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[b]Date unknown, 2005[/b]
[b]Time unknown[/b]

The Negative Zone was different to any place than Carol Danvers had ever been before. In her short time with the Green Lantern Corps she had seen many, many things but none like the Negative Zone. It looked innocuous enough at a glance but it wasn’t the Zone’s appearance that was amiss, it was the sensation one felt upon being there. Carol could feel her emotions being interfered with. There was something in the atmosphere in this place. She and Sinestro glided through the stars and the huge boulders that littered space in the Negative Zone in search of some signs of life. In the distance was the singularity that Sinestro had spoken about and Carol could see the space around it distorting as it dragged everything towards it. 

After a few minutes of searching Carol sensed movement behind the pair of them. At first she dismissed it and pressed on but it soon became clear that whatever Carol thought she’d felt was following them. She waited until she’d seen them, eight or nine muscle-bound and furry creatures bearing weapons, and slid level with Sinestro to inform him of their presence. 

“Sinestro,” Carol whispered. “We have company.”

He nodded as if he had been aware of their presence for a long time and began to slow up some. “Stay close to me and stay silent, Danvers, the last thing we need is you opening your mouth and getting the both of us killed.”

Sinestro and Carol slowed to a halt completely and turned to face the creatures following them. It took some time but finally they appeared from behind the boulders they had hoped would disguise their presence. Whatever they were, whoever they were, they were incapable of flying unaided and it took some time for them to use whatever contraption they had to float over to the pair of Green Lanterns. Once they finally arrived they stood, holding their weapons at the ready, and stared at Sinestro and Carol with cold dead eyes.

“Green Lanterns,” barked the largest amongst them. “You have no jurisdiction here. The Negative Zone belongs to Supreme Commander Blastaar and he alone. If you have ventured here in search of battle you will not find it. Only your deaths.”

“It is not battle we seek but an audience,” Sinestro said, raising his hands peacefully. “We must speak with Commander Blastaar immediately.”

The creature looked round at his companions and satisfied they all agreed that taking the Lanterns to Blastaar he nodded at Carol and Sinestro and gestured to them to follow after him. Carol looked over at Sinestro uneasily as they tailed them. She didn’t doubt Sinestro’s abilities in the slightest given that short of Mar-Vell his proficiency with his ring was considered unparalleled. His methods Carol knew nothing of and as they grew closer to a planet a ring informed her was named “Baluur” she realised how little she knew of Sinestro outside of his legend.

From the looks of it Baluur had once been a green and prosperous planet. Now it had been reduced to a smouldering rock, its sky burnt red and thick with smoke, and what little signs of life came from the ground were few and far between. At its center stood a metallic construct that Carol figured housed Blastaar and as Sinestro, Carol, and their escorts approached the construct burst into life. A door twenty times as large as either them or the creatures that had escorted them there opened wide to allow them inside. They were led to a dining hall in which a hulking figure sat alone eating from mounds of food. Dotted around the room were servants, some beaten and others whipped, but all cowering in the man’s presence. It had to be Blastaar. 

He shoveled down a huge handful of food and looked up at Carol and Sinestro. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Lanterns? It is not often that the Negative Zone is graced by your presence.”

His voice was so deep and powerful the room shook as he spoke. Try as Carol might to keep his eyes locked on him, she couldn’t help but look around at the servants that knelt on bloody knees in the corners of the room. It made her stomach turn. Sinestro seemed unbothered and stepped towards the large table. One of their escorts extended an arm to stop him getting too close to Blastaar and Sinestro glared at him before stopping in his tracks.

“Four of our brothers have gone missing and evidence at the scene suggested they had been taken to the Negative Zone, Blastaar, we are here to find them and return them to Oa.”

A bone-chilling laugh forced its way through Blastaar’s lips and Carol could see flecks of spit and chunks of food forced out with it. “What would I know of missing Green Lanterns? The Negative Zone has no business with the Guardians or their servants.”

The word “servant” grated against Sinestro’s considerable ego but he bit his tongue and instead responded with a respectfulness that left Carol uncomfortable.

“Word has reached as far as Oa that Commander Blastaar knows all that happens in the Negative Zone. Some say that he is even omniscient within the realms of his own domain.”

Satisfied by by Sinestro’s fealties, Blastaar threw down the chunks of food in his hand and looked up at him. “I am that and more, Lantern.”

With a massive forearm Blastaar wiped his mouth clean and reached for a tankard that contained a blood red liquid Carol hoped wasn’t actually blood. He gulped at it hungrily until he ran empty and then slammed it down on the table with a burp. Content, Blastaar pushed his seat and stood up to walk towards an open furnace that kept the room blisteringly hot. He stood before it and allowed its warmth to beat against his furry chest.

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“There is but one planet in the Negative Zone that has yet to submit to my control. Rebels hole up on Arthoros. They exhaust themselves looking for any opportunity to break my hold on the universe. I would begin there if I were you.”

Blastaar looked over his shoulder to Sinestro for another sign of gratitude and the pink-skinned Green Lantern nodded his head appreciatively at Blastaar’s suggestion. “You are most kind, Commander.”

“Stay for a time,” Blastaar called out to the Lanterns as they turned to leave. “Dine with me.”

Sinestro moved to speak but Carol stepped in front of him and gestured to the servants dotted around the room. She had bitten her tongue for long enough. Even in the Negative Zone, she was [i]still[/i] a Green Lantern and that had to count for something, she wouldn't stand by whilst innocent people suffered. That wasn't what being a Green Lantern was about. 

“Are these slaves?”

A thick vein bulged on Sinestro’s forehead as he glanced round at Carol to compel her into silence, then looked back at Blastaar. “We have limited time. It us of the utmost importance that we find our missing brethren and return home, Commander, but again I thank you for the kind gesture. We must be going.”

Blastaar nodded, though his face was riven with mistrust, and the pair of Green Lanterns made their way out of Blastaar's stronghold. On their way out the number of escorts had doubled, which Carol noted, and they seemed very keen on the Green Lanterns leaving as soon as possible. Sinestro was power walking ahead of her a few paces as always and Carol sped up to catch up to him and voice her concerns about what they had seen.

“Those people in there were slaves, Sinestro, Blastaar was keeping them there against their will. We have to do something.”

It was clear from his face that Sinestro was still angry with Danvers at having spoken up but given their escorts were listening in he spoke as quietly as possible. “What is the Third Law of the Book of Oa, Danvers?”

“You don’t need to lecture me on the Book of Oa.”

“Apparently I do,” Sinestro said angrily. “Noninterference with a planet’s culture, political structure, or its population’s collective will. Practices are different here in the Negative Zone, Danvers, slavery is not looked upon the same here as it is amongst your emotionally frail species. Here they understand that some species are superior to others. Some are born to serve and others to rule.”

It took Carol back but worryingly it was a view that was shared by a number of Green Lanterns she had spoken to. For many across the universe slavery wasn't only common, but considered natural, and when Carol tried to explain to them why it was wrong she was met with derision. It seemed that Earth, or Terra as they insisted on calling it, was one the few planets in the universe where slavery was considered immoral. Then again, there were still [i]plenty[/i] of slaves on Earth.

Carol shook her head in bemusement. "Did that look like a population’s collective will to you? It sure as hell didn’t to me. We have to help them, Sinestro.”

“We find the missing Green Lanterns and we return to Oa,” Sinesto ordered, brandishing a threatening finger towards Carol as he spoke. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

Finally they exited Blastaar's stronghold and the heavy doors to it slammed shut behind them. Without another word Sinestro shot into the blood red sky and through the heavy black clouds above them. Carol glanced back at the gun-black metal castle that loomed over Baluur and gritted her teeth as she thought of the bloody kneed servants cowering at Blastaar's feet. She wanted to go back there and help them but she had a mission.

The mission came first. The mission [i]always[/i] came first.