Fourth Vector Ch. 21

Chapter 21: Homeward Bound

*****

The following morning after Jack received Admiral Bancroft's latest message, he called together his own war council to decide the best course of action for a return to Java. Apart from Kat, Abigail, and Greg, the rest of the commanders had only heard the basic premise, not knowing the full details of what Bancroft was asking them to do. Today they would send their response, leave date, and coordinate all the details.

If Jack was being fully honest with himself, he was apprehensive at best about the thought of going home. The timing was entirely off, and despite being the conquerors of Daban, there were still Swabians in Picardy, and the war was still bound to escalate. Their position wasn't yet secure enough to contemplate leaving the country, and he was sure a counterattack was at least being thought about, if not completely planned out.

There were too many variables, and he wanted his forces on the same page before they thought about approaching Aedan or Reina with the news. For that reason, Jack convened the meeting in his quarters on theDestiny, and he waited patiently for the rest of the officers to show up.

The first to arrive was no surprise as they had the shortest distance to travel. Kat and Abigail entered, slipped into his arms for a long kiss, and soon took their seats near the front. Greg and Dustin were next, the former looking a lot better than he had in recent memory. The two men had been nearly inseparable since last night, as Dustin updated Greg on the battle, casualties, and positions of the men in order to give command back over.

Next, the various ship commanders began to arrive. First to arrive was Pete Dawson of theHorton, his tall frame ensuring he had to duck to get past the doorway. After him was Mike Cutter of theStardust and as well as Luke from theValiant.

"We're really going home then?" asked Luke after greeting him. "I thought they might keep us out here forever."

Jack chuckled. "I guess someone needs to break that blockade. It might as well be us."

After those two men took their seats, the rest of the commanders filtered in from there. His destroyer commanders, Vicky Carter of theTiger, Laura Pollard of theMaddox, and lastly Alex McGrath of theWickes were the last to arrive, greeting Jack in turn before taking their seats.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," said Jack as he scanned the room. "I'm not going to beat around the bush this morning, and you all know why we're here." Jack waved the copy of his order in his hand. "We're going home."

A few of them began to chatter amongst themselves, often turning to the officer next to them as they digested the news. For many of them, being in the Vector for over nine months was the longest mission they'd ever seen. Of all the naval forces in Java, they were the ones furthest and longest away from home. There was definitely some disbelief on the faces of those that had been with him from the very beginning.

"It seems to have come at a rather bad time," offered up Abigail, the first to speak. "We only just took back the capital city. I'm not sure it's the best idea to be leaving just yet."

Jack nodded. "I fully agree with you. It's not a great time to leave, but Bancroft's orders are clear. He's marshaling all the naval forces in the empire to finally break the stranglehold the Occie's have over Aberdeen. Even doing so, we'll still be outnumbered, but it's the best chance we have of allowing our comrades to break out of port."

"What are we to do about our presence here?" asked Mike Cutter. "Are we supposed to leave the Picards and the Carinthians to their own defenses?"

"Our allies here aren't without their own forces," said Jack. "Admiral Romero's force is potent with two battleships, and the majority of Aedan's navy is moving up from the south. Their combined armies more than outnumber us, so I'm sure they could handle anything the Swabians can throw at them in the interim."

"Aren't the Swabians in the south though?" asked Laura Pollard. "It doesn't seem right to have King Aedan's forces move north when the action is all in the south."

"Most of those landings have already occurred," said Jack. "There's not much to combat now beside their resupply, but with their decreasing naval presence in the south, it appears their soldiers are going to live off the land while they try to consolidate their hold. For that reason, there's not many ships to fight down there, although Aedan has left a force on the southern coast to attack any supply ships or basic enemy warships. The rest of the force is coming up to Daban to combine into one striking fleet with ourselves and the Carinthians."

"Just minus us now, right?" asked Luke. "Is that force enough to handle anything the Swabians might throw at it?"

Jack looked at Kat, who would best know the answer. She stood up and walked to the front near him. "The Swabian navy is one of the strongest in the West. Even if the Picards combined their full navy with that of Carinthia, they would still fall short if the Swabians moved out in force."

Many of the faces in the room soon soured. "So if we leave, we're potentially surrendering Daban and the whole of Picardy just to do so?" asked Vicky. "That doesn't bode well for all the marines that died fighting to retake the city."

Jack nodded as Kat resumed her seat. "I know it's not an ideal situation. I'll be the first to admit that. But our first duty is to our country." Jack hazarded a look at Kat. While many of the officers were shaking their head in agreement, she gave him a look he couldn't quite digest. It didn't take him long to figure out why.

"Where are we headed once we get to Java?" asked Pete Dawson. "Lockhaven? Belfort? Or are we going straight to Aberdeen?"

"Lockhaven," answered Jack. "Once we're there, we'll rendezvous with the rest of Task Force 78 before getting new orders."

"Task Force 78?" asked Mike with a raised eyebrow. "Wasn't that Henrik's command?"

Jack made a sour face, as did many of the others. By now, word of Henrik's betrayal had reached all of them. "It is. Although, it's under a new commander now. I just don't know who. I'm told Admiral Bancroft will also be there to welcome us home."

"Sounds like we're getting the red carpet treatment," said Luke with a grin. "Not bad for the conquering heroes returning home."

Jack was inclined to smile. "It will be good to be back home, but remember, we're going back to fight. This isn't a social call or a chance to relax. We'll need to be on our guard."

Almost everyone in the room nodded to that statement, seeming to understand that point instinctively. Seeing no more questions, Jack moved on to the next piece of discussion.

"That brings me to the second point of the message," he started. "Bancroft has asked that I bring back a show of forces from the alliances we've created since we've been out here."

"What does that mean?" asked Pete.

"He's looking to see the kind of military forces that our new allies are capable of," added Abigail. "I imagine he's talking about military equipment, or more importantly, ships."

"Abigail's right," said Jack. "Our leadership has spent a lot of money and time investing in this mission, and I'm sure they'd like to see the return on that investment. They want us to bring back several ships from the Vector as well as a head of state from one of our allies."

There was some grumbling in the room. "How are we going to convince Aedan or Reina of doing that when there's a war brewing?" asked Alex McGrath of theWickes.

Jack broke out in a small smile as he looked at Kat. "It might actually be a lot easier than that. Kat, would you come up here please?"

Once more, she resumed her spot by his side. "Most of you know Kat as our guide here in the Vector. She's been my closest confidant since we arrived, and a good portion of our knowledge of these lands starts with her." Jack took a deep breath. "Kat is also the official head of state for one of the countries here."

There were many shocked faces. "Which one?" asked Laura.

"Galicia," said Jack. "She's the rightful Galician Regent."

The only ones in the room who didn't look shocked were Abigail, Greg, and Dustin, to whom this was already common knowledge.

"No disrespect to Kat, but if she's the proper regent, why is she here with us?" asked Mike before he looked at her. "Shouldn't she be with her home country?"

Jack looked over to Kat before he turned his attention back to the officers. He took a deep breath before he started. "Kat is the rightful regent, but she's been deposed back in her home country by her cousin, who seized the regency over three years ago. Since she's been with us, she's been our guide." Jack left out several of the more crucial details, figuring that the rest of them weren't yet ready for the extended answer behind why she was there.

Jack expected more of a fight on this one, but surprising Luke was the next one to speak up. "All this time and we have a regent here in our midst," he said with a small smile. "I hope I didn't miss calling you by a title or something."

Kat chuckled. "I don't need any titles, so don't worry about that. But Jack is right. I don't have a place back in my country so right now my place is with all of you. And if you'll have me, I'll go back to Java with you." She then turned to look at Jack, with seemingly more to say still on her tongue.

He imagined she'd tell him later. "That makes this particular requirement easy to hit, but I'll have to talk with Aedan and Reina about some ships. I think that will be harder to do, but we don't have much time."

"How soon are we needed back in Java?" asked Vicky. "Do we have a deadline, and how soon do we need to leave?"

Jack shook his head. "Admiral Bancroft just asks that we leave immediately and let him know once we're on our way. Instead of heading due east from here, we'll swing to the south to stop at Quiller's Cove before continuing on to Java. Once we get to Quiller's, I will give him an estimated arrival time."

Mike was the first to close the notebook in front of him. "It sounds like our task is ironed out for us. Leave right away, get to Quiller's, and then go home. It doesn't get much simpler than that."

Jack nodded. "The hardest piece will be seeing who we can convince to come with us from the allies. But after that's done, we can take off."

"I'll be glad to see home again though," said Luke. "Like you said before, Jack, it's been about nine months. That's too long to be away from home."

"Maybe once this is all over with, and once we lift the blockade, we'll be permitted some R&R time," said Jack. "This mission has asked a lot from all of us. I'd be remiss if we didn't get the chance to see our families. Especially because I imagine we'll be coming back to the Vector when it's all over."

"Are you sure about that, Jack?" asked Vicky. "Are we for sure coming back?"

Jack nodded. "I don't see why not. If we can remove the Occitanians as a threat, there's no reason for us to not come back and continue to build on what we've done."And hopefully, I can continue to unravel the mystery that is Galicia, he thought to himself.And what I'm supposed to be doing in all of this. "But that's for after we get back. Unless any of you have any questions, that's the long and short of it."

Nobody seemed to have any remaining questions, which led him to speak up one final time. "Well, get back to your ships, and wait for my word. Start preparing to leave. Once I find out who'll be coming with us, I'll set a date for our departure. Thank you all for coming here."

With that, all the officers stood, and after several minutes of chatter with their colleagues, they soon exited the room with nods and salutes back to Jack. Soon enough, the first people to have arrived in his quarters were once again the last people to leave, and Jack found himself looking back at Kat and Abigail only.

"How are you feeling about all of this, Jack?" asked Abigail once his door was shut. "I know you're not one to mince words when giving orders, but I had a hard time figuring out your thoughts on this one."

Jack took a deep breath and then sighed. "I'm on the fence. Probably more so than most of them, for obvious reasons. I hate the idea of leaving when it still feels like we're in the middle of a war here. Vicky said it all too succinctly. I don't want to waste the sacrifices of all those men who died taking this city just to surrender it without a fight."

"True, Jack, but I would say the balance of this conflict has swung against the Swabians," said Abigail. "Surely you don't think they would attack Daban again, do you?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "We don't know how many men they have in the south of the country, but I don't expect them to surrender Daban willingly without a backup plan."

"Knowing them, they won't bring a token force to something so important," said Kat. "I expect there to be a real fight to kick them firmly out of Picardy. Unfortunately, I think Daban was the easy part."

"Could we leave men here? Marines and/or ships?" asked Abigail. "Anything to aid their effort?"

"It's something I've been wondering on my own," said Jack. "I don't think we'd be able to get away with leaving any ships, but possibly marines. I'll have to talk with Greg about it. Many of those men have been out here just as long as we have, and as such, they deserve to go home too. It's just a little too open right now, especially until I meet with Aedan and Reina."

Abigail stood up and approached him, quickly pressing in with a warm embrace. "Anything that needs to happen, we'll make sure it does. I know these orders aren't ideal, but if we need to get home, kick some Occie ass, and then come back, then that's what we'll do."

Jack wrapped his arms around her. "I guess timing has never been our strong point, especially since we've been here. We're always drifting from one conflict to the next, sometimes before the other gets wrapped up. Just once, I was hoping that we might be able to get settled first before we leave again."

Kat was soon pressing into his other open side. "For what it's worth, I'm looking forward to seeing your home, Jack. Didn't you say your sister was still in Lockhaven?"

He nodded. "Jocelyn still is. Or at least she was when we left. Although I do know her husband spends a lot of time in Belfort."

"It might be nice to see her again," said Abigail. "I'm sure it's been some time since you last saw your sister."

Even though I know she's not really my sister? Even though my world was turned upside down a month ago? He hadn't long to think about what this meant for his relationship with Jocelyn. He was sure she didn't know the truth, but what would she do when she found out?

Would she stop being his sister? Would the bond between them dissolve?

"Jack? Are you still there?"

He shook his head as he forced himself to go back to the present. "Sorry. Just too into my thoughts ever since I found out we were going back."

"You of all people have a right to be hesitant about what that means," said Kat. "It's all right to question it."

"It's not that I question it," he said finally. "It's just that the last time I was in Java, it was my only home. Not that Galicia is my home, per se, but it just muddies the waters slightly. I don't know how I'm going to feel once I step back onto home soil. It's just a new factor I need to prepare myself for."

"Take all the time you need, Jack," said Abigail as she rubbed his back. "Thankfully, we have a long journey in front of us. It should make it easier to clear your head before we even get close to Java."

Jack chuckled. "Or it might make me feel worse the closer we get." Jack shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to bring you two into all my internal problems here."

Kat shook her head as well. "Jack, if we didn't care, we wouldn't be here. We love you."

"Don't forget that you belong to us," said Abigail playfully. "What goes on in here is our business too." She tapped the side of his head lightly.

Jack laughed. "At least I have the both of you to help me through it."

"Besides," said Kat. "A long time at sea can get a little boring at times. I wonder what we'll get up to in order to pass the time?" Her eyes already twinkled with mischief.

Abigail grinned wickedly. "We're already turning her," she said to Jack, elbowing him in the stomach. "Can you believe she was just a virgin not so long ago? And now we're having all these threesomes!"

"I know, you've been a bad influence on her," he teased.

"Oh, she's bad, all right," said Abigail with pride. "And I really enjoy it!"

The three of them started to laugh together, and all too soon, Jack found himself being dragged back to bed by both women.

*****

Later on that afternoon, Kat and Jack made their exit from theDestiny on their way back to the Picard imperial palace. It was a hot late summer day, and only minutes away from the warship, Jack could feel part of his uniform sticking to his sweaty back as they made their way through the city. Kat, of course, never seemed to break a sweat, and her long luxurious blonde hair hung in wavy curls to the middle of her back while her blue regency dress caught the eye of every single (and some not so single) man on the way to the palace.

"I can see why you don't wear that dress more than you do," he said with a smile, as they neared the center of the city.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

Jack spread his hands out. "Look at how all these men are looking at you. If I were a jealous man, I'd have a good reason to be mad half the time you wore this."

Kat let out a rich laugh. "Good thing that you're not a jealous man then. And it's also a good thing that I only have eyes for you." She then leaned in a little closer. "It's alsovery good that I still have your cum dripping down my thigh."

Jack gave a dramatic sigh. "I suppose that's a few good things."

"You suppose?" she elbowed him in the ribs.

"It's because their eyes aren't the only ones glued to you when you wear that," he said hungrily.

"Lucky for you then, you get to help me take it off later," she said with a hint of mischief.

For some reason, Jack found his walking pace picked up ever so slightly after that statement.

Even just a week out from battle, most of the city still bore the scars of the conflict. Everywhere Jack looked, there were houses that were missing doors, broken windows aplenty, and in some, still no sign of the previous inhabitants. Trash littered the streets, either from the occupation, or because there was no one to remove it. Every so often, Jack would find a spent bullet casing, a remnant of the hard fought battle that proceeded house to house, neighborhood to neighborhood.

The signs of devastation though couldn't compete with the signs of life, and it was one thing that made him hopeful as they turned down the street the palace was on. The common citizens of Daban could be found cleaning up their streets, replacing those broken windows as well as hanging new doors. There was a feeling of renewal in the air, a promise that the city could never be too broken not to fix. It was a reminder of the national spirit of Picardy, and a promise of the resilience of those that made their homes here.

"It's heartening to watch the city put itself back together," said Jack finally, giving voice to his thoughts after he led them down several streets that weren't on the way to the palace. "Almost everywhere you look, you can see Picards rebuilding their shattered city."

"They have a lot of work to do too," said Kat. "Even for their short stay, the Swabians made quite a mess of the place."