Forge of War (Jack of Harts)

by Pryde, Medron

  “The President,” Charles repeated, his tone almost as reverent about the woman who rallied America to take The War to the enemy. “They could not have foreseen her, but I can not believe they would have been stupid enough to purposefully prime us for someone like her to set against them. Because I think they are very smart.”

  “Fine,” Jack growled, trying to keep the anger from showing. Trying and failing. “So either they were stupid, or…what? An accident? A chain reaction that went out of control?”

  “That is one possibility,” Charles answered, his voice very grim. “Another possibility is that somebody other than the Shang purposefully made Yosemite fall the way it did.”

  “But…why?” Jack asked in complete confusion. “Why would anybody do that on purpose?” And with that one question, he realized Charles had him. Because that was a very good question. Why would anybody, even the Shang, purposefully do that?

  “I do not know,” Charles said firmly, but his relieved expression betrayed the fact that he realized he had Jack. At least a little bit. “But either the Shang are stupid, and they deserve the ass kicking we are going to do to them, or it was an accident and they’re going to get blamed for it for all eternity after we do kick their ass.” He sucked in a deep breath and steeled himself for the statement that Jack knew was coming. “Or someone else planned to drop Yosemite all over America and the Shang were just the unlucky bastards that triggered it when they shot us”

  “My God,” Jack whispered. “That’s crazy.”

  “Yes, it is,” Charles returned with a shrug. “And God help me, I hope I’m wrong. But the government is covering up all the information on that strike. And the information I have seen is bogus. My family owns satellites and I have seen the direct feed. The computer models the government released do not match that. They are covering something up. I just do not know what. And if that is that we have another enemy beyond the Shang, we have to find out,” he finished with a grave expression.

  Jack blinked and gave Charles a long look. “Do you really think you have the resources to answer a question like that?”

  Charles didn’t hesitate. “If they are out there, I know I do.”

  A shiver ran down Jack’s spine and somehow he couldn’t just blame that on the cold. He looked Charles in the eyes and the older man nodded. Charles meant every word. Jack looked at Tom who inclined his head towards Charles. Jack looked back to Charles and sighed. “You know this is seriously crazy,” he muttered, and Charles simply nodded. “But fine. I’ll keep an open mind.” He raised one finger between them and gave Charles a serious look. “If you can find something, I’ll listen.”

  Charles smiled and sighed, sending another billow of crystallizing breath into the air. “That is all I can ask.”

  Hello, my name is Jack. The Cowboys were the first of our kind. The first Americans to fly off Peloran warships. The first to use hyper-capable fighters. The first to do a lot of things. People remember that. They don’t remember what we were before we became Cowboys. Just that we were Cowboys. That we still are. That we always will be. And that’s the real kicker.

  Cowboys

  Jack pulled in a long breath, feeling the cold air burn down into his lungs, and watched the ruins of New Washington’s capital begin to freeze. He peered into the darkness created by the dust-shrouded sky and shivered again, hunching his shoulders inside his leather flight jacket against what was actually becoming cold, even to his northern Minnesota bones. Betty and Jasmine flickered next to him, cold weather gear replacing their service uniforms when they came back into focus. They glared at him and he got the hint. It was getting colder by the minute, and the sound of boots crunching on rocks testified of Charles’ decision to find some warmth.

  Jack turned to Tom, shivering next to him, with a smile. “So what do you think?”

  “I think it’s fraking cold,” Tom answered through chattering teeth.

  Jack sighed. “I meant about what Charles had to say. Do you really think the government would be…cover up…anything like this?”

  “Oh. That.” Tom exhaled a long breath that crystallized in front of his face. “I can’t say if they did or not. I don’t know. But I could see it happening.”

  Jack shook his head. It just didn’t make sense. He’d never experienced anything to make him think the government would do anything like that. “Why?” he finally asked.

  “Because I’ve seen it before,” Tom said with a sigh.

  Jack stepped away from the older man and raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  Tom gave him a sad smile. “Do you know what life in America was like in 2150? Or 2170?”

  “That’s a good a century before my time,” Jack returned with a sly look.

  Tom pulled in a deep breath and looked towards the ruined capital. “True. Well, I lived it. It was a hopeful time, everybody looking to the stars as the way to end all of our problems. And then I left to explore the farthest reaches of space. It took us twelve years to make it to The Wall. And then we spent over twenty years studying it, before we finally found a way through to Tau Aurigae.”

  Jack frowned in confusion, not recognizing the name.

  Tom smiled. “That was the old astronomical name for Independence.”

  “Ah,” Jack whispered in understanding and shook his head in annoyance. “Stupid science names. I swear they make them complicated so nobody but them can remember. It’s like that new colony from a couple years back. Jen’s World?”

  Tom nodded. “You mean Omicron Ursae Majoris.”

  “See?” Jack returned with a chuckle. “I mean, who but a freak of nature could ever remember a name like that?”

  Tom smiled and spread his arms out wide, placing himself as an example.

  Jack snorted. “You piloted a rocket ship through The Wall without a cyber, and you weren’t even Ageless,” he said, ticking off each point with a raised finger. “You Sir, are a freak of nature.”

  “And you should learn to respect your elders,” Tom jabbed back with an answering snort.

  Jack waved the jibe away. “But you really should look at names. Independence. Paradisia. Pacifica. Jen’s World. These are all names that make me want to go see what they’re like. Omnicon Ursa Majority not so much,” he finished, purposefully mispronouncing the words for effect.

  Tom gave him a curious look. “How does Jen’s World make you want to go see it?”

  Jack answered the question with a mischievous smile. “It’s all in the name. Jen.” He twirled a finger in the cold air. “She must be some fine lady to get a whole world named after her. I’d like to meet her.”

  Tom rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I hear it was named after the founder’s five year old daughter.”

  Jack blinked as all of the pictures in his mind of some sweet young thing devolved into a little girl. “Eww. Please tell me you’re joking.”

  Tom laughed.

  Jack scowled at him, not certain if he should take the man seriously or not. “You. Not funny,” he said, wagging a finger back and forth. “So where did this topic come from?”

  Tom smiled and turned to look at the ruins again. “I was telling you of the trip to Independence.”

  “Oh right,” Jack noted and followed Tom’s gaze. “On the geriatric rocket ship. Gotcha.”

  “Yes. That.” Tom sighed and rubbed his forehead. “We left Earth in 2170, arrived at Independence in 2205.”

  Jack cocked his head to the side and nodded. “The year the Peloran made Contact.”

  “Halleluiah!” Tom shouted. “You actually learned something in school!”

  Jack smiled and decided to play along with the man. “Well, after taking history five times it was bound to seep in through osmosis if nothing else.”

  “What?” Tom asked in an amazed tone. “Five times? Why?”

  Jack let his smile grow and let Tom have it with both barrels. “Well, you see…there was a girl.”

  Tom raised an eyebrow. “Who faile
d four times?”

  Jack cleared his throat. He really didn’t need to give Tom that ammunition after all. “Girls,” he finally clarified.

  Tom groaned. “Why do I even ask?” He shook his head. “Don’t answer that.” He sighed. “Look, the Peloran wanted to talk to us. They offered transport to Earth to anyone who wanted it, but most of us stayed to learn as much as we could about them. I didn’t end up getting back to Earth for another twenty years.”

  Jack whistled, trying to imagine what twenty years away from home would be like. Especially after thirty years already out. Over fifty years away from home. “That’s…a long time. Why?”

  A crooked smile took over Tom’s face, making Jack instantly suspicious. “Well, I wanted to see my daughter grow up.”

  “You dog,” Jack said with a chuckle that turned into mist before him and shook his head.

  “I never said diplomacy was the only reason I stayed,” Tom answered with a shrug. “Even on a Peloran courier I would have been gone for months and I just didn’t want to miss that much of her life.”

  Jack nodded in understanding. “Good call.”

  “It was.” Tom smiled, his eyes unfocusing as memories grabbed his attention. Then he shook himself back into the present. “But it made things interesting. By the time I finally did get back to Earth it was…over fifty years after I left. I saw first hand the revolution that gravtech brought to us.” Tom pursed his lips and blew out a lungful of air that froze in mid air. “It was amazing the difference between what we were before and what we were when I returned. How much we’d grown, how much we’d gained. How much we’d lost getting there.”

  He shook his head and looked up into the dark clouds above them. “They couldn’t see it. They’d lived through the changes. But me, I could see the little café on the corner that used to make the best ice cream coffee that was now a gravboard dealership. Little things like that, all over. Progress had taken over in so many places. And the people acted different too. The adults smiled and acted like nothing was wrong, but I could tell they were afraid of the fighting in the Outer Colonies. The children spent all day hovering around with their friends instead of playing video games.”

  Jack snorted in amusement. “Be careful,” he joked. “From a diehard beach bum, that last bit sounds fun,” he noted with a wink.

  “Oh, it wasn’t all bad.” Tom smiled again and shifted from foot to foot as he considered his next words. “The kids really did love the new techs and they were the ones that integrated them into their lives. But it’s the adults that always take time to accept changes that revolutionary. I could see it the first time they realized what Juliet was, rather than who she was.”

  Jack glanced at Juliet and she gave him a sad smile. He understood that. His little corner of the Earth had never been overly fond of the new technologies. They wanted a simple life, away from the busyness of the big cities. All Peloran were strange, which automatically made them subject to approval before being allowed to intrude on the border town. He wondered how a cybernetic intelligence would feel about that. Probably wouldn’t like it much. “I’m sorry.”

  Juliet answered with a graceful nod. “Thank you.”

  Tom gave her a light touch, and Jack recognized the fondness of lifelong friends. Then he pulled in a breath and coughed, his lungs protesting against the falling temperatures. “Whew,” he whispered. “It’s getting seriously cold out here.”

  Jack shrugged and made a production of rolling his shoulders around inside his flight jacket. “A bit nippy,” he answered with a smile.

  Tom rolled his eyes. “Look, I really need to get inside, so if you’re done playing crazy Minnesotan…”

  Jack nodded, keeping his eyes on the ruins of the capital. “Go in if you want. I don’t want to leave them alone yet.”

  Tom shivered but held his position for several seconds before nodding. “I understand.”

  Jack smiled. “I asked what you thought of Charles’ ideas.”

  “Yes you did,” Tom said with a sigh. “When I left, America looked to the stars in wonder. When I returned, they watched bread and circuses and reality holos that tried to keep them dumb. The corporations and unions bought legislatures to pass ten thousand page bills that nobody read and only served to shovel money into the hands of the already rich.” Tom shook his head. “I never really trusted the government as a kid. I was a bit of a loner, more suited to wandering space where I could get away from it all. So I’m biased. But I didn’t stay long. I returned to Independence to help make something I liked better.”

  Jack scratched his chin, considering the words. “Did you do what you set out to do?”

  “Oh yes,” Tom said with a low chuckle. “It’s amazing how hard it is for successive generations to ‘reinterpret’ what their Founders meant, when those same Founders are there to explain that their writings mean exactly what they say. And that we still mean it.”

  Jack echoed Tom’s chuckle. “That had to stick in their craw.”

  “Oh, it did,” Tom said with a smirk. “Still does. But we will never forget again.” He looked out at the ruined capital. “And things they are a changing.”

  Jack nodded in agreement, but caught the note of uncertainty in Tom’s feelings. “Obviously. Though I gather you mean something different?”

  Tom shrugged, showing confusion. “Yes. I think. I don’t know.” He pulled in a long breath and gave a pensive shake of his head. “Could be good.” He nodded towards the ruins. “Could be bad.”

  Jack followed the gaze with a sad sigh, wondering again how many had not survived this bit of change. “A bit of both, probably. With more of the bad than we’d like.”

  Tom sighed in regretful agreement. “Ain’t that the way it always is? Our worlds will be irrevocably changed before we have a chance to return. We may not even recognize them.”

  Jack pulled in a long breath, remembering the writings of hundreds of years of Marines coming home from war. They all talked of the change back home when they returned. It was always like that. “Welcome to the life of a Marine,” he whispered, trusting in Tom’s hearing to pick it up over a fresh gust of freezing wind. Tom’s reaction surprised him.

  Tom just shook his head and snorted. “You know the funny part? I’m not actually a Marine. Hell, I’m not even military.”

  Jack frowned. “But…I saw your service record. It goes back…decades.”

  Tom smiled. “I was President of Independence. That made me the Commander in Chief of the military. If you’d look closely, you’d see it was a Presidential Commission.”

  Jack blinked, reconsidering what he remembered from reading the service record. “But…you had a Distinguished Service Medal.”

  Tom gave him a pained look. “They just wanted me to look good after the fact.”

  Jack cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at Tom. Now he knew the man was understating his actions. “They gave you a Commendation Medal for engaging the enemy against impossible odds.”

  Tom winced and glanced at Juliet. She shook her head, letting him know he was on his own if he wanted to keep minimizing his role. “They were first generation Blackhawks. There were only five of them, and I had Juliet. It really wasn’t a fair fight.”

  Jack sighed and shook his head. “They gave you the Space Force Cross for sinking the enemy battleship…with a Blackhawk. And saving several hundred civilians while doing so.”

  Tom scratched his forehead. “Well, that might be a bit overstated. They were the ones that fired the cruise missile.” He smiled at Juliet. “We just found it a more deserving target.”

  Jack chuckled and shook his head. “The report says you flew between the missile and a passenger liner, screaming at it with everything from radar to blinking lights, then led it on a merry chase through defensive fire, into point blank range of the battleship, before cutting all transmissions and trying to get out of the blast radius. And then earned the Purple Heart when you failed to get out of the blast radius.”

&nb
sp; Tom rolled his eyes at that one. “We got a bit cooked but it wasn’t anything serious.”

  Jack shook his head and looked at Juliet. “No offense, but they don’t give Purple Hearts for fighters that got a bit toasty.”

  Juliet smiled back. “A near strike cracked the canopy and he breathed vacuum for three minutes.”

  “Traitor,” Tom whispered but Juliet just smiled back, looking insufferably pleased with herself. “Juliet did most of the work,” Tom began to explain with a shrug. “I was just along for the ride. It was nothing like what your Mischief did.”

  Jack chuckled and his mind went back over his new wingwoman. “Yeah. Mischief.” She’d shot down six Shang fighters at Fort Wichita in an old Hellcat, after fifty years flying in the Space Force. Of course her partner helped a bit.

  Tom chuckled again. “Did she ever tell you why she volunteered to join the Cowboys?”

  Jack nodded. She’d been real clear on why she wanted to join in the interview after all. “She wants to fly Avengers.”

  “Exactly,” Tom said with a smile. “She didn’t leave Space Force. Not in her heart at least. She joined the Cowboys so she could fly Avengers. This is no longer just a Marine fighter squadron. It is the first fully operational squadron to fly Avengers. And it is the only American squadron flying off Peloran warships. More will want to join us.”

  “I guess we’re just that good, huh?” Jack said with a chuckle.

  Tom smiled. “I guess we are. Jack, can I ask you a question?”

  Jack spread his arms out wide. “Shoot.”

  “Do you think the Peloran are better than us? That we’re inferior to them?”

  Jack pursed his lips, took a step back, and gave Tom a very long look. “Absolutely not,” he finally said in a very firm tone.

  Tom smiled. “Good. You know many people think the Peloran are our superiors? People we should follow?”

  “I never have subscribed to that one,” Jack returned with a shake of his head.

  “Me neither.” Tom chuckled. “Even when I saw that kilometer long warship hovering over our heads in the sky, I never felt inferior. I saw it and my first thought was…’damn…I wanna fly that.’ And that’s what we need to show everybody.”