Fourth Vector Ch. 05

"You won't want to move too much. I imagine it's going to take you some time to heal," came a kind voice from the other side of the room.

Jack's head turned to the side to find the speaker. Surprisingly, he found himself looking into the eyes of the king of West Sorella. Heron smiled fondly and rose from the seat he was in, quickly crossing the distance to stand by Jack's bedside.

"Heron . . . you're here. Where is here?" Jack asked groggily.

"It may be hard to recognize but you're in the ship's infirmary," said Heron with a gentle smile. "Your ship theDestiny, of course."

"TheDestiny," muttered Jack. "But how?"

"Well, it definitely wasn't under your own strength," said Heron with a small chuckle. "You were found by Major Vaughn. Your men saw you go down while fighting my brother. Luckily for you, you managed to kill him. However, many of the men thought he took you with him."

"It kind of feels like he did," said Jack while rubbing at his chest once more. "Daimanos got a good slash in with that sword before I could dispatch him."

Heron smiled sadly. "Part of his martial training since we were boys. Father always intended for him to be my general someday. The two brothers—king and general. It just never worked out that way. If it helps you at all, you're probably one of very few men who managed to face my brother in battle and still live to tell about it."

"How bad do I look?" asked Jack. "Just how serious is the wound?"

"Not too bad, and I've seen much worse," said another voice off to his right. Jack leaned over to find himself looking at Dr. Kendall, the main doctor for the ship. Kendall stopped what he was doing and came to Jack's bedside. "You know the object of a sword fight is to get the other guy, right? Not to get stabbed yourself?"

"Now you tell me," said Jack with a small smile.

"Well, I see you haven't been robbed of your sense of humor so you must be doing better than I imagined," said Kendall with a hearty laugh. "You have lost a lot of blood though. You'll need to stay here for another few days and keep your wound dressed. Nothing too strenuous either. I can't have you reopening all that slash that took me so long to sew up."

"I think I can manage that," said Jack before turning to look back at Heron. "I didn't really get a chance to ask you. What happened after I passed out? Did we win?"

Heron nodded quickly. "It appears to be that way. Daimanos' forces were already on the retreat when you killed him. The fort, or rather what's left of it, is in our possession. We haven't even so much as ran into an East Sorellan patrol since the battle so my thoughts are that they've been chased all the way back to their capital."

"Good," said Jack with a satisfied smile. "What about Nikias? And Elektra? Are they all right?"

Heron smiled. "Quite all right, I assure you. I daresay though that I may never convince my daughter now to be a proper queen. The look of triumph on her face was paramount as her troops took over their section of the fort. Being in battle must have awoken something inside of her."

"She's a good daughter to have, Heron. You're a lucky man to call her your own," said Jack.

"If only she would have a suitor that's worthy of her."

"About that, I think I have a way to solve two potential problems right now," said Jack while struggling to sit up a little straighter.

Heron chuckled. "I'm all ears!"

"I'm not sure how you may feel about this, but I'd suggest letting her spend a little more time around Nikias. I'm sure you can think of an appropriate excuse in which to do so. You may get your wish."

"Nikias?" Heron's eyes rolled up in thought. "You're quite sure of this?"

Jack nodded. "He's quite smitten with her."

"That one might be harder to arrange than it looks. Not that I don't like the man—I genuinely do and he's been extraordinary in the service that he's rendered my house. Yet, he is of common blood. I don't see the people taking to him easily."

"The people are ravaged by this great war and need something to celebrate," said Jack. "Once this is all over, I'm sure a royal wedding will be just the thing to help them let go of this tragedy and move into the future."

Heron mulled the idea over for a few moments before breaking out in a smile. "That doesn't sound bad at all. Are you sure you don't have any political blood in you? That was spoken like a true politician!"

Jack shivered. "In my country, politics is a bleak and brutal affair. That's something I want no part of."

"Still, I suppose a thank you is in order. Not only to you and your ships but also to your monarch. We are grateful for the assistance given to us by the Javan Empire," said Heron.

"Perhaps we can discuss that more?" asked Jack while turning a bit more serious. "I also want to talk about that dreaded fire that happened at the fort. What was that, and why was it impossible to put out?"

Heron opened his mouth to respond but before he could, the door to the infirmary opened and Jack's eyes met Abigail's. She stopped for a moment upon seeing him, but once she saw that his eyes were open, she launched herself to his bed and threw her arms around him.

"Ah, ah, take it easy please," said Jack as she pressed in too hard against his wound.

"Oh, sorry," said Abigail with a giggle. She released his body and settled her eyes directly on his. "You're awake now."

"Just barely," said Jack while motioning back to Heron. "Heron's been telling me what happened after the battle."

The king looked back and forth between the two of them and then stood up from his chair. "I'll let you two visit for a while. Jack, when you're feeling better, please come see me. Abigail set me up with with a room near the main deck. We'll have much to talk about when you do."

"That sounds good, Heron. Thank you for staying here with me," said Jack with a subtle head nod to the monarch.

"Thank you for staying alive," said the king with a grin. "I have a feeling you're destined for too many things before the heavens call you home." With one final wave, he disappeared and shut the infirmary door shut.

Jack looked back over to Abigail's lovely, dark eyes only to find the sight of tears in them. One, single tear careened down her cheek which he quickly wiped away. "I can't believe you're alive," she said finally. "I didn't think you were going to make it."

"I nearly didn't," said Jack with a chuckle.

"You gave us all a fright in doing so. Anna hasn't left your room except for when she's been on watch. Greg has spent time in here, as well as Luke. All of us were worried half to death."

Jack smiled. "I take it everyone got out all right then?"

Abigail shrugged and then grinned at him. "It seems your plan worked out remarkably well. Even using theTiger as a decoy drew the fire off of everyone, and Kim did it without taking any major damage."'

"What about our forces? The marines? How bad were our losses?"

"All in all, rather light. We lost four men. Two more were wounded but they'll recover. One more is alive but suffered from a terrible burn from all that fire. He'll never fight again, unfortunately. For an action such as this, it appears we managed to surprise them enough that they should have just retreated all the way back to their capitol," said Abigail.

"I'm relieved to hear you say that. Once I had engaged Daimanos, I lost track of everything else," said Jack.

Abigail smirked and looked at him with an audible giggle. "Yeah, about that. Greg told me how he found you. Daimanos actually tried to have a sword fight with you?"

Jack shrugged sheepishly. "He tried but I wasn't about to let that fight happen on his own terms. I shot him in the gut with my sidearm when he attacked."

Abigail giggled. "You're ridiculous. You do know you're not supposed to let him close the distance, right?"

"That's funny, Kendall told me the same thing," said Jack sarcastically.

She laughed and rested her hand on his chest. "Just promise me that you won't make that mistake again, okay?"

"I'll try to remember that," said Jack with a grin.

She took another look at his body, studying him from head to toe. "So how long are you going to be down here? When can I expect you to be bugging me on the bridge again?" she added with a smile.

"A couple more days from the way it sounds," said Jack while thumbing over to Dr. Kendall.

"Poor you," said Abigail while tapping his chest. "What are you going to do to pass the time? Are you going to be able to remain on your back that long without wanting to get up?"

Jack shrugged. "Only time will tell, I suppose."

She leaned her face in closer to his own and took in the same breath. "Can I do anything to make you feel better?"

Jack gazed back into her dark eyes. "When you say anything, do you really mean anything?"

She giggled. "Always in the mood for one thing and one thing only, aren't you?"

Jack ran his fingers through his hair. "I wouldn't say one thing only. But when you look at me like that, then yes."

She leaned in closer still. "Perhaps I should indulge you this one time."

"Perhaps you should," he replied. "It might just make me heal faster."

"Well then, how can I turn down a request to help with that?" she asked with a smile. Without any further words, she leaned down to kiss him. Jack pressed into her kiss as well, her lips still just as soft as he remembered. Abigail moaned into his mouth just before her tongue sought entry to his own. She pressed her body against his as their tongues dueled eagerly, bringing back memories of that one night they spent in passion.

Unbeknownst to them, someone else had appeared at the infirmary door to check on Jack. As soon as she had gotten off of her watch for the day, Anna rushed down to check on Jack, eagerly hoping and praying that he would be awake. Her heart seized up as soon as she saw him sitting up in bed but she stopped just short of entering the room as soon as she saw her sister nearly lying on his bed. Anna watched quietly as they spoke, only able to make out some of their words from around the corner.

Yet, it was when their words fell silent that she hazarded a glance around the corner, and saw their lips sealed together in a kiss. Anna felt the pain stab at her heart at seeing her older sister with Jack. It pained her just to watch the two of them together, something she had started to suspect after seeing their playful banter together on the bridge.

Instead of confronting them, Anna pulled away from the door and shut it quietly behind her. As she felt the adrenaline course through her body, she decided to not confront her in front of Jack, knowing his delicate current condition. Anna slipped away from the door and rushed to the nearest hatch, her mood thoroughly spoiled by the sight.

Damn her. Must she have everything, thought Anna as she stalked away back to her quarters.

*****

Back in the infirmary, Abigail pulled away slowly from Jack's lips and her eyes popped open to gaze into his.

"I've been waiting for that for a while," said Jack with a sheepish look.

"Did I make you wait too long?"

"Just a little. It's better now though."

"You have a bad habit of making me have all these little moments of weakness," said Abigail as she tapped her fingers lightly against his chest.

"Oops." Jack grinned. "I'd say I'm sorry but you'd know I didn't mean it right?"

She smiled sadly and pulled away. "We shouldn't go any further. It's not fair to Anna."

Jack opened his mouth for a moment but closed it just as quickly. After a moment's thought, he began to nod. "You're right, of course." A small smirk then pierced his lips. "I can't believe you took advantage of me in my wounded state."

Abigail laughed heartily. "You're incorrigible. I'm going back to my quarters now!"

She turned to exit but Jack called out to her before she reached the door. "Wait just a moment. You can at least tell me if I missed anything while I was out of it. Any news? Anything going on?"

Abigail stopped and turned to him while wearing a subtle smirk. "Oh, I almost forgot. Two pieces of news have come in since the battle."

"Well? I'm all ears."

She turned to walk back to him. "Heron thinks he can fit our ships in his own dry docks. When we get back to West Sorella, he has a small naval base just further up the coast. He said he hasn't had much use of it since the Daimanos destroyed his fleet but the berths are huge. It should be even able to fit theDestiny!"

"That is great news," said Jack. "If we can make the repairs here, we won't have to return back to Quiller's Cove."

"We might not want to do that anyway," said Abigail. "Not with the second piece of news."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"A fresh message from the Admiralty just arrived this morning," she said. "It's from Admiral Bancroft. The emperor has finally declared war on the Occitanians."

Jack sat up straighter in bed. "Seriously? Hostilities have begun?"

Abigail nodded. "At this very moment, a task force is mustering to sail toward the Occitanian capitol of Montauban. Bancroft wanted you to be aware and to keep an eye out for any Occitanian ships that may come into the Vector."

"This war has been a long time coming," said Jack. "Are we ready for it?"

"We're going to have to be," said Abigail. "But I can promise you, Jack. Everyone on theDestiny will do their duty to their utmost."

She then turned to leave the infirmary. Right before she stepped out, Jack called out to her. "Thank you for coming to see me. You have no idea how glad I am to see you too, Abigail."

Her lips formed into a genuine smile. "Get better soon, Jack. We need you."

As soon as she was gone, Jack slid lower in bed and closed his eyes. Now that war was here, their mission just took on a new dimension. With his ships already battered and bruised as is, it became of paramount importance to get them repaired before the war found them.

Before slipping off to sleep once again, Jack reminisced about his experience in the last war and prayed this next conflict would be just as short. His gut feeling told him he wouldn't be so lucky this time around.

*****

After having arrived back in her quarters, Abigail moved to sit behind her desk and get some work done. Seeing Jack again had been incredible, and she was very thankful that he was able to pull through after his attack on the East Sorellan king. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't want to face the onset of hostilities without Jack at the helm of the task force.

There was a swift knock at her door after several minutes but before she could give the greeting for entry, her door opened anyway.

Abigail looked up in confusion at who would just barge into her own quarters but she relaxed as soon as she saw her sister's face slip into view. Anna latched the door behind her and crossed her arms.

"Oh, it's you, Anna-bear. You scared me," said Abigail with a smile, always reverting to her sister's childhood nickname when the two of them were alone.

"You've slept with Jack, haven't you?"

Abigail seized up and a look of panic filled her face at her sister's bold (and very true) accusation. She opened her mouth to respond but no words came out. The charge had come too suddenly that she felt entirely incapable of forming an excuse or a proper response.

"You don't need to answer. I can tell by the look on your face that you have," said Anna while chewing on her bottom lip. "I saw you two earlier in the infirmary. Kissing. You couldn't wait until he was awake again, could you? I had my suspicions, mind you. The way you acted around him on the bridge, for example."

"Anna-bear, I'm—"

"Don't call me that!" said Anna with a disgusted look on her face. There was nothing she hated more than when her sister still tried to treat her like they were kids again. "How could you, Abby? You know how much I like him."

Abigail pursed her lips. "It's not what you think. Really, I would never hurt you, Anna."

"You've hurt me plenty, Abby."

With that, Anna turned to exit the room while a string of tears came down her cheeks. As she opened the door, she turned to face her sister. Wiping away her tears, Anna raised her chin and stared at her older sister.

"I won't share him, Abby. Not with you and not with anyone. It's you or me."

With that, the younger sister slipped out into the hall and slammed the door behind her, leaving Abigail feeling helpless and even more confused. If she thought it was hard to control herself around Jack before, it would be twice as bad knowing that Anna would scrutinize every interaction they had moving forward. And while she desperately wanted to prove to her sister that all it was between her and Jack was sex, her inner conscience wouldn't let her say it out loud.

Things were about to become a lot more interesting on theDestiny.