Fourth Vector Ch. 18

"I already offered it to Aedan, but I'll make the same offer to you too," said Kat. "If you want me to mediate this dispute, I'll be more than willing. I have a good relationship with Reina, and I've always found the Carinthians easy to deal with."

Ciara reached out to touch Kat's hand. "I sincerely appreciate it. We may need it when the time comes. This all comes back to what I was saying earlier. He's being too hard on them. Apart from Galicia, Carinthia is our oldest ally. If we manage to piss them off, then what are we to do? We'd surely be stuck with the Swabians, and that alone would make me feel like the sheep that had just caught the eye of the wolf!"

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," said Kat.

Ciara let out a dramatic sigh. "We can hope. Frankly, I'll be happier once this baby is born. Maybe then Aedan can go back to normal. Hopefully, we can be a lot closer to seeing this plague over by the time too."

"About that, I'm glad you brought it up," said Kat. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the timing of the plague. Aedan said it started several weeks ago?"

Ciara closed her eyes and nodded. "It was terrible. Aedan and I went to see the first few victims in the hospital. That was before we identified it as the plague, so it was before we were taking basic precautions. It's a horrible death, Katherine. The worst part is the small recovery they make just before death. It gives all of them false hope. With the survival rate being less than ten percent, it's the worst thing that can happen right at the end of their lives."

Kat nodded sadly. "The plague always looks the same. I saw it myself when it last broke out in Kalmar when I was a girl. It was a small outbreak, but I'll never forget the look on the faces of the victims. Especially those that thought they were getting better."

"It's just dreadful," said Ciara while shaking her head. "It just doesn't seem like there's any end in sight to it. It just keeps spreading and spreading."

"About that, when we were talking with Aedan, Jack brought up a good point. Did the plague start in Daban around the same time that the Swabian trade delegation arrived?"

Ciara's eyes rolled up in thought. "You know, now that you mention it, the timing is just about convenient. It was definitely around the same time. I think the Swabians were definitely here first." She then locked eyes with Kat. "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

Kat shrugged. "It could be. Not that I have any proof, but it seems like something the Swabians would do."

"That's positively dastardly though!" Ciara shuddered. "To what end would they want to do that?"

"It's all about power, Ciara. That's all they care about."

Ciara let out a deep breath. "I can only imagine the reaction my husband had to that same suggestion."

Kat gave her a guilty smile. "It was less than pretty."

"How am I not surprised?"

"Even though he refused to consider it, it gives us plenty of food for thought though," said Kat. "If it turns out they are behind something like that, I'd say exposing it would blow the lid off of their fortunes in Picardy."

Ciara huffed. "To say the least. It might even cause an all-out war. Although, I shudder to think what it would do to Aedan. And I highly doubt it would help his popularity with the people. We might even be run out of the palace if it came to that."

Kat hadn't really considered that. For a beleaguered king, such a blow to his prestige could be something he'd never recover from. They would have to tread carefully around the subject, at least until they had more proof to confirm Jack's suspicions.

"We'll keep you informed of what we hear," said Kat finally. "In any event, it couldn't hurt to have some extra eyes on the Swabians just in case."

"I, for one, would appreciate that," said Ciara. "And it'll just be our little secret from Aedan."

Kat giggled. "That sounds fine by me."

"So, change of subject," said the queen with an odd twinkle in her eye. "Tell me the real story behind this Jack Easterbrook."

Kat swallowed hard, not expecting that change of topic. Unfortunately, her body's response matched her brain's, and she stammered her words upon starting. "W-what do you mean?"

Ciara casually touched her arm. "You know what I mean! Tell me about him. I was sensing a little something between the two of you earlier. I'm right, aren't I?"

Kat could already feel herself turning red. Before she decided to answer, it became a matter of just how far she was willing to reveal the true nature of her relationship with Jack. Even though she liked Ciara and trusted her, she was not willing to give her the whole truth yet.

Only Jack could decide when he wanted to go public with that.

However, it didn't mean she couldn't indulge in a little girl talk about her lover.

Kat nodded slowly. "Yes, you're right."

Ciara giggled triumphantly. "I knew it! I could read it on your face as soon as you looked at him. And what about him? He feels the same way?"

"Of course he does," said Kat with a false sense of indignity. "Do you think I would throw myself at any man who didn't want me?"

Ciara laughed heartily. "Of course not but I just wanted to be sure! He is a handsome one at that."

Kat let out a sigh. "That he is."

Ciara tapped her arm playfully. "What happened to the Katherine I used to know? The one that wouldn't even consider dating and paid no attention to men? I'm liking this new side to you!"

"Sometimes you just have to find the right man," said Kat with a shrug. "And I really do believe that he is the right man for me. I love him. Rather, I'm in love with him."

"Have you two been . . . you know . . ." Ciara made a crude gesture with her fingers.

"Ciara!" Kat faked indignity once again before finding herself exploding into a fit of laughter.

"Oh, come on, out with it! After all, you'll find no virgin ears here." Ciara once more pointed to her stomach.

"I can't believe I'm about to admit this to you," muttered Kat quietly. "But yes, we have."

"And? How was it?"

"It was just wonderful. Just as I'd always imagined it," said Kat with a faint smile. "It was loving and tender, and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything else."

Before Kat knew it, Ciara had pushed her way out of her chair and stooped low enough to hug her. "I'm so happy for you. I knew the right man would come along for you one day. Although, I have to say I'm surprised that it's a dashing foreign officer. I'd always imagined you'd settle down with some Galician noble someday."

"Maybe if my father had anything to say about it," replied Kat. "Although, I'm quite positive my cousin would never let that happen."

Ciara scowled. "That miserable little shit of a cousin of yours. I'm sorry, I don't mean to talk negatively about your own blood, but I have a feeling you wouldn't mind."

"With Eric? Talk away. He's only tried to kill me nearly a dozen times," said Kat. "Blood or not, I couldn't care less what happened to that snake."

"I just see the way he treats Aedan and it makes me so mad," said Ciara while stomping her feet. "It's not hard to see why he's even considered embracing the Swabians. However, by the sounds of things, even Eric is on the receiving end of Swabian gold."

"He's a disappointment to all of Galicia," remarked Kat. "Not to mention his forefathers or the kings for that matter. To even be seen consorting with them is enough of an embarrassment, but he seems to delight in ways to take Galicia to new lows."

Ciara nodded knowingly. "The world is a crazy place. Especially to deprive you of your rightful birthmark. You would've been an excellent regent. Probably one of the best trained for the job than any before you."

Kat remained silent, watching the floor. In her mind, she replayed the events of the morning when Eric deposed her. She saw the faces of her guards, stony and without pity, as they ignored her own orders. She watched as the servants freely disobeyed her commands. Even how the nobles hailed her cousin as the next regent while she was hauled to the dungeon in chains.Thank goodness for Jacob. I would never have left that cell.

Ciara touched her hand once more. "I'm sorry if I've brought up bad memories."

Kat shook her head. "It's quite all right. Some memories just fail to go away, even after so much time."

"Believe me, I understand," said Ciara, her voice going far away. Kat remembered all the hardship she'd had in getting pregnant. If anyone knew about loss, it was Ciara. The fact that the woman was still able to be so bubbly and full of life after such tragedy was nothing short of inspiring. As Kat's eyes flickered to her enlarged stomach, she'd realized things eventually worked out for the queen.

What about me? Will I ever get my second chance?

"We should talk about lighter things again," insisted Ciara. "Come, tell me more about Jack. What's he like? More importantly, how does he look without that dashing uniform?"

They spent the next ten minutes gushing about Kat's experience with Jack. Kat found herself red in the face nearly the entire time, not remembering a time when Ciara wanted such explicit details. In a way though, it was enjoyable. Up until very recently, she had no one with which to talk in such a manner. Even though she loved Jacob like a father, he wasn't one for girl talk. Vera was the best substitute for such matters, and even more recently, Abigail had surprised her with her affinity for such conversation. It was all just a reminder of her changing station of life and the new relationships she'd made along the way.

After enough time, Ciara finally relented. "Okay, okay, I can see you don't want to give any more details."

Kat giggled. "What more do you want to know? What positions we did it in?"

"If you're willing to share!"

Both women laughed heartily until Kat remembered that Jack was still waiting for her outside the building. "I really should get back to him though. I don't want him waiting around on me all day."

"By the sounds of it, he'd do more than wait for you," added Ciara with a coy grin.

Kat grinned. "This is true, but hopefully we can spend more time together the next time we're in the palace?"

"But of course! Just make sure it's not another two years before I see you again!"

"No doubt," answered Kat as she embraced the queen tightly. "You never know, we might even still be here when you give birth."

"That would be lovely. And hopefully we'll have better days when that happens."

The two women said their goodbyes, and Kat was shown back out to the front of the palace. Not far from the entrance waited Jack and Greg. Jack grinned as soon as he saw her.

"Ready to go? What did she want?"

"Just to chat a little," replied Kat with a knowing smile. "But yes, I'm ready."

*****

"I'm willing to bet what money we have that the Swabians are the ones behind this plague," said Jack to the rest of the room, shortly after they'd arrived back to theDestiny. "I don't believe in coincidence where it concerns them anymore. It's almost too rich to believe they just arrived here and the plague showed up shortly after."

He looked around the room at the assembled faces. Not only were Greg and Kat there, fresh from the trip to the palace, but he'd also invited Abigail and Vera, wanting to use them both as sounding boards while he caught them up on the discussions with the Picard King.

"It's a little dismaying though that Aedan doesn't seem to think they could do anything like that," said Abigail, after he'd already brought them up to speed. "Not to mention, it's worth asking just how theycould do it, Jack? How do you intentionally spread an illness without getting caught?"

"Especially without them catching it themselves?" added Kat. "There's been no Swabians admitted to the plague hospitals. If it is them, they are able to do it without catching it."

Jack pursed his lips. "I don't know yet just how they are doing it, but I'd like to find out. I'd like to get a better glimpse at this warehouse they have more than anything."

"That might be next to impossible for the three of us," said Kat, pointing to herself, Jack and Vera. "The first glimpse of our features will lead to a bad outcome, knowing the Swabians."

"I don't suppose Aedan would be willing to lend us some of his people to help?" asked Abigail to a quiet room.

Jack didn't respond right away, looking down at his desk. He very much doubted Aedan's response even if he could somewhat prove something suspicious was occurring with the Swabian presence. Even though their second meeting had been longer, he still didn't feel like there was any real progress.

Quite the opposite even. He felt further from the monarch than before. He could picture Aedan's plight and his worry about being a good sovereign for his people, as well as becoming a first-time father, yet he was letting the two of those aspects cloud his judgment. It was a recipe for disaster, and Jack had to wonder what would be his undoing first—the Swabians or the Carinthians.

"I'm afraid that this goes a bit deeper than we thought," said Kat, instinctively picking up on Jack's thoughts. "There is some hostility brewing between the Picards and the Carinthians that could possibly spill over into war." She then gave the rest of them a rundown on the incident that happened last night and the flaring tensions between the two powers.

"Could Picardy and Carinthia really go to war though?" asked Vera with a confused expression. "That would be almost unthinkable to imagine. They've been friends and allies for so long that I hardly doubt a simple spat between them would escalate to such a level."

"Aedan doesn't appear to be thinking very clearly right now," said Jack with a sudden shake of the head. He then turned to Kat. "Is he usually like this? Always so intent on upsetting the cart?"

Kat shook her head too. "I've never seen him like this before. He's almost manic right now. Even Ciara had as much to say about it. I have to wonder if this plague hasn't knocked some sense out of his head. That or the pregnancy."

"Well, he's not likely to change any time soon," said Jack. "At least until that baby arrives or they start getting some relief from the plague."

"Or the Swabians make a more overt move," muttered Greg. "I can see that being a distinct possibility as well."

Jack nodded. "Anything is possible right now. And truth be told, I don't really want to wait around for something to happen so that we're forced to go on the defensive."

"What are you asking, Jack?"

"I really want to get some intel on the Swabian presence here," said Jack after a deep breath. "I want to find out what their warehouse looks like. I want to find out what they're selling, and more importantly, I want to see what people they have with them."

"People?" asked Kat with confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm willing to bet they must have some kind of source for this plague in that warehouse. If people are carriers for it, they must have some degree of sick people they've smuggled into that warehouse. Carriers of this virus. If they're spreading it, I'm willing to bet that's how they're doing it."

Greg reached up to rub his chin. "It makes sense. Although I don't see how they can do that without any casualties of their own. That's a seriously risky proposal either way."

"Which is why I want to know more," said Jack firmly. "Besides, if we can get firm intel on what they're doing, we can take it back to Aedan and get them kicked the hell out of the Picardy."

"We may want to be careful with any findings we have," suggested Kat. "With Aedan's mental state as it currently is, any huge changes in the status quo might set him off. Let's be smart with how we present our findings to him."

"Do you think Ciara might be a better channel to do so?" suggested Jack. "It's not hard to see that he's completely devoted to her. Perhaps her aid could be useful to us if we discover anything?"

Kat nodded excitedly. "I think that should help! Aedan would be more likely to accept something directly from her than any of us right now."

"Okay, that settles that," said Jack. "But we still need to figure out how we're going to scope out this warehouse."

"Not any longer we don't," said Greg. "I volunteer to do this."

Jack gave him a hollow look. "You know it could be dangerous, right?"

Greg started to laugh. "As if all that we've done in the last six months hasn't been?"

Jack smiled. "You know what I meant."

"I do, but like Kat said, it's not like any of you could do it. They'd take one look at your blonde heads and you'd be in trouble. Me? I can blend in a little easier."

"You may want to leave your NT-12 on the ship though," said Jack. "You'd stick out like a sore thumb with that on your back."

"Already one step ahead of you," said Greg as he pointed to his side pistol. "Unfortunately for them, I'm just as accurate with my pistol as I am with my rifle."

Jack chuckled. "It's not a shooting mission. Just reconnaissance. If you see anything interesting, please let us know."

Greg nodded. "I have just the cloak that will hide my features. I doubt they would recognize me from theDestiny, but I'm not looking to take any chances."

"Good man," said Jack. "When can you get started? With these Carinthian tensions, time is really of the essence right now."

Greg grinned. "No time like the present." He pushed up from the table and made for the door. "I'll take my radio in case I get in any trouble. If I'm not back by dark, just wait a little longer."

Jack had to stifle a laugh along with the others. Most noticeably, Vera seemed to laugh the loudest, something that barely registered as being interesting before Greg was already out the door.

"I really hope he finds something," said Kat with a worried look. "I fear we may not have much time to reverse the tensions with the Carinthians."

*****

After Greg had grabbed a particularly inconspicuous cloak and draped it over his shoulders, he looked at himself in the mirror in his quarters. Without his uniform, he could easily pass for a Picard, even without the more common red hair that most of them seemed to sport. Covering his own dark mane, he made his way to the nearest hatch and made his way above deck, quickly moving down the gangplank to the main dock.

Seeing as now they had a pass to go beyond the commercial port office, Greg made a quiet exit from the port, not wanting to draw any attention to himself or where he was coming from. Once he was past the dock, he entered the small warehouse sector attached to the port.

The warehouse sector was set up like a grid, a fact that he was immediately thankful for as it meant that it shouldn't take as much time to locate the Swabians. The only bad part about it was that he didn't know which warehouse they used, which meant he had to wait for traffic coming off the port until he spotted one of the telltale Swabian dark-gray robes that they always seemed to wear. He hoped once he spotted one coming from the port, they would lead him directly to the warehouse.

Unfortunately for him, it was around midday, and with how warm it was, it meant that activity was at a minimum. He had to wait for nearly an hour before he spotted the unique Swabian robe, and he then began to tail the man as he made his way down a side street. Greg kept his distance, not wanting to alert the Swabian that he had company, but he also didn't want to let too much space develop between them in case the man made any sudden movements into any other buildings.

Finally, the man came to a stop near a warehouse that had a surprising amount of activity around it. Greg hustled to the other side of the street to get a good vantage point, taking advantage of a pile of crates that were settled alongside the wall of the opposite building. From there, he gazed over to the warehouse in question.