Empire of the Ring

Three large and small vessels, presumed to be the pirates’ mother ships, were heading northward at full speed as soon as their anchors were raised.

They sailed at about the speed of 20 knots, so the two frigates could follow it with ease.

“Deputy captain, what they have in their hands are portable rocket launchers, right?”

“Captain, there are others with AK rifles.”

The two captains, who were watching the mother ships through the telescope, were certain that they belonged to pirates. Any fishing boat should not have that kind of weapons on board. There was a slight chance that they belonged to a southern military clique, but it was still worth following them.

Somalia had been virtually in anarchy due to a long civil war. It was where wars had been perpetuated by the struggle for leadership of 12 large and small military cliques.

Pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden or northern Arabian waters were linked in some form to those cliques as they directly operated pirates or paid them to do kidnappings.

The military cliques were also forced to be active in piracy as it was a channel to raise funds to run their organization.

Familiar with the situation, Kazakh navies had been relentless in attacking ships suspected of being pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.

Today, they finally found suspicious ships.

“Captain, I think we have enough evidence to attack them.”

“All right. Call the 903 and tell them to attack the two leading ships. Our ship will be in charge of the big ship that’s lagging behind.”

As they were convinced, they were mother ships of the high-speed boats that attacked Zeynep’s hospital ship and they did not hesitate.

Even if they were not pirates, armed Somali ships could turn into pirates at any time, so they must be sunk as a precaution. This was because the international community classified Somali military cliques as potential pirates.

“Captain, we have to fire first warning shots, or it might be a problem later.”

“We’re already in Somali territorial waters, so what’s to worry? And I’ve never seen the Somali government take issue with that. The government is busy taking care of itself.”

“Okay, sir. We will launch an attack immediately. This is the bridge. Can you hear me, 127-millimeter main gun?”

-Aye, aye, sir!

“Take aim at the rearmost vessel ahead!”

-Aye, aye, sir! Launching the main gun.

A few moments later, with a loud ‘bang’ sound, the gun went off.

However, there was only a loud foaming at the back of the pirate ship ahead as if it had missed.

“Main gunner, wake up! You can’t even get that?”

Soon, the relaunched shell hit the ship’s rear deck.

The old, shabby vessel was sinking into the water in an instant when it was shot directly by a shell.

When a 127-millimeter shell was fired directly, even a warship made of iron could be damaged, so civilian vessels would be shattered by it.

The vessel 903 also fired three or four shells at the ships, quickly sinking two of the leading ships.

The explosive power of the shell was so great that even a slight flick of the shell destroyed everything.

The navies circled around the scene of the sinking to find survivors, but all they could find were miscellaneous items and debris from the ship.

The human body, vulnerable to the powerful tyranny in the event of an explosion, had no ability to withstand it.

“Operation closed! Good work everyone. We go back to Seychelles.”

Two frigates turned in the eastward direction when the order of the senior captain, Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov, was issued.

This was because if they wandered around for no reason, they could easily be seen in the eyes of a passing fishing boat.

Although smaller than the Aegis destroyer, the size of the frigates was also huge.

The impact must be serious since two such huge warships entered Somali waters and sank three civilian ships believed to be the mother ships of pirates.

It was clear that those mother ships had contacted their bases while being chased by the warships. However, they did not have time to escape as it happened so quickly.

***

Zeynep’s hospital ship at the Port of Victoria on Seychelles was a spectacle.

Not only because of its huge size and weight of 25,000 tons but also because it belonged to a charity foundation run by a Kazakh princess.

Asam, the head of India’s naval base in Seychelles, was busy watching the hospital ship and welcoming the princess.

“We sincerely welcome your visit.”

“Thank you for your warm welcome. I hope the sudden visit didn’t bother you too much.”

“I’m always ready to greet such a beautiful princess like you. Please think of our base as a royal annex and make yourself at home.”

At Captain Asam’s words, Zeynep smiled sweetly.

“If I had known that Seychelles was such a beautiful place, I would have visited earlier. Admiral Jun mentioned it many times, and he was speaking the truth.”

“You must be tired of long-distance sailing. Freely take a tour around here and relieve yourself.”

“I want to take a few days off here, but I have to hurry because the residents of Madagascar are waiting for our hospital ship.”

“Princess, there are surprisingly many people who don’t get medical benefits in Seychelles. If you do volunteer work here, you will hear a lot of praise for the Kazakh royal family. Our Indian navy will be grateful for that.”

Captain Asam intended to hold on to the princess for the time being.

If she was on her way to medical service anyway, it would not matter if it was done in Seychelles or Madagascar.

Since Seychelles was already used as a naval base, doing volunteer work on the islands would be beneficial for both India and Kazakhstan.

“It’s a popular tourist destination, so I thought the residents have a decent living.”

“But the gap between the rich and the poor is severe, and because it’s mostly made of islands, there are surprisingly many medical blind zones.”

“Oh, really? Then I’ll have to do some volunteer work here for a while. We can’t just pass it by since you shared your naval base for us.”

“You’ve made a great decision. When you go to the island for volunteer work, the Indian Navy will support you.”

“I’d appreciate it if you would.”

“It’s rather an honor to help you.”

The official name of Seychelles was the Republic of Seychelles, which belonged to the Commonwealth.

It was an island country located about 1,100 kilometers north of Madagascar, 1,800 kilometers east of Kenya, near the equator of the West Indies, and consisted of 116 islands.

On Mahe, the largest island in Seychelles, there was the largest port of Victoria, which was the capital.

It had a population of around 90,000.

As a tourist destination, the per capita income exceeded 15,000 dollars and was called the Indian Ocean’s Last Paradise.

***

Seychelles was largely home to the main islands of Mahe, Praslin, La Digue, and Curieuse, of which Zeynep chose Praslin Island as her first volunteer work area.

The island was home to many mixed-race natives and one of the favorite tourist destinations, and most of the natives worked as employees of accommodations.

It was crowded with Western tourists on all sides.

The emerald sea of the Indian Ocean, the blue sky, the strange granite landscape of light gray, and the landscape that varied in every direction of the sun were indescribable.

Upon arrival at the wharf on Praslin Island, Zeynep was so silenced by the beautiful scenery.

The hospital ship was unable to enter the Praslin Island marina, so it docked at the outer port and arrived at the marina with four 20-man boats attached to the ship with medical personnel.

A red cross was clearly visible on the white large ship hull floating on the outer port.

At the news of the visit of Princess Zeynep, the younger sister of the Kazakh queen, the whole local residents, and tourists who wanted to see her gathered at the dock.

Seychelles was an island frequented by celebrities around the world, where the families of U.S. President Obama and Britain’s Prince William and his wife, also stayed.

However, Kazakhstan’s princess was drawing more public attention because her purpose was not tourism but medical service, not to mention her outstanding beauty.

The interest in the princess was explosive as local media made headlines that she was handing out her compassion to the poor, who were being neglected despite her high status.

To escort the princess, the guards were dressed in civilian clothes and surrounded her, but they were not able to stop all the crowds coming to see her.

Only by joining the local police, the princess’s company could escape the dock.

Zeynep was surprised to get this much attention from abroad.

“Oh, my! What’s the big deal about volunteering? Lieutenant Shim and the guards had a hard time because of me.”

“No, thanks to you, we are happy to see the island.”

“Please take care of the medical staff rather than me. We have to start the medical service soon.”

Located an hour’s drive from the dock, the native village was lined with modern houses and the streets were relatively well organized.

The preconceived notion of living in shabby houses was shattered.

But she spotted children in front of houses with cigarettes in their mouths.

When she arrived at the village hall, she asked a local police officer.

“Officer, even children smoke here, but no one stops them.”

“Oh! Were you wondering about that? Anyone can smoke here. It’s rather strange to have to restrain it.”

“Smoking in adolescence is extremely bad…”

She tried to keep talking, but she, soon, shut her mouth.

What could she do in a country that lives off tourism?

Tourists visiting here were rich Western tourists and those who grew up watching their freewheeling lifestyles.

They admired tourists because they depend on the tips they received from the tourists.

To the people of Seychelles, it was natural to take care of the tourists.

Children also preferred to follow tourists around and run errands rather than going to school because of the culture they encountered every day.

Perhaps because of this, most of the residents who visited the clinic had bad teeth, and there were surprisingly many who suffered from venereal diseases.

She felt bitter to have discovered the dark side hidden behind the colorful tourist resort.