© Becca, Dana Simmons and Starbright 2001 The Young Riders is an Ogiens/Kane Production, created by Ed Spielman.
We only borrow his characters for fun. No infringement of copyright intended. There is absolutely no financial gain for the authors. We survive on the feedback, and we need plenty of it.

2313
Chapter 15

There was a soft rumble of voices in the midst of an incredible heat. Groaning Lou tried to get the covers off herself but something held them to their place. When she opened her eyes she found herself in a strange hue, not quite night but not day either. There was something hard poking right into the small of her back, groaning she tried to move away. Something tickled her cheek when she inched down and she irritably rubbed her hand on the cheek to get rid of the disturbance. What had pinned her to the ground moaned and moved away. Lou sat up and assessed the situation, the lump at her side looked like Kid. Another lump at the opposite wall looked like Jimmy. Slowly it dawned on her where she was. In the dim greenish light she peered at the heap besides her and he snored once, burying his face deeper into the coat, establishing the fact. She truly found herself out in the wilderness, in a tent with snoring men. Lou had to bite down on her lip not to laugh. Kid's head was stuck into the blue coat he had worn last night. Snoring lightly he mumbled as Lou shifted to get away from the rock her rump was placed on. The air was thick inside the tent and she felt like she had been dragged a couple of miles behind wild horses. She needed to get out and stretch.

Jimmy was lying on the other side of the tent, blocking the way out, only a wayward foot visible. She had to move very carefully to get around him. Feeling an urge to tickle the sole, just to see the reaction. But giving the limited space she decided to let it be, she had no desire to be trapped in a tent with a startled Jimmy. He'd probably flip it all around and cause havoc. And with Kid still inside it was bound to result in mayor calamity, and she was not sure they could take any more of that. But it sure tempted her.

Easing herself out as silently as possible she was surprised at how bright it was outside. The delicious smell of cafs registering in her brain.

"Mornin', " she said as Amanda handed her the steaming beverage, "what time is it?"

"It's 0700 and all is well on the western frontier." Buck chuckled as Lou frowned at the strength of the brew.

Lou peered at him, he looked incredibly fresh this early in the morning. His hair was wet and hung loose over his shoulders, it was getting long. "How long have you been up?"

"Ever since he started snoring, " Amanda chuckled.

Buck looked dismayed, "I don't snore!"

"Oh yeah you do!" Amanda smiled teasingly at him, "I had to put a stop to it." She turned and threw a side-looped smile in Lou's direction. "Enough to wake the dead there for a while, had to..." A loud snore from inside cut her short.

Lou hiccuped, the cafs spurting over her trousers as she laughed while wiping her nose.

Amanda looked baffled in Buck's direction.

Buck crossed his arms over his chest and leaned onto the tree stem. Arching his left eyebrow he studied Amanda intently. "Elbowing the wrong man, were we?"

The woman squirmed, "eh, uh....how was I supposed to know, huh? I elbowed in the direction of the sound. And from where I was I'd consider my elbowing self-defense!"

Buck's lips twisted and Lou leaned over and laughed even harder.

"Uh huh Amanda, you elbowed me to get out of making breakfast, admit it!"

"But Buck," Amanda smiled her sweetest smile in his direction, "ya know you're the one to turn to in a breakfast crisis. God knows that I've eaten what Kid's put together and it suits horses all right but I'd rather starve. And Jimmy, please! Jimmy's porridge coulda been used as wallpaper glue!"

Lou keeled over, fighting for air.

Buck rose and walked to the buckboard. Returning with a pack of towels he stuffed it in Amanda's lap, "go get yourselves cleaned up! Restaurant Buck is strict on its cleanliness code. The two of you look like the gutter is your permanent address."

"Pffft," Amanda snorted and jerked the pack out of Buck's hand, "that's no way to talk to a lady."

"Elbowing ain't no way to wake up the man you're asking to make you breakfast!" Buck laughed.

Groaning Amanda extended a hand to the giggling Lou and drew her to her feet, "c'mon Lou, I have a feeling he ain't gonna serve us if we don't oblige. You drive a hard bargain Buck!"

"Yeah, elbowing gets you nowhere with me, " Buck grinned at them. "Get me some dry wood on your way back. I'm gonna need it!"

"Wallpaper glue," Lou giggled as she stiffly stumbled after Amanda down to the creek, "you're killing me!"

"Me? No-o," Amanda protested, "but the food most of them men at your site are cooking is surely doing it - slowly but securely."

Lou still giggled occasionally while she sat on the bank of the creek, awaiting her coverall to dry. The fabric was supposed to dry in ten minutes but it had already been fifteen and it was still damp. "Another HuRec failure," Lou remarked with a grin.

"Huh?" Amanda peered at her, trying to disentangle her long hair.

Lou shook her head and raised her head to let the sun warm her face. "Was just thinking 'bout yesterday, I'm telling you Amanda, my faith in HuRec is next to zero right now. How could it happen? Weren't they supposed to be in control?"

"Being in control is a dangerous notion Lou, it's then when you start to relax too much and WHAM! Hell brakes loose, like yesterday." Amanda shrugged. "Why the hell did I trust them? Jimmy kept telling me something was not right. I just trusted that them fools knew what they were doing!"

"Trust is about as dangerous as control," Lou mumbled.

"Dangerously close," Amanda admitted, "but heck, you gotta be able to trust somebody - or something!"

"Other than yourself? Never!" Lou smiled bitterly at both her constant suspicions and view of life once more being affirmed, there really was nobody or nothing to rely on in this world.

Amanda remain silent at her side, long enough for Lou to turn her face away from the warmth of the sun and look at her companion. Wondering. She met with Amanda's thoughtful gaze. "What?"

"Funny view of life for one that's volunteering as a settler, that's all, thought you if someone had to rely on each other."

"I know! That's what's hard, I keep forgetting not to trust, keep losing control too, come to think of it!" Suddenly she silenced herself, wondering what she was doing? Peering at Amanda she wondered if she had revealed too much? What was it about this new situation that had her babbling to everybody about everything?

"Who's been letting you down lately Lou?" Amanda smiled warmly at her, "I'd say they're all there for you, some more than others."

Lou felt herself blush once again, like her weakness for a certain member of the group was written all over her, plain for all to see. It was high time she got her control back. "There's degrees of trust Amanda, you know that! Just like there's degrees of dampness, the coverall's are almost good, let's get back."

"You know what Lou," Amanda said while getting into the garment, "the way you're talking is alarmingly close to Teaspoon's, better watch out. Soon enough you'll be hard to follow! Ya know all that about discourses and frames and such."

Lou giggled at the thought of Teaspoon's sermons, Amanda was right, her mind had started to wander in all kinds of directions lately. Dangerous directions. "It's fresh air intoxication Amanda, and I seem to be affected worse than anybody else."

"A broken heart never killed anyone Lou," Amanda said with a soft smile in her direction. "But it's mighty painful when you're submitted to it. Don't trample all over him."

"Amanda," Lou groaned, "I'm not trampling on anything!" Hastily putting on her clothes, cursing herself for exposing too much once again.

"Uh huh? You sure about that Lou?"

"Oh yeah," Lou sighed, "'coz God knows I'd be willing."

The last sentence just kind of fell out of her mouth before she had time to stop it.

Amanda chuckled all the way back to their camp.

"Where's the boys?" Amanda asked seeing Buck alone by the fire, stirring something green in a pot, "and what in God's name is that?"

"That my dear friend is your punishment for this morning," Buck grinned mockingly, "it's an old Indian recipe for early summer invigorating tea."

"I dare not ask," Lou stated, peering into the brew, "what you put in there? Frogs?"

Buck looked distinctly hurt, "another word outta you Lou and you'll be cooking. It's all vegetables, mostly ...never mind, this is what you'll get!"

"Suddenly I'm not hungry at all," Amanda snickered, "suddenly I long for Jimmy's wallpaper glue. Please go get him!"

"Oh no dear, Teaspoon has some work for the two of you, told me it's mighty important too." Buck flipped more fir needles into the brew, sniffing it briefly before adding resin. Sniffing it again. Lou stood back and frowned with disgust.

"You girls need to get some dirt samples, pronto." Buck continued, "I sent Kid and Jimmy to clean up, they looked like they had shared your dwelling in the gutter. And we need to start heading back in about two hours so you better get goin'! How come neither of you got the EA on?"

"Lost it," Lou admitted, "forgot to bring a spare one with me, tell 'im I'm sorry. What'we looking for in the dirt?"

"Lost life forms," Buck said, taking a spoonful of the brew and eyeing it skeptically, "any DNA you can find."

"Phew," Amanda let out, "for a moment I though you were looking for more spices for your tea!"

Buck grinned, "if you only knew...."

"What I tell you?" Amanda turned to Lou, "they're all in on it!" She walked around Buck to get to the wagon, watching him she started humming, "killing me softly with your food, killing me softly with your bre-e-e-w... an ole' goodie from the 20th century Buck, ever heard it?"

"Heard it? I live by it," Buck retorted, "every chance I get to nail an elbower I...!" he ducked as leaves and pine needles came flying his way. Desperately he tried to salvage the brew from Amanda's well aimed throw. Muttering he skimmed it to get the leaves out of it.

"Thought I'd season it for ya," Amanda laughed as Buck glared at her.

"C'mon," Lou chuckled, "you can play later, we have work to be done! Buck please, can't you get me some regular food, I'm beggin' ya!"

"So picky," Buck muttered, "women nowadays, never pleased!"

He sighed as he poured his tea-trial on the ground, chuckling to himself at the smell of it. He had gone wrong somewhere along the line. Or maybe Ike was having a good laugh right now? Flicking his EA on to thoughtbeared mode he called on the friend he imagined sitting on the Sweetwater verandah, laughing his brains out. And of course all he heard was a heartfelt chuckle. Buck smiled ruefully. Ike had sure gotten him once again.

Lou headed for the creek, that was where it was most likely to find something new, or something old and lost. In the soft moraine under the pines there might be particles of hidden treasures. The MrDaD ready she almost missed the old days back at the lab, searching for and identifying lost DNA. The thrill of finding variations on an old pattern and finding out what it was part of and if it was recoupable was one of the things she enjoyed most in her life. It was like reading an old story and suddenly finding a sentence you've never seen before, opening up new depths. She heard Amanda muttering behind her, clearly not as excited as she herself was.

Lou gave Amanda a stick to dig with.

Obediently she filled containers with dirt, digging deeper and deeper to get what Lou wanted. Wrinkling her nose as ants climbed up the stick she was digging with. Cringing as she came upon a fat, thriving earthworm. "Ew, gimme hardened criminals any time," she exclaimed and let go off the stick. "How on earth can you stand all this ...this life?"

Lou laughed and shook her head, figure Amanda to be scared of bugs! Lou found a very beautiful bacteria and magnified it. "Look!" Showing Amanda the picture she smiled at her amazement, the picture glittering with a thousand shades of lilac as the tiny creature moved.

"It's beautiful!" Amanda nodded, "what is it?"

"Something you find around ants' toilets," Lou giggled.

Amanda rose to her feet and shook her hands as if she would get rid of the horrific sight that way. "E-e-ew, " she repeated, "that's gross Lou!"

Lou laughed and copied the DNA into the dB, she'd have a lot of comparing to do when she got back home. "See, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder."

"I'd say," Amanda let out with a low whistle.

"What?" Lou turned her head to see where the changed mood had come from, Amanda's voice was full of wonder. "You see somethin'?"

Amanda's gaze was directed over the dune, and Lou couldn't tell what she was looking at.

"Oh yeah, " Amanda let out with a broad grin, "I sure do."

Lou scrambled to her feet, eager to see what had Amanda breathless. She was awaiting to see a deer or some beautiful wildlife. What she saw had her reach out and pull Amanda backwards. "Amanda, it's not right!"

"What?"

"They don't know you're lookin'!"

"That's the beauty!" Amanda chuckled, "get them pants off boys and let us have a peek."

Lou's cheeks turned warm, shaking her head at Amanda's shameless ogling she tried to get her away from there. She had only caught a glimpse herself and she knew she'd be ogling too if she let her eyes wander in that direction. God knew she had seen that muscular chest in her dreams. "Let's go Amanda!" she prompted.

"Oh oh, Kid fell in, now the pants are definitely coming off!"

"Amanda don't!" But she couldn't help herself and watched eagerly, though ashamed of herself. It felt like intruding.

Kid was sitting in the shallow water, Jimmy laughed wholeheartedly at him. Kid threw his companion a murderous look.

His tanned arms and trim waist. She drew a deep breath and stared, knowing the vision would probably come back to taunt her. But still she couldn't take her eyes off him. Jimmy walked up to him and handed him something, Kid stuck his leg out and made Jimmy trip and plunge head first into the creek. Then he laughed while Jimmy submerged, glaring at him.

Lou smiled at the sight.

"Thank you Kid," Amanda giggled, "now his pants are gonna come off too!"

Amanda's shamelessness had Lou divert her eyes, still didn't feel right to watch them like this, without them knowing. She wanted to protect Kid from Amanda's appraising eyes, she didn't want anybody to look at Kid like that, seizing him up. Her possessiveness surprised her, she wanted that sight all for herself, she didn't want to share Kid like this with anybody. She really didn't mind looking, what she minded was Amanda looking.

"Don't look, please!"

"Oh don't you worry Lou. I'm not resting my eyes on the Kid, have no fear."

"Hey!" Lou cast a dismayed glance in Amanda's direction, "that's not why...."

"Shh, Lou, they might hear us!" Resting an arm around Lou's shoulders she walked up closer to the dune, peeking over it. "What a sight," she sighed.

Lou couldn't help herself and looked again. Blushing as she noticed he was washing himself, clad only in a towel around his waist. She echoed Amanda's sigh.

"Missed the best part," Amanda whispered.

Lou remain looking at the man by the creek, agility and strength in the lanky body. Precise movements as he rinsed his clothes in the creek, water dripping from his hair onto the broad shoulders, reflecting the sunshine. The movements of his body as he crouched and washed his face in the shallow water. The shy smile that emerged when Jimmy said something to him, a friendly grin on the face as he answered Jimmy. His expression making her heart surge. Lou could almost feel his voice even if she was out of hearing range. Jimmy seemed to persist and Kid rose to stand at the bank, suddenly turning serious. Remaining still, looking out into the horizon. Lou wondered what they were talking about. Shifting her gaze to Jimmy she saw him crouched beside the creek. Watching Kid, waiting for an answer. Nodding in consent at Kid's headshake.

Lou bit on her lower lip, wondering what had made Kid look so sad all of a sudden. She glanced over at Amanda. To see if she had seen the shift too. But her companion's eyes were glued on Jimmy, a faint smile playing on the lips as she watched him. Lou shook her head, knowing that Amanda felt no shame whatsoever over what they were doing, spying on them.

Letting her eyes wander back to the two Lou decided to fill her mind with the sight, remembering it and treasuring it. He was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen, she'd never thought about a man as 'beautiful' before. Handsome yes, good-looking definitely, but beautiful? There's something more than the handsome features about ya Kid! Something deeper that made him ...'beautiful'. And this was probably all she would ever see of him so why not? Amanda was right, it wouldn't hurt him, because he would never know. And she'd lock this memory in her heart, together with the blueness of his eyes, she'd remember and long for what probably never would come true.

"You're right Lou," Amanda finally sighed, "we can't be standing here ogling all day long, we have work to do. Much as I hate it right now we better get going. Back to the bugs...gosh, the irony of life is creepy! Why do bugs win in the battle against men? I must be going out of my mind here!" Amanda rolled her eyes. "You're a bad influence Lou."

Lou had to giggle at the prospect, fully knowing that she'd remember everything, every move and every playing muscle perfectly. The smile and the playfulness. The sadness that came over him as he stood there, looking into the horizon. Somehow she felt like she had watched him before, that his body was hers in a way. Hers to touch and hers to hold. That he somehow belonged with her, why she had no idea. But it felt like she reacted instinctively to him, like she was preprogrammed.

Preprogrammed for heartache. Lou snorted bitterly at the thought.

Sighing she followed Amanda back to the camp, they'd always be able to get more samples along the way. Staying here so close to the Kid was futile, she'd never get any work done like that. Her eyes kept wanting to drift to those tanned arms and narrow hips, the broad shoulders manifesting strenght and the confidence in his stride. Her mind drifted to the expression in the deepblue eyes and the smile that pulled your feet from under you. I wanna be the one making him smile like that!

"There I go again," she groaned to herself.

"What?" Amanda threw a glance at her.

Lou broke a sturdy twig from the nearest tree; "start digging!"

Buck's eyes widened as the EA stated humming a warning tone. Stopping his packing he looked up to the sky. It seemed endless and blue, a perfect summer's day. Could they be wrong yet again? There was not one dark cloud as far as his eyes could bear, not one sign of the storm that lurked behind the horizon. But his intuition had been restless all day long, telling him something was up. He had tried to push it far back, blaming his uneasiness on yesterday and the havoc. But his uneasiness grew as he waited for the rest to get back.

Anxiously he started packing, readying them for departure. And then the alarm set off and he knew he had been right all along. He had probably picked up the signs earlier than the sensors had. There was definitely something in the air that spoke of danger, something not tangible, yet very distinct.

The alarm was cut off as Ike's voice disheveled the thoughts.

"Buck, you're right, there was a hailstorm that almost wiped sector 28 out, seems it's moving this way! Might turn into a series of twisters. You gotta get back by yourselves, you have about 6 hours, can you make it?"

"I don't know," Buck admitted, "what about the ASA?"

"Don't have one big enough for all of you here, they're all at sector 28, evacuating. Can send one to get some of you out thou', want me to do that?"

Buck paused for a second, Lou and Amanda would probably be saved if the worst happened. But how would he tell the two of them to go and leave the rest of them behind.They'd never do that. "No."

"Thought so, and Buck..."

"Yeah?"

"Just get yourselves home! I'll be here all the time telling you how it's looking. Sam's hunting high and low for another transport ASA, if we're lucky we'll be able to pick you up on the way."

"All right Ike."

"Buck!"

"Huh?"

"I wish I was there, hate sitting here and not being able to..."

"Ike!"

"Yeah?"

"Please shut up and guide us home."

"Ok bro, I'll do what I can."

Buck smiled, knowing Ike would turn himself inside out if necessary. He'd see them through all right, guide them around the storm if necessary. Buck felt good having Ike look out for them. The tension had lessened now that he knew what he was facing, and that Ike was on top of things.

Buck hollered for Amanda and Jimmy to get back to camp, knowing those were the only ones with functioning EA's, hoping they had the other two with them. There was no time to spare.

With a last glance at the peaceful summer sky he tucked the packed tent into the carriage and went for the horses. They'd better leave everything behind and ride like the devil was on their heels.

TBC

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