Fourth Vector Ch. 18

"No, but it does complicate things to some degree," she admitted. "We can't very well go back to Galicia with the deposed regent hiding with us."

"No, we can't. But it means we just need to figure out another path where Galicia is concerned," he said before chuckling. "Besides, not like I can go as the heir. Eric Rosdahl would be just as likely to kill me before he got to Kat."

Vera let out a loud sigh. "Why does the world have to be so damn complicated, Jack?"

"Because it wouldn't be nearly as interesting if it wasn't," he said a little too quickly for her liking.

"How do you want me to approach this with Kat? Will she know that I know?"

"I'll let you decide how you'd like to do it," he said. "I only just learned last night, and I was the only one until five minutes ago. I'll leave it up to you."

Vera nodded. She opened her mouth to respond when there was another knock at her door. She saw Jack's deputy, the man he referred to by the nickname of Twitch, stick his head in. "Jack? Greg is back."

To nobody's surprise, they sprung off the bed in unison to make for Greg's quarters. Vera followed directly behind Jack, hoping that he wouldn't question why she was so interesting in seeing the marine.Why am I so interested in seeing him?

Because what he just did was so dangerous! I have to make sure he's all right!

To her relief, Jack never questioned her, and he remained focused on getting to Greg's quarters as quickly as he could walk. The three of them walked through the marine barracks before arriving at Greg's door.

As soon as it opened, they saw Greg's relieved face as he moved to change back into his normal clothes, ditching those that he used out on the street. Vera's eyes lingered a little too long on his chest as his fingers worked the buttons on his uniform top.

"I'm glad you're back," said Jack with a grin as he looked at the marine. "How'd it go?"

Greg grimaced. "I wish it went better. I wish I had gotten access to the warehouse but it's locked up tight." Greg then spent the next ten minutes giving them a replay of his time in the city, starting with his reconnaissance of the warehouse and ending with the dropping the Swabian robe in a puddle on the street.

"Interesting," said Jack as he rubbed at his chin. "Do you still have the robe?"

Greg pointed to a damp, balled-up piece of fabric on the floor. "Right over there."

Seeing as she was closest to it, Vera walked the short distance over and picked it up. She unfolded it to get a better look at the fabric. "Looks like a typical Swabian robe. Terrible quality though. This looks like it was made by a child." A nasty scent then hit her nostrils. "Oh, it really stinks though!"

Greg nodded. "I'm not sure if that was when I dropped it in the puddle or not. Truthfully, it smelled a little funky when I first bought it."

Vera looked to quickly deposit the smelly robe and put it back where she found it. Wiping her hands on her trousers, she looked back at Greg. "I'm surprised that's the quality of items they are selling. They might be laughed out of any marketplace by an experienced trader."

"That's what one of the traders had to say when he thought no one was listening," said Greg before turning to Jack. "The same one that told me how good it was when he wanted me to buy it."

Jack chuckled. "Sounds like just about every merchant I've ever met."

"Indeed but besides the cheap quality, there was nothing really out of the ordinary about the whole story when I was at the marketplace. The real story was back at the warehouse."

"So you said there's some kind of partition that blocks off the rest of the warehouse?"

Greg nodded. "You can only really see the front of the warehouse before the partition takes over. The craziest part about it is that their workers that handled the crates and went past the partition all wore these full body suits, Jack. Like they had to protect themselves from something."

"From the plague," whispered Jack. "They have it blocked off so no other eyes on the street can see it. We really need to see what's in that warehouse. I'm sure that has to be the source of the plague."

"It's really locked up tight, Jack. There's a lot of Swabians in there. I don't know how we'd do that without them discovering us."

Jack pursed his lips. "It's probably a good thing overall that you didn't. Especially if they needed those full body suits for protection against the plague. Something is going on back there, and we have to figure out what."

"With everything that I saw, Jack, I think we have enough proof to take back to King Aedan," said Greg as he sat down behind his desk. "The suits, the secretive nature of the warehouse—there's definitely something going on back there. If we can just expose them, we can blow the lid right off of this thing."

"Perhaps that will be our next task then," said Jack firmly. "We either find a way into the warehouse or we find a way to give Aedan the excuse to look. Either way, we get to the bottom of this once and for all, and prevent the Swabians from meddling in yet another country. I'll ask for another meeting with Aedan in the morning."

*****

It was a quiet evening after Greg returned to theDestiny, and it wasn't until long after dark that Jack returned to his quarters, ready to call it a day. Greg's mission in the port had given him a lot to think about, and he wanted to start preparing himself for what he was going to ask of Aedan in the morning. They'd already requested another meeting with the king, and the acceptance for that came back not too long after. Jack just had to find a way to see what was beyond that partition inside the Swabian warehouse.

Once he opened the door to his quarters, he wasn't surprised to find the lights off and Kat already in bed. Abigail was still on the bridge, and he knew she would be joining them shortly, but for now, it was just him and his Galician woman. As he moved closer to the bed, he was surprised to find she wasn't sleeping. Instead, Kat was gazing out the small port window into the harbor of Daban.

"I thought you might be sleeping," he said quietly as he slipped out of his uniform and then onto the bed. He ditched all his clothes except for a pair of drawers, not wanting to be too hot when he was sleeping in the middle of the Picard summer.

Kat looked back at him and smiled. "I tried for a while, until I saw some of the stars outside the window. Then I decided to see the rest of the view. The city looks beautiful right now."

Jack slipped in behind her and wrapped his arms around her body. Kat wore her normal sleeping attire, her small tank top and little shorts. He rested his hand against her stomach and looked out the window with her.

Daban harbor was lit up beautifully with an array of lights coming from the city and the many ships anchored out in the bay. The moon crested overhead, providing enough light to make out the various buildings and ships that made such a stunning view.

Kat pushed back against him, resting her head against his chest. "I've always liked nights like tonight. When the moon is directly overhead and it lights up the darkness. It reminds me of being in Kalmar as a girl."

"And did the moon look just as good over the Galician capital?" he asked.

Kat smiled fondly. "Even better. Wait until you see the city someday, Jack. Kalmar is like no other city in the world. The palace dominates the entire city and its arches provide commanding views in every direction." She turned to face him. "You'll love it there."

"If we ever get there," he mumbled softly. "Do you want to go back?"

Kat sighed deeply. "Yes and no. But I know what it would mean if I did go back. My family isn't perfect as you know, but that doesn't mean I'd want to see the bloodshed."

Jack nodded. "It doesn't sound like your cousin is the type of man to just hand over power."

She shook her head. "He isn't." Kat then turned to look at him. "Even if it was to the proper king."

He didn't say anything further, knowing where that particular road led. He did, however, have one more point to make. "If we go back, we go back together. United." He forced her to look at him. "You and me. I don't know how we'll do it yet, but I promise you that we'll do it together."

She managed a soft smile. "I'd give the world for that."

"Good." Jack pulled her body tighter against his own. "I'm sure we'd make a silly sight regardless. The king and the regent together."

Kat giggled. "It would surely give all of them a shock. My cousin probably the most. Part of me longs to see the look on his face the day that happens."

"Oh, I'm sure he won't be happy." He gently kissed her forehead. "I should probably tell you something though. I told Vera who you are. Well, rather, I helped her figure it out on her own. I'm almost surprised she didn't already know."

Kat nodded. "Part of me wondered if she would ever put it together. I didn't reign long enough for most of the general public to recognize my face, and especially someone like Vera, who was usually out to sea with her father. But I wondered if she would ever piece it together."

"I think she was a little embarrassed that she hadn't, but she knows now," said Jack. "If she's my sister, then I thought she should know."

"You're right, she should. Although we should be careful with who we tell. Just like your kingship, we should hold this information close to the chest until the right time. Besides, we don't want word getting back to Galicia."

Jack nodded. "I agree. We can keep it limited to ourselves and the few heads of state that you know from that time, like Aedan and Ciara."

Kat grinned. "That's fine by me. And if you would like to, perhaps, roleplay it with me, I just might enjoy that too."

He started to chuckle. "You're full of surprises, my little, sexy regent."

"Oh, that's it, Jack. Now you're getting into the spirit of things!"

She leaned in to kiss him tenderly. He responded by pulling her in tightly against him, his hands dipping down to her hips. As his finger slipped inside her shorts, Kat moaned into his mouth. 'I love when you put your hands on me. It just makes me feel so . . . sexy."

"You don't need me here to feel sexy. You light up any room you walk into," he whispered.

"I don't need any of that, Jack," she said as she fixed her eyes on his. "We could live out the rest of our lives in some far away country and forget all of this, and you would still be enough for me. Enough to make me feel desired, wanted, sexy—all of it. That's just what you do to me."

He grinned and then positioned her hand over his now tenting drawers. "As you can see, you have the same effect on me."

She gave him a sultry expression. "It's so hard. Please put it in me, Jack?"

Before he could answer, there was a swift tap at the door. Jack grabbed the blanket on the bed only to hide their modesty, ready to chastise anyone who would just barge into his room, but once he saw it was Abigail, his expression cooled.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked with a mischievous grin as she saw the two of them locked in embrace. Abigail's eyebrow raised accordingly and her lips pursed together.

Kat smiled. "Not at all. In fact, you have excellent timing."

Abigail's eyes flickered down to his tented drawers, and she let out a little moan of approval. "You're not wrong about that. It looks like you got him ready for us."

"It was the least I could do," said Kat with a playful shrug. "At least after all that happened in the last day."

Abigail giggled. "Well, if you two don't mind, I'm a little overdressed." Her fingers went to the buttons on her jacket swiftly, and in a blur, she launched it to the floor.

Jack wasn't sure how it was possible, but he became even harder as he watched Abigail undress. It might have been the fact that Kat's hand had slipped under the band on his drawers and was now stroking him with a heavy amount of enthusiasm. He shuddered as Abigail's body was unveiled and watched her walk seductively toward the bed.

That was when he heard the sound. The unmistakable sound of naval artillery.

Jack and Abigail stiffened as their eyes locked on each other. They knew exactly what such a sound represented. Not even a split second later, they heard the explosion.

"No, no, no," muttered Jack as he raced back to the window. "Who the fuck just got fired on?"

His eyes searched for the source of the fire. His first instincts were to look at the rest of the task force, still anchored out in the further part of the bay. Despite the soft glow of the moonlight, there was no indication that anything had occurred with those ships. It was beyond obvious that nothing had happened with theDestiny, so he began to search his eyes around the harbor.

That's when he noticed the flaming wreck of the Carinthian warship, burning uncontrollably at its berth, it's barrels pointed toward the shore.

"It's the Carinthian warship!" he exclaimed loudly as he rushed away from the window to put his uniform on. Kat eagerly took his place by the window as Abigail soon joined him, redonning the uniform that she'd just so recently shed.

"No, no, it can't be," said Kat with an excitable shriek as her hands went to her mouth. Her eyes tore away from the window only reluctantly. "Jack, this is really bad."

"We have to get topside and figure out what happened. I can't see shit from that tiny window," he said as he buttoned his uniform.

Kat soon joined them in a rush to get dressed, and the three of them went up the nearest hatch to the top deck while Jack's command radio started to buzz.

"Jack, it's Stephanie," came the garbled message from the radio. "That Carinthian ship just exploded."

"We heard it too," he replied. "Did you see what happened? Who did it?"

"Jack, I think it was a Picard shore battery. Look out back to shore as soon as you can. The battery just off to the northwest of the Carinthian warship."

As soon as he was against the railing on the main deck, he put up his binoculars and looked in that direction. Sure enough, he spotted the main battery on the shore, its main guns trained on the now destroyed Carinthian warship. Whatever it had fired had done the trick. The ship was now burning wildly as it developed a prominent list on its starboard side. By the rate the list was growing, it wouldn't be afloat for much longer.

Handing the binoculars to Abigail, Jack looked back to theDestiny. A few of the sailors had made their way topside as well, no doubt hearing the explosion too. Many of them gawked and pointed at the wreck of the warship situated on the other side of the harbor, and an ice cold feeling soon filled Jack's veins.

If that's how they're going to treat their own allies, what are they going to do with us?

"Stephanie, put a call out for battle-stations right now," he issued into the command radio. "I want every man at his post ready to fire in case those guns turn in our direction. Get word to the rest of the task force as well. Don't train the guns; I don't want to give them any reasons to act hostile toward us but I want them prepared in case the worst happens."

Kat gave him a distressed look. "Jack, you really don't think that Aedan would attack us, do you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, and I don't care right now. If that's how they treat one of their oldest allies, I want our force on watch. We're not going to be caught with our pants down."

The alarm for battle-stations began to roar. Many of the men who had just gotten to sleep no more than an hour ago now rushed forward, their eyes now wide with excitement as they surveilled the situation. As they moved around the ship, Jack and the women moved toward the bridge, finding Stephanie and Cory already there and treating the situation like war was about to erupt. They were soon joined by Kyle as Jack watched the shore.

One thing he worried about was the sound of battle-stations drawing alarm of the Picards but remarkably for them, those shore batteries never once trained on his ships. It didn't stop his heart rate from spiking at the thought of a fight with his potential allies, and for the next half hour, he watched the developing situation like a hawk.

The Carinthian warship wasn't afloat for much longer. She capsized about twenty minutes after the explosion, soon sinking to the bottom of the shallow harbor. Jack could see men floating in the water, survivors of the blast, and they were soon rounded up by small boats of the Picard navy.

"Should we help them?" asked Abigail as she turned to look at them. "Send a few launch boats to pick up survivors?"

Jack shook his head. "As much as I'd like to, I don't want to give the Picards any reason to look at us with hostile intent. Let the Picards get the survivors. I want all our forces positioned defensively until we know what's going on."

Abigail nodded reluctantly, and for the next several hours, they kept watch over the harbor. Thankfully for everyone, it stayed quiet. Even the burning wreck of the ship managed to go out once it sunk beneath the surface, and soon all the survivors were back onshore. Jack could only imagine what their fate would be, but the bigger question was how could this have happened?

It was shortly before dawn when he allowed the ship to relax and let the men go back to their beds. Keeping a watch on the bridge, he headed back down to his own quarters in an attempt to salvage what remained of the night. The adrenaline of the evening was starting to wear off, and he wanted to take a short nap before he saw Aedan in a few hours.

"I just don't get it, Jack," said Kat from his side, as soon as he'd settled into bed. "How could this have happened? What would have triggered this?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Hopefully we can get some more answers from Aedan. We knew there were tensions between the Picards and the Carinthians, but I never would've expected they would open fire on them."

"This isn't good, Jack. Queen Reina of Carinthia is not going to take this lightly." She fixed him with a serious look. "They will go to war over this."

He didn't reply, choosing instead to look directly up at the ceiling. He couldn't let a war break out between these two.

Everything revolved around mediation now.

He had to see Aedan.

*****

The next morning, the Picard palace was ripe with tension. Jack had scarcely seen such a flurry of activity as worried diplomats and envoys crisscrossed the grounds. If they didn't have enough evidence with last night's action, the activity at the palace would be enough to know that something was afoot.

"What are the chances that this is just a big misunderstanding?" asked Greg as they waited for Aedan to show up.

Kat grimaced. "Slim to none. I'd just like to know what reason will be given for firing on the Carinthians. What in the world could they've been doing to justify such a reaction?"

The trio talked quietly amongst themselves until Aedan showed up not a few moments later. It was clear that the king was feeling the effects of the situation. His hair was slightly wild and there were deep bags under his eyes, evidence of a long night. His normal diplomatic pleasantness was replaced by a weary sense of dreadfulness.

He did, however, attempt a smile when he saw them, no matter how flat. "Katherine, Jack, good to see you. You as well, Lt. Colonel Vaughn."

"Aedan," said Jack with a nod of the head. "It seems you've had quite the night."

Aedan chuckled ironically. "What gave that away?"

"Aedan, what happened last night?" asked Kat. "We saw the entire situation from the harbor. What made your men fire on the Carinthians?"

The king scoffed and sat down in front of them. "Itchy trigger fingers is what. That commander has already been removed from that assignment. I told them to stand up to the Carinthians, not to start a war! Apparently an altercation between their men and ours developed after dark. Some threats were made and the shore batteries were put on alert. The commander thought he saw movement of the ship's turrets and believed they were about to be fired upon." Aedan let out a heavy sigh afterward. "You saw what happened next."