Prologue

Stripped of Service

"Gone?"

The booming voice resounded off the darkened room's walls, making the man standing in the middle of it shudder, despite the fact that he was standing to rigid attention. For all the world he wanted to take off the ornate, three-cornered hat that was stuck to his head with sweat, and dab at his face. He couldn't see much, which made him even more nervous, making him sweat more, which in turn made the whole situation worse. His face itched like fire as he haltingly replied.

"Yes, sir," he said, "they were gone. But you must understand…"

"I don't have time for your excuses, Commodore!" The voice made him flinch, and he could have sworn some spittle landed on his cheek. "Am I to understand you tracked him down to his home?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you then had his home completely surrounded?"

The man almost nodded, but then responded in the same way to the previous question.

"So how in the Nine Hells did he get away from you?" The voice elevated from raised to outright scream in the course of saying that sentence. It was definitely spittle that rained down on the man, although he had no idea how close or far away the source of the voice was. Close was his best estimate.

"My Lord, I have no idea. We chased him to his home, there was a brief firefight, then we forced our way in and he was no-where to be found, nor were his wife and child. No-one could have possibly escaped from the perimeter I set up, and there was no evidence of magic or secret tunnels..."

"All gossip! The fact is that you lost him, and thus the ship! And the ship is what the whole excursion was about! If we have the ship, we will have the Heart! So you do realize that you may have indefinitely halted our conquest, and also wasted years of intelligence gathering! All for a simple, avoidable blunder."

"I…" The man trailed off. It simply was an impossible situation; no amount of explaining could justify the fact that he had failed. His mouth worked, trying to think of something, all in vain. Eventually he simply sighed. "You are right, my lord. I submit myself to your judgment."

"As you should." There was a long pause, and then suddenly a match sparked into life and dipped into what the man guessed was a pipe. The glow briefly lit up the person's face, and the man managed to stifle a gasp. No wonder it was dark…where the eyes should have been were just deep, black holes. He shuddered violently as he looked into them; they seemed to dive into infinity. The man behind the desk continued unaware. "As of this moment, I strip you of your rank as Commodore. You shall be assigned a new, lower rank – although you shall keep your current vessel – until such time as you locate the…annoyance and his vessel. When you do, you shall present them both to me. Then, and only then, shall you be reinstated."

The man choked down a sob; this brought shame to his family, and would not be lifted until he was Commodore again. He would be the laughing stock of everyone, commoners and peasants included.

As if reading his thoughts, the other man balked. "You should not be concerned with what the rest of the rabble that forms this…nation thinks. I shall do my part to quell it, as it is only a temporary reassignment. Of course, temporary could mean the rest of your life, but I'm sure your son will not mind attempting to lift the shame once you are gone."

"As you wish, my lord," he managed to choke out.

"Leave my presence," the voice said, taking another tug from the pipe, "you have much work to do. The sooner you get started, the better."

This time the man said nothing, but gave a crisp salute and turned on his heels to stride out the door. He would find it; he would lift the shame that this had brought upon him. If it took him two lifetimes to do it, he would find that bastard. That ship would be his, and with it the power of what it hid. It would be his!