Forge of War (Jack of Harts)

by Pryde, Medron

  Betty relaxed back into her lounge chair and examined him for several seconds before saying anything else. When she finally, did she waved towards Kelly and the pontoon. “And her?”

  Jack focused on the pontoon and saw Kelly looking back at them, an amused smile on her face. She was listening in. Well, it was a dream, so it made sense that she could do things impossible in the waking world. “Hypothetically speaking of course, she’d be the beautiful angel of death, ready and waiting to lure me to the other side.” Kelly nodded appreciatively at his compliment and raised a glass of wine to toast him.

  Beside him, Betty drummed the fingers of her free hand on her hip, and a sad smile covered her face. “All hypothetical of course, right? If there really were angels, and maybe even a God who sent them…” she trailed off in a questioning tone, one eyebrow raised again.

  Jack licked his lips and felt his heartbeat skip just once. He blinked, and turned to look back at the party around them. “Yeah. That’d be crazy talk.” Jack swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt the emotions welling up in him again. He breathed deep once, willing them to remain under his control. Then he turned back to look Betty in the eyes. “And if I ever thought there was really something to it, I’d be wanting to have some serious words with Him over letting all of them die.”

  Betty just lay there, examining him for several seconds, her eyes betraying sorrow and weariness in equal measure. “Yes,” she whispered. “You would.”

  Jack cleared the lump out of throat and smiled to lighten the mood at least a little bit. “Well, I suppose I should be waking up now. Things to do and people to see,” he added with a laugh that wasn’t as convincing as he wished.

  “Yes,” Betty whispered with an understanding smile. “I think that is an excellent idea.”

  Jack came to his feet and started to turn away. Then he stopped and looked down at her. “You gonna be here tonight?” He licked his lips, realizing that the question meant more to him than he’d thought at first.

  Betty sighed and came to her feet as well with a sly shake of her head. “I will be here as long as you need me.” Then she shook her head. “Or as long as you think you do,” she added with a laugh. “I trust I’ve made myself clear on that point?”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Jack whispered. “And thank you.” He shrugged and laughed. “Even if you’re me.”

  Betty smiled, her eyes twinkling at the crazy idea.

  Then he shut his eyes and felt the bonfire fading away. A part of him wondered if it would be the last time he saw it. He didn’t know, but somehow it felt different this time than most others. Like finally putting words to his worries had lightened them.

  “Enjoy your Brave New World,” Betty’s voice echoed in the back of his mind.

  Then Jack felt Taylor and Jennifer’s song came to an end as his eyes opened onto the interior of his cabin on the Guardian Light.

  “Hello, Jack,” a voice he recognized said in a calm but amused tone.

  Jack scanned over to see…himself, sitting in the chair with a wry expression. He focused and saw the hard edge of the hologram that never quite meshed naturally with the air around it. “Well, hello, Jack,” he returned with a wry smile.

  It wasn’t every day a person woke up to find an identical cybernetic twin in his room after all.

  Hello, my name is Jack. We sometimes get too caught up in trying to keep from dying that we forget to be alive. I promised myself a long time ago to see and recognize everything that makes life worth living. To pursue joy, enjoy beauty, and all those other little fortune cookie statements. Life is about looking back and seeing all the amazing times you had. It is looking forward to all the sights you have yet to see. I plan to live forever, but if I don’t, I’ve lived and I have no regrets.

  Life

  Jack sat on his bed, legs dangling over the edge, and examined the other Jack smiling back at him. He considered the unique position they were in, wondering how exactly to consider it. Wondering if it had actually worked at all as planned.

  “Well, this is a rather unique situation,” Jack whispered, trying to keep the awe out of his voice. He’d known it was possible, but seeing it in living color was still a shock.

  The other Jack smiled and shrugged. “Very unique.”

  Jack frowned and chewed his lip, wondering if the cyber sitting before him really was a true copy of everything he was or “good enough for government work” as the old saying went. “So, are you really me?” he asked, one hand rubbing his chin. “Or just some real good simulation?”

  The other Jack laughed. “Oh, that question is so far outside my pay grade.”

  Jack frowned, clicked his tongue in thought, and considered another question. It might work. “You have my memories?”

  “Oh yes,” the other Jack returned with a waggle of his eyebrows. “The memories are easy to copy. And I love every moment of them.”

  Jack chuckled. “I do have some good ones don’t I? Or is it more accurate to say we do now?”

  “Ha! I’m a cybernetic intelligence, not an English major,” the other Jack returned with a snort.

  “True,” Jack said with a nod. The other Jack seemed to have his mannerisms down very well. Jack furrowed his brow in thought and considered the other Jack again, wondering if the man knew why he acted like that. “Do you remember Kimberly, the pianist?”

  The other Jack gave him a doubtful look and a raised eyebrow. “You mean Katrina? The gymnast?”

  Jack smiled. “Oops. My bad.”

  The cyber Jack aimed a knowing expression at him. “Well, if we’re talking about those memories, what about Trina, the water ballerina?”

  Jack laughed and shook his head, his mind twisting through memories to find the girl he was certain the cyber meant. “Don’t recognize her. But there was Trixie from water polo.”

  “Ah yes. Of course. Silly me.” The other Jack winked at him.

  Jack sighed. “Didn’t she run off with that guy named…something with a G?”

  “Garth.” The other Jack snorted then. “Too bad that.”

  Jack smiled and nodded. The other man seemed to have his memories and mannerisms. That was good enough for him. But would it be good enough for others? “Betty? Jasmine?”

  Betty and Jasmine flickered into existence on either side of his bed. “Yes, Jack?” they asked in unison.

  Jack smirked at the other Jack, who quickly gave him an amused wink.

  The other two cybers rolled their eyes. “Really?” Betty asked.

  Jack aimed an innocent shrug her way. “I was just wondering what you thought. I assume you’ve both talked with…um…me?”

  The other Jack chuckled as Jasmine and Betty looked at each other before nodding. “He fits you to a tee,” Betty said.

  “I agree,” Jasmine added before looking at the other Jack. “Put you in a cloned body and we wouldn’t be able to differentiate the two of you.”

  The other Jack smiled and spread his arms out wide. “See Jack? Now you’ve got some competition worth competing with.”

  Jack snorted and shook his head. “Bring it on, Mini Me.”

  Betty sighed and rolled her eyes again. “Oh Brave New World, that has such people in it,” she whispered, and Jack could have sworn he heard the echoes of the redhead that made him audition for a part in that ancient Shakespearean play. He looked at the cyber version of himself and the other man winked at him, obviously having made the same connection. Good.

  “Oh, I do love the Tempest,” Jack said, imagining that amazing redhead on stage with him.

  The other Jack let out a long sigh. “Me too. Definitely, me too,” he finished with a wink.

  Jack chuckled and shook his head. “But is it for the same reason I do?”

  “Absolutely,” the other Jack answered, almost looking affronted. “Miranda was…was…” the other Jack trailed off, obviously searching for words.

  “Her, oh her, so perfect and so peerless, created of every creature's best,” Jack filled in
for the other man, only slightly blemishing the lines he’d learned all those years ago. Or that they’d learned.

  “Indeed,” the other Jack responded with a satisfied smile. “Too bad she liked Ferdinand.”

  Jack sobered and pulled in a deep breath, remembering the conniving little art major that played the part. Of course, he was willing to admit he was biased. “Yeah. What a waste.”

  Betty laughed from the corner of the room, forcing both of them to turn to look at her. “Was there any girl you didn’t lust after?” she asked, shaking her head in mock disgust.

  “Admire,” the other Jack corrected, raising one hand to wave an admonishing finger at her.

  “And flirt,” Jack added with a wink.

  The other Jack pursed his lips, doing an amazing job of acting like he was pondering the matter. “If they could think themselves out of a paper bag.”

  Jack chuckled. “Oh yes. Must have brains.”

  Betty snorted. “That doesn’t put you on a high pedestal you know? Zombies like brains too.”

  “Yes, well,” Jack said with a sniff. “Zombies are slow and clumsy while we…”

  “Are swift and graceful,” the other Jack finished for him and came to his feet to give her a debonair bow.

  “Oh God,” Betty said with a look of horror. “You’re finishing each other’s sentences now. Please make it stop.”

  “What? Are we two much of a good thing?” Jack asked with a smirk.

  Betty rolled her eyes and groaned. “Not the bad puns too?” she said in a helpless tone. “Hal? A little help here?”

  Hal flickered into existence and affected a gallant stance as he stepped between them and Betty. “Now, now, please stop torturing my girl here.”

  The other Jack sighed theatrically and exaggerated a shrug. “I guess this much awesome is just two much to bear,” he said with a wink.

  Hal snorted. “Well, something is at least.”

  “OK. That’s it,” Betty barked, jamming her hands on both hips with a disgusted look. “If someone doesn’t end this I’m ending it. And you won’t like the way I end it. Capiche?”

  “Completely,” Hal said with a bow and turned to the cybernetic Jack. “I am afraid that we really must cut this short. A courier awaits to take you to New Earth. Might I suggest that you hurry before she becomes…aggravated?”

  “Perish the thought,” the other Jack said with a wry grin and another bow. Then he turned to Jack and sighed. “It almost seems a waste. I could be such a good fighter, but I’m the one going to a heavily fortified world, while you…”

  “While I will get the glory for kicking the Shang’s asses across the galaxy,” Jack finished for him with a cocky tone and an airy wave of his hand. “Don’t worry, we all play our parts in War. Men like you keep the home fires burning while better men keep the enemy burning,” he finished with a merciless wink.

  “Oooh,” the other Jack returned with a wince. “I almost felt that,” he added with an appreciative chuckle and Jack shrugged. It was the least he could do after all. God knew somebody needed to keep his ego in check. Even if that someone was him. Jack blinked as he realized just how weird that train of thought was. Not to mention the situation. The other Jack’s eyes twinkled in recognition of the…unique situation they were in. “Good luck, Jack,” he said with a smile and gave Jack a sloppy salute.

  Jack sighed and nodded. A dozen and more snarky statements came to mind. Insults to bring laughter, compliments to cause suspicion, or simple truths of understanding. “Good luck, Jack,” he said instead, leaving everything else unsaid, and answered the other man’s salute.

  The other Jack nodded, acknowledging all the words left unsaid with a jaunty smile. Then his holoform flickered out of existence, and the cybernetic intelligence that shared his memories and mannerisms left the room. Jack let a long breath out, realizing that the room felt far emptier in that moment than he would have believed.

  “Well,” Hal said with rueful smile. “I think I might be glad we are splitting you two up.”

  “Yeah,” Jack whispered and looked at Betty. She just smiled in return. Jack sucked in a deep breath. “So how’s this going to work again?”

  Hal smiled. “Since she never officially opted in to what is an experiment, one of my family will approach her. After the appropriate introductions, she will have the chance to opt in or out.”

  Jack nodded slowly. The Peloran used precisely this memory saving technology often. Of course it was for health care purposes, so they could restore minds wounded in falls or combat. Or it was used to save the insights and knowledge of the dead for future generations. But copying a living being into another body hadn’t been done in over two thousand years for very important reasons. And this was just a test to see if the technological advancement of all those years had minimized those reasons.

  Jack let out his breath. “And I really can’t talk to her? Ever?”

  Hal sighed. “I’m sorry, Jack, but your part in this experiment is over. Now it is his turn, and you cannot interfere. We have to know if we have learned enough to make the process work,” Hal finished with a concerned look. They’d explained this to him already after all.

  “Yes, yes,” Jack whispered, and breathed in and out, willing his nerves to settle. It was more than nerves of course. Fear, mixed with dread and more. Like he was cutting a piece of himself away, part of his soul, and separating it from himself. He really couldn’t talk to her. “I knew that. I just didn’t realize…” he sniffed, his voice betraying more pain than he wanted it to.

  “How hard it would be to give up part of your life to another,” Hal said with a slow nod. “That was one reason we stopped doing it. There was sometimes competition for a life that both individuals remembered living. It rarely ended well.” Hal cocked his head to the side and gave Jack a sad smile. “End it well. Right now. Give him a chance to live whatever life he can without your interference. That is the best gift you can give him.”

  Jack met Hal’s gaze for several seconds before finally nodding. “OK. So what do I do now?”

  Hal smiled and turned towards the hatch. “Now you stand up, you walk out of the hatch, and you prepare to fight again. The British are diving soon to deal with the Shang and you will be supporting them.”

  Jack rose slowly to his feet and grabbed his uniform shirt. “That sounds like a good place to start,” he whispered, more shakily than he would like, as he began stuffing his arms in. Still, with the decision made, the Rubicon crossed, Jack felt…different. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something there. He glanced at Betty and she relaxed back the wall, her face showing approval. “So what about you?” he asked, turning back to Hal.

  Hal made a production of checking his white uniform to make certain everything was straight, before aiming a sly smile at Jack. “Why, I have no idea what you mean. We are not signatories to the Lunar Treaties, and have no place in enforcing them. So I and my brothers and sisters will not be sailing in beside the British today.”

  Jack chuckled as he saw where Hal was heading. “So you’ll be waiting in hyperspace then?” he asked as he grabbed his trousers and began pulling them on.

  “Precisely,” Hal returned with a beaming smile, obviously pleased that Jack had followed him. “Should the Chinese and the Shang…contest the validity of enforcing the treaties, we will be nearby to support.”

  Jack frowned in thought and reached for his leather flight jacket. “But you want us flying with the British?”

  Hal shrugged. “Well, you are American, right?”

  Jack froze with one arm in the jacket and narrowed his eyes at the cyber. “Yes,” he said, very carefully.

  “And America signed the Lunar Treaties?”

  “Yes.” Jack frowned, but slipped the jacket on the rest of the way.

  Hal looked as pleased as a cat showing a catch to his human. “Then it is only natural that you support your treaty partners, yes?”

  Jack glanced at Betty, and she encoura
ged him to continue with a twitch of her head. “And what? You think they might wonder if you are nearby? Since they know we’re the only squadron in Alpha Centauri that flies Avengers?” Jack paused to slip his fingers through the loops of his boots and stuffed his feet inside them. “Maybe you even hope they wonder?”

  Hal nodded and walked towards the hatch. “Anything that makes the Chinese less likely to start another shooting match is worth pursuing,” he said in simple tones, all but a small measure of humor gone. “I doubt it will work. But we’re willing to give it a chance.”

  “Ah.” Jack stood up, tightened his belt, and smiled at Betty. “Are we ready?”

  “Always,” she answered and her form flickered. Her yellow sundress faded away, replaced in the flicker of an eye by her full service Marine uniform, complete with matching flight jacket. “Shall we go?” she asked with an impish smile.

  “We shall,” Jack returned with a humoring smile and followed Hal through the hatch. It opened and they stepped into Cowboy Country to see the last of the Cowboys disappearing down the corridor towards the launch bay. He grunted at the sight. “Maybe we should hurry,” he added and jogged past the holoform of the cybernetic mind of the Guardian Light.

  “Don’t worry, I’m warming our systems up,” Betty returned, keeping pace with him. His mind went back to the mad scramble of pilots and cybers on the Constellation when the Shang attacked Fort Wichita; how the passageways had been so crowded that the cybers were forced to sit on the shoulders of their pilots in small mode to avoid having someone walk through them. He smiled at her, realizing one more time how the Guardian Light was like no warship he’d ever been on. Not that he had a lot of experience with them. He would have to ask Katy about her impressions.

  Betty raised her eyebrow, a quizzical look on her face.

  Jack shrugged, aimed an impish smile at her, and shot down the corridor, into the launch bay. Jack looked up to see the squadron’s mix of Avengers and Hellcats cradled four rows high, all the way to the end of the large bay. He’d seen the bay empty, and it was a truly mammoth empty space. He still didn’t know how Hal had cleared out the space for it, in addition to the fighters he already carried, but somehow he had without losing anything important. At least Jack hoped nothing important had been lost. But it was difficult to think about just how large the bay was when he was looking at it, filled with Avengers and their much smaller Hellcat cousins. It looked cramped and tiny with the fighters taking up the bulk of the space. Jack licked his lips in amazement.