morelli suddenly exclaimed, “is that a ring!?” She had noticed the diamond ring on Isha’s finger, her reaction suggested that word had not reached her ears of James and Isha’s big day.

  “Yes, it is, we’ve been married three years now,” Isha said proudly, displaying her ring finger for Morelli to see.

  “Wow! Well congratulations, I am so happy for you both. Damn it I’m jealous now, I only wish I was as lucky as you two.”

  “No men in your life then? Isha asked her.

  “Ah, I’d rather not go there,” Morelli said awkwardly, it had never been a subject she had been comfortable discussing, that was one thing that hadn’t changed about her, “shall we make our way to the grand hall then?”

  The three of them joined in with the masses heading towards the venue for the night. James could see Kosare among them, kitted out in a very alluring sky-blue dress that was a little shorter and a little lower cut than might be appropriate for the occasion. The girl was hardly known for being shy though. Ansare and his wife Anaya were also visible ahead of them, leading the delegation of Naisans who were in attendance of the party.

  Also recognisable from the last time he had been here were the tall, robotic city guardians, the Arkids, lined up around the grand hall as an extra security force should any trouble break out. They looked different this time though, they had been heavily upgraded with extra armour plating on their legs and now had larger bodies which supported extra weapons. Also among them were a group of much larger constructs, similar in shape but over ten meters tall at least and supporting heavy weapons and multiple pulse cannons, the likes of which were normally seen on armoured vehicles.

  “Like them?” Morelli asked, seeing James’s gaze drawn towards them, “those are Arkons, the Churian defence committee sought out the help of my father’s company to help design them. They didn’t feel that the Arkids alone were powerful enough to stop the more powerful Vulian war machines so they decided to upgrade their defences.”

  “It looks like he did a pretty good job, I wouldn’t want to see an enemy force lead by a legion of those things” James noted, “I’m guessing that isn’t the only thing you’ve been working on since we last saw you though?”

  “No, I’ve been travelling quite a bit over the past three years,” said Morelli, “I’ve been back to Raylia once or twice to examine some of the technology there, I was on Suros a few months ago too, they were working on some new front-line armour for their marines and wanted some of my input. I’ve got a few new toys of my own too, maybe we could start another revolution so I can test them out?”

  “One revolution is more than enough for this lifetime,” James laughed. While he craved excitement and adventure, war was not something he particularly wanted to experience again.

  “I’ll keep it to the testing ranges for now,” Morelli chuckled, “it’s good to know that people are appreciating me for my skills rather than my looks these days. It’s so refreshing to finally be known as the technical genius rather than ‘that hot girl from Edassa’.”

  James, Isha and Morelli made their way up the steps and towards the doors of the grand hall. After showing their invitations and being cleared to enter, only then did the scale of the inside of the building become clear. It was enormous, probably enough to hold four, maybe five thousand people and still have ample room for everyone to move about freely. Clearly that had been the intention of this party too as there were well over two thousand guests already inside. There were several bars offering up all manner of exotic looking drinks, tables all across the sides of the room boasting some interesting looking dishes, many of which had been imported from all around the alliance.

  “Well have a good night anyway,” Morelli said to both James and Isha, “I’m off to find the rest of my delegation but I’ll try and find you around the place a bit later so we can all have a proper catch up.”

  “Hopefully we will,” said James, “enjoy you’re night, we’ll catch you soon.”

  Morelli was quick to disappear into the masses, several dozen pairs of eyes following her as she did so, leaving the two of them alone once more.

  “Well she’s certainly perked up a bit since we last saw her,” Isha commented, “it’s nice to see the attitude is gone too, I was afraid she would relapse to her old ways after the war.”

  “I think she was just misunderstood this whole time,” said James, “let’s be honest, we were all outcasts, rebels and troublemakers when we came together. Look at us now, alliance heroes and guests of honour at the biggest multi-race event since the founding of the new alliance. Come on, I want to see what they have on offer here tonight, I think we should check out the bars.”

  James surveyed the many offerings on show, drinks from all over the alliance. He made a note to avoid a particularly nasty looking Tolian drink, the name for which, another guest informed him, translated to the word ‘knockout’. For now, he was happy to settle for something a bit lighter to start the evening off, ordering himself something all the way from Naisus, which was known for p
roducing an excellent quality of alcoholic beverages.

  “I have to admit, this local stuff isn’t bad,” Isha noted as she took a rather excessive sip for her glass, trying out some of the popular Churian wines.

  “You and me both,” said a familiar voice from behind them. James spun around to see a familiar face approaching the two of them.

  “James, I hoped I would run into you tonight,” said the imposing figure of Karlo Danero, the last surviving member of the famed Lorridan defence legion, “the old crew back together again for a night, it’s good to be back.”

  “Good to see you again Karlo,” James said, shaking Danero’s hand, wincing slightly at the strength of his iron grip, “how have you been?”

  “I’ve been Ok,” Danero replied, “honestly, I wasn’t sure how I would recover from everything that happened on Vulia but, after spending some time away from the military, things started to improve. I feel like my old self again now, I feel like I’m doing something good again too.”

  “Glad to hear it,” said James, “so if you haven’t gone back to the military, what have you been doing? I thought the military was your life?”

  “It still is, partly, I just wanted to stay off the front lines for a while,” Danero explained, “when I returned to Voronia, I appealed to our leaders to allow me to rebuild the Lorridan defence legion. They actually went one better, they funded a new academy in Lorridan to help train the very best young men and women we have. It’s an elite training centre that will bring through a new generation of soldier that will help defend the alliance all across the galaxy and I’m one of the lead trainers and the academy’s lead benefactor.”

  He had certainly done well for himself in the past years. James had always worried that Danero would struggle to get over what he had been through, the revolution, his exile on Dakora, watching his entire unit being torn apart before him and the death of his close friend Valeri Castellan. It was a lot for one man to bear but Danero was as tough as nails, he had survived the worst of it and things had become a lot better for him.

  “I see you’ve done fairly well for yourself too,” said Danero, “a captain in the Human fleet at such a young age, not many people gain such a position in such a short space of time.”

  “Just lucky I guess,” James shrugged, “it’s not like I ever asked Malaya to whisk me away and make me the captain of the her ship and lead the revolution.”

  “Well you certainly made the most of what happened to you,” said the other man who was stood at Danero’s side. James had not met this man before, he was young, early twenties at the oldest with jet black hair and a face that was scarily familiar to him. This must have been who Melina had mentioned before and she was right about his familiarity.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Danero said suddenly, “James, let me introduce you to my godson, Julio Castellan.”

  Castellan? This was the eldest son of James’s former crew member Valeri Castellan? It certainly explained why his face was so familiar, he was an actual younger version of his father. If he was half the man his father was, he would go on to become a great soldier in the Voronian military one day.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Julio, “Karlo has told me all about you and your time during the revolution. I hear it was an adventure unlike anything we’ve ever seen in the history of the alliance.”

  “Well it was certainly an experience,” said James, “and you know you look just like your father. He was a brave man, it was a pleasure to serve alongside him during the revolution, he died a hero of the alliance.”

  “I wouldn’t have expected any less from him,” said Julio, who was making no disguise of his pride at the identity of his father, “he was always highly regarded among our people. If I know him, he probably took a hundred of them with him when he went down.”

  “Young Julio here is very much his father’s son,” said Danero, “his aptitude tests are in the top five percent at the academy and he is already in line to follow his father’s footsteps into the new Lorridan defence legion. He’s a very hardworking individual and I’m sure his father would be proud of what he is in line to achieve.”

  “It’s also why I was so keen to get away here for a week,” Julio added, “not much time for holidays when you’re training to join one of the most respected military units in the alliance.”

  “It sounds like you’ve earned a break,” said James, “and you’re sticking around the entire week?”

  “I will be, yes,” said Julio, “Karlo is heading back tomorrow evening but I’ll be around for most of the week. I don’t know if you’ve been to Lorridan before but if you have, you’ll know it doesn’t see too much of the sun during it’s winter months. A week on the beach in the city of Lahara will be a nice break from my usual routine.”

  James knew that all too well and it seemed to be a recurring theme among every one of his old crew, they had all been desperately needing this. It was pleasing to see Castellan’s son doing so well for himself, James knew how hard it could be living for so long without a father figure in his life. While Valeri himself may no longer have been with them, under the guidance of Danero, his son was well and truly on his way to succeeding him, provided he didn’t get distracted along the way.

  “Well I need to be heading off to the stage,” Danero announced, “I’m on the honours list for the night for exceptional contribution to the rebuilding of the alliance. A fair few of us are up there tonight I think.”

  “Interesting,” said Isha, trying and failing to hide a smirk, “James, I wonder why you weren’t selected for one of those.”

  “Oh it’s something to do with honouring those who have made the biggest contribution to the efforts since the re-founding of the alliance,” said Julio, “Karlo is up there for his efforts rebuilding out military. I’m not sure why they didn’t put you on there though, I can only assume the general has something else planned for you.”

  “Well I can’t wait,” James chuckled, “knowing him it will be the last possible thing I could expect him to do.”

  “There is definitely something planned,” Danero grinned, “but I can’t tell you what it is, actually I’m not a hundred percent sure myself but I would be ready to speak, that is all I’m gonna say.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” said James. He had the sneaking suspicion that this was a possibility right from the start. Julio remained with the two of them as Danero made his way to the area behind the stage area at the far side of the hall.

  “Hey, Isha,” Julio piped up, “that girl over there, is she a friend of yours?”

  She looked around to see Julio indicating towards Melina who was in conversation with a group of various dignitaries behind them.

  “That’s Kaydenne, my cousin,” said Isha, “why are you asking?”

  “She’s cute,” Julio grinned, “maybe you could introduce me to her sometime?”

  “Nice try,” Isha scowled, “you seem like a decent guy Julio but I would ask that you keep your hands off her, she’s had a hard time with men recently, it’s best not to stir things up, especially tonight.”

  “Oh yeah, she dated Jovan Artennes’s son didn’t she?” said Julio, “I heard about that, hard luck I guess. Plenty more fish in the ocean though, right?”

  “As long as you aren’t trying to get Kaydenne on your hook, fish away,” said Isha, “there are plenty of other women here, why not go and try your luck with them?”

  “I may just do,” Julio said with a cheeky smile on his face, scanning the room for his next target, his eyes falling on one figure in particular, “hello, what do we have here?”

  It took James a moment to notice who Julio was eyeing up but as soon as he did, he had to struggle to contain his amusement, Julio would be treading very dangerous water if he tried to go there.

  “Don’t even think about it Julio,” James said, mixture of laughter and warning in his
voice, “she will seriously mess you up.”

  “Oh come on, anyone who has that much on show is clearly looking for attention,” Julio chuckled, “how bad could it be?”

  “Tell me he isn’t thinking of hitting on who I think he is,” Isha whispered into James ear, watching Julio glide over to where the red headed figure of Jaiden Kosare stood in conversation with a couple of very captivated dignitaries, “the poor kid has no idea what he is letting himself in for.”

  They could not hear exactly what Julio said to her over the background noise of the party but it had obviously caused her to instantly swing around to face him, the look on her face absolutely priceless, James had been about to step forward towards them but Isha held him back, giggling as she did so.

  “Shouldn’t we try and stop him?”

  “Are you kidding, this could be great entertainment?” Isha chuckled, “poor kid will get ripped apart.”

  “Who’s that getting ripped apart?” Came the latest in a series of familiar voices from behind them as they watched on. James swivelled around, diverting his attention from the amusing scene before them to see the tall, dashing figure of Kasha Saavoy stood there before him.

  “Thought you would never show up,” said James, giving him the complimentary handshake, “some of the others thought you might not be coming tonight, it’s good to see you again.”

  “Likewise, captain Tavarez,” said Saavoy, “only you’re officially captain Tavarez now. I bet that feels a lot better than being a revolutionary captain does it not?”

  “Sometimes I think I liked the revolutionary captain part better than the official part,” said James, “back then I wasn’t bound by all these rules, it’s all a bit different now. Must be easy for you being an admiral though.”

  “Not always,” said Saavoy, “remember, I have to spend pretty much all day every day co-ordinating the fleet and the rebuilding efforts on the surface of Malorii. Which reminds me… Isha, I would like to pass on a word of thanks to your people’s government for all the help they have given us over the past years.”