Forge of War (Jack of Harts) (32 page)

“If you say this is crazy one more time,” The President’s disembodied voice spat out, “I will
personally
fly to Alpha Centauri and
bitch
slap you!”

Jack looked at Betty in alarm.  “Are we
sure
that’s a recording?”

Betty gave him a wry smile.  “Yes, Jack, we
are
.  Instantaneous interstellar communications is science
fiction
.”

Jack pulled in a deep breath.  “Right.”

“This is…not easy,” Charles said, manifestly unhappy with the situation, but he finally nodded towards Tom.  “I will accept the
acting
command.”

Tom nodded.  “Good.  But for the record, while the
rank
is acting, the
command
is permanent.  The President was impressed with the poise you used when speaking with her, and with the command you have shown since.  The Cowboys have survived well under your command, and they are yours.”  Tom smiled.  “And if half of what I’ve read is true, I will be happy to fly with you.”

Charles took in a long series of breaths, looking back and forth between Jack and Jay, before finally nodding in a manifestly unhappy way.  “I understand.”

Jack’s silver car cut through the evening gloom, over the glowing lights of Landing City below.  It was a beautiful car, one he never could have purchased back in America.  After Yosemite fell, nothing like this was built, and the ones that remained were more valuable as spare parts to keep
useful
vehicles operating.

Here on New Earth though, The War was a distant thing.  Six months after Yosemite, New Earth had hardly been touched.  Even the space battle on New Years had been precisely that.  A space battle, with no real damage happening to the planet.  He’d heard that the president of the Chinese colony on planet had even come to Landing to negotiate an “amicable understanding” between the two colonies.  He shook his head.

“What?” Betty asked, sitting in the passenger seat in big mode, wearing her favorite yellow sundress.

Jack shrugged.  “It just seems odd.  After two hundred years, there might actually be a true planetary president of New Earth.  Never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“Well, it’s the only play they have,” Betty answered.  “We could invade at any time and they don’t have the navy to stop us.  They have good ground defenses still, but we’d be fighting over
their
land, and they don’t want another Yosemite over
them
.”

“Of course, they’re just talking about talking right now,” Jasmine said from her seat on the dashboard in small mode.  She tapped her blue jeans with a smile.  “They’re just buying time for the Chinese fleets from the colony sectors to get back.”

“Maybe,” Betty whispered.

“Even if that’s all, it’s smart,” Jack interjected.  “They don’t want to fight.  Well, I don’t want to fight them either, so I’m fine with that.”

“Well,
I
hope it works out,” Jasmine said and the car began nosing down towards the street below them.  “This place is too nice to fight over.”

“Yeah,” Jack whispered, not wanting to think about fighting
anywhere
around Samantha.  “
Way
too nice.”

The car flew down the road, hovering thirty centimeters above the ground on its grav plating, and approached the gate to McEntyre House.  “Norman says we can come on in,” Jasmine announced as McEntyre House’s cyber opened the gate and she turned the car into the driveway.  She drove them under the trees and he saw fallen leaves scattering to either side of the driveway.  They pulled up in front of McEntyre House, and the car lowered itself onto rubber tires, causing the dirt to crunch under them as they came to a stop.

Jasmine smiled.  “Well, that’s it for me.  You can take care of Jack the rest of the night.”

Betty nodded.

“Good.”  Jasmine turned to Jack.  “Thanks for letting me drive you here,” she added with a smile and came to her feet on the dashboard.  Her white tank top and blue jeans faded away to be replaced by a long black dress perfect for a formal party.  “How do I look?”

“Ravishing,” Jack said with a smile and a wink.

“Thank you,” Jasmine said and blew him a kiss as she turned to walk out the side of the car, making towards the house.  Her holoform faded away as she walked outside the range of his holoemitters.

“Good luck, Norman,” Jack whispered and smiled at Betty.

She chuckled back.  “He’ll need it.  Now
you
get out there and greet
your
date,” she added with a shooing motion.  “I’ll engage privacy mode now,” she finished and her holoform followed Jasmine’s out of existence.

Jack pulled in a deep breath, opened the door, and slipped out of the sports car, hearing the creak of genuine “used to be a cow” leather seats.  He slipped one hand into a pocket and walked around the car to lean against it.  A thumb hooked through his belt, he crossed his legs, and waited for Samantha to appear.

She stepped through the house’s door wearing a short strapless red dress that seemed to shimmer in the porch lights.  His eyes traveled down her bare, long, and shapely legs to the matching red pumps and a low whistle escaped his lips.  He scanned back up to where her red hair blended with the dress perfectly and breath escaped him.  She looked…beautiful.

She looked at the car, and shook her head.  “You…bought a
car
? 
How
?” she asked, her slight Scottish accent twisting her question, and began walking down the stairs.

Jack didn’t move, more because he needed help standing than by choice.  He
really loved
watching her walk.  He shrugged and worked real hard to take a controlled breath.  “Well, there’s this thing called ‘money’ that you can trade for goods and services,” he said, somehow without cracking his voice, and aimed a wink her way.  She made it
so
hard to try to look shiny it was criminal.

Samantha stepped up to him, leaned close, grabbed the scarf hanging around his neck, and smiled at him.  “I’m aware of this ‘money’ you speak of.”  Her smile turned impish.  “I hear it makes people do things they would
never
do otherwise.”

Jack made a show of great sigh.  “Yes, Ma’am.  Why just today there was this
amazing
salesgirl that
really
wanted my money.  She
flirted
something great, but I
think
she just wanted me for my money,” he finished with a sad smile and lifted a hand over his heart.

Samantha pursed her lips and patted the hand in consolation.  “She dumped you when she got it, didn’t she?”

Jack sighed again and gave her a sad nod.  “Like a hot potato.”  He patted the car.  “But I got something to get over the heartache with,” he finished with a smile.  “Wanna go for a ride?”

Samantha’s eyes opened wide and she smiled so big the freckles on her cheeks flared.  “I thought you’d never ask.”

He placed his hands on her hips and stepped away from the car, moving her with him.  A swift tap of a heel against the undercarriage caused the door to open and he helped her in, shutting it only after making certain all of her was inside.  It was the gentlemanly thing to do after all.  Then he ambled around the car and slipped in, shutting the door behind him.  A quick word sent it rolling down the driveway in silence.

Samantha aimed a curious gaze at him.  “Where are we going?”

Jack chuckled and shook his head.  “Oh, I
told
you, tonight’s a
secret
,” he said with an admonishing finger.  “I’m not telling you
anything
.”

She raised an eyebrow at him.  “Well, I feel compelled to warn you that if you intend to take advantage of my innocent nature, Daddy gave me some pepper spray.”

Jack frowned and cocked his head to the side.  “I thought he trusted me.”

Samantha sighed.  “OK, so he gave it to me before I had my
first
date.  But I still have it.”

Jack looked her skintight dress up and down before smiling at her handbag.  “I guess I’ll just have to take that first then, because you sure aren’t hiding it anywhere
else
,” he said with a wink.

Samantha rolled her eyes.  “Men.  You forget all the really fun places to hide stuff.”

“
I
can think of a few,” Jack whispered as the car flew out of the gate and began pulling up into the sky over the street.

Samantha rolled her eyes and held her hand up to show the jewelry on her wrist and fingers.  “Bracelet.  Rings.”  She tapped her ear.  “Ear rings.  It’s easy to hide a little bit of ‘oh my God my face is on fire’ gas and a sprayer in
any
of these.  I’ve even seen people do it in tongue rings.”

“Ouch,” Jack whispered.  “I feel sorry for anyone who bit down wrong on
that
.”

Samantha snorted.  “Don’t.  I know everyone it’s happened to, and they deserved it.”

Jack caught a look in her eye that triggered his inner suspicious side.  “You wouldn’t have had anything to do with that, would you?”

Samantha shifted to innocent in a heartbeat.  “Me?  Interfering with the operation of personal defense devices?  That’s a serious crime, Jack.  Please.  The fact that I was there to see it each time it happened is a complete coincidence.  I assure you,
dozens
of people were present at each occasion.”

Jack smiled, recognizing a cover when he saw one, and shook his head.  “I feel sorry for the poor guy that lost business because of
those
problems.”

Samantha smiled and bit her lip.  “Don’t.  But
that
is a story for…oh…four years from now.”

Jack raised one eyebrow.  “Mmmm…making plans for me already, are you?”

Samantha tilted her head to the side and gave him a sly smile.  “Maybe.  Or maybe there’s a seven year statute of limitations,” she finished with a wink.

Jack laughed out loud in sheer amazement.  When he finally got himself back under control, he rubbed his chin and just watched her, eyes wide open as he tried to reconcile this new glimpse into what he knew.  It was awesome.  He barely stopped himself from saying three words he really wouldn’t be able to take back and brought a hand up to this mouth just to have something to do.

“You…Wow…Forget
me
…” he said in a series of stammers.  “I have to worry about
you
leading
me
astray!” he finally blurted out with a joyous smile.

Samantha scanned him with one emerald eye.  “I admit nothing,” she whispered with a sly tone.  “But
you
…you I
know
have done things.  I see it in your eyes every time you look at a totally innocent household chemical.”

Jack placed a hand on his chest in mock horror.  “Me?  Doing…things like
that
? 
No, Ma’am
.  I have not performed a
single
illegal act in all my life…
in
my chosen State of residence…
since
my eighteenth birthday…” he qualified while waggling his eyebrows at her.

It was her turn to laugh, an amazing and full laugh that filled the car with joy.  Jack took a deep breath as he watched, and relaxed back in his seat as he realized he wanted to make her laugh more often.  He grasped the scarf around his neck with both hands and just enjoyed the sight of her laughing.

Her laughter finally trailed off and she met his gaze.  She picked up on his mood and a curious expression twisted her smile.  “What?”

Jack held his calm smile.  “Well, it comes to mind that I’m wearing a scarf.”

She glanced at it for a moment, and back up to his face with a knowing smile.  “It’s been over a week and it
just
comes to mind?  You
are
slow.”

He reached up and tipped the brim of his cowboy hat towards her.  “Yes, Ma’am.”

Her brow furrowed at his response.  “Jack?  What just happened?”

Jack pulled in a deep breath.  “I just realized that you gave me a great gift, and I have given you nothing in return.”

Her eyes softened and she laid a hand on his arm.  “Jack…you have no idea how wrong you are.”

Nervous energy ran through Jack and he desperately tried to come up with something witty to say but he had nothing.  The car saved him by nosing down towards the ground.  Samantha looked out the windshield and frowned.

“That’s Landing Stadium,” she whispered.  She turned back to him.  “But T&J are there tonight.”

“Yes, they are,” Jack answered with a smile.

Her brow furrowed and she gave him a hard look.  “But they’re sold out!”

Jack chuckled and tipped his hat towards her again.  “Yes.  They
are
.”

The car dove down behind the stadium and Samantha looked at him in disbelief.  “How?”

“Well, it’s simple really,” he said with a shrug, his confidence returning now that he was on familiar territory again.  “I’m very much afraid that I cheated.”  He paused to smile at her.  “When we made that little bet about tickets, I failed to mention the fact that I
know
Taylor and Jennifer.”

“Really?” Samantha asked.  “How?”

Jack waggled his eyebrows.  “We grew up together.”

The car dropped to the ground and rolled to a silent stop next to a small door with two guards next to it.  Jack smiled and slid out of the car, swinging around it to open her door and help her out with a hand.  She shook her head at him and pulled his ear down to her lips.

“If anything you say about this is true…” she whispered in his ear.

“I know, I know,” Jack whispered back and placed one hand in a pocket.  “You’ll either kiss me for being smart, or hit me for cheating,” he said with a smile and turned to look at the guards.  “I’m Jack,” he said, pulling a wallet out of his pocket.  It flipped open to display his I.D. and a holoform of his face appeared in the air, rotating so they could see him from all sides.  “And this is the my plus one.”