Children of a New Earth

by Eliason, R. J.

  Lorn and Spider went next, leaving it just the three of them again. The water was becoming uncomfortably hot, so they moved onto the porch. Jake sat almost painfully close to Amy on the bench, and for a long time, they talked about nothing in particular.

  “I think I am going, too,” Lexa said, her voice flat.

  “Are you okay?” Amy asked, concerned.

  “I’m fine,” Lexa snapped, looking the other way.

  “Do you want me to come?”

  “I said I’m fine.” Lexa disappeared inside the house. Amy started to rise, but Jake put a hand on her shoulder.

  “She said she was fine.”

  Amy sat back down, her shoulder on fire. She looked up into those blue eyes and wanted to melt, but fear still held her back. He brushed her cheek with his hand, and she shivered.

  “Cold?” he asked, moving even closer.

  She shook her head no, not trusting herself to speak. Her heart was racing as she lifted her hand to his cheek. He rubbed his soft face into her palm, watching her the whole time.

  She dropped her hand, and her eyes went to his chest. She needed to be able to think. “Jake,” she started, “I like you . . .”

  “I like you too,” he said. With one hand, he raised her chin so their eyes met again. Looking into those blue eyes, her resistance melted. She met him halfway in a deep, passionate kiss.

  The kiss sent shivers down her spine. Her whole body cried out for him. She threw both arms around him and fed at his lips like a woman half starved. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her easily onto his lap.

  Amy had no idea how long the moment lasted. In her mind, it seemed an eternity. It was broken by the sound of the gate on the fence banging shut. She turned and looked straight into Luke’s stricken eyes.

  He turned quickly and fumbled with the gate. “Luke,” she called, but he didn’t answer.

  He managed to get the gate open at last and was gone without a backward glance. “Luke,” she called again. She stood and was going to race after him when she realized what she was wearing.

  She ran back into the house and changed quickly, leaving the stunned Jake without an explanation. Still, she was not quick enough. She wandered back toward the guesthouses, straining her eyes to spot him. Luke was nowhere to be seen.

  She knocked on the door of the townhouse that he shared with Daniel. Daniel, bleary-eyed and sleepy, answered. He said that he had not seen Luke since earlier that evening.

  She wandered for what felt like a long time, hoping to run into him, but saw no sign of him. She did see Jake heading home with a look of puzzlement and pain on his face. He didn’t see her, and she kept quiet until he was inside. She couldn’t bear giving him an explanation, not tonight anyway.

  She gave up and went home. Lexa was sitting on the couch. She looked startled when Amy came in. Her eyes were red, like she had been crying.

  “I didn’t figure you’d be home until late,” Lexa said, trying to sound normal.

  Amy sat down and began to cry.

  “What’s wrong?” Lexa’s eyes narrowed. “If he hurt you, I’ll kill him.”

  “No,” Amy wailed. “It wasn’t him. We didn’t even do anything. We were just kissing . . . then Luke walked in.”

  Lexa whistled. “I’ll bet he’s pissed.”

  “He took off, and I can’t find him to tell him it was not what he thought.”

  “Are you sure it wasn’t what he thought?”

  “No. Maybe. I don’t know,” Amy cried. Then she stopped, seeing a look of pain cross Lexa’s face. “Oh my god, you have feelings for Jake, don’t you?”

  “No,” Lexa insisted.

  “I swear I wouldn’t have done anything if I knew.”

  “I don’t have feelings for Jake!” Lexa yelled, throwing her pillow. “Sometimes you can be so fucking dense.” She stomped out of the room, crying, and slammed the door.

  Amy retrieved the pillow and lay on the couch, feeling miserable. Eventually, she fell asleep. Late that night, Lexa woke her. “I’m sorry,” Lexa cried. “You and Jake are good for each other. Just ignore me.”

  Amy hugged her. “It’s okay,” she repeated over and over until they both stopped crying.

  The next day, she spotted Luke on her way to Aikido class. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all. “We need to talk about last night,” she said.

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” he mumbled, trying to turn away.

  “Like hell there isn’t,” she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. “It wasn’t what you think.”

  “And just how do you know what I think?”

  She let her hands fall. “You’re right,” she said, “I don’t know.”

  “You want to know?” he demanded. “I’ll tell you. I expected this of Mark, or Shawn, or Patrick, possibly even Kurt. I would have even accepted it from Daniel. But you? Never in a million years would I have thought—” he broke off, tears in his eyes. He shook his head to clear them.

  “I guess I know now why Jake wants to come back with us. I should have guessed,” he spat out. “I am such a fool.”

  “It’s not like that,” she insisted. “It was just a kiss.” Even as the words came out of her mouth, she knew it was a lie. If he hadn’t walked in, it would have been a lot more.

  “Oh, just a kiss?” he replied coldly. “And how many other ‘just kisses’ have there been? At the village? At Tir-Na-Nog? Did that hussy let you ‘just kiss’ her husbands?”

  Amy saw red. “Lexa is not a hussy. You take that back!”

  “You haven’t answered the question.”

  “Fine. No, there haven’t been any others, not that it is any of your business.”

  “Not my business?” he retorted. “Not my business? You’re mine.”

  “I am not anyone’s property!”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Yes I do, and I am not anyone’s.” She turned to go.

  “If it was just a kiss, why were you half naked?” he shouted at her back.

  She spun around, flabbergasted. “That’s what you are supposed to wear in a hot tub!” she yelled at his now retreating back.

  When she got to the shop, Jake acted sheepishly. He pulled her aside. “Hey, I am sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know you and Luke were a thing. I mean, he treats you like his sister or something.”

  “We are not a thing,” she declared. But that was a lie, and she knew it. “Well, we are, but it’s complicated.”

  “How complicated?”

  She fumbled for an explanation. “It’s like you and Lexa maybe. We’ve known each other for years, since we were kids. We pal around. He thinks that means there is more now that we are grown up.”

  “But you don’t?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not sure. Until recently, there weren’t any other choices. I’m not even sure there is one now.”

  Jake nodded sagely. “Yeah, Lexa and I had a fling once. It was just like you said; I assumed since we had been such good friends that, well, you know. It was weird though. We knew each other too well, I think. We’ve gone back to being just friends, and that’s cool.”

  James called them over to the pickup, and they were off. They didn’t have much chance to talk the rest of the day. They had all the auto parts they needed. Some Cycler had several well pumps they’d salvaged, and Amy had to pick through and find two to take back.

  “You and Jake had a fling?” Amy asked Lexa over supper that night.

  “Who told you that?” Lexa asked sharply.

  “He did.”

  “Blabbermouth.” Lexa shrugged. “It’s ancient history, trust me. I really don’t have feelings for him.”

  “I believe you,” Amy said, throwing up her hands in surrender. “I’m just glad you’re not mad at me anymore. It has been an awful day. I don’t think I have ever cried as much as I did last night. It’s not like me.”

  “Not even when your boyfriend catches you Frenching some other guy?” Lexa teased.

&
nbsp; “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 rac
e,” 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.”