Echoes of the Storm

Chapter 36

Jack knew Norse had something. He didn't throw words around carelessly. Everything Norse said, or did, was thought out with the precision of a skyfighter aerobatics team. His steel gray eyes were cold, brimming with a self-assurance Jack once admired. He had seen Norse use it against their enemies for years, but now recognized Norse's heart was blacker than a black hole. It unsettled Jack now, even when he had known he would come face-to-face with his former lover.

"It won't work, Norse." Jack knew Norse had his uncle under lockdown, and the radio silence from Tic was worrying, but Norse was done for.

"I know how close you are to your uncle," Norse said. His voice was smooth and enticing. "It would be a shame if you didn't do something to keep him alive. Let me help you. We can talk...privately."

The emotional jab didn't eat into Jack's confidence. "I don't think so." He met Norse's intense gaze. Show any weakness and Norse could crush him. Jack cared about his family and his friends. Whatever it took—his terms, not Norse's—he would try to keep them safe. He would die before he let any one of them be hurt, but saving them all and winning this war might be like taking a space walk without a vacuum suit. Impossible. That wasn't easy to accept.

Norse nodded toward his office, his eyes darkening with lust. "Have you told your comrades how we planned to celebrate our victory, right there, behind that door?"

The others in the room might not be close enough to recognize Norse's lascivious look, but their expressions said they heard the desire in his voice.

Jack didn't flinch. The disgust he'd felt with himself, and the hurt, was just anger now. "Seeing as how you turned on the resistance, that celebration is off the table." Jack looked from Berg to Lirrani. "Why do you think he wanted you to know how he planned to fuck me behind those darkened windows? To humiliate me?" He turned back to Norse. "It isn't working. You just make yourself look more like an ass. Well, yeah, you fucked me. You fucked everything the resistance believed in. And you would fuck Galilei if it got you what you wanted."

Jack hadn't expected to shock Norse with blunt words. He couldn't be embarrassed, and seemed more impressed, intrigued...or was that calculating? Jack wouldn't trust himself to read the man's intentions any more.

"Such harsh words, with a hint of truth I suppose," Norse admitted. His face softened. "Come back to me, Jack. We loved each other."

If he were any closer, Jack would punch the smug look off Norse's face.

"You bastard. That wasn't love." His stomach clenched. "I was too stupid to see how you were using me."

"I don't love stupid people."

The comm crackled, interrupting Norse.

"Harbor, this is Big Sky."

Jack acknowledged Arlee. "Go ahead, Big Sky."

"ODP-3's hit hard," Arlee reported. "Operating on emergency power, weapons down."

Norse said, "And that attack is from ground-based fighters. The ones your friend Fog tried to disable, Harbor." He emphasized the resistance call signs, twisting them like blades into Jack.

Norse glanced at the chron above the still-darkened SITS Board. "Your friends on ODP-1 don't have much time," he said and stepped toward Jack. "It's almost over. Pride will appear on your scopes in just a few minutes."

Jack brought his blaster up and waved Norse to stand back. "Sorry, but I wouldn't count on that."

The Riga would have plotted Pride's trajectory and placed sentry ships along her route. If Pride had come out of hyperspace early and turned back to Torredo, the Riga would know. And Norse would know that.