Forge of War (Jack of Harts)

by Pryde, Medron

  “Jack,” Betty said in a warning tone and shook her head.

  “What?” Jack asked in an innocent tone and mentally measured the distance to the ground as the other pilot rose to his feet and brushed something off the shoulder of his blue uniform.

  “Don’t do it,” she said and he turned to see her plant both fists on her waist.

  “You don’t think I can do it?” he asked with a smile.

  Betty sighed. “I think you haven’t practiced it, and it’s stupid to do something in front of an audience you’ve not practiced before.”

  Jack cocked his head to the side and nodded. “Good point.” He measured the distance again. “Grav slide then?”

  Betty smiled. “Yeah, we can do that.”

  “Good,” Jack said, stepped forward, and slid down to the pavement on an imaginary surfboard down a slope made of controlled gravity waves, leather flight jacket flapping in the wind. He came to a stop and adjusted the tie that matched the khaki shirt and green slacks of his service uniform. The other pilot gave him a nod of approval and ambled forward to meet Jack as his cyber jumped out of the fighter to land beside her pilot.

  “I’m Juliet,” she said and held out her hand to Jack.

  Jack took her feather touch hand in his and raised it to his lips. “And I’m charmed.”

  Juliet smiled and looked at her partner. “See? He knows how to treat a lady.”

  The new pilot shook his head at Jack with a wry smile.

  Betty stepped up, dressed in a uniform that matched Jack’s, and held her hand out as well. “I’m Betty.”

  The man took her hand with an elaborate bow and kissed it. “And I’m Major Tom Rogers, and it is a very great pleasure to meet you.”

  Jack blinked in confusion as the name registered.

  “Wait…the Astronaut?” he asked, the shock driving introductions from his mind.

  Tom smiled and spread both arms out wide. “In the flesh.”

  Jack shook his head in wonder. “The…NASA Astronaut?” He glanced over at the fighter. “Independence Seven’s actual pilot?”

  Tom chuckled and nodded his head. “Yes.”

  Jack examined Tom for a couple seconds and sighed. The man had beaten him in a mostly fair fight. That meant he was either very lucky or very good. And somehow he didn’t think it was just luck. “So I gather you got all the fun side effects of the Treatments too?”

  Tom just chuckled as Charles and Jay walked through the crowd. The ties of their service uniforms flapped in the slight wind, and Dorothy and Winona kept to their sides. After a quick glance their way, Tom smiled at Jack. “Looks like you ordered up a committee.”

  Jack shrugged and shook his head. “Well, you’re pretty good.” He glanced at Tom’s fighter again. “And now I know why.”

  Tom chuckled one more time before the other Cowboys stopped in front of them. Dorothy held out her hand and introductions and handshakes passed back and forth. “And yes, I’m that Major Tom Rogers,” Tom finished and tapped the NASA patch on his uniform. Jack recognized it from his history classes, but had never expected to see someone actually wearing one.

  Charles appraised the man for a second before nodding. “It is an honor to meet you, Major. Might I ask what you are doing here?”

  Tom smiled and raised a black leather briefcase cuffed to his wrist for all to see. “Someone decided they were going to ruin my retirement by starting up a war, so the President asked me to come here with new orders for you.”

  Charles examined him again, with an upraised eyebrow that showed he was running through all their permutations of what that meant. “You talked to her?”

  Tom smiled and spread his arms out wide. “Well, I am the Ambassador from Independence. It happens.” He brought his arms back down and looked around at the crowd of watchers. “Do you have a secure office here we can speak in?”

  “Of course I do,” Charles said and waved a hand in the way he’d come from. “Please follow me.”

  “Lead the way,” Tom said and followed as Jay’s hulking form took up point, clearing a way through the crowd.

  “He’s a big boy,” Tom whispered as Jack slid into step next to him.

  “That’s one reason we call him Bull,” Jack answered with a chuckle, feeling his composure come back.

  “And the other reason?” Tom asked.

  Jack chuckled again. “Don’t get him angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.”

  Tom smiled. “Ah, I see now.”

  “So, weren’t you born in…2140 or something?” Jack asked after a quick glance at the man’s young face.

  Tom shifted his head to the side in a half shrug. “2145, but who’s counting?”

  Jack whistled. “You don’t look a day over forty, Sir.”

  Tom aimed an impish smile at him. “Well, you know what they say. You’re only as old as the one you’re feeling.”

  Jack chuckled. “Remind me to keep you away from my girlfriend then.” He blinked then as the realization of what he’d said sunk in. Girlfriend.

  Tom laughed and patted Jack’s shoulder. “Haven’t had many girlfriends, huh?”

  Jack grunted and shook his head. “Oh, I’ve had lots. I just…never…” he trailed off, lost in thought, and let out a long breath.

  “Never considered her one?”

  Jack focused back on the present saw Tom’s knowing smile. He sighed, knowing he couldn’t disagree. Mostly. “No I didn’t…least not up here,” he added with a tap on his temple. “But I obviously do or I wouldn’t have said it. I guess that just snuck up on me.”

  Tom laughed again and slapped him on the shoulder. “One small step for man, Kid. One small step…”

  “Yes, Sir,” Jack muttered, lost in thought again.

  “Call me Tom, Kid,” he said in an amused tone.

  “Yes, Sir…Tom,” he added with a wince after his mind caught up with his reactions.

  Tom laughed once more and laid his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “The good ones always get us the worst, Kid.”

  Jack shook his head in bemusement. “Ain’t that the truth?”

  They entered Charles’ office behind Jay and Charles like that, and Jack had a feeling they were going to end up as friends. Charles waved for Tom to take the chair in front of his desk and Jack and Jay sat down on either side of it. Jack watched the cybers taking chairs of their own in a corner of the office. They leaned in close to each other and Jack realized they were talking to each other as only cybers could. Betty aimed a knowing smile at him and Jack nodded back.

  Charles took his chair and leaned back in it. “Now what exactly is this about?” he asked in a serious tone with eyes that put the lie to his relaxed body language.

  Tom opened the briefcase and pulled a sheet of paper out of. He placed it on Charles’ desk with a smile. “In brief, the President has decreed the expansion of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112 to whatever size the commander deems appropriate to support the Peloran. She has also decreed that the commander of this squadron has the authority to request, pursue, and accept any volunteers from any other unit, whatever service they are in.”

  Charles nodded in understanding and steepled his fingers. “I see. So I assume that you have been sent here to take command of this squadron?”

  Tom smiled. “Not exactly.” He pulled another sheet out of the briefcase and placed it on the desk. “In very brief, all pilots of Cowboy squadron, living or dead since Yosemite, have been awarded a permanent promotion of one pay grade above their previous permanent rank. That makes everyone but you a silver bar,” he said with a waved hand at Charles. “Your acting promotion to captain is permanent now.”

  Charles nodded in acceptance. “Thank you.”

  Tom shook his head. “Don’t thank me. Thank the President.” He shrugged. “Assuming you still feel like thanking her when I’m done of course.”

  Charles’ eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  Tom looked at Jack and Jay for a moment before pulling out
another sheet. Jack felt a chill go down his spine at the sight of those orders, even though the Major skillfully kept it at an angle he couldn’t read. There was just something about them he knew he wouldn’t like. The man dropped the sheet on the desk with a smile. “After studying the reports of how these two marines have handled the demi-squadron commands you tasked them with, which by the way she was most pleased with, they are being granted acting commissions to captain.”

  Jack shivered again. Two ranks in one day, even if one was just acting, did not sit well with him. It was too fast, and since the President ordered it, the brass would not be happy about it. And if he ever made a single mistake, they would take it away and never give him another chance to get it back. “If it’s just the same to you, Sir, I’ll pass on that acting promotion.”

  Tom gave him a sad smile. He knew how hard this could be on a career. “It’s not the same to me though,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’m sorry, but once other pilots start arriving, you’ll need all the authority you can get in dealing with them. The brass won’t like it, but there won’t be many Marines saying you don’t deserve the promotions after what you’ve done. Yes, they’re too early, and I’m sorry for that, but we don’t have time to do this slowly. The Cowboys need two captains, right now, and you two can do it, so we need you to do it.”

  Jack and Jay exchanged glances for a second, and then turned to Charles. Charles nodded, a bitter taste in his mouth, and nodded towards the briefcase. “I gather there is another sheet there,” he bit out.

  Tom smiled and pulled one out. “Yes. I’m being assigned to Cowboy squadron, with a strong suggestion that I be placed on the wing of the squadron commander. He after all will be the only member of the squadron that I don’t outrank.”

  “I see,” Charles said, sounding very displeased. “So I am being promoted from acting Captain to acting Major?”

  Tom pulled out another sheet, laid it on the desk, and nodded. “Yes.”

  Charles shook his head. “This is crazy. The brass will not forget it, and if we make any mistake, they will take it all away and our careers will be over. I am sorry, but I can not accept the promotion.”

  Tom sighed and let out a slow nod. “She said you might be difficult.” He pulled a small holobase out of the briefcase and laid it on the desk. “So she sent me with this,” he finished and tapped a command into it.

  A holofield flickered to life and The President appeared in front of them, arms crossed in displeasure.

  “Hello, Captain Hurst. If you are seeing this, it is because you are showing reluctance to accept your acting promotion to major. I understand the objections you have probably stated. The brass will not like it.” The President smirked. “The brass have been most unhappy with much that I have done in recent months. You do not feel ready for the rank. You did not volunteer to become a major within months of joining the military. It is too soon. I trust I have covered the most important objections.” The President sighed and shook her head as Charles returned a rueful smile.

  “Trust me when I say that I really do understand. When I ran for election against a popular incumbent for Colorado’s junior Senate seat, I never conceived of standing in this office. I did not volunteer for it. I was not ready for it. And it was too soon.” The President gave a curt nod. “But it is our job to do the job we have to, not the job we want to.”

  She waved her arms to encompass the office she was probably in. “I don’t want this job, but I am running for reelection. I am running, because there will be an election, and I’d rather have myself as President than…well…any of those that want it. There will be an election, and there will be another one after that, and the elections will continue on and on and Presidents and Senators and Representatives will come and go because there will be a United States of America to elect them. This is the oath I made to myself when I became President.”

  She crossed her arms and glared at Charles. “To see that possibility through, I need Peloran military technology, and Peloran military training to use that technology. They are unlocking their tech for us, and some of it we can even build. What we can’t build is the training to use it.”

  She aimed a finger at Charles. “This is what I need you for. The Cowboys. In a month of serving with you, a pilot will learn more about how to use Peloran tech than in years of study here at home. We need more Cowboys, many more Cowboys, and we need them to come home and show us what we’re doing wrong. And you will accept the acting promotion to major because the Peloran trust you and will work with you, and I need someone they trust in command.

  “Do your duty, Major Hurst,” she finished and faded out.

  Charles sat in his chair for several seconds as silence reigned in the office. Finally he shook his head and said “This is-”

  “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.”

  Hello, my name is Jack. I hope you still know T&J when you read this. I grew up listening to them sing. During The War they started doing USO tours, and they kept it up afterwards. I go to their concerts whenever they are nearby, and they do get around. A while back, I went…many years without seeing them. I was really far away. When I got back, I made it a priority to track their concert schedule down. I may be biased, but they really are that good.

  T&J

  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.