Forge of War (Jack of Harts) Read Online Free PDF

every night, and God talked back.
    “Well, one night the rich old man asked God to come dine with him the next day.  He wanted to really meet God face to face and spend a long time talking with him over a table.  God said he would come and the man was all kinds of happy.  The next day, he ordered his servants to spare no expense, to buy the best food in the town and to make the largest, most amazing banquet ever made at his house.  He’d had some real amazing banquets too, so this was saying something.  God was coming though, and that was worth his best stuff.
    “Well, word started to get around that he was doing this, and some people thought he was crazy but didn’t say much.  He was a good guy and treated everybody well, even if he was a bit odd.  A beggar, hearing about the banquet, knocked on the old man’s door and asked for some food.  Well, the man was getting ready for God, so he didn’t really want to let the beggar in, but he could see the man needed food.  So he let the man in, and told him to eat whatever he needed and to take what he needed when he left.  And he talked to the beggar, as a host should, even as he marked the time and tried to hurry the man off as quickly as he could without being rude.  Finally the beggar left, and the old rich man felt he was ready.
    “A knock came, and it was someone else needing food.  It wasn’t God.  The old rich man smiled and let them in, and shared his food, and talked with them, and let them out.  And more people came, and he let them in, and let them out, and all the while he wondered when God was coming.  The night came, and he still hadn’t seen God, and he went to pray and asked why God hadn’t come.
    “And God said he’d come, that he’d been there all day.  He’d been the first beggar, and all the other people the old man had welcomed into his home, had talked to and fed, and spent his time with.  That everything the old man had done to those people he had done to God.”
    Jack sighed and leaned back in his chair, chewing his lip.  He looked at the speaker.  “He’d been busy, preparing to meet someone very important, but when someone else came along and needed his time, he gave it.  He…”  He gave up with a shrug and fell into silence.
    “You were busy preparing to meet me , and you gave the dogs your time,” the cyber said, each word deliberate.
    “Yes,” Jack answered with a thoughtful frown, still trying to find the best words to explain his feelings.  “Yes, if we all gave each other time, maybe the worlds would be better places,” saying the one thing that almost seemed more stupid than the rest of the story put together.  He just couldn’t help himself.
    “Indeed,” the cyber said very, very carefully.  “Your turn.  One question.”
    Jack licked his lips, bringing himself back under control.  He would not sound desperate.  He breathed in, he breathed out, he calmed himself, and he asked the first thing that came to his mind.  “Would you join me for dinner?”
    The cyber laughed, long and heartily, at the request.  “Be careful,” she said after her laughter trailed away.  “You don’t want God to think you are blaspheming I think.”
    “I think He’d understand,” Jack answered with a shrewd smile.
    “Perhaps He would ,” the cyber intoned thoughtfully.  “You impress me.”
    Jack’s smile grew, along with his confidence.  “Does that mean what I think it means?”
    The cyber chuckled again.  “It means I have one more question for you.  It will either be easy or impossible to answer.  Ready?”
    Jack swallowed his nerves down.  “Go fish,” he said, forcing the smile to his face.
    The cyber chuckled.  “Jack.  If there were no Shang, no war, what is the one thing you would want to do above all others?”
    Jack felt his breath go out.  That was real hard to imagine.  Without the Shang, his parents would still be alive.  “We always used to fish,” he finally said, his jaw