"Port Authority speaking... We are searching for a transport ship departing from the Federation and bound for Nagaril, registration number ..., please respond if you can hear us."
Every fifteen minutes, the port radio station sent out the message above, and ships entering or leaving the port would generally relay it as well.
This was not some rule written on paper, but an unspoken convention everyone followed.
Today, they would relay these radio messages. If they ever encountered trouble, others would likewise relay their messages.
Yet no one answered, and no one relayed any response.
"It's already a full day later than expected. There's no reason we shouldn't have heard anything at all. Something we don't know about must have happened." After leaving the radio station, the United Development Company's Commissioner sighed.
It had originally been a perfectly ordinary shipment, only somewhat larger in scale. No one had thought... that anything could go wrong.
After all, warships were escorting it. Even if they encountered pirates, no pirate would be stupid enough to cause trouble for a Federation convoy.
Not to mention that all the Cargo Ships bore the United Development Company's insignia and flew its flag.
If anyone truly dared attack them, they would have to be prepared to face the furious revenge of the Federation's most powerful people! Everyone firmly believed this. Nothing could possibly go wrong. And yet, something had gone wrong.
After twenty-four hours had passed with no sign of them, both Nagaril and the Federation began sending out ships to search.
It took at most four days to travel from the Federation to here. Even if they had strayed from the route, a day would have been enough to correct their course.
The Commissioner glanced at the sky as it gradually darkened and let out a