Chapter 445: Valeris Council 3

Oren nodded, then transmitted from the lead Orison patrol ship. His voice remained firm but deliberately calm.

"Power down your weapons and prepare for inspection. You are surrounded, but nobody will fire if you comply. Any claim to the recovered material will be recorded and reviewed with the other parties."

For several seconds, none of the ships responded.

Then the damaged patrol ship powered down first.

The second followed soon after, and one by one, the recovery vessels reduced their engines and disabled their active systems.

The converted cargo ship was the last to comply. Its reactor remained powered for almost another minute, long enough to make everyone watching uneasy, before its output finally began dropping.

The entire fight had lasted less than thirty seconds.

Talyra took no damage, only one hostile weapon mount was destroyed, and nobody died.

Aurelian preferred it that way.

Boarding teams entered the recovery vessel carrying the container less than an hour later.

The Valeris and cooperative observers accompanied Orison’s investigators, ensuring that nobody could later claim the contents had been removed, replaced, or changed before the inspection.

Aurelian watched remotely as the large container was transferred into an open cargo section and carefully unlocked.

There were no weapons inside. No reactor components or valuable metals either.

Instead, the investigators found data cores.

Twenty-three of them.

Several still carried intact Vhaloric seals.

Eirenne immediately began reviewing the first remote scans, her expression sharpening as information appeared across her display. "These appear to be manufacturing records."

Dalia stared at the images from aboard the Orison patrol ship, her expression immediately tightening. "That’s what they were after."

"If those archives are intact, they could be extremely valuable," Oren added, although he looked considerably less pleased by the discovery.

Aurelian understood why.

A recovered weapon could be used, dismantled, or studied until engineers understood how it worked.

A manufacturing archive was different. Depending on what information had survived, those cores could contain production methods, component specifications, material requirements, industrial processes, or even complete designs that had disappeared centuries ago.

Even a handful of useful records could be worth more than everything else in the wreck field combined.

"Which is exactly why nobody is taking them home today," Aurelian said, looking between the different representatives.

For once, nobody argued with him.

The twenty-three cores were sealed again under joint supervision. They would be transferred to a neutral review site where Orison, Valeris, Harrow’s Rest, and the Outer Recovery Cooperative could examine them without allowing any single group to control access.

The captured crews would also be questioned about Dane and Holding Site Three.

Whether every person aboard the seven ships had known about the Valeris attack remained unclear.

Aurelian had no intention of treating them all as conspirators without evidence.

Some might have simply been hired recovery workers following orders without knowing where those orders came from.

Someone, however, had ordered the group to retrieve the archives after Dane’s plan failed.

Aurelian wanted to know who.

As Talyra returned to an observation position near the wreck field, he finally leaned back in his chair and considered everything they had uncovered.

Dane’s surrender had not ended the problem.

It had only revealed what the problem was about.

The attack at Valeris had looked political on the surface. Dane and his supporters clearly hated the new recovery arrangement and feared what would happen if outsiders gained easier access to the old wreck fields.

Underneath that political argument, however, was something much simpler.

Money.

Recovery rights meant access to old technology. Old technology meant valuable contracts, stronger ships, industrial growth, and influence over settlements that depended on salvage to survive.

A single valuable discovery could support an entire recovery company for years, while something like the manufacturing archives they had just found could be worth far more.

If the new agreement changed who could reach those wrecks, some people stood to lose a great deal.

Astra stood beside Aurelian, studying the image of the sealed data cores on the main screen. "Do you think this is what Dane was protecting?"

"Part of it," Aurelian replied.

Astra turned toward him, curiosity appearing on her face. "Only part?"

Instead of answering immediately, Aurelian brought up the remaining files recovered from the old depot.

Eirenne had already gone through much of the information, but several references remained encrypted or incomplete.

They had accounts they hadn’t traced, messages with missing recipients, and references to recovery sites that did not appear on modern charts.

Some could be unimportant, but there were too many loose ends for Aurelian to ignore.

More importantly, they still had no idea who had sent the anonymous warning that saved Orison’s delegation before the attack.

"People don’t usually build this much trouble around one box of old records," Aurelian said, looking over the unfinished list.

Astra considered that for a moment before slowly nodding. "So Dane might only be one part of it."

"That’s what I want to find out."

Catching him solved one problem, but it also raised several more questions. Someone had helped Dane organize the crews and move equipment.

Someone had known enough about the Valeris conference to prepare the attack.

At the same time, someone else had known enough about that attack to send a warning before it happened.

Until they understood those connections, Aurelian was not willing to assume everything had ended with Dane.

Another communication window suddenly appeared beside the others.

Rhoswen was back.

The hopeful expression on her face immediately told Aurelian what she wanted before she even spoke.

"Maybe now I can leave Valeris."

Aurelian stared at her for a moment. "No."

Her shoulders dropped, and she let out a long, disappointed sigh. "I knew you were going to say that."

Before Aurelian could respond, Talyra’s quiet voice entered the channel.

"I believe I received the better assignment again."

Rhoswen slowly turned toward Talyra’s communication window. Her expression shifted from disappointment to genuine betrayal. "You did not need to say that."

Talyra remained perfectly calm. "I believed it was relevant."

"It wasn’t."

"It seemed relevant."

Rhoswen narrowed her eyes. "You’re enjoying this."

Talyra paused for a moment, apparently considering the accusation seriously. "Possibly."

That answer finally broke Astra. She started laughing beside Aurelian, while even Eirenne turned away slightly, unable to hide her amusement completely.

Rhoswen looked even more offended. "She’s been awake for less than a month, and you’re already encouraging her."

"I haven’t done anything," Aurelian replied.

"Exactly. That’s the problem."

Aurelian looked between Rhoswen’s offended expression and Talyra’s completely serious one, then noticed Astra was still laughing beside him.

For the second time that day, he decided it was better not to get involved.