Fourth Vector Ch. 24

It played a dangerous game with his feelings on the matter. Until he came home, he'd always known Bancroft as the mentor and Charles as the predictably mad leader.

Could it be that those roles were now reversed?

He didn't have long to ponder that notion before Charles was leading him back to the hallway. "Come, Jack, we've kept your visitor waiting long enough. I'll be in this study after everyone gets some lunch. Come find me."

"And bring with you those that you brought back from the Fourth Vector," added Bancroft as they neared the door. "You did remember to bring the head of state with you on this trip, didn't you?"

Jack nodded. "I did. She's on theDestiny right now. Along with the commanders of the two Vector ships with my force."

"Excellent. I'll send a man to fetch them," said Bancroft. "We'll meet together after lunch."

As soon as he was out in the hall, he watched as the emperor, Bancroft, and the page Mortimus left him to go enjoy their own meal. Below his line of sight, his new insignia caught his attention, and he turned his arm to look at his sleeve once more.

Rear Admiral. This has been one crazy year.

"Jack? Jack, is that really you?"

He couldn't have swung around fast enough, recognizing that voice anywhere. After all, he'd heard it too many times to count in the past thirty-six years not to know who the speaker was by sound alone.

His smile was wide when he took her in. She looked just as he remembered, the last year not achieving one noticeable difference in her appearance. Her long, dark hair was straight in appearance as it met her shoulder before curling in toward her body. Her cheeks were pink, no doubt from coming in from the cold weather outside. She had a familiar pair of dark eyes and a smile that matched his in the intensity.

Most notable, she had a five year old son at her side, a mirror of her own features, who started to run toward him upon recognition.

"Uncle Jack, Uncle Jack! You're back!" yelled the young boy, his nephew, Blake, as he came sprinting into his arms. Jack laughed and scooped him up, hugging him tightly against him.

"Blake, look how you've grown! You must be what, four feet tall now?"

"Not exactly," said Blake with a child's grin. "But I'm getting there."

"He'd get there faster if he ate all his dinner," answered his mother, Jack's sister Jocelyn, as she closed the distance between them. She waited until Jack set Blake down to the ground before wrapping him in a tight embrace.

"I've missed you, Jack, you have no idea." She pulled back to look him in the eyes. "You've been gone so long, and we've been worried sick about you."

"You have no idea how much I've missed you too," he replied, looking back into those dark eyes that he knew so well.

Her gaze became vulnerable as the threat of tears took hold. "When I heard they were sending you to the Fourth Vector, I was so upset. All of us were." She touched Blake's head. "But you're back, whenever no one else has done so, Jack. I went from being a nobody to all of a sudden being Jack Easterbrook's sister of all things." She let out a relieved laugh. "It's been quite the experience ever since."

"I'm seeing what you mean by that now," said Jack. "It was noticeable even before the battle, but ever since, it's been all-consuming. I can't go anywhere now without throngs of people behind me, even as pretentious as I'm sure that sounds."

Jocelyn giggled. "It only sounds a little pretentious, but I'll let it slide."

"If you'll all follow me, I'll bring you to the dining quarters," announced one of the emperor's servants, one with a dour face and a tiny pencil mustache. The three of them were led into an open dining hall where they weren't the only ones to enjoy lunch. He saw the other admirals there with whom he learned were their wives, all already eating and soaking up the attention of being together again.

"I rode here on the same train with Linda McKenzie," said Jocelyn as they were served their lunch. "She's such a nice lady. Even though she's only a decade older than me, she acted like a motherly figure. Blake just loved her." She then turned to Admiral Reynolds who was the furthest from him. "His wife I didn't get a chance to meet. She was a bit of a loner, so she mostly kept to herself."

"Sounds a lot like him," remarked Jack. "He has a way with people as well."

Jocelyn picked up on the sarcasm. "I take it he's not the easiest man to work with?"

"Not for me at least. But then again, he does think that I pulled a fast one on him and stole his ships."

"I don't imagine that's endeared you to him at all," said Jocelyn.

Jack chuckled. "Not in the slightest."

They were served their meal, a delicious entree from the palace kitchens. Even Blake was provided with what was basically a kid's meal, something he ate with his usual pickiness.

"I can't believe you're really here," said Jack finally, once they were halfway through the meal. "I knew better than to expect to see you in Lockhaven, but Aberdeen was the last place I thought I'd find you."

"Funny how it works out, right?" replied Jocelyn with a grin. "We've only been in Belfort for a short while now due to Roger's job. If anything, I expected I'd see you there after you got back from your mission. By the time you made it to Aberdeen, I was just learning you were back. You can imagine my surprise when the emperor's envoy showed up at the family home to invite me here of all places."

Jack chuckled. "I bet you were in for quite a shock."

"A bad shock at first," she said before lowering her voice. "You know the rumors. I thought we did something wrong until they assured me you were victorious in battle. Jack, they were yelling your name outside our house in Belfort. I'm told it was happening all over the entire city."

"It was like that here too," he replied. "For several nights after the battle."

Jocelyn beamed with pride. "And to think, it was my brother of all people who made it happen."

"Speaking of which, how did the rest of your family take it? I imagine Roger was surprised."

Jocelyn smacked her hand down on her knee. "Was he ever. I know you two haven't exactly always gotten along, but when he told me they were yelling your name on his way home from work, you should have seen his face!"

Jack grinned. While it was true that Roger Hutton had never been his most favorite person, he never objected to their marriage or his match with Jocelyn. Roger was a good man and a good father, but Jack had never been close to the man. They were just too different to be friends, but he was thankful for the fact that his sister adored him, and that they managed to raise three exceptional boys.

Jack turned to face Blake, who was now pushing around some noodles on his plate with his fork. "What about my favorite nephew? How have you been?"

"It's been the coolest, Uncle Jack! Henry even says his classmates asked about you and everything!"

Jocelyn giggled. "Apparently the boys in Henry's class all like to pretend they are off conquering the Fourth Vector now. Even the boys in Nathan's class do the same thing."

"Will you tell me your stories about the Fourth Vector, Uncle Jack?" asked Blake with wide-eyed innocence.

"You bet I will," replied Jack with a wide-set grin. "Although I hope you have a full day for me to get through the entire thing!"

Blake's eyes sparkled with excitement. "What's the coolest thing you've done? Have you met any kings?"

Jack smiled and leaned forward. "Believe it or not, Blake, they actually consider me the king of two of the countries over there."

Blake's mouth dropped. "You're the king?"

"Very interesting indeed, Jack," said Jocelyn, giving him a funny look.

"If only you knew the half of it," he said dryly.

"I've heard so many tales of what you've done over there that I don't even know what to believe," she continued. "If half of them were true, you've been slaying dragons at best or at worst you've been plundering all the native women."

"I can say for certain that I haven't seen any dragons," said Jack with a straight face. "Although on that second charge . . ."

Jocelyn's mouth fell open and she smacked his hand. "Ew, Jack, I don't want to know that!"

"Mom, what does plundering mean?" asked Blake as he craned his head toward her.

"Nothing that you need to know about right now," she answered quickly before giving an accusatory look to her brother.

Jack held up his hands in innocence. "You brought it up, not me."

"Because here I thought my own brother would have the good sense not to," she shot back.

Jack grinned. "You'll have to meet them. I brought her back with me."

"Wait a second. Them? And you brought a Fourthie back with you?"

"Yeah, them," he answered, feeling his cheeks inflame in embarrassment. "It's a long story."

"I'm sure it is," she replied. "Well, regardless, I look forward to meeting thesewomen who have so captured my brother's wandering eyes!"

Jack could only grin in response.

Jocelyn gave him a knowing look. "You haven't changed a bit, you know. I still remember back when we were in high school and you were seeing Natalie Morgan and Beth Lackman at the same time! Without them knowing it either!"

"Not exactly my finest hour," he admitted, reminiscing about those days long since passed. "At least this time they're aware of each other if that helps."

"Hardly," she said, but at least she laughed afterward. "I'm guessing they treat you well though?"

"Very well. I love both of them," he answered quickly.

"Well, it's a good thing you won't have to explain that to our parents," she sassed. "I don't know many wedding ceremonies where there's two brides."

"A crying shame about that, isn't it?" he teased.

After Jocelyn was done shaking her head, she wanted to know everything there was to tell about Kat and Abigail, the portion of the conversation that took up the most time. She remained continually amazed that two women with so much going for them were willing to share him without any hard feelings.

"I think I'd be liable to beat the other woman on the head while she slept," she said with a heavy laugh. "I don't know how they do it. Especially with no jealousy issues!"

"They are just exceptional in damn near every quality," said Jack, laughing at the imagery his sister just provided. "You'll see when you meet them."

"Maybe later today?" she asked. "After all, Blake and I don't have any plans, and we'll be here in Aberdeen until the emperor goes back to the capital."

"Today may not be the best day," said Jack. "I have to meet with the emperor again after lunch. Plus Abigail just lost her sister, so she's not in the best frame of mind right now. She's still taking it rather hard."

The smile left Jocelyn's face. "The poor woman. Understood, Jack. Perhaps tomorrow then or the day after, we'll have more time if you don't have any more important meetings. I still can't believe my own brother is meeting with the emperor of all people. How far you've come, Jack."

Jack opened his mouth to respond but no words came out. He was struck by how one word in particular seemed to reach into his very core—brother. His entire life, Jocelyn had been his sister, and it was only recently that he found out there was no blood relation between them.

His eyes now searched her own. Just because he had found out there was no relation between didn't mean she didn't know. What exactly did Jocelyn know about their family? Did she know he wasn't truly Javan?

There were so many questions to ask her, but there was no time for it. He hoped that tomorrow he could turn their conversation deeper, perhaps probe for those questions that he most ached to ask.

He was quiet for too long. Jocelyn wrapped her arm around Blake's shoulder and pulled him close. "Besides, I promised Blake that we would get to see your ship."

"Yeah, Uncle Jack! I really want to see your battleship!" he said with much enthusiasm.

"You can count on it, buddy," said Jack. "But they didn't give me a battleship. My ship is what's known as a cruiser."

"A cruiser?" Blake made a face as he tried to figure out where that stood on the badass hierarchy. "Is that better than a battleship?"

"It's smaller and faster," said Jack while trying to keep a straight face. "She's got a great name too. She's called theDestiny."

"Destiny! Wow, that is cool." Blake's eyes glazed over while his mother chuckled softly beside him.

"How easy it is to impress little boys," she said while ruffling his hair.

"Mom, stop!" he said, pushing her hand away.

It struck Jack just how much he enjoyed being near them, and how much he missed this aspect of his family. The last time he saw Blake, he was barely speaking in complete sentences. Now they were having a genuine conversation about warships.

How quickly time flies.

All too soon, their lunch was over. When the servants came to collect the remains of their meals, the three sets of families prepared to get back to their day.

"I meant to ask you—where are you staying while you're in Aberdeen?" asked Jack as the three of them walked back to the front of the palace.

"Right here, Jack," she answered. "Isn't it great? It's almost like a miniature vacation to be here. I just wish I could have brought the older boys but you know how it is to take them out of school for this long."

"That is exceptionally generous of the emperor," said Jack as they turned a corner.

"He's been the perfect host so far. I'm really pleased with how this has turned out," said Jocelyn. "And I know Blake is too, right sweetie?"

He growled in the way that only a semi-independent boy could be by being called sweetie. "Right," he muttered.

Once they were near the front of the palace where Jack had his first meeting, Jocelyn pointed down to another wing. "Our room is just down this way."

"Good, at least I don't have to worry about your accommodations tonight," he said with a grin. "Now I have to get back to this meeting but the day after tomorrow—" he looked down at Blake. "Prepare for a day of fun, all right?"

"All right, Uncle Jack!" Blake jumped up to give him a high five, an act that made his mother laugh.

"I'm sure he won't stop talking about it for the rest of the day."

"I hope not," said Jack. "It's not everyday I get to show off my warship to my favorite nephew."

Blake beamed with pride at the compliment, and it became obvious that his mother's prediction wouldn't be too far off the mark. After saying his goodbyes to Blake, he wrapped his sister up in another hug.

"It's so good to see you, Jocelyn."

She squeezed him tightly. "Yes, it was. In a way, this whole lunch felt like a tease. Not nearly enough time to talk about everything that I wanted to." She pulled back to look at him. "Hopefully we can fix that this week."

"You can count on it," he said with a smile.

"Good. See you soon, Jack."

With those last words, the two of them started the long walk back to their room. Jack watched them go until they disappeared out of sight, savoring the feeling of family for as long as he could. It was something he'd been missing since he said goodbye to Vera back in Picardy. What was funny about it was that now that his thoughts turned back to his real sister, and he hoped that wherever she was, she was in good health and spirits.

By the time that Jack turned around to face the emperor's study, he realized he was no longer alone.

"Jack!"

He could only grin at seeing the face of Kat as she came rushing to close the distance. He embraced her in a tight lock that any lover would be proud of, kissing her soundly before letting her go.

"We were told to come here to the palace," she said once her eyes were back on his. In doing so, she pointed back to the other visitors in her party, the commanders of the Vector division of his task force.

"Horatio! Owen! Good to see you both," said Jack, offering vigorous handshakes to both men.

"Some palace this is, Jack," said Horatio while looking around. "It looks like that chandelier is made of pure gold up there."

"If you think this is amazing, you should see the official imperial palace in Belfort," replied Jack. "I've only been there once, but the opulence is enough to shock an ordinary man."

"Let us know when you do find that ordinary man," quipped Owen with a sly grin. "I've yet to see any amongst our task force."

Jack laughed before he turned his attention back to Kat. She had a nervous look on her face.

"How'd everything go this morning? You met with your emperor?" she asked.

"So far so good," he answered before tapping his shoulder. "Even got promoted out of it."

Kat's eyes were drawn to his sleeve. "Promoted? So you're a . . ."

"Rear Admiral now," he said.

"I believe a congratulations is in order then, Rear Admiral Easterbrook," said Horatio with a hearty tap on the shoulder.

Even though Kat allowed herself the brief happiness of enjoying his promotion, her eyes were still worried. "Jack, what do you think this is all about? This meeting? Is anything to come of this?"

"I think they just want to say they've met people from the actual Fourth Vector," he replied dryly. "I can already see the photo opportunity it will present."

Kat nodded. "I just hope we don't go in there to be treated as less than human. Or like colonies."

Jack held his tongue in response. From what he'd seen of his leadership so far, he didn't know if even such a reasonable request such as that would be possible. With a subtle nod of the head, he led them past the guard and back into the emperor's study.

As soon as he entered the study, they saw Charles sitting at his main desk, pen in hand as he worked on something in front of him. On the other side of the room, Bancroft stood against one of the windows, watching the snowfall as it kicked up a notch this morning to something heavier. Mortimus drifted around the emperor, refilling his cup anytime it threatened to become half full.

All three of their heads snapped to Jack's attention as soon as he entered. Most noticeably, Charles' head drifted from Jack to lock on Kat, and for a brief moment, Jack watched as a very masculine look appeared on his face, obviously taken with Kat's stunning features.

"Jack, my boy, welcome back," said Charles as his eyes briefly centered on him before returning to Kat's shapely body. "Who are your guests?"

Jack made the customary introductions for both naval commanders before introducing Kat last. "And this is Katherine Rosdahl, the rightful regent of the country of Galicia."

Charles took her hand in his and placed a kiss on the backside of it. "Galicia, you say? And tell me, young lady, are all the women in your country as strikingly beautiful as you are?"

A brief moment of surprise registered on Kat's face before she answered, a reserved smile taking its place. "Galicia is the home of many beautiful things, her people being one of them."

It was a politician's answer, and Jack immediately sensed that the Kat that he knew was temporarily replaced by Katherine Rosdahl, the public side of her identity.

"I should say so," answered Charles in a lecherous tone. He blatantly checked her out, his eyes lingering far too long on her chest for polite company. It didn't stop until Kat cleared her throat awkwardly, the old man settling back on Jack once more.

"You certainly did bring the cream of the crop, Jack," he said.

Jack fought to contain his facial expressions but it seemed at least for the time being, Charles was done checking her out. Noticeably, Bancroft didn't engage in the same perversions, and his eyes remaining locked on Kat's face the entire time.