Jason Frost - Badlands

"We don't want a bigger lead, Captain," Eric explained. "As long as Fallows knows about where we are, he'll keep the pace bearable. Once he thinks we're bolting, he'll come at us full force. I don't think we can outlast seventeen trained troops, do you?"

Steve shrugged, continued tearing paper.

"Well," Eric said, "I think I'll do a little looking around while you rest. We leave in five minutes." He ducked into the woods, moving silently away.

"Stop brooding, Steve," Paige said when they were alone. "Ravensmith is right. They push us any harder and we'll be crawling. We may be behind on points, but we're controlling the center of the court."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that we're goddamn lucky he came along or that maniac Fallows would have killed us all by now."

"Hey, thanks for all the faith."

She shook her head. "Give me a break, Steve. It has nothing to do with you. This Ravensmith character just happens to be better trained than you. Than any of us. He knows what he's doing. Hell, put him on the tennis court and you'd probably slaughter him."

"That supposed to be funny?"

"Christ, grow up." She took a deep breath. "Listen, Steve, we have a mission. Find my father and/or his papers. My dad and I haven't been that close the last few years, but I still want to find him. Bring him home. Family reunion and all that. But we only have another thirty-eight hours. After that the shuttle takes off. I intend to be aboard with or without my father or his papers. A couple of hours in this slime pit has convinced me of that much."

Steve crumbled the paper and tossed it over his shoulder. "OK, I'm just saying I don't think this Ravensmith is as hot as you think. I've had survival training too, you know. I'm saying that we should backtrack now that we've got them going in this direction, circle behind them, and head off in the direction we want. Fallows will just keep going straight ahead, hoping to pick up the trail."

Paige said, "Makes sense."

"Sure it does. The only reason Ravensmith is doing it this way is to split up Fallows's group so he can get his son back. That's his problem, not ours."

"I don't know, Steve." Paige thought about it. Steve sounded so sure of himself. And he was probably right about Ravensmith's motives. Still, she felt a lot more confident with Ravensmith than with Steve. He'd done well so far. "Let's just stick it out a little longer."

"What for?" Steve frowned. "So you can get in his pants?"

"Jesus, Steve."

"I know you, Paige." He wagged his finger accusingly in her face, his own face turning red again. "You're looking for a quick fuck from the tough mountain man. Something different, a little kinky, to tell the folks back in D.C."

"Calm down, Captain!" Paige ordered.

"Fuck you, Doctor." Steve sprang to his feet and stared down at her, his lips twisted into a cruel grin. "I'm doing this my way. I'll get your father or his goddamn secret blueprints or both and meet you back at the shuttle. Then you explain to the boys back home how your pussy got in the way of this mission."

"Captain Connors," Paige said, rising to her feet. "You are under my command on this mission. I am ordering you to stay here."

Steve chuckled. "Blow it out your ass, wifey." He grabbed his SPAS shotgun and started to leave.

"Steve, goddamn it, stay here."

Capt. Steve Connors spun back and slapped Paige hard across the cheek, knocking her into the tree. "I wanted to do that the whole time we were married. If I'd known how good it felt, I'd have done it long ago." He grinned at her. "That's one thing the ERA ain't never gonna stop. A right cross to the chops." Clutching his shotgun, he jogged off into the woods the same way they'd come.

Eric returned a few minutes later. "Looks clear ahead. No bandits waiting for us that I can see." At first he had assumed that Steve had gone off to take care of bodily functions. But now as Paige turned her face toward him and he saw the red splotch of a hand imprint on her cheek, he knew what had happened. "You OK?"

She nodded. "He'd never hit me before."

"Yeah, well, this island changes people. Even a few hours exposure. Brings out something in people, the things they've managed to hide in civilized society."

She glared at him. "You saying Steve was a latent woman-beater?"

"No, just that you stick someone, anyone, in a savage land, take away all the rules, all the peer pressure, and they're bound to change. Ever drive in your car and have someone cut you off and you wished, right at that moment, you had a gun so you could kill them?"

"Sure, everybody has."

"Only you don't kill them. You think about the morality, the consequences and all that. Besides, you don't usually have a gun in your car. But out here, somebody looks at you funny and you can blow him away, no questions asked."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah, but also kind of freeing. Freedom of choice is heady stuff, especially when no two people are playing by the same rules. You'd better remember that while you're here."

"What rules are you playing by, Ravensmith?"

Eric smiled at her. "Same as you. For now."

Paige said, "Steve intends to beat us to the cabin and then back to the shuttle. He thinks it's some kind of macho game."

"Does he know where the cabin is?"

"Pretty much. I gave him directions as best as I could remember. It's not that hard to find."

"Damn," Eric said, handing her his HK 93. "You hang onto this. I'll move faster without it." He checked the bolt in his bow.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to track down your friend."

"And kill him?"

"Will he come back voluntarily?"

She thought about it a moment. "No."

"Then I'll kill him."

"That's crazy. I won't let you."

"Listen, Doctor. He knows where we're going. What happens if Fallows gets hold of him? He'll know exactly where we're going and why."

"He won't talk."

"Sure he will. I would."

She shook her head. "You don't know Steve."

"You don't know Dirk Fallows. Anybody'd talk. If they were smart, they'd talk before he does anything to them. At least then he might kill you quickly. Otherwise…" He shrugged.

"God, sometimes I hate men."

"Me too," Eric said. "We're a pompous bunch all right. But that doesn't change our situation. Captain Connors has got to die." He took a few steps in the direction Steve Connors had gone before he heard the safety flick off.

"You know I'll use this, Ravensmith."

Eric turned, looked into her eyes. Her blond hair was pulled tight into a pony tail. The gun was gripped firmly in both hands. "Yeah." He nodded. "I think you would."

"Then let's push ahead. Steve's got a plan of his own. Maybe he'll make it. He deserves the chance."

"Not when it risks our lives. And my son's."

She patted the metal stock of the HK 93. "You don't really have a choice."

Capt. Steve Connors remembered his jungle survival training well. All the pilots had extensive training back when planes were going down into the Vietnam jungles with the regularity of the sun rising. Three of his pilot buddies were still listed MIA. Right.

Steve had been lucky. A couple close calls, but he never went down. The Connors Charm, they'd called it back then. He'd always been lucky, though. Born into a wealthy family, he'd lettered at prep school in football, basketball, swimming and wrestling. He'd dated the principal's daughter, then at West Point he'd dated General Heinz's daughter, Melanie. Always the best of everything. The Connors Charm.

The only thing he'd wanted he hadn't got was Paige. OK, he had married her for a while. But he'd never really gotten her. She'd always been on her own, living her own life. Maybe even a little stronger than he was at times. Now he wanted her more than ever.