Ventura Highway
Aris Merquoni

--=_=--

o/~ Chewin' on a piece of grass, walkin' down the road / Tellin' 
me, how long you gonna be here, Joe? / Some people say, this 
town don't look good in snow / I say, I know... o/~

--=_=--

	Selvane started making camp with the efficiency of a 
Alaskan gold rush survivor (Which was not one of the skills I had 
picked up in Kzinti military school. Of course, Kzinti prefer to 
kill small furry animals and eat them raw, which isn't something 
you'd learn in any regular Hayuman military academy. But I 
digress...)
	I helped as much as I could, but I was more of a 
hindrance than a help so after a few seconds I stood aside and 
took inventory. He was rigging a shelter against several trees 
that had fallen together to make a windbreak, something that 
would sorely be needed when the full brunt of the storm hit us. I 
dug in my pack (I think he still thought it was a standard-issue, 
and I wasn't correcting him) for something to munch on, and 
brought out my never-empty flask of N!!thren'das and a Kzinti 
ration. Chewing on the lumpy mass of protein, I sat beneath a 
tree and watched some more.
	When I had finished the meal ration and was washing down 
the tasteless bar with some Throatwarm, my companion looked up. 
"Are you all right?"
	I nodded, surprised and grateful for the concern, then 
frowned as he chuckled. "You don't have to act stronger than you 
really are. First thing you learn in the backwoods, is if you 
need something, get it." He paused and started to dig something 
out of his satchel.
	I cocked my head to the side in the universal gesture 
for scrutiny. "What do you mean?"
	He drew out a shiny space blanket that was almost as bad 
as the Valdemarian 'Shoot At Me' Whites that those Heralds wore. 
"You're freezing in that spandex, right?" he asked as if he 
already knew the answer.
	Suddenly I figured it out, and started laughing. "First 
off, it's spandex/rayon/polyester blend... at least, I think it 
is." I frowned. "I'm not sure what brand Tee started out with... 
anyhoo, it's been enchanted, psionicised, blessed, and teched 
six ways from Sunday... and that basically means that it's 
tougher than it looks." I grinned at him. "Really, I'll bet that 
I'm warmer and better protected than *you* are at this point."
	Selvane frowned at me, mulling over the information a 
little, and then shrugged. "Well if you're warm who am I to 
argue?" he chuckled, then said, "I never did understand magic." 
Then he turned back to his tasks. Before he got too far away 
though, he sort of slipped the blanket next to me with a bit of a 
wink.
	I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "That's gotta be 
visible from thirty kilometers, even though this stuff." I waved 
a hand at the snow blanketing the landscape. "I've got a VRDET 
standard-issue in my backpack, and if I need anything, that'll 
do."
	Selvane snorted in derision. "Let's just say... the stuff 
in the packs isn't up to par," he said with the air of someone 
who knew what he was doing. "They were purchased with... other 
things on the Council's mind. The base and all. They're planning 
to get better equipment later." I shrugged, sighed, and took the 
blanket.
	It was about that time that I started getting secondary 
effects from the portal, and everything else that had happened in 
the recent hours. Selvane assured me that he could work fine 
without me, so I curled up and drifted off to sleep.
	When I woke up, it was after dark in a quite cozy 
shelter. The wind was keening outside, but there was a cheerful 
fire going, along with some wood stacked along the back wall. The 
smoke was being directed out the back by a channel that didn't 
let out any heat, and the shelter was clear.
	I raised my head, and noticed what had originally passed 
me by. Selvane was crouching, tensed, by the door. His weapon was 
in his hand, the safety catch off.
	Frowning, I got silently to my feet and crept next to 
him, then extended my senses to the immediate outdoors. Except 
for the nocturnal restlessness of some critters, I couldn't sense 
anything. Wondering what had set him off, I quoted in my best 
Roger Moore, "'Do you always take a shower with a pistol?'"
	Selvane jumped three inches in the air and spun around, 
aiming his gun at me. I held up my hands and grinned innocently. 
"Blame James Bond, not me!" I squeaked.
	He frowned at me, then lowered the weapon. "What did you 
do that for?" he whispered harshly.
	I cocked my head again. "The question should be, what 
are *you* doing watching the door with a loaded weapon?"
	He didn't say anything, just turned and stared out into 
the darkness broodingly. I sighed. "There's nothing out there, at 
least, not within range. And anything that can get through this 
blizzard..." I waved at the whirling blackness outside, "You'd 
probably deter it more by putting out the fire..."
	I paused. There was a sound outside... well, not a sound, 
more a... there was no word for it. My sixth sense went off like 
a car alarm. He pinned me with a long-suffering look and nodded, 
once. I shrugged and whispered, "Okay, I was wrong."
	I drew my dagger and tossed snow on the fire. In the 
sudden blackness, I felt the presence coming closer...
	This was not good. And my headache was growing with every 
passing moment.

--=_End_=--