Fourth Vector Ch. 21

"You went to Bancroft to ask a favor?" asked Jack with a chuckle. "How did you get that done?"

"Well, Luke did. His name isn't tainted like mine," said the old commodore. "But in any event it worked. You got the warships and you sunk the Occitanian task force, so it all worked out."

"Apart from Admiral Reynolds not liking me now though," added Jack.

"A small matter, ultimately," said Lucas with a dismissive wave. "Reynolds has more bark than bite but I didn't want you going home without hearing about the matter. If you do run into him, which I'm sure you will, I wanted you to be aware."

"Did you make any other enemies on my behalf? Anyoneelse I should know about?" asked Jack with a hint of amusement.

Lucas smiled. "That should do it for now, but I'll let you know the next time I need to deflect some heat from a fellow officer."

Jack laughed. "I bet you will!"

Lucas laughed along with him before his face slowly turned more serious. "There is one more thing I wanted to ask you when you came back, Jack. What did you know about Admiral Gary Henrik?"

Jack stiffened somewhat. "The traitor? Not much, fortunately. He and I never crossed paths. Why do you ask?"

Lucas stood up from his desk and approached his window. He shook his head several times as he looked out over the bay. "I knew Gary. Rather well, actually. We served together before, on an old battleship. I was his division head officer back then."

Jack nodded. "I imagine that news must've come as quite the shock then."

Lucas turned around. "Very shocking indeed. Mostly because I know Henrik would never have betrayed his country."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Like I mentioned already, Gary Henrik was a good, principled man. I've spent a lot of time with the man to know better. He was a damn fine officer, the kind of man you want in charge when shit hits the fan."

Jack pursed his lips. "So what do you think his angle was? More pay or lack of recognition? What caused him to do it?"

Lucas shook his head. "I don't think he did, Jack. I think Henrik was innocent."

Jack's mouth fell open. "I don't know all the details surrounding it but they executed the man. I wouldn't think they would do it unless they had him dead to rights."

"They said that he disobeyed orders. Went down the wrong channel, on the wrong side of Barrier Island," said Lucas sullenly. "Afterwards, Bancroft was the one that was demanding blood, which doesn't surprise me especially if it was to save his own hide. The rest of the Admiralty backed Bancroft and that was enough to seal Henrik's fate."

"Are you suggesting that Bancroft is behind the death of an innocent man?" asked Jack.

Lucas shook his hands in front of his body. "I don't know what I'm suggesting, Jack. I just knew the kind of man Henrik was, and he wasn't one to betray his own people, no matter the price. He may have had some extravagant tastes, which I'm sure didn't do him any favors if they were looking to paint him as a man wanting more than he had, but he a loyal to a fault."

Jack let out a deep breath. "So why tell me all of this then?"

"Because it's been nagging at me since I heard of it," replied Lucas. "I can't get home to do my own investigation into the matter, but since you are, and you're someone I can trust, I figured I'd tell you."

"So you didn't tell Admiral Reynolds this then, I'd imagine?"

Lucas shook his head. "Reynolds was gone before it happened. Even still, I couldn't trust him anyway. He's too by the book for my liking. Anything I said to him could easily end up in the ear of Bancroft the next moment and I couldn't have that."

Jack smirked. "Wasn't it you that mentioned to me all those months ago that Bancroft favored me? What makes you think I won't say anything to him?"

Lucas chuckled. "Because you have integrity, Jack. I can see it from here. I also knew you'd be as appalled as I was at the thought of an innocent man losing his life. Especially a fellow officer."

The smile on Jack's face evaporated. "You have a point there."

"Listen, I'm not asking you to stick your neck out for me or for anyone when you get home," said Lucas while he sat back in his chair. "All I'd ask is that you keep your eyes open? Ears too? Something doesn't seem right to me, and I think it goes all the way back to the Admiralty. Will you just look into the matter while you're in Java?"

Jack nodded. "I can't make any promises but I'll see if anything stands out to me. Something that doesn't feel right."

"Good," said Lucas with a relieved smile. "Thank you, Jack."

*****

Later on that evening, Jack watched the sunset over the bow of theDestiny like he had a thousand times before. The sun was already low in the western sky, and it wasn't that long ago that Abigail and Kat slipped back to his quarters for the evening to get ready for bed. In this part of the world, the daylight hours were many, and it was after nine o'clock as the sky turned from a brilliant streak of orange to a reddish-purple haze.

"You're facing the wrong direction!"

Jack turned around at the sound of the familiar voice, grinning as Luke Ravencross crossed the deck to stop right next to him.

"What are you talking about?" asked Jack with a chuckle.

"You're facing west, Jack," said Luke as he leaned against the railing. "You need to be facing east. That's where home is."

Jack smiled and pointed back to the sunset. "Yeah, but we just spent all this time back that way."

"You can't be homesick for the Vector already. We just left!"

"Maybe it's starting to grow on me," said Jack with a wily grin.

"I think all that time spent with your blonde girlfriend is influencing your opinion," said Luke with another laugh.

Jack shrugged. "Maybe, but it's only with a heavy heart that I'm going home."

"Not me," said Luke with a firm shake of the head. "I can't wait to get there. I get to see my family hopefully and we get to smash up some Occies in the process. I call that a win-win."

"We still have a ways to go though. Another three weeks until we're back on the mainland."

"It'll go quickly," said Luke dismissively.

"You know it wasn't too long ago that we did this the first time we arrived here," said Jack, pointing back at the base.

"I remember it all too well. I remember sinking that Occie cruiser. I remember that feeling in the pit of my stomach the day we left too," said Luke.

"That feeling where you didn't know if you'd ever see home again?"

Luke nodded. "It's gotten a lot better since then but still. Back at the time, we didn't know what we were sailing into."

"And now look where we've been. Lishkerra, Sorella, Andalucia, Picardy, and Carinthia. Quite an array of places right there," said Jack.

"Quite an array indeed," said another familiar voice from directly behind them. Both men soon turned to see Commodore Lucas joining them. Lucas took a quick look around. "Mighty fine warship you got here, Jack. You sure you don't want to leave her here in Quiller's while you go back east?"

Jack grinned. "I'll have to pass on that. I'm surprised you came all the way down to the harbor to join us."

Lucas shrugged. "It's not too often that I have visitors on this rock, and especially visitors I like to see." The commodore then nodded at Luke. "Good to see you again, Luke."

"Commodore," answered Luke.

"If it isn't the two co-conspirators together again at last," said Jack with a raised eyebrow.

Luke looked back to Lucas. "You told him?"

"I figured he deserved to know. Hell, if it were me, I'd want to know," said Lucas. "So when is it that you two get moving again?"

"Probably the day after tomorrow," said Jack. "We need to load up the foreign ships with enough coal to make the journey."

"Ah, you mean those two?" asked Lucas, pointing out to the Carinthian and Picard vessels.

"Those are the ones."

"Interesting looking ships, they are. I am surprised how advanced they are for the Vector," said Lucas. "They almost look like something our fathers would have sailed in."

"And those aren't the cream of the crop by any means," said Jack. "It's only what they could spare us."

"I imagine then it's going to be pretty interesting then that our leadership considers all of them to be mere colonies," said Lucas.

Jack's expression darkened. "That's something I need to discuss with Bancroft as soon as we get back. That line of thinking will undo everything we've accomplished in the Vector. I've already received two complaints about it and those were from smaller countries. I hate to think what would happen when the two largest countries we work with—Picardy and Carinthia—start to be called colonies."

"I thought they were supposed to be allies," added Luke with a confused expression. "Who is calling them colonies?"

"The message came from Bancroft but I wouldn't be surprised if the emperor was behind it," said Lucas. "Either way, you both need to be careful. I get the impression that not everything is as it seems back at home. This may be my own bias talking, but it seems that all of it can be linked back to Bancroft too. The Admiralty is stronger than ever right now with their priorities swinging to the blockade. Just be careful back there, all right?"

Jack nodded and turned his attention back to the sunset. "If only we knew what we were sailing into for once. But that might make things a little too easy."

Lucas started to chuckle before he placed his hand on Jack's shoulder. "It's never going to be that easy, Jack. Especially where Bancroft is concerned."

Jack didn't answer to that one. He hazarded a glance back east, where the sky was now nearly pitch black and overcast. It seemed to be a fitting forecast for what awaited him on the other side of the ocean.

Perhaps the safer journey was inside the Vector after all?