Chapter 39: New Horizons

The Picard capital city of Daban looked eerily quiet.

At least, that was the consensus of the various commanders closest to the city, many of them sending their reports directly to Jack aboard his flagship Destiny.

“It’s almost too quiet,” reported one destroyer commander. “I don’t see a single sign of occupation anywhere. If the Swabians are still here, they’re disguised well enough or perhaps they’ve pulled back from the city in preparation for a trap.”

Jack had to agree with their consensus. There was nothing ominous about the city. In fact, it appeared to be nothing short of a beautiful early spring day in Picardy. The temperature wasn’t as cold as it had been in prior weeks and there were only big, white clouds in the sky.

Spring had finally sprung in the West, and with it came the reminder that Jack had now spent two years on this mission that initially brought him to the other side of the world. In those two years, everything had changed. Not only his allegiances and his preconceived notions but also the very core of his identity had changed.

When he initially entered the West two years ago, he was simply Commander Jack Easterbrook, a loyal officer of the Javan Empire.

Now, he was King Jack Kincardine of Galicia, leading a multi-nation alliance against the most dangerous threat in this hemisphere. He’d certainly been met with some success in that endeavor. Apulia, Galicia, and Naxos were now free from hostile rulers.

Picardy would be next, and this battleground island that had caused so much bloodshed in the last year and a half would finally be free.

That is, as long as Jack could figure out what the Swabian Army under General Ferberg was up to. If they weren’t in Daban, had they pulled back to the interior? Were they in Zarah, taking advantage of shorter supply lines back to Swabia?

Part of him questioned whether they were even here in Picardy at all.

Jack’s radio crackled and he instantly recognized the voice.

“Go ahead, Aedan,” said Jack.

The Picard King didn’t mince words when he began to speak. “Jack, I’m hearing reports the city is without any resistance. I’m requesting that you allow my Picards to be part of the very first wave to enter the city. I want Daban to be liberated by her own people.”

It was an easy request for Jack to honor. After all, he’d already anticipated that Aedan would make the petition once the time was right.

“Go ahead, Aedan, and good luck,” said Jack. “Go take back your city.”

Although he couldn’t see the Picard King, who was floating on his own warship some distance away, Jack suspected that Aedan was wearing a beaming grin at this moment.

Jack turned to look at Abigail who was seated next to him. “Bring the Destiny in closer to the shore. I want our guns ready in case the Swabians are waiting for us. Give orders to the rest of your task force to do the same.”

Abigail grinned at him. “You got it, husband.”

Rather than meet her smile, Jack looked back out to sea. He was acutely aware of the empty seat on the other side of him, the traditional seat that Kat used when aboard the Destiny.

That wasn’t by coincidence. At this very moment, Kat was aboard the Visby, which was on the other side of Daban harbor. Her official stated reason for not being aboard the Destiny was that it was too risky to have all of Galicia’s leadership on the same ship but Jack knew that to be bullshit.

The simple fact of the matter was that for the first time since they’d been together, Abigail and Kat were having a massive argument.

Or rather, they thought they were having a massive argument. It had all started simply enough, at least by Jack’s reckoning. What should have been a simple apology and an overstatement snowballed into something that was capable of ripping the two women apart. The unfortunate matter of all of it was that Jack was caught in the middle.

It all started the day they left Naxos which just so happened to coincide with the date that Jack’s son John turned six months old. There were some melancholy feelings going around, as John was back in Galicia, safe and sound with his grandmother while his parents attended to the war.

The spark that started the argument started simply enough.

“I just miss my baby,” said Kat as she paced around their shared quarters on the Destiny. “I want to be able to hold him on a day like today, and I can’t. It just makes me so upset.”

Abigail tried to comfort her with an embrace. “Everything will be just fine. He’s in perfectly capable hands right now. I know it’s hard but it’ll be all right.”

Kat shook her head. “You just don’t understand what it’s like. He came from me. I hate being separated from my baby, no matter if he is in good hands.”

That small statement was enough to spark the flame.

Abigail pulled back slightly. “What do you mean I don’t understand? I’m just as much as a mother to him as you are. At least, that’s what you’ve always said. What did you mean by that, Kat?”

Unfortunately, Kat didn’t make it any better with her next statement.

“Yeah, but you didn’t actually birth him, which is what I meant,” said the blonde Galician queen. “I think that bond is a little stronger is what I’m saying.”

It was an entirely stupid thing for her to say but once it was out there, things escalated quickly. What had started as some tense back-and-forth soon escalated to raised voices and quickly to yelling.

Kat wasn’t entirely to blame for her statements. Jack thought she could have been more sensitive to the matter but Abigail had her share of blame as well.

“Just because you’re the one that actually had Jack’s child, you think you’re better than me, don’t you!” she yelled back at Kat.

Finally, Jack had to separate them. He’d been bewildered to watch the event unfold, never knowing anything but friendship between his two wives. To see them get so vicious with each other defied everything he thought he knew.

In retrospect, it was naive of him to think that it might just blow over by the next day. A few flippant comments by each party was enough to bring the water to boiling once more, and then something extraordinarily happened.

They simply stopped speaking to each other.

It had been three days since they last spoke, and Jack was unsure of what to do now more than ever. Trying to talk with either woman about the other was an exercise in futility. Passions were just running too high to even contemplate a reconciliation.

“I’m not going to apologize,” said Kat behind crossed arms. “She said some really hateful things and she took my comments out of context.”

“If she thinks I’m just going to forget everything she said, she has another thing coming,” said Abigail with a raised chin. “She thinks she’s better than me just because she has John. I’m not going to stand for it.”

Despite his many pleas to reason, they were just going to be upset with each other for the time being. It was an added level of stress on Jack’s shoulders that he didn’t need right now. All the tension of running the war was downright exhausting, but simply knowing that he couldn’t come back to his two wives to find happiness made things downright miserable.

Finally, Jack accepted that they would have to work things out on their own, but he still hated to be apart from one of them at all times. At a time like this, he could have used the extra support.

Jack’s radio crackled again, bringing him back to the present. Aedan was now giving the order to the Picard troops in the first wave to load into the launch boats. Jack watched the action from afar using his binoculars, seeing the Picard troops climb down from their ships and begin the short jaunt to the shore.

Meanwhile, the city of Daban was still quiet. There were no sounds of artillery or gunfire. No one waited to contest the arrival of the Picards. Jack had to wonder if the Swabians had truly surrendered the city without a fight.

For a city that had been fought over so much in recent months, it was a stunning change of events. Even as the Picards hit land and started to make their way into the city, no reports of resistance came in.

Jack had to wonder what the Swabians were up to. He knew that General Ferberg was no military novice, and he would seek to make Jack hurt as best he could with his limited forces but to abandon the city seemed to be missing an opportunity. A smaller force could have held the city against an invading army twice the size with the right defensive positioning.

So why would Ferberg abandon Daban if it meant he’d have to fight a disadvantaged set-piece battle later on?

Those questions were still going through his mind as the second wave started for the city. This time, Galician soldiers that had been aboard the Destiny were next to enter Daban, and seeing no resistance, Jack and Art joined them to finally come ashore as well.

For Jack, it was a profound sense of deja vu. This marked the fourth time he’d entered the city of Daban, and each time before seemed to have been under impossible odds.

Now that Jack had a large army and navy under his command, was nothing truly impossible anymore?

That same spirit of victory seemed prevalent in Art as well.

“You’re making quite the name for yourself, Jack,” said Art with a wry grin. “Liberating all these countries from the Swabian threat, your name is going to go down in history with the best of the Galician kings. They might even call you King Jack the Great seeing as you’re taking Daban without a shot being fired.”

Jack resisted the urge to laugh any harder than he already was. “I think you overestimate my abilities quite a lot, Art. When the history is written, they’ll write that I had a large Allied army at my back alongside an impressive fleet. With this kind of firepower, I wouldn’t want to face us either.”

Art shook his head while maintaining his grin. “I doubt that, Jack. Kings get remembered, not so much armies. And already, you’re proving yourself to be the most effective king we Galicians have had in five centuries. You’re bringing honor back to Galicia—honor that we surrendered long ago. I’m proud to fight by your side.”

Jack felt a lump in his throat grow at that statement. He didn’t reply directly to it, choosing to look ahead toward the city. In his heart though, he was profoundly grateful for the acceptance of his own people.

A short while later, their launch boat hit the sandy shores of the harbor of Daban. It was the same harbor that had once maintained the toehold of Allied forces before the Swabians forced them out. It showed no signs of that battle although Jack didn’t doubt that the Picards who’d previously fought here were happy to push into the city.

By now, the advance Picard units had not only reached the old city wall but also the royal palace as well, securing it against all threats. Once that radio transmission came in, Aedan raced to the palace in order to take part in a very ancient ceremony.

Jack arrived just in time to watch it happen. With the help of a few Picard soldiers, Aedan raised the yellow, red, and white flag of Picardy high over the palace, marking the transition of ownership in the beleaguered city.

Daban was free once more.

It only took about half a day to secure the city and its immediate environs. Jack’s entire force—nearly fourteen thousand men who’d been part of the first invasion wave—were ashore by nightfall and positioned around the main entryways into the city.

Jack’s fleet didn’t stick around for very long. Before the day was over, most of it was already steaming out of the bay once more, bound for Naxos to pick up the next wave of the army. Speed was considered essential here, not wanting to leave the first wave to the mercy of a potentially deadly Swabian counterattack.

However, Jack was still hard-pressed to find just where the Swabian force was.

No sign of them could be found in Daban. Many of the civilians left in the city had said the Swabians had pulled out nearly three weeks ago, most of them heading south. It wasn’t until a former lord of Aedan’s had reappeared that they were able to get the whole story.

Lord Callum Flynn had seen better days. He was a middle-aged lord whose family had once been very close to Aedan’s. The two men practically grew up together, but that was where the similarities ended. Callum looked like he was about fifteen years older than he actually was. His once red hair was now permanently silver. There were deep wrinkles in his face and he walked with a pronounced limp. His entire demeanor was sullen, and he didn’t make for good company.

The thing he did have going for him was that he knew what happened to the Swabians.

“Bound for Zarah,” said Callum as he looked back and forth between Jack and Aedan. “But they’re not staying there. In fact, that’s just where they are going to be picked up.”

“Where are they going?” asked Jack, slightly alarmed that the Swabian force was leaving. It wasn’t that long ago that their brothers left to invade Apulia.

“Back home, thank the gods,” answered Callum. “Something clearly spooked them, or maybe they just got word that you were coming. One day they were here and the next, they were moving out. It all happened so quickly.”

“All of them then?” asked Aedan. “There weren’t any that were left behind?”

Callum shook his head. “Not a soul. There’s probably not a Swabian left in the country. I’d imagine they might have already left Zarah too. The timing is about right for them to march all the way south and leave.”

“We should still get a force to Zarah immediately,” said Jack to Aedan. “If they haven’t left yet, we have a chance to cut off their retreat.”

“It sure would be nice to destroy another contingent of the Swabian Army,” agreed Aedan. He then turned to look back at Callum. “I hate to even ask you this, Callum, but talk to me about the occupation. How bad was it after I left?”

Callum shuddered. “It wasn’t good, I can tell you that. The Swabians were brutal. I think part of the reason it was so bad was knowing they fought so hard over this city. They lost a lot of men in the process too. Once they were in, it was like something out of a nightmare. The soldiers had no discipline. Looting went through the roof. The soldiers took anything they liked, including women. After a while, it became hard to keep track of all the women that had been raped. A shorter list would be those that managed not to get raped.”

Jack and Aedan shared a hollow look together.

“This is exactly what we’re fighting for,” said Jack quietly. “To rid the world of this kind of barbarity.”

Aedan said nothing but returned his attention back to Callum. “What’s the most pressing thing the city needs right now?”

“Honestly? Food,” answered Callum quickly. “The winter was tough for us. The Swabians hogged all the best food for themselves. All the fighting over the previous summer didn’t leave much time for the farmers to plant and so I think we’re going to experience famine here eventually if we don’t get it under control soon. I’m hoping your men brought lots of stores of food with you.”

“We have access to the breadbasket called Apulia,” said Jack. “We can bring in as much food as we need. No one in Daban has to suffer needlessly.”

Callum looked greatly relieved. “I’m glad to hear that. The people will be thankful. Not only to get something in their stomachs but to get rid of the Swabians too. Oh, and their Picard collaborators as well.”

Aedan’s expression darkened. “What collaborators? Who actually worked with the Swabians?”

“Just one man,” said Callum. “A former army colonel who’d definitely seen better times. I’m sure his name is familiar to you. Colonel Tavish.”

Aedan gritted his teeth. “We know all about that man. He was sacked for trying to sabotage the army over a year ago. He actually offered to help the Swabians?”

“From what I’ve heard, he was the key to them getting into the city during the last battle,” said Callum. “He showed the Swabians all the weak points in your defenses. If anyone is to blame for Daban’s fall, it’s Tavish.”

Aedan looked angry enough to start throwing things. “Do you have any idea where that man is? Did he escape south with the Swabians?”

Callum shrugged. “No one knows for sure. He hasn’t been seen since they left but one thing is for certain—they didn’t seem to want to treat him with too much respect. Even the Swabians don’t have much use for traitors. I highly doubt they took him with them.”

“Good, because I want him brought to me alive,” said Aedan. “And I’m going to teach him what happens to those that betray their own country. We’ll get a search started right away. I’d really like to have a few choice words with the man when he’s caught.”

Callum nodded. “What about the Swabians though? If most of the country is free now, what are you going to do about them?”

Aedan looked over at Jack, who provided the answer. “We don’t know that exactly just yet. I’d like to find out what’s happening in Zarah though. At this very moment, I have my best man heading south with a small task force. We’ll see if we can’t cut off the Swabian retreat.”

“Greg? Admiral Godfrey is here to see you.”

Greg looked up from his desk to see Vera’s face peeking in through the door. He’d only been working for about ten minutes when Vera showed up, and he hadn’t been expecting any more visitors tonight.

“Send him in,” said Greg. “Did he say what he wanted?”

Vera shook her head. “Just that he received a new dispatch from Jack but he didn’t say what it was about.”

That would prove to be interesting news. Greg was eager to see what Jack had to say now, especially as it was getting late in the day. He’d heard all the radio chatter earlier when Daban was invaded but for once in his life, he was nowhere near the action.

In fact, Greg had been sailing hard south, using the battleship Voyager as his command ship while the other ships in his small task force made for Zarah. It was all part of Jack’s original idea when it came to attacking Picardy. Almost everyone assumed that the Swabians would fight to keep their hands on Daban since it was the most important city in the country, however, Zarah was equally as important for one critical reason—the Swabian supply lines started in Zarah since it was the closest city to the Swabian landmass.

For that reason, any likely retreat or evacuation was bound to happen in Zarah, so right before they left Naxos, Jack assigned Greg to a small task force to secure the city and cut off the Swabians’ route of retreat.

Frankly, it was a brilliant move, and if they planned this right, the Allied Army could surround the Swabians from two sides, destroying it totally.

The only thing that mattered was timing. Speed was of the essence to make sure that Greg occupied Zarah before the Swabians got there. That was why any message from Jack was extremely important because they had to make sure they stayed coordinated.

The door to his quarters opened again and in popped Admiral Colin Godfrey. The more time that Greg spent with Colin, the more he liked the man. Admirals generally fell into one of two categories. There were those that were career officers who knew how to kiss ass just enough to keep getting promoted by their betters. Such officers were usually poor at their jobs and had little respect from their men but they knew how to rise in the ranks.

The other type of admiral was nothing short of a pure brawler. He rose through the ranks because he loved to fight and he was damned good at it. These admirals usually had the respect of their men and even the respect of their superiors.

There wasn’t a question as to which type of admiral that Greg preferred. Everyone loved to have a true brawler on their side.

Thankfully, Colin was the latter type of admiral. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, and the thought of engaging with the Swabians had the man foaming at the mouth and ready for action.

Where they were going, it was highly likely they would run into Swabian warships, and that’s why Colin volunteered to lead the ships in the task force while Greg led the contingent of Javan marines with them.

“I just got a fresh dispatch from the King,” said Colin as he sat down next to Greg’s desk. “It appears that our mission just got more important.”

Greg raised an eyebrow. “More important? How do you figure?”

“It looks like his suspicions were confirmed,” said Colin as he read from the dispatch. “There weren’t any Swabians in Daban. Not one.”

Greg’s mouth almost dropped. “Where’s the Swabian Army then? Zarah? Where else could they be?”

“According to this, the Swabians have started to evacuate Picardy. I guess they knew we were coming and we were going to outnumber them pretty severely,” said Colin. “They pulled out of Daban three weeks ago, heading for Zarah first.”

“Three weeks ago,” muttered Greg as his mind raced. “How long does it take to get from Daban to Zarah?”

“For an army that size? A couple weeks no doubt,” said Colin.

“So we could still have a chance here,” said Greg. “Except we might run into the whole Swabian Army in Zarah, not an empty city.”

“And if there are warships and transports there, it would surely make for good shooting,” said Colin with a wide grin.

“Then good, we’ll have to make for Zarah with all possible speed,” said Greg. “How far away are we now?”

“We can be there in two days,” said Colin. “That’s going at max speed. With this new information, I’m going to put the men on high alert. There’s a good chance we’re going to run into a fight.”

Greg started to chuckle. “Don’t look so happy about that. There will be plenty of Swabians to go around from the sounds of it.”

Colin grinned again. “We can only hope.”

The next two days passed by slowly for just about everyone in Greg’s task force. Anxiety was high amongst the entire force, and most of them expected to see Swabian ships on the horizon at any time. Some were even looking forward to a potential battle.

All of them would be disappointed by the time they arrived in Zarah.

“Greg, I’m showing no signs of enemy warships in the harbor,” said Colin as they neared the southern Picard city. “In fact, the harbor looks nearly empty. Nothing on the radar either.”

Greg stood on the bridge of the ship and peered over at the city. Even from this distance, it appeared to be nothing more than a typical Picard city. Zarah was nowhere near as large as Daban but it could still boast of being the second city of Picardy.

And right now, it showed no signs of Swabians either.

“Let’s bring the ships in closer,” said Greg. “I’m not convinced the Swabians have entirely escaped yet.”

The ships of the Allied task force moved into the harbor where not one sign of resistance was given. At the given command, Greg led the Javan marines from the ships to shore, landing in the soft sand just outside the city. They were met not with a hail of bullets but instead with a chorus of welcoming chants from a grateful populace.

The citizens of Zarah looked too thin for Greg’s liking but they were most excited to see the faces of the new arrivals, especially once they figured out they weren’t Swabian.

However, their excitement led to Greg’s disappointment, especially when they let slip that the Swabians had already left four days ago.

“Four days? Tell me you’re joking,” said Greg to one odd-looking Picard man with a handlebar mustache.

The man didn’t understand Greg’s frustration and nodded his head joyously. “Can you believe it? We’re free! No more Swabians in Picardy!”

That was exactly what Greg didn’t want to hear. At least, not yet. He wanted to destroy the army they had in Picardy, not let it get away.

By nightfall, almost all of Zarah had been secured, and just like Jack in Daban, Greg saw no signs of Swabian resistance in Zarah.

He almost hated to send a dispatch back to Jack to let him know the Swabians got away. It had been crucial to their plan to trap another group of Swabians in Picardy, preventing Emperor Avila from using them to defend Swabia. And now, it would seem that General Ferberg’s battle-hardened army would be back in Swabia now, waiting for their next move.

Despite Picardy being now free, it put a damper on Greg’s mission.

Knowing he couldn’t avoid it forever, Greg finally composed the dispatch to Jack to let him know about the change in situation. He spared none of the details and even asked if they could chase after the Swabian force that left, now only four days in front of them.

Greg thought it likely that Jack would let him go after the Swabians. After all, if he could catch their transports at sea, there was a good chance they could still destroy what was left of Ferberg’s army. All he needed was a lucky break to be able to catch them before they arrived in Swabia.

To his surprise though, Jack didn’t want him to chase the Swabians. The reply dispatch came not much more than an hour after he sent the first one, and Jack seemed to have made his mind up quickly on Greg’s next task.

There was only one line on the dispatch, one that Greg understood completely. Jack asked him to carry out Plan B.

“Well, I guess I might see some action yet,” mumbled Greg as he digested the plan. He didn’t wait very long until he found Colin to let him know the news.

“Get the force ready to move out,” he told the admiral. “We have another mission to execute.”

The people of Daban weren’t the only ones excited to see the return of the Allied Army.

Someone else was just as pleased, and he watched the morning procession as Allied soldiers made their way to and from the palace.

Alvin the assassin stood carefully planted against the wall of a small market. His arms were crossed as he studied his prey but he was careful not to give off too much of an image of someone on the job. To counter such thoughts, he had his left foot firmly planted against the wall, and he occasionally looked over at the market as the smell of breakfast drifted across his nose.

By now, Alvin had been in Picardy a scant two weeks but he’d already figured out the lay of the land. While there were many that called the inhabitants of the Fourth Vector “savage”, Alvin found no evidence of such a description. Most of the Fourthies were eerily similar in technology and outlook to his people back in Java. Picard cities looked a whole lot like Javan cities, and he found himself instantly at home amongst the urban populace.

He even liked the women. Picardy seemed to be famous for producing pale-skinned redheads and by now they were quite good at it. On a typical day, Alvin saw no less than ten of them that he would like to bed, and that was usually just in the first half of the day. Most of them were a little skinny—the result of not having enough food. Quite a few were clearly deranged from the Swabian occupation as well, no doubt being victims of rape and cruel treatment but on the whole, Alvin greatly preferred Picard pussy to the barren desert that was Quiller’s Cove.

It hadn’t been that hard to get to Picardy despite the wider war going on. Alvin left Quiller’s aboard a trading ship that was bound for Carinthia. He found the ship wasn’t going to be making a stop in Picardy because of the occupation so he hired a private captain to take him across the sea at great personal expense. However, once he landed in Daban, he found that the occupying power—Swabia—had only recently left, leaving the city open for any new invader.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect situation. When news arrived in Daban only two days prior that the Allied fleet had entered Daban bay, Alvin knew it was only a matter of time until he found Jack Easterbrook.

Sure enough, he wasn’t disappointed. Alvin hired a few different boys around the city to keep watch on places where Jack was supposed to be. One boy was stationed at the docks while another was put near the palace. They were young and in need of money, and Alvin found that they would be satisfied with mere pocket change in payment for being his watchful eyes.

He was even thrilled yesterday once both boys came to report that they’d seen someone matching Jack’s description. The funny thing about all of it was that Jack wasn’t even wearing the uniform of a naval admiral. Instead, he looked to be wearing a kingly uniform, one made up of a royal blue doublet and white silk sash.

So Bancroft’s intelligence was accurate. Easterbrook really did think he was a king.

Alvin shrugged. It didn’t matter to him. Kings died just as easily as admirals, sometimes even more so.

After he paid one of the boys to stay home for the day, Alvin took up his personal reconnaissance on the palace, finding this post next to the small market to give him the best vantage point.

The only issue with it was the annoying behavior of the proprietor.

“Come over now, my friend!” said the older man who ran the joint. He was manning an outdoor grill, and the smell of sausages was thick in the air. “Best breakfast sausage you’ve ever had! Good price too! Come and eat!”