Fourth Vector Ch. 05

"That's terrible," said Greg. "It must be awful to lose a father in that way."

"It nearly killed me," whispered the king. "He was not only the father of the Sorellan people but he was a kind father to us as well. The fact that he could have been assassinated after nearly forty years of rule still stymies the mind."

"Did you ever catch the perpetrator? Who did it?"

"Oh, we caught him all right," said Heron with a grim look. "And he was dealt with in a manner to fit the crime. However, he never released the name of his bankroll. To this day, it's not officially known. But I would bet all that I have left it was Daimanos."

Greg gasped. "You think he would have killed his own father?"

Heron nodded slowly. "I do. Daimanos was always sensitive to the fact that he wouldn't inherit the throne. When we were younger, he only accepted that fact reluctantly and he would change the subject as quickly as possible. The older we got, the sorer it became for him. At one point when we were nearly men, he had a screaming match with our father during a festival for the people to our main god, Malicoe. It was of great embarrassment to our father and any other king might have harshly punished him for obstinance. Father just looked the other way though."

"It sounds like it might have gone better if your father had just taken the belt to the little shit when he was acting like that," said Greg. " Might have saved us all a lot of trouble."

Heron chuckled. "It's not often that the very thought doesn't cross my mind."

"So what happened next?" asked Jack.

"My father recognized Daimanos' aggressiveness for what it was and thought he needed a good way to channel all that energy. In doing so, he put him in the army. At first, he served like any other soldier, but being that we haven't been at war with an outside foe in nearly fifty years, he saw little real action. So he began to climb the ranks. He was supposed to be the eventual commander of the Sorellan army when I took over as king. For centuries, that's how it had been with two or more male heirs in the royal family—the first born takes the throne and the rest take the muskets."

The king took a deep breath. "But he wasn't happy even with that outlet for his aggression. He began to crave even more, even wanting the kingship for himself. When I married my wife, he threw an incredible tantrum because now there was a way for me to have my own heirs and further remove him from the succession. When my son, Theo, was born, Daimanos went missing for days. They eventually found him out in the countryside trying to shake off a drunken stupor but I knew it was because he figured out his chances of inheriting were lower than ever."

"So he decided to take matters into his own hands?" asked Jack.

Heron locked eyes on him. "That's what I believe. As I started to adapt to life as a new father, my brother became more withdrawn. He started to drift toward dangerous people in the army. People with nothing to lose and everything to gain. That's how he met Barak."

Jack pursed his lips. "Barak? You mean the first minister?"

"First minister," said Heron with a chuckle and a head shake. "When I knew him, he was just a sergeant in the army. He probably wouldn't have risen any higher than that if my father was still around. He was always the brooding type and as nasty as you can imagine. That man's file is filled with too many cases of abuse to his fellow soldiers. Yet, his nature meshed well with Daimanos and so it didn't surprise me to see him rise so high in his government."

"Don't forget Alcydes," muttered Nikias from the side of his mouth.

Heron nodded. "That was the other one. Alcydes used to be a colonel. A particularly nasty one at that. About eight years ago, there was a rebellion by a village on the north side of the island. The people did have a legitimate grievance though. They had such a high tax on their fishing industry and that was the way they made their living in that village. It could have been solved with diplomacy and father had sent the army to monitor the situation. Of course, Alcydes happened to be in charge of the unit that was nearest to the village."

"No one knows what really happened but shots were exchanged and Alcydes led his entire regiment into the village. He killed everyone—men, women, even children. He had the ringleaders crucified as a warning to nearby villages. Nasty business," said the king with a shiver.

"We saw a camp of people as we sailed over here," said Jack. "Several of them were set up and crucified. Many of them were women and otherwise older, non-military people."

Hero nodded solemnly. "Ever since he took over as Daimanos' war minister, that's been his preferred method of sending a message."

"I don't get it though," interrupted Greg. "How did he get in the position to become king of half the island?"

"You can say it started when our father died," said Heron. "The circumstances around it were fishy from the start. Daimanos was the one to find him already dead in his bed. I had just barely seen his still body before Daimanos was already proclaiming me king. I still remember the way he thrust my hand into the sky and whispered 'Hail Heron, King of Sorella' before father's body was even cold yet."

Heron shuddered. "Needless to say, our father had shown no inclination of being sickly to that point so it came as much of a surprise. Daimanos insisted on a quick funeral. My guess was to disguise any evidence of foul play. Our tradition calls for the burning of our dead and it wasn't several hours later that his body went up on the pyre to be burned."

"Was there anything about him that made you suspect that he had been assassinated?"

Heron nodded quickly. "His face. When I saw it, it was tinged in a heavy green color. His tongue stuck out from his body and contained numerous boils. I've seen poisoning like that before and it matches the profile. I believe Daimanos had him poisoned and rapidly burned to prevent anyone from finding out."

"I can understand how removing the king would bring him closer to the throne but you had a son already at that point, right?" asked Greg. "He was still too far away in succession to be king."

"You're right, Greg," said Heron. "Except for one part. My son was sickly. Theo was never able to string along more than a couple months when he wasn't down with some kind of malady. It was just shy of his tenth birthday when he breathed his last breath."

Jack crossed over to the king and put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that, Heron. No father should have to bury his son."

Heron wiped a tear from his eye before looking back at the Javan commander. "I still have two daughters. However, under Sorella custom, men are supposed to inherit the throne. You can understand how Daimanos must have seen his chance at that point."

"Since his only brother was now without a male heir, he knew he could still become king," said Greg.

"That's right. I had only been king for about two years by the time he became much more difficult to work with. He had made too many remarks about my leadership and hinted at what might happen to our family house should I not have a proper heir. He did everything he could to stir the other members of government against me. Finally, I had enough. I told him to leave our city and go be the governor of the city that is now his capital."

"East Sorella," muttered Jack.

"That's right, Jack. Both a country and a city. It wasn't long that once he was on his own, he began to spin even more tales about me. I should've realized that if I had kept him here, I could've kept him contained. Putting him on the other side of the island just lengthened the leash that he had to work with."

Jack nodded. "When did he rebel?"

"Last summer," said Heron. "I had gotten a rumor that he'd been telling anyone who would listen that I wasn't really our father's child. That our mother had cheated on Alecto with one of the royal servants and that I was the result. Of course, his story involved father finding out about it and killing off the servant for his adultery, conveniently a full two years before Daimanos was born."

"To take away any doubt of his paternity and cement him as the one, true heir," said Jack.

"Precisely," said Heron. "As you can imagine, I was enraged by the rumor. I ordered Daimanos to come back to the city and be stripped of his responsibilities. It was then that he used his contacts in the military to split the army. He then went public shortly after. He called me a usurper to the throne and ordered a war be fought to remove me. It was also then that my suspicions about the poisoning of our father became more public. Only, they came from his mouth—he suspected me of doing the deed."

"He accused you of what he did himself," whispered Greg.

"I believe so. It's the sort of shiftiness that he's always been known for. His little rebellion split the army pretty evenly. Most of the commanders stayed loyal to our house and remained on our side. However, Daimanos offered raises to the common foot soldiers so many of them deserted and decided to fight for him. As you can imagine, it's set a predictable tone for the war to follow."

"A war between generals and soldiers. It seems pretty one-sided," said Jack.

"It has been, for the most part. With our lack of soldiers, our generals have been able to fortify our city and make them pay for every inch of land. They've taken heavy casualties trying to take over our lands. It was only a few months ago that he began to call me a butcher for how many men we've cost him."

"That he does. He just mentioned it before we started this expedition over here," said Greg.

Heron nodded. "As you can imagine, civil war on the island met with much chaos and confusion. Many of the outlying villages had no idea what to do or who to support. Of course, Daimanos didn't take kindly to that. Any village that didn't recognize him as the true king he set Alcydes on. Many people would run to escape the village on the approach of soldiers but they would be chased into the countryside and killed where they stood."

"When we first arrived here, we found numerous dead bodies close to the coast. Women and children. Non-combatants. Was it Daimanos' work?"

"More than likely. We don't have the manpower to get that far from the city anymore nor could any real king allow the slaughter of his own people," said Heron with a grim stare. "Daimanos on the other hand hasn't stopped killing since this war began. He's even been killing those in the countryside where all the food is grown. As you've no doubt noticed, there isn't any Sorellan alive with any extra weight."

"Except perhaps Daimanos and his government," said Jack. "He seems to be getting enough food."

"The rest of us, not so much," said Heron while rubbing his own stomach. "Not that it matters much anymore. With so many of our people now dead, there's not as much of a need for grain."

"What about your defenses though, Heron?" asked Greg. "How long can you hold out in the city?"

Heron shook his head slowly. "Not long, I believe. Although the war has claimed many lives, Daimanos' forces still outnumber us. We only have a small portion of this land under our control. Outside of these walls is Daimanos' territory. My soldiers have been withered down to next to nothing. I'm afraid if he attacks in force, he'll overwhelm what's left of us."

Greg shot a look over at Jack, a questioning gaze that echoed the internal struggle going on in Jack's own mind. The very things he questioned most about Daimanos never seemed to give him any clarity. Yet, the words of Heron now seemed to paint a fuller picture, one that made more sense with the events. Jack's eyes settled on the haggard king whose worn and tired eyes did little to diminish the look of hope contained within. The same look even appeared to be written into the face of Nikias as he stood not far from the king and another question formed inside.

"What about Nikias?" asked Jack while gesturing to the man. "Where does he fit into all of this? He seemed to be doing a great job of being standoffish while we were in East Sorella."

Nikias lowered his head as Heron walked the few feet over to the man and rested his hand on his back. "Nikias has been my most trusted advisor. He only came to my service after our father had already left and Daimanos had moved to his side of the island. He has shown himself to be both intelligent and crafty. It was his idea to infiltrate Daimanos' side, and he has been my mole in my brother's government for some time. It is Nikias that passed along the word of your coming, Jack."

"Not to doubt Nikias here, but it seems like a short amount of time to have worked your way into Daimanos' government. How did you manage that?" asked Jack while looking at the minister.

Nikias shrugged. "I'm amazed sometimes with how quickly he made me a minister. The thing about Daimanos is that he only wants to hear what he believes or what he thinks can help him. If you tell him what he wants to hear often enough, he'll keep coming back to you."

Heron chuckled lightly. "My brother hasn't changed in many years. Having to listen to tough news is part of what makes you a fair king. He wants to be remembered as a great king of Sorella, yet he never learned the first lesson."

"It does feel good to be home," said Nikias with a genuine smile. "And it felt even better to kill that brutal bastard, Alcydes. His death was a little too quick for my liking."

"No doubt countless families will rest easier now that the butcher is dead," said Heron with a head nod.

Jack strummed his fingers along the dining room table in thought. So many questions still swirled inside his mind, and he struggled to decide which path he should take. Heron, to his credit, noticed the look on Jack's face and approached the Javan commander.

"Jack, I'm not sure if it's my place to ask you to fight with us, but I could surely use your help. With our forces so weakened, I'm afraid we won't hold out much longer."

Jack nodded. "You make a good case, Heron. And what you've told us makes sense. What I'm having the most trouble with is the fact that we've signed an alliance with Daimanos. I've given not only my word but the word of my country to come to their defense and align against their enemies. I'm not sure how well that would be taken to break an alliance so soon."

Heron nodded and looked especially crestfallen. "I understand, Jack. If anything, this allowed us to set the record straight. You know the truth now about Sorella."

"Wait, my king," interrupted Nikias. "Jack, your forces are in significant danger right now from Daimanos."

Jack squinted. "But we've signed an alliance with him. He's pledged to us just as much as we are to him."

Nikias shook his head. "Daimanos has no need of alliances. Not now when our backs are against the wall. In his mind, he's already won. But there is one person here who can change the balance of that. That's you, Jack."

"Wouldn't it be better for him to ally with us than to be hostile?" asked Greg. "What use does it to him to make a powerful enemy?"

Heron turned to look at Greg. "You may be powerful but there are only a few of you. He'll look to betray you when you're divided and weak. When you can't strike as a single force."

"Like right now," whispered Jack. "Our ships are separated and our marines are exposed here in the city. If he wanted to strike, it would be the perfect time for him to do so and catch us off guard."

Heron approached Jack and put his hands on the commander's arms. "Your people are in grave danger, Jack. My brother will stop at nothing to win ultimate power over the land of Sorella."

*****

Sirens blared overhead and chaos reigned on theValiant as Kim Cross struggled to get the light cruiser moving. Around them, the sky had filled with thick, dark clouds—the only remains of the artillery fire that now devastated their position in the inner harbor. Her fingers trembled as she gripped the command radio in her other hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Amongst the chaos, a flurry of orders was issued from within the bridge of the ship.

"I need all boilers firing right now, Lieutenant," yelled Cory, his voice still hoarse and scratchy from just having woken up a short while ago. The radio crackled with the noise from the engine room and even as each minute felt like an eternity, the ship roared to life and sent vibrations running along bulkheads.

"No, you put some covering fire on those hills," roared Bill as his fingers pointed aggressively to the artillery positions beneath Daimanos' palace. "You need to give us a break to get out of this harbor!"

The sounds of rifle fire could be heard from the main deck. The Sorellans who were trying to sneak about were dropping in droves but they were having a hard time keeping the ships deck occupied with all the cannon fire from the hills.

More than anything, Kim was concerned about Luke's whereabouts with the bombardment only starting once he was on the main deck. She struggled to find him with the gaggle of sailors crossing each and every way, all trying to rush to their battle-stations to put up a fight.

"Where the hell is Luke?" yelled Bill as he put his command radio down. "He's not responding on the officer channel!"

"He went down to get his radio," said Kim as she crossed to the other section of the bridge to try to find him once more. Her eyes followed the path he was likely to have taken back to his quarters but she saw nobody that matched his resemblance. Fighting to keep her heart from beating out of control, she set about trying to stem the flow of chaos but they were leaderless without Luke.

"What kind of ordnance do you want to throw up? Armor-piercing, high explosive or shrapnel?" asked Bill, looking back over to Kim for an answer.

At the same time, Cory looked over as well. "There's a chain that is pulled across the mouth of the harbor and preventing our exit. What do you want to do, Kim? Ram it?"

She looked at them with her mouth wide open. "Why are you asking me? Luke will make those decisions!"

Bill shook his head. "Luke isn't here. You've got the next most seniority. Until he shows up, you're in charge, Kim."

She approached the window with a worried expression on her face. Searching ceaselessly for Luke and simultaneously praying he was all right, her heart thumped wildly when he wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Kim, we need an answer. We need you in the game," yelled Bill, snapping her back to attention.

She turned and looked at them firmly, a steely glint now present in her eyes. "Load the guns with shrapnel. Let's try and take out as many of those crews as we can." She then turned to face Cory. "Ram the damn chain. We need to get out of this harbor and out of the range of those guns."

Both officers gave a swift approval and set about to carry out the orders. It wasn't much more than a few minutes later that the first round came exploding out of the forward gun turrets. Kim brought her binoculars to her face to scan the damage and was entirely satisfied to see the hillside covered in a small fireball as two gun crews in particular were completely taken out by the shot.

"Direct hit," she called out while looking back to Bill. "Fire another shot and keep going!"

Just as the ship had started to pull closer to the mouth of the harbor, an accurate shot had slammed into the main deck near the stern, sending smoke billowing into the early morning air. It was then that Kim finally caught sight of Luke, making his way along the starboard railing and on his way to the bridge.

"There's Luke!" she said excitedly, feeling her heart pound in her chest at seeing him alive and well. He moved quickly along the railing and just reached the rear turret directly below the entrance to the bridge.