Forge of War (Jack of Harts) (33 page)

One of the guards stepped forward and inspected the I.D. up close.  Finally, he smiled and nodded.  “They’ve been expecting you.  I’ll show you the way if you’ll follow me.”  With that, he turned and opened the door.

Jack aimed a triumphant smile at Samantha but she just shook her head as they walked up the stairs.  The guard ushered them into the stadium and they walked through the warren of people runs behind the stage, watching people arrange clothing and instruments.  Finally they made it to a temporary living room made out of thick, brightly colored curtains hanging from a metal frame.  As they stepped in, the sound of organized chaos faded and Jack looked up to see a sky blue tarp over them.  The room really
was
designed to help people escape the chaos.  A drink station on one side promised refreshment without being too ostentatious, and an array of brightly colored sofas and beanbag chairs filled the rest of the floor.  There was enough seating for the entire crew to relax, and several people were taking advantage of the room at the moment.

“Jack!” two girls, one blonde and one brunette, screamed and jumped to their feet.  They rushed him and jumped up to wrap their arms around his neck.  He stepped forward to catch them and hold them close around the waists as they kissed him on either cheek.  “You made it!” they chorused again.

“I
promised
I’d come whenever I could,” he returned with a wry smile.

They examined the scarf around his neck for a moment, and then put their chins on his shoulders to look behind him at Samantha.

“Jack?” Taylor started.

“Did you forget to tell us something?” Jennifer finished.

He turned to face Samantha with a smile on his face, and Taylor and Jennifer squirmed around in his arms to hang on his hips and look at her as well.

“Taylor,” he said with a nod towards her blonde head.  “Jennifer.”  He nodded to his right.  “Meet Samantha.  She’s my plus one for…” he trailed off as he realized he’d been about to say “for the night.”  Samantha recognized his pause and her eyes widened in interest.  Taylor and Jennifer exchanged gazes as well and he felt them lean back to get better looks at him.  He finally sighed and smiled.  “For as long as she wants to be,” he said with a nod of his head towards her.

Samantha’s smile softened and Taylor and Jennifer examined her for a moment.  When they turned their attention back to Jack they looked most perturbed.

“Jack,” Taylor started.

“The next time you fall in love,” Jennifer said.

“Give us a heads up,” Taylor finished.

“But…” Jack started to protest but stopped when Taylor and Jennifer’s eyes flashed.  He looked away towards Samantha and blinked in realization.  “Damn,” he whispered.

Taylor and Jennifer squirmed out of his arms and dropped to the floor.  They walked over to Samantha and she gave him a questioning look.  He nodded towards the two girls with a smile, letting her know they were good.  She accepted their hugs, hugged them back, and Jack breathed in and out with relief.

They said some words to each other that Jack chose not to focus on.  He made a show of walking outside the room and letting the curtains close behind him.  He studied the work going on behind the stage, technicians installing lights and smoke projectors in their places.  Over to the sides, sparklers and speakers moved into position with smooth precision.  It looked like everything would be ready in time for the concert without any issues at all.

After a minute, the curtain opened behind him and a blonde and brunette head appeared on either side of him.

“We need to warm up,” Taylor said with a hand on his arm.

“You enjoy the room,” Jennifer added.

Taylor’s hand flexed.  “Thank you for coming.”

“She’s a good one,” Jennifer finished.

Jack nodded in agreement.  They pulled him down to kiss him on the cheeks, and walked away, hips swaying back and forth.  One hand in his pocket and thumb slipped through his belt, he watched until they turned out of sight.  A long breath escaped his lungs and he spun on the ball of one foot to walk back into the relaxation room.  A deep breath picked up the scent of rose blossoms on the air, and he glanced over to one side of the room to see them, seeping in a bowl of steaming water.

“They’re nice girls,” Samantha said from the couch she sat on.

“They said the same of you.”

“Which one?” she asked with a knowing smile.

Jack shrugged.  “If
one
says it, they
both
say it,” he said as he sat down next to her.  “It’s the way they are.”

Samantha laid her head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her.  “Do they do
everything
together?” she asked in an innocent tone.

Jack chuckled.  “They’re cousins but I swear they were meant to be sisters.  Music, cards, studying.  Get them together and
everyone
around them will do better.  It’s like they’re two halves of the same brain.”

Samantha threaded the fingers of one hand through his.  “You know what I meant.”

Jack sighed.  “Yes I do, but I do not kiss and tell.  So even if I
did
know the answer, I would not say.  It is
their
story to tell, and I will not reveal it for them.”

Samantha snuggled in closer, pulled her feet up under her, and relaxed against him.  “Good,” she murmured.

They sat there, for a long time, just enjoying each other’s presence.  Time seemed to cease in the calming atmosphere of the relaxation room, and Jack loved it.

“Ja-ack,” two voices chorused and he opened his eyes to see Taylor and Jennifer smiling at them.

“It’s ti-ime,” Taylor sing-songed.

“You don’t want to miss the concert, do you?” Jennifer asked.

Jack looked down at Samantha, not moving yet, and realized he didn’t want to disturb her.  He liked her just where she was.

“Or maybe he
does
,” Taylor answered.

“We’re hurt,” Jennifer said with a shake of her head.

“You travel over four lightyears just to see us,” Taylor said with a hand on her breast.

“And then let the first girl you meet stop you short,” Jennifer finished.

Jack frowned.  “She wasn’t the
first
girl.”  He cleared his throat.

Taylor and Jennifer shared knowing looks.

“We went
shopping
.  I saw
lots
of girls that day.”

Taylor and Jennifer shook their heads in time.  “Whatever you say, Jack,” they chorused and turned to walk back out.

“At least you can
hear
from back here,” Taylor said with a wink.

“We’ll
try
not to disturb you,” Jennifer said and they stepped out, leaving the curtain to swing shut with a flutter.

“
Much
,” Taylor poked her head back in to finish and she was gone.

Samantha finally moved, squirming out of his arm to place her feet back on the floor.

Jack sighed.

“What?” she asked and ran her fingers through her hair.  “
You’ve
seen them perform live. 
I
haven’t.  I want to watch.”  She slipped her feet back in her shoes and came to her feet.  “You coming?”

Jack sprang to his feet with a broad and charming smile.  “Wherever you go, I shall surely follow.”  He crooked his arm out and she slipped her arm in his.

“Good,” she whispered.  “You may escort me to the concert then.”

Jack breathed in deeply and felt his chest puff out in pride.  “I thought you would never ask.”  And with that, they walked out of the room and made their way to the wings of the stage.  They stopped to watch the band warming up behind the curtains, and saw Taylor and Jennifer stamping their boots in preparation.  Jack sighed and wrapped an arm around Samantha.

“You love them, don’t you?”

Jack turned and wrapped the second arm around her, holding her close against him at the waist.

“I grew up with them.  We did…everything together.  On the beach, in the bars, in our houses.  There was this big group of us kids that just hung together no matter what.  Swimming, surfing, dancing, music.  Fun with household chemicals,” he said with a wink.  “Anything really, whatever we felt like doing at the moment.

“They are my friends, Sam.  I love them with all my heart and with all my soul, and I will until the day I die.”  He sighed.  “And as usual, they’re
right
about me.”

Her eyes shifted back and forth as she tried to figure out what he meant.  Then she had it and her eyes went wide.  “You…you’re in
love
?”

He smiled at her.  This would be a step he could never take back.  He bent down to her ear and took it.  “Yes, Ma’am,” he whispered.

She shivered and leaned back to look at him for a long time with her bright emerald eyes.  “You are the strangest man I’ve ever met.”

“That’s good.  I would be worried if you had met one
stranger
than me.”

Samantha rolled her eyes and patted the scarf hanging over his chest.  She shook her head and smiled.  “You Americans, always so invested in your Sirs and Ma’ams, using them like a mantra of respect…but you…you make it sound like you’re trying to disrobe me with your lips.”

Jack smiled as an image of that came to mind.

Samantha slapped him hard enough to bring him out of his imagination.

“What?” he asked in an offended innocent tone.

She waved her finger in front of his face.  “Don’t be putting on that innocent act, Jack,” she said in a stern voice.  “I
know
what you were thinking.”

Jack shrugged.  “I don’t know what
you
were thinking about, but
I
was thinking about a
beach
.”

She looked at him with a disbelieving gaze and put a hand on her hip.

“Honest.  I can see you on the
beach
right now.”  He nodded towards Taylor and Jennifer.  “They can too.”  He pulled in a deep breath, met her gaze, and took another mental step down that road with no return.  “Sam, I want you on the beach.  I want you
off
the beach.”  He shook his head with a smile and chuckle.  “I want you anywhere you
want
to be wanted.”

She aimed an approving smile at him and placed her hands on the scarf hanging over his chest.  “Well, it does occur to me that I owe you a
swim
.”  She tilted her head and looked at him with one emerald eye through a veil of red hair.  “Assuming you intend to collect.”

He lowered his lips to her ear.  “Yes, Ma’am,” he whispered.

She giggled and leaned in close to him before turning her head towards Taylor and Jennifer.  “Thank you, Jack.”  She placed a hand on one of his arms.  “I know the risk you took.”

“It doesn’t bother you?” Jack asked, loving the feel of her body against his.  He would give her an eternity to stop being there.

“I wouldn’t say
that
.”  She pulled in a deep breath, her eyes still on Taylor and Jennifer.  “But…let’s watch the show and see where it goes,” she finished and patted his arm.

Jack followed her gaze with a smile and sucked in a deep breath.  The smoke machines billowed, the sparks flew into the air, the lights flashed, and the curtains opened.  Taylor and Jennifer stomped onto the stage, their jewel-encrusted cowboy boots flashing in the strobe lights.  And to the twin strumming of guitars the crowd went wild.

Many, many hours later, Jack and Samantha slipped out of the ocean, dripping wet, and gathered up their things.  She grabbed his cowboy hat before he could and slipped it onto her head with an impish smile.

“Come on, Cowboy,” she said and ran her finger down his wet uniform.  “
You
still need to take me home.”

He sighed, leaned in close, and whispered, “Yes, Ma’am.”

Jack walked out of the brisk evening air into Devilcat Country’s warm common room, shuffling a deck of cards in his hands while he looked for a game.  Betty walked next to him, the soft hum of the holoemitters in his uniform that most people couldn’t hear bringing her holoform to life.

He saw some Devilcat pilots playing a game on one of the holotables.  Small robots darted across the table, shooting lasers and missiles at each other in time to commands from the pilots around the table.  Some of them were humanoid, while others looked like big robotic dogs.

Intrigued, Jack walked up and saw Devilcat Ten in the group.  The guy couldn’t fly very well, but he was smart enough that Jack had him on the short list for transfer to the Cowboys.  “Hey Roger.  What’s this you’re playing?” he asked.

Roger smiled.  “Mechs of War.  Haven’t you heard of it?”

Jack nodded in recognition.  “Yeah, I’ve heard of it.  Guys in big robots blowing up guys in big robots?”

Roger chuckled.  “In
really
simple terms, yeah.  You never played it?”

Jack shrugged.  “No, though now that I think of it I think I remember seeing a cartoon when I was kid.”

Roger shuddered and winced.  “The less said about
that
garbage the better.”  He gave Jack a perplexed look.  “You
really
never played?”

Jack shook his head.  “Nope.  I played Hellcat simulators until I discovered girls.”

Roger chuckled.  “Fair point.”  He aimed an evaluating gaze at Jack.  “So
that’s
why you’re so good in a Hellcat.”

Jack shifted the side, not really wanting to toot his own horn.  “I shot a fair share of unnamed Asian, Khazic, and Arabic enemies on unnamed colony worlds in those games.  Got a bit of experience there.”

Roger snorted.  “Gotta love the Political Correctness in fighting games.”

Jack gave a dark chuckle.  “I bet the next round of games will be a lot more pointed on who the enemy is,” he said with a smile.

“No bet.”

“Coward.”

Roger shook his head with an amused smile.  “I ‘just say no’ to sucker bets.”

Jack chuckled.  “Good policy.”

Jack’s attention returned to the table as two of the mechs ran into each other, the dog mech pouncing on the humanoid mech.  The dog thing ripped a leg off the other mech and ran away from its disabled enemy, weapons fire from other mechs exploding all around it.  The pilot it belonged to thrust one hand up in the air in victory.  Roger shook his head with another smile.  “Sometimes we can get into the game a bit.”

Jack shrugged.  “No worries.  I know what that’s like.  So why fight in mechs like this?  They’re pretty big.  A warship could drill them from orbit easy.”

Roger nodded with a big smile.  “That’s actually one of the most common questions.  There are a couple reasons for that though.  First is that there are no big juju aliens in the game.  No Peloran to bring us gravtech, so we’re still using standard old school rocket engines to move around.”

Jack nodded his head in understanding.  “So they have to assume gravity orbits when they get around a planet.  That
would
put a kink in sustained orbital bombardment.  But they should still be able to drop a few loads of kinetic death on anything below as they fly overhead, right?”

Roger chuckled.  “Not that simple actually.  Between point defense and jammers, it’s actually pretty hard to localize a target from orbit.”

Jack nodded.  “Ah.  Good point.”

“Also, it’s against the Rules of War, so they don’t.”

Jack raised on eyebrow.  “There are
rules
to war?”

“Hey.  Just like the Lunar Treaty.  Bad Things happened and they don’t want them to happen again.  A bunch of former nations in the history of the game bombed themselves into oblivion from space, so the surviving nations agreed to never do anything like that again.”

“Ah.  And everybody agrees?”

Roger winced.  “Mostly.  Sometimes people play a little fast and loose with the rules of course, but it’s a general agreement that nobody bombards cities from orbit.  They know everybody else will return the favor after all.”  Roger winced and waved a hand at the game table, pointing at the status screen hovering above one edge.  “Now
these
guys don’t agree, and
they really mean
it.”

Jack focused and the words “Holy Terran Empire” at the top of the display came into focus.  “Let me guess, neither Holy, nor Terran, nor an Empire?”

Roger laughed.  “Actually, in
their
point of view, they’re all three.  They’re a religious theocracy, they control ‘Holy Terra,’ they have the best technology, and they believe the galaxy is destined to bow before them or burn.”

Jack winced.  “
That
has to go over well with everybody else.”

“Not exactly.  They basically go total war whenever they fight someone else big.”

“Sucks to be whoever’s world they’re fighting on.”

Roger laughed again.  “Yeah.  It generally doesn’t go well for those guys.”

Jack focused on the status update over the side controlling the dog mechs.  He read the name Antares.  “Antares?  I thought you said no aliens?”

Roger cleared his throat and aimed a hand at the table.  “This is almost two thousand years in the future, Jack,” he explained in a wry tone.  “We’ve penetrated the Terran and Taurian Walls, explored the Betelgeuse Expanse, the Polaris, Rastaban, Antaran, and even
Rigelian
Bubbles, and more.”  Roger smiled.  “The Antarans are humans who have come
back
to fight.”

“Oh,” Jack whispered as he tried to switch his worldview around to consider it from that angle.  “I never thought of that.”  He brought a hand up to rub his jaw.  “I suppose Earth
won’t
always be the center of the universe,
will
it?”

Roger sighed.  “Rome was the center of all Western knowledge.  The sun never set on the British Empire.”  He looked at the board where a dog mech took a hit and exploded.  “And sooner or later, the sun will set on Earth.  The question we have to consider is who will be controlling the
new
centers of power.”

Jack blinked and considered Roger for several seconds as he mentally placed Roger on
top
of the list of which Devilcats to take.  He couldn’t fly, but damn could he think long term.  The Cowboys might just need that in the future.  Jack started shuffling his cards again and nodded.  “Thanks for talking to me about this.  I’ll have to think about it,” he said and turned away.

“Wait!” Roger said and Jack stopped.  “I think you want to play this game,” Roger added with a smile.

Jack winced.  “Actually, I normally like playing games that have real world significance.  That’s why I tend to do combat sims even now.  And mechs aren’t real.”

Roger raised a finger in correction.  “Actually,
mechs
are real.  We just don’t use them for
war
like that.”

Jack cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows in annoyance.  It was a meaningless correction as far as he was concerned.

“But that’s not why I think you’ll be interested,” Roger set in a rush.  “It’s the cybers.”

Jack cocked his head to the side and turned to Betty.  She took on the faraway look she used when accessing data for a second, and then came back into focus with a swift nod.  Jack grunted and turned back to Roger.  “I’m listening.”

Roger licked his lips.  “Look, after Contact, we introduced cybers into the Mechs of War universe.  We had a history of rogue AIs doing Bad Things and the cybers asked us to make them the good guys.  So we created them in game.”  He waved a hand at the Antarans.  “One of their early acts in game was to keep the Antarans from destroying themselves in their own private little Final War.  The Antarans have an Indian motif, so the cybers took on the spirit guide nature and helped them out.  And the real interesting thing is that in battle, the cybers become the
mechs
, just like they become the
fighters
for
us
.”

Jack glanced at Betty to see her arms crossed and a look of approval on her face.  “I’ll bet a lot of cybers like that.”

Roger chuckled.  “More cybers play the Antarans than any other faction.”

Jack pointed at the Terran side of the battle.  “So what are
their
cybers like?”

Roger shrugged.  “They actually don’t have cybers the way we think of them.  They copy the minds of their soldiers into cybernetic brains, but they do the same effective thing.”

“Interesting,” Jack whispered and turned to look at Betty.  She didn’t seem to approve at all of the idea.  “Not many cyber fans of that faction, huh?”

“More than you’d think, but not many, no.”  Roger pulled in a deep breath.  “But the reason I think you’d be interested in playing is that we have full simulator pods for the game.  Like a Hellcat or Avenger pod, that a cyber can enter and help you play just like in real life.”

Jack blinked as he considered that.  “Interesting.”

Roger seemed to brighten up as he realized he was making progress.  “And the Department of Defense has accepted them as full scale pilot and cyber sim pods.  If you’re tired of all of the same old DoD sims, you can try this game out for some quality pilot and cyber time.”

Jack looked at Betty with a speculative eye and she crossed her arms, looking interested.  “Good sales pitch,” he whispered.

“I always jump at the chance to get new people interested in the game,” Roger said with a smile.

“Jack,” Betty said and he turned to look at her.  “Charles called.  He needs you at the office.”

Jack nodded.  “Got it.  Thanks for showing me this.”  He glanced at the game table, considering the cybers, and wondered just how realistic that was.  “I’m going to think about it,” he said and turned to stride out of the common room, shoving his playing cards in a pocket.

“Talk to me anytime,” Roger called out.

The chill, evening air descended around them and Jack pulled in a deep breath as his mind continued to mull over the idea.  Betty walked next to him and they made their way across the street, dodging vehicles hovering down it.

“What’s got you thinking?” Betty asked as they cut through a back alley between buildings.

Jack shrugged, not wanting to tip off just how interested he was.  “Just wondering, I suppose.  That copying minds into cyber brain thing.  Is that
really
possible?”

Betty sighed as she kept pace with him onto another street.  There was no traffic on ground level this time so they cut across without a worry.  “Yes, it’s been done before.  But the main reason we
wanted
it, doesn’t really work so we don’t do it anymore.”

Jack considered that for a moment, stepped up onto the sidewalk, and turned as he nodded.  “The main reason being that there could be a backup of
me
in case I died, right?”

Betty nodded.  “The problem with the whole idea is that the backup is a cyber too.”

Jack sighed.  “And every cyber needs a partner,” he said with a wave towards himself.

“Every cyber needs a
genie
partner,” Betty said in a firm tone.  “And no insult intended, but there just aren’t many of you we want to partner with.”

Jack chewed his lip as he considered that.  “You’d have a population problem if you tried that.  Lots of cybers wanting to be partners with a selectively small number of people.”

“Exactly,” Betty said and guided them around a corner.  “Imagine if Drew had backed herself up.  Right now,
both
she and Jasmine would need to be partnered with somebody.  And their own relationship would overshadow their new relationship.  Back when we tried it, sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t.  Sometimes the person in Drew’s position got resentful that the laws forced her to find a partner.  They didn’t always have the same…wish to find a partner that the rest of us are born with.  We had some issues, and we chose to stop doing it.”

Jack frowned in thought, mind pondering something else.  “I’ll bet you had another problem.”

“We had more than one,” Betty said with a smile.

Jack shrugged.  “I suppose you did.  But I’m betting a big one was the partners.”

Betty cocked her head to the side and gave him an expectant look.  “Explain.”

Jack chuckled.  “Well, this partnership we have is…pretty deep.”

Betty nodded.  “Yes it is.”

“How many people were willing to have a partnership with more than one person like this?”

Betty sighed.  “Yes.  And that is why so many of us choose to shut down after our partner dies.  It is hard to find another partner.  It is hard to find one that we like.  Hard to find one who doesn’t already have a partner.  Hard to find one willing to have more than one.”