Shadow of the Blue Ring (16 page)

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 plan 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

Th
e
Blu
e
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.

*     *     *     *     *

“Something troubling you?”

James had barely noticed Lucy Maguire almost sneaking up on him. He had been sat in the crew lounge for an hour now and was so deep in thought he was almost oblivious to anything going on around him.

“Not at all,” James said without a hint of emotion, “just needed some time to think, that’s all.”

“Well you could have fooled me,” Lucy said, taking a seat beside him, “come on, tell me, what’s on your mind?”

“Just thinking about the mission a little too much,” James sighed, “I was going over everything we’ve learned from the ships that we searched but I honestly don’t think it told us anything that we don’t already know. Someone beat us to it and has erased all the evidence leaving us blind to whatever is going on out here. Then in addition to that, I have my helmsman and my second cousin fighting over who gets to pilot the orbital flyer, I have lovers quarrels between members of the command crew and to top it all off, my wife is down with an illness.”

“You know, you’re quite lucky to even be allowed to have Isha on the ship with you,” Lucy reminded him, “no other military organisation on Earth would allow family to serve alongside each other. You have been given a great privilege here you know.”

“It wasn’t easy getting the admirals to consent to it,” said James, “even Davidson had his concerns. Still… they thought the benefits of keeping their prized asset happy outweighed any negatives that might come from it.”

“Well you’re lucky they’re so lenient with you,” said Lucy, “you would never get away with running a ship like this in any other division of the military.”

“How so?”

“Well, for a start, your crew have way too much freedom to do as they please,” Lucy explained, “you allow them to act freely and speak freely whenever they choose and even drink the night before duty? It’s quite irregular for someone in your position.”

“My crew are my friends,” James told her, “we know each other on a personal level and as such, they trust my judgement and I trust theirs. If we find ourselves in a difficult situation, they will follow their orders without question. You shouldn’t worry about what they do in between missions, worry about what they do when we’re in the heat of battle.”

“Im not worried,” Lucy corrected him, “maybe just a little surprised. I’m used to much stronger discipline in my old division. Officers in my old line of work would be suspended if they behaved the way yours do.”

“I welcome their insight into the mission,” said James, “remember, these guys have all completed their full academy training and excelled as they did so. That is a benefit it never had, I was thrown into all of this before I was truly ready for it. In a way, my crew are better equipped for the role than I am. They know the procedures better than I do.”

“Training is all well and good…” Lucy continued, “. . . but you have something that very few others have… you have already proven yourself in the heat of battle time and time again. Our team evaded capture from Vulian forces for over a year back on Earth. We outmaneuvered and outfought a foe infinitely more powerful than us for over a year and lived to tell the tale. That was just the start for you, you went on to win at Rosian, beating the executor Maholaden himself in battle. You won the battle of the Amarat Station, you won the battle of Churo and even reached and defeated the Vulian leaders themselves in their stronghold on the surface of their home planet.”

If only Lucy, or anyone other than his old crew, knew the truth about what had really happened in Serraha palace that day. James had been reluctant to reveal the actions of Darien in those last heated moments of the battle. If he had, Darien might not have been seen as an improvement on his predecessor. As it was, the people of the galaxy believed him to be in a different mould to the old emperor and James felt it was best that way.

“I suppose you’re right,” James agreed, “still, I value the opinions of anyone on my crew on a mission like this. Not least those of my old crew, even if they do need to get their heads straight and put all their personal issues to one side for a moment.”

“Are you sure you needed to bring so many of them back for this?” Lucy asked, “if you believe this crew is really that good, why bother recruiting the old team again?”

“Trust me, they have skills that we will need on this mission,” James assured her, “Kasha and Kaldun are two of the best officers I have ever known, they have been there and done it for years and lived to tell the tale. Loca is probably the best mechanic and weapons expert anywhere in the alliance, her expertise alone can sometimes be the difference between success and failure on a mission. The you have Kaydenne who is an incredible pilot, she proved that by winning the Gala.”

“Your friend Jaiden Kosare is a bit of a loose cannon though,” Lucy reminded him, “we’ve seen in the past what she is capable of and even though she claims to have renounced her violent ways, we don’t know how she will respond if she gets into a particularly deadly fight.”

“If you knew Jaiden personally, you wouldn’t be saying that,” said James, “her reputation is unfair and does not reflect the person she truly is. She never enjoyed killing, she only did it because she had to do it to stay alive. It was just the fact that she was so good at it that it gave people the wrong impression about her.”

“Well, if you say so,” said Lucy, “she’ll still have some pretty harsh emotional scars from those days though, scars that would leave some people broken.”

“We all have scars, Lucy,” said James, “we’ve all lost friends in battle. It’s one of the harsh realities of war, we’re going to lose people close to us. I hardly need to remind you of all of those that died during the revolution, and the loss of Valeri Castellan weighs even more now that his son is on my crew.”

“But he doesn’t blame you for his father’s death,” Lucy pointed out, “Valeri would have known what he was getting himself into when he went down there, they all would have done. It’s no good blaming yourself for their loss when it was their choice to do what they did.”

“Something you would do well to remember yourself,” James pointed out to her. He knew that Lucy had never quite recovered from losing Benjamin Miller during the campaign across Europe. She had certainly had feelings for him and had things been different, who knows how the two of them might have ended up.

“Let’s not go there,” Lucy said awkwardly, “I would prefer not to bring that up again.”

“You will have to face up to the facts that you were not to blame for his death,” James pointed out to her, “it was an impossible situation we were in, there was nothing anyone could have done. I’ve put the losses I’ve suffered behind me as much as I possibly can. You need to try and do the same.”