Shadow of the Blue Ring

by Jerome Kelly

  The message ended there as Carmona’s holographic image faded away and the console went quiet. Isha felt so sorry for him, for his crew and for all the families left behind by this tragedy. They had been sent out here blindly by the council for some Jaiytid device that they knew almost nothing about. It was a sad waste of life.

  “Lets find that sensor packet and get going,” said a slightly red-faced Isha, “this place… I don’t want to be here anymore.”

  “Give me a minute,” said Melina, opening up a panel under the console, “I’ll need a few seconds to remove it and… oh no…”

  “Please tell me its not more bad news…”

  “I think this is our sensor packet,” Melina held up a small, burned out device for the others to see. If that was it, then it was no use to anyone now.

  “This wasn’t done by the crash,” Ansare noted as he took the device from Melina, “this has been burned by gunfire. Someone wanted to keep whatever was on here a secret from us.”

  “Great,” Isha grumbled, “so after all that, we get nothing. Is there anything else in here that we could use?”

  “There are a few more logs from later in the journey but none of them say anything we don’t already know,” said Melina, “there is one thing though, a recorded conversation between captain Carmona and his first officer, commander Luquen Velez, from just before the mission was launched. I’ll see if I can get it playing…”

  She brought the projector to life once more however the quality of image was gradually getting worse, the backup generators were close to running out of power.

  “You wished to see me, commander?” Said the holographic Carmona.

  “I did indeed, sir,” said Velez, “and I ask permission to speak freely.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Captain, I wish to submit a written note of objection to this mission,” said Velez, placing a data-pad on the desk in front of his captain, “it has the signatures of all fourteen of the command officers who have been told the details of this mission. I ask that you consider appealing against the decision to send us to the Blue Ring to the admirals. This is not a mission that lord Artennes should just be able to ask of us, he might be the leader of the council but he has no sovereign authority over the decisions made by the Churian admirals within their own fleet.”

  “Lord Artennes is only asking us because he knows that our researchers and exploration teams are the best within the alliance,” said Carmona, “it is a compliment to our people that he trusts us above his own to do this job for him.”

  “Compliment or not, this is the Blue Ring sector that we are talking about,” Velez’s tone was quickly turning sour, “have you not heard the stories that surround this region, about all the regions surrounding alliance space. Crews patrolling near the borders of the Blue Ring sector have reported seeing phantom-like creatures that appear for a fleeting second then disappear as suddenly as they appeared and…”

  “They are just stories commander,” said a very calm Carmona, “it is simple mass hysteria and no more than the result of people’s brains playing tricks on them, making them see things that aren’t there.”

  “Captain, these occurrences happen beyond all four sides of alliance space,” Velez insisted, “what about the Malorian explorers seeing ghost like figures near the Silkhen Veil in the Varduran sector, or when the Akrians used to claim…”

  “That’s enough commander,” Carmona dismissed him, “superstition and hysteria, all of it. We cannot afford to be afraid of myths and make-believe beings when we have a very real mission that has been given to us by the leader of the alliance council himself. We will travel to the Blue Ring and we will find the… we will…”

  “Damn it, powers gone,” Melina grumbled as the recording froze and once more faded from sight, “just as he was about to tell us what this thing was too.”

  “I’m not quite sure I understand,” said Isha, “what is all this about ‘phantom-like creatures’ and supposed ghosts that these people claim to have seen.”

  “It all dates back to the first expeditions by Malorian explorers into the far side of the Varduran sector about one hundred and eighty years ago,” Saavoy explained, “there is a large nebula on the far side that runs along the far border of the sector that we call the Silkhen veil. Every crew that attempted to make an expedition to any region of space near it would report wild hallucinations and ghost-like creatures appearing before them. Crews would go mad just trying to go near that region of space. Ever since then, crews of all the alliance races have been afraid to pass too far from the centre of explored space and it has given rise to all sorts of rumours and wild speculation. My guess it that the hysteria surrounding this sector is no more than wild imaginings brought about as a result of the old stories though.”

  “It all sounds pretty childish to me,” said Isha, “there is no such thing as ghosts, these guys are clearly just prepared to believe anything that they hear. They’ve probably just passed to close to a space anomaly that has messed around their ship’s systems and caused them headaches and made them confused.”

  “Even if the ghosts are not, whoever did this is very much real,” said Ansare, “I don’t think there is anything left for us down here, we aren’t going to get this working again.”

  “Let’s get back to the ship then,” said Isha, “I think we’re… wait! What was that!?”

  The group quickly went silent, they had heard a noise coming from one of the corridors near the bridge. All four of them instinctively drew their weapons but no sooner had they heard it, everything was silent again, save for the occasional spark from the damaged systems around them.

  “What was that?” Isha whispered, “you think someone is here?”

  “We should check it out,” said Saavoy, heading for the doorway, “we might not be alone here.”

  Isha felt uncomfortable but she followed Saavoy out of the room and down the opposite corridor to the one they had come in through. All this lights down the corridor were out and it was pitch black, there was nothing to be seen at all.

  “Kaldun, the flashlight?”

  “One second…” Ansare switched on his light, illuminating the corridor, “. . . OH GOD!”

  The corridor was full of at least a dozen more bodies, all bearing the same markings as the previous ones. It was a horrific sight and Isha’s stomach could not take any more, she turned and threw up.

  “Isha! You Ok?” Melina quickly moved to support her, “damn, you look a state, come on, we have to get you out of here.”

  Feeling nauseous and very disturbed, she allowed Melina to help her to her feet and the group quickly turned around and headed back in the direction they had first come through. None of them stopped to look around, it was straight back to the breach in the side of the ship and back down the rocks towards the shuttle. There was no sign of any more bodies, nor of whoever had done this but none of them fancied staying around any longer than they already had. As soon as they reached the flyer, Melina instantly started it up and got them off the ground.

  “Glad we’re out of there,” Ansare let out a sigh of relief, “I hope I never have to see another sight like that for as long as I live. Whoever did this… well they really have it coming to them now.”

  As the flyer made it’s way back up to the atmosphere, they received a hail from the Evening Star. James must have been trying to get a hold of them.

  “This is captain Tavarez to away team,” James’s voice came over the comm system, “we have detected your signature on the move, is everything Ok down there?”

  “We’re all accounted for and on our way back to the ship now,” said Melina, “our search of the ship didn’t tell us anything that we didn’t already suspect I’m afraid.”

  “Damn, you too huh?” From his tone, James’s search must have also turned up no new data, “very well, get yourselves back up here and we’ll p
lan our next move.”

  “Will do,” said Melina, “oh and James, you might want to check in on Isha when we get back, she isn’t doing so well down here.”

  “Huh? Is she Ok? What’s wrong with her.”

  “I’m Fine!” Isha insisted, although the truth was that she felt terrible. The sight of that second set of mutilated bodies, just left there like dead animals had really disturbed her. She was pale and trembling and Melina’s flying was not improving the situation.

  “Just hurry back, I’ll see you all in a few minutes,” James said before closing the channel to the shuttle.

  “You don’t have to worry him like that, I promise I’m fine,” Isha lied.

  “Well you don’t look fine, you look a mess,” Melina contested, “and you smell of sick too, you need to go and lie down in your quarters for a few hours.”

  “She’s right, you do look a little unwell, Isha,” Saavoy agreed, “don’t take any risks, we need everyone at the best for this mission. We all know that we can’t have James worrying about your health when he needs to be focussing on the mission.”

  “Yeah, fine, Ok, I’ll take some time out,” Isha said groggily, “just keep it steady Kaydenne, I want to keep the rest of my food down.”

  Isha said nothing for the rest of the journey back to the ship. As Melina took the flyer back into the hangar, she could see James waiting there for her, likely wanting to check in on her condition.

  “Hey, Isha, what’s going on?” James quickly accosted her as she disembarked, “you look terrible, what’s wrong?”

  “I’ll be fine, we just had a run in with some leftovers from whoever attacked the place,” said Isha, trying to maintain an air of someone not feeling under the weather, “it wasn’t a pretty sight, that’s all.”

  “It looks like more than that,” James noted, “you should go and get some rest, take a few hours off, you’ll feel better after a while.”

  “Yeah, I will do,” Isha said faintly, it was all she felt like saying. She could tell that James had things on his mind that he wanted to talk to her about but all she needed for the moment was time to rest and get over the whole ordeal on the planet below.

  “Bridge to captain Tavarez…” the voice of helmsman Daniels said over the hangar bay’ comm system, “captain, are you down there?”

  “I’m here Daniels, what’s going on?”

  “We’re picking up a distress call sir,” said Daniels, “we think it’s Tolian.”

  “Tolian?” This could be the break James had been waiting for with the mission, “can you get a lock on it?”

  “We think so, we’ve narrowed it down to about 5 million kilometres,” said Daniels, “once we get closer, we should be able to get an exact fix on it. It’s approximately four hours from our current location.”

  “Set a course Daniels,” said James, “get us there at maximum speed, this could be our best lead.”

  James indicated for the others on the crew to follow him back up to the bridge. Isha grudgingly made her way to the opposite side of the bay and in the direction of the crew quarters and the captain’s cabin. She didn’t want to miss out on the action but the way she was feeling now… she would only hinder the mission rather then help it. Maybe a few hours to rest up and recharge would do her good. It certainly couldn’t do her any harm.

  Chapter Seven

  The Blue Ring

  It had been two hours since Isha had returned to the ship from her away mission and the sickly feeling in her stomach would not go away. There was something about those horrifying images from back on the crashed Churian ship that she could simply not get out of her head. It was as if the terrifying images had manifested themselves into a physical illness, haunting her every waking moment. She had been unable to keep any food down since, everything was just coming straight back up

  The door to her quarters opened. Isha looked around expecting to see James come in but instead it was her cousin Melina who came into the room. For someone who had witnessed the same scenes as she had, she had come out of it awfully calm and mentally unscathed. She had always had a good heart on her as well as a strong stomach.

  “Wow, you look like you’ve been to hell and back, Isha,” she said, “what’s going on with you down here? James is worried about you.”

  “I don’t know,” Isha grimaced, “I just haven’t felt right since we got back to the ship. That sight… I just can’t get it out of my head, I’ll never forget it for as long as I live.”

  “I know it was horrific but we can’t let the thoughts linger, you have to push them to one side,” said Melina, “try focusing on something more positive. I’m sure you must have some happy memories you could focus on instead? Maybe yours and James’s honeymoon, I hear you had quite the time?”

  “Oh yeah, it was a great week,” Isha smiled, “well it only ended up lasting a week, it was supposed to be a whole month but the admirals being the way they are, they called us back in.”

  “So what are the attractions on Earth like?” Melina asked, “does it match up to the attractions back home?”

  “We spent a week in Lisbon,” said Isha, “it was part of James’s home nation and he wanted to spend some time there. Lovely city, nice beaches and nice attractions. It was the last proper holiday we had until a few days ago. I was so looking forward to a… oh no, not again.”

  She had felt it coming once more and had to rush for the bathroom. It was the fifth time in two hours and it wasn’t showing any signs of going away.

  “This is getting silly now,” Isha grumbled as she slumped back down on the bed, “doesn’t matter what I do, every time that image pops into my head, I suddenly want to chuck. I don’t know why this is affecting me so much.”

  Melina put a hand to Isha’s head and then onto the glands on her neck.

  “You are a bit warm,” she noted, “it could be that you just have a stomach illness that was aggravated by what you saw and making you feel physically sick. Or you could be having a reaction to your anti-viral meds, it is a common side-effect.”

  “No, I finished my course of medication three months ago, it can’t be that,” said Isha, referring to the cure that her government had developed for the mystery Xerion virus that had been infecting the Andurian race for so many years, upsetting the balance of population. Isha’s virus had now been totally cured but many Andurians were still having to take said medication. Despite this, in the past year, there had been signs of a slight increase in the number of boys born as opposed to the number of girls and a sign that the population may eventually stabilise.

  “Wonderful time to fall ill,” Isha sighed. While she needed to be on top of her game, instead she found herself hanging around her quarters feeling sorry for herself. She knew James would be understanding though, he always was but she couldn’t help but feel she was letting the crew down a bit by being here.

  “How long until it passes do you reckon?” Isha asked, “maybe just a day or two or do you think I can be back up there in a couple of hours?”

  “Depends on how you feel,” said Melina, “is it just the sickness or is there something else bothering you.”

  “I don’t know…” she began, “. . . I guess I was feeling a little hot and bothered a day or two before we came out here. I assumed it was just the heat on Churo though, it can be overwhelming sometimes.”

  “Now that I think about it, you do look a little swollen,” Melina observed, “maybe it could be… oh no… Isha, I think you might be pregnant.”

  “WHAT!? No, I can’t be… you’re serious?” Of all the possible times for Isha to hear this news, it was most certainly not this one, “how can I be pregnant? Why now of all times?”

  “Well, when was your last cycle due?”

  “Oh crap!” She had almost completely forgotten about it. Considering what they had been through in the last few days it was understandable that
it may have slipped her mind but also a little irresponsible of her not to notice, “I was due a week ago, I should have noticed I was late.”

  “What are you going to tell James?” Melina asked, “he’s really caught up in the mission, giving him news like this would really upset things, he might freak out a little.”

  “I’m not going to tell him anything, not until I know for certain,” said Isha, “no point worrying him until we know one way or another. If I am pregnant then I’ll have to tell him when this mission is over and we’re back on Earth.”

  “I guess that would be for the best,” Melina agreed, “I know this is probably really awkward for you but I’m sure you must be feeling happy too, right? This means that you and James can finally settle and start a real family.”

  “I know, it’s what I’ve always wanted,” Isha cracked a smile for the first time in days, “from the first few days I knew James, I knew he was the one I wanted to spend my life with, start a family with but… now that the time has come… I’m afraid. I’m not sure what to do.”

  “Once all of this is resolved, I know you two will go back to being a happy family,” Melina reassured her, “once we’re back in Valoran space, you two can run off into the sunset like one of those couples from the movies, live happily ever after.”

  “Lets hope so…”

  Isha had spent so long wanting this but she had been totally unprepared for how it would feel when it finally happened. She had always wanted the conceiving of her first child to be special but as it was, the news was more of an inconvenience for them all. James would not be opposed to this occurrence as a whole, she knew that he too had plans for them to one day become parents and besides, it would be their ticket out of the fleet for a while, they could both finally get away and be a family just as they had always wanted to do. Until then, it was just a case of completing the mission and ensuring that there would be a happy ever after for them to go back to.