Jack awoke with a start the next morning, his eyes quickly darting around to get his bearings. It took him a few moments to remember that he wasn't in his own quarters on the Valiant. Settling back down against the hard mattress, his attention diverted to the sounds of the sleeping brunette next to him.

Last night had been wonderful. His time with Abigail was well spent in the tiny quarters of the commanding officer of the Destiny. Even now with a full night's sleep and the taste of her still on his lips, he felt ready for whatever the day might throw at him.

He wasn't sure how long he spent admiring her features before her own eyes popped open and caught his own.

"Morning, Jack," she whispered, taking the moment to wrap herself snugly in the blankets.

"Morning, Abigail." Jack enfolded her in his arms. The leggy brunette took a moment to press a kiss to his lips.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked while shutting her eyes and resting her head against his bare chest.

Jack glanced down at his wristwatch before turning back to her. "Just before seven."

"I hope the day is uneventful. I'd rather stay in bed most of—do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Jack asked quickly. Abigail held up her hand to silence him and then they both listened more carefully. Something was making a noise, something that sounded far away and was coming closer. It was like a streaking sound, and it was headed toward a crescendo as it came ever closer.

BOOM.

The entire ship rattled in its berth and a few pens fell off the commander's nearby desk. Both Jack and Abigail shot up from bed and looked at each other.

"What the hell was that?"

"That almost sounded like an artillery shell going off. You don't think that—"

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

The ship rocked again and voices began to shout as the men and women of the crew started to piece together that something bad was happening. Out beyond the ship came the sound of something exploding and screams pierced the early morning air.

Jack was up in an instant. "We're being bombed. Get up and get the men to battle-stations. Quickly!"

Abigail wasted no time. Immediately, she began to throw her uniform back on as Jack did the same. As his fingers made quick work of the buttons of his uniform, the sound of shelling seemed to get louder, coming in closer intervals. He raced out of the cabin as he heard Abigail get on the radio to the bridge. "Assume battle-stations. We're being bombed! Get it on the speakers now!"

Jack raced about as other sailors shuffled out of their morning quarters in various states of undress. Most of them were just as confused as he, and half of them had never seen a call to battle-stations before. Soon enough, it was roaring throughout the entire ship's PA system.

"MAN YOUR BATTLE-STATIONS, MAN YOUR BATTLE-STATIONS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

Jack found the main door out of the superstructure and stepped outside. It was just light enough that he could make out the rest of the harbor as well as the town a short distance away. Around him, fire and smoke filled the morning air mixed with the occasional scream. Jack's attention was caught as he watched something bright streak across the sky before coming down in a roaring crash against a barracks building some hundred yards away. The building exploded in a brilliant fury as parts of the structure were sent into the sky.

Jack covered his body as one piece of the roof landed on the railing only ten feet from his very spot. It made a terrific crash before splashing down off the railing and into the water below. Turning to face the bay, he followed the smoke trail out to the horizon where, even at this distance, he could make out the shapes of two warships on the horizon.

There was no time to waste. He sprinted to the plank and raced across the dock to get to the Valiant. It was only a short while later until he made his way to the bridge of the ship which was in the same chaos as the Destiny with sailors running every which way.

Jack ducked into the bridge and found both Kim Cross and Bill Norman on the radio with their separate divisions.

"What's going on? What's the status?"

Kim put the radio down as a warning siren went off on the ship's PA system. "Sir, the men are assembling to battle-stations right now! But we still have several stuck in town."

"That's the least of our worries right now. Where the hell is Ravencross? And where is Lt. Star?"

The two of them looked at each other before looking back at Jack. "Star is in town somewhere and Ravencross is—"

"Ravencross is here," said the missing commander as he stepped forward into the bridge. "Who the fuck is shelling us?"

Jack tossed him a pair of binoculars. "Take a look for yourself but it looks like the Occitanians are ready for war."

He turned to face Kim as she screamed another order on the ship's radio. "Kim, I need you to take over for Victor. I need those boilers started and we need to get out of port right now."

Kim's face paled as Luke turned around to face them. "Surely we're not going to go after them? They could easily sink us."

It was Luke rather than Jack who answered. "You bet your ass we're going after them. If they're going to sink us, I want us to at least get a few good shots in and kill a few dozen of those sons of bitches."

Jack turned back to Kim. "Lieutenant, can you start the boilers? Can you get moving on this?"

She nodded her head. "Yes, sir!"

In the next instant, a stream of orders began to issue from her command and the entire bridge felt the ship startle to life. Soon enough the giant propellers began to swirl and with a gentle lurch, the ship began to pierce the waves of the harbor as it crawled toward the jetty.

"Let's just hope we can get out of here in time before they destroy the whole damn base," said Jack, clutching his binoculars and keeping them trained on the Occitanian cruisers.

"Looks like we won't be fighting alone, Jack." Luke pointed across the harbor where the Destiny began to inch forward as well, following in the wake provided by the Valiant.

"We'll see if this Wainwright guy can fight," said Jack, before turning back to the enemy. "Norman, are those guns ready to fire?"

"Thirty seconds, sir, and the forward three turrets will be ready to offer fire."

"Excellent, have you fixed position on those bastards?"

"Yes, sir, we are fixed on the closer one to the left that's about two thousand yards out."

Jack looked back to the horizon and quickly settled on nearest enemy cruiser. He mentally counted down the seconds until the guns were ready, finding it much too slow for his liking. Around him the ordered chaos of a warship in battle stemmed forth with steady streams of orders and garbled radio traffic. Finally, he heard the announcement he was waiting for.

"Forward turrets ready to fire, sir!" announced Norman.

"Fire on my command, Lieutenant. Now!"

Norman radioed the command to the weapons crew and in a manner of seconds, the largest explosion Jack had felt all morning burst out of the nine guns of the three forward turrets. Stunning streaks of molten fire rose across the horizon and flew to the target. Jack and the rest of the bridge could only hold their breath as they waited for them to meet the enemy.

Seconds past by until Jack saw the impact of the guns fall just short of their mark, splashing into the open ocean in front of the enemy cruiser.

"Miss on all guns. We need more range, Lieutenant!"

"We need to get closer, sir! We can't hit them this far away!"

"Damnit," Jack swore, watching the ships on the horizon. The one furthest away seemed to have reversed course and now they were quickly heading toward a morning fog bank off to the side of the island.

"Load the guns again now. If they get into that fog bank, we'll never be able to find them! Kim, make sure all boilers are running. We need all the speed we can get to bring the rear turrets into action!"

Both lieutenants radioed their orders in and soon enough Jack heard the loud roar from the boilers as the ship hit its max speed of thirty-two knots. It didn't seem to be helping near enough.

"Jack, they're pulling away from us," said Luke, stating the obvious at that point.

There was nothing else that they could do. The heavy cruisers of the Occitanian fleet were too fast for his ship to catch up. Notably, Jack did look over to see the Destiny quickly overtaking his ship, but the both of them would be useless in the fog bank.

Jack gave the order to fire one more time just before the second ship disappeared into the bank. The shells exploded well short of the stern and soon enough the Occitanians were gone.

"Fuck!" Jack took his binoculars and threw them across the bridge.

No one on the bridge said anything else. An eerie quiet descended on the commanding officers as their prey escaped out into open waters.

Finally after several moments, Luke spoke up. "Jack, it's no use going into the fog. Let's go back to the harbor and help them with the devastation. They are going to have a need for able-bodied personnel right now."

Jack hated to break off the chase but he knew Luke was right. It would be useless trying to continue to fight now when they'd be needed back at base. With a gentle nod to Luke, his deputy began to issue orders to the other officers to turn the ship back to port.

Soon the giant rudder swung to the side and the ship began to turn. To his side, Jack watched as the Destiny seemed to follow his lead, beginning to return as well.

Guess I'll have to see if this Wainwright can fight another day, thought Jack.

Sailing back into port was a shocking experience. Once clear of the jetty, Jack began to survey the destruction wrought by the two enemy cruisers. Out in the water, it wasn't so bad. The only fire seemed to be coming from a small patrol boat that had taken an unlucky hit in the stern and capsized completely. A portion of the crew were still standing on the hull awaiting rescue as other boats raced to help them.

The rest of the base was in much worse shape. Flames still danced around the town marking the victims of the enemy guns. The barracks building itself was blown all to hell, the hole in the backdrop of the town where it used to stand particularly telling. Sailors and soldiers rushed about putting out the various blazes as men and women limped along to the naval hospital.

As they slipped into their berth, Jack even spotted a portion of the dock that had taken a direct hit. A giant crater interrupted the smooth, wooden planks and several men unlucky enough to have been in that vicinity were still lying where they fell. Even Jack had to turn away at the sight of one man who was missing the entire lower half of his body. Based upon how close he was to the crater, it wasn't hard to put together how it happened.

The next two hours were spent in chaos. What was left of the crew raced off to help with the fires. While several of the buildings that were burning uncontrollably were consigned as being lost, they were able to save a majority of them. The worst was dealing with the causalities inside. No one ever got used to seeing a charred body.

Especially bodies belonging to Jack's crew.

"Jack, you got to see this." Luke waved over a man with a stretcher, covered by a blood-stained blanket. Upon reaching Jack, Luke then gently lifted part of the blanket. Underneath was his engineering division head, Victor Star. Half his body was charred from the flames.

"Fuck, not Victor," said Jack. Feeling the tears sting his eyes at the quiet engineer who had so faithfully served, Jack didn't have long to grieve. The victims were just too many. Those that could be helped made their way to the hospital. Those who were already gone were piled wherever there was space.

By midafternoon the fires that were left were under control, and the cleanup process had largely begun. Both of the commanding officers under Jack's squadron reported their casualties. Luke reported that the Valiant lost Lt. Star as well as three additional sailors. Vicky Carter reported the loss of two sailors and slight damage to the bow of the Tiger due to an exploding shell. All in all, they came out relatively unscathed compared to the rest of the town.

After making their reports, Jack tasked both commanding officers with finding replacement sailors. That part wouldn't be too hard, but finding a replacement for Victor would be the difficult part. Jack felt his eyes sting at just the thought. How do you replace such a loyal and brave man like Victor?

By the time the sun was starting to go down, it finally dawned on Jack that he never made that ten o'clock meeting with the commodore that had been scheduled for today. Part of what made him realize was the fact that his deputy, Lt. Settler, suddenly appeared outside his quarters.

Twitch was the one who alerted Jack to the visitor. "Sir, Lt. Settler is here to see you."

Remembering the meeting, Jack wasted no time. "Send him in, please."

Lt. Settler walked in and saluted in a crisp fashion. Jack noticed the smug look on the man's face was noticeably absent today. "Commander Easterbrook, given the events of this morning, Commodore Lucas regrets he hasn't been able to meet with you. If you are ready and willing, I am to escort you to his presence to have that meeting."

"Of course, Lieutenant. I'm ready for the Commodore and will follow your lead."

It was a quick walk over to the Javan headquarters of Quiller's Cove. As they walked, Jack took stock of the destruction caused by the Occitanians and noticed how very different the base looked today as opposed to yesterday. Now there were men on each of the base's machine guns nests as well as men manning the spotlights around the town. They were all dressed in their formal battle attire. It looked very much like war as opposed to yesterday's peace.

Settler led him to a short and squat building that looked nothing like a formal headquarters, being tucked away from the main buildings and completely unmarked. Jack had to wonder if its obscurity was the reason why it was picked to avoid making it a target. He noted that the building was one of the few in town that had escaped any damage from the attack.

Once they were inside, Settler brought them up three flights of stairs to the very top floor where a door marked the headquarters of the commanding officer for the entire base. Rapping on the door twice produced a barely audible voice from within.

"Come in."

As soon as Settler cracked the door, Jack's eyes caught sight of the man within seated at his desk. In his hand was a handheld radio, and he was responding to the various chatter that filled the airwaves. Most of it had to do with this morning's attack.

Jack took a seat while Settler stepped out and closed the door firmly behind him. While the commodore responded to the last series of messages, Jack took time to study the man whom he'd only seen once before, and that was in passing. He was an older man with grizzled, gray hair and a tough-looking demeanor. That tough exterior was further enhanced by a scar that ran the length of his jaw, barely noticeable unless the light hit it in just the right way. With dark eyes and a broad chest, the commodore didn't look like the kind of man anyone would want to tangle with.

Finally, the man's eyes settled on Jack. "So you must be Commander Jack Easterbrook then, I take it? I'm Commodore Stanhope Lucas."

Jack nodded. "Yes, sir. You and I met once before but it was several years ago."

Lucas raised his brow. "We did?"

"Yes, sir. You gave a speech at the academy one year when I was a sophomore. I believe you were still a captain at that point."

Lucas slowly began to nod. "That must have been some time ago. Very rarely do I get such invitations anymore."

Jack nodded but before he could ask why, Lucas stood up and pulled out a certificate from the cabinet. "See this, Jack? This is from the day I graduated from the academy over twenty-five years ago. Do you see that rank?"

Jack grabbed the paper from his hand and looked back up. "You graduated top of your class, sir?"

"Damn straight. In any other country, I'd be close to the commanding officer right now instead of just a lowly commodore in some remote island posting."

"If you don't mind me asking, sir—why is that?"

"In one word: Bancroft."

Jack furrowed his brow in confusion. "Admiral Bancroft?"

"That's the only Bancroft I know. I don't think even that bastard has much of a family."

Jack didn't say anything further and remained silent until Lucas began to speak again.

"Anyway, did you know that Bancroft and I graduated from the academy in the same year? Bancroft was always a good student as well as a good sailor and he graduated in the number two spot. Just behind me."

"I'm sure that didn't make you very good friends," said Jack.

"Not at all. One of my only demerits at the academy came the night I socked Bancroft in the jaw for daring to hit on my girlfriend at the time. Right in front of me too, the son of a bitch." Lucas grimaced and rubbed at his chin.

"Anyway after that, he and I never stayed in the same room together if we could help it. My career showed a lot of promise from the start. I was promoted into command before Bancroft and at one point, we even served on the same ship for a few months. I could've squashed him then but I thought I'd let the bygones of the academy go by. Let sleeping dogs lie as they say. I commanded several battleships and even a squadron of them for a time until Bancroft got promoted over my head. From then on, I was the head of Quiller's Cove. No more prestigious commands and no more recognition from the emperor or the navy. And about as far away from Java as you can get."

"So Bancroft used his power to banish you. He put you just far enough away that you could still be useful but stay entirely out his way."

"Bingo, Jack. You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all of this? I've heard the rumors. I know that Bancroft is the reason for your rapid rise within the navy."

"About that, I—"

"Save it, Jack. It would just fall on deaf ears. After all, Admiral Percival Bancroft is the hero of the Javan navy. And you are his star disciple. What could I possible say to derail any of that?"

"I just want you to know that there is a malevolent side to the Admiral. For now you're on his good side and enjoy it while you can. Follow the promotions and make a name for yourself. But there will come a day when Bancroft sees you more as a threat than an asset. And he will look to neutralize you that day. Learn from my mistakes, Jack."

Lucas sat back in his chair and watched Jack for several moments as he processed his last statements. When Jack next hesitated a glance at the old commodore, a surprising smile appeared on his lips.

"But you and I both know that's not why you're here. You didn't come here to listen to an old fool talk about past mistakes. You came here for an important mission. Probably the most important mission in the whole damn navy. No doubt, it was made much more complicated as of this morning."

"About that, sir, do you have any more information of what happened? Why were we attacked?"

Lucas looked at him directly. "Because war is about to start, Jack. I know it as well as you do. Bancroft knows it. Even the emperor has been preparing for it for months now. What I want to figure out is what would make the Occitanians so crazy as to shell the only Javan naval base for thousands of miles."

"Has war been declared? Could we have just not gotten the news yet?"

Lucas shook his head. "The latest radio transmissions directly from the capitol in Belfort haven't mentioned any news of war yet. We are still technically at peace."

Jack frowned. "These two Occitanian cruisers had to be the same ones that were shadowing my squadron on the way out here."

"Most likely, Jack. I haven't had any other reports of enemy ships in the area, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are keeping tabs on this place. I just don't know why they are willing to behave so recklessly when a war could be sparked at any moment."

"Unless they've finally decided they're ready for war," said Jack.

"That very well could be. If that's the case, are we ready?"

"My squadron will do its duty, sir. We'll fight down to the last breath and bullet."

Lucas smiled but then began to shake his head. "I'm afraid not, Jack. You were destined for a different mission. As much the navy would love to have you back east for the fight against the Occitanians, you've been hand selected for this mission."

Jack gulped and watched as Lucas began to fish around his desk. After a few moments, he found what he was looking for and pulled out a very crude map, spreading it across his desk. Most of the map itself looked to be open ocean, except for a giant black-filled hole in the middle. There was some coast line before it turned into the hole, but for the most part, the map showed an uncharted territory. All the way in the southeastern corner stood the naval base of Quiller's Cove. Jack wiped away the sweat on his brow at seeing the map, one he'd seen so long ago at the academy.

"Do you know what this is a map of, Jack?"

He nodded. "That's the Fourth Vector, sir."

"Right you are. Do you know why I'm offering you this map today?"

Jack looked up and met the commodore's gaze. He whispered, "you're sending me in?"

"Yes, we are, Jack. You are to go where no Javan has ever explored before. We need you on this mission to explore the Fourth Vector."

Jack took a deep breath as his last meal threatened to come up. In that instant, all the crazy stories he'd ever heard about the vector came rushing back. From the childhood stories about Fourthies stealing kids who didn't go to sleep on time, or to that one time when another Javan ship claimed to have captured a Fourthie and brought it back to Java. Jack could still remember the sight of the blonde-haired and light-skinned woman as she caught his gaze in the final moments before her death.

In that moment, he could only ask the one question that filled his mind. "Why, sir? What possible reason could they have for sending me there?"

"I'll be frank with you, Jack, since I know you're not one that has time for bullshit. We need allies. This conflict with the Occitanians is about the begin and you know the Ruthenians will pounce as soon as our back is turned to deal with them. We'll be fighting a war on two fronts. You and I both know that the Javan navy is not what it used to be. Most of our ships have seen better days and there's not much money floating around to bring on new ones. We are going to need all the help we can get."

"But this is the Fourth Vector we're talking about, sir! There's nothing but savages in there. Even if we could get them to fight, and that's a big if, how would they help us? They have no ships that we're aware of. They don't even appear to have much in the way of technology. They'd be a hindrance more than anything."

Lucas listened to him and began to nod. "Aye, Jack. You and I think much the same way about them. I ain't never heard of a Fourthie being worth a damn but this order comes all the way from the top. The emperor himself is the one who sanctioned this mission, and it was the emperor who called for you to lead it."

Jack's jaw dropped. "The emperor asked for me personally?"

"That's right. No doubt that Bancroft is behind this and you know how I feel about that."

Jack shook his head. "This entire mission is predicated on the fact that the Fourthies would even want to join us. From what I've heard about them, they'd sooner eat us instead of fight with us."

Lucas nodded. "Jack, I don't blame you for being upset. I sympathize with, I do. I think the coming war is going to require all of our best men and that means you. I can't say I see the point of sending you this deep into uncharted territory but that is the order that's been given to you. You know what happens to those who disobey the emperor."

Jack took a big sigh. "I do, sir. I'm not sure how I'm going to do this mission, but I will accept it and do it to the best of my ability."

Lucas pounded the table. "That's what I needed to hear, Jack. And besides, you haven't heard the best part about your mission yet. Follow me."

Lucas stood up from his desk and headed for the door. Jack followed him out into the hallway of the third floor, staying just a few steps behind the commodore. At the end of the hallway, Lucas produced a key and placed it inside a heavily armored door, which gave a creaking sound as the lock turned.

Inside were two clerks, both hard at work at the stations in front of them. Lucas led him around the side until he came upon a large, locked chest. Producing another key, Lucas turned the lock and opened the chest, earning an astonished gasp from Jack.

Inside laid more gold than Jack had ever seen in his entire life. Stunning, sparkling golden coins in the likeliness of Emperor Charles IX filled the entire chest.

"Go on. Pick one up and touch it," said Lucas, urging Jack forward.

Jack grabbed a small handful and rolled the soft metal between his fingers. He examined both sides of the coin—one side had the profile of the emperor while the reverse carried the great seal of the Javan Empire.

"Now that you know it's real, this is all yours, Jack."

"Mine?" Jack whispered.

"That's right. The emperor knew that this task would be a hard one to accomplish so he wanted to make sure you were well-supplied with funds to do whatever you may need in this mission. You shouldn't want for much with all that. But I urge you to use this gold wisely. That chest could have funded several cruisers from the keel up. Instead it's being given to you to complete your mission. You will have total authority within the vector to govern and fight as you so choose. In effect, you'll essentially be a warlord unto yourself."

Jack had never contemplated having access to so much gold before. Anything was possible with this amount. It might even get the Fourthies to give him a chance. Right before they ate him and stole it from him anyway.

"I'll make sure this gets sent to your quarters on your ship, Jack," said Lucas before grabbing hold of his shoulders and marching the stunned commander back to the door and away from the room. "But we need to address the last matter of business."

Lucas took him to yet another room, this one opening up to a balcony at the top of headquarters. The balcony itself opened up right above the harbor and afforded a perfect view of the ships. Jack could make out the silhouette of the Valiant as well as the Tiger, and he could see men at this very moment working on fixing the hole in the Tiger's bow. On the other side of the dock stood the proud ship Destiny.

"The Admiralty doesn't expect you to go into the unknown with just your light cruiser and destroyer, Jack. Fine vessels they are—don't get me wrong—but they are a bit underpowered for the mission we have in mind. You're going to need something with a bit more speed and firepower. Something with twelve inch guns even."

"You don't mean . . ."

"That's right, commander. The Destiny is coming under your command. From this moment forward, you carry the designation of Task Force 21. The Destiny, Valiant, and Tiger are yours to command for your upcoming mission. I'm even assigning you two companies of Javan marines as well. We want you to be as prepared as you can be to accomplish this task. Before you leave, I'd like to introduce you to Lt. Commander Wainwright of the Destiny. Being that you'll have your headquarters on the ship, I think you should be intimately familiar with your officers."

Lucas then spoke into the radio. "Send in Wainwright at once, Lt. Settler."

"Aye, sir," came the response.

In that next few seconds, Jack heard the audible sounds of footsteps approaching the commodore's office. A quick turn of the handle and an opening door produced a gasp from Jack's lips.

He'd expected to see a big, manly naval officer walk through the door.

Instead, he was greeted to the view of Abigail stunningly dark eyes and quiet, confident smile.

"Ah, Lt. Commander Wainwright, please come in. I'd like to introduce you to Commander Jack Easterbrook."

"No introduction is necessary, Commodore. I've already had the pleasure." Abigail grinned at the double entendre, and Jack almost breathed a sigh of relief that it went over Lucas's head. They shook hands as smoothly as two people could who didn't just spend the night tangled together.

"Good to see you again, Abigail," said Jack, while trying to keep a serious face.

"And you too, sir," she answered with that sultry look that she was famous for.

"Abigail, thank you for joining us," said Lucas as she sat down in the second chair in front of his desk. "We have news to share with you."

"What news would that be, Commodore?"

"You and the Destiny are being assigned to Jack's task force. Jack will be your commanding officer for his upcoming mission. I will allow him to fill you in on the details but I need you to prepare your ship for sailing out immediately."

Abigail dropped the smile on her face and paled visibly. "Sail out? Right now? After all that's happened this morning?"

"That's right, Abigail. You look like you've seen a ghost. Are you all right?"

She took a moment to recover her composure. She chanced a quick glance at Jack before turning to face Lucas again. "Quite all right, sir. I take it we're going to chase after the Occitanian raiders from this morning? There's nothing I'd love more than to get them within the sights of my guns."

Lucas's eyes flickered to Jack for a moment before a call came in from the radio that was addressed to him. Lucas grabbed the radio and prepared to respond before turning to them one last time. "As I said, Jack will fill you in. I need to take this one. You're both dismissed for now."

As the commodore's attention turned to the radio, Jack leaned in and nudged her elbow. "Come on—let's go outside. I'll explain everything out there."

She looked at him with apprehensive eyes but a nod of her head shortly followed, and they left the third floor office. It wasn't until they were back on the street and away from any listeners that Abigail opened up to him.

"Jack, what the hell is going on? Why was Lucas being so cryptic just now?"

Jack took a deep breath before spilling the news. "We're going into the Fourth Vector. That's our new mission." He took a few minutes to explain everything that Lucas had just told him.

The color never quite returned to her face as he explained the details. In fact, she almost looked a little scared to be heading so deep into the unknown. "The Fourth Vector? Are they crazy?" she whispered. "Do they want us to get speared by a bunch of savages?"

"We're supposed to make allies of them so that they spear the Occitanians instead," said Jack, wondering if the words sounded as crazy coming out of his mouth as they did while forming in his head.

"No one who's ever gone into the vector has ever come out alive to tell about it. There's a reason why it's not even on the maps. No one knows what's really there!"

"I know, Abigail. I know." They walked together quietly back to the ships.

"This is quite the day for surprises," she muttered as they came onto the harbor dock.

"You can say that again, Lt. Commander Wainwright. So when were you going to tell me?"

Jack watched as her cheeks filled with color. "I was going to tell you until you told me that you thought Wainwright was a man. Then it just became a little game, I suppose."

"So that's how you knew we wouldn't be disturbed last night. I have to say I'm impressed, Abigail."

She let slip a little grin. "I was going to tell you this morning but then the bombs started going off and there wasn't any time."

"I hope that's the only secret you've held from me," said Jack with a raised eyebrow.

"You look so sexy when you pretend to be mad. I rather like it, Jack," she said, nudging into his side. "If I didn't just find out you were my new boss, I'd be tempted to let you take me back to quarters and fill me with more cum."

She gave a throaty giggle as she separated from his side and headed over to the plank of the Destiny. Jack could only shake his head as the playful and leggy brunette disappeared up the railing. Turning to look at the Valiant, he could already see Twitch waiting for him at the railing. Squaring his shoulders, he turned toward the plank to alert the crew to their new mission.

*****

Later on that evening, Jack sat in his quarters on the Valiant sending out a stream of new orders to the commanding officers of his task force. He hadn't yet moved his things over to the Destiny—there hadn't been enough time—and at the moment, he was still trying to determine just where he was going to put all the extra supplies that the commodore was giving him.

A sudden rap on the door caught his attention as Twitch stuck his head inside. "Commander Easterbrook, I have Lt. Cory Renner here for you."

"Send him in, Lieutenant. Thank you."

Twitch stepped aside and the young lieutenant made his way into the cabin. Lt. Renner was a younger man, only in his earlier thirties and he had the traditional Javan light brown hair and brown eyes. If Renner knew what he was here for, he wouldn't have needed to look so upset. The man had the look of someone who was about to be disciplined.

"Thank you for coming, Lt. Renner," said Jack as he stopped writing orders and pushed back in his chair.

"Of course, sir," answered Renner very simply and in a soft-spoken manner.

"Do you know why you're here, Lieutenant?"

Renner hung his head slightly before hazarding a glance back up at Jack. "I'm afraid so, sir."

Jack gave the man an odd look, wondering what was on his mind. "And why is that?"

"My service uniform, sir. I've had the same problem over and over again. I don't know why I keep losing my service cap, but it happens. I've received enough infractions as is but I don't know why I keep losing it—"

Jack interrupted the man with a laugh and held up his hands. "At ease, Lieutenant. That's not why you're here. I'm a little dismayed to find out you can't keep your service cap at close quarters, but I asked you here for another reason."

Lt. Renner looked greatly relieved and the sullen look dropped from his face. It was almost enough to make Jack smile. Almost.

"I believe you've heard what happened to Lt. Star this morning, correct?"

Renner hung his head. "Of course. The whole crew knows. Lt. Star was a good officer."

Jack nodded. "That he was. But unfortunately, we live in troubling times and troubling times produce causalities. Star was a good man, but he'll need a replacement."

"Sir? Do you know who will replace him?"

"Yes, Lieutenant. I'd like you to take his spot on the bridge as head of engineering division. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Renner blinked several times before responding. "Me, sir? You want me to take over?"

"There's not a better engineer on the whole ship. You come to me highly recommended by your peers. Hell, even Victor knew you'd have a bright future in front of you. That's why I'm giving you a service promotion. You'll no longer be a junior grade, and you'll be made a full lieutenant effective today. I'll allow you to pick your replacement for your old role but I need you on the bridge first thing tomorrow morning."

The man couldn't help but grin. "Yes, absolutely. I mean, thank you, sir! I won't let you down, I promise!"

Jack chuckled. "I know you won't. You're a good officer. Where we're going, we're going to need every good man we can get. I'll see you for briefing in the morning, Lieutenant. Dismissed."

Lt. Renner got up from the desk still wearing his grin and almost ran out of the door. Jack couldn't help but feel good at having the man on the ship, even if part of him still mourned the loss of Victor. With where they were going though, they'd have to accept that causalities would be part of life.

Jack went back to the small mountain of paperwork in front of him and worked until just after nine o'clock. Escaping his quarters for a little while, he snuck above deck for some fresh air. As opposed to last night, there were a lot more sailors out, all manning the lookouts and keeping watch over the harbor. Jack was thankful for them being there, hoping that nothing like this morning could surprise them again.

Satisfied with the security on the ship, he turned to walk down the plank, crossing the dock over to the Destiny. He was challenged once at the top of the railing by a sailor who quickly relented once he saw the commanding officer of the entire task force in front of him. Jack thanked the sailor for his vigilance and continued into the superstructure. Following the familiar path from this morning, he found himself outside of Abigail's quarters and gave a swift knock.

"Come in."

Jack stuck his head inside the door to find Abigail sitting at her desk doing much the same job he'd just been doing. "Good evening, Jack. Now why would you be disturbing my quarters at such a late hour?" Abigail wore a sultry smirk and quickly crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright after everything that's happened today."

Abigail nodded. "It's been a busy day but we'll get through it. I'm not psyched about the mission but luckily they didn't ask my opinion before assigning it."

"You're in good company. I'm not crazy about it either. I'd rather sail home and open fire on the Occitanian capitol of Montauban."

Abigail sighed happily. "That would be wonderful, wouldn't it? Oh well, not like it'll happen now. So did you really just come here to chat about the mission?"

"Just checking in on my favorite commanding officer," said Jack with a playful smirk.

"Checking in is what they call it now, hmm? I daresay you didn't think you could come here for a late night booty call, did you?"

Jack shrugged but kept his smile. "That wasn't just a booty call."

She laughed at that one, throwing back her head. "Don't tell me you're getting all sentimental on me just because we slept together, Jack. It's just sex."

"So that's all it was? Just sex?"

Abigail shrugged. "I mean it was very good sex but that's all it was. Besides, it can't happen again anyway."

Jack furrowed his brow in confusion. "Why's that?"

She stood to face him. "Jack, you're my commanding officer now. Yesterday it was just some fun with another man who might be leaving the day after and who I might never see again. But you're my boss now. How would that look to everyone if they knew we were sleeping together?"

"Nobody would say a word about it."

"That's not true and you know it. People would think less of me. The entire crew of the Destiny would look at me different. I told you yesterday I got into the navy because I had something to prove. I'm not going to let fantastic sex jeopardize that."

Jack thought about that for a moment before letting slip a smirk. "So it's fantastic sex now, is it?"

She swatted at his stomach. "Don't get cute with me, sir. Just remember if I wanted to, I could still suck you dry."

"I'll keep memories of last night's experience forever," said Jack, earning a giggle from her.

"If I had a quarter for every man that's told me that," she said before winking. She then gently pushed on his shoulder. "Come on, I need you to go back to your quarters before the crew starts talking."

"You almost sound like you're the one in charge here," joked Jack.

She stopped short of closing the door in his face. "Didn't you realize that when you were between my thighs?" She grinned one more time and then shut the door with an audible smack.

Jack shook his head playfully and began the slow, dejected march back to the Valiant.

*****

Lt. Grover Burbank kept glancing back and forth between the open waters and the radar screen. The commanding officer of the small patrol boat Leopold, Burbank was trying to find the source of the radar disturbance that had sent them out past the jetty of Quiller's Cove and into the open bay in the middle of the night. Something was out there but so far their radar was only picking up broken signals and their spotlight had found nothing.

"Sir, is it possible it was just a fish?" Burbank's deputy, Lt. Milligan, shuffled to his side.

"I don't think so, Lieutenant. That radar isn't supposed to pick up wildlife. My gut feeling tells me something's in these waters."

Milligan shrugged and went back to operating the controls.

Burbank silently cursed his luck at being so disturbed from his sleep to chase after a ghost signal. Especially given the events of that morning with the attack, the last thing he wanted was to be going after a blip caused by faulty equipment. Yet this radar system was supposed to be top of the line, and he had a bad feeling that something was out here waiting for them in the deep.

The Leopold drifted slowly through the quiet night waters. Milligan steered them off to port once they cleared the jetty before swinging wide to starboard. It made one circle of the entire bay before coming almost to a stop not far from the jetty. The radar was dead and it was eerily silent apart from the small boat's engine.

"Whatever it is, it seems to have left," said Milligan.

Burbank sighed and let the spotlight drop from its position on the water's horizon. In doing so, the spotlight swung down to focus on the narrow strip of water about a hundred yards out from the patrol boat's port side.

It couldn't have landed in a more fortuitous spot. Burbank's eyes merely glanced at the water until he did a double take, focusing on the illuminated spot to see something long and narrow slicing through the waves and heading straight for them. Grabbing hold of the spotlight, he pulled it closer to the ship, matching the path of whatever was headed their way. He nearly pissed himself when he saw what was coming and raised his voice to yell at Milligan.

"Torpedo to port side! Full steam ahead now!!"

Milligan reacted quickly and for that, Burbank said a silent prayer. The engine of the tiny patrol boat roared to life and lurched forward nearly causing the both of them to lose their balance. Burbank kept the spotlight on the torpedo as it narrowed the distance between them.

Fifty yards.

Thirty yards. Due to hit them amidships.

Fifteen yards. Now aligned to the propellers.

Five yards. Right near the stern.

Burbank flinched in preparation for the explosion that never came. The boat remained calm and rocked gently in the open waters. Opening his eyes, he looked at Milligan who seemed just as relieved as he was. They had narrowly managed to outrun the torpedo. Crossing to the other side of the boat, Burbank caught sight of its trail as it jetted past their craft and out into the waves. He said a silent prayer at outrunning the damn thing, but who the hell would've fired a torpedo at the small Javan boat?

"Occitanian fucks," Burbank swore as he swung the spotlight back up to follow the wake of the torpedo back to its source. It wasn't hard to follow and only about a hundred and fifty yards out, he spotted the telltale signs of a periscope.

"Occitanian submarine! Hundred and fifty yards to port. Prepare the depth charges!" Burbank roared. The ship gave a hard lurch to the left as it began to circle around while another lieutenant broke out the depth charges from the ammunition locker onboard. They were only entrusted with five of them on the whole craft so they'd have to make them count.

It wouldn't be easy. As soon as the spotlight landed on the periscope, the submarine dived and became completely invisible beneath the dark waves. Burbank motioned for Milligan to stop the boat right above the spot where he'd seen the periscope and grabbed the first depth charge. Ripping off the label that hid the fuse, Burbank turned on the explosive. He set the timer for forty feet and then let it slip over the side.

"Move forward, Lieutenant!"

The boat lurched again and in another twenty yards, he dropped another depth charge. Burbank repeated the same action until he was down to his last piece of explosive and waited to hear the noise.

The first explosion shook the entire boat, and despite being forty yards away, it was enough to cause the crew to hang on for the next one. Anything within forty feet of the surface would've been toast with the blast radiance of that charge. The second explosion was much like the first only closer, and Milligan throttled up to escape the blast of the next charge.

When the third charge came, there was a completely different sound. The scraping and twisting of metal followed by twin explosions right after the charge let Burbank smile in grim appreciation. They'd found their prey.

What proceeded next would turn the stomachs of even the most seasoned sailor. A steady stream of bubbling erupting from the water as the air pocket of the submarine escaped from the depths. Next came the broken parts, the rattled machinery of the submarine that had enough density to float. Burbank looked around the wreckage as hats, shoes and paperwork bobbed to the surface. As with any depth charge, the last thing to come to the top, if it came at all, were the bodies. Several of them floated to surface face down, needing no inspection of whether they still carried life.

Surprisingly enough, Burbank heard several gasping breaths and waterlogged screams as men came to the surface. It wasn't many of them, but eventually seven sailors floundered in the oil-slick waters of the wreckage. Most of them were capable of treading water but a few were too wounded to continue to keep their heads above the waves.

"Lt Milligan, let's go closer. Let's pick those men up."

Milligan brought the ship closer after the last depth charge exploded, wading the way through the scraps of metal. Cutting the throttle, it came to a floating stop next to the closest man. Burbank grabbed several life preservers from inside the hull and began to toss them out to the still shaken submariners.

"Catch this! Keep treading water and we'll rescue you!"

Burbank tossed out all the preservers and then began the rescue operation. Five of the men came aboard with no other injuries besides being out of breath. Another man had clear lacerations all over his body, and Burbank knew he'd need to be rushed to the hospital soon. The final man's arm was only hanging on by a few tendons, along with more serious wounds. He would most likely expire before they even got back to shore.

What had survived of the men's uniforms confirmed the lieutenant's theory. Emblazoned on shoulder was the flag of the Occitanian Confederacy.

Burbank made sure to rescue all those that were still alive before taking the remaining survivors and securing them in the hull. Once the boat was secure, they began the slow journey back to the port.

"Those Occitanians are a rather quiet bunch," said Milligan as Burbank took his seat right beside him.

"I don't think you'd be very chatty either if you just had your submarine blown up," said Burbank.

"That sure backfired on them, don't you think?"

"The real question is would they have rescued us if the roles were reversed? Plenty of sharks in these waters. Would they have left us for shark bait?" Burbank asked rhetorically.

"What do you think is going to happen now, sir? They tried to attack us just now, and they shelled the base too. I think they want a war."

Burbank looked out across the bay to the shining lights of Quiller's Cove. To the giant masts of the warship Destiny. "If it's a war they want, then we'll give it to the bastards."