"Why can't we find them!" screamed Crawfen.
The command centre of the aetherspace control unit was hardly ever this busy.
Two days ago, a ship that was allegedly running smoothly was suddenly turned
off without any warning. There were three people on board, a male pilot, his
male empath, and a female gunner. They had been completely wiped off the map.
There was no indication that they were going to shut off.
"This pilot has had no problems in the past. What happened here? Why didn't he
inform us he was going to turn the ship off? Why couldn’t he have returned
home? I think, in my opinion, that he may have defected," stated Crawfen. "It's
the only logical thing, considering they’ve been long gone."
"Why would three members of our crew spontaneously defect?" asked Forgun, his
deputy.
"Do you know the value of an aethership, my dear friend?"
"He's done NOTHING that indicates he would go and steal an aethership."
"True, but is there ANY indication that anyone here would steal something?
Would someone honestly tell you if they were going to steal something from
their own people? Zeltos wouldn't just state, 'Hi, my name is Zeltos and I
eventually will manage to steal one of your aetherships.' Is that honestly
logical to you?"
Everyone knew Crawfen had a completely, logical, thought out point, and no one
could refute it.
"If we find them, we ask few questions. If it looks like they're hiding
something, kill them!"

**********************************************************************

Xaro, Zeltos and Teike were walking from a giant building, along the road
towards the city's centre. There were only a few creatures in the city, but
everyone moved quickly.
"So, they're not hostile towards us?" asked Zeltos.
"Not at all. They are friends with us because I can speak their language and
they know we're peaceful. The only thing they're sorry for is our aethership's
destruction." Xaro shrugged his shoulders.
"This place is amazing!" Teike exclaimed.
"It certainly is advanced. Did you see the swords those guards were carrying?
They looked as if they were shooting out fire," stated Zeltos.
"This place has many different things from home," stated Xaro. "The food is a
small pill which tastes like so many different food items… and although it's
only a pill, it fills you up."
"Their technology is so advanced. Everyone's connected by a unique city
channel that they call an 'aether'. The aether is even connected to us. They
use this 'aether' to communicate to one another and have conversations. There
are also private aethers, which connect two people to one another."
"These aethers… are just incredible. These guys must be 500 years advanced
compared to us," said Teike.
"I wonder, does anyone know about these creatures?" asked Xaro.
"If anyone did know about them, this would be a secret. They couldn't speak to
each other, as they had no translator. We are incredibly lucky we had you
aboard."
Xaro led them over to a huge building that neither Zeltos nor Teike
understood.
"Xaro, where are you taking us?"
"To their aethership building."
Xaro opened the door for them, and the door closed quickly behind.

**********************************************************************

"We're going to Storacia?"
"You're going to Storacia, yes," stated Crawfen. "I'm not coming. You, Sogirn,
Captain of the aetherships of Cirlunin, will be, and you will have a crew of
your choosing. You may have any and all of the best crew as well as the
greatest warriors of your choosing. It's ultimately up to you as to who goes,
and they are under your control, which shall be supervised by myself. This
means you are directly responsible to me, the Minister of Aethercraft."
"Very well. I shall visit Storacia, but it is me who chooses the crew, as you
said, no matter what you think, and I have full control. However, I am not
responsible for my crew and passengers, unlike what you said."
Sogirn smiled at Crawfen, knowing that he would not like this. Crawfen so
often blamed his lieutenants when things went wrong, and Sogirn wasn’t about
to be caught in the middle of a battle he wasn’t responsible for. 'At least
he's allowing me the most dependable crew,' he thought.
As Sogirn thought, Crawfen was not happy. 'Sogirn dares make an attempt to
defy me about his responsibility for the crew of his ship? I'm the Minister of
Aethercraft. What does he think he's doing?'
Crawfen nonetheless smiled at Sogirn. "I'm the Minister of Aethercraft. Why do
you try and deny the responsibility of your crew?"
"I feel that if anything should be done about the wrongdoings of my crew, it
should be directed at them and not myself. You do understand that, Minister?"
"Very well. I'll have my crew ready to leave in a couple of hours."
"This needs to start as soon as you can, so remember that. We've got Xaro
Sunel, Zeltos Arait, and Teike Wodint all missing from their aethership. We
assume that the ship has been stolen."
"I'll make every attempt to find them, you know that."

**********************************************************************

"Well?" asked Zeltos.
"They won't take us home yet." Xaro sighed. "No one knows about these
creatures, and I don't blame them for being scared. Their population is so
small that there's no way they'd manage to survive if they were attacked by
Cirlunin."
"So, we wait?"
"I think we should see if we can get something that allows us to speak with
the Cirlunin forces. We could ask them to meet at a certain place away from the
city."
Xaro thought Zeltos had a good point, and talked to the being in charge of the
aetherships. The creature was in an extremely decorated-looking flashy
aethership uniform, which was hot pink and lime green. "He says we need to talk
to their Ambassador. Oh, and he says his name's Elohsi and he's the Minister of
Aethercraft here." Elohsi continued to speak, and Xaro said, "'He is in control
of 300 crew members of aetherships,' so he says."
"He has power over 300 crew? Where are they?" asked Zeltos.
Xaro asked Elohsi this, and got immediate responses. "His crew is all over the
place. There's an aethercraft school, but it’s almost empty. They don’t have
as many people of the younger generations. People are always leaving, coming,
and going to all the different places in aetherspace. They don't have time to
carry around kids, they're too busy exploring the whole of aetherspace."
"Ask him how much they've explored."
Xaro once again spoke to Elohsi, and Elohsi brought a map of aetherspace up on
his computer screen. 'He says they've explored a lot of aetherspace. They have
our planet, which they deem Cirlunin because they know what our major city is
called. They've also got planets we don’t even have the technology to get to.
Oh, and this city is called Marone," said Xaro. Elohsi had a humble look on his
face. Xaro thanked him for his time.
"We're going to the Ambassador's office at their only Ministry building on the
planet."
They entered the ministry building and found the Ambassador's office. His
office was extremely tiny, and no one appeared to be there, so they left and
instead went to the Ministry Council room, where all the ministers (except the
Minister of Aethercraft) were present and looked as though they were having a
highly heated debate. All were wearing clothes that were extremely fashionable
and the person who looked like was in charge was wearing the best clothes. They
abruptly stopped, as if they were doing something bad. The person who was in the
Ambassador's seat ran over to greet them, smiling, and started talking quickly.
"He apologizes for not meeting us sooner. Fortunately, we know we want to see
him, so it's all right. Oh, and the argument they were having is about us, as a
side note. I think they want to send us home, probably wiping our memories
first."
"Welcome, visitors! I am the Elder of the Council of Marone."
"And you speak Cirlunian." Zeltos gave a wry smile.
"Yes, we speak Maronin here, but I can speak almost all Cirlunian. My name is
Jowan. I'm surprised you wouldn't ask me how I'm the Elder of the Council being
so young and all."
"I was wondering that, actually," stated Teike.
"This position is elected. Everyone likes me in the position, so I've held it
since I was 17. I won my second term, and here I am at 23. Actually, what I'm
truly peculiar about is why you're here. You are in aethership uniforms. Is
there an aethercraft about?"
"Actually, no. It got ran over by one of your Captains."
"Those Captains think they run aetherspace." The Ambassador spoke, and shocked
all three of them. "My name is Voln. Your fate is most unfortunate, and I agree
with their request. We should send them home; it's the most honourable thing to
do."
Jowan sighed at this. "Someone get Elohsi here, we have to go with vote in the
presence of all the Ministers." He sent an Aide to go see Elohsi. Speaking to
the three Cirlunians he said, "There are normally 18 here, but the Minister of
Aethercraft is the busiest and so he is excused from most meetings. There's two
Council Aides, one of them will go and get him to come here. The Ambassador and
I hold the most power in the city." Voln smiled at this, knowing fully well
that Jowan spoke true. They were the best speakers.
"He always gets the Elder position, but I don’t want it; otherwise I'd get
it," grinned Voln. Jowan laughed at Voln and they gave each other a handshake.
"The Minister has arrived, Council Elder," said the Aide, returning from where
the three had interrupted their apparent argument.
"Thank you. You may be seated. Please sit down, Ministers. I am the Elder, and
I will be hosting the vote about the Cirlunians returning to their home. This
will be in both languages, allowing everyone to listen." Jowan spoke in Maronin
and returned to Cirlunian. "We shall begin by asking the Ambassador to come
forward and explain the circumstances." He spoke in Maronin for a second, then
sat down and let the Ambassador do his work. He presented his speech in Maronin
only, and Xaro translated.
"The Ambassador thanks the Ministry for his time. He's stating that one of
their aetherships crushed ours. Elohsi is standing now, and he's furious that
the Ambassador would insinuate such a ridiculous statement. The Elder rose and
asked the Ambassador to prove we were run over. The Ambassador just made a
request that the Ministry call the aethership flying out at the time. The Elder
agrees to this and they’re now using what they call an 'aether' to speak with
the crew. They've made contact with the right ship, and the Ambassador is
asking the Captain what happened. The Captain said that he felt a small bump
and thought it was turbulence. He asked the empath if anything was wrong with
the ship and the empath thought turbulence as well, so they didn't stop.
They're still travelling, but their ship is repaired. The Ambassador thanked
them, and stated he has nothing further to say."
The Elder rose at this, and asked if anyone wished to say something. The
Treasurer rose and spoke, Xaro again translating.
"He says that he is concerned that we may be returned to Cirlunian because
'they are foreigners and don't know we exist'. He asks if the city would be
willing to give up their freedom in order to return us home. The Elder stated
that at this time, he will ask everyone to vote, 'yes' or 'no' to our returning
the Cirlunians home. He says, 'All in favour of the Cirlunians will stand. Those
who oppose, remain seated. The majority for this motion is set at 60%. If it is
deadlocked, then there will continue to be debating, and remember that the
majority for disproving this motion is also 60%. Now, everyone in favour rise
and those against stay seated.'"
The Ambassador stood, and the Elder remained standing. Elohsi stood, and 7
other ministers as well.
"I count 10." Jowan spoke this in Maronin, and Xaro translated for him.
"He states it's a deadlock, we have 56% support, but not enough to get home."
Zeltos grumbled. "We came here all for nothing?"
The Ambassador shot him a look and Zeltos was silenced.

**********************************************************************

"My crew is ready, Minister."
"Excellent. I will send you on your way, Sogirn, and best of luck to you.
Return quickly."
Sogirn nodded at Crawfen, and left for the aethership. He boarded, and
strapped on his seatbelt. "Is my crew ready? Empath?" asked Sogirn.
"Empath has everything downloaded. We're going at warp speed to Storacian
Bubble."
"Excellent. Gunners?"
"All ready and awaiting orders."
"Good. Passengers all in a seat?"
"Only one of me, and I'm in a seat, yes."
"Good for you, Ranfh. Taking off at warp speed. We will go to Storacia and try
to locate these three people. Ranfh, you are the person who is the combat
expert, and if they try to take you down then you will have to kill them. If
they run off, you will have to bring them back alive. If they aren’t there,
we go home. If they are, but the aethership isn't, we bring them home.
Understand?"
"Understood."
"Excellent. It will take 5 minutes to get there. We're taking off!"
The aethership blasted from the ground, travelling so fast the eye couldn’t
see it.
**********************************************************************

"Minister of Aethercraft… why is there a ship flying in? It's rather loud."
"There shouldn't be any ships flying in."
"Then why is there one?"
All the Ministers rushed after the three Cirlunians, who had ran outside to
see the ship, which had landed directly in front of the Ministry building. The
hatch opened, and Sogirn came out, followed by Ranfh.
"Sir!" Zeltos gave him a salute, and then explained what was happening with
Marone and Cirlunin quickly.
"Your ship crashed?"
Zeltos nodded at this.
"Then let's go home. No point in staying here."
"HOLD ON!" yelled the Treasurer in Maronin. "They can't leave. They know too
much about us now!"
Sogirn stared at the Treasurer, perplexed. "What language is that?"
"YOU DO NOT have the whole say in this," yelled the Council Elder. Everyone
within 50 metres of the area turned and stared at Jowan. "This will go to vote,
as anything does. All in favour of holding them here raise their hand. Those not
in favour stand and don't do anything. Again, 60% is needed. Voting starts now!"
Eleven of the 18 Ministers raised their hands, indicating a majority. They
were not allowed to leave the city.
"This decision is final until a debate may be held to release you all. Your
crew and passengers will not be allowed to embark the ship, but you will
receive the same treatment as if you all were Ministers of Marone."
"I can't believe we'll have to stay here for a while," said Zeltos.
"We don't. We can fight them," said Sogirn.
"I highly suggest you don't," said Jowan. "It is easier to remain than try and
fight your way out. And besides, we didn't even hear from the Ambassador,
who’s the most eloquent of the whole planet. He's going to try and get you
guys home."
Sogirn, Zeltos, Ranfh, Xaro, and Teike as well as the crew of the aethership
were taken to a house, their aethership flown to the Minister of Aethercraft's
domain. They were given pills to eat, and since it was late in they day they
decided the best way to settle in their new home was to sleep. Xaro continued
to think of the luck that he was having. Before he slept, he thought about all
the people he had met. Jowan was a great guy. He understood the predicament
they were in, and he wanted them to go home. He didn't care about the secrecy
of Storacia/Maronin because eventually they would have been found out anyway.
Voln was awesome too. Xaro had never heard anyone using words so well, and as
Ambassador he certainly deserved the position he had been elected to. He felt
that Elohsi was good too, and thought he might work with Voln in order to get
him to be more eloquent, especially with the fact that he was outraged. He
thought maybe that was why they didn’t bring Elohsi into debates; he might
have so much passion in them that he frustrated the rest of the council. He
also felt the Treasurer staring at him with his dark eyes. He did not like the
Treasurer and thought he was overstepping his boundaries. He was in charge of
funds, not disallowing visitors from going home. At this, Xaro slept, glad that
the rest came quickly.
Unlike Xaro, Sogirn was angry. He was a mere 10 metres away from his ship and
making contact with Crawfen. Had he been able to, he would have called to
Crawfen and requested backup, then had them rescue the other three and banish
these guys from Aetherspace. Unfortunately, that was no longer possible. He was
a political prisoner, held there against his will. 'Obviously this planet
doesn't think of constitution,' he thought wryly.
Sogirn soon fell asleep, the election results still roaring in his mind.