Forge of War (Jack of Harts) (15 page)

“Yes.  I’ll tell General Brage to have the appropriate orders written up, but they are yours right now.”

“Thank you, Madam President.”

“Thank
you
, Admiral.”  Her look grew shrewd.  “And perhaps you can upgrade their fighters while you are at it.  If they are defending your ships, it might be in your best interests to do so of course.”

Aneerin smiled back and rubbed his chin in amusement.  “Of course, Madam President,” he finally said.  “I think we can arrange for some…modifications in your basic Avenger package.  I might even be able to have the modifications sent to your factories so that future production does not
need
the upgrades.”

“Thank you, Admiral,” the President returned.  “Your help will always be accepted.  And your advice.  Good health to you, now and forever,” she finished in a respectful tone.

“Good health to you, Madam President.  Now and forever,” Aneerin answered.

With that, the datalink ended and the Office of the President faded away to be replaced by the living room again.

Jack swallowed and turned to study Aneerin as the Peloran simply stood in place for several long seconds.  He finally turned away from where the President had sat and looked at Charles.

“Welcome to your new duty station, Charles.”

Charles and Jack shared a look that said, “What have we just stepped in?” before Charles turned to Aneerin.  “Thank you.”

Aneerin turned away from Charles and smiled at Jack, spreading his hands out wide.  “So, what do you think
now
, Jack?”

Jack frowned, wondering if he should truly say what he thought.  He grunted, and opened his mouth, determined to say it.  The Admiral had asked after all.  “I’m thinking playing poker with you might be a mistake,” Jack said in a suspicious tone.

Aneerin’s smile grew wider.  “Indeed.  Let us hope that the Shang feel the same.  I would hate for them to decide to call my bluff and attack us, right now, in force.”

“Yes,” Charles said with a grim smile, drawing the word out as he looked back and forth between them.  “That would not be good.”

NEW EARTH

Hyperspace’s multicolored hues flowed around the squadron, washing the rebuilt Avenger’s cockpit with a rainbow of colors.  Two weeks ago, the
Guardian Light
had been a ruin; now it flew beside him, gleaming white armor covered in golden runes from stem to stern.  Jack looked at the smooth armor, impressed despite himself at just how quickly the Peloran could rebuild when they had to.  Of course they’d done the same to his fighter too, much quicker than any American yard could have.

Five more ships held formation with the battleship.  The two cruisers and three destroyers appeared as pristine as the
Guardian Light
, ready for battle after taking damage that would have left an American ship in the yards for months.  He’d read that the Peloran ships could rebuild themselves from truly catastrophic damage but never until now realized just how powerful a strategic advantage that could be turned into.  Now, flying through hyperspace towards another fight, that realization slammed home hard.

He looked over to where a destroyer sailed at the fore of a long wake cut into the fabric of hyperspace, focused on it, and the canopy zoomed in to show a larger view of the destroyer.  The two hundred meter long central spire cut into hyperspace like a knife, slipping between gravity waves far more gracefully than any American ship he’d seen.  Those usually crashed through the waves through brute force.  This destroyer barely even noticed them.  He studied the golden runes running across the white hull, looking for the name that had to be there, hidden where he just couldn’t see it.  He sighed in frustration.  He
knew
it was the
Swift Wing
, he just couldn’t read the Peloran script.

“Keep practicing,” a twenty-centimeter tall Betty whispered from the cockpit ledge next to him, half lying down with what had to be twenty-one centimeter long legs crossed at the ankles.  “You’ll get it soon.”

“Yeah,” Jack whispered back absentmindedly, still amazed that the destroyer looked as flawless as she did, after the damage she’d taken.  The weapons ring that surrounded the central spire had been repaired, and once again two massive gravitic cannons projected from it, ready to deal death on the enemies of the Peloran.  “Yeah, I suppose I will, won’t I?” he added with a bemused shake of his head.

Betty cocked her head to the side.  “OK.  What happened?”

Jack looked at her in confusion.  “What?”

Betty crossed her arms and pursed her lips.  “At Fort London.  Something happened.”

Jack gave her a sly smile.  “Well, we almost died, but you pulled us through.  Nothing important.”

“That’s
not
what I
meant
,” Betty spat back.

Jack’s eyebrows rose at the tone in her voice.  “Then what
did
you mean?” he asked, a little more snippy than he needed to be.

Betty rolled up onto her feet and looked him in the eyes.  “When I met you, you never studied anything you didn’t have to.  You sailed through life on easy street because that’s all it
was
to you.  Easy.  No challenge.  No reason to try anything but play.”

Jack cleared his throat and nodded.  “Yeah, I suppose I didn’t, did I?”

Betty jabbed him in the chest with one finger.  “No.  You didn’t.  Now….  What happened at Fort London?”

Jack cleared his throat again and rubbed his temple.  “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

Betty laughed.  “Don’t worry about that, Jack.  I already
know
you’re crazy.”

Jack glared at her.

Betty stuck her tongue out at him and jammed both hands on her hips.

Jack laughed, shook his head, and let out a long breath.  “Fine.  You obviously have an idea so why don’t you try me?”

Betty leaned forward and put a finger on her lips as if thinking.  “You almost died.  Did you see the light at the end of the tunnel?”

Jack winced.  “Sorta.  It was more a rainbow than a bright light though.”

Betty stepped back and frowned.  “A rainbow?  You’re certain?”

Jack shrugged.  “Yeah.  Of course, we were in hyperspace by then, so I figure I just…saw that as a rainbow in my dream,” he finished with another shrug.

Betty pursed her lips.  “Jack.  Do you trust me?”

Jack jerked back at her question.  He stared at her in surprise.  “Well of
course
I do!”

Betty nodded.  “Good.  Then please.  Tell me
everything
that happened.”

Jack held her gaze for several seconds before finally nodding and letting out a long breath.  “It was the same dream I’ve dreamt since…well…Yosemite,” he told her, shying around from saying the day his dad died.  “With a couple additions.  You were there for instance.”

She raised an eyebrow and he sighed.

“It wasn’t really you though.  I think.”

Betty cocked her head in interest, and her calm face finally quelled his nerves.  He told her everything.  How the other her wasn’t really her.  How Kelly was there but wasn’t.  How he and the other her that wasn’t her walked out through the rainbow together.  “It was a real vivid dream,” he finished with a shake of his head.

Betty cocked her head to the side with a knowing look.  “Why does it have to be a dream?”

Jack cleared his throat.  “Because…well…really…it
can’t
be real.  If it was…”

Betty smiled.  “If it
was
real, then it means you smiled at Death and told her that you’d never run from her?”

Jack shivered.  “Yeah.  That about sums it up.”

Betty let out a satisfied breath.  “Well.  You don’t have anything to worry about then.”

Jack frowned and gave her a careful stare.  “Why?”

Betty shrugged.  “Because if it was just the same old dream, there’s nothing to worry about.  And if it was real?  Well…she accepted your terms.”

Jack frowned in thought.  “Oh.  Yeah.  I guess so.”  He leaned back in his seat and relaxed, gazing out on hyperspace.  “I guess I didn’t think of it like that.”

“Well, you should,” she said, sounding very pleased with herself.

After a few seconds, he felt her light touch as she sat down next to his arm and leaned back.  He glanced over to see her looking up and sighed.  He returned his gaze to the multi-colored kaleidoscope of hyperspace, letting its randomness wash over him.  They lay like that for a long time, just watching and waiting as they flew through hyperspace.  The universe faded into them, their fighter, and the currents of hyperspace.  Nothing else existed.  Nothing else mattered.

“Hal!” Betty suddenly shouted and jumped to her feet.

Jack blinked.  His mind brought the universe back into focus and he looked around at the screens, taking in the current situation.

Betty straightened her sundress, folded her arms, and nodded.  Hal appeared on the comm. panel with a smile.

“Prepare to transit,” he said.  “It will be live combat.”

Betty smiled back at him.  “We’re ready when you are.”

Jack nodded his agreement and scanned the display showing a probes-eye view of their target in normalspace.  The supply convoy hung in the stars alone, with only a token defensive force around it.  Jack frowned in suspicion.  He didn’t like it.  It seemed too easy.  It felt…like somebody was waiting for them.  “Um, are you certain this isn’t a trap?” he asked.

Hal shrugged on the screen.  “As certain as we can be.  We’ve sent probes and can’t find anyone hanging in hyperspace to ambush us.  This appears to be all there is.  Don’t worry.  We aren’t in any danger here.  Trust me.”

Jack frowned at Hal, his unease remaining.  “I don’t know.  Something about this just doesn’t feel right.”

Hal cocked his head to the side and examined Jack for several seconds.  “Do you have any specific thoughts?” he finally asked.

Jack shook his head and scanned the display of the convoy again.  He didn’t know how to explain that he felt like a trap was closing on them.  “No.  I just…if that were me, I’d have something waiting for us.”

“Yes,” Hal said.  “We would too.  We have searched but found nothing.  This appears as our intelligence suggested.  A ripe target.”

“Why are they here?” Jack asked.  “In normalspace?  Why aren’t they moving?”

“They are rendezvousing with another escort here.”

“And we just happened to find out where the rendezvous was?  This smells like a trap.”

Hal frowned.  “Jack.  We have searched.  We have found nothing.  Do you consider this vague feeling of yours to be more important than these concrete steps?”

Jack sighed, feeling the pressure to shut up.  “Well, when you put it that way, it does seem kind of stupid.”

“Indeed,” Hal answered.

Jack shook his head, stubbornly.  “But it really does feel like a trap to me.  Back when I was climbing through girls’ windows I never did it if it felt like this.  And I never got caught by the older brother or father on the other side of that wall.”

Hal cocked his head to the side.  “And how do you know you weren’t jumping at shadows?”

Jack smiled.  “I called their phone.”

One of Hal’s eyes rose.  “And after that?”

“Well, if I heard it ring, I ran like Hell,” Jack said with a laugh.

Hal echoed his laugh and shook his head.  “How often did that happen?”

Jack chewed his lip with a smile.  “Often enough that I learned to trust the feeling.”

“Interesting. ”  Hal seemed to look away for a moment before focusing on Jack again.  “Aneerin shares your concerns by the way.”

Jack blinked in surprise.  “Then…why grill me?”

“To see if you stuck by it,” Hal said as target markers appeared on the screens, covering all of the escort ships surrounding the convoy.  “Assume Raven Formation and prepare to transit,” Hal ordered.

Jack frowned.  “Wait.  He thinks this is a trap, and we’re
still
going in?”

“We are,” Hal answered with a smile.  “If this is a trap, we will leave.  If it is not, we will destroy many Shang ships.  And perhaps we will do both.”  Hal nodded and turned to Betty.  “Betty?”

“Yes, Hal,” Betty said with a nod of her own and Jack watched as the entire squadron fanned out from the
Guardian Light
like a raven’s wings.

“Transit in three…two…one…now.”

Jack closed his eyes, the universe flashed, and he opened his eyes to see the Shang convoy arrayed in front of them.  Large, fat freighters floated in the darkness and his eyes flicked from one to the next, the canopy zooming in on each as his eyes passed over them.  Twenty destroyers and frigates surrounded the freighters, much smaller but far, far more deadly than the ships they guarded.

He winced as the grav cannons opened up, turning the universe on its side.  Only one or two main grav cannons hit each escort, but they hit completely unprepared targets and ripped deep into their armor.  Smaller fighter cannons tore into them as well, and Jack focused on the single frigate his half of the Cowboys fired on.  Ten grav cannons twisted into it, tearing parts of the structure away and flinging it off into space as they flickered off just long enough to clear space of the debris.

The tortured frigate slewed away from the assault, deflection grids failing altogether as its primary power systems failed.  Then the lasers opened up, shredding the wreckage with their rapid-fire strobe of destruction.  Jack looked around to see the rest of the escorts drifting in pieces.  All targets were neutralized, without a single loss for the squadron.  Jack swallowed.  They’d never known what was coming for them.  Just like Yosemite Yards or Fort Wichita, the attack from hyperspace had ripped them apart in seconds.  Jack shook his head.  It seemed a good defense really
was
a good offense when it came to it.  It just really sucked to be the defenders in a war like this.

Aneerin’s face appeared on the comm. screen, and Jack glanced to see the open channel icon on it.  The Peloran was broadcasting without encryption in a language Jack didn’t recognize.  Words appeared on the bottom of the screen in American, and Jack flicked his eyes over to smile at Betty who just smiled back.  He glanced back at the screen to read it.  “Surrender now and prepare to be boarded,” Aneerin ordered the defenseless convoy.  “You cannot escape us.  You cannot outfight us.  Surrender and you will be treated according to the old rules.”

“The old rules?” Jack asked, looking over to Betty.

Betty shrugged.  “From The Great War.  He’s saying he’ll honor the old agreements on prisoners.”

“Ah,” Jack whispered.  “Like the Geneva Conventions.”

“Yes,” Betty said with a pursed lip.  “The ideas are similar in some ways.  Oh no,” she added.

Jack scanned the area with a flick of his eyes and had just enough time to register the alarms of over a hundred incoming hyperspace wakes breaching into normal space before the screens filled with the tracks of incoming missiles.  “Oh frak,” he muttered and flicked the stick over as Betty spun the laser turret towards the nearest salvo.