Fourth Vector Ch. 28

Once they were inside, Jack was hit with a putrid smell immediately. He started to cough once it hit his nostrils, reminding him of battlefields and the smell of dead. The soldiers to their credit didn't so much as clear their throats. They were used to such a lifeless odor.

It was once they were about thirty feet inside that Jack saw the first body. It was the body of a man—emaciated beyond belief. So much so that his ribs stuck out more prominently than the mountains of the interior. His body was nearly yellow in color and his mouth was open. He was missing his eyes most notably, and Jack could only see dark red sockets where the organs used to be.

He counted as many as ten dead bodies before he arrived at his destination. At that point, he wished to be back on the Swabian cruiser.

It was a prison in every sense of the word. The bars on the outside were iron with only small gaps between each bar, the likes of which even emaciated dead men wouldn't be able to fit through. There was a single entry point into the small prison, and the whole area was no more the size of a small room in Aedan's palace.

The most interesting thing about it, if you could really call it interesting, was that the prison was built into the cliffside. The bowels of the building had been dug into the cliff when it was created which meant the walls were pure granite in tones of gray and brown. Jack wondered if the whole cliffside was granite and suspected that was what the men on the side had been mining.

Where the fourth wall should have been was nothing but another series of bars and open air. It overlooked the cliff, and Jack could see the miners working on the scaffolding just directly outside. As Jack was pushed into the prison, he went by instinct to the bars to the outside and looked straight down.

At this height, it was hard to even see the bottom. In that respect, he knew now why there wasn't more reinforcement on this side.

They didn't need it. Unless you planned to jump to your death, the other three barriers would suffice in keeping you here.

"Enjoy your stay," remarked one Swabian soldier sarcastically as the iron bars were shut behind Jack. They left quickly, not lingering any longer than they had to. Jack suspected they wanted to get out of the dark prison to escape the smell or perhaps to get to cozier quarters.

It didn't matter now. Jack put his hands against the iron bars and gave a smooth shake of his arms. Of course, they didn't budge. There was no way out.

Jack sighed and looked around the prison. At first glance, he thought he might be the only one in the cell. That was until he looked a little harder at one of the darkened corners. There he spotted feet sticking out from the darkness but that was all he could see. The rest of the body was still shrouded. Jack had to wonder who else could be done here. Was it another emaciated prisoner?

The figure didn't speak or give any acknowledgment at first that Jack was even there. His feet never moved, and if he was watching Jack, it was impossible to know. Instead of dwelling on his cellmate, Jack once again approached the cliff. The ants that he'd seen from the port had become men. There were hundreds of them, and Jack could see many of the scaffolds led inside the cliff itself, hundreds of feet below him. He wondered how far into the mountain those mines ran. Surely they must go far to require an operation of this size.

As Jack was doing a rough count of the numbers, the figure in the corner finally spoke up.

"It's been a long time since I had a visitor," came the gruff voice.

Jack pivoted his head to look over. The man hadn't moved but Jack got the feeling his eyes were trained on him.

"Sorry to disturb your tranquility then," said Jack as he once again turned to look at the mine.

"You must be in a world of trouble," said the voice.

"You don't know the half of it," remarked Jack.

"I bet you I do," said the man. "I bet you I've seen things just as dark and twisted as you have."

Jack turned toward the corner. "Who are you?"

The man cleared his throat. "It would be better if I stepped out of the shadows, I suppose."

For a moment, Jack lost sight of his feet, but only because the man had pulled them in to stand up. There was a scraping noise as he stood up and soon stepped forward out of the shadow.

He was a tall man. As tall as Jack, which was surprisingly rare in this part of the world. There was a lot of volume to him as well, or at least his frame had supported volume at one time. He had broad shoulders and a thick bone structure, even if the meat on the bone was lacking due to his current predicament.

He was significantly older than Jack, and the best guess at his age had to be somewhere in his late fifties. His hair could have been called salt and pepper but it was much heavier on the salt and much grayer at the temples. The hair was darkest in his eyebrows and in the mustache that dominated his upper lip, even if the rest of his beard was silver by the passing of time. He wasn't as gray as Heron but he would be there soon by the looks of it.

The wrinkles in his face were cut deep. His cheeks were hollow. His nose was too big for his face but his eyes were dark and knowing. He had a way of tilting his head down to level a serious gaze at Jack, making those dark eyes more intense. It was the look of an appraising leader even if the rags he wore suggested he was anything but.

Once he was out of the shadows, he did his own appraisal on Jack.

"What are you? Navy?" he asked, gesturing to Jack's battered uniform.

"Admiral," replied Jack. "At least I was before I came here."

"I figured you had to be someone important. No one has been in here with me in a long time. I suspect they do it on purpose but if you're going to share a cell with a man like me, you must be someone who's royally pissed off the Swabians," said the man.

"You can say that," said Jack as he regarded the man. "But you still haven't answered my question. Who are you?"

The man actually managed a small smile. "My name is Gaius. King Gaius actually. I used to be the King of Naxos."

That explained the appraising glare and the intimidating stance.

"You're the King of Naxos?" repeated Jack. "Of all of this?"

Gaius shrugged. "I used to be. At this point in time, I'm only the king of this cell." Gaius chuckled. "At least I used to be until you showed up."

"I imagine that's a story that could be told for some hours," said Jack as he regarded the man.

"Indeed," answered Gaius. "It's a long tale and a sad one. But you know who I am. Now why don't you tell me exactly who you are, Admiral."

"Jack Easterbrook. I'm an Admiral in the Javan Empire."

Gaius gave him a funny look. "Did you say Javan Empire? I thought the tales about Java were nothing but myths."

"Funny, we used to say the same thing about all of you over here," said Jack.

"Well, this is turning out to be an interesting day then, Jack," said Gaius. "Although there must be more to you than just being an admiral. I would scarcely think you would be down here with me for just sinking a few Swabian ships."

Gaius had a point to that but Jack was still on the fence about telling him who he really was. He didn't doubt that Gaius was the real deal but his biggest fear was in the Swabians finding out his true identity. With their innate hostility toward Galicians, he didn't want to invite any more trouble than what he already had.

"Let's just say I sunk too many," said Jack, pushing that conversation aside for another time.

"In any event, I commend you," said Gaius who then let out a heavy sigh. "It's only a pity you didn't sink more of them."

"That's something we can both agree on," said Jack.

"So tell me, Jack. How is it that a Javan admiral finds himself on this side of the world? Shouldn't you be in your corner of the globe? What made the West so important that you find yourself here?"

"The world is becoming a smaller place now," said Jack after choosing his words carefully. "The short answer is that my country wants new allies which was the whole impetus behind my mission."

"And you didn't think to ally with the Swabians, who are arguably the largest power in the entire West?" asked Gaius incredulously.

"That thought has never crossed my mind," said Jack honestly. "From the start, I've found the Swabians to be too crafty for their own good. They are devious people—aggressive, warlike, and fond of subjugating those that are considered weaker than themselves. I didn't think any partnership could be found with such a people."

Gaius actually chuckled. "Well then, I can see you and I will see eye to eye for the duration of your stay here. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of Swabia who can spare a kind word for the entire nationality. And of course, their aggressive and martial traits is what led me to this current wretched existence in this cell."

"How long have you been in here?" asked Jack.

"I've lost count of the days," said Gaius honestly. "Time is largely meaningless in this prison. I watch the sun come up every morning and set in the evening. I hear the miners out there working. Every day for me is the same as the last. For that reason, I stopped keeping track of the passing of days. But an honest answer to your question is that I've been down here since the Swabians conquered my country and imprisoned me here."

"By everything that I've heard, that was roughly two years ago," said Jack.

Gaius nodded. "Two years, yes. That seems about right. Have I really been down here for two years?" he asked rhetorically.

The old king approached the iron bars and looked out on the mine. "Two years," he repeated. "Two years I've watched my children soldier on the best they can. Two years I've watched them toil at the demand of our conquerors. I've seen more death than any man should see, Jack. I feel like I've lived more than ten lifetimes with what I've had to witness."

"What did they do to you, Gaius? What happened to Naxos? Why did the Swabians want this land so much?"

Gaius' head fell forward. "That's a long story, Jack. And it's a disturbing one indeed. Sometimes I think our biggest crime was that we happened to be an island right beside the might of Swabia. Our island is where their power ended, or at least, that's how it was for two millennia up until two years ago."

"How did that war start?"

"With false pretenses, like most wars do," answered Gaius. "I suppose you can tell by looking outside, but Naxos was famous for our mines. This island has been blessed with all kinds of precious metals and stones. Granite and limestone, gold, silver, and even copper—all can be mined in Naxos. The Swabians wanted in on that share of revenue."

"What happened here was a farce. The whole event began because the Swabian ambassador to Naxos was found dead in his quarters one day nearly three years ago. That's what kicked off this sordid event."

"Do you know who killed him?" asked Jack.

"At the time, we did not," said Gaius as he shook his head. "But I had my suspicions. The man was a gambler and a degenerate one at that. My capital city, where we are now, used to be a place where anyone with money could have a good time. Millpond, what the city is called, was famous for its entertainment of those wishing to spend coin. This man had many debts and thus, many enemies. He'd been threatened for sometime after he lost a good deal of money and couldn't repay it back. He made mention of having powerful enemies, although that same thing could be said about any Swabian worth his salt. When he was found dead, it was assumed that one of those angry loan sharks had finally caught up with him. They slit his throat and let him bleed out."

"A grizzly end for anyone," said Jack.

"That it was, but it was especially heinous when considering he was part of the diplomatic corps of a foreign country. Those people are supposed to be sacrosanct. So when he was found dead, the Swabians were considerably angered at such an assault on their national dignity."

"I suppose I can see why," said Jack. "Especially if he was an ambassador."

Gaius shook his head. "It was only later on that I found out we'd been played for fools. The loan shark story was a carefully crafted disguise of what really happened. You see, Jack, our loan sharks may be unscrupulous but they knew better than to kill a diplomat of a powerful empire right on our borders. The ones I could track down admitted to no such action. Curiously enough, we investigated it fully until we came to the diplomat's second-in-command, a deputy who reported to the diplomat. That's when we found the note."

"What note was that?"

"A note that should never have been seen by anyone's eyes but his own," said Gaius. "But they were careful instructions coming from Swabia. They instructed the deputy to kill the diplomat and find a way to pin the blame on Naxos. It was a setup from the very beginning, all designed so that blame could be put on Naxos by their powerful neighbor."

Jack's mouth fell open. "I knew the Swabians were devious but that takes it to a whole new level."

"Swabia has always been crafty, Jack," said Gaius. "But it wasn't until the appearance of Lord Avila that it took on a new dimension. That man is cunning. He's utterly self-serving and completely relentless in his pursuit of power."

"Emperor Avila," corrected Jack.

"I beg your pardon?"

"He's emperor now from what I've heard," said Jack. "The latest news I've heard out of Swabia is that he's managed to overthrow the old emperor."

Gaius took a step closer to Jack. "You're quite sure of this? Where did you hear it?"

"The Swabians themselves have talked about it. But we first got word in Picardy, where I was before I was captured. It is quite certain."

Gaius huffed and then shook his head. "Grave news for everyone then. With that man at the helm, the world is truly in trouble."

"Was it Avila who attacked Naxos? Just Avila, I take it?"

Gaius nodded. "The ambassador was one of Avila's men, as was his deputy. It was he who presented the ultimatum to Naxos for the offense. The ultimatum contained several demands. The first was that Naxos would have to accept a garrison of Swabian soldiers moving forward. The second was that Naxos coordinated their foreign policy based upon that of Swabia. The third was a cut of all yearly revenue made in Naxos to be delivered to Swabia. The last demand was of a number of hostages from the Nax noble class. They wanted those hostages as a promise for good behavior."

"How could they even make such demands?" asked Jack. "That's akin to asking Naxos to give up all sovereignty. They surely had to know those demands were going to be unacceptable." They also sounded a lot like what the Javans were forcing on their "colonies."

"They knew we would refuse those demands," said Gaius with a heavy sigh. "That was never in doubt. They made the demands so outrageous that only a subjugated people would accept them."

"So what happened then? Did they declare war once you refused?"

Gaius shook his head. "I'm sad to say we accepted most of the demands."

Jack looked shocked. "What?"

"What choice did we have, Jack? Naxos is a small country. Less than half the size of Picardy. We are rich in resources but not so much in people. There was no way that Naxos could have stood on her own against Swabia. So we accepted all the provisions except one. We wouldn't permit the Swabians to put soldiers on Naxos."

"And that was still not enough?" asked Jack.

"It wasn't. Even after we sent back the partial acceptance of their demands, we sweetened the deal even more in the form of a one time tribute payment in addition to the cut of revenue. It still wasn't enough. My hope was that we could at least stay out of war. We might lose our dignity in the process, but there would be no conflict." Gaius hung his head. "In that, I failed. We received both outcomes."

"What about aid from other countries?" asked Jack. "Could you appeal to anyone? The Picards or the Galicians?"

Gaius snorted. "No one appeals to the Galicians anymore, Jack. They aren't the same as they used to be. Most of the country is weak and they care for nothing outside their own borders. The Apulians had no army to aid us with even though they were the closest power to Naxos. And King Aedan of Picardy didn't want to start any trouble with the Swabians."

"How ironic it is that you mention that," said Jack. "King Aedan is up to his eyeballs with Swabians."

"Do you know King Aedan?" asked Gaius.

Jack nodded. "I know him well enough. I also know the king is a vastly different man today than he was when I met him over six months ago. Warfare will do that to a man."

"At least he has his head still," remarked Gaius. "Not all of us can be so lucky."

"Even still, the war in Picardy is at a standstill," said Jack before he changed directions. "But back to Naxos, what happened when war came? Was it a long conflict?"

"Not long by any standards. It took the Swabians two months to subjugate the entire island. The very first thing they did was sink our navy. Of course, it wasn't much of a formidable foe. We didn't even have a battleship. We had but one cruiser and it was ancient. She's out there somewhere, resting on the bottom of the sea floor, as is the rest of our navy. Once the ships were gone, it didn't take long for the Swabians to march in."

"I imagine they hit this city first?" asked Jack. "It must have made a tempting target with the mine."

"Yes, they came to Millpond first," confirmed Gaius. "That mine is the most lucrative one in the country," he said, gesturing to the openness outside their cell. "This mine alone provided fourteen percent of the annual budget for the country. They landed an army about twenty thousand strong, and in their way was my ceremonial guard of five hundred men as well as the rest of the army of about three thousand."

"That hardly sounds like fair odds," remarked Jack.

"The army was in poor shape," admitted Gaius. "Most of those men had never seen actual conflict. They were farmers and miners, not professional soldiers. They formed their defensive lines on the slopes up to the city. But as soon as the Swabians landed and began to advance in professional order, about a third of my men broke and ran."

Gaius shook his head and turned away, the damage to his pride obvious.

"You can't expect untrained farmers to stand up to professionals," said Jack. "I've seen the Swabian army in action. They are highly disciplined and experienced. Even if your people had even numbers, it would've been a hard fight for them."

"It still doesn't change facts," said Gaius after his tone turned to anger. "They should have stood their ground! We could have held out a little longer!"

"How long did you hold them?" asked Jack quietly.

"Maybe a half hour. No longer than an hour," said Gaius. "The remains of the army fled out the rear of the city with the Swabians in hot pursuit. By nightfall, they were masters of Millpond. The rest of the army fled into the mountainous interior. Resistance was able to hold out a little longer there but there were just too few of us and too many of them. With a good portion of the men attached to the mining and farming operation, we were never able to congeal into a cohesive army again. Besides, they were needed in their jobs anyway."

"I imagine those job disruptions caused the economy to falter," said Jack.

"Falter? Try crash, Jack," said Gaius. "Mining operations almost ceased for the time of the war. Men were displaced or killed. No one was there for the harvest either. Famine came to Naxos that winter because there wasn't enough food. Even now, food is extremely scarce."

"Most of the bodies I saw on the way down here look emaciated," said Jack. "They've been hungry for a long time."