Fourth Vector Ch. 31

Jack nodded. "If only we had a few more days to train his men before we encountered the Swabians. I'd feel better with more training and tactics so that we're not just expecting a mob to fight with our men."

Bill shrugged. "We might get lucky yet. Maybe the Swabians are further behind than he thought. They might not show up for another week!"

Bill ate those words almost immediately. A knock came at the door, and it was swiftly opened by Bill to reveal a Galician soldier.

"Sir, General Chapman sends word that the Swabians have arrived. They are pushing onto the plain and there's more of them than we thought. They'll be here in another hour."

Jack shared a look at Bill. "It's going to be a long night. Let's get the men ready."

*****

"Slow down, you idiot," yelled a half-frantic Captain Lewis Barnabas to the squad of marines directly in front of him.

Two of the marines looked back and halted in their tracks, waiting for Barnabas to catch up. Unbeknownst to Barnabas, three of them rolled their eyes at once again having to wait for the fussy captain to catch up. For someone who was in active service in the navy, he was quite out of shape and possessed very little stamina.

Barnabas though saw nothing of their veiled contempt. Despite their quickness on their feet, he could almost have been described as happy. Finally, he was seeing some action, and this time it wasn't against some dopey savage but against his own people who had decided they'd rather pursue a pathway of treason.

Both Greg Vaughn and Abigail Wainwright had decided to throw their lots in with the savages rather than to obey Barnabas' explicit orders. They'd even taken it one step farther and detained a lawful Javan viceroy—a flagrant violation of military code. They would both be hanged for their crimes once they got back to Java, and it was Barnabas' role to make sure they were apprehended before they could cause any further damage. Once the traitors were apprehended, he'd use their lives to bargain back the life of Viceroy Ferris.

That's why he was hustling so quickly to get into position. He knew it was unlikely he'd be able to take the two of them if they were holed up in the palace surrounded by the Picards, making his chances of rescuing the viceroy even more nil. After all, even a handful of savages could take out Barnabas and his men if they just charged their way forward without a plan.

For that reason, Barnabas came up with something that was a bit more stealthier. Every morning, Abigail would come back to theDestiny to report to her crew. She usually came alone, which would make it the perfect place to set an ambush. As soon as she got through the main gate to the docks, there was a small pathway everyone went down before they arrived at the main entry building. Barnabas was going to set his men there and apprehend her before she knew what was happening.

He also had a call put in to several sick marines that were still in the infirmary on theCenturion, requesting an audience with Greg at around the same time as Abigail usually reported into theDestiny. His hope would be to bag the two of them together, which would finally allow him to rescue the viceroy and get on with the mission entrusted to him by Admiral Bancroft.

He just needed everything to go right for once. He needed his men to be in position to detain the two threats before they knew what was happening.

"Right here is about right," said Barnabas as he looked around. "I want you two to set up here behind this crate. You, go set up there and get eyes on the targets as they approach. This other man is to come with me in case I need you. They should be here any time now."

The marines did as they were told, soon setting up in the positions that Barnabas pointed out. For himself, he selected another crate near the walkway and waited for his query.

Part of him was tempted to feel bad for what he was about to do to Vaughn and Wainwright but that part was quickly silenced by his internal conscience. After all, he wasn't the one that made them turn traitor. Frankly, his opinion was that this was all due to Jack Easterbrook. His illusions had tainted the good sense of his officers, and if it wasn't for Barnabas, the whole force might have gone traitor with him.

"Remember, I want you to wound them only," said Barnabas to the marine near you. "I need them alive to take back to Java so it's critical that you only shoot them in a place that will ensure they'll live."

The marine shrugged. "I'll do my best, sir."

It wasn't a few seconds after that the signal was given. A man and a woman were approaching down the walkway at exactly the right time they were supposed to be walking. Barnabas couldn't contain his cheer.

The plan had worked!

He just waited for them to finally go around the corner. First he saw their shadows and watched as they steadily grew larger on the ground in front of them.

At any moment, they would cross the threshold.

He'd barely seen the two of them break the plain of the corner before he heard the roar of gunfire.

*****

The shooting began before Abigail realized what had even happened. Her body jumped at the first shot but she found herself nearly motionless as a stream of bullets ricocheted all around her. Before too long, the sounds of gunfire quieted down, the prey having been taken down.

"Did we get him?" she asked. "Did it work?"

Greg didn't take an eye off the sights of his NT-12. "It looks like it."

The marine then gave a signal to the rest of his men. Like a coordinated group, a platoon's worth of marines emerged from their hiding spots around the dock and converged on the target. Another hand signal was flashed at the source of their inspection and Greg finally looked over.

"Looks like he's down. Let's roll."

Both of them pressed up from their hiding positions and carefully got down from the stack of shipping crates at the dock. That position had afforded them the ultimate vantage point, and the two of them had watched as Captain Barnabas attempted a stealthy trap meant to bag the two of them.

Unfortunately for him, the hunter became the hunted.

Barnabas was laying on his back by the time they neared. His squad of marines had been entirely neutralized and Barnabas was bleeding profusely from the arm.

"I'm bleeding goddamnit," he whined as he put pressure on his useless arm. "Someone help me! Quick!"

"I'm afraid not, Captain," said Abigail with grim determination. "You're under arrest for your actions against us just now."

"I'm under arrest?" he mocked back to her. "You're the traitors, not me!"

"From our vantage point, it looks like you just laid a trap for your fellow Javans," said Greg before turning to look at Abigail. "I have to hand it to you. Your hunch was correct."

"What hunch?" screamed Barnabas.

"The hunch that once you heard about the viceroy, you would do something stupid in a misguided attempt to free him or punish us," answered Abigail. "You're not a hard man to read, Lewis. You quite often wear your emotions on your sleeve. I figured you'd attempt something drastic but a man like you would want to be near the center of the action. That's why we stationed these men here at the entrance of the docks to see what you would do."

"And you didn't disappoint," added Greg. "Your recovery force was quite small, I might add. Did you really think you would free the viceroy with this squad?"

"To hell with freeing the viceroy," said a pained Barnabas as his blood began to stain the concrete underneath him. "This was about capturing you two traitors! Traitors to our government! Traitors to the empire! Traitors to Java!"

"And yet what you planned to do to us was exactly the same," said Abigail with a subtle tsk-tsk. "But I guess I shouldn't have expected any more from you, Lewis."

"You will laugh now but the emperor will have your heads for this," he seethed. "All of you will die horrible deaths for what you've done! You'll hang in front of all of Belfort!"

"You won't be around to witness our fate," said Greg. "For the time being, you're going to share a cell with the friend that you just tried to mistakenly rescue."

Greg turned to one of the marines. "Bandage up his arm right here and now. Then we'll escort him together to the viceroy's cell."

Barnabas didn't have too much to say when the marine medic descended upon him to tend to his wound. Instead, he screamed like he was being torn apart by wild dogs.

"You'd think we were torturing him instead of just cleaning the entry wound," noted Abigail as she gestured to him from a few feet away.

"You did say he was a bit of a baby," said Greg.

"At least it's over now," she said. "Barnabas and Ferris are under our control. There's no one left here who won't follow our cause."

"You're not expecting any trouble from theCenturion?" he asked. "Not that Barnabas was that great of a leader but do you think his men will willingly come over to our side?"

"It's a bet I'm willing to place," she answered. "An impassioned plea from another officer on the righteousness of their cause. Along with a subtle reminder of their status away from anyone else that can offer them help."

"I don't envy you then," said Greg. "Let's hope I don't have to put together a rescue mission just for you."

"We all have to take chances every now and then. We took ours just now and let's hope our luck continues to hold."

Once Barnabas was back on his feet, this time supporting a simple bandage and sling that held his arm tight against his chest, the two of them split. Abigail went to theCenturion to talk with their officers while Greg escorted Barnabas back to the cell he would share with the viceroy.

"You're making a grave mistake, Colonel," warned Barnabas once they reached the palace. "Think of your family and friends. You don't want to never see them again. You can see them one more time if you just help me. I know this wasn't your doing and you were talked into this by that bitch Abigail. Help me to apprehend her and I won't implicate you in her crime!"

"I'm afraid I'm just as much to blame as she is," answered a cheeky Greg. "It was my idea to apprehend Ferris and put him in his current position. I have to admit I rather like seeing him behind bars, but I have to imagine that I might like seeing you behind them even better."

Barnabas sneered. "You think you'll get away with this. Remember how large of a navy we have. You won't be able to hide from the Javan Empire for long. Sooner or later, a reckoning will come for you and blow you and your savages away forever."

"We'll see," said Greg as they stopped at the cell that already held Ferris. The viceroy perked up as soon as he heard their voices but all enthusiasm left his body when he saw Barnabas being put in the same cell with him.

Greg locked the door behind him. "You two should enjoy each other's company. After all, you might be in here for a while!"

*****

Barnabas waited until the traitor Vaughn left before he attempted to rattle the iron bars of the cell. They didn't budge a single inch, ensuring that he was going to be left to his misery.

"Don't even bother," came the voice of the viceroy behind him. "I already tried that."

Barnabas put his head against the cool iron. How quickly things had gotten out from under him. Only this morning, he was the captain of a Javan battleship. Now he was a prisoner of a group of traitors. How had everything gone wrong so quickly?

"We're in here for the long haul, aren't we?" asked Ferris once Barnabas turned to face him. There were two makeshift cots inside but little anything else of creature comforts. Barnabas was already missing his afternoon tea.

"It looks like it," he muttered in reply. "Stuck in the land of savages away from anything resembling civilization."

It had never dawned on Barnabas that Picardy looked an awful lot like Java in just about every aspect. Anything that wasn't his homeland was the realm of despicable savagery.

"Do you think we'll be in trouble when we eventually get back to Java?" asked a fearful viceroy. "Do you think the emperor will be displeased with us?"

Barnabas shook his head. "No, but I think the ones that orchestrated this will lose their lives and rightfully so. It'll be my life's purpose to ensure that they're brought to justice for this little stunt. We may be here for a long time but someday, we'll get out. And we'll make all of them pay for what they've done to us."

"And resume our rightful positions?" asked Ferris.

"Better than that," promised Barnabas. "Our rewards will be fruitful indeed if we can achieve our revenge. I won't rest until all of these traitors have been put in their graves!"

*****

Just across the open field, a small breeze brought a flutter of movement that would have otherwise escaped Nikias' attention. It was a light breeze this evening, one that only gently kissed the tops of the meadow and made the grass appear to be dancing. This stiff breeze however swayed the limbs of the nearby trees, and for the first time since dark, it drew attention to the small group of Swabian soldiers making their way ever close to his position.

He'd been waiting for them to get closer for the better part of an hour. The group was no more the size of a squad or two, and their careful footsteps told him they were prepared for trouble.

They weren't prepared for what was about to happen to them though.

Nikias looked across the meadow to the thick hollow where Elektra was holed up with several other fighters. He flashed a signal to her to indicate the number of men as well as their bearing. She flashed an acknowledgment and they waited for the men to get closer still. Behind her stood the lonely mountain that Sorellans called Mount Tarpeious. The mountain was about to be a witness to what was about to occur.

It was a long way coming to this moment, and none of the steps had gone very easily. It had been weeks since the capital city fell and the former king, Heron, lost his life in the fight. The Swabians occupied the first city of Sorella and from there, they spread out along the coasts, often avoiding the rough interior of the country. The city that Daimanos had made his capital fell next, and the Swabians occupied the empty hilltop where his palace once stood. It had felt like Nikias' time with Daimanos was almost like another lifetime ago, and now once again, Sorella was fighting another formidable foe.

Even though the Swabian occupation of the coasts was swift, they'd taken their time moving into the interior. It was for good reason as well, as what remained of the Sorellan Army was now making the interior their home base, using irregular guerrilla tactics to fight off the invaders. Raids were common on a daily basis as were traps and ambushes. Any day where they could kill Swabians was praised but they always had to fight from the shadows.

Standing in open ground against the Swabians was considered suicide. After the debacle of the initial invasion, it was determined that their best chance was in the use of non-regular tactics.

That was how they were brought to this point. Though Nikias and Elektra could be rightly considered the king and queen of this country, they were little more than bandit paupers in the kingdom of Heron.

Just as Nikias was about to signal the go-ahead to attack, he saw more movement behind the initial two squads. More men were coming, and he hunched down low to get a firm count before he could flash a new signal. The counts never stopped coming until a full platoon came into sight on the other side of the open meadow. It was one of the largest forces he'd seen in the previous week, a sure sign that the Swabians were moving into the countryside in force.

He flashed the new numbers over to Elektra.

Her response was muted, no doubt out of hesitation about whether to attack a force this large. After all, their current numbers were about equal to the Swabians in front of them. Any fighting that turned serious could put them at a severe disadvantage.

She sent a signal back that questioned if he really wanted to attack. He thought it over for just a moment before answering in the affirmative. Numbers or not, he would fight the Swabians where they were. They were most vulnerable now in the countryside, and after dark.

If there was any time that was right for a strike, it was this one.

He waited until the nearest Swabian was no more than twenty yards in front of him. Buried in the tall grass, the invader wouldn't even know what hit him before he died.

Such was the fate for any who wanted war with Sorella.

The gun barked and sent a crack through the night. It was soon joined by several distinct cracks at the same time, barking into the air and sending a crippling tide of lead toward the Swabian invaders. Many of them went down at the first blow, clutching their bodies and screaming in agony.

Not all of them were taken out. Many of them started to fire in return, looking for any sign of the hidden force that ringed the meadow.

There wasn't much time before the Swabians' more powerful rifle would be brought to bear against them. Nikias grabbed the secondary rifle to his side and took aim at a short and swarthy Swabian that was now firing erratically at the treeline to his left. He squeezed the trigger and the Swabian fell to his knees before crumpling into the mud.

His two shots having been fired, he would have to reload now. It would take him a good forty seconds before he could fire again, and he set about the task as he'd been trained. The Swabians were still firing but the number of rifles was steadily decreasing. The musket shots were getting fewer and far between, no doubt from reloading and the lucky shot that managed to take down their owner.

Once reloaded, Nikias got off another shot before the Swabians pulled back, retracing their steps as they made for the treeline they just crossed. It was the signal that Nikias had been waiting on. With a low whistle, the Sorellans emerged from their hiding places and began to pursue the enemy.

Now the battle was turned against the invaders. Nikias' next shot went right through the back of another Swabian as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The last remnants of the force that were still trying to fire were quickly crippled. It was Elektra that got off the last shot, taking down the last man in his tracks.

Just like that, the entire platoon was destroyed in one fell swoop.

Those that were wounded would receive no aid or recourse. They were quickly dealt with by a single shot to the back of the head.

There was no room for mercy in a conflict of this nature. Only survival was on the plate. Either the Sorellans had it or the Swabians did.

Mercy would only reemerge once the last Swabian had perished on Sorella.

A single whistle from Nikias was enough to have the rest of the Sorellans emerge from their hiding places. Nearly thirty of them in total, it was one of a handful of groups that now scoured the interior looking for the enemy. They made the mountain their home, and Nikias and his wife now took shelter in the very same temple from where they recovered the treasury of Daimanos.

Nikias met Elektra's eyes as she approached. No words were said in that instance. Only the silent acknowledgment of doing what needed to be done. The bodies of the dead Swabians were searched for food, supplies, and trinkets, and any item of value was confiscated.

There would be no burial or firepit for these bodies. Nikias was content to let the birds and other scavengers peck them clean as a warning to their still living brethren.

Once they were loaded, the journey started back to the mountain. It wouldn't be reached tonight, but they made their camp in the foothills before tomorrow's ascent.