Fourth Vector Ch. 28

"I trust you had an excellent evening too, Jack?" he asked before dipping into the convoy. Jack knew better than to respond to that so he remained silent.

"Let's get to the ship," said Adalbert to the driver. "We'll be leaving within the hour."

The convoy lurched forward, and just like the previous day, Jack was whisked through the deserted city of Millpond. Once again, Adalbert felt the need to try to taunt him.

"Have you ever had Nax pussy before, Jack?" asked Adalbert as he turned around to face him. "By the gods, I swear it is on another level. And here I thought Picard whores were terrific but the Nax could give all of them a run for their money."

"Can't say I have," said Jack while looking out the window.

"Too bad for you then," said Adalbert with a lecherous grin. "I'm completely and utterly drained of all my bodily fluids. Those girls, Jack, really, they are too good."

"Glad you enjoyed yourself," remarked Jack sarcastically.

"I trust you had a great time with the King of the Nax?" asked Adalbert.

"Splendid time," muttered Jack.

"Good," said Adalbert. "He might be the last non-Swabian you talk to before you die, Jack. I hope you enjoyed it."

Jack didn't dignify that with a response. They rode in silence despite Adalbert trying to rub in the fact that he had more sex than god in the previous twenty-four hours. In the meantime, Jack tuned him out. He thought mostly about Kat and Abigail. He hoped they weren't fretting too much about his disappearance but he knew that wouldn't be the case.

He missed both of them dearly. He missed the way that Kat would giggle every time they kissed passionately. He missed Abigail's dirty mouth and sassy responses. He missed seeing the looks on the faces when they came. Most importantly, he missed sleeping with them at night and feeling their warm bodies pressed against his.

It was made all the more painful to know that Kat's pregnancy was carrying on without him. He just hoped he could free himself of the Swabians and be back in time before she got to a later term.

They finally arrived back in the port at the bottom of the great mountain that Millpond sat on. The Swabian cruiserTollwitz was docked in the usual spot, and Jack was forced out of the convoy and up the gangplank of the cruiser.

"Time to go back to Swabia," said Adalbert loudly and mostly for Jack's benefit.

Adalbert was the one to lead the way back down into the bowels of the ship where the makeshift prison had been during the first part of Jack's transit. He was thrown into the same room, marked by the ever present dull red light. Jack was forced to his knees so that he could be chained up again, and once Adalbert was satisfied that Jack couldn't move, he dismissed the soldiers. Once again, he took his seat next to Jack in the only chair in the room.

"It's a shame we have to leave Naxos," started Adalbert as he regarded Jack with a measure of cruelty. "It might be my favorite place in the whole world after today."

"I wonder what it's like?" asked Jack, poking the bear a little. "To only fuck women that you have to pay for? Have you ever had one that was willing?"

Adalbert grinned. "Some of us aren't as lucky as you are. Some of us don't have that good-looking mug like you do. In any event, pussy is pussy, Jack. What difference does it make if I pay for it or not?"

"None to you, it seems," quipped Jack. "Although I wouldn't expect someone like you to see the difference."

"The only difference I see in the world right now is the haves and the have-nots," said Adalbert with a simple shrug. "For example, you can see that breakdown just in this room. You're obviously the have-not, and soon enough, you will be the live-not if you get what I'm saying."

"Until you screw up again," added Jack. "And your cousin decides to take your life this time."

Adalbert chuckled. "That won't happen again. My job in this whole ordeal is done. My cousin is now emperor. Soon enough, great legions of Swabian armies will spring forward. Picardy will fall, as it is about to now. With it will go this nascent Picard-Carinthian alliance that you've worked so hard to create. The next stopping point will be Apulia or possibly Sorella, since I know your ties with the island. Maybe even Galicia herself if she stops being useful."

"Looks like you have it all planned out," said Jack without interest. He was done listening to Adalbert drone on and on. The man was high on his own accomplishment right now, but ultimately, he was a peon to men like Avila. And like the peon that he was, he would be cast aside when Avila had no more use for him.

Thankfully for him, Adalbert was about done too. "Oh, it is, Jack," he said as he stood up from his chair. "Enjoy your lodging for our trip to Swabia. I'd tell you not to do anything that I wouldn't do but then again, I don't have to worry about much, now do I?"

Adalbert didn't wait for his response. The door slammed shut, leaving Jack alone with his thoughts once again. In about a half hour, he felt the ship's boilers come to life and soon they were off. Unaware how long it would take them to reach Swabia, Jack settled down and laid against the cold steel floor. He thought about Gaius, still stuck in his cell without any hope. He thought about Jocelyn and Vera, his sisters, and prayed that they were both well. He thought about his alliance and hoped that it was still bearing fruit against the Swabians.

Mostly, he thought once again about Abigail, Kat, and his unborn child. And he prayed it wouldn't be too long until he saw them again.

*****

Emperor Avila stood before a great map of the West in what used to be the Aurelius' war room. The map stretched a good ten feet or so across the south wall, enabling a level of detail that usually wasn't available in its much smaller cousins.

It wasn't the only map in the room. The entire center was dominated by the same map, except this one was laid out flat across a raised table. It also had many movable figures stationed on the map, representative of the various forces at the disposal of the Swabian emperor. Right now, most of the forces of the empire were at home. More than half of Avila's personal forces were located on Picardy while the rest were still here in Dagobern. The various other lords now at his command had some forces on the main island as well, but for the most part, the Swabian army was waiting for his command.

That was the whole purpose of having this war council. At any moment, Avila expected General Ferberg to walk into the room so they could discuss next steps. Picardy was to be only the beginning. What had been the main fare when he was just a simple lord would take on a new dimension now that he had command of the whole empire.

A swift knock was heard on the door, and one of the Guardsmen let Ferberg into the room. The general looked resplendent as usual in his tailored uniform, now sprouting an additional stripe on his shoulder due to his capture of the city weeks ago.

Ferberg stopped in front of Avila and knelt down to kiss his foot in the customary greeting. "Good day to you, my emperor."

"Welcome, Ferberg," said Avila before he turned his attention back to the map. "I was hoping you would have arrived a little earlier."

"Forgive me, sire, but I ran into more administrative work than usual," said Ferberg. "It's a bit different running the military of the entire empire as opposed to just that of your lordship."

Avila raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying I need to find another general more suited to the task?"

Ferberg shook his head quickly. "No, sire, not my intention. Forgive my tardiness. I'm willing to start right now."

Avila turned away from him. "Please don't be so tardy in the future. Now, I've called this meeting so we can discuss war plans for the coming months. You more than anyone else knows the state of my own forces, and now that you're in charge of the whole empire, you can help me plan the next wars that we engage in."

"Next wars?" asked Ferberg with a confused look. "Shouldn't we close out the war against Picardy and Carinthia first?"

Avila nodded. "That's what I mean. Daban will fall soon enough once the reinforcements arrive. With Daban goes Picardy, alongside their entire army and the cream of the Carinthian army. I fully expect the Carinthians to try to exit the war once Daban falls."

"And if they don't?" asked Ferberg.

"Then we'll press in with an invasion of Carinthia," said Avila with a simple shrug. "But I doubt it will come to that. Carinthia won't have the resources to stand on their own. And with no allies, they'll crumble quickly."

"So with this war on its last legs, where should we go next?" asked Ferberg as he joined the emperor in studying the map. He stopped alongside Galicia.

"What about the Galician dogs?" he asked. "I know that's one thing that's bound to unite all of Swabia in favor of war. If we could open up against them, we could surely conquer them this time around, especially without any allies on their side."

Avila shook his head adamantly. "I don't wish to anger the Galicians at the present time. Their regent has been friendly to me. He'll even be here for the coronation. We're better off keeping the Galicians out of the game, as much as we all despise them. As long as they are willing to sit on the sidelines, there's no one else in the West capable of resisting our might."

"But this would finally give us the chance to teach them a lesson," argued Ferberg. "There's not a man in the army who wouldn't love a chance to desecrate the Galician homeland. We've already taken one of their islands. Why not take the whole thing?"

Avila steered the general back to the other part of the map. "Because there's all these other lands we could take. The Andalucian mines could be ours for the taking once again. Sorella has all of those rubber plants that our industry could surely use. I also wouldn't mind getting my hand on some Carinthian engineers for what they could come up with for my armies. But all of it is open to us now."

"What about Apulia?" asked Ferberg, moving to the country just north of Swabia. "The Apulians sit across the trade lanes. Marmora is one of the oldest and richest cities in the world because of it. Not to mention, being that close to Samara would bring them to the table quite easily."

"I was hoping you'd say that," said Avila as he studied the three island country of Apulia. "Apulia straddles those trade routes. Not only north-south but also east-west. The country doesn't even have an army. It would fall rather quickly if we decide to go that way."

"I'm sensing some hesitation in your voice, sire."

Ferberg wasn't wrong. Avila was hesitating about Apulia. Apulia was a large country that had been powerful in its day. If Galicia and Swabia were the first and second countries of the West, then Apulia was the third. An attack on Apulia might just awaken the Galicians to the threat that the Swabians posed. Even with Eric Rosdahl's friendship, Avila was worried that internal pressure could crumble the friendship they have and move them closer to war.

"Apulia is complicated," said Avila finally. "Yes, their army is non-existent and they would bring considerable wealth to our coffers, but I'm concerned about the implications of an attack. I would move against Apulia last of all the listed countries, and only if I had the express acknowledgment from the Galicians to attack them."

"I don't think that will be coming anytime soon," noted Ferberg.

"Doubtful. Besides, I've already promised the regent to keep Apulia as a buffer zone between our lands. Which is why we should concentrate on these other countries," said Avila, pointing back to the island of Sorella.

"Sire, forgive my question, but our operations in countries like Andalucia and Sorella were disrupted in the last year by the foreigner. Who's to say he won't intervene again?"

Avila started to chuckle. "You really need to have more faith in me, Ferberg. The foreigner has been captured!"

That got the general's attention. "Truly, sire?"

"He's on his way here at this very moment," confirmed Avila. "My cousin brings him here. I'll have him executed after the coronation, but not before the entire city watches him submit to me. In any event, the foreigner will not play a role in our operations this time around."

"Well, that certainly removes a potential obstacle," said a relieved Ferberg.

"You won't have to worry about any foreign interlopers any longer," promised Avila. "Soon we will have complete control of Picardy, Carinthia, Sorella, and Andalucia. From there, we can continue to go north. Kish will follow after that. Angarsk, Zarand, and Cervanos after that until the Swabian Empire spans the entire breadth of the West from south to north. Then, my good general, we will take on what remains of the Galician dogs and their Apulian friends."

Ferberg eyed the map greedily. "You'll be the greatest emperor in Swabian history, sire. You'll accomplish more than all of them combined. Total sovereignty over the entire West is something most of them could only dream about."

"And it's something that we'll accomplish," said Avila before he took a deep breath. "But for now, let's keep things small. I have reinforcements on the way to Picardy. I want new operations planned for Sorella as well as Andalucia, and I want to see them before the end of the week. Both of those countries are small enough that we can take them without too much use of our forces. See to it and get it done."

"At once, sire," promised Ferberg. "We are truly living at the start of a golden age. The Swabian golden era has arrived."

Avila grinned. "Indeed, my general. Indeed."

Ferberg didn't linger for very long. He saluted his emperor and left the room, leaving Avila alone with his thoughts. His eyes sought out the map, trying to envision a Swabian Empire that crossed the entire West. They would be so powerful that even if the Galicians wished to challenge them, they still wouldn't be able to stop him.

Swabia would become far richer and more powerful than Galicia had ever been. And it would only be when the peoples of the West acknowledged Avila as their overlord that his dreams would finally be complete.

The war was only just getting started.

*****

Abigail sighed as she put her uniform on that morning. Her fingers did the buttons slowly, as if any delay on the buttons might put off the meeting that was starting in twenty minutes. It wasn't that she didn't think the meeting was important since it was about the search for Jack. It was just that no one had managed to locate him so far, and with everyone's efforts coming up blank, her worry for him was elevated to a new level.

Once the buttons were done, Abigail went to the mirror and fashioned her hair into a bun to be worn under her cap. It was a look that she rarely did, usually preferring to let her hair go free or pulled back into a simple ponytail. She knew that Jack wouldn't like not seeing her hair like she usually wore it, but then again, what did it matter now?

She had no idea when she would see him again.

That thought alone brought her to the brink of tears. She sniffled a couple times, only to feel a presence move behind her and hug her shoulder.

"It's okay," said Kat soothingly as she hugged her. "We'll find him."

It could be grating how easily Kat could read her thoughts.

"It's been a full week now," said Abigail weakly. "If we haven't found him now, where could he be?"

"He's still out there somewhere," said Kat. "The bond doesn't lie. He's alive and as long as he is, we'll find him."

"That's what I fear the most," admitted Abigail. "That something will happen to him before we can reach him."

Kat didn't respond to that. She nodded softly and her hug grew tighter.

Abigail wasn't sure if it was the loss of Jack or the pregnancy, but her relationship with Kat had become much deeper in the previous few weeks. She truly looked at the Galician woman as a sister. It would have been too easy to hate someone else who shared the heart of the man she loved, but those feelings of jealousy disappeared entirely once she got to know Kat for who she was.

They had a shared bond between them now. She could truly say that she loved Kat but it wasn't in a romantic way (even though they did perform together sexually when Jack was still with them). It was love in the knowledge of their shared love for Jack that bound them together. They had become, in essence, sister-wives even if the title wasn't altogether legal just yet.

In a way, Kat had filled the void that had been left by the death of Anna. She would never replace Anna completely, but it had a way of muting her feeling of loss and bringing some color back to her life.

"Come on," said Kat from her side. "The meeting is about to begin."

That's how Abigail found herself in one of Aedan's studies. They all sat around a small table as they gave their updates on their search for Jack. Alongside Abigail and Kat was Greg, Vera, Will, and Lindsay to give brief reports on their actions. King Aedan listened to them all and even added a portion to it himself.

At the current moment, Greg was talking and giving his update to the group.

"At this point, we're pretty certain that Jack's not in the city," started Greg as he looked on somberly. "I've had the marines do a second and third search through the city, working in tandem with Picard soldiers. If he was still in Daban, he would have shown up by now. We've checked just about every standing building and he's nowhere to be found. Our biggest lead is that he's been captured by the Swabians and taken across to their lines."

There was a brief moment of silence as the whole table contemplated such a thought. While it had been brought up before, there was still hope that Jack might still be found in the city. With that hope greatly diminished, they were all forced to conclude that he was no longer in Daban.

"Thank you, Greg," said Aedan quietly. "I've also heard from the Carinthians who did a search in their own section of the city. They've had no luck either. I have to agree with Greg that he's most likely beyond our reach now."

"So where do we go from here?" asked Vera with a desperate edge in her voice. "We just got Jack back. If he's really in Swabian hands, we can't just leave him to them!"

"What else can we do right now, Vera?" asked Aedan. "We can barely hold onto Picardy. If Jack is on his way to Swabia, there's not much we can do."

"Wherever he's going, the bond is getting weaker," said Lindsay, speaking up for the first time. "I don't feel it as strongly as I did this morning. He's getting distant. If he is on his way to Swabia, the loss of intensity in the bond seems to support that."

"I have to agree with Lindsay," said Vera. "I've noticed it as well."

"So have I," chimed in Will.

"Then Jack must truly not be on Picardy any longer," said Aedan. "Which adds further weight to my words. He's out of our reach."

"Is there a chance that you can tell what direction he's going?" asked Greg as he looked at the four Galicians. "I don't know much about this bond, but can you tell where he's going at least?"

Kat shook her head. "Not from our spot here. We can only feel the distance and the space between us. He could be going in any direction and we would only register it as a weakening of the bond. It's only if we moved in a different direction could we determine if he's getting closer or farther away."

"What if we moved some of you then?" suggested Greg. "I know Swabia makes the most sense but what if they aren't taking him there? Or what if there's another actor at play here that we haven't considered? If we move around, we might at least figure out a direction where Jack is going."