Shadow of the Blue Ring (36 page)

“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

Th
e
Forgotte
n
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?”

“Well, like I said, I did a bit of research,” said Julio, “I looked through Iyacs’s archives on alien species, focusing on races that marked the bodies of their victims once they had killed them. It wasn’t exactly pretty but I think I have something. May I use your terminal?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

James allowed Julio to log into Iyacs’s information storage from his personal console. He went through the files one by one before loading up some images.

“Recognise these?”

“Wow, how could I forget…” James remembered the very same markings on the face and upper body that he had seen on the Tolian officers on the derelict ship. The image on his screen showed a body marked in the very same way but from several hundred years ago.

“Apparently there is only one race on record known to mutilate the bodies of their victims in this way, it’s these guys…” Julio switched the image to show a large, well built, pinkish-grey skinned alien race with distinctive, black forehead markings, “they’re called the Lataka. They’re a race from somewhere in the Damarran sector who caused a lot of problems for the Sikari back in the days of the Antalaea. Apparently, they were just a race of thugs and brawlers who never really had an empire, they just took technology from other races who came to their world to try to uplift them. They made a living from raiding and hijacking Sikari ships and they were notorious for the way they loved to torture and murder their victims before finally marking the bodies just like the ones we found. Eventually, the Sikari, with a bit of help from the Jaiytids, destroyed them and scattered their survivors, forcing them to flee to the far reaches of the sector where they ended up working as enforcers and mercenaries for the less savoury races in the galactic community.”

“I guess it kind of makes sense,” said James, “the Lataka and the Al’cari, two races with a grudge against the Antalaea empire. They would certainly be out for revenge against us. Iyacs, what do you make of this?”

“Young master Castellan’s assertions are sound,” said Iyacs, “while there is no evidence to suggest that the Lataka survived the war, they always proved to be a hardy race and they showed strong survival instincts when faced with annihilation. I would not be surprised to see a few of them still around. I have no idea as to why such a proud race like the Al’cari would work with them though. I can only imagine they are bitter and vengeful survivors united by a passion and a desire to avenge their people.”

“Good work, Julio,” said James, “this will save us any unwanted surprises if we should run into these guys.”

“It was nothing, just happy to help.”

“So anyway, we haven’t really had much of a chance to talk since we’ve been out here,” said James.

“Yeah, I guess the mission has kept us fairly busy,” Julio agreed, “but it would have been nice to find a moment to chat. I’ve heard so much about you from Karlo but I’d like to know the man behind the stories really.”

“I doubt there is much more I could tell you that you haven’t heard a hundred times,” said James, “I think the story of the revolution will be told for decades to come, it’s up there in the great adventures of our time. I’m just the guy who found himself leading things and you know what? Half the time I had no idea what I was even doing.”

“I guess I can understand the feeling,” said Julio, “life at the academy is not quite the same as being out there and doing it for real, you know?”

“All too well,” said James, “so how are you finding your first mission then? Is it everything you expected it would be?”

“Well, did I think my first mission would involve heading for an uncharted region of space, facing down an unknown enemy, digging up an ancient weapon of mass destruction and rediscovering the lost homeworld of our ancestral race? No, it’s not exactly what I expected. I was betting on getting a routine patrol or maybe an exploration mission to a recently discovered system. I’m glad I joined up though, even if I didn’t quite know what we were in for back then.”

“Well you’ve handled yourself pretty well,” said James, “you’re no worse than I was at your age and you showed some pretty good intuition just then. There is definitely some great potential in you, that is for sure.”

“Thanks,” Julio said awkwardly, looking as if there was something on his mind that was bothering him, “but I still think I have a long way to go. My father was a great man, very highly regarded back home and there is a lot of pressure on me as his son. I just wish he was here now… to see me as a part of the alliance’s best crew, fighting to save the alliance from it’s greatest ever threat. It’s not easy to live so much of your life without a father figure, you know what I mean?”

“I know that feeling,” said James, “I was a similar age to you when my dad was killed. He died in the battle of Tanchanis, fighting with the rest of the alliance in a last stand against the Vulian fleet.”

“Something we have in common I guess,” said Julio, “I do miss him though, I was only fourteen when he was taken from us and sent into exile on the useless rock, Dakora. I guess having Karlo, one of my dad’s closest friends, around has made it a little easier, he’s been the father figure in my life ever since he came back from your revolution. It’s still been hard though.”

“Even though we both lost an important figure in our lives, at least we still have people who are there for us,” said James, “we both have families who care about us and that is all that should matter.”

“Yeah, I guess your right,” said Julio, “and on that note, is it true that Isha is expecting a baby?”

“It is indeed,” James said proudly, “in about seven months time we’ll be having a little boy or girl. It’s certainly going to make things interesting around here. We’ll have to make a few changes around the place but it’s going to be an exciting time for both of us.”

“Well I wish you all the best of luck with that,” said Julio, “and I guess I should probably get back to the others, we’re only a few hours away now so we’ll need to have everything ready for when we arrive.”

“Yeah, you go ahead,” said James, “oh and, Julio… I’m sure your father would be very pleased with how well you’ve taken to the mission, you’re doing a great job,” he added as Julio got up and headed for the door.

“Thanks,” was all he could reply before he left James’s quarters behind. James wasn’t sure if Julio didn’t feel slightly intimidated being in his presence. The younger generations among the alliance races would have all grown up hearing about his famed revolution and he would almost be like a hero to many of them. James’s history with Julio’s father would only have made this worse. Regardless, he had proven himself to be a valuable member of the crew so far and he would have plenty more chances to prove himself further before it was all over.

*     *     *     *     *

Four days and nine hours it had taken to reach this point but finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the Evening Star dropped from warp into the long forgotten Taitian system. There it was, right before their eyes… the ancestral world of every race in the Freedom alliance, the birthplace of the Jaiytids and the capital of the galaxy-spanning Antalaea empire… Alatennia. No longer a bustling capital world, it now stood silent, deserted and overgrown by nature.

“Now this is something I never thought I would see,” Ansare said as he gazed out over the legendary world before them, “to think this is where galactic civilisation began eleven thousand years ago. We’ve come right back to where it all started.”

“We’re the first alliance crew ever to see this place with our own eyes,” said James, “I only wish our reasons for having to come here had been better though. Iyacs, can you narrow down any possible locations that the Shadow Bringer might be hidden?”

“I will attempt to do so now,” said Iyacs, “if a power source on backwater planets such as Raylia and Sharstrom could sustain power for five centuries, it is safe to say that a power source on the Jaiytid homeworld would be able to last just as long, if not longer.”

“Lets just hope,” said James, “Ivanov, any sign of any other ships in the system?”

“Not that I can tell,” he replied, “long range sensors are not picking up any ships in the region. As far as I can tell, we’re alone out here.”

“I would still advise caution though,” said Saavoy, “remember, the Al’cari were able to use the interference from a planet’s moon to hide their signatures from us and the rest of the alliance fleet. Who’s to say there isn’t one lying in wait for us now?”

“If they show up, we’ll be ready for them,” said James, “there is no way they would have known to come here, not unless they’re actively tracking us, in which case, we would still have at least six or seven hours before they arrive.”