Fourth Vector Ch. 06

While he readied himself, he applied a healing cream given to him by Kendall across his wound, pleased to see that they no longer looked as ugly as they had in the previous days. It was close to scabbed over, and as Jack ran his cream-dabbed fingers over the cut, not a speck of blood appeared on the other side.

Satisfied with the results, Jack chose to forgo the bandage and simply slipped on an undershirt and finally his jacket. He had to be at the palace soon, and he wanted to get moving quickly. Heron had chosen to reside in one of the rooms of the palace for the time being, and Jack wanted to see if any leads had shown up over the night about the location of the treasury.

Jack stepped out of his quarters and made his way above deck, his fingers tapping along the railing on the way to the bridge as he always did. He chose not to take his customary stop at the bow of the ship this morning and instead climbed into the bridge to meet with the current watch officer.

Thankfully, it wasn't Anna's watch, as he still hadn't had another conversation with the brunette officer since their last awkward encounter. Even though he intended to have an eventual heart-to-heart with the woman, he didn't want to have to start that conversation when he was already in a rush to get to the palace.

Instead, Jack found Kyle sitting at the command station with some coffee, already fighting to stifle a yawn.

"You're going to need some sleep soon," said Jack with a chuckle as he stepped into the bridge.

"I'm going to get some in a little bit as soon as my relief comes," answered Kyle while taking a large sip of coffee.

"How was everything overnight? Quiet? Any issues?"

"Quiet as can be," answered Kyle. "The ship is rather calm. Nothing unordinary from theTiger or theValiant either."

"That's great news," said Jack. "Let the others know I've gone up to the palace. I need to meet with Heron first thing."

"Will do, Jack. Do you need an escort? Want me to round up some of the Marines to go with you?"

Jack shook his head. "No, that's okay. The city is well under control, and there's enough Marines out on the streets as is already. I'll be fine."

"Aye, sir. See you soon," said Kyle, returning back to his coffee.

Jack slipped out of the bridge and made his way back down to the main deck and then to the stern of the ship. Slipping into his own launch boat, he made his way to the main dock and tied up the boat to one of the wooden posts.

It was still early enough in the morning that the sun hadn't quite crested over the horizon and the sky remained a brilliant display of dull orange and purple. For the time of day, not many were out yet and Jack ran into marine patrols more often than he did other Sorellans. What Sorellans he did see where outside their homes, trying to clean up their battered city from the ravages of war. The sight did make him smile at seeing the people trying to rebuild after such a harsh conflict.

Jack still struggled up the main staircase to the palace, finding himself winded after making his way to the top. While not quite as bad as the day before, he was looking forward to being fully healed and not feeling so useless by the simplest of tasks. Making his way past the giant fountain, he entered the west side of the palace and made his way into the great hall.

It wasn't hard to find the king, and Jack spotted Heron near the giant, deliberating table where they had eaten their meager dinner the night before. The man still carried a worried look, written deep into the contours of his faces.

"Ah, Jack. Good morning," said Heron, offering a friendly smile despite the situation.

"Good morning, Heron. I'm curious if we've received any good news over the night?"

Heron took a deep breath. "Nothing yet. Nothing has been found or reported by any of the marines guarding the city. Of course, it makes it a little harder when we can't ask the citizens directly."

Jack nodded. "You're worried about causing a panic with them? Or a riot?"

"Exactly, Jack," answered Heron. "I don't want the common people to know the treasury is missing. Half of them might just go looking for it if they had the knowledge and cause unnecessary bloodshed. The other half might just look unfavorably on us for not recovering it and that might hurt our chances of rebuilding with these people. Either way, I don't want to take that chance."

"Understandable," said Jack with a quick nod. "So what's the plan from here?"

"We keep sending patrols out deeper into the countryside," said Heron. "We're hoping that if someone did steal the gold and make a run for it, we can catch them before they get too far. That much gold is going to be extremely heavy, and they won't be able to move quickly."

"What's our contingency plan?" asked Jack. "What happens if we don't catch up to the gold or find it at all?"

Heron swallowed visibly and averted his gaze. "That's going to make rebuilding Sorella much more difficult. As you can imagine, my own treasury is just about empty. The war has been ruinous and soldiers aren't cheap. I'm almost afraid to think of what may happen if they get away," said Heron.

"We'll just have to make sure that they don't," said Jack firmly. "Luckily, we have the only forces on the island capable of securing it. As long as they stay on the island, we can find them."

"That's what worries me the most," said Heron. "With that much gold, they can easily find passage away from the island. If they leave Sorella, our chances of finding them approach zero. We must find them before that happens."

Before Jack could respond, the main doors to the palace slammed open as a group of soldiers made their way inside. At the head of the group was Nikias, wearing a triumphant smile on his face as the group held another man by the arms, carrying him along while his feet scraped against the floor. The man was either unconscious or dead judging by the way his head hung unresponsively against his chest.

"My king! We've found something!" said Nikias as the entire group came to a stop just before Jack and Heron.

Jack took one look at the man being carried and realized that he wasn't unconscious. He was just drunk. His head rolled from side to side until he was dropped on the floor unceremoniously by the Marine guards.

"Who is this, Nikias?" asked Heron while pointing to the man. "What's going on?"

Nikias pointed down to the drunken man himself. "I had the marines searching all the common areas of the city below. Public markets, taverns and the like. Of course, all of them were looking for clues on the gold but I figured no one would be stupid enough to steal Daimanos' gold and go spending it in the local tavern. So we started looking for people. Specifically, servants who had worked at the palace."

"Being that I know just about every servant who served in these halls, I would know what best to look for. That's when we noticed this man here."

The drunken man raised his head to look at the king upon being mentioned. His eyes were extremely bloodshot and his stare was blank. He wore a simple, white tunic, although it had long since been stained with mud or some other material and clearly needed a wash.

Nikias bent forward to grab a piece of the man's tunic. "This man himself was the personal servant to the minister Barak. This symbol in the corner means that he was part of the palace household. Of course, spending so much time around the minister meant I always saw this man not far behind."

Heron nodded quickly and then addressed the drunken man. "What is your name? Is this true? Were you servant to the minister Barak?"

The man opened his mouth but only a hiccup came out. He slurred something inaudibly before falling silent.

Jack turned to one of the marines. "Go grab a bucket of water. There's a bucket by the door and take the water from the fountain. Go quickly."

The marine arrived back a few minutes later with a full bucket and handed it off to Jack. Jack took hold of it and immediately dumped it on the drunken man, thoroughly drenching him in the cold fountain water.

"Hey! Why'd yah have to be such an ashhole for?" hollered the man while staring daggers at Jack.

Jack smiled grimly. "We had to get your attention somehow. Now, can you answer the king's question?"

"I did alfready," slurred the man. "Yesh, I was the servant to Barak."

"What were you responsible for? What was your role?" asked Heron.

The man hiccuped before responding. "Mostly to fetch his meals and the occasional whore from the city. Just female whores though. He didn't look at me that way."

"Do you know where he is now?" asked Heron. "We really need to locate the man and it's of critical importance that we find him soon."

"I haven't the slightest idea," said the man while shrugging his shoulders. "He wasn't in the habit of telling me his ev'ry whereabouts. That probably caused more harm than good. I was always trying to find him throughout the palace, and he'd get mad at me when he couldn't find me. That was really his problem though, not mine."

"Do you know where he could have gone? Does he have any family on the island? Any associates?" asked Jack.

The man shook his head. "Not that he'd tell us. We're just servants, man. We're not privy to their comings or—hic—goings."

"What were you doing down in the tavern? And what is your name?" asked Heron.

"You can call me Pot, sir," said the drunken man while giving a broken smile.

"Pot. Like what you cook your food in?" asked Jack curiously.

Pot gave him an acid look. "No, like what you smoke," he said sarcastically. "Us normal folk aren't so lucky to have long and fancy names like you lot."

He then turned to face the king. "Anyway, I was enjoying a late-night meal and a drink down at the tavern, but I seemed to get a little carried away with my drinking. It just happens sometimes!"

Heron gestured to Nikias. "Check his pockets."

"Hey, now there's no need to do—hey! Hey!" Pot yelled loudly as the marines grabbed him by the arms and pulled him up. Nikias walked in front of the man and reached inside his pockets, pulling out a few everyday items until finding the one thing he was looking for.

"Hey, that's mine! You can't steal that!" yelled Pot as he was let down by the Marines once again.

Nikias handed off a gold coin back to Heron. The king inspected it closely before nodding solemnly. "This was already stolen once. I'm sure you recognize your former king on the backside of the coin, don't you?" Heron flipped it over to show the profile of Daimanos.

"No, no, I earned that for being a good servant. Barak gave that to me just before he left!"

"Left for where? Tell us where he went?" pressed Nikias.

"I told you already. I have no idea!" said Pot. "The man never shared details with the help."

"How many of these coins did he give you? And when was it?"

Pot brought a finger to his lips and tapped against it gently. "Let's see—it was just about three days ago or roughly around there. It was well after Daimanos left the city and then of course we all heard about him getting killed and all that. After that, most of the palace staff went a little crazy, as you could probably have told from how you found it."

"Anyway, Barak came back to the city in a rush one night insisting that we find a grain wagon for him. He was quite animated about finding one immediately. Well, a few servants and I went down into the city and purchased one to be given to him. He had a few soldiers with him but all of them looked to be in rough shape and they needed to get moving quickly."

Pot then shrugged. "I figured he was in some kind of trouble. Everyone seemed to not know what was going to happen next, and I figured he just wanted to flee the city. He left that night but not before giving me three gold coins for all of my work."

"The coins were for getting him the grain wagon, I take it?" asked Heron.

"I suppose so. It's funny though because we've never been paid in actual currency before. To be a palace servant, you get to live in the palace and your meals and board are taken care of for you. So rather unusual to receive some gold but in times like this, I can understand why."

"So he gave you three coins three days ago and you haven't seen him since? That's about the gist of it, am I right?" asked Jack.

"More or less," answered Pot.

"Where's the other two coins?" asked Heron. "You only had one in your pocket."

"Well about that, sir, I've kind of already spent them," said Pot with an embarrassed look. He began to rub his hands together in a nervous way. "You see, when you're a palace servant, you don't get to leave this place much, and you certainly don't get to partake in life's more finite pleasures very often."

"Like getting drunk?" asked Nikias dryly.

"Like having a good drink," corrected Pot with an angry look. "So I went down to the tavern, and I drank my woes away. Even had the chance to purchase a nice lady for the night with some really fine knockers! It was great," said Pot with a dreamy smile on his face.

Heron's face darkened considerably. "Are you aware boy that you just stole money from your government's treasury and used it on drinks and whores?"

The smile dropped from Pot's face almost immediately. "B-but it wasn't stolen. Barak gave it to me—"

"That's becausehe stole it!" roared Heron. "He stole it from the treasury. Just because he gave it to you doesn't make it any less stolen!"

"W-well, I didn't know, sir!" squeaked Pot. "I'm just a servant. How am I supposed to know that? It's all Barak's fault, I tell you! He's the one you need to be going after. Not me!"

"You're in just as much trouble until we figure out where he's at," said Heron. "You need to search your brain. Think, man, think! Barak had to say something. Let something slip up that you could have overheard. We need to find where he went with the treasury!"

Pot looked too frightened to even think. The effects of the booze had just about worn off due to fear, and the poor man sat there almost shaking in the presence of the king. If anything, it didn't help his stutter.

"I-I don't know, s-sir! I just remember him telling me to f-fetch the wagon! And to be quick about it." Pot brought his hands to his face and started to pound the side of his head, as if that might make him think better.

"You know, it's just too bad," said Nikias with a shake of the head. "The real culprit here is Barak. He's the one who should be hung for the theft. Too bad we're going to have to hang you if we can't find him."

Pot paled visibly. "H-hang me?"

Nikias nodded his head. "What a shame. But then again, stealingis stealing. If only we had the real criminal, then we could just let you go."

Jack almost had to smile at the performance that Nikias was putting on for the man. The slight smile on the minister's face confirmed that they wouldn't actually do anything to the servant, but a little bit of fear might just jog his memory and help to figure out where Barak had gone.

"I don't know. I don't know!" said a more panicked Pot. "I just remember getting the wagon. And listening to Barak with those soldiers. He just kept telling them to move quickly. Like the rest of us. Always more quickly—we were always too slow for them. He needed to get moving. Something about getting more from the temple. Although I don't know what that means—"

"Stop just a second," said Heron with a raised hand. "Temple, what temple?"

"I'm not sure, sir. He just said they had to get moving to the temple soon and they were going to get more of it there. I don't know what they meant by more of it though, sir."

Heron looked back and forth from Jack to Nikias while mouthing the word it. Before long, he then turned back to Pot. "Did they say anything else?"

"No, sir. That's all of it, I promise!"

"What gate did they leave from?" asked Nikias. "Where did they go once they got the wagon?"

Pot's eyes rolled up in thought. "They went through the northern gate, sir! Just beyond the palace. That wagon was loaded down and completely covered with all kinds of tarps and blankets. Say, you don't think they had the treasury loaded on there, do you?"

Heron flipped the coin back at Pot. "That's all that we need of you, Pot. Take this coin and go now. I want you to tell no one of your encounter with us today. Not a word of what's been discussed in this room. Understand me?"

"A-and you won't h-hang me, right? No hanging?" asked Pot.

"No hangings. Unless I get word of someone down at the tavern running their mouth about a stolen treasury," said Heron firmly. "Then you and I will be having a second conversation, and I can promise you it won't be nearly as pleasant as this one."

Pot scampered to his feet. "I got it, sir! I won't tell a soul, not one! Thank you, sir! I'll be going now."

Heron allowed the man to leave and he quickly shuffled out of the palace, no doubt looking for the nearest place to relieve himself after that meeting. As soon as the doors to the palace were closed, Jack turned to face Heron.

"Do you have any idea what he was referring to? I'm still just as lost as before he came in," said the commander.

Heron nodded. "I'd be willing to bet the entire treasury that I know where Barak is going. There can only be one place." The king then turned to look at Nikias. "Is there a map of all of Sorella in here somewhere? Surely, Daimanos had a study of some sort, right?"

"Yes, let's go this way," said Nikias, pointing down another grand hallway. The three of them hurried down the hall as the Sorellans stepped with purpose and a spring in their step. Jack rushed along behind them, eager to find out what clue they had discerned from the interrogation of Pot.

Finally, they entered the study, which had a large map of the entire island set against one entire wall. Jack looked on in stunning detail as all of the triangular-shaped island was mapped out in full detail, including Daimanos' city on the far eastern point, Heron's city on the far western point, and the various other little towns all over. All dominated by the single, solitary mountain in the middle of the island.

"Will this work for you purposes, Sire?" asked Nikias.

"That's perfect. Thank you," said Heron as he studied the map. He placed his finger over their current location in the city and began to trace paths out of the city. Most of them led in a northerly direction, but most of the time, his finger drifted closer to the mountain in the center. Finally, Heron tapped excitedly at the mountain and turned to face the other two with a triumphant face.

"I got it. I know where he went," said the king with a beaming smile. "He's gone to the ancient temple of Malicoe near the crest of Mount Tarpeious."

"Temple? Temple of Malicoe?" asked Nikias. "That's the temple he was referring to?"

"It has to be," said Heron. "It's the only place worth going to."

"You've lost me," said Jack. "What's so special about the temple?"

Heron turned to face him. "That temple was the very first one built to our main god, Malicoe. It was built by the legendary first king of Sorella, Decon, as an offering for saving him and letting him survive on the island. Back in those days, pirates swarmed the coasts of the island, so the only safe place was Mount Tarpeious in the center of the island."

"Decon washed ashore from a fishing vessel and in order to not be taken by pirates, he crept deep into the interior of the island, making his temporary home on the mountain. He was near starvation after several days when a vision of Malicoe came to him in the night and imparted the wisdom of hunting and survival on the young fisherman. With that knowledge, Decon was able to kill his first real supper on the island, a wild boar. He built an altar to the god on the spot where he received that first message."