Ruin & Reliance Read online

  “You must assume that the other Premier Governors are at least somewhat cautious. They will have calculated checksums in the records to protect against such tampering,” Premier Governor Enrichetta said.

  “We can direct their attention away at the proper moment. We have many advantages over them. Remember that,” Premier Governor Kynthia said.

  “At each opportunity, we will assume ownership over more and more of the remaining central bank assets,” Premier Governor Dustin said.

  “It’s time we returned to the Banking Capitol and voted on the expansion policy,” Premier Governor Kynthia said.

  “I suppose I should join you and partake in this farce, for a little while longer,” Premier Governor Dustin said.

  “While they share assets with us, and hold as many votes, it is more than a farce, Premier Governor Dustin. The expansion policy must be approved to further global economic development within the central bank’s purview and portfolio. However, before we approve it, we need to amend its terms to broaden its scope far beyond the construction industry,” Premier Governor Enrichetta said.

  “I agree that that the policy should be amended to cover every industry. As written, it is much too narrow in its reach. We need to gain more leverage in the agricultural industry, especially in the Gradaken Ocean. The majority of the Provincial Isles operate economically independently. Our branch in the Port of Hedraltic Island has very limited control and ownership in that region, and that needs to change,” Premier Governor Kynthia said.

  “The expansion policy will be amended and approved. The disruption it will cause to the construction industry, to the farming industry and to related markets may provide the opportunity we need to distract the other Premier Governors and expand our own influence,” Premier Governor Dustin said.

  “And if it doesn’t provide the opportunity, we can still make use of our advantages,” Premier Governor Kynthia said.

  The trio of Premier Governors left the room and walked through the spiral hallways and down the winding staircases of Depository Building Number Three Hundred Six. When they reached the ground level, they exited the building. From there, a riverboat carried them quickly along a narrow stream that meandered through the island’s interior toward the central building known as the Banking Capitol. Premier Governors Enrichetta, Dustin and Kynthia entered the structure and headed toward the global banking management room to meet their colleagues.

  CHAPTER 4: Examination of Light and Crystal

  The Incisive arrived at the eastern coast of Yihartec Island in the Kazofen Ocean and the crew dropped anchor close to the shore, alongside a pier that was visibly damaged but still standing. From their vantage point standing on the deck of the ship, Admiral Tiede and his agents surveyed the immediate destruction.

  “Agent Gavriela, inspect the vicinity for signs of the cause of the crystal city’s destruction. The fractures in the structural ruins should indicate the characteristics of the impacting force. We also need to be certain it is safe to go on to the island and conduct a more thorough investigation,” Admiral Tiede said. He then drank anew of the waters of the Medathero Ocean from his vial and was energized with the power of calm and rational thought.

  Agent Gavriela drank anew of the water of the Lujladia Ocean from her vial to be energized with the powers of light. She scanned around corners and focused on microscopic features of the crystal shards, because the city was largely a pile of sparkling gem fragments. Gavriela created several different thin beams of light, which reflected chaotically in various directions, according to how the light struck the tiny edges of the shattered gems that had once formed the city. The web of lights was visible to everyone on board.

  Admiral Tiede began making rapid mental calculations based on the angles of the visible light beams. “The destructive blast occurred a quarter (1/4) mile from the southwestern coast of the island. I’ve determined a probability distribution for the precise position. I still did not know what the cause of destruction was, however,” he said.

  Agent Reuven drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from his vial and was energized with the powers of telepathy and empathy. He scanned for signs of hostile intent in the vicinity, but found none. “I sense no hostile intent – no living person or animal on this island for at least a three (3) mile radius,” he said.

  “A more powerful telepath could be concealing the mental signature of a hostile force. Agent Gavriela, peer into the darkness for signs of an enemy hiding. Agent Kenaz, listen for sounds of movement, breathing, heartbeats, any action whatsoever,” Admiral Tiede said.

  Agent Gavriela redirected her beams of light to peer in various directions and penetrate any cloak of darkness that might shield an enemy, yet she found none. “There are no signs of any concealed, living persons. There are only the bodies of those who died, some of which are covered in the rubble,” she said.

  Agent Kenaz drank anew of the waters of the Pirovalen Ocean from his vial and was energized with the power of sound. He listened for signs of movement – first, on the island and then, out at sea. “There is no audible sign of any movement on the island. However, judging by water movement acoustics, two (2) ships are fast approaching. They are approximately one hundred sixty (160) miles away at the moment,” he said.

  “We should conduct our investigation quickly and return with our report. First, we need to be more thorough in detecting a possible hostile presence. Agent Leilah, dispel any sign of false light. It is possible that a device of some sort was used to destroy the city. Some trace of the mechanism might still remain, or its operator could be here, concealed by illusion, searching for something of value that motivated the attack. Agent Cheveyo, remain aware for signs of spirits,” Admiral Tiede said. He signaled to the crew to lower the boarding ramp onto the nearby damaged pier.

  Agent Cheveyo drank anew of the Zovvin Ocean from his vial and was energized with the power to communicate with spirits. He detected no fewer than eleven thousand (11000) lingering, angry spirits of those who died during the city’s destruction. He knew from experience that many spirits would have already departed for ultimate judgment – whether for good or for ill – so these were the souls of those who were not ready for their final destinations. Unforgiven sins, or unfulfilled purposes in life, kept them nearby. None of these spirits gave any indication of being responsible for the tragedy. Without probing each of them, he could sense the general absence of the malice toward the city itself or toward Admiral Tiede or his crew. “The spirits of thousands of victims linger. No enemy is to be found among them, however,” Cheveyo said.

  ~~~

  Agent Leilah drank anew of the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean from her vial and was energized with the power of darkness. She walked down the boarding ramp and onto the damaged pier. While standing there, she created a sphere of darkness around herself. To those on board the ship – except for Gavriela, who maintained her powers of light – Leilah appeared to vanish into the darkness. She moved slowly and carefully along the damaged pier and stepped onto the island, focusing on clearing away any false light as she did so. The radius of darkness around her was less than fifty (50) feet in every direction, penetrating deeply into any deceptive illumination that could reasonably be present, yet it revealed nothing. However, she needed to increase her range to cover more area at once, so she reshaped the path of darkness into a narrow cone, which extended two hundred fifty (250) feet away. The sphere of darkness no longer surrounded her, so that she reappeared. Leilah scanned in every direction – all two hundred ten (210) primalurens of the circle – and found no presence of false light.

  ~~~

  Agent Reuven focused his telepathic powers of Agent Leilah, to know if she saw anything even for the briefest moment, in case she uncovered a hidden enemy who suddenly killed her. Reuven also worked to ensure that no enemy telepathically took hold of Leilah and compelled her to give a false report. Even if the other telepath was too powerful to override, the meddling would be detected.


  ~~~

  Agent Leilah was no expert in crystals and could not see their low-level structures. Whereas Kazofen water drinkers like Agent Glyn could both sense and manipulate a crystal’s structure, and Lujladia water drinkers like Agent Gavriela could at least focus light and view the fine details of the structure, Leilah was at a loss. She did have an advantage, however, when it came to detecting and cancelling light, and doing so selectively in a way to precisely meet her needs. The destroyed crystal city was originally a luminous blue, as could be inferred from the billions upon billions of crystal shards scattered around her. The light of the many suns reflected off of them chaotically, yet this was not enough to distract her from what was decidedly not blue. A yellow-green substance could be seen, and it was distributed irregularly over a few small areas. She suspected – but could not prove – that this substance was not part of the original city.

  ~~~

  While still standing on the deck of the Incisive – over three thousand nine hundred (3900) feet away – Agent Reuven detected this thought in Agent Leilah’s mind and said: “Admiral, I have a report. Agent Leilah has detected something unusual. A yellow-green substance distributed irregularly over a few small areas, unlike the distribution of the shattered blue crystals that once formed the city.”

  “Instruct Agent Leilah not to touch anything or move anywhere. She is to remain near this finding. Agents Glyn and Gavriela will meet with her to investigate the substance more closely,” Admiral Tiede said.

  Agent Reuven telepathically relayed the instruction to Agent Leilah to remain at her exact position on the island, touching nothing, while awaiting Agents Glyn and Gavriela.

  Agents Glyn and Gavriela then left the Incisive, walked along the damaged pier and stepped onto Yihartec Island.

  ~~~

  Agent Leilah received the command and waited several minutes until she saw Agents Glyn and Gavriela approach.

  “It’s here, and here, and here,” Agent Leilah said.

  Agent Gavriela renewed her powers of light by drinking more of the Lujladia waters from her vial. She used the power to examine the luminous properties of the yellow-green substance.

  Agent Glyn drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from his own vial to be energized with the power to manipulate crystals and stones. He touched the yellow-green substance and studied its low-level structural properties. He found it to be other than gemological – it had some crystal structure, but it also had additional components that were not clearly identifiable to him. What was identifiable was the sapphire that made up the ruins of the destroyed city, and the yellow-green substance was melted onto some of that sapphire. Glyn took a small metal flask from his coat pocket and placed some of this substance – along with the attached sapphire – into that flask, sealing it with a metal cap. “The city was constructed of sapphire, but this yellow-green substance that appears to be melted onto some of the sapphire shards is not entirely gemological. I’ll have to examine it more closely, with some assistance,” Glyn said.

  Agent Gavriela still concerned herself with studying the luminosity of the yellow-green substance in other areas where Glyn had not taken any samples. She suspected something about it, but it made little sense to her. “The optical properties of the substance are similar to something I’ve seen in plants or trees. Not the same, but slightly similar. It’s not like emeralds, diamonds, rubies or other gems. They are so much more regular when they reflect light, even when they’re tiny and shattered,” she said.

  “That’s an interesting comparison – the basis for an experimental hypothesis,” Agent Glyn said.

  “Do you have any hypothesis regarding what caused the city’s destruction?” Agent Gavriela asked.

  Agent Glyn heard her question, yet he did not immediately answer. He continued inspecting the low-level structure of the shattered sapphire and found none of the indicators he was originally looking for in terms of the direction of shearing. “Only that the constructor is not likely at fault – the city was probably correctly assembled. The failure mode does not appear to be a weakness of the fundamental structure. The lines of breakage suggest a powerful external force impacted the city structure,” Agent Glyn said a few minutes later.

  ~~~

  On board the Incisive, Agent Kenaz continued to listen and thereby monitor the approaching vessels. “Admiral, the two (2) ships are no farther than seventy-three (73) miles away and approaching the island quickly,” he said.

  “Agent Reuven, recall the other agents to the ship unless they have discovered something of interest that compels us to stay. It would be best to return to our headquarters and avoid any encounters. Agent Noach, plot the return course. Admiral Prudencia, continue to watch the many suns for any unusual behaviors or sounds like when we observed the aurora,” Admiral Tiede said.

  Agent Reuven telepathically signaled to Agents Leilah, Gavriela and Glyn that they should return to the Incisive unless they could give a compelling reason to remain. The plan was to depart immediately because of approaching ships that the Admiral wanted to avoid meeting.

  Agent Noach drank anew of the waters of the Atrejan Ocean from his vial and was energized with the power to listen to the sounds of the many suns. He received the signals of their movement and positioning, and used this information to chart the required course.

  Agent Prudencia drank anew of the waters of the Atrejan Ocean from her own vial and was likewise energized with the power to listen to the sounds of the many suns. She found nothing unusual, but remained vigilant.

  ~~~

  “I see nothing else of interest in these crystals. Unless either of you have found something needing closer investigation, we should return to the ship,” Agent Glyn said.

  “I don’t see anything. The other ships are approaching. The Admiral is eager to leave, according to Agent Reuven,” Agent Gavriela said.

  Agent Leilah focused her energy and applied her powers of darkness once more – shaping the darkness in various ways, peering through the light around her to filter away any illumination and discover what it might have concealed – but saw nothing new. “I applied several different darkness filters to the light around me, but nothing else stands out. I’m ready,” she said.

  Agents Leilah, Gavriela and Glyn walked briskly back toward the coast where the Incisive was moored. They carefully maneuvered across the broken pier, slowing their pace to avoid its missing planks. They went up the boarding ramp and met with Admiral Tiede and the other agents and crew.

  “What is your report?” Admiral Tiede asked.

  “Some of the crystal city’s ruins are mixed with an unusual substance – of which I have a sample, and Agent Gavriela suggests has the same optical properties as organic material. Other than that, the only indication I have is that the city was constructed properly and the cause of its destruction was an external force of large magnitude rather than any internal weakness,” Agent Glyn said.

  “I detected nothing else – no illusion and no concealment by false light,” Agent Leilah said.

  “This region of the island was clear – nothing was hidden in the darkness, and nothing was hidden around any corners of the area, not that any corners of the city remain standing high enough to conceal anything,” Agent Gavriela said.

  “Raise the anchor, set sail and return to our headquarters,” Admiral Tiede said.

  ~~~

  Agent Noach returned to the wheelhouse and pulled a lever to raise the ship’s anchor. He then began sailing the Incisive northward across the Kazofen Ocean according to the course he had already charted.

  ~~~

  The Second Consideration arrived at the eastern coast of Yihartec Island and dropped anchor alongside a heavily damaged pier. The command crew stood on deck and looked out at the ruins of the crystal city that stood on its shore until recently.

  Despite only being twenty-eight (28) years old, Paden was the attending bank officer authorized to lead this investigative mission, and he prepared himself for the work a
head by drinking anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from his vial, thus becoming energized with the powers of telepathy and empathy. His actual role and rank was loss prevention and fraud investigator, and he had originally overheard the report from the thoughts of travelers visiting the Port of Illumination. He had promptly delivered the report of the city’s destruction to Governor Lux on Haza’Kedro’Maral Island, after which he received the orders to deploy and investigate the cause.

  “Shinju, chart our return course and be ready to set sail on my command,” Paden said.

  Shinju drank anew of the waters of the Atrejan Ocean from her vial and was energized with the power to listen to the sounds of the stars. She detected their paths and positions and used this information to chart a return course. Shinju remained at the ship’s wheel, prepared to set sail on a moment’s notice. She was a highly reliable navigator, and reasonably well paid by the central bank, which was notoriously stingy, especially since they negotiated with the guilds and labor unions and could tax many different trade routes and set interest rates. The central bank had too much leverage in wage negotiations in her estimation. However, her skill and experience – she was forty-eight (48) and had been a navigator since accepting her waterbinding at age fifteen (15) – worked in her favor and enabled her to command an above-average salary. Shinju had traveled every ocean and sailed every coast in her thirty-three (33) years and had never seen an entire city destroyed until the tempests struck. She stayed inland during that ordeal, and hoped to never see such destruction again. Now, it seemed, ruin was inescapable, and she was staring at the result of something horrific. It was almost worse than what the tempest did because the high waves and strong winds carried many of the bodies into the sea after a village was destroyed. Looking out on the coast of Yihartec Island, she caught a glimpse of the dead bodies among the crystal shards of the city’s remains.