“Not even when your boyfriend catches you Frenching some other guy?” Lexa teased.
“That’s never happened before,” Amy protested. “Still, I don’t usually go around blubbering under any circumstances and— Oh shit!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Count it out: one week to the Stewards, three weeks since then . . .”
“Are you always so regular?”
Amy nodded fearfully.
“Oh, I am so over that,” Lexa said to Amy’s relief. “But do you know what this means?” she inquired menacingly.
“What?”
“You have once again missed your civic duty, young woman!” Lexa said with a glint in her eyes. Amy laughed.
They spent most of the evening indoors. Jake came by. Amy was undecided as to what she wanted to do, so Lexa met him at the door and said that Amy was ill.
Later on, they decided to get some fresh air. They found Shawn sitting on a park bench beside the parking lot, a wide grin fixed on his face.
“Hey, Shawn,” Amy greeted him. “Didn’t go drinking with the others?”
He shook his head no, the grin never leaving his face. There was a distant metallic whine.
“Got plans?” Lexa inquired, curious.
He nodded yes, still smiling. The whine grew louder and became a roar. A Harley Davidson motorcycle, similar to the one that gathered dust in the back of her dad’s garage, came around the corner and pulled into the parking lot.
Perched on top was an almost unbelievably small figure in black leather. The helmet’s faceplate slid back to reveal a tiny, bright, feminine face framed by blond hair. The grin matched Shawn’s.
“Lily Scotsdale!” Lexa said in surprise.
Lily ignored her. “Hey, big boy,” she said to Shawn, “want to go for a ride?”
With a soft grunt of glee, Shawn crossed the parking lot and got on behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, impossibly huge compared to her slim waist, and they were off.
“That was Lily Scotsdale,” Lexa said as they departed.
“So?”
Lexa thought a moment. “Well,” she said slowly, “I guess the easiest way to explain this is it’s like your reputation back home.”
“A dirty old grease monkey?”
“No, with regards to men.”
“A frigid bitch?”
“That’s Lily’s reputation here,” Lexa said. “Most of the men think she’s a lesbian, but she’s not.”
“How would you know?” Amy teased.
Lexa inspected the ground very closely. “You can’t blame a girl for trying.”
“Lexa!”
“I was bored,” Lexa protested chasing after Amy. “And besides, she is cute.”
Chapter 15
THE BITTER END
Late that night, Amy awoke to the sounds of arguing. She went to her window. It was Patrick and Mark.
Patrick was holding Mark as he puked. They were both obviously drunk.
“You have got to knock this shit off,” Patrick was saying.
“None of your business what I do,” Mark snarled as he came up.
“If I have to drag your sorry ass home every goddamn night, it is,” Patrick shot back. “And I am not bailing your ass out again, old buddy. Just get that through your head right now. You either control yourself or else.”
“Or else what?” Mark sneered. “You will go and tell on me to Luke.” He gave a crude laugh.
“Shut the fuck up,” Patrick snarled.
“Oh come on, you just love old Captain Luke,” Mark went on. “You want to kiss his ass.”
Patrick shoved him away. Mark tottered unsteadily on his feet. “I should kick your ass for that,” Patrick said. “Not to mention all the trouble you could have gotten us into.”
“That bitch will keep her mouth shut,” Mark said. Amy’s blood ran cold.
“You had better damn well hope so,” Patrick replied. “What I don’t get is that you have a wife at home. You can do whatever you want when we get back. Why do you have to pull this shit down here?”
Mark just shrugged.
Patrick pointed his fingers at the other man. “You stay away from the booze and the broads, or I will personally kick your ass. Understand?”
There was a deadly silence as the two faced off. Mark gave an almost imperceptible nod. Patrick stalked off. After he left, Mark muttered, “Who does he think he is, my father?” He stumbled off toward his house.
Amy went back to bed, but she lay awake a long time wondering what it all meant.
“Look, I don’t want to get in the way of you and Luke,” Jake told her the next day as they wandered a deserted hospital corridor.
“I don’t want Luke.”
Jake looked relieved. “I really do like you.”
“Is that why you want to come back with us?” she asked.
“No. Well, okay. That’s what made me think of it,” he admitted. “But I really just want to get away from here for a while. They don’t need me.” He turned to her. “I’ll go no matter what you decide, but if you’d have me, I will stay.”
“Thank you.”
“So does that mean you want to pick up where we left off the other night?” he asked slyly.
“I can’t, Jake.”
“Oh,” he said crestfallen. “You and Luke have to sort things out first, do you?”
“Well, yes, but it’s not that. It’s just, well, a bad time.”
“What? Oh.” They left it at that.
That afternoon, as she walked home with Lexa, she saw Jake and Luke talking. She was momentarily afraid, but they weren’t fighting. Normally, she would have left them alone, but she had to talk to Luke.
They broke off their discussion as she came up. “I’ve got to get going,” Jake said. “I’ll let you two talk.”
“Hi, Amy,” Luke said nervously, but at least he didn’t seem angry.
“We need to talk.”
“I know.”
“Not about that,” she replied. She told him about what she had overheard the night before.
Luke nodded. “I’ll look into it. Not that either of them will likely talk to me.” He looked away and then back. “We need to talk about something else too.”
“Yeah, I suppose we do.”
“Look, Jake explained the whole thing,” he said. “And I can understand.” Amy was caught between surprise at Luke’s reaction and anger that Jake had taken it on himself to talk to Luke. Both dissolved into rage as Luke went on. “He said it was nothing, just a kiss. If he had known that we were a couple, he wouldn’t have done anything. He said it won’t happen again.”
What is going on? It isn’t like Luke to lie. Why would Jake say such a thing?
“I need to talk to him,” Amy said, very tight lipped. She turned and strode off down the road. Luke watched her go with a puzzled look of suspicion.
“Jake!” she cried as she pounded on his door. “Get your ass out here and talk to me.”
Jake opened the door sheepishly. “Yes, Amy?”
“Don’t play innocent with me,” she fumed. “What did you tell Luke?”
He looked on the verge of tears. “That he could have you,” he said in a small voice.
“I am not a play thing to be tossed back and forth. You have no right to give me to him, or anyone,” she screamed.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why? That’s what I want to know. Why?” Her anger was slipping, giving way to tears and grief. “I thought you wanted me. You said so this morning. What happened?”
“I do want you,” he replied hugging her, “more than you know. But he deserves you more.”
She pushed him away. “Bullshit! Try again.”
“There are things he can give you that I can’t.”
“Like what?”
“I’m sterile,” he said in a small voice.
She pounded on his chest with her open palms. “Damn it, not you too! What do I care?”
“But you’re fertile,” he insisted. “You have to have kids. How else will the race survive?”
“I don’t care about the race,” she fumed. “I care about you.”
He held her as she cried. “It’s okay,” he told her.
After a bit, she pulled back. “You know, at the ranch they don’t think like that. Nobody would say anything.”
“They wouldn’t say anything down here,” Jake replied. “But we heard the lectures when we are kids. We must try to save the race. I never thought I cared either, but I guess I do.”
“Don’t give up on me yet.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Luke coming down the road. Not caring that he saw, she leaned and kissed Jake.
Luke was waiting for her in the parking lot. “I guess, it’s not over,” he said, the pain showing in his voice.
Amy immediately felt sorry. “No, Luke, it’s not. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. You’ve been my best friend for years. I just don’t know what I want.”
Luke hung his head. “I know what I want. You. I love you.”
“You like me,” she corrected. “I never understood the difference until recently.”
“I know we would be happy together,” he insisted more firmly. “But I can’t make you love me. You’ll have to choose.”
Amy looked away and saw a group of Cyclers coming their way. Lorn was with them, and they all looked grim. Luke followed her stare.
“We need to speak with Mark,” Lorn said when they approached. Luke nodded and headed for the townhouse. Amy hung back with Jake, who had come out to see what was going on. Lexa came up to them. “What’s up?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but I have a suspicion,” Amy said. She told them about the conversation she’d overheard.
“Over here,” a voice said. James was beside his pickup. “No need to have too many people gawking,” he told them.
Mark came out into the parking lot. He circled clear of the crowd nervously. Patrick, every muscle bulging with pent-up anger, stalked out to him. They spoke in angry whispers.
Luke approached the two of them, his face white with rage. In a loud clear voice, he said, “Mark, you stand accused of having forced yourself on one of the women here.”
“So?” Mark shot back angrily. “We are not part of this community. They can accuse whatever they want.”
“As commander of this expedition,” Luke went on, “I have given them permission to treat you as they would one of their own. You will stand trial and, if found guilty, be punished.”
“You can’t do that,” Mark yelled. “Just because Jacob said, you don’t have the right to order me about. You should have seen how the hussy was dressed. She asked for it.”
A ripple of anger went through the crowd.
“Luke,” Patrick pleaded, “tell them to leave him to us. We’ll see that he gets punished back home. Amos will take care of it. Anything but this.”
“What’s Amos going to do?” Luke exploded. “Make him marry this one too? Hush it up? Bullshit! He’s going to get punished for real this time.”
Three men broke from the crowd and moved forward.
“You can’t do this,” Mark squealed. “You can’t.” He produced a handgun. The men froze.
Luke jumped back, shocked. “Where did you get that?”
“None of your business,” Mark growled. “Just back off.”
“Put it down Mark, you can’t win,” Luke said, his voice low and cautious.
“Fuck you,” Mark said hysterically. “Fuck you all.”
Everyone dropped to the ground as the first round narrowly missed Luke. One of the men was too slow and the second round caught him on the shoulder, slamming him back and down.
Amy looked up and realized that James was still standing. He had retrieved a crowbar from the back of the pickup and was eyeing Mark. He heaved the bar through the air.
Mark turned toward the whistling sound, but it was already too late. A bone-crunching thud sounded across the parking lot, and Mark fell.
Patrick was by his side in a moment, followed closely by Luke. Lorn and Spider made for the injured Cycler.
“Is he dead?” someone in the crowd asked.
“No,” both groups answered. Luke added, “But its damn close.”
Patrick rose and glared at James. Fire burned in his eyes. A gun appeared in his hands. “You killed my friend,” he growled, pointing the gun at James.
“No!” Lexa and Amy cried together, pulling James down.
Luke reacted first, leaping to his feet in front of Patrick. He swept his hand in a vicious sweep, striking Patrick’s wrist with a stunning blow. The gun flew from his hand.
Patrick fell back into a ready stance, but Luke was already moving in. He stepped in and swept Patrick’s supporting leg out from under him. He followed him down, his elbow landing squarely in Patrick’s face. Patrick jerked and went limp.
“Sergeant Hall would be proud,” Kurt said as he came up to Luke.
Patrick regained consciousness quickly. Shawn and Lily arrived moments later. Lily, who was a friend of the girl, punched him upside the head, knocking him unconscious again.
The two injured men were taken to the doctor. This man was a real doctor, unlike Dr. Pritchard back home. He declared the bullet wound clean. A few stitches were all the intervention he would need.
When the still unconscious Mark was brought to him, it was a different story. Nobody expected otherwise. It was obvious that he had a cracked skull from the blow from the crowbar and had not much longer to live. The doctor gave him a shot of medicine and made him as comfortable as possible.
Luke and Patrick left with the Cyclers as the rest of the expedition gathered in Luke and Daniel’s townhouse. A very subdued Jake stayed with Amy and Lexa. Lily stayed as well, comforting a sobbing Shawn.
It was late when Luke returned alone. Shaken by the day’s events, Patrick had given a full account. He took responsibility for the guns. He claimed that he had pulled Mark off the woman and thought that nothing had happened. He had dragged Mark away and gotten the woman to promise to keep quiet, or so he thought. He had taken Mark home and thought that would be the end of it.
While no one quite believed the story, it did agree with the woman’s on one major point. It had been Patrick that ended the assault by dragging Mark away with dire threats to both of them. For this one redeeming fact, the Cyclers would allow Patrick to return to the ranch to face whatever punishment they would mete out there.
I can guess what that will be,
Amy thought darkly.
Amos won’t care.
Since Mark wouldn’t live the night, there was no point in talking about his punishment. The rest of the group was held blameless, as Patrick had been clear that no one else knew about the woman or the guns.