Fourth Vector Ch. 10

Jack's heart sank at the thought of Vera and Kat both in chains. Especially Vera, knowing her earlier experience at the hands of the slavers. It wasn't a life he wished on anyone.

"Did anyone challenge this? You just let them take the female passengers? Families were broken apart, wives and daughters!"

"There was nothing we could do," said Aristides weakly. "It was a hostile takeover of the entire ship. We were completely at their mercy. Those of us that still lived thought we were the lucky ones to at least get away with our lives."

"What happened next? After they sailed off? How did the ship get in such a bad shape?"

"We're not sure," said Aristides. "They left the ship and let us go on our way. We were only a short distance away, no more than a mile, when they opened fire on us. It was a bloodbath. We took a direct hit on the bow of the ship. Once we were hit again, they came back and this time acted like we were enemy troops. They locked me below deck and killed anyone else still alive. They set a fuse to start the fire which only lit once they were already gone. I wasn't sure if I would be burned to death or drown. Even now as the ship slowly capsizes, I know there's no one left alive on the ship."

Jack's eyes drifted to the main deck, noticing the sizable tilt now as the starboard side rose into the air, causing him to hang onto the railing to maintain his position. The ship wouldn't last much longer now.

"What about the two passengers that got on in Sorella?" asked Jack. "Two blonde women, young, no more than twenty-something years old. What happened to them?"

Aristides shrugged. "I don't know. I thought I remembered seeing a blonde when they took the women but I can't remember. I was the subject of abuse by that point," he said while pointing to his gut wound.

"Just the one blonde? Not the other?"

"I just remember seeing one," he said weakly.

One and not the other. There could still be hope that one of them was alive and not captured. Jack just prayed that someone would find them on the ship. But as the marines brought more and more bodies to the top deck, just about all of them were male. Jack couldn't find a single female body in the entire bunch.

At one point, he even looked over the side of the ships, searching the water below for anyone who might have jumped off. With the water as choppy as it was, searching for anyone below would prove to be a difficult affair if not impossible. Jack was starting to lose hope. And the situation was rapidly deteriorating.

"Jack, we need to get off this ship!" called out Greg, as many of the other teams had made their way back to the main deck. The ship's starboard side was almost out of the water now and what fires were still burning were soon being put out by the sinking of the ship.

"Get the captain into a launch boat," yelled Jack. "And then get yourselves off the ship!" He then turned to look at Aristides. "Come on, man, we're getting you off of here."

Aristides waved his hand again. "Leave me, Jack. My time is already up. Save the spot for someone else."

Jack grabbed the man by his collar and brought his face closer. "I'm not leaving you alive on this ship."

With that, he motioned for another pair of marines to help load him into a boat. The only survivors were Aristides and one other man, alive but unconscious and by the looks of him, he wouldn't last much longer either. With the two men loaded, the first team of marines entered their boats and made the short journey back to theDestiny.

Jack signaled the second team to get moving back to the ship and soon they were back in their boats and heading back to the heavy cruiser. Now it was only Jack, Greg, and the original team of marines left on deck. After a quick count of their numbers, Jack noticed there were just too few marines standing next to them.

"Where are the other pair?" Jack asked, looking around them. "There should be two others, but there's only four of you standing here."

Greg seemed to sense instinctively who was missing. "Damnit, where's Garza and Bluffman?"

The remaining men on deck sprinted toward the nearest hatches, checking and calling out for the missing men. The situation was getting desperate and Jack could begin to see water seeping onto the second level deck, meaning just about all of the ship was under water.

"We can't last much longer on here," called out Greg. "We have to get going."

"We can't leave them," yelled Jack.

"We're going to get sucked down with the ship if we don't get off right now!"

Jack wanted to argue but he knew the other man to be correct. Just when he was about to lose hope, he heard someone shout out from the second deck. He whipped his head around and saw the two missing marines dragging a woman with blonde hair on their shoulders. The blonde woman was covered in blood. Jack only needed one look to know exactly who it was.

Vera.

But where was Kat?

As water started to rush up from the hatch itself, the two men grabbed the unconscious woman and Jack helped to usher them to the final launch boat. They barely needed the grappling hooks now as the ship was so low to the water that it was just a short hop for them into the boat.

"Go, go, go!" yelled Jack as soon as they were in. "We don't want to get sucked into the wake of the sinking ship!"

Greg lowered the motor on the boat and they sped away from the dying vessel and headed back to theDestiny. Once clear of the ship, Jack reached down to brush Vera's hair away from her face. Her eyes were closed, and she looked unconscious but she was still breathing. Perhaps she could shed some more light on what happened on the vessel, especially what happened to Kat. As theSwordfish dipped under the waves, Jack just prayed that Kat had been able to get off the ship, even if that meant she was with the Swabians. It was better than being dead.

Once they were safely back on the cruiser, Jack assisted the men with getting Vera, Aristides, and the other man down to the infirmary so Dr. Kendall could attend to them. Vera didn't look too bad, especially when compared with the others. He couldn't see any wounds on her, and he hoped the blood that was on her wasn't her own.

"Kendall, we need you," shouted Jack as soon as they burst into the infirmary. Aristides was set down and given a round of painkillers to mollify him for as long as possible, as was the other nameless man. Based upon Kendall's observations, neither of them would last the night, however Jack remained hopeful once he examined Vera.

"I can't find any wounds on her," he said after searching her from head to toe. "My guess is that she tried to take care of someone else and this is their blood. Her breathing is still really labored but her heart is strong. We may just need to wait for her to wake up."

"How long do you think that will be?"

Kendall shrugged. "It could be ten minutes from now or ten hours. Hell, maybe even ten days. I'm not sure, but we'll watch her and make sure she's all right."

"Let me know right away as soon as she's awake," said Jack. "Radio me so I can come down."

With one last look at Vera, Jack turned his back and went back to the bridge. All they could do now was wait. With theSwordfish finally below the waves, it was just theDestiny and theTiger once again. But whichever Swabian vessel that was out there attacking ships had to be nearby. He just had no idea which direction they were in. It wasn't like he could easily leave now, not with all this violence and especially with Kat missing. He had to find this warship, but what direction should he search?

"Should we continue on our northeasterly course, Jack?" asked Cory once he was back on the bridge. "Or do we change the plan?"

"For now, Cory," said Jack. "We have no other leads. They could be almost anywhere. I highly doubt they are behind us, but they could have gone further north or west over to Swabia. Let's continue with the current course."Maybe when Vera awakes, I can find out some information from her on their direction.

She kept him waiting until nearly nightfall. At that point, she was the only one left alive from the entire vessel. The nameless man succumbed shortly after reaching the infirmary, and Aristides made it a few more hours until he died as well. Jack was in his quarters working on the evening report when Dr. Kendall radioed him to let him know Vera was finally awake.

He practically sprinted to the infirmary. Once inside, she didn't look any worse for wear, and her eyes were finally open.

"Vera, you're awake," said Jack with a smile on his face as he crouched near her bedside.

She blinked at him several times before recognition set in. "Jack? Is that really you?"

"It's me, Vera. You're safe now," he said quietly. As happy as he was to see her, he had to restrain himself. He wanted desperately to question her on what happened today but with her frail state, he'd have to be gentle. She would require all of his patience.

"How did I get here?" she asked while her eyes searched the room. "The last thing I remember was being in the . . . room, oh." Vera reached up and touched her forehead.

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me that," said Jack with a smile. "Mostly how you're still alive. Just about everyone else we found on that ship is dead."

Vera started to pale. "Dead? All of them?"

Jack nodded quietly. He watched as she processed his words before she turned to look at him with fright while grabbing his arm. "Where's Kat? Is she okay? Is she safe? They took her!"

The smile dropped from Jack's face. "Who took her? I was really hoping you would know what happened to her. We couldn't find her, and we searched as much of the ship as we could."

Vera covered her eyes. "Those vicious brutes, Jack. Those horrible people, they took her!"

"Vera," said Jack gently, resting his hand on hers. "You have to start from the beginning. Tell me all of what happened. We need to figure out where they took Kat."

Her eyes started to water. One hand went up to wipe away the tears that started to collect on her cheek while she stared away from Jack. Finally she shook her head slightly before speaking. "We all heard a message from the captain this morning. Something about a Swabian warship trying to catch up to us. I had been napping still at the time so by the time I heard the message, they were already coming aboard. Kat and I were separated at the time, as she had gone up above deck to watch the waves. She did so every morning, enjoying the sight of the ocean from the deck. She was one of the first women they grabbed. I only noticed because I had just emerged from below deck but they didn't see me yet."

"What did you do then?"

Vera turned to look at him. "I-I panicked. I knew it was a Swabian vessel and I know what they do with Galicians when they find them. That's a regional hatred that goes back centuries. When I knew I couldn't save Kat, I just ran. I ran all the way back to our room. I thought I could lock myself inside but then they started searching the whole ship."

"Your hiding place must have been a good one," said Jack.

She nodded. "There's a small crawl space in the closest of our room. I was able to go inside it and put some clothes in the way. They searched the room and didn't find me. Once the coast was clear, I went out once I heard someone moaning out in the hallway," said Vera before looking toward the floor. "He was stabbed so many times, Jack. I couldn't stop the bleeding!"

Jack pointed to her clothes, which had been discarded once she entered the infirmary. "That explains how you got covered in blood."

She swallowed visibly. "I couldn't do anything else for him, and he died right there in my arms. I couldn't even take a moment to say a prayer for his passing as I heard more Swabians coming back, so I hid back in the room. That's when I heard it."

"Heard what, Vera?"

She steeled her gaze. "It wasn't just Swabians, Jack. Someone with them was speaking in the Andalucian tongue. I don't understand it, but I know the sound of it from my time in the slave pens. They must be working together on this one."

"If they have Kat, is she likely to go to the slave pens?" asked Jack. "Would they give her over to them?"

"Andalucians pay a large price for attractive, young women. All of them to be used as sex slaves," said Vera. "I have no doubt that they'll take her back to Andalucia to be sold."

The bottom fell out of Jack's stomach. After already hearing the ordeal that Vera had gone through at the hands of the slavers, knowing that this was the intended fate of Kat had his heart beating out of control. He couldn't let that happen.

"Do you know where they went, Vera? It's imperative we stop them. We can't let that fate happen to Kat."

Vera's face changed to dismay. "I d-don't know, Jack. When they came back, I thought to hide back in my old hiding spot. I must have hit my head or something because that's the last thing I remember until I heard your men searching in the room."

Jack's shoulders fell. She was quite possibly the only other person alive who might know where the Swabians had gone, and she'd been unconscious right as they were leaving. "We have no idea where they're going then," he said in a quiet tone. "They could be anywhere out there."

Vera avoided his eyes lest she see his disappointment. She remained silent for several moments until she snapped her fingers. "There was an Andalucian slave trawler with them! I remember seeing it with the Swabian warship and thinking it was odd that they were together."

"Right," said Jack while looking a bit confused. "But we knew that already. That would explain why you heard their language once they were aboard."

"But this is important, Jack! Their slave trawlers are not big ships. I mean, they're more like boats. They don't have much range, so they never go out further than Andalucian territory waters."

"Do you know how far of a range they have?" asked Jack.

"No, but if they are all the way out here, it means they won't be able to stay out in open seas that long. For one, they won't have enough supplies to feed their men for a long voyage, so they'll have to return soon. For two, if they just picked up potential slaves, they'll want to get them back to markets quickly to be sold. Especially if there's limited food aboard. Weak, starving slaves don't fetch as much coin as healthy ones."

"We're still heading north right now," said Jack. "We should be heading east. If we go full speed, we should be able to gain on them. These trawlers, I take it they're not that fast?"

Vera shook her head. "Not at all. One of the slower vessels I've ever seen. But the Andalucians aren't really known for their technology. They are a primitive, desert people. Their living comes from slaves, not technology."

"Okay, we need to get this ship heading east then," said Jack. "I need to get to the bridge so I can give the orders right away."

Vera reached out and grabbed his arm. "Jack, I'm so sorry. If I had been with Kat, perhaps we both could have gotten away. If I hadn't panicked—"

"Not right now, Vera," said Jack while holding up his free hand. "Right now, we need to get to Kat. I need to get this ship heading in the right direction. We can talk about this another time, but we need to do everything in our power to get Kat."

Vera simply nodded while remaining silent. When Jack could tell that she would blame herself for Kat's disappearance regardless of the facts, he offered her a brave smile. "Keep the faith, Vera. We'll find her."

--------

The entire next day was spent on the search for the Swabian warship as well as the Andalucian slave trawler. Once Jack was back in the bridge, they swung hard to the east, and as they neared the late evening hours of the following day, Jack watched as the sun set directly behind them. There had been nothing of note for the past twenty-four hours. Once again, it felt like they were on their own in the great expanse of the sea, one that hid the location of enemy vessels just out of sight.

Before he left the bridge for the evening, Jack strummed his fingers along his command station. He was glad they were at least heading in the right direction now, but his thoughts were troubled still. It was a night full of contradictions. He was happy that Vera was alive and seemingly well, but Kat was still out there somewhere, her status unknown. He was glad they were now chasing the culprits of this travesty, but they could still elude him in the great distances of the ocean. He didn't know how to feel and the troubled thoughts were with him constantly.

More importantly, he wasn't sure exactly what he'd do once they caught up with the Swabian vessel. While their actions were despicable, they weren't carried out against Javans nor did it bring any harm to his own countrymen. Even the attacking of an independent Sorellan merchant would stretch his need for acasus belli, and he was sure that such an action would bring down the wrath from the Admiralty. Yet, something inside him kept him going. Mostly, it was the thought of never seeing Kat's face again.

While there was a strong inclination to do the right thing and prevent innocents from a dark future of slavery, if he was being honest with himself, he swung the ship in pursuit because of Kat. Jack closed his eyes briefly, trying to remember the image of her sky-blue eyes and pale-pink lips. Even now, he could vaguely remember the taste of those lips upon his own.

It wasn't just infatuation that kept him on the trail. There was something deeper to it, a compelling reason deep within him that forced him to go after her. He wasn't sure if he could have disobeyed that inclination if he wanted to. Jack got the sense that larger events, greater than he could currently comprehend, hinged on the rescue of Kat. He couldn't quite shake that thought and even if he somehow kept his command once this was all over, he hardly suspected the Admiralty would accept his answer that his conscience made him do it.

While deep in thought, Stephanie came to rest her hand on his shoulder. "Jack, are you all right?"

He nodded while looking over to his head of operations division. At this time of the evening, it was just the two of them in the bridge. The normal chatter of the day had long since melted away, allowing Jack to get lost in his thoughts for a prolonged time.

"I can tell that something's on your mind," she said. "Talk to me."

Jack took a deep breath and locked eyes on her. "You sure you want to hear all that goes on in this head?"

"Why wouldn't I want to hear it?"

"I'm not sure I'd want to waste your time with my self-doubts," said Jack a bit too honestly.

Stephanie giggled and bent down to look at him. "It wasn't all that long ago that you were the listening board for my own self-doubts. Why should it matter now when the shoe is on the other foot?"

Jack nodded but remained silent, remembering their much earlier conversation shortly before they entered the Fourth Vector. How ironic was it now that they had truly come full circle?

"Sometimes, I just wish I could get a little more confirmation that I was doing the right thing," said Jack finally. "Instead of just rolling the dice and hoping for the best."

"I think we all go through that, Jack," said Stephanie. "But are you really doubting what we're doing now?"

He nodded. "This could start another war. Especially if we find the Swabians."

Stephanie simply shrugged. "It sounds like they've already decided on war. We're just reacting to the situation in front of us."

Jack started to chuckle. "It's a little more than just a passive reaction. We're actively going out to seek action with this warship."

"Only because of what they've done," she said. "Surely these ships won't be the last? Any merchant or trading vessel in this stretch of ocean is now in danger, Jack. Think of all those lives we haven't been able to save. Now think of all those that we will be able to if we can stop this. Doing the right thing doesn't need to be so complicated."