Shadow of the Blue Ring

by Jerome Kelly

  “Respect is a difficult thing to earn,” said James, “but if you show the people that you are prepared to do all the right things and you show them that you are capable of becoming the leader they need you to be, you will win them over. Captain Kristea knows what she is doing, listen to her advice, she will help to guide you to where you need to be.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean,” said Tasos, “when they made her my mentor, I was absolutely delighted. She doesn’t speak down to me or push me like all the other guys my father hires for me, she actually knows what it takes to be a leader and she knew how to win respect among her own people, even if her leaders did betray her. I just wish there were more people like her who were there for me to help me out. It’s one thing being lectured by a group of old politicians on how I should govern my people when it’s my time to lead and it’s entirely another to have someone there to back me up and support me every step of the way while also trying to teach me from experience.”

  “You’ve lived a sheltered life, you don’t know what it’s like to live like a normal person and you haven’t been able to do all the things that you’ve wanted to do in life. Perhaps by depriving you of these things, your father is actually pushing you further away from where you need to be when what he should be doing is encouraging you.”

  “Yeah, if only,” Tasos sighed, “I doubt I’ll ever get to do any of these things in life. I guess when everyone needs you to be the person who will one day lead an alliance that contains over fifty billion people, you don’t really get to choose how to live your own life.”

  James could understand where Tasos was coming from. It would have been so much easier for him had he been an elected leader who had been chosen by the people in a democratic society but instead, Tolis was governed by a bloodline. While the Artennes bloodline had always existed on a moral code of responsibility, accountability and morality, it was not easy being born into a position of power such as this rather than being chosen by popular demand.

  James allowed Tasos to take one of the Evening Star’s shuttles back over to the council ship where he would be reunited with his father in what was likely to be an interesting exchange of words. He himself had to wonder… would Tasos ever become the person that they needed him to be? Would he drop the attitude and become the mature and responsible leader that the alliance and the Tolian people needed or would his rule be a disaster? He was still young so there was still time to mould him into the person that they would need him to be but it would take a lot of time and effort by the right people. All James could do for now was ensure that there was still an alliance left for him to rule. With the shuttle out of the hangar and on it’s way, James opened a link to the bridge and gave the order for the fleet to move out. What was soon to come would decide the fate of the entire alliance and also of the once proud Al’cari race. Was there a chance to save the Al’cari? It seemed unlikely but he was not going to give up hope. It looked for all the world that there was only one option though and that was the detonation of the Shadow Bringer right at the heart of the Al’cari base. He would keep an open mind and if the chance to do things differently came up, he would do it. As it was though, he was ready to go ahead with the detonation. One way or another, it would all be over soon.

  * * * * *

  The alliance fleet dropped out of warp, arriving at the predicted co-ordinates that Kalmar had provided them with. It was a dark region of space, there were no stars of any kind for many light years around their position. They were now at the centre of the Blue Ring nebula. The interference from the nebula was causing some disruption to their long range sensors and communications but as far as they could tell, they had arrived at the site of the Al’cari base.

  “Ivanov, can you get a fixed location on the Al’cari base?” James asked his tactical officer.

  “I think so,” said Ivanov, “I’m detecting a small planetoid about seven million kilometres ahead with multiple signals matching those of the Al’cari ships as well as a number of Lataka frigates. I would be willing to bet anything that we are in the right place.”

  “Any idea as to the numbers we might be facing?”

  “At least five Al’cari ships and maybe three dozen Lataka frigates. It’s not as bad as we thought it might be but it’s still going to be difficult to get through, we’ve seen what just one of those Al’cari ships can do to us.”

  They had a larger force at their side this time and they had measures in place to counter the Al’cari jamming technology but it didn’t change the fact that these very same ships had decimated alliance ships just days before. Even thought they knew their enemy, they were still in danger of suffering some serious casualties. Everyone knew what they had signed on for though, every soldier and officer in the fleet knew the risks but they were prepared to fight to protect the alliance from this enemy.

  “You still thinking diplomacy is an option?” Ansare asked, “do you think the rest of the Al’cari will be as accommodating as the one on Alatennia?”

  “I have no idea,” said James, “these Al’cari are fighting for a cause. If they succeed, the Shadow Bringer goes to an unknown force who could use it on any one of our worlds at any time. If we stop them, they are either wiped out or they go back to these masters as failures.”

  “The only thing we can do is protect the alliance, James,” said Ansare, “if they aren’t willing to talk, we have to take that weapon and blow this place to hell. Remember, we aren’t wiping out an entire race, just a group of raiders who have been terrorising this sector for three decades.”

  “Which means that the rest of their people, the women, the children, they’re all trapped under the rule of these others that they spoke of,” said James, “well, whatever, we should just get this whole thing underway. Stevens, open a channel to the alliance command ship.”

  As before, Juarez, as well as admirals Raviano and Valentina were up on the screen of the Evening Star’s bridge. Having been doubted by several members of the fleet before the previous battle, no one had any doubts about James’s ability to lead them this time. It was all going to be in his hands.

  “General Juarez, are you ready to end this?”

  “I am, James, we’re all ready to do this,” Juarez replied, “the alliance fleet is ready and awaiting your orders. I doubt we’ll be able to use the maelstrom-helix this time though.”

  “We’ll find a way to break through, don’t you worry,” said James, “as long as you can keep the Al’cari and the Lataka busy enough for us to make it to the surface and reach their base, we can end this and we can destroy the Shadow Bringer for good.”

  “And not a moment too soon,” Raviano added, “captain Tavarez, are you confident that you can pull this off?”

  “I am, sir,” said James, maintaining an air of confidence as he always did when speaking to those of a higher rank among the alliance, “if you can keep the Al’cari fleet out of our way and deploy your forces successfully on the surface of the base, this will be over before the day is out.”

  “Then we will do everything that we can to ensure that you reach your target,” Raviano said, before turning to address the rest of the fleet over his ship’s comm system, “all ships, prepare to advance on the Al’cari base. Show no fear, no quarter and no weakness. Our enemy may be formidable but when the ten races of the Freedom Alliance come together, we are truly a force to be reckoned with. Show your enemy, their masters and whoever else might wish to challenge our alliance in the future the strength with which we can fight. Go forward and fight with honour, fight for your people, fight for your future… Raviano out.”

  With those words, the entire alliance fleet, the Evening Star and the Vulian survivors from the previous battle made their advance, bearing down on the Al’cari base.

  “This all hinges on you, James,” said Juarez, “get that weapon assembled and get it armed before we take too many casualties.”

  “We’r
e ready, general Juarez,” James assured him, “we’ve made our preparations, we’ll get this done. We’ll see you all on the other side once this is over, captain Tavarez out…”

  Cutting the channel, James turned to his assembled crew, ready for one final set of words before the battle begun. Once this speech was done, they were going headfirst into the heart of the Al’cari base.

  “So… I guess it’s suicide mission mark two,” Saavoy broke the silence, “it’s been fun, really, it has.”

  “I plan on bringing everyone out of this one alive, Kasha,” said James, “we all know what we have to do, we all have our orders, we just need to finish this and come out on the other side alive. Kaydenne, once those hangar doors open, it’s all down to you. Are you ready to show us how a gala champion can fly in the heat of battle?”

  “Am I ever?” Melina said enthusiastically, more so about her latest chance to show off her skills rather than the mission itself, James assumed, “you can count on me to get us all down there alive.”

  “Glad to hear it,” said James, “Jaiden, are the pieces of the Shadow Bringer ready for transport to the surface?”

  “All loaded and ready to go,” said Kosare, “we’ve gone over the specs and the engineering teams know what they need to do. We can assemble this thing and we can get it working in good time.”

  “Good, now, as for the rest of you…” James turned to Isha in particular, “. . . you all know what it is you have to do.”

  “Yeah, I know, I’m not coming, am I?” Isha said to him with a look of longing that suggested she did not want to be left out. She seemed resigned to the fact that it was just too dangerous for her in her current predicament though and James was not prepared to risk her life again.

  “I’m sorry,” James said to her, “I can’t put you in harms way like I did on Alatennia, I just can’t risk losing you. Stay here, take my seat, you’re in charge up here while I’m on the surface. You keep yourself and you keep our child out of harms way, Ok.”

  “I promise,” she smiled, for the first time in what seemed like ages. Even with the whole crew assembled before them, the two of them could not resist the urge to hold each other one last time before the battle, sharing a kiss as they did so.

  “This will be over before you know it,” James said as they broke apart, “we’ll be back home on Earth, picking out a new house and getting ready to settle down and start a family as soon as all of this is done.”

  It was all the motivation that either one of them had needed to ensure that they both came out of this all in one piece. In just a few hours, everything would be resolved, one way or another, assuming that nothing went drastically wrong along the way. The fleet was ready, James was ready, his crew was ready.

  The fleet slowly approached the Al’cari base. It was little more than a small, rocky planet, barely the size of Earth’s moon. There was noticeable construction on the surface near the equator. This was the likely location of the Shadow Bringer. Surrounding the small planet was the Al’cari fleet, not great in number, but with very considerable strength in the few ships that they did have. The alliance fleets really had their work cut out for them to get through this enemy force and strike at the heart of the enemy.

  “It appears that the enemy fleet has noticed our presence here,” Iyacs warned the crew, “I detect several of their ships powering up their weapons and many more energy signatures on the planet below. I believe the Al’cari and the Lataka are making preparations to defend their their base.”

  “I expected no less of them,” said James, “we’ll wait for the alliance fleet to draw the Al’cari ships out of position and then we’ll make our run towards the surface. As soon as the others begin their attack, we’ll head to the flyer and we’ll get ourselves down there.”

  Both sides were forming up into battle positions. The alliance fleet was spreading out, creating a staggered formation to mitigate the damage from any large Al’cari cruisers that came their way while the Al’cari and Lataka themselves were continuing to hold a defensive formation around the planet. As soon as Juarez and Raviano gave them the signal, they would be ready to move. Without warning, there was a beeping from the ship’s proximity alarms, there was something else out there.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I’m detecting multiple signals heading in our direction, sir,” said Elena, “approximately ninety seconds out. Wow… I’m picking up over three hundred signals, whatever this force is, it’s massive.”

  “Please tell me it’s not more Al’cari?”

  “No, this isn’t the Al’cari or the Lataka,” Kalmar said, a worried tone in his voice as he looked at the enormous mass of signals heading in their direction on Ivanov’s tactical console, “its my people… it’s the imperial fleet of Adean…”

  Right on cue, a mass of Adean ships came flying out of hyperspace right behind the alliance fleet, lead by an exceptionally large and grand-looking cruiser, a class above even Kalmar’s own ship. With the masses of smaller scout vessels and their mid-level cruisers to make up the numbers, it was a truly immense force. James only hoped that this was not a show of aggression by Kalmar’s people, they already had one major conflict that needed dealing with, they did not need a second one right now.

  “Kalmar, you Ok?”

  “That ship leading the fleet is the senate battlecruiser,” Kalmar had gone a shade of pale almost matching that of Ansare, “that is chairman Gera’s ship. The senate does not take part in such matters unless all of Adean has gone to war against a single enemy. This is bad.”

  “Your leaders already stated that they had no hostile intentions towards us,” said James, “surely they can’t be here for a fight, not when we’re so close to the Al’cari base.”

  “This was before we took the Shadow Bringer from Sharstrom and I deserted the fleet,” said Kalmar, “after everything that we have done, I have no idea how the senate will look upon this course of action that we have taken. I have no idea how they will react to my actions either.”

  “Well the Adean fleet is not assuming any kind of battle position,” said Ivanov, “I would assume that they will at least want to talk to us before making their move one way or another.”

  “Then hail them and lets see what they have to say for themselves,” said James, “the fleet will begin their attack on the Al’cari base at any moment, the sooner we sort this out, the better.”

  James sat himself in the captain’s chair, ready to speak with the chairman of the senate of Adean once more, only in very different circumstances this time. Kalmar shied away from view slightly but he was going to have to face his leaders sooner or later and now would be as good a time as any. Elena brought up the view-screen, connecting them to the senate battlecruiser, there was chairman Gera before them once more, kitted out in his senate robes, looking terribly out of place wearing them on the bridge of a highly advanced battleship.

  “I had a feeling I had not seen the last of you, captain James Tavarez,” said Gera, his tone neither angry, nor overly welcoming, “I see your leaders did indeed elect to send in the fleets to try to deal with the Hunters. Brave but not particularly advisable.”

  “I tried everything I could to stop them, chairman Gera,” James made his case, “unfortunately our leader would not listen. I promise you, it is necessary this time though.”

  “So I have seen,” said Gera, “you and your crew have indeed found the missing pieces of the legendary Shadow Bringer. Now what could you possibly want to achieve by coming all the way out here to the heart of Hunter territory with the remaining pieces of the weapon? Perhaps you wish to assemble it and then detonate it?”

  “I’m sorry we went against your wishes,” said James, “but there was only so long that this thing could remain hidden from the Al’cari. We did what we did to protect our people and also to help yours too.”

  “Of course, of course,” said Gera,
“and I believe that the help you have received from a certain captain Kalmar would have been invaluable in this quest.”

  Kalmar did not want to make eye contact with Gera, he looked too ashamed of his actions to even want to look at the leader of his people. It was as if he was expecting some very serious reprimands from those above him in the fleet once he returned to them although James knew nothing of Adean law and what Kalmar may potentially face on his return.

  “Captain Kalmar did what he had to do to protect his people,” James attempted to defend Kalmar’s actions, “he has been a considerable help to this crew and we could not have found the missing pieces of the weapon without him.”

  “I do not doubt that any of his actions were done with the interests of his people in mind,” said Gera, “even if he did break every law that our people live by in doing so.”

  “Lord Gera…” Kalmar began, “. . . I know my actions went against the code of our people and I know what I did was…”

  “Do not apologise to me, Kalmar,” Gera dismissed him, “you and captain Tavarez started this, now you must go and finish it. Whatever trials or judgements you may face for what you have done can wait until we are done here. Captain Tavarez, your fleet is not well equipped enough to deal with the full force of the Hunter fleets. The Adean imperial fleet will cover and assist you as you make your approach to the planet below. You put that weapon together, you arm it, you blow it up and you send these Hunter bastards back into whatever black hole they crawled out of. Now go, that’s an order.”

  “We will do, lord Gera,” James could not believe what he was hearing, neither could Kalmar. James had feared the worst when he had seen the Adean fleet following them all the way out to the heart of the Blue Ring but in the end it had all worked out for the best. Instead of trying to take possession of the Shadow Bringer as James had suspected they might, they had offered the support of their entire fleet in a move that would change the course of the battle dramatically.