Shadow of the Blue Ring

by Jerome Kelly

  “Captain,” Julio nodded as they passed by, “come to check on our progress on locating the Shadow Bringer?”

  “I just wanted to see if you had found anything useful yet,” said James, “I’m surprised to see you down here though, I though you and Jaiden still weren’t on the best of terms.”

  “She’s warming up to me,” Julio smiled, “just like I said she would. She hasn’t accepted my offer of meeting her in the ship’s bar for a drink yet but I’m taking it one step at a time. I though I might as well make myself useful while I can though, there is a lot of stuff here and Jaiden can use all the help she can get.”

  “Well keep at it,” said James, “if you find anything, just give us a yell.”

  James carried on through the cargo bay towards where Kosare was lain underneath the two pieces of the Shadow Bringer, likely examining them for hidden clues. All around where she was working, she had pinned up the images she had collected from the underground hangar. The Jaiytids who had hidden the two components had left their fair share of cryptic clues and puzzles behind and solving them may have been their ticket to finding what they needed. Kosare looked like she had seen better days, her red hair was matted and tangled and her face was dirty. She looked exhausted but she continued to work.

  “You look like hell,” James commented on her appearance, “when was the last time you slept?”

  “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” Kosare slid out from underneath the pieces of the weapon that she had been examining, “who else is gonna solve this damn Jaiytid puzzle? Besides, I think I might be onto something.”

  “If you have anything, now would be a good time to tell us,” said Isha, “have you found any clues as to the last piece of the weapon?”

  “Well, no, not yet,” said Kosare, “but… I did find this kind of weird inscription on the underside of the second piece… well actually Julio found it. When he’s not too busy checking out my ass, he’s actually been quite useful.”

  “Yeah, he mentioned that you were on better terms now,” James chuckled, “apparently you’re still holding off on his offer of a date though.”

  “Just because I’m being nice to him, doesn’t mean I want to get busy in the sheets with him,” said Kosare, “besides, who in their right mind takes a girl on a date to a ship’s bar? I want sunsets, beaches and cocktails, maybe even a romantic meal afterwards. In case you didn’t notice, we don’t exactly have an abundance of those around here. Anyway, I’m too busy to think about it right now. I’ve been working on translating this inscription, I’m not quite finished yet but I’m getting there. I think it might at least be able to point us in the right direction.”

  Kosare got to her feet and made her way over to the desk where she was keeping all of her documents and her recordings from Sharstrom. James meanwhile, couldn’t resist having a look at the many star charts pinned up around the place, not to mention all the cryptic images displaying events from Jaiytid mythology. They had never really had time to discuss it all before, the Al’cari had shown up far too quickly and forced them to move on in a hurry. James did recognise some of the maps though.

  “This one is a map of the Blue Ring is it not?” He asked, indicating to the star chart with a large blue mass on it, parts of which Kosare had scribbled on with a marker, “are these marks to show the possible locations that the Jaiytids could have hidden the Shadow Bringer?”

  “No, I was just marking down the locations of some interesting ruins,” said Kosare, “the last piece is definitely not in the Blue Ring, I’ve not found anything hinting at it being out there. You have to remember though, the third piece of the weapon was on Raylia which is in the Galante sector and that is a long way from the Blue Ring. I’m pretty sure the last piece is somewhere outside these two sectors.”

  “But no idea as to which one?”

  “Well, no, not yet, but listen to this,” Kosare said as she picked up the half-translated images of the inscription on the Shadow Bringer, “Listen to this… ’A secret long hidden from the galaxy, a power to be awakened in a time of reckoning. When all else fails, when the darkness falls upon the galaxy that cannot be turned back, an ancient device will be unleashed that will claim the very fire of your enemy’s hearts. For when the wrath of Caedius is unleashed, the power of the sun itself shall turn all before it to dust . . .”

  “Wow, are you sure you’ve translated this right, Jaiden?” Isha laughed, “it sounds like Shakespeare in space.”

  “It probably isn’t a perfect translation but it’s the best I can do,” Kosare gave her a bit of a glare, clearly very proud of her ability to translate ancient languages, “I think it’s meant to be cryptic to confuse other races that might try to translate it. But that isn’t the best bit though, the next bit could be what we’re looking for… ’the power within the device is one that is not to see the light of day. Many will seek to use such power for their own evil ambitions but the wrath of Caedius is a power that is meant only to smite those who follow the ways of evil. Therefore, the wrath of the gods is to be divided and is to be taken so deep into the darkness of space that none shall find it, save for those who seek it to use it’s power for good. The device itself shall be sealed in the ground where none shall dare tread, in a place known to no living man, forever lying in the shadow of the Blue Ring, waiting for the time when one who is virtuous shall uncover it’s deadly secrets.”

  “I still don’t get it,” said James, “I agree with Isha, this sounds like it has been take out of some kind of old fashioned play. ‘In the shadow of the Blue Ring’ huh… that must be the piece that the Adean fleet discovered, before the Al’cari came in and stole it from them.”

  “Right, thats exactly what I was thinking,” Kosare agreed, “but there are three other pieces to find, so I translated on to see what I could find. It turns out that the final part of the inscription is divided into three parts though so I’m going to assume that each one hints at the location of one of the hidden parts of the weapon. ‘Under a watch of silver, a blessing of fire and ice upon it, we shall keep that which sends forth the power of the gods where the people will ever walk above it but know not of what lies beneath where they stand. Where once there was death, we give life to a world that could not bear fruit of it’s own accord and we shall bestow upon it another gift, we shall give it that which claims the very souls of those who seek to defile the gifts of life. At the roots of our very being, we shall place that which gives life to the gods’ wrath. In a spring that was a father to us all, we shall forever leave a reminder of the evil that man can bring to the galaxy. It shall stay safe from harm and from those who would seek to unleash it until it be found in a virtuous light by the second coming of the children of Caedius.”

  “Children of Caedius… it must mean the Jaiytids,” said James, “from the sounds of it, I would say that whoever left this thing lying around wanted someone to find it but only someone who would not use it for an evil purpose.”

  “Right, and that is why they left these clues, only a Jaiytid or someone who speaks their ancient language can solve them,” said Kosare, “but I still don’t really know what any of this means, hell I don’t even know if I translated it correctly.”

  James pondered it over in his head for a moment. Kosare was right, this was a puzzle and a half, meant for someone far wiser and more intelligent than he was. What did it all mean?

  “Wait a minute…” Isha piped up, “. . . a gift of fire and ice… it could be an extreme of hot and cold… it’s Sharstrom! ‘The people will walk above it and yet they shall not know what lies beneath them,’ it must be referring to the city on Sharstrom!”

  “Yes! Thats it!” Kosare exclaimed, “Isha, you’re a genius. I could kiss you right now but I don’t want to make your husband jealous. So thats the first one, what about the second one… ‘where once there was death, we give life to a world . . .’ it’s Raylia! A world terraformed from a dead rock, given
life that it was unable to support on it’s own.”

  “Right, thats the first three down,” Isha said excitedly, “but what about the last one. ‘The roots of our very being . . . a spring that was father to us all . . .’ do you have any idea what this could mean?”

  “I think the clue is in these,” Kosare indicated to the images of Jaiytid mythology, “I’m not sure though… Caedius was the greatest of the Jaiytid gods but the planet Caedius was destroyed in the war with the Xerions before this weapon was divided up. It couldn’t be there.”

  “What about the story of Tolassa you were telling us about?” James asked, “it looked like it was a pretty major part of the clues? Maybe something she did in the story?”

  “I think the story of Tolassa was more about the device itself,” said Kosare, “what with her swallowing up the sun and everything, I think it was a reference to the power of the weapon and what it could do. Wait a minute…” Kosare made her way back to one of the star charts she had been examining, “. . . the spring… what about Juyoa’s spring?”

  Kosare indicated to a small green and blue nebula in the Valoran sector. It was small, only encasing about seven individual systems.

  “My people have been there before,” said James, “as far as we can tell, there are no planets in the region capable of supporting life, never mind matching up to being the ‘roots of our very being’. What was Juyoa’s spring in the stories?”

  “Well Juyoa was the Jaiytid god of the sea,” said Kosare, “I guess they named our world after him because it’s mostly ocean. Juyoa’s spring was the source of all water in the realm of the gods, flowing out and watering the many other realms where the other gods resided. I can’t see any other references to a spring in the mythology though, I must have made a mistake somewhere.”

  “What if it isn’t the spring itself,” said James, “what if it was something related to the spring. It mentioned something about ‘the spring that was father to us all.’ Did Juyoa’s spring give life to anything at all in particular?”

  “It gave the world it’s water but that is about it,” said Kosare, “it distributed water to every part of the world, even to the palace of Caedius himself. The water from the spring flowed into his palace and created a fountain that… gave life! Oh my god! It’s not the spring, it’s the fountain!”

  “The fountain? What do you mean?”

  “It’s referring to the thing that gave life to all the Jaiytids!” Kosare exclaimed, “James, it’s Alatennia! It’s the Jaiytid homeworld, its named after the spring inside the palace of Caedius that gave life to all mortal beings. ‘The roots of our very being,’ it all makes sense! James, the last piece of the Shadow Bringer is on Alatennia.”

  “Jaiden, are you sure about this?” James said with a very serious tone, “we can’t afford a mistake right now, are you one hundred percent sure?”

  “No other place in the galaxy fits the description, I’m sure about this,” Kosare insisted, “James, we have to go there right now, before the Al’cari have the chance to launch any kind of attack on the alliance.”

  “This wont be a short trip,” Isha said as she looked over Kosare’s maps, “we’re still over a day away from Tolis. From there its a further seventeen hours to the Yangtze sector and Alatennia is in a pretty distant part the sector. It’s a four day trip, even at maximum speed. If you include the return trip, the Al’cari could wipe out half the alliance fleets in the time it takes us to get there and back.”

  “If the Al’cari are looking for us, dragging them far away from alliance space could be just what we need,” said James, “Jaiden, I’m going to trust your judgement…” James quickly opened a channel to the bridge, “. . . helmsman Daniels, change of plan. We’re not going to Tolis, I need you to set a course for Alatennia and I need every last bit of speed you can get out of this ship.”

  “Alatennia? Sir, are you serious? That’s a hell of a long way.”

  “Then you’ll have to find something to keep yourself busy along the way. The last piece of the Shadow Bringer is there and we need to find it before the Al’cari do. We’re going.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Daniels, “adjusting course now.”

  “Great, keep me updated on our progress,” James said as he closed the channel, turning back to Isha and Kosare, “Jaiden, I need you to keep looking through the clues, see if you can narrow down the location. I don’t fancy having to search an entire planet.”

  “I’ll get right on it,” said Kosare, “I’m sure there’s something in here that might mention where on the planet they hid it.”

  “As for you and me…” James indicated to Isha, “. . . we should get back to the others, I’m sure they’ll want to hear the good news. We’ve got a lot of work to do and a lot of plans to make before we arrive.”

  Finally, they had the location of the last piece of the ancient Jaiytid weapon. James trusted in Kosare’s instincts and her reasonings made sense. Where better to hide a piece of their ultimate weapon than on their own home planet, likely somewhere deep beneath the surface, hidden where they believed no Xerion or any other alien wanting to use it for evil could find it. They had a long journey ahead of them but with any luck, they would reach their destination and return before the Al’cari discovered the location of any alliance worlds. There was a very strong possibility that the Al’cari might follow them to Alatennia and they were going to have to be ready in case their new enemy did come calling. They were close now though… close to finding the final piece of the puzzle and ending the conflict.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Forgotten Homeworld

  The discovery of the location of the last piece of the Shadow Bringer had triggered an initial flurry of activity aboard the Evening Star. Within minutes, James’s team pooled together to construct a plan of action for locating and retrieving the weapon. Morelli got to work in the armoury with Connolly and several members of the engineering crew to put together some extra weapons, just as she had done in the days of the revolution. Saavoy, meanwhile, spent a fair amount of time in the gym, continuing his rehabilitation from his injury, Julio and Ansare joining him for a few rounds of sparring. James, meanwhile, worked with Lucy, Kalmar and Kyrakian, as well as Isha and Melina on working out a plan of action for the next time they encountered the Al’cari.

  What had been an eventful few days was soon to come to an end as the Evening Star tore through the Yangtze sector at maximum speed, heading for the forgotten homeworld of the Jaiytids, Alatennia. No crew from any alliance world had ever visited the world of their ancestors, none of them knew of it’s location or it’s existence. Only through Iyacs’s knowledge were they able to travel to the ancient and lost planet that now held the final piece of the Shadow Bringer. Within a matter of hours, they would arrive and they would attempt to recover the final piece of the ancient weapon.

  James had returned to his quarters to get a few hours of rest before the action began. He had wanted to have some time to himself, time to look back and reflect over everything that had previously gone on and to ponder just how much things were soon to change for him. A battle against the Al’cari to decide the fate of the Shadow Bringer, the consequences of his actions when he returned to the council, becoming a father for the first time, a possibility of peace with the Vulian empire… there were so many things that could change both his and the alliance’s future that were about to happen. It was nice to just have a moment of peace, some time he could spend alone with just himself and his thoughts. As tended to happen more often than not though, there was a knock at his door, disturbing the quiet around him.

  “Come in,” James called to whoever was waiting outside. The door slid open and James was slightly surprised to see that it was Julio who made his way into the room.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting,” he said, taking a moment to observe the inside of the captain’s cabin, “wow… so this is what I have to look forward
to when I become a captain one day.”

  “Don’t get too used to it” James chuckled, “I doubt it’ll be mine for much longer. The council will probably ensure I go ‘on a break’ once we get back. Artennes wont take too kindly to being defied like this. So anyway, what can I do for you?”

  “I was doing a little bit of research actually,” said Julio, taking the spare seat in James’s quarters, “remember when we found those bodies back on the derelict Tolian cruiser? The way they had been mutilated?”

  “How could I forget,” James shuddered at the thought of those poor Tolian officers who had been so brutally murdered and had their bodies lain out as trophies. Isha had reported seeing something similar on the crashed Churian ships although her stomach had not been so strong in the face of the horrors.

  “Well it got me thinking…” Julio continued, “. . . I remember when you spoke to Iyacs back on Raylia about the Al’cari. It told you that they were once a proud race, very fine warriors and that they had honour, even if they were fighting the Antalaea empire for unknown reasons. After their display against the alliance fleet, it got me thinking, how could an intelligent race such as this do such barbaric things to the bodies of their enemies?”

  “They seemed pretty crazy when we faced them on Sharstrom,” said James, “they didn’t look too clever back then, they attacked like wild animals.”

  “No, I don’t think so,” said Julio, “remember when Saavoy fought the leader of the group, the others stood back and formed a circle to allow them to duel one against one. No race acting like wild animals would stop to allow a challenge in that manner and so I do not think that the Al’cari are the ones responsible for the mutilation that we saw, I think they may still retain some of their old ways.”

  “An interesting statement,” said James, “but so far we have only met two races in this conflict so far… the Adeans and the Al’cari. We know the Adeans are peaceful and are a potential ally and we know all about the Al’cari after what happened just a few days ago. What makes you think it wasn’t them?”