Gunsmoke Refuge I

Posted on Wed May 15th, 2024 @ 4:53am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov

Mission: S1 Episode 8: Resolutions
Location: XO's Quarters; Holodeck 1
Timeline: Date 2371-11-14 at 1930
7241 words - 14.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Patience was surprisingly one of Lyra’s most prominent strengths; she could sit calmly and wait for long periods with a focused mind without getting distracted or losing herself to boredom or worse. It was a fundamental part of maintaining control, the virtue her whole life had revolved around for so many years. Right now though she found herself struggling, and after a bit of reflection she knew why.

Andrei had gone to bid farewell to his family down on the planet. He’d worn an EV suit, and while of course Lyra wasn’t a fan of the risk, she hadn’t said a word because she knew she would have done the same in his position. This left her in the position of waiting and she was listless she found solely for the fact she knew her beloved was going to return to her in pain. Part of her hated the fact that she was having that reaction, but it was soundly bested by that same worry it hated. She had channeled the nervous energy into sharpening the tips of her spears and when she was done with that, she had taken several meandering laps around the living area.

Eventually, she had gone into the bedroom and changed into her dark red, lace trimmed silk chemise and its matching robe then went to the replicator to command a pot of tea into existence. She brought it as well as two empty glasses in podstakanniks over to place on the coffee table in case he might be interested in something calming, then walked over to the alcohol cabinet to make sure his favorites were pulled to the front in case he would prefer that.

Finally out of things to do, she moved over to the couch and stretched out onto it, pulling her throw blanket down on herself and picking up her book from the side table to continue reading.

The goodbyes had been surreal. Andrei, along with a few other crew, traveled down to the planet to bid farewell to the Ill-fated Away Team. He had actually spent most of the time inspecting the complex that had been built for them in the clearing and actively avoiding conversation with people; particularly his family. He knew he would have to put them behind him, so there was no point in belaboring the change. He dealt with things head first, and he aimed for results. But what could he do about this?

It was only when Mila basically forced herself into a hug with him and then attached herself to his side during his inspection that Andrei had softened to the point of being tolerable. He said goodbye to his mother and father as well; they hugged, kissed, and shared meaningful words, and he kept his composure. Then, he returned to the ship and removed his EV suit and kept his composure. Now, as he arrived in his quarters, he made a b-line for the bedroom. He noticed Lyra there, of course, looking as beautiful and available as he could possibly want her to be. A part of him, the smallest, meekest part, wanted to rush into her arms and cry, but the strong part wouldn’t allow it.

“Hey.” He said curtly, and then walked straight past her into the bedroom. It was mean. He knew she was literally there for him. But he didn’t have time for that. He couldn’t have time for that.

She wasn’t surprised nor upset when he simply walked past her. Truthfully, she would have been more surprised had he actually come to her, but she had wanted to be ready in case it had happened. She got up from the couch and followed after him immediately into the room where the Moscow skyline was still displayed on the windows. She moved to him and placed a hand gently on his arm.

“Would you like some tea or a drink?”

“Yes, tea, please.” He said, unemotional but still polite. He didn’t seem angry or upset in the slightest, but, actually, was just rather cold. He made no attempt to turn to her or to give her the inviting expression he typically would, but just stripped off his uniform jacket and shirt and slid out of his uniform boots.

He removed his pants next and placed each of these items neatly in the laundry bin, which closed once he was finished. The boots themselves would need to be polished; they had Earth from Gamma Eridine II in the treads. He grabbed a cloth and polish, and then retreated into the bathroom silently to wet a rag.

Lyra moved back into the living area to gather up the pot of tea and glasses and walked back to the bedroom with them, setting them up on the dresser and pouring cups for both of them while Andrei was in the bathroom. This was, unfortunately, what she expected. She wasn’t sure if he didn’t trust her enough to be vulnerable or if he was simply afraid to be, but she found herself wishing he would let her in just a little so she could take care of him like he had for her a couple of weeks ago.

Andrei returned with the rag and sat on the bed. Pulling one of the boots onto his bare leg, he started to clear out the mud and dried dirt caked onto the bottom and along the top surface and then quickly picked up the other one. None of it was foreign or slow, and it was pretty clear he polished and cleaned his shoes daily. Since his mother and sister had gone into the stasis pods four weeks ago, he had spent more time doing mundane tasks around his quarters, making things perfectly tidy and presentable.

“Flaulkner wants to leave right away.” He said evenly without looking up. He sprayed polish into a cloth and started buffing one of the boots.

“Those were the orders.” Lya replied and placed his tea on the nightstand near him then moved to get in bed behind him. She lay on her side and propped her head up on her hand, lightly pressing against his hips and back but not doing much more.

“And, of course, we should follow those orders,” he said, completing one boot and picking up the other. “Even though it involves leaving the Captain and all of the other colonists on the planet.”

There was a twinge of anger in that, but he seemed to give it no time or energy.

“Even though it means abandoning sixteen of our people on the planet, a Galaxy away from home.”

She didn’t respond verbally - nothing she could say would make it better right then for him. Instead she reached out with her free hand and placed it on his hip, grabbing him there gently but not interfering with what he was doing. It was best to just let him process how he needed to.

“No one knows her. No one respects her, but we’re going to follow her away from…” he paused and stood, moving to the closet and placing his boots neatly on the shelf designated for them. After putting away the supplies, he turned around and looked at her. “They deserve better than for us to turn our backs on them like this. We owe them more than that.”

Lyra remained where she was laying and watched Andrei, her dark eyes moving up to meet his gaze. “They do,” she agreed but continued immediately, “but your father commanded that we leave for the good of the rest of our people.”

She sat up and walked over toward him finally, reaching out to touch his wrist. “We were getting nowhere on a treatment sitting here in orbit for them, Andrei. Perhaps in leaving we might find another way to help them.”

Andrei’s neutral expression turned, only slightly, into a frown. He didn’t tense at her touch, back away, or push.

“We aren’t leaving to look for another way to help them. We’re leaving to abandon them, and we’re avoiding the only solution which we know will work, and that’s to talk to the Vidians.” He argued, looking into her dark eyes. “They aren’t even safe down there if the Vidians or almost anyone else discovers they’re there. There could be sixteen revenge killings a few days after we leave.”

“They do have the sensor dampeners and an arsenal of weapons. Six of those officers are trained security officers, and they are all Terran.” She spoke gently to him, her hand moving from his wrist to his hip and her eyes remaining steady. “I know those were your father’s orders, but certainly we can make Annalise see reason.”

“She’s a girl scout.” Andrei said with a frown full of contempt. “He picked her specifically because she’d do whatever he said.”

Even though he hadn’t softened, he certainly hadn’t opposed her getting closer, nor did he seem upset to the point of total irrationality. Rather, he seemed unaware she was touching him on a certain level, so distracted was he by his thoughts.

“I’m fed up with this fucking situation already. I’ll have to hold her hand all the way to figuring out we should probably go back for our fucking people. It’s not fair to leave them here.”

“We’ll find a cure, Andrei, and we will go back. If we have to hold her hand to get there, so be it. If I have to grab her by her pretty hair and drag her through the mud to get there, I’ll do that too.” She lifted her other hand and gently touched his cheek. “We will go back, darling, I promise, but we can’t go back empty handed.”

He looked at her then and smiled, seeming to like the idea of physicalizing his irritation. Instead of commenting on it, however, his hands made contact with her waist.

“We’ll need to contact the Vidiians, and that won’t be easy to do without rearranging some of Faulkner’s ..convictions.”

Lyra was glad to see him finally smile and she returned it with a small one of her own. “We will do what we have to. Perhaps she will prove reasonable in the end, but I won’t be counting on that.”

“We’ll do what we have to do.” He said, looking in her eyes. Since he was wearing his patch, she could only see one. “Almost everyone agrees we can’t just leave them behind, regardless of my father’s orders.”

She moved her hand from his cheek to his shoulder, but maintained her eye contact with him. “I know. We’ve already lost so many people that losing this many so soon just isn’t acceptable. We’ll get them back. It will take time from our journey, but the time is more than worth it.”

He seemed to relax more, and the tension gradually left his body. Lyra was on his team in this, at least, and that helped him a lot. He would need that loyalty to propel him into what might have to happen next. He cleared his throat.

“Come on, we’re going to go kill something.”

Lyra smiled and squeezed his hip gently. “Let me change.”

She stepped from him and slid out of the robe and then pulled off the nightgown, leaving her naked outside of the red panties she was wearing. “Where are we going, darling?”

Andrei looked down at her breasts and stared then, finding in himself the urge to make her feel good, since he couldn’t do it for himself. He drilled himself, however. He was sure they would have time for that later.

“American Southwest, late 1800s. Wear something fit for horseback riding.” He said, and then turned, but before he was gone, he turned around again. “ And…make it easy to take off.”

With that, he turned again and walked briskly into the bathroom.

Lyra smirked after him, but when he was out of sight it faded. She knew he was hurting under everything and she wished he felt comfortable enough to put it into words. There was no point in forcing the issue or trying to press him like he had pressed her about her father; she acquiesced to it, he would not. Seeing as she didn’t have anything even remotely appropriate for the setting, she wandered back out into the living area and to the replicator.

After a few moments, she was dressed and pulling on her boots. She was dressed in a cream colored cotton long sleeved shirt and dark denim trousers over which sat a pair of dark brown leather chaps that hugged her long, toned legs like a dream and would surely accentuate her magnificent backside when she stood. Around her waist was a corset style belt that feminized the look a bit more, and on the couch next to her was a black jacket that would likely do the same when it was on. Her hair was pulled back in a long braid and she had a red bandana around her neck.

“I’m ready.” She said on hearing Andrei walk out but wasn’t looking up at him.

Andrei emerged from the bedroom in graying denim pants, knee high black boots, a black belt with an ovular silver belt buckle with the face of a grizzly bear roaring. His white button up was covered by an olive vest and a black overcoat with silver buttons. On top of his head was a wide-brim hat which was low enough to hide his eyes when he looked down.

He looked Lyra over and nodded.

“Have you ever shot a gun before?” He asked, knowing it wasn’t a common experience anymore.

“Not since the Academy and only once.” Lyra stood and pulled on the jacket which was longer and was cut for a woman with the back being longer to give almost a skirt like illusion. She picked up her own hat, simple black leather, and put it on her head.

“Well, this should be an entertaining challenge for you then. My father used to take me hunting when I was a teenager, so I have a bit of experience. That, and the holodeck.” He said, placing a hand on her back. “You look good, by the way.”

Lyra grinned and pressed closer to him. “Aw, why thank you, sir.”

The voice which she used was sweet, girlish, and sounded like it was from a person straight out of Texas with the drawl, intonation, and rhotic end when she addressed him.

“”Ma’am.” He said in an accent which more resembled that of southern Alabama. As he said it, he tipped his hat and gestured toward the door. “Now, you go on ahead. That way, I can watch you.”

He winked at her. He then pulled a black leather eyepatch down over his emerald bionic eye.

Chuckling, Lyra did as he bid and walked out of the door. She looked great in lace, but leather wasn’t too damn bad either.

The two of them departed the quarters they had come to share almost every evening and traveled together down the corridor. Seeing people in costume wasn’t terribly unusual, as many people frequented the holodeck in order to distract or entertain themselves. These two, however, drew more eyes. Andrei in his dangerous attire and Lyra with her fantastic legs caused multiple double takes.

After exiting the turbo lift, Andrei looked up at the display and shook his head. It was in use.

“Who the hells is in there?” He asked, seeming genuinely offended that someone would dare be in the holodeck using their scheduled time when he wanted it.

“I don’t know. We can go check the other one.” She paused and then leaned in closer to him in a conspiratorial way. “Or we can go see what this person is doing.”

He reached forward and touched the wall panel, inputting his access code in order to override the privacy settings. As soon as he was done, the large doors slid open slowly, revealing the interior of a standard log cabin. The two of them stepped inside, dressed for a rather similar environment, but no one sat in the main room. A roaring fireplace greeted them along with silence and the cíntate lightbulbs from the kitchen.

“Someone’s doing something embarrassing in here, I know it.” Andrei said under his breath.

“Mm…” Lyra hummed an agreement, taking a few steps and looking for any hints of what might be going on in the program. “It’s either a date or they are playing a serial killer.”

“Well, maybe we should check the bedroom first then. And, if not that, the basement.” Andrei said, walking over to the bedroom door and twisting the knob. Unabashedly, he pushed it open.

As he pushed the door open, he was immediately greeted by the sight of three naked blonde women on a bed. They all seemed identical with pretty faces but comically large breasts and butts. On top of their voluminous gold locks was a pair of white cat ears, around their necks were pale pink pet collars, and around their waists they all wore a thin pale pink leather belt with a white cat tail dangling from it. Under the women was a man sitting on the bed also naked, but with how the women were positioned they couldn’t see his face. Cans of whipped cream were in two of the triplets' hands and the whole group was giggling as they sprayed on liberal dollops to be licked or sucked off of various body parts.

“Hm.” Lyra folded her arms over her chest and looked at the scene before her.

Andrei gaped at the scene before him, a mixture of disgust and amusement on his face. For an instant, it seemed, he was truly distracted from the pain he felt about his family. He pulled his head back, but kept silent instead of laughing out loud. He didn’t want to ruin the moment, but looked at Lyra and smiled.

“Room for two more?” he said with a decisive and amused voice. “They say my tail is in the front though, so I hope that’s not a problem.”

There was a sudden yelp from the bed and two of the blondes went flying backward nearly off of the bed. The man grabbed a pillow and immediately brought it down over his hips to hide himself while the third blonde moved out of the way.

“What the fu- oh gods.” He had been angry at first, but all that anger and color drained immediately from his face on seeing Andrei and Lyra standing there.

“I ah… s-sirs I…” He struggled. His expression and body language very much communicated he wished he could just disappear.

Lyra moved into the room and as soon as she did so one of the triplets moved over to her and put her hand on Lyra’s hip. Obviously, they were programmed to be receptive to any participant without question.

“This is… something.” Lyra remarked.

Andrei started laughing, loud and hard, doubling over and bracing himself on his knees for stability at one point. The amusement continued for the space of half a minute before it started to subside.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” He asked, fighting to get a breath and starting to laugh again. “Laying on a bed in a wooden cabin, while huge-breasted cat women eat whipped cream off your tiny pink sausage? So fucking pathetic!”

“I-I just…” The man continued to sputter, looking between the laughing Andrei and the more stoic Lyra as if he weren’t actually sure which reaction to be more concerned about. “It’s just for fun! It is my scheduled time.”

“Sure sure, who cares.” Andrei said, his laughter slowly drying up again. “Now get the fuck out. We have plans.”

When he said that, his unpatched eye reached those of the man’s and communicated there would be no refusal of that command.

“Just let me get my clothes…” The man said and hesitated as if he were hoping they would turn away.

“Computer, arch.” Lyra called and then bent down, scooping up what appeared to be his pile of clothes and then immediately tossed them outside. “There you go. Right out there.”

The man hesitated and finally shifted off of the bed, holding the pillow in front of him for as long as he could and then made a dive for his clothes out in the corridor. As the door closed, the triplets advanced on Andrei with a hungry look in their eyes.

Andrei looked at the women with the interest any man would feel for them. Truth be told, he could hardly blame the guy. The holodeck allowed a man to explore all of his fantasies. But he hadn’t ever needed them; he could make those happen in real life.

“Easy, ladies.” He said with a smile toward Lyra. “Computer, load program Andrei-delta-554 and reset the story to the beginning.”

The triplets disappeared and, a split second after, so did the cabin itself, replaced by a blank white background with a series of items standing around for pre-selection. Andrei pointed to their left at an expansive cabinet.

“Weapons and, over there, horses.” He said, then pointing to their right. “Once we make our selections, we can get started. I don’t think you’ll find any big breasted triplets in this program, but keep a lookout.”

Lyra simply shook her head, clearly still amused by the whole thing. “Maybe they'll be wearing horse tails and ears this time to be more thematically appropriate.”

Walking over to the wall of weapons, she looked over the various firearms while crossing her arms over her chest. “What would you suggest for the inexperienced, darling?”

The question wasn’t something he really had to think about, but he knew the best one for her right away. He picked up the gun on the bottom left and handed it to her, delivering the heavy metal and wood into her hands.

“The Colt Single-Action Army Revolver, also known as the Peacemaker. The quintessential western gun. Feel free to customize the appearance, if you’d like.” He said, and then turned to the display and pulled two larger polish silver “Russian” revolvers. They were large with dark wood handles.

Lyra took the revolver and inspected it. The one she had fired before had been something similar to this - perhaps even the same one, she couldn’t really remember. She put it down long enough to take one of the double holster belts down from the display and wrapped it around herself, then slid one revolver into each holster. She wouldn’t bother customizing them this time since she thought it would be best to get to the distraction sooner rather than later.

He then went to the rack with shotguns and rifles, picking up two Oliver Winchesters, handing her one and throwing the other over his shoulder.

“This is the gun that won the west. It’s the first repeater ever made; an absolute classic.”

Lyra took the rifle with a smile and inspected it closely. She ran her hand over the barrel as if to inspect the quality, but of course it was only the finest. “There’s a certain charm in its simplicity.”

“These people knew a life more simple than we’ve ever seen. Hard work, grit, and danger Were their bread and butter, or were at least where they got their bread and butter. They fought hunger, disease, and outlaws to make new lives for themselves.” He said, as he turned to a collection of horses standing in near, artificial rows. Grabbing a saddle, he placed it on the back of a huge black beast and started strapping it up. “It relaxes me to escape to the simpler life sometimes. And it’s fun to shoot something that makes the people go ‘pop’ for a change.”

Instead of moving to a horse immediately, she walked over to Andrei and kissed his neck. “I know you like to relax like this, darling. I enjoy it too and I’m looking forward to trying this with you.”

She gave a gentle squeeze to his hip and then moved over the line of horses and finally settled on a dark dapple gray which she began to saddle herself with. “So are we playing the outlaws?”

“Of course we are.” Andrei said with a smile as he finished attaching his saddle and turned to her. “We’ll be minor members of a gang in West Texas. I think the first storyline has us robbing the armored car of a train for business documents and money.”

“Sounds like fun.” She smiled again and finished up quickly with her horse. As she slid the rifle into the saddle holster, she spoke again. “Ready when you are, darling.”

“The last thing is the name. I can have the computer generate something for you or you can choose yourself. Whatever you prefer.” He said, stepping up next to her and putting a hand on her back.

“I don’t even know what would be appropriate for the time period, really.” She admitted, naturally shifting a bit closer to him in response to his touch. “What do you use?”

He tipped his hat and grinned at her, looking right in her dark eyes.

“Names Andy Slade, ma’am.” He said smoothly in the same accent he had used in his quarters earlier. He figured she was smart enough to see the pattern, so he didn’t explain any further.

Lyra grinned a devious grin immediately and her arms snaked around his shoulders. “See, honey, I knew I’d get t’call you Andy eventually.”

She spoke with her own accent coming through again and considered something as she looked at his face. “Melody Gabriel at your service, then.”

“Oh, Miss Gabriel. You get more beautiful every time I see you.” He said, and leaned in to give her a kiss on the lips.

Lyra giggled softly and reached up to her hat, tilting it back slightly so it wouldn’t interfere when she kissed him back. “And yer handsome as ever, Mr. Slade.”

When they pulled back, she gave him another warm, loving smile and nod.

“Computer, begin program.” He ordered, and the stark white background which had been presented to them, disappeared, replaced by a grassy hill overlooking a valley full of sand and small amounts of stone and dust. The two of them stood beside their horses with four other men.

“Alright, folks. The train’ll be here any minute now.” Came the gruff voice of a man with a huge salt and pepper mustache and a wide tan hat. He had small, severe eyes the shade of coal, and he looked them over with harsh judgement. “I want absolutely no fuck ups, y’understand? If yer gonna ride with Bill O’Connell, you better shoot true and ride straight.”

“Don’t worry about it, Bill.” Came the reply of another man with a wide face and dirty blonde hair. “We ain’t gonna fail ya. Clarke Weston’s train is as good as ours along with all the money he’s got in there.

“It ain’t just about the money, goddamnit!” Bill declared loudly. “He’s got papers in there. Papers that probably…mean something important to his accountants. We’re gonna make use of those documents to make us even more money.”

Andy rolled his eyes and smirked at the sudden display of base, concrete stupidity from one of the most dangerous men in the west. Bill seemed to catch the expression and approached slowly, his dark eyes meeting his uncovered cold silver one.

“Somethin’ funny, Slade?”

“The hell’r you talkin’ about, Bill?” Andy said, his smile fading to a neutral and tough expression. He had about fifty pounds on the gang leader, and liked twice as deadly.

“I’m talking’ about you turnin’ yer nose up at my plan. You..” Bill said, stepping up to Melody and standing in her space threateningly, looking down at her, though she wasn’t much shorter than him. “And yer pretty little bed warmer over here.”

Lyra wasn’t threatened in the slightest by the man encroaching in her space. It wasn’t simply because he was a hologram, it just wasn’t an act that held any intimidating sway over her. She met the man’s eyes with her typical cool, dark gaze. “This lil’ bed warmer kin shoot straighter an’ truer than any one of y’all bootlickers. Now what’s the plan?”

Bill licked his chops, his eyes remaining on hers, an obvious disdain resting in them. Next to him, Andy crowded in, a silent protection of Melody, should she need it.

“Plan is we ride down the train and take out the shotgun riders they have protecting the damn thing.” He started, but didn’t move from his position or change the object of his focus. “Once we can get some people on the train we will, and we’ll take out everybody who stands in our way. Once we can stop the damn thing, we’re gonna use dynamite to blow the door off the armored car. The rest should be obvious, even to you, Miss Gabriel.”

With that, the gang leader turned back to Andy.

“Is that alright with you, Slade?”

“Just followin’ the master, Bill.” He said without a smile, watching the irritated man turn away. He eyed Melody then and rolled his visible eye.

She resisted rolling her eyes at the clearly inept leader and instead let her gaze move over to the edge of the hill they were standing on. It was tempting, but she would behave and play the program how Andrei wanted to. This was for him after all. She crossed her arms where she stood and looked at the rest of their posse with passing interest.

“How many riders do they got?”

“We don’t know, Mel. Clarke Weston likes to change it up a lot; keep his enemies guessing’.” Said the dirty blonde man. “We’re going to have to improvise.”

“Of course we are.” Andy said.

Before Bill could respond to Andy’s tone, he narrowed his already narrow eyes at something far away.

“There she comes!” He said. “Mount up and follow me!”

As Bill moved away, Melody’s eyes shifted up to her lover, her brows lifted in question of what they themselves were doing - following the plan, or making this their own.

Andy gave her a smile but little more than that before pulling himself up onto his huge black stallion and stepping the horse beside her own. If she needed help, he was right there to offer it.

“Get up on your damn horse, girl! We gotta go!” Bill barked from atop his white mount.

Though she didn’t need it in the slightest, Melody accepted Andy’s hand to get on her horse. She didn’t care if it made her look weak, the others were holograms and men liked to help; she wanted Andrei to have even the slightest blip of satisfaction from doing so. She settled in the saddle immediately and grabbed hold of the reins, setting her horse in motion only after Andy had gotten started himself.

The posse loped around the hill, kicking up a cloud of dry earth, and went down into the valley. Bill was at the head of the group followed by sandy-haired Prentice and the two other men. Andy and Melody pulled up the rear. They drove toward the train, giving it a wide berth until they passed the armored car at the rear. The peel of gunfire indicated one of the shotgun riders had spotted them.

“O’Connel crew, GIVE THEM HELL!” Bill shouted, and started firing his shotgun at the nearest rider.

“Weeeee hooo!” Andy said with a grin, securing himself in his horse with strong legs and drawing his huge Russians. He fired one after the other, hitting his marks or nearly hitting them and proving to be a rather effective marksman.

Lyra let out a whoop of her own and drew her guns, opening fire herself. The first two shots were a bit rough and wide, but she adjusted quickly and one would have never guessed she didn’t have experience with the firearms she held; they all had the same basic principles. She steered her horse closer to the train, looking to see if there was a plausible way to get on. As she moved near one of the windows, she saw the barrel of one of the shotguns come out just ahead of her and holstered her guns quickly. Urging her horse up faster, she grabbed hold of it and yanked, pulling the man out of the window through sheer force while retaining his gun in her hand.

“Mighty kind of ya.”

The man on the ground had his head explode the second after, and Andy came up behind her with the smoking gun that did it. He grinned and looked at her.

“We lose more good friends that way.” He said, before looking in the window the man had just been pulled out of. When he noticed it was empty in the car, he holstered his guns and grabbed a hold of the metal surface of the train. He pulled himself through the window and reached a hand out for her a second later.

Melody shifted her horse a bit closer and grabbed Andy’s hand; with his help, she hoisted herself out of the saddle and through the window. She stumbled a bit, but found her feet quickly enough. “Thank ya, darlin’.”

“‘Course.” He said with a nod. He looked forward to the front of the train and then back to the armored car behind them. “We need to get to the engine to stop this thing. But there’s going to be a hell of a lot of angry men with guns between us and there. Don’t get shot.”

“Alright. Though ya reckon we should take care of this other li’l problem first?” She asked and canted her head toward the window. “With everythin’ bein’ chaotic right now, it might jus’ be the best opportunity.”

“Time’ll come, Mel.” He said, patting her bottom and nodding toward the door. “Time’ll come.””

She pouted at him just briefly and then turned her attention to the door, pulling out her guns and reloading them. “Alright, darlin’. Shall we?”

“We shall.” He said, and used his big black boot to kick the door open. The next car had two men leaning out of windows with rifles on either side of the train. What to do next was rather obvious. He lifted his gun and shot the one nearest him in the neck, leaving the other one for Mel.

As quickly as the first one fell, the other did not even half a second after with a spray of gore as she connected the shot with the man’s skull. They moved up toward the next door and Mel paused to pick up one of the guns the men had been carrying, checked it, and carried it with her. She liked to try new things after all.

“Wonder if all our friends are dead out there.”

“Where would the fun be in that?” Andy asked in return before opening the next door onto an open-top bar with stacked wooden crates. No enemy presented themselves down the visible aisle in the center, but they could always surprise them.

As they moved deeper into the car, a slight thump caught Melody’s attention and she placed a hand on Andy’s arm to get him to stop. She motioned to behind the bar and shifted so she could try to peer through the slats of the crates to see if she could get a look at what was behind them without moving past.

Andy followed her, his revolvers at the ready, but he allowed her to take initiative in looking for whatever threat she perceived.

“What’s that?l” he asked quietly.

Lyra didn’t answer immediately and instead lifted the coach gun she had picked, sliding the barrel silently over the lip of the top box. She angled it down, pulled the trigger, and the blast was immediately followed by something of considerable weight hitting the floor.

“Sneaky bartender, I reckon’.”

Andy chuckled and holstered the two Russians. She made the rifle look fun, so he pulled his own from off of his back and stepped around the box again. Walking down the aisle, he approached the next car door but stopped and spun to the side quickly as he noticed a young man there whimpering in fear. He had to be about twenty years old and appeared to be unarmed. He was also completely terrified. Andy looked at Mel in order to see what she thought about the situation, but before he’d even registered the expression on her beautiful face, he had made up his mind. He lifted his rifle and blew the man’s brains out of the back of his head. Then, with a cold smile, he turned to the door again.

Melody simply chuckled as she followed Andy up toward the door, not even sparing a glance at the obliterated young man. She held the coach gun in hand still, figuring she would use it for the second shot it held before discarding it. “What’s behind door number two?”

The door opened and, this time, they were presented with a large black container with a ladder right in front of them. The sound of gunfire in the distance confirmed the rest of the posse was still putting up a fight near the front of the train.

“Looks like up is our only option.” Andy said, placing a hand on his hip and looking at Melody. “What’re the odds there’s somebody waitin’ up there for us?”

“Mm…” Melody hummed slightly and then stepped back into the bar car, looked around, then returned a moment later with a mop in her hand. She took off her hat, popped it on the end with the strings, then slowly lifted it along the ladder. As soon as the brim crested the last rung, there was the sound of a shot and the hat went flying off.

“High.”

Andy removed his black hat and placed it on his head, then switched to one of his Russians, stepping in front of her and climbing the ladder. He paused just before he would be able to be seen, and then waited several seconds. After a while, a man’s head appeared from the blue of the sky, coming to investigate. With a smile, Andy brought the butt of his revolver down on the crown of the man’s head, causing him to reel back.

Melody tossed the mop off to the side and grabbed her hat from where it had landed near her. It had a scattering of buckshot holes in it now, but it was still usable. Her attention was brought back up by the crack of an impact followed by a yell, and she looked up just in time to see a man withdrawing from the edge of the car.

She waited as Andy climbed up the ladder where he found the man he had assaulted with the rifle staggering up to his feet, but there was also a second man nearer to the other end of the car taking aim at Andy himself.

He raised his gun and shot the second man straight between the eyes. As he fell, he leveled his gun at the man who he’d hit with the butt of his weapon as he struggled up.

“Is it worth your life, partner?”

The man got to his feet looking like he was still staggering, but in an impressive display of skill he suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Andy’s wrist, forcing the gun upward in case he were to fire it while also wrenching it from his grasp, though since he didn’t have good hold on it either, it went tumbling to the side. The man followed up with a desperate left hook into Andy’s face.

Andy stumbled back two steps from the sheer surprise of the attack, which was something he hadn’t anticipated for some reason. But with training so ingrained it had become like instinct, he dodged the next punch and then delivered one to the man’s gut and then another, causing him to double over in pain. Once his head was down, Andy used his knee to quickly reorganize his opponents teeth, sending him reeling back.

The man clutched his nose and mouth as he stumbled back, almost falling to his knees but somehow maintained his balance, though it was precarious at best. With blood pouring down his face, he put his arms out to steady himself and get ready to go again. Behind him from the other side of the car however, Andy could see a man with a rifle go down on one knee and take aim at him. Suddenly, there was a loud pop from behind Andy, and the man with the rifle went sliding off the side of the car with a hole in his head.

“I kinda like these.” Melody said from behind him, inspecting the Peacemaker she held. She could have shot the man in front of Andy too, but she seemed perfectly happy to let him handle that how he wanted.

“Ain’t it more fun when they go boom?” Andy asked, and then he advanced. It was slow and confident, like a man who had defeated a thousand enemies in a thousand battles. He wasn’t as battle hardened as he would someday be, but he knew his body and every motion needed to bring his opponent to heel.

The other man, in credit to his own wisdom, took a step back and braced himself, the blood coming from his nose bubbling and rolling down his mustache and onto his stubbled chin. He sensed danger in the smoothness of Andy’s movements, and yet still underestimated the potential deadliness of a calm approach. When Andy was within striking distance, the man threw a defensive punch which, though well formed, was anticipated. Andy grabbed his wrist, used his control to leverage a greater control of the man’s arm. Soon he was being lifted off of the ground and tossed off the side of the train like a bag of flour. He gave a yelp and then, with a crunch, the man was left in the distance.

Andy turned around and looked at Melody. He was passed winking with his patch on, and knew she wouldn’t be able to tell. It had been a hard habit to break.

“Looks more highly skilled gunmen that way.”

“Lead on, Andy.” She prompted him and nodded.


TBC