Fourth Vector Ch. 13

"I will . . . have to run that by my lord," said Berimund noncommittally. "Such a sum will be hard to come by."

"Not for the man who runs half the mines in Swabia," said the king with a lighthearted chuckle. "I'm sure if he wants Easterbrook that badly, he'll be more inclined to open his pocketbook."

Berimund's face turned sour for a brief moment before he resumed his more neutral expression. "I'll see what I can do."

Vertulis didn't respond, simply rubbing his hands together with excitement. The war was nearly over, there'd been little bloodshed from his own troops, and now he was going to get a small fortune from the head of the dead man soon to be walking into his camp.

It's good to be the king.

*****

Not far from the king, but still in earshot, was Kat. She gripped the metal bars of the mobile slave pen so tightly that her knuckles had long since turned white. Not only was she extremely hot from the extra layers of clothing covering her head and her hair—necessary as soon as she saw the Swabian to prevent him from recognizing her, but now she had to listen in great detail as the king and the envoy discussed their intent to double-cross Jack.

Her heart ached with sadness. It had felt like so long since she'd seen him for that brief moment in the king's fortress almost a week ago—when he'd promised her that he'd find a way to get her out. And now, if what she heard was true, he was surrendering. As soon as he was here on his knees, they would kill him.

Kat shivered at the thought of harm coming to him. Not with whom she believed him to be. Not with what his destiny was for the peoples of the Vector, including her own. Jack had to live or else everything was lost.

But what could she do? How could she get word to him that they intended to kill him?

She rattled the bars of the pen helplessly, regretting her decision to separate from him so easily. None of this would have happened if she hadn't taken that ship out of Sorella and stayed with him. In that moment, she felt truly at blame for everything that had befallen them. And it would get even worse if something happened to him.

"Step away from the bars, girl," said one of the older whores as she whacked Kat's fingers with a hairbrush. Kat let out a small yelp and pulled away from the woman whom she knew as Lina, a whore who'd been with Vertulis the longest and had assumed a healthy degree of clout with the other girls. However, Lina always looked at her with disdain, a constant reminder for Kat to never let her guard down.

She scampered away from the rest of the girls into a quiet corner of the pens, before looking once more at the king's carriage. The Swabian envoy had already left, leaving the king to take a reclined nap against the back side of the vessel. She felt truly helpless in that moment. Her only asset to attempt to right the wrongs—her voice—was the one thing she couldn't use lest someone find out who she really was.

Kat had never felt more alone or more powerless.

*****

Luke was getting agitated.

Or perhaps annoyed was a better expression. He couldn't help but sigh continuously as theValiant spent yet another sortie alone in the open ocean. Well, not technically alone, as he still had theStardust and a few destroyers with him, but it was a much smaller force than the one that had engaged the Occitanians over a week ago.

Since that fateful day, no signs of the enemy had been seen. It was almost like the Occitanian force had completely disappeared. At least, they had fled from the waters around Quiller's Cove, and not a sight of them had followed since. It wasn't from a lack of trying either. Every day their forces had split up in different directions, searching out the enemy fleet with no success. And every day, they returned to base with nothing to show for it, the enemy force having long since left.

Luke knew exactly why. The attacks and stalking of Quiller's Cove had been nothing more than bait. Intended by the Occitanians to draw off the majority of their forces while they slipped into the Vector, the plan now put Jack's forces in a high amount of danger. Everything that they'd accomplished since entering the Vector months ago could be undone by a crafty commander, and every second spent delaying the repatriation of their forces with Jack was time lost.

If it were up to him, Luke would have sent every ship under Admiral Reynolds' command to link up with Jack over a week ago. However, despite Luke's promotion to commander, that remained out of his area of authority. He still had to do what he was told, and on yet another useless sortie, that fact rankled him to no end.

"You're so restless right now," said Kim to his side. "I can feel your tension even sitting several feet away from you."

"I think I have good reason to be," growled Luke. "This is such a waste of our time."

"I know it is," she conceded. "But we can't go against direct orders. You know how the admiral is."

"But surely he has to see by now that the threat to this area is gone," said Luke. "The Occies have left! And I'm sure they're not going back to their homeland with the busted lip we gave them. They had enough ships to continue on and be a threat to Jack. It just kills me to continue sitting on the sidelines."

Kim nodded wordlessly as she moved closer, her hand drifting to his back. She caressed him lovingly as she had many times before, offering a degree of support to her frustrated lover. Luke appreciated her touch, the only person alive who could get him to simmer down with the simple feeling of her fingers.

"You must think I'm a terrible hothead," he said finally, turning his pleading eyes toward hers.

"Not at all," she said softly. "I think you're one of the best of men. I know your frustration, and believe me, it's shared by me and the rest of the officers. Just what are we to do about this?"

"Surely Reynolds has to see by now this is pointless," said Luke. "Perhaps I can convince him. I doubt he'll willingly release the ships but perhaps I can get him to go along with us?"

"Then it would be Reynolds' mission, not Jack's," said Kim. "He outranks him handily."

"True, but it might be the only thing that would appeal to his ego enough to let us leave this useless mission, Kim. Maybe if we can convince him he can find glory and action in the Vector, he'll be more willing to come along."

"How would you want to approach this?" asked Kim while she bit her lip. "I don't think it will be easy for you to convince someone so high up in rank on your own."

"I'm not sure. Do you think the commodore will help us? Lucas seemed to think it wasn't a bad idea to let some ships go back with Jack right after the engagement last week."

"I think Commodore Lucas is an intelligent man, and I think he'd be likely to help you," said Kim with an unconfident shrug. "But will he? What's to make him put his neck out for us in direct contrast to a superior?"

"I think Lucas will do the right thing. I think he'll see that us sitting out here and twiddling our thumbs is not the best thing for Java right now," said Luke firmly. "Perhaps if we can make Reynolds see some sense, it'll be our best way out of here."

Kim nodded and then leaned in to hug him. "I'll support you the best way I know how."

Luke smirked. "I might need you to start praying. I don't think we have much of a chance to get this through even with Lucas' support. But I feel like we have to try. I don't want to continue doing this waiting without knowing I did everything I could to get back to our mission."

"Do you want me to see if I can get a meeting scheduled for all of us? I can radio the commodore and request a meeting tonight once we get back to base?"

Luke nodded his head. "That would be great. Hopefully yet another day of seeing nothing will put Reynolds in an agreeable mood. If you can get something set up, I'd appreciate it."

She offered him a quick kiss. "Let me see what I can do. I'll also send a heads-up to the commodore with what this will be about. That way, he won't be caught off-guard. We'll need all the help we can get!"

*****

"Absolutely not. No way, no how. I forbid it."

Admiral Reynolds slammed his fist against the table in an act of finality before shaking his head from side to side causing Luke to let you a small sigh. It was after hours and only about thirty minutes since the task force had docked back in Quiller's Cove. Kim had done a great job of looping Commodore Lucas and the admiral together, meeting at Lucas' headquarters that evening. By a quick glance at Lucas' face, he seemed to have expected the admiral's sudden outburst.

"Sir, if you would just let me explain my rationale, I'm sure it would make sense. Can I just have a few moments to explain?" asked Luke.

Reynolds rolled his eyes. "It's the least amount of courtesy I can afford another officer but don't think you'll be able to convince me. My mind is made up on this subject."

Luke nodded and chose his next words wisely. "Sir, I know that the threat to Quiller's Cove was the most pressing matter at the time of the creation of this task force, but I firmly believe that the impetus for its creation has now passed."

"And how do you figure that, Commander? Haveyou seen any Occitanian battle plans? Intercepted any messages? How doyou figure?"

Luke flinched. The way that Reynolds worded his phrase made it sound accusatory in nature. It also made him feel about ten inches tall.

"No, sir. I just see that we keep going out day after day and finding nothing. I believe that the Occitanians were sent here for a single purpose -- to make us concentrate our forces in an area of the ocean that's of little importance to them."

"It's a very important spot, commander. Whoever controls Quiller's Cove controls the entrance into the Vector. It's a highly strategic spot that could be devastating if we lost it."

Luke gulped. "It used to be that strategic, Admiral."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, before we adopted the polonium boilers, we needed to have Quiller's Cove as a refueling and resupply station. With the polonium lasting so much longer now, it takes off one half of that need for us. Not to mention, we've developed our own allies in the Vector, meaning we don't need Quiller's as a resupply point now anymore either. It's not as strategic as it once was."

Reynolds' face split into anger as Luke kept talking. Finally, the admiral closed his eyes. "Just because you do not see the need for us to be here doesn't mean it's not a strategic spot."

"That's not what I'm saying. I can understand why we're here and why it's important to defend Quiller's, but I think the threat has moved on. If the Occitanians go after Jack in the Vector, they'll erase everything we've worked so hard to accomplish."

"Luke, I can understand your frustration on that," said Reynolds. "But you're not the one that gets to decide strategy for our navy. You don't even get to decide our strategy for this task force. You're a commander, and you'll do as ordered. Leave the thinking up to other men who have more experience."

Luke had to grit his teeth in order to hold his tongue. He could feel his face turning red. Thankfully, the commodore interceded on his behalf.

"Luke does make an interesting point though, Admiral," said Lucas. "We've seen next to nothing in the past week. Who's to say the Occies haven't moved on?"

"I don't care if they did," he snapped. "My orders are to stay here. And I'm not splitting this task force just to go chase after someone's gut feeling. I won't move until the Admiralty tells me to, and that's all you can expect moving forward."

"But, sir, if we can—"

"Enough!"

Reynolds smacked his fist against the table once more and Luke could practically see the smoke billowing from his nose. He ceased any kind of argument and closed his mouth just as quickly.

"I will hear no more of this talk," said Reynolds in a quiet, controlled manner. "We will follow orders here. I don't care if that means we have to sit the rest of this war out in this small corner of the ocean, but I've heard enough of this. Luke, you are to go back to your ship. Lucas will take care of Quiller's Cove, and I'll lead this task force out every day until our orders say otherwise. Are we clear?"

Luke didn't respond right away, feeling at a loss for words at how this had turned out. He'd expected a strong reaction from him yet it was still a kick in the pants to receive such a severe rejection. Jack would have to wait. There was no way Reynolds would ever think outside the box or let them show any initiative on their own.

"We're clear," said Luke quietly.

"And you, Lucas?" asked Reynolds as he swiveled to the commodore.

"Clear as can be," answered Lucas although Luke detected a minor expression of annoyance on the man's face.

"Excellent," said Reynolds, his mood changing back to his usual neutrality. "Let's put it out of all of our minds and prepare to go back out tomorrow. Luke, you'll be with theHorton tomorrow for the sortie."

"Yes, sir," answered Luke glumly.

Reynolds gave one final nod and stood up from the table, quickly making his way to the door. Before he left, he stopped and looked back at both men. "Try not to be so gloomy, boys. There are a lot worse postings out there."

With that, the admiral turned heel and left the building, leaving the two of them to themselves. With the admiral leaving, Luke saw no reason to linger and went to push up from his seat a moment later. However, Lucas raised his hand, gesturing for him to sit back down. Luke waited for several moments to see what he wanted, waiting until they heard the sound of the admiral leaving the floor.

"What a tight-assed shit he is," muttered Lucas finally, earning a genuine smile from Luke. "He has his nose so far up the chain of command that I doubt he can smell anything but shit."

Luke started to chuckle. "Thank you, sir. I really needed a good laugh after all of that."

"I think we all did. You raise a good point though, Luke, which is the only reason why I've kept you in the room. Reynolds chafes my ass and he has since he's gotten here. He's a by-the-book type of admiral, but then again, most of them are. I think that most of them lose whatever good sense they have left when they get that patch added to their outer jackets."

"I think I can see why Bancroft doesn't like you," said Luke with a grin.

The commodore started to chuckle. "There's a lot more reasons than just that, I assure you."

"As much as I hate to say it though, Reynolds is in command. It's not like I can just sail away back to the Vector," said Luke. "I'd be court-martialed and executed in under a week for something like that."

"Yes, yes, you would," agreed Lucas. "You'd have barely made the order before we'd be putting you six feet under. But Reynolds did bring up a good point though."

"What's that?"

"He'll do what he's ordered to do," said the commodore. "By-the-book admirals don't question orders. They follow them to the letter. And even as deep as he is up the Admiralty's ass, we can't forget that Bancroft's pet project is the one who leads in the Vector."

"Jack," whispered Luke.

"Exactly. Bancroft has spent so much time grooming Jack that he's unlikely to let him perish in the Vector if he thinks there is a credible threat to his force there. Don't get me wrong, I like Jack just as much as the next man, but you can't deny that Bancroft has been guiding his career. He's unlikely to part with him after all that time spent investing in him."

"So you're suggesting we get Bancroft to override Reynolds' orders," asked Luke. "That way, he has no option but to release his force to join Jack. He'll have to follow orders."

"Precisely," said Lucas as he reclined in his chair. "I don't think it will take much to convince Bancroft, but it does run into one tiny problem."

Luke frowned. "What's that?"

"The man hates me," said Lucas with a chuckle. "If I suggest this to him, he'll do the opposite of what I suggest just out of spite. I can't be the one to give him the idea."

"Who else could do it though? Does anyone else on the island have rank above the individual ship commanders besides you and Reynolds?"

Lucas shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Him and I are the highest ranking officers on the island. If you want this to go to Bancroft, you'll have to make the request yourself."

Luke pursed his lips. That was a daunting proposal. It wasn't that he didn'tknow Bancroft, it's just the only time he met him was upon his graduation from the academy. He hardly suspected that five minutes worth of chatter after receiving a diploma warranted remembrance fifteen years later. Despite Jack being in his class, his comrade received much more attention from the older officer, and he had guided his career ever since.

In that way, it couldn't have been Luke either. What he was asking was a way to go around another officer's orders, and he couldn't make that request from the head of the navy with whom he had no personal relationship. Such a request could only come from someone who had a layer of trust established with the man already. Someone who could count on confidentiality even if the request was denied. Someone that Bancroft relied on.

"I can't do it either," said Luke finally before breaking out in a grin. "But Jack can. I can get word to him this evening. Bancroft has nearly acceded to every other request Jack has made. If anyone could do this, I'm sure it would be him."

Lucas started to nod. "I figured you might say that. It's the smart choice after all. Why not get the star protege to beg for the reinforcements? This task force is the closest force to Jack so any support that's needed quickly would have to come from us. Bancroft will be more willing to listen then."

"I'll have a message sent out as soon as I'm back on theValiant," said Luke. "Although we should agree that this idea didn't come from us. We shouldn't speak of it again, just in case word gets around. Reynolds is still an admiral after all, and he outranks us. If he found out about this, he could still make enough trouble for the both of us."

"Found out about what, Luke?" the commodore asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "I quite agree with you that we shouldn't speak of this again. I would also suggest to you after you send the message out to Jack that you delete the transcript. You know as well as I do that the admiralty keeps logs. You'll want to cover all bases."

Luke nodded his head excitedly. "Will do. I'm glad you said something about this today. The situation looked hopeless until he left the room."

Lucas let out a long sigh. "As much as I hate to be the one to have to side with Bancroft, I think you raise a valid point. The danger here has passed. It's time to get these ships out where they're needed the most."

"I fully agree with you, sir."

"Are you so eager to get back out there, Luke? I know of a lot of officers who would be happy being away from harm. Who would enjoy spending out the war without the daily threat of death. Are you really this gung-ho to go back to the Vector?"

Luke nodded emphatically. "I feel like that's where I belong. We're doing good work there, and it's starting to pay off. Plus, I'm not one of those officers you described. I belong where the action is. I always have and always will."

Lucas started to chuckle. "I could tell that right away. Good luck with your message tonight. And remember, don't forget to erase the transcript!"

*****

"Wrap his hands together. Make sure he's restrained so he can't try anything," grunted theSciavo guard, issuing the orders to the men in front of Jack.

Jack felt the rough, gritty binding wrap around his wrists in an erratic and jerking fashion, only looking up as theSciavo finished, his leer worn prominently on his lips.