Fourth Vector Ch. 40

Jack continued to move about the battlefield talking with the men throughout the rest of the morning before moving into a section that was manned by the 7th Regiment, or men under Lindy's command. Lindy's men were positioned on the extreme left flank of the entire army, butting right up against the rocky interior formation that signaled the end of the coastal plain.

Before Jack could find Lindy though, it was apparent the colonel was trying to find him first.

"Jack! Jack, you have to hear this!"

Jack turned to find an out-of-breath Lindy running in his direction. Behind him was a Galician lieutenant who looked both excited and anxious at the same time.

"What's going on, Lindy?" asked Jack before he put eyes on the lieutenant. "Why are you both out of breath?"

Lindy caught up to him and started to gesture wildly towards the rocky formation. "My men have discovered a hidden path in the foothills directly parallel to our position. It runs alongside the formation and heads to the northeast. Jack, it's big enough to send a few regiments along it."

Jack's eyes went wide. "Do the Swabians know about it?"

The lieutenant was the one that answered. "We ran into no signs of the enemy when we reconnoitered it, Your Majesty. It would be easy to miss if you weren't looking for it. My men only found it because they were looking for a... for a..."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "For a what, Lieutenant?"

The lieutenant turned red in the face. "Forgive me, Your Majesty, they were looking for a quiet place to take a shit!"

Jack looked at Lindy and could barely contain his laughter. "Well now, nothing to be embarrassed about with that, Lieutenant. And it seems that with your men answering the call of nature, they found a very valuable path for us."

The lieutenant regained his composure and started to nod his head. "Yes, Your Majesty! The path continues for several miles to the northeast. It's not the smoothest terrain but we should have no trouble putting troops there if we so choose."

"Jack, it goes all the way around the current Swabian position," said Lindy with a degree of excitement. "If we can send a few regiments down this hidden path, we could very well encircle the Swabians from the north and hit them from behind."

"Can you show me this path?" asked Jack. "I want to look at this with my own eyes."

Lindy readily agreed and the three men soon moved across the rest of the plain to the foothills of the rocky formation where the terrain suddenly shot up and became very difficult to navigate. It was right before the formation became almost impassable that Jack noticed the area where the hidden path laid.

"It was right here," said the lieutenant, pointing to the path. "My man found it right over here."

The three of them emerged onto the path, which Jack was amazed to find in very good condition despite words to the contrary before. It was wide enough to send two men abreast the entire length of the path and at no point did it seem to drop off or become too narrow for traversing.

"This is fantastic," said Jack, now infected with the same excitement as Lindy. "This could be one of the keys toward winning this battle right here."

"Do you think we could use this to flank the enemy?" asked Lindy. "Maybe we don't need to send the marines up the coast. We can use this path as the flanking highway to get behind them."

Jack thought about that request for a moment before ultimately shaking his head. "No, why can't we do both? Let's play this one out. A small force of marines that ultimately gets around the Swabian flank can be a cause for alarm if they don't disregard or counter their smaller numbers. But what if the Swabians are confronted by two flanking forces? One from the sea and one around land where no one was expected to be? The average soldier is going to think we've totally surrounded them. They'll panic and throw the entire Swabian side into disarray."

Lindy grinned. "And in the meantime, our forces can mop up all that remains."

"Exactly," replied Jack. "New plan. I want your regiment to be moved up here immediately. I'll give orders to Art to send a few more to join you. I want as many of your men up here that can fit on the path. We'll stretch out our lines to cover your former positions. But if you move quickly, we might be able to get this kicked off before the battle starts."

"Do you expect it to start today, Jack? It's already afternoon now, and the Swabians are just arriving."

Jack shook his head. "I don't expect them to be in a big hurry to attack. Not when they think they have the advantage. But also, they'll want to end this sooner rather than later. If they get into position tonight, I expect we'll see them open up tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow then," replied Lindy. "Tomorrow, we'll show them that our army might be down but it's not out."

Jack put his hand on Lindy's shoulder. "Tomorrow, we're going to change the course of this war."

*****

"Death to the invaders! Kill all Galicians!"

Outside of General Ferberg's newly-established command tent on the plains north of the city of Castus, a wild ruckus was developing. At first, it started with only an excitable level of chatter amongst the soldiers of the Swabian Army but it quickly devolved into an outright celebration as they started to see the positions of the Allied Army.

"By the gods, I'm going to stick my foot up the ass of every Galician soldier I run into!"

"You'll get plenty of chances tomorrow! They're all going to die in the next battle!"

What happened next was a sudden explosion of cheers. From his tent, Ferberg could hear the men engaging in revelry at the top of their lungs, and he'd finally had enough.

Ferberg looked at his aide and snapped. "Get word out to all the generals immediately. Tell them that any celebration or outlandish behavior is to wait until after the next victory. Any man caught acting out or not following the rules of our army will be hung!"

The aide soon ran out of the tent and as the news disseminated, the sounds of celebration quieted down in the Swabian camp.

It was music to Ferberg's ears. Now was not the time to celebrate. Their enemy wasn't defeated yet. Despite two resounding victories to his name, as long as the invaders were on Swabian soil, they would need to remain vigilant.

And there was no way he could expect another victory if his army was swaggering about like it had already won.

It had been a hard enough battle already to keep the Emperor from crowing too loudly about impending victory. Just this morning, Avila had sent him another dispatch reminding him of the bounty on the Galician King's head. Not only did the Emperor expect Ferberg to deliver the head personally, he expected the war to be brought to a final conclusion with this next battle in the morning. For such a task, the Emperor promised him a thrilling victory parade in Dagobern once the war was truly over.

Not even the Emperor could see that the war wasn't won yet.

Everywhere that Ferberg looked, he found the men on his side afflicted with this victorious malaise. But this was when he knew his enemy could be his most dangerous. With their backs against the sea, he expected the Allied Army to fight like banshees to stay alive in this next fight.

It was why his battle plan for the morning would open up with one of the most devastating artillery bombardments ever orchestrated. Ferberg had requested that every piece that could be found be delivered to his men for use in the morning. It was part of the reason why his army had lagged so much in closing the distance between Murgullah and Castus.

Every additional piece of artillery that he could lay his hands on was one that he could add to the opening bombardment. Ferberg hoped to pave a path of dead Allied soldiers all the way through to the city of Castus. It would be only once their center buckled under the pressure that he would send through all his remaining tanks and break their line at its strongest point.

That would be how he beat the Allies. That would cap off his third victory against the Galician King.

For now though, Ferberg was content to firm up his plan for attack. Everything had to be in place for the morning. Tonight the men would eat well and rest for the coming attack, for they were expected to give it everything they had.

Ferberg too would spare nothing in this final attack. He was determined to crush the Allies without any mercy, and in doing so, be remembered for all time as the greatest Swabian general who'd ever lived.

Tomorrow he would earn that reputation.

And there would be no one to stop him.

*****

Life aboard theStingray in the past week had developed into a comfortable if not slightly anxious unease for the senior officers.

Thomas felt both emotions quite clearly. While it seemed that the worst of the anxiety was over after the smooth reception in Belfort, he couldn't help but worry about those crew members that were now scouring the Javan continent for their quarry--the family of Jack Kincardine.

Check-ins were infrequent. It was considered too risky for those crew members to make contact with the officers aboard theStingray unless communication was deemed vital. That meant for the most part that Thomas and his men waited in the harbor for news, and it became quite boring to wait without any means to pass the time.

It was on the third day that Thomas' brother Cash arrived at his personal quarters carrying two fishing poles.

"I'm damned tired of sitting around waiting for something to happen," said Cash as he thrust one pole into his brother's hands. "Come on, let's see what's biting this morning."

That kicked off daily rounds of fishing off the side of the destroyer. Belfort harbor teemed with different varieties of bass and perch, and by the end of the first week, the brothers had succeeded in catching just about every kind.

Eating their catches was another discussion though.

"I don't know, Cash," said Thomas after his brother brought in another striped bass. "I've heard stories before about eating anything out of Belfort harbor. You know the industrial section on the north end of town dumps a lot of shit directly into the harbor. You might be taking your life into your own hands by eating any of this fish."

Cash shrugged. "It seems all we do anymore is put our lives at risk. After all, we're in Belfort right now, aren't we? With everything that's at stake right now, it seems a lot less risky just to eat a fish."

Thomas appraised the fish in question, which seemed normal enough. Cash brought up a great point. With so much at risk, what harm could come from eating a common striped bass?

"Fine, but if I get sick, I'm blaming you," said Thomas. "We can grill them up tonight."

It was the first time in days that Thomas saw his brother grin. He figured the chance of getting sick was worth seeing his brother happy for once, and it was a risk Thomas was willing to take.

It was only after they'd finished fishing that morning that the brothers returned to Thomas' main cabin. There, they found Lizzy, who was practically jumping with excitement.

"We have news!" she exclaimed while waving a small piece of paper around in front of Thomas' face. "We've located our targets!"

That was interesting news indeed, especially considering only a week had passed.

"Who brought the news? What crew member?" asked Thomas.

"This came from Morgan," replied Lizzy. She then gestured to the bottom of the note. "That's the number we assigned him at the bottom."

Communication back to theStingray was the riskiest part of this whole endeavor. The crew members operated by sending notes back to the destroyer but the notes had to be coded to prevent detection from anyone else. All the crew members out searching for Jack's family had been assigned numbers to put at the end of the note, so Thomas would know who sent it. They'd also been coded with common code phrases to indicate what was going on with Jack's family.

"It really seems like Morgan hit pay dirt," said Lizzy as she went through the entire note. "He's located Jocelyn Hutton and her family. They're in Belfort as we speak."

"Belfort, hmm?" asked Thomas. "I guess that rules out Lockhaven. Jack was so sure they would be in Belfort but the family home is in Lockhaven so both options were possible."

"They are still in Belfort by this code," said Lizzy. "Both Jocelyn and her husband have been conscripted to work in one of the factories on the outskirts of town."

Thomas and Cash made sour faces at that announcement. They now knew all about the work conscription that was going on in Java. Javan factories didn't have enough manpower to keep them working at one hundred percent capacity. For that reason, Emperor Bancroft instituted conscription, meaning the factories would be assigned workers from the existing labor pool to keep them running at full capacity. In effect, it was slave labor since the workers had no say in where they went to work, and they couldn't stop working without risking a serious penalty. They also had lengthy hours, working twelve hour days seven days a week.

It was another sign of the degradation of Javan conditions ever since Bancroft took power. In effect, it was another reminder of what they were all fighting against.

"What about the children? Are they still with the parents?" asked Cash.

"The children are under the care of a nanny when they aren't in school," replied Lizzy. "But from what I can see, the family is at home during the late evening hours. We have a lock on the address."

"That's terrific news," said Thomas. "We can start planning their extraction. Plant an acknowledgment note in the agreed upon location and give him the green light to bring them in."

The agreed upon location was under a small ledge where theStingray was moored. Since the crew wasn't supposed to be venturing off the ship, it was deemed the best area to keep up their communications with those crew members off the ship.

Once Lizzy had gone, Thomas moved closer to his brother and slapped his back. "See? We're getting somewhere! We've already located the family! Soon enough, we'll be on our way out of Belfort and back across the ocean where they can't reach us."

Like usual, Cash's reaction was much more muted. "I don't know, Thomas. I get an uneasy feeling about the whole thing."

Thomas groaned. "What now? Can't you just be happy about one tiny thing for once in your life?"

Cash shook his head. "It just seems we've located them too easily. I expected it to take a few weeks until we found the family, if we found them at all! Now that we can start working on the extraction, it becomes the riskiest time for us. Not to mention, we still have to escape Belfort in the process."

"Escape will be easier than you think," said Thomas. "TheStingray is fast. And once the family is aboard, we'll take off in the dead of night. We'll be long gone before they even start to look for us, and at which point, we'll be able to outrun any pursuers as we get across the ocean."

Cash shook his head again. "It just seems too easy. I'm waiting for this to blow up on us. I can't believe we're this lucky."

Thomas put his arm around his brother's shoulder. "You just need to have a little more faith in me, brother. Soon enough, we'll be on our way back across the ocean with the family. And I'll enjoy getting to say I told you so several hundred times."

Cash grunted. "I guess we'll see."

*****

While the brothers were busy celebrating prematurely aboard theStingray, what they didn't notice was that their crew member had already attracted the attention of a third party.

One of Bancroft's spies sat on the edge of the harbor, hidden by several large crates as he watched the crew member depart from theStingray and head back into Belfort.

The spy had been watching the man ever since he left the outskirts of the city, where he'd been spying on the family of Jocelyn Hutton. What the crew member didn't know was that the spy was doing the same thing, having been stationed there to keep an eye on the family of one of Bancroft's political enemies.

The spy noticed that someone else was snooping around the family and turned his full attention on him, following him back to theStingray and noticing the drop off. It was curious behavior for anyone to approach the newly-arrived destroyer, especially since all the crew was supposed to be quarantined aboard.

It was also suspicious enough for the spy to apprehend the crew member once he made it back to the Hutton family residence.

The spy saw real fear in the crew member's eyes once his hands were cuffed together.

"Who are you?" demanded the crew member with a tinge of fear. "Why did you handcuff me?"

The spy grinned. "I know who you are and what you're doing. Get on your feet. We're off to see the Emperor."

All the color left the crew member's face instantly.

*****

"I'm going to ask you one more time! Who are you working for?"

"No one! Fuck! I'm not doing anything!"

"Whip him again. Let's see if we can jog his memory."

Bancroft watched from the other room as his spy flogged the bloody and beaten man. They'd been at this for well over an hour now, and there was a small puddle of blood under the beaten man's feet.

Bancroft was all too happy to watch the proceeding. After all, the man being beaten was a suspected traitor, and the spy administering the flogging believed that he was a crew member of the newly-returned destroyerStingray.

If that turned out to be the case, there was a serious plot against Bancroft somewhere in the works, just like he suspected. And he was determined to find out what it was.

The torture continued for another hour. At one point, Bancroft found he was hungry and he moved away from the room to grab something to eat. By the time he returned, he found the spy cleaning up his tools.

The suspected traitor was already dead.

"You killed him, you bloody idiot!" roared Bancroft. "What the fuck did you do?"

The spy bowed his head in deference. "I apologize, Your Imperial Majesty. I got as much out of him as I could but he expired a little too quickly for my liking."

"You better hope you got some damned good information out of him," demanded Bancroft. "Tell me everything you've learned!"

"Well, I can say with total certainty that he is from the destroyerStingray," replied the spy. "And he was passing messages back and forth with the crew still aboard the ship. No doubt, it's some kind of progress report."

"So what was he after? What was he doing here?" asked Bancroft.

"He expired before I could glean that information out of him," answered the spy. "But I think his whereabouts were damning enough. We found him outside the house of the family of Jack Easterbrook."

That was a very interesting notion indeed, one that caused Bancroft to pause as he thought through the meaning of it. What could have been theStingray's mission? Why would they be making contact with Easterbrook's sister?

At this time, Bancroft knew all about the Hutton family and their current whereabouts. He kept regular tabs on them since they were the only family relation of Jack Easterbrook left in Java. He knew they lived in Belfort and that the sister and her husband were recently conscripted to work in one of the factories, but so far they showed no signs of the disloyalty that affected her more famous brother.

So why could Jack be attempting to contact her? Was he trying to warn her of something?

Or was he trying to extract her from Belfort?

What was Jack's plan?

"You idiot, you should have kept him alive longer," snapped Bancroft. "Your answers have only given me more questions."

"Perhaps those questions could be better answered by the men of theStingray," said the spy with a degree of deference. "It seems they've been implicated in this plot alongside this man here. I'm sure they could answer any question that you need answered."