Forge of War (Jack of Harts) (42 page)

The tech wizards from yesterday would be
so
jealous at being upstaged.

Jack leaned against a wall, arms and legs crossed, scanning the studio and the studio audience waiting for the show to start.  Jasmine and Betty leaned against the wall on either side of him, while Charles and Dorothy stood across from them in the small offstage run.  Their Dress Whites shown bright in the light spilling off the stage, even though they weren’t all planning to be on the show.  They made an impressive sight walking down the halls.

“It won’t be much longer,” Charles intoned in a careful manner, keeping his voice low.  “Are you sure you’re ready?”

Jack smiled.  “I was
born
ready.”

Charles raised a single eyebrow at Jack.  “I am serious.  If you do not feel comfortable, we can cancel right now.”

Jack shook his head.  “No need.  The network agreed to the conditions.”

Charles grumped.  “And then picked
her
for the interview?”

Jack shrugged.  “Backing out would look bad for us.”

Charles chuckled.  “That does not mean I like it.”

“Me neither,” Jack answered with a smile.  “But seriously, Sir, Betty and Jasmine have prepped me well.  I can end the interview whenever I need to without making it look like I’m ending the interview.”

Charles aimed a raised eyebrow in his general direction.  “No holographic monsters I hope?”

Jack returned with an innocent expression.  “I have no idea what you mean, Chief.”

Charles chuckled again and rolled his eyes.  “Right.  I am sure.”  He shook his head.  “You know base security is still trying to track down whoever did that, right?”

Jasmine emitted a derisive snort.

Jack smiled at his superior officer.  “I wish them luck in finding the hacker.”

“I bet you do,” Charles said with a grunt.

Jack raised a hand.  “Scout’s honor, Chief.”

Charles raised another eyebrow at him.

“Honest, Chief,” he said with a beaming smile.  “We take Scouting real seriously back home.  I’d
never
blaspheme it.”

Charles sighed and rubbed his forehead with one hand.  “Just…do not do anything that would get me woken up,” he finally whispered and aimed a rueful smile at Jack.

“Sir!  Yes, Sir!” Jack answered with gusto.

The opening music of the Landing Report, the oldest and most prestigious newscast on New Earth, filled the studio, and they turned to the stage.  Jack still didn’t know why they wanted to interview a Cowboy.  He knew what they said.  They wanted to interview one of the Americans who saved New Earth, to get to know who would leave their home to fight out here.  They wanted him on the prime time newscast, for everyone in the system to see.

And then they handed the interview to their
religion
consultant rather than one of their main anchors. 
That
was what had him confused.  And that was why he’d asked Betty and Jasmine to scan the nets for anything he could use on her if he had to.  They’d come back with proof that she wasn’t near as holier than thou as she acted.  He would keep that in his back pocket, just in case he needed it.  But he would work with her as long as she was willing to work with him.  He would find how willing she was soon.

The religion consultant, a former contestant in the Miss Universe competitions, walked onto the stage wearing a smile and a suit that accentuated all of her curves while still looking business-like.  She had the reputation of a good, clean, Christian girl to maintain after all.  She waved at the studio audience and they cheered back as she sat down behind the news desk.  She looked at the cameras and the applause faded away with the music, leaving the most prestigious stage on New Earth to her.

“Thank you for tuning in tonight,” she said in a clear soprano tone that carried through the studio without any need of amplification.  It was a beautiful voice actually, one that had done well in the competitions in the past.  “I am Faith Hendriks, speaking for…the Landing Report, and it is a pleasure to be here, on today of all days.”

Jack had to hand it to her.  She did sound real sincere.  He wondered if she was putting on an act or not, but couldn’t tell yet.

“One month ago,” Faith continued, “two major war fleets attacked New Earth.  Our brave navy destroyed both fleets, with the help of the Peloran,” she said through lusty cheering and applause from the studio audience.  “Today we have a guest you will not soon forget!  He is a fighter pilot who has faced down the Shang and the Chinese in multiple star systems, and come back looking for more to kill,” she announced and the cheering erupted again.  “He is…a real American Cowboy!”

Jasmine and Betty rolled their eyes.  Jack just chuckled at the campy introduction, tipped his cowboy hat towards them, and walked out onto the stage with a jaunty gait, a beaming smile, and a waving hand.  The studio audience ate it up and their applause followed him all the way to the desk.  He placed a hand on the chair and smiled at Faith.  “May I?”

“Of course,” she returned in a whisper and waved for him to take the chair.  As he sat down, she returned her focus to the cameras and the studio audience.  “It is my pleasure to introduce you to Captain Jack…” she paused as she squinted at the teleprompter and blushed.  “I’m sorry…how
do
you pronounce your last name?”

Jack smiled at her, wondering why she’d not taken the time to learn that behind his mask.  “The way it’s spelt, Ma’am.”  He turned his smile on the audience.  “My momma always taught me to help people sound it out.”  His smile turned humorous.  “And if I learned one thing, it’s to listen to my momma,” he finished with a chuckle.  The studio audience laughed and applauded him and he could see he had captured them.  They liked him.  That would be worth a lot if he needed it.

Faith looked at the prompter again for nearly second before looking back to him.  “Can I just call you Jack?”

Jack’s smile grew and he rubbed his chin with a thumb.  “Well, if we’re going for
Christian
names, can I call you
Faith
?”

Faith chuckled and shook her head.  “I wish I could tell you that you’re the first to ask me that question.”

Jack winked at her.  “Old joke?”

Faith sighed in response.  “As old as I am.”

“Oh,” he whispered, emoting the perfect slice of surprise for the audience.  “A very
young
joke then,” Jack said with another wink and the audience laughed again.

Faith just shook her head and gave him a demure smile.  “Why, thank you.”

Jack spread his hands out wide and shrugged as if he spoke nothing but the truth.

“Well, enough about me,” she said with a self-effacing smile towards the audience.  “I would
love
to know what you think of New Earth.  Is this your first time here?”

Jack laughed.  “Oh yes.  First time.  And let me tell you, my muscles ache every night what with this crazy gravity,” he said towards the audience with a wink and an affected old-man slump.  They laughed back as he knew they would.  “And I’m
still
learning how to drink your air here,” he added and feigned an attempt to catch his breath.  The audience’s laughter redoubled at his antics.  “Seriously, you are real supermen here,” he finished and the audience applauded his appreciation.

“Yes, New Earth is no place for the weak of heart,” Faith said, trying to bring the interview back under control.  Then her smile grew.  “And speaking of hearts, I understand you’ve found someone
special
here on New Earth.  I would
love
to know who this mystery girl is,” Faith gushed.

Jack held his smile in place, but the urge to do something very ungentlemanly filled him for an instant.  He had no intention of bringing Samantha into this, especially considering their last date.  And it wasn’t like she was really a mystery either.  Everybody on the campus knew them.  “I’m very sorry,” he said to Faith before turning to the audience again with a large smile.  “But I can
not
comment on that rumor.  I learned long ago to
never
kiss and tell,” he added and waggled his eyebrows towards them.  They laughed and he turned back to Faith with a smile on his face, inviting her to move on to her next question.

“How very gentlemanly of you,” she answered his smile.  “I’m sure she appreciates that.”

Jack answered with a simple shrug and a wave of one hand just to keep things moving.

Faith took in a deep breath and filled the silence quickly.  “Well, as I said, it truly
is
an honor to have you here, especially as it is one of the last days you can be here.  I understand that your squadron is shipping out to War again.  What can you tell me about what you’ve been doing to get ready?”

Jack kept his eyes wide and friendly by force of will alone.  She’d just broken the agreements wide open.  He wondered what the network was thinking with this, but he held his smile and answered gamely.  “Well, as to that, Ma’am, I can not speak.  What with The War and all, I can’t really discuss military maneuvers.  ‘Loose lips sink ships,’ right?” he asked the audience and they gave him a round of approving claps.

She seemed chastened by that comment.  “Of course.  I’m sorry.  Can you tell us how you got here?”

Jack chuckled, back on ground he was willing to answer.  “Well, it’s no secret that we were chasing that Chinese fleet that hit you back before New Years.  Your navy was doing a real good job of holding them off.  It was our pleasure to give all those brave sailors a helping hand.”

“Oh, you’re being too modest.  The way I hear it, your fleet broke the back of the Chinese navy.  I understand the Cowboys destroyed a naval squadron on your own in hyperspace, an impressive feet I must say.”

And just like that, she dove back into detailed military information.  “Well, Ma’am, I of course can’t comment on that.  Military maneuvers during Wartime and all that,” he said with a glance towards the audience.  They mumbled in support, aiming uncomfortable looks her way.

“Of course, of course,” Faith said, mollifying the audience with her practiced smile.  “But isn’t that how you got your second cyber?  Her pilot died in that battle, right?”

Jack smiled and decided it was time to redirect her with a half-answer.  “Well, Ma’am, as to that, no pilot ever
gets
a cyber.  Fighter pilots are lucky enough to be
chosen
by a cyber who wants to be our partner.”

Faith smiled and pounced on his answer.  “And here you are, lucky enough to have been chosen by
two
cybers,” she said with a wave of her hand towards where Jasmine and Betty stood on the wings.  “How
do
you do it?”

Jack leaned back into his chair and aimed a smile at the audience.  “Clean living and a healthy conscience,” he announced with a self-deprecating wave of a hand.

The studio audience laughed at him.

He turned back to Faith to see a faint glare on her face.  She hid it well, but he could see the signs.  She didn’t like how he continued to avoid her questions.  He smiled back at her, showing that he was perfectly happy to answer any question that didn’t cross the lines.

She responded quickly.  “So what’s it like having two cybers?”

Jack sighed and turned to look at Betty and Jasmine on the wings.  They cocked their heads to the side, intensely interested in his response.  He smiled, sucked in a deep breath, and turned back to Faith.  “Have you ever had a friend who you could talk to about anything or anybody on all the worlds?    A friend you can trust without hesitation, who will stand with you no matter what?  Someone who will join you in a ridiculous practical joke on another friend right here, or a damn fool idealistic crusade on the other side of the known galaxy?  One who will never lie to you, who sees who you really are, all your strengths and your weaknesses, and who still has your back no matter what?”

Jack cleared his throat, realizing he’d gone on a bit more than he planned.  He scanned the studio audience, sitting in utter silence, and realized he’d hit a chord with them.  He looked at Faith and saw in her eyes that she would never answer his question.  Her smile held, and most people would just see her waiting for him to continue, but he could see he’d hit her.  She didn’t have a friend like that.  In that moment, he pitied her.

Jack smiled.  “That’s who a cyber is.”  He turned to the audience with a mischievous wink.  “I’ve heard it said that a friend smiles and tries to talk us out of getting into dangerous situations.  A
best
friend skips along beside us with a baseball bat, singing ‘someone’s gonna get it,’” he finished in a sing-song child’s voice.

Jack paused for the audience’s laughter and turned to look at Jasmine and Betty again.  They smiled back and he knew he’d calculated correctly.  He looked at the audience again and shrugged.  “And that’s what they are.”

Faith aimed a pleased smile at him, but he caught the glint of something in her eyes that suggested…a hunter.  “It sounds like you’re saying they’re the best thing that ever happened to you.”

Jack paused a moment, wondering where she was going with that question.  It seemed…aimed at something.  A part of him wanted to stop right there and then, end the interview and get out, but he had to keep playing to the studio audience while he figured out what her game was.  “Well, it’s the people we connect with that make our lives amazing, that make us the best we can be.”  Jack smiled.  “Assuming they’ve got our best interests at heart of course.”