Forge of War (Jack of Harts) (11 page)

“That’s the spirit,” Hal continued.  “Laugh in the face of death.  Make him know he’s your bythad.”

Jack blinked at the unfamiliar word and cocked his head to side.  “Huh?”

“Dog,” Betty supplied, covering her face with her hand, but he caught the amusement in her eyes.

“Right,” Jack said slowly.  “If you two don’t mind, I think I’d like to hold off on my meeting with death for a few centuries or so.”

“An even
better
spirit,” Hal said with a smile.  His eyes unfocused for a second.  “New information.  Aneerin has decided on a new target.  Follow me.”

“Moving,” Betty answered and Jack felt them accelerate.  He glanced around to see the rest of the squadron accelerating as well, holding position off the
Guardian Light’s
flank.

Jack checked the screens to see the beam that illuminated their course, then checked to see what was on the other side, and swallowed.  It was a massive Shang dreadnought or something, the largest moving space structure he’d ever seen, and a cruiser squadron protected it against any stray attackers.  It was by far the most dangerous part of the fleet surrounding Fort London and he figured there was a reason they’d avoided it until now.

“We’re going after
that
?” Jack asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Hal answered.  “It is a worthy target.  Once we destroy it, the Shang attack will falter.”

“But the cruisers
alone
outnumber us four to one here!” Jack shouted back.

“Jack,” Hal said in a serious tone.  “We are
always
outnumbered.  It is simply the way things are.  Do not worry.  We have a plan.”

Jack opened his mouth, heard Betty clear her throat, shut his mouth, and looked at her.  She shook her head and smiled.  He let out a breath in acceptance and watched the squadron approach the strike point.

On the other side, the British still held but the Shang flagship hammered them again.  A British cruiser drifted away from the fort, powerless and helpless.  The flagship’s escorts fired with it, smashing the fort’s deflection grids back again and again to dig deeper into the armor.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you any more time,” Hal said, looking towards Betty’s hologram.

“I understand,” she returned.  “I’ll make do.”

Hal nodded.  “Transit in three…two…one.”

Jack closed his eyes against the flash of light, opened them, and gasped as he saw the massive Shang warship filling the sky in front of him.  It was less than a kilometer away and he could actually
see
the individual weapons turrets spinning towards him.  They were too close.  Way, way,
way
too close for his comfort.

“Chaaaaaarge!” Hal shouted and every weapon in the squadron opened up as the ships accelerated towards their target.

It was at that point that Jack came to the conclusion that the Peloran suffered from a severe case of split personality that had to approach complete insanity.  This day had truly done bad things to his preconceptions about the Peloran race.  One truth he knew for certain though.  Aneerin was not lying.  In a very deep way, that terrified him more than the battleship before him bristling with weapons and completely willing to crush him like a bug.

Jack strummed his guitar, singing a favorite song about beaches and sun and fresh lake breezes.  And beer and girls of course.  Put beer and girls in anything and it got better after all.  The girls agreed, cheering him on as they danced with the very lucky boys on the beach.  He could only assume the beer agreed as well.  It didn’t protest his singing at least.

The sun was gone below the horizon, but warmth still radiated off the sand and he drove his bare feet down into it.  The familiar two-meter bonfire lit the beach, driving back the chilly wind coming in off Rainy Lake with waves of heat that warmed the skin with each flicker of flame.  He breathed deep between verses, enjoying the warmth on his bare chest.  He held his seat on the wooden stool, strummed his guitar, and sang on.

Jack cocked his head to the side in confusion as he realized the very joyful song about beach parties had taken on a melancholy tone.  He didn’t know why.  It was a happy song, and it had been every time he’d song it before.  Now it felt…sad.  He didn’t know why, but soldiered on.  The boys and girls drinking and dancing around the bonfire didn’t seem to notice his melancholy, having as much fun as they always did on Friday nights.

Jack continued to sing, strumming his guitar, and watching the party go on.  A beautiful young lady with blonde hair and a yellow sundress fluttering in the twin breezes off the lake and the fire walked out of the crowd towards him.  He recognized her in a moment and nodded his head.  He didn’t break the song though.  If he did that, the party would end, so he kept it going behind her.

Betty walked up to him, turned to look at the party, and placed a hand on his shoulder.  “I thought I’d find you here,” she whispered.

Jack smiled in between phrases, and sang on.  He scanned the crowd and saw all of his friends there.  There drank Big John, the muscular man you always wanted at your back when furniture needed moving.  There danced Chris, the wiry man you always wanted nearby when you started a fight.  The University of Minnesota’s starting quarterback, Jesse sat on a log, a girl in each arm laughing at his jokes.  His delivery was actually good enough he could have a real future there if he tried.  Dave tossed another log on the fire, causing it to blossom up into the night and highlight the numerous burn scars on his body.  He was the one you always wanted around if you had to start a fire and all you had was a concrete block and a bucket of water.

Sarah danced up a storm on the edge of the beach where the waves rolled up to her ankles, her long hair flying wild in the firelight.  She was a city kid and had been to dance school since she was seven.  She wasn’t the strongest girl out there, but was real good at bringing a crowd to its feet when she wanted to.  Kelly stood by the coolers, her spine arching back as she finished another glistening bottle, drinking another boy into the sand.  She came from a farm, and while she looked soft and huggable, she could throw a right hook that would send the boy that mouthed off to her into next week.  Taylor and Jennifer both sat in the sand next to the fire, knees digging in deep and their toes flexing beneath their very shapely hind ends.  They had the lungs of natural sopranos accustomed to the stage and he loved watching them in action.  They would relieve him on the guitar whenever he felt like stopping.

Jack sang on, wondering why he felt so sad when he was right here, in the one place in the world he loved the most.  Partying with so many good friends with so much good music and literal crates of good beer on an awesome beach with a pyromaniac-fed fire.  It was heaven.

“You know why you’re sad,” Betty whispered in his ear.

He jerked, almost losing the song, but held it and the party went on.  She didn’t belong here.  He looked at her and read the understanding in her eyes.  She’d never been to the parties.  She didn’t belong at the parties.  They weren’t her world.  In fact, he’d never seen her here at all, even in his dreams since…the thought skittered away and he frowned.  He had to fight to hold onto the song.

“You don’t belong here either, Jack,” she added with a sad smile.

He felt a shudder of dread go through him, and almost lost the song again.  Somehow, he continued to sing, and the party lived on.  His friends continued to have fun.  He looked away from Betty and tried to feel like he was part of the party.  It just didn’t work though.  No matter how hard he tried, he felt like he was on the outside looking in.  Only the song and the guitar in his hands felt real.

Betty stepped behind him, moved close, and placed both hands on his shoulders.  He stopped singing at the realization that she felt more real than the guitar.

The song went on, the party went on, his friends continued to have fun, and he cocked his head to the side in wonder as he realized he was on the outside now, looking in at the him who was singing.  He looked down to see empty hands, and back up to see the other him playing the guitar.  He felt Betty bend over until her lips hovered next to his ear.

“I understand why you want to be here,” she whispered.  “If I’d grown up with this, I would too.  It really is a wonderful life.”

Jack watched himself sing and willed a beer bottle into existence.  He lifted it up and watched the fire reflect off the water drops on its side.  He popped the top, leaned back into her body, and chugged it down.  It was great.  The best beer he’d ever had.  No.  It wasn’t.  He lowered the bottle and frowned at it.  He’d just drunk the best beer he’d ever had a few minutes ago.  He concentrated with a scowl and leaned back to take another chug.  A thick, honey sweet beer flowed from the bottle and he finished it with relish.  “We could stay here,” Jack said after lowering the bottle, not entirely certain what he meant.  Somehow though, he knew it was true.  If he decided to, he would never have to leave this party again.  The party of his dreams forever.

“Is this truly all you want?” Betty asked.

For a split second, the party flittered out of focus and Jack had to fight to bring it back.  “Why?” he asked.  “What could possible be better than this?”

Betty sighed and let out a long breath that tickled his ear.  “Us,” she whispered.

The bonfire disappeared and he saw both of them standing on an observation deck on a starship, looking out over the Earth far below them.  He shook his head, and the party came back into focus.  “We could be us right here,” he answered, focusing on the him who still sang.  He concentrated and Betty faded into view next to that him.  She belonged there, just as much as he did.  They could both live forever in the party, never looking back to anything that might hurt them.

“Yes, we could,” Betty said in his ear.  “We could
settle
for this if you wish.  But we could be so much
more
out there.”

“Why?” Jack said, feeling the world want to shift below him again.  Stars and fire filled his view for a moment, but he shook his head and the party returned.  “Why should we?  This is what we want in the end, right?  So why bother?  We can just…take it now.”

“
Is
this what you want, Jack?” Betty asked with a sad sigh.  “I know a
part
of you does.  That’s why you dream here.  But another part of you wants so much more than this.  That’s why you wake up every morning.”

The bonfire shattered and faded and both of them sat in a ship, flying through the heavens to anywhere they wanted to go.  His heart leapt for joy in his chest at the idea of being free to go wherever he wanted.  The ship faded and flames and stars filled his eyes again.  He looked away and the bonfire came back, but this time the party seemed further away than before.  He could return if he wanted, but it would be hard.  This wasn’t the dreams he remembered since…his mind skittered off that thought again.  Something about this was harder.  More final.  He would have to close all the doors behind him to join the party again.  And somehow, somewhere, he knew he wouldn’t wake up if he made that decision.

Jack frowned and turned his head to look at Betty.  He felt afraid and he didn’t know why.  “What happened?” he asked.

She bestowed a beaming smile on him.  “
That
is a question you should never stop asking,” she said and he felt her joy slip into him until she gave him a hard look.  “But you know what happened.”

Jack’s heart quailed at the thought and he took a step back towards the party in reflex.  It came closer into focus and he realized he was more than afraid.  He was terrified.  “
Do
I?” he asked, trying to keep the terror from his voice.  Her look of complete understanding and acceptance told him he’d failed utterly.

“Of course you do.”

The party flickered but he shook his head and the party came back into view.  All of his friends, everything he’d lived for all of his life, right here.  It was all for the taking.  All he had to do was take the step and he would never have to leave again.

He didn’t take the step.  He met Betty’s gaze.  He trusted her.  She smiled and opened her mouth again.  “It’s never easy to face what we don’t want to face.”

Jack chewed on his lower lip.  “So what don’t I want to face?”

Her smile turned grim.  “Your death.”

He didn’t jerk away from her.  He let out a long breath and nodded his agreement.  There wasn’t really anything to say after all.  She was right.  He pulled in a deep breath, steeled his nerve, closed his eyes, and forced his mind not to skitter.

Jack opened his eyes as the flash of rising from between hyperspace into normalspace faded away.  He gasped at the massive Shang warship filling the sky in front of him.  It was less than a kilometer away and he could actually
see
the individual weapons turrets spinning towards him.  They had surfaced too close.  Way, way,
way
too close for his comfort.

“Chaaaaaarge!” Hal shouted and every weapon in the squadron opened up as the ships accelerated towards their target.

The Peloran were insane.  This was crazy, and yet every fiber of Jack’s being thrilled with life as they charged into battle.  That terrified him more than the battleship before him bristling with weapons and completely willing to crush him like a bug.  Far, far more.

“Oh fu….” He started and the universe turned on its side as every weapon in the squadron fired at once.  Over a hundred grav cannons, fourteen of them massive capital ship versions, ripped into the Shang’s flank.  Hundreds of missiles followed them in, causing more breaches in the deflection grid with their waves of explosions.  Kinetic lances flashed through the holes and impacted at relativistic speeds, causing shockwaves of vaporizing metal that reverberated the ship as if hit by nuclear warheads.

With the deflection grid largely breached, the laser turrets on warships and fighters alike began to play across the entire length of the ship at maximum rapid-fire rate.  Jack didn’t know how many lasers fired at the ship, but he could count the thirty-six that the Cowboys fired, and that was from only nine fighters.

Peloran battleships carried around eighty fighters he knew, with the smaller ships carrying far fewer.  All told, a full squadron of Peloran ships would usually have at least three hundred fighters of various classes, from light interceptors to heavy anti-ship fighters.  The five Peloran ships weren’t a full squadron of course, but they should carry two hundred between them.  After casualties, he figured maybe seventy heavy fighters remained for the five ships.  Another fifty light interceptors boiled out of their launch tubes, and the laser arrays of every fighter went to rapid fire.  At an educated guess, he figured there were probably somewhere between three and five hundred lasers firing from the fighters alone.

And of course there were the five warships.  He flew close enough to the
Guardian Light
that he could see the warship’s point defense lasers physically moving along the runes to their firing positions on the forward hull of the massive battleship.  The Peloran were leaving their flanks exposed for a single devastating strike, he noted with a corner of his mind.  At full capacity, the Peloran battleship was rated for three hundred point defense laser arrays, while the other ships had impressive arrays of their own.  Of course their point defense networks had been mauled in the previous fight.  Still, he thought as many as five hundred lasers bridged the gap between the Peloran warships and the Shang flagship.

Kinetic lances were a visible blur of motion followed by an explosion of debris.  Missiles were too for that matter.  Grav beams weren’t technically visible in their own right, but like a black hole they sucked everything around them into their beams.  Every spare piece of garbage in orbit rushed into the beams that somehow managed to be darker than space.  On its own, that would have been impressive.  But when the better part of one thousand lasers fired across the distance of a mere kilometer in a kilometer-wide strobe pattern, Jack saw something he’d never known was even possible.

Lasers were not visible.  Not even as visible as a grav beam.  But their effects most certainly
were
visible.  Armor designed to absorb damage from a hundred different types of punishment covered the ship, though the grav cannons and kinetic lances had already pierced it in many places.  Still, most of the armor was still there when the laser barrage initiated.  The armor had not been designed to take the entire weapons output of the better part of a Peloran Battle Squadron at point blank range.  The armor melted under the assault, turning white hot and pouring away from the ship into the gravitic beams.  As the armor went away, the lasers burned further in and deck after deck melted or evaporated into gas.  Usually the gas would have inhibited the lasers’ effectiveness, but the gravitic beams sucked that in too, and the lasers continued to dig deeper and deeper into the ship.