Pacific Force, page 14
They had a rule about phones at the breakfast table, but again, it rang, so Jake reached out a hand and flipped it over to see who was wanting his attention this morning.
Sir William calling…
Jake considered putting it on speaker but put it to his ear instead.
“Good morning, sir,” he answered. “How may we be of service today?”
“I thought you should be among the first to know,” Sir William replied in his quiet, posh tones. “Roughly three hours ago, the vehicle transporting your friend Nathaniel Hoestler was reported missing. Obviously, investigations are on-going, and I am assured by relevant contacts that your group has returned to Seattle for the time being.”
“That’s correct, Sir William,” Jake replied. “We flew out Wednesday afternoon once everything in London was resolved. Is there anything we can do?”
“At this point, we’ll either have him in hand again within a few hours, or—and this is the more likely scenario, I’m afraid—he will have slipped entirely away, and we’ll have to start the investigation from scratch.”
“Who else disappeared?” Jake asked.
“What makes you think others did?” Sir William asked, a bit astonished.
“That tells me if this was a random fluke,” Jake said. “A door left open sort of thing versus a contingency he had already put in place.”
“Ah, I see,” the man said. “Your pardon.”
Jake heard a hand muffling the handset at the other end, so he looked at everyone.
“Someone walked away from his chain gang,” Jake told the others quietly.
The scowls were rather harsh, but it was early, and everyone had just had a wonderful breakfast that was digesting.
“Jake? I’m given to understand that Thomas Wilcox remains yet in custody,” Sir William came back a moment later. “However, the other fellow you captured, Sokoro Otieno, has disappeared. That tall, Kenyan chap. As for the rest, I would like to set up a call for Saturday. Just after midday your time would be late in my afternoon, and I can update you then.”
“I look forward to it, Sir William,” Jake said. “Thank you.”
The man hung up quickly, and Jake looked at the others.
“Nathaniel and Lucky were being transported when their vehicle just disappeared,” he said simply. “Tommy’s still in jail, at least for now.”
“What does he think we can do from here?” Hollyanne asked abruptly.
“Nothing,” Jake replied. “He wants to call me in about fifty-two hours and let me know if Nathaniel indeed got away, but I don’t really have my doubts.”
“Because Lucky went with him?” Spencer asked.
“He is called Lucky for a reason,” Jake reminded them.
“So now what?” Grant asked.
“So now, we need to talk,” Jake said, inwardly cringing at the choice of words but understanding that there was no easy way to say it. “Two years ago, we put that man in prison for what should have been twenty years and then Pacific Force retired as a group.”
“You never stopped working,” Hollyanne pointed out as Rik nodded.
“Correct.” Jake nodded compactly. “Not that long ago, I helped our old friend Perkins bust a smuggling ring here in Seattle, but that’s me. The rest of you have your own lives.”
“But Nathaniel’s back,” Hollyanne stated.
“Ten minutes ago, I was all set to say thanks to the four of you for helping me out one last time,” Jake said. “But now…”
“About that,” Rik, of all people, spoke up. “I kinda enjoyed myself more than I expected. I realized that I’d been coasting a lot for the last couple of years. Pacific Force made me stretch muscles that were starting to get a little slack and lazy.”
Jake turned to the boys on his right, facing inward towards the wall.
“Spencer?” Jake asked.
“I suppose this is where I admit I might have been working as a bit more of an undercover, muck-raking reporter than I might have mentioned to the rest of you,” he said with an evasive smile. “Nothing as big as Jake, but also not retired. However, doing it with the team is always more rewarding.”
“Grant?” Jake asked next, smiling at Spencer.
“I’ve been in Canada lately,” he said, also a little evasive.
“You running a con on the government or a woman?” Rik asked with a rude smile.
Grant flinched and grimaced.
“Maybe a little of both?” he replied after a moment.
“Oh?”
“She wants me to settle down and become something of a trophy husband,” Grant said. “You know, cocktail parties, opera, tuxedos, power lunches, afternoon tennis. Not a euphemism.”
“Not a euphemism,” Jake repeated with a laugh. “But you’re bored, aren’t you?”
“Out of my freaking mind,” Grant replied. “I’ve almost been reduced to running cons on the ladies at the market, just to keep busy.”
“I take it you don’t have to rush right back off?” Jake asked.
“I’m sure you need me for some secret project, and I’ll only be able to slip into Canada for a day or a long weekend at a time.”
“You will break up with her, then,” Rik snapped in an ugly tone suggesting way more than Jake was able to place. “Right now.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Grant replied, thoroughly chastened.
Jake drew a breath as every head turned to the last person at the table.
Hollyanne had been silent. Contemplative.
Anybody else, and Jake would have said uncertain, but he knew her better than just about anyone. If they’d both been a little different, they’d have probably been celebrating a twentieth wedding anniversary soon, instead of just an upcoming twentieth high school reunion, but they’d never quite clicked that way, and neither had wanted to tear apart what they had by forcing it.
Pacific Force had always been more important, and then she’d disappeared for much of the last two years, only popping up on his radar intermittently.
“Hollyanne?” Jake asked. “What do you think?”
“I think we were a force for good, once,” she said with a stern face.
“Once?” Jake countered.
“We retired.” She turned to face him, as though they were alone in the room. “Went our separate ways. Maybe needed to find ourselves, or at least our purpose.”
Jake didn’t figure she was talking about anyone but herself, but also didn’t feel like pointing that out. Hollyanne Kadjar had always been the philosopher of the group. The deep thinker exploring the ethics and morality of the thing, even as she was the tank who waded into combat with people like Mikhail or Lucky.
“And now?” Jake prodded her when she fell silent.
The others were silent. Possibly not even breathing right now.
“And now, Nathaniel is a threat again,” she finally admitted. “Like you, I had thought we’d all separate now and vanish again, but he’s out there.”
“If Pacific Force wasn’t revived, I doubt Nathaniel would come after any of us individually,” Jake offered. “Those old rules were always honored. He chose to surrender at the end, when one of us might have killed him. I suppose he knew he had one last surprise for us but we found the narrow boat and caught those folks as well. Most of his organization is gone now, except for Lucky and whoever he can recruit now.”
“But that’s just it,” she said in a voice verging on anguish. “He will rebuild. He’s that good. You’ve said that nobody but Pacific Force can stop the man. I have no doubt that you’re right.”
“And?” Jake asked.
“And I’m not sure what’s next,” she replied.
“What do you want, Hollyanne?” Jake asked her. “What would bring joy and peace to the warrior monk?”
“I wanted him done,” Hollyanne said. “I almost did that two years ago, but we captured him instead. And now he’s escaped us again.”
She fell silent, dark eyes staring at him.
Jake waited.
“I don’t know what I want,” she finally admitted.
Jake wasn’t surprised. He’d known that about her for years. The only astonishment on his part was that she had maybe finally realized it herself.
“I’d like your help,” Jake said, leaving the shape of the commitment open for interpretation, unwilling to push just yet.
She’d been his best friend for more twenty years, even occasional lovers like Rik, but nothing more and he had no claim on her now.
“Will it be enough?” she asked, and Jake saw the heart of her conundrum.
Would it be enough? Would it ever be enough? Could they say for certain that they had made the world a better place, short of someone finally killing Nathaniel?
But he also understood the answer that she needed in order to make her way past the trap she’d talked herself into. The philosophical quagmire of thought disrupting deeds.
“We will leave the world a better place than we found it,” Jake said. “That will be enough.”
She drew a breath to argue with him, but they’d had this discussion so many times that he could probably recite the words as fast as she would say them. After a moment, she smiled crookedly, as if she recognized that.
Instead, Hollyanne lifted her coffee mug in a toast.
“To Pacific Force,” she offered.
“Pacific Force,” the others responded and everyone drank.
Jake smiled. He’d been carrying the load alone for the last two years, but now he would have help.
Because Pacific Force had returned.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Blaze Ward writes science fiction in the Alexandria Station universe (Jessica Keller, The Science Officer, The Story Road, etc.) as well as several other science fiction universes, such as Star Dragon, the Dominion, and more. He also writes odd bits of high fantasy with swords and orcs. In addition, he is the Editor and Publisher of Boundary Shock Quarterly Magazine. You can find out more at his website www.blazeward.com, as well as Facebook, Goodreads, and other places.
Blaze's works are available as ebooks, paper, and audio, and can be found at a variety of online vendors. His newsletter comes out regularly, and you can also follow his blog on his website. He really enjoys interacting with fans, and looks forward to any and all questions—even ones about his books!
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Pacific Force
Pacific Force, Book 1
Blaze Ward
Copyright © 2023 Blaze Ward
All rights reserved
Published by Knotted Road Press
www.KnottedRoadPress.com
ISBN: 978-1-64470-334-2
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Blaze Ward, Pacific Force
