Shadow of the Blue Ring (37 page)

“That’s not exactly time enough to search an entire planet,” said Ansare, “we need to find this thing quickly and get back to Tolis as soon as we possibly can. We have no idea how the Al’cari have decided to respond to our attack. If they retaliate, the casualties could be catastrophic.”

“We just have to hope that we can get this done before they make a move,” said James, “Iyacs, any luck tracing the Shadow Bringer?”

“Two possible locations,” said Iyacs, “the northern city of Anterrian, or the equatorial city of Cantorran. I have detected faint power signals in both cities similar to the one used in the facility on Raylia where I was housed.”

“Any way to choose between them?”

“In the days of the Jaiytid empire, Anterrian was a large industrial city, home to many factories and weapons developers. By my calculations it is by far the more likely destination of the Shadow Bringer. I recommend you begin your search there.”

“Then lets suit up guys, we’re going on an expedition,” James said to his command crew, “I want everyone in on this, Lucy, Connolly, and executor Kyrakian, you’re all in too. Lets get to the flyer and lets find that weapon.”

After loading up all of their gear onto the Mantis flyer, they were finally ready to begin the search for the final piece of the ancient Jaiytid weapon. Once all three missing pieces were in their possession it was all down to whether or not they could recover the final piece that was being held by the Al’cari. One way or another, it was going to require one side or the other completing the weapon and using it against the other. The only way this would end was if the Shadow Bringer was to be detonated in one place or another.

With everyone aboard the flyer, Daniels opened the bay doors for them, allowing Melina to fly them out and make for the surface with all possible haste. From orbit, James could see many large craters and blackened areas of earth where the planet would likely have suffered severe orbital bombardment by the Xerions during the war. Most of the rest of the surface looked to have been swallowed up by nature, the faint hints of silver and grey that would have been the planet’s cities just specks in an ocean of green.

The ruined city of Anterrian came into view. What looked to have once been a majestic city was now ruined and devastated with burned out and crumbling buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, overgrown by a massive jungle on top of it. The noise of the flyer passing overhead scared several flocks of birds from the top of the trees below them but as far as they could tell, that was the extent of the native life around them. The city looked, for all instances, totally deserted.

“All these trees will make landing difficult,” said Melina, “I don’t seen any suitable landing spots anywhere around here.”

“Just try and find a space somewhere on the ground that we can squeeze into,” said James, “look, there’s a clearing over to our right, think you can put us down there?”

“It’ll be tight,” said Melina, “you might need to give this thing a new coat of paint afterwards.”

“We’ll be fine, just put us down in there, a few tree branches are hardly going to kill us.”

Melina moved the flyer over the small clearing and began to descend. It was tight fit but they were on the ground, knocking a few branches out of the way as they landed. Gathering up all their equipment, the team disembarked down the flyer’s loading ramp and stepped out onto the surface of Alatennia, the first to set foot there in five hundred years. There was no time to enjoy the moment or admire the scenery though, they were in a hurry to get this done.

“I’ve calibrated our scanning equipment to look for signals matching those from the facilities on Sharstrom and Raylia,” said Kalmar, “if it is here we should know when we’re within a mile or two. If it isn’t…”

“Then you brought us all the way out here for nothing,” said Kyrakian, “I hope your instincts on this are correct. If the Shadow Bringer is not here…”

“Jaiden knows what she’s doing, I trust her judgement,” James assured him, “her conclusions make sense, the Shadow Bringer is here, somewhere, we just have to find it.”

Kyrakian was probably not used to being ‘one of the team’ given his usual role as a Vulian executor but he seemed prepared to go along with James’s plan. However, as one of the most important members of the Vulian fleet, being reduced to taking orders from a Human captain was hardly going to be his idea of fun.

“all right then guys, lets fan out,” said James, “we’ll split into two groups. Isha, Kaydenne, Lucy, Kalmar and executor Kyrakian with me, the rest of you follow Kaldun and head in the opposite direction. Keep in radio contact at all times and let us know immediately if you find something or if there is any sign of trouble.”

“Will do,” said Ansare, “we’ll find this thing, don’t you worry.”

With the team divided up, James lead his group away from the flyer and into the ruined, jungle covered city. The air around them was very fresh and cool, the surroundings quiet and serene, save for the odd animal noise in the distance. One or two of the roads throughout the old city were still somewhat intact, giving them a few direct routes through the ruins without needing to climb over too much of the overgrowth. Throughout the jungle and the ruined buildings, there were also some old and broken Jaiytid war machines caught up in the growth. The remnants of a battle long in the past.

“What do you reckon this city was like in it’s prime?” Lucy asked as the group made it’s way down the remains of what looked like one of the city’s main highways.

“It must have been pretty impressive,” said James, “it would have been one of the major cities on the homeworld of the most widespread race in galactic history. No war, no disease, no famine, all kinds of new technologies every few months. Before the war, this would have been one of the finest places to live in the galaxy if you ask me.”

“There is probably still a lot of old tech buried under the surface,” said Kalmar, “if we had more time, I’m sure we could unearth all kinds of things, new weapons, new medical technology, better and cleaner energy sources. This planet probably holds many more secrets than just the one we’re here to find.”

“I imagine my people will definitely come back here once the Al’cari situation has been sorted,” said James, “they’ll take pretty much anything that they can to try and advance us alongside the rest of the major powers in the galaxy.”

“You know, I wouldn’t be surprised to see future generations come back to live here one day,” said Isha, “if we have one alliance race each take a major city and rebuild it. It could be the new capital of the alliance, you could have people from every race in the alliance living here side by side.”

“Maybe one day,” said James, “it would certainly be something the alliance should consider when all of this is resolved. Imagine… Alatennia rebuilt and all the scattered descendants of the Jaiytids returning here to live as one people again. I think it should be someone other than me who proposes the idea to the council though, Artennes wont have too much time for me once we get back.”

It would be quite something if they were to one day restore it to it’s former glory. It was an achievable goal too, the planet had everything needed to support a space-faring civilisation, it just needed an alliance-wide effort to restore the ruins to a habitable and majestic world. That day was still a long way off though as there was still work to finish from the Vulian occupation and there would be even more rebuilding needed after the fight against the Al’cari was over.

“Sensors are showing something up ahead,” Kalmar quickly broke the silence, “I’m getting unusual life signs, unknown sentient beings.”

“Could it be Al’cari?”

“No, it doesn’t match their bio-signatures,” said Kalmar, “it doesn’t match up to any of your alliance races either, it’s something new entirely.”

“I guess Julio was right,” said James, “we need to get a closer look, lets find some high ground and see what’s out there?”

It appeared that James and his crew were not the first to arrive, someone had beaten them to it and James suspected that he knew who it was. The group made it’s way towards a collapsed building that reached just above the tree-line that was stable enough for them to climb on. Kalmar quickly took out his electronic binoculars and scanned the area.

“I can’t see anything suspicious,” he said after a few seconds, “it could just be… wait a minute, I see them now.”

“Who is it?”

“Take a look for yourself,” Kalmar handed James the binoculars. A quick scan of the area confirmed his suspicions. There was a small group of very muscular sentient beings in black battle armour that had a recognisable pinkish-grey skin tone. They looked a lot more intimidating in the flesh than they had done on the screen back in his quarters.

“It’s the Lataka,” James announced to the group, “I guess they are working with the Al’cari after all. Damn, this complicates things a bit. We have no idea how many of them could be here or how long they’ve been here.”

“Or if they are expecting us,” Kyrakian added, “how do we know that they weren’t sent here to stop us from finding the Shadow Bringer and are not lying in wait for us around every corner of this ruin?”

“We don’t,” said James, “but I suppose there is one good thing about the Lataka being here. It means that we’re looking in the right place and that the Shadow Bringer is definitely here somewhere.”

“Forgive me if I’m not comforted by your optimism,” Kyrakian scowled, “this is an enemy that none of us have ever faced before. How do we know what to expect if we are to end up in a fight with them?”

“I did a little research on them before we left, I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve,” said James, “come on, lets keep moving. Try to stay out of sight but be ready to fight if we do get spotted.”

Climbing down from their vantage point and heading back into the low jungle of the city, the group pressed forward. James hadn’t expected the Lataka or the Al’cari to arrive on scene so quickly, he thought that they might have had at least six or seven hours before any other group showed up. While it was a sure sign that they were close to their goal, James slightly regretted having brought Isha alongside him during their search. Even if she was still in the early stages of the pregnancy, the risk of letting anything happen to her was far greater than he would have liked. He could never have left her behind on the ship though, she would not have taken kindly to it at all, she was far too stubborn to be left out.

“Hold on!” James quickly brought the group to a stop after a few hundred meters, beckoning them to take cover, “up ahead, looks like a scout.”

There was a single Lataka soldier stood there, likely keeping a watch out for any signs of intruders. As far as James could see, there were no others in sight, it was just one lone soldier.

“Kalmar, think you can snipe this one off?”

“It’s not that easy,” said Kalmar, “if I shoot, the others will hear it and they’ll come to investigate.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Kyrakian asked aggressively while trying to keep his voice down, “it’s a long way around and we risk being spotted every step of the way.”

“I do have one other option,” said Kalmar, “this rifle has a poison dart launcher, a silent and deadly way to take out a single enemy. We found a couple of vials of extra-potent Sikari poison when we first visited Sharstrom and we used it to make a stealth weapon. One small dose will paralyse a sentient being within two seconds and will result in death shortly after. Crude but effective if we don’t want to be spotted.”

“Oh, well why didn’t you just say so,” Kyrakian said indignantly.

“Well it isn’t quite as simple as it sounds,” Kalmar said as he lined up his shot on the Lataka soldier, “the dart only kills with that kind of speed if it strikes the target directly in the neck. These guys have some pretty extensive armaments, we’re one hundred and fifty meters away and my target area is less than two inches in size.”

“Then try not to miss.”

Despite Kyrakian’s less than appealing attitude, Kalmar lined up the shot and fired. His aim, just as it had been before, was impeccable again. The thumbs up from Kalmar let them know that he had hit his mark and in the distance, they saw the Lataka soldier fall to the ground.

“Always happy to help,” Kalmar grinned in the direction of Kyrakian who was trying to hide the fact that he may have been just a little bit impressed with his incredible accuracy. With the coast clear, the group exited their cover and began to press forward. No sooner had they moved, the air was pierced by a loud wailing siren, coming from the spot where the Lataka soldier had fallen.

“What the hell is this?!” Lucy exclaimed, trying to shield her ears from the sound.

“Damn, those clever bastards!” said Kalmar, “it’s a mortis siren.”

“A what?”

“A mortis siren. It’s a warning signal that is tied in to the wearers cardiac system. Our scouts would wear them when on patrol duty, the bastards must have stolen the idea from us. When the wearer is killed, the alarm activates and warns everyone else in the area that they are under attack. It prevents stealth kills and infiltration teams from being an effective tactic. What it means is… RUN!”

No one needed telling twice, the group quickly hurried away in the opposite direction to where they had spotted the Lataka soldiers. So much for their element of surprise… they had now alerted the entire Lataka population of the planet to their presence. It would severely complicate the mission and their chances of getting the Shadow Bringer out undetected. As they ran, James heard his commlink beeping… it was Ansare and the rest of the team.

“Please give me good news!”

“James, I have no idea what you’re doing over there…” Ansare began, “. . . but you need to get yourselves over here now, we think we’ve found the entrance to whatever is down below the city.”

“Right, we’re on our way,” James replied, “but we’re not alone down here, Kaldun, we’ve got company. Tell Julio he was right, the Lataka are working with the Al’cari and they’re here, now. We may have just inadvertently alerted them to our presence too.”

“Then you need to hurry,” said Ansare, “there is some kind of encryption on the doorway that we can’t seem to get past. Loca and Connolly are trying to get through it now but we might need captain Kalmar for this one. He seems to be the expert on getting past Jaiytid security.”