Fourth Vector Ch. 49

Yanis' eyes floated back and forth between Victor and Michael. Finally, he sank to his knees.

"Fine, I'll help you! But I need your guarantee that I won't be harmed and that you won't steal from me!"

Michael rolled his eyes. "As long as you feed the people like we're asking, you'll be allowed to run your house the way that you see fit. But your first obligation is to the Javan people, not to some emperor that would prefer to conquer the world. Got it?"

Yanis' surrender came both swiftly and totally.

"I agree to your terms! I will do what you say!"

*****

Within the next two days, the common people of Belfort had something to celebrate about again. Michael had scarcely seen such celebration since the days of the last victory parade in the city, after the Battle of Aberdeen. Those hungry civilians who'd gone so long without having proper food suddenly found themselves in grocery stores with fully stocked shelves--a bountiful harvest that they hadn't seen in some time.

They also knew who was responsible for the sudden windfall. Michael went from upstart usurper to legitimate sovereign in the eyes of many in the city, even those that were most uncertain about his taking of power. With the release of so much food, there was virtually no one left in the city who wanted to see Bancroft returned to power.

With his grip on the populace now firmly secured, it was time to look at ending the war on the best terms that Michael could secure for the people but before he could devote his time to that, there was another nagging problem that demanded his attention.

That problem was the situation with Sarah.

Ever since that night when Michael had entered her room and laid next to her bed, she'd been acting differently around him. It was hard for him to figure out just what was different about her, but the most glaring sign was that she seemed to be avoiding him. She either rarely left her room or she'd changed her routine, never showing up in the same places she used to frequent before.

The most telling sign was what happened that morning. Michael had seen her on the opposite end of one of the grand wings of the palace, and he'd known that she'd seen him as well. Instead of greeting him, Sarah simply stopped in her tracks and turned around, avoiding him like he meant nothing to her.

It was the most sudden reversal that he'd ever seen. All these months, he'd been keeping Sarah at an arm's length, knowing that she'd wanted more but being unable to give her what she was seeking. Now that he was finally signaling that he could be open to something, she seemed to be pulling back in a strange representation of hot/cold behavior.

He had to know the truth. Michael had to figure out what was bothering her.

It was that desire for knowledge that found him once again outside her door that evening, his heart in his throat as he held up his fist to knock. In his head, he knew what he wanted to say to her but he doubted whether he could make the words come out exactly the way that he meant.

He almost didn't get his chance. Despite knocking three times, Sarah never answered the door. He thought about turning the handle and just entering on his own, but considering where things were between them, he didn't want to take that risk right now. With a heavy sigh, Michael turned away from the door and started to walk away.

Michael almost didn't hear the door creak open behind him.

"Michael?"

He spun around quickly, finding Sarah watching him from just behind her door, her eyes wary of his presence. It was a strange expression to see on her, when she'd usually been one to hold much affection for him in those eyes.

Just as he expected, his carefully rehearsed speech went out the window at that moment. He found himself struggling to remember the words he wanted to say.

Sarah opened the door a little further as her eyes hit the floor. "What do you need, Michael?"

There was no softness in her words, something that confused him to no end. He said the first and only question on his mind.

"What's wrong, Sarah?"

She stepped away from the door a bit, and she suddenly appeared uncertain of herself.

"What do you mean?"

Michael touched the hair on the back of his head. "I haven't seen you in days. When I do see you, you run away from me. What's wrong? Have I done something to hurt you?"

She looked embarrassed at that moment. "I didn'trun away from you."

"You moved pretty quickly to me," he shot. "Either way, something's going on and I don't know what. I'm hoping you can tell me. The last thing I remember is being in your room together nearly a week ago and I thought we had a great time. At least I did."

Sarah finally met his eyes. "We did have a good time. It was... wonderful."

Michael shook his head. "So what's wrong then? Why are you avoiding me?"

Sarah let out a long sigh. "It's complicated, Michael. It's so very complicated."

"Is it really complicated? Or are you just saying that because you don't know how to express yourself."

"It's both," she replied, biting her lip. "I know what I have to say, or more what I have to do. I don't want to do it but I know it's entirely necessary, even if I hate it."

"You're losing me," said Michael. "What are you even talking about?"

A pained look appeared on her face. In dramatic fashion, Sarah grabbed his hand and pulled him into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"There, so we can have total privacy," she said.

Though it was nice to be alone with her again, Michael got the impression that there was nothing romantic about her intentions. She simply didn't want anyone else to hear what she was about to say. Sarah struggled for several moments on the right words to use, finally unleashing them all at once.

"This would never work between us now, Michael," she said, meeting his gaze. "I'm just a commoner. I'm a nobody and you're now the emperor. This wouldn't work between us."

He had to hear her say the words. "What wouldn't work?"

Sarah gestured between them. "You know. Us."

"Romantically?"

Sarah gave him a look of exasperation. "Yes!"

"I don't get it. You seemed like you wanted to try for all these long months before," said Michael. "I've always been who I am. I haven't changed. What's different about now?"

Sarah bit her lip. "That's where you're wrong. You have changed, Michael. You're the Javan Emperor now, one of the most powerful people in the world. Can't you see why that's different?"

"Sarah, I was always a Bainbridge--"

"I know that but you weren't the emperor back then," she interrupted. "Back then, you were just a rebel named Michael. And I was just a rebel too. And yeah, I thought about us being together a lot. Probably more so than what was healthy but I never imagined that this day would actually come. That you would be here to reclaim your birthright. I never pictured that you would change."

"Sarah, it's just a title," he whispered, feeling his emotions starting to take a turn for the worse. "I'm still the same person. All those nights that we spent talking and planning and getting to know each other--it's still me."

She shook her head as tears appeared in her eyes. "It would never work, Michael. Once this war is over, you're going to be the emperor in earnest. And you're going to need to do emperor-type things. And they're going to expect you to marry some girl of noble birth and good standing. Not the daughter of a bricklayer and a rebel to boot. That could never work."

"I feel like you're just giving up on this without giving it a shot," said Michael, as his anger started to rise. "Is this what you're really doing right now? I want to move forward with this finally but you don't. Is this your way of punishing me?"

More tears fell from her eyes. "Don't be upset with me, please. I couldn't handle it."

It was too late for that. Rejection was something that stung no matter which way you cut it, and Michael felt stunned that it was Sarah doing the rejecting. He never pictured that this day would come, after the many times he had to push her away.

How could she be so cruel?

His heart on fire, Michael assumed a neutral expression as he raised his chin. "Very well. It's your decision, not mine, but I will respect what you say. I will leave you alone now, Sarah. But I want you to know that it was your decision that made this happen, not mine. I would have tried for you. I honestly would have, and the fact that you came this far only to chicken out in the end speaks volumes about who you are, Sarah. If this is who you really are, then I want nothing to do with you. I was right to turn you away in the first place."

Each statement hit Sarah like it was a physical blow. She recoiled away from him as she started to cry even harder. It broke his heart to see her like this, so upset at his own words but he couldn't help the anger that he felt.

The sting of rejection was a harsh mistress, and even now he felt no control over what he was saying.

He didn't stay to watch the outcome. With a quick spin of his heel, he left the room, leaving a broken and crying Sarah behind him. He barely got more than ten feet outside the room before he heard her call out to him.

"Don't hate me, Michael," she cried. "This is for the best."

He shook his head in white, hot anger. She might be willing to fool herself, but he was under no such illusions. This was an act of fear. A fear of the unknown, a fear about finally getting what you wanted.

But no matter how much he rationalized it, he couldn't make the pain go away.

Even now as Belfort celebrated her reinvigorated fortunes, her emperor never felt more miserable.

It was a hell of a way to start a reign.

*****

For Trevor, the day of battle had finally arrived.

After two days of posturing, his forces were now finally arrayed in front of Zander's army in a position to strike. Just in front of him was the first line of foxholes for the enemy, and in about twenty minutes, this whole area would be lit up with devastating artillery.

Trevor was grateful for the chance to strike back at Zander, who'd continued to probe his army in the preceding days, looking for weakness. Zander differed greatly from Ryan in that he was more aggressive in attacking but he didn't have Ryan's experience, leaving his attacks open to counterattack from the Tyrolean forces.

Today's battle plan was meant to catch Zander off balance. Trevor had arrayed a good portion of his force near the point where Zander's center met his right flank. His objective was to hammer down on this portion of the line and pierce the Javan defenses before they could have time to stiffen up their defenses. Once the line was pierced, he would move to surround the smaller piece of the line, composing their entire right flank, and eliminate it completely.

It was a good plan because Trevor suspected Zander wouldn't anticipate the move. Zander had been so focused on attacking that Trevor believed he would be weak on the defense, especially if he placed all his attackers on one portion of the Javan line.

For this to succeed, it was critical that the Javan Amy be forced to retreat once more, only because it had nowhere to go. Belfort had rebelled against Bancroft, and Trevor suspected that the army would be hard-pressed to fall back on a capital city that was in enemy hands. That would leave only one road open to Zander.

Moving north to link up with Bancroft.

All of that assumed that Bancroft would have an army still worth linking up with, however, Trevor was still waiting on news of any sort of battle in the north. He didn't know if that battle was in progress, or if it already happened.

One thing was certain--everything hinged now on breaking Zander's army and leaving Bancroft with no other options.

Just ahead of Trevor's position, he heard the commander for this part of his line give the signal. Several rows of mortar teams all sprung into action, loading their first ordnance on enemy-sighted positions.

The mortars fired off with small but quick howl, sending those bombs over the heads of the enemy and launching the battle with a devastating blast.

The fight had truly started.

Just ahead of the mortars, nearly seven thousand men, a full quarter of Trevor's army, pushed up across a distance of a mile and launched themselves at the Javan front line. They crawled out of their foxholes and made their way through the wooden thicket that separated themselves from the enemy, falling upon dazed and unaware Javan soldiers still trying to get their bearings from the blast of the mortars.

Trevor moved just behind them. Not one to be satisfied with commanding from the rear, he followed along with a small squad of men for his protection and watched his men overwhelm this single point of the Javan line. Not more than ten minutes after they crossed the first enemy foxholes, Trevor was doing the same. In the front, their forward teams kept pressing on, pushing deeper into the Javan line and taking unaware soldiers by the dozen.

Soon this part of the line was full of captured Javans. By their feet, many more laid dead from the sudden attack.

It took nearly an hour for the Tyroleans to completely pierce the Javan lines, splitting the enemy army into two separate pieces. From there, the second part of the plan went into action. A good portion of those seven thousand men pivoted toward the Javan center, blocking any attempts by the enemy at reconnecting the line.

A smaller portion of the seven thousand turned toward those that were trapped on the enemy right flank and applied pressure, forcing them away from the center. They were joined by a smaller Tyrolean force that pushed from the front. Trevor's goal was to completely surround the broken piece and destroy it entirely.

Once the Javans figured out what was going on, they fought like banshees to break the Tyroleans that had pierced the line. Fighting became incredibly intense in that mile-long pocket, and artillery and mortars rained down continuously. Zander sent wave after wave of men to try to overwhelm the defenders, most of whom were now using Javan foxholes to defend the land they'd just conquered.

At one point, Trevor even had to join the thick of the fighting, finding a Javan platoon no more than thirty yards in front of him and closing the distance fast. He used a rifle from a fallen man to pick off two Javans and then three, hiding behind a tree to reload.

It was the second time that he popped out to fire that he felt the bullet enter his shoulder.

Trevor's ass hit the ground as his shoulder largely shattered with the force of the impact. Finding his arm all but dead, he rolled over and used his good hand to try to grip it. He was already bleeding heavily from the wound, and the pain was enough to make him grit his teeth in agony.

"He's hit! Get him back to headquarters!" shouted one of the security detail soldiers amongst the hail of gunfire.

Just like that, Trevor felt someone grab his boots as another soldier tried to put his arms under his shoulders. His shoulder exploded in pain as he was carried like that, nearly forcing the life out of him.

As mortars exploded around him, Trevor lost consciousness and closed his eyes, truly oblivious to the world around him.

*****

At first, Trevor thought he was dead.

He'd been completely surrounded with the sound of gunfire and explosions only to find that noise dwindling into nothingness. Pain still surrounded him, his only sign that perhaps he was still alive after all.

He could feel hands touching him, mostly on the spot on his shoulder where all the pain was. At times, that pain was excruciating, causing him to go in and out of consciousness.

Finally, the pain subsided enough for him to open his eyes.

Trevor was back in the tent he shared with Nina, except he was far from alone. Several of the medics with the army were beside his cot. It was at this point that he realized that someone had removed his shirt and that his shoulder was completely bandaged.

One person was more excited to see him awaken than anyone else.

Trevor felt Nina rush to hug him, her soft body pressing against his. Despite how gentle she was in regards to his shoulder, the sudden movement still hurt him.

"Oh, thank god!" whispered Nina as she hugged him tightly. "You're alive! Trevor, I was so worried!"

He tried to respond but found his voice failing. It was so dry and scratchy that his words barely came out.

Nina grabbed a canteen of water and held it to his lips. The water was cold and incredible, and he eagerly drank down a heavy amount.

"My shoulder," he croaked once he was done drinking. "What happened?"

At this point, one of the medics stepped forward. "You took a direct shot to your shoulder, General. You completely shattered the bone and lost a lot of blood in the process. Had you not been brought back when you were, you might have bled out on the battlefield. Another half hour and, well, we wouldn't be talking to you right now."

Trevor looked back at the bloody bandage on his shoulder. "Will I be all right? Will I heal?"

The medic nodded reluctantly. "You will as long as you allow yourself to heal properly. The bone was shattered in two parts and will have to come together. You won't have much mobility in your arm for about six weeks but as long as don't try to do anything stupid, it will heal."

Nina had the face of a worried mother hen. "Don't worry, I won't let him do anything too strenuous. I'll take care of him."

The medic looked amused for a split second before turning his attention back to Trevor. "You're lucky to still be alive, sir. At least we know you'll be in good hands. I'll be back in a few hours to check the dressing."

The group of men turned to leave until only Nina remained in the tent with him. Despite the wound, Trevor found one question on the tip of his tongue before anything else.

"The battle? What happened? Did we win?"

Nina smiled and nodded her head. "We certainly did. The men cut off a good portion of Zander's army in the process. We estimated we could get about a quarter of his men if everything went to plan, but would you believe we've captured or killed nearly ten thousand Javans? Most of them in the surrounded pocket?"

Trevor's eyes went wide. He tried to sit up but was forced down by the pain in his shoulder. "Ten thousand? That's got to be a third of their army!"

Nina gently caressed his face. "Battle stopped once nightfall came, but the lines have been quiet this morning. No activity yet but we certainly have our hands full with captured Javans."

It was only at that point that Trevor realized it was now light outside beyond the tent. He'd been out for more than twelve full hours.

"I didn't realize I was out so long," he said. "I felt like this just happened and I just came to about a half hour later."

Nina shook her head as her smile disappeared. Her eyes turned watery. "The whole night was terrible, Trevor. We were so worried about you. I was so worried about you. At one point, we thought you might die."

She put her head against his chest. "I can't lose you. Not now, not after everything we've been through."

Trevor caressed her back with his good hand. He was reminded of their conversation from days ago, when they talked about some kind of permanence after the war.

"You're not going to lose me that easily," he said, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. "I'm still here with you."

Nina's smile was radiant. "Yes, you are. Thank the gods you are."

*****

As a general, Brian Zander had never tasted defeat before yesterday.

Though he'd only become a general relatively recently, he didn't have so much as a setback under his belt, even after the first week of skirmishing against Trevor Downing. Zander was beginning to think that Downing was overrated and that Ryan wasn't as good of a general as everyone said he was.