Fourth Vector Ch. 42

By this point, Jack was only half listening as the diplomat deposited the box at his feet. This close to the box, the smell was unthinkably bad. For someone that had been fighting a war over the past couple years, the box smelled to Jack exactly the way a decomposing human body would.

Something inside him told Jack not to open the box. It screamed it out of every fiber of his body and yet, his hand still reached for the corner and yanked it away.

The sight inside left him more shocked than he ever thought possible.

It was of little surprise that the box smelled like death. The only thing inside the box was human remains. More specifically, it was only the heads of those that were dead.

Jack glared at the diplomat. "What savagery is this? Why was this sent to me?"

Ramon nodded toward the box. "I think you need to look closer."

Jack covered his mouth to protect him from the scent as he looked at the box once again. There were six heads inside, and most horrifically, there appeared to be three of them that were much smaller than the other three.

Three of them belonged to children before they died. The older three were two men and a woman, but it was on closer inspection that Jack felt nausea in the pit of his stomach.

Jack sank to his knees as his hands trembled. He pulled the hair back that covered the woman's face and felt instant recognition.

It was Jocelyn.

Vomit spewed up from his stomach at that moment, followed quickly by screams of agony as he realized who the other heads belonged to--Roger, her husband, and the three children, Blake, Nathan, and Henry.

Jack's adoptive family was brutally murdered.

The last head was that of Thomas Wentz of theStingray.

Suddenly, all Jack's questions were answered. Thomas' mission had failed.

And Jocelyn and her family paid the ultimate price.

Jack was soon surrounded by Kat and Abigail as Russ ordered the Galician guards to take the diplomat into custody.

Next to them, Bill was still reading.

"Inside the box, you'll find the people you were searching for," read Bill. "Your mission to rescue them was an utter failure, and you should have known better than to try to infiltrate my country. You and I cannot live in peace together, Jack. That has been made instantly clear to me of late. You have stolen my ships and my soldiers, disrupted my plans for the Fourth Vector, and been an irremovable thorn in my side these past few years. For that reason, a state of war now exists between you and I, Jack. One way or another, the forces of the Javan Empire will cross the ocean and destroy your petty kingdom in the Fourth Vector. I look forward to making sure you share the same fate as your sister. The war is on, Jack."

Jack wasn't sure how long he raged as he clutched the head of his sister. Every emotion wracked his body--fear, anger, sorrow, uselessness, anxiety.

And yet, the only thing he could concentrate on was revenge.

"I'm going to kill him myself," vowed Jack as he rose to his feet. "If he wants a war, he's got one. I'm not going to rest until I've destroyed that man. Let there be blood."

The next war had already begun.