Shadow of the Blue Ring Read Free Page B

year, we really can’t afford to send them out undefended. You know that if we had any daring and dangerous missions that needed undertaking, we would be coming to you first. For now, just be happy that we are no longer at war and our people are free from oppression.”
    James supposed that he should at least be thankful for what he had. He was captain of his own ship, he had the reputation of an alliance war hero, he had an excellent crew made up of some of the best Earth had to offer and he had a wife that would make most of the men back home on Earth rather jealous. He had it better than most if he was really honest, it was almost a little selfish of him to want more.
    “So how are things on your end, admiral?” James asked, “I know how the board works, there is always just one more thing that they need doing. Why do I get the feeling that you’re calling because have something lined up for me?”
    “Well yes,” said Davidson, “there is a matter I could use your help with now that you mention it. The alliance council is attempting to open peace talks with the planet Myazar again. We’re tired of the hostilities between our two races and we want to further strengthen the peace in the galaxy by ending the needless fighting. Someone with your reputation could be a huge asset to us in this undertaking.”
    “I thought out last attempt to make peace barely got off the ground,” James pointed out, “why try again so soon?”
    “We need all the allies we can get,” said Davidson, “even with the peace, we know that things could come apart again very quickly. The Akrians are still shunning our attempts to bring them back into the alliance while the former allies of Vulia are continuing to disrupt our operations throughout the region at every chance they get.”
    James wasn’t surprised to hear of the situation with Akris. He had seen first hand how the corruption of the Vulian empire had spread among their leaders, turning their loyalty away from those who had been their allies for many decades. The Akrian government had even gone as far as to exile everyone who had remained loyal to the Freedom alliance, James’s former crew member Nemika Kristea among them. Her location was now unknown although it was rumoured that she and the remaining Akrians loyal to the cause of the Freedom alliance had taken refuge on Tolis.
    “The council has been even more desperate to consolidate the peace these past few weeks,” Davidson continued, “ever since those ships went missing out in the Blue Ring sector, a lot of people have been on edge around here.”
    “Did they ever find out what happened to those ships?” James asked. He knew of the incident in question, a group of Churian exploration ships had gone missing out in the uncharted Blue Ring sector and these was no explanation forthcoming as to why or how. He had to wonder exactly what the Churians were doing out there in the first place. It wasn’t like it was anyone’s priority to explore the area, especially with large areas even in the central Valoran and Galante sectors still mostly uncharted.
    “We’ll know soon enough,” said Davidson, “the council has dispatched a couple of Tolian battleships to the region and they should arrive within the day. They’ll track them down and bring them back and hopefully we will be able to stop this from happening again. Back to other matters though, can I convince you to join the efforts on Myazar?”
    “Admiral, you know I would…” James began, “. . . but, you see, it’s general Ravenn’s retirement party coming up and I’m to be one of the guests of honour. It really isn’t something I can miss, regardless of whatever else is going on within the alliance.”
    “Oh yes, of course, how could I forget,” Davidson chuckled, “blimey, I didn’t think it was for another month, time flies eh? But of course you’re right, this isn’t something you should miss. I’m guessing admiral Jamerson wasn’t too happy