“What time is” He answered his own question by checking his chron. “Seven o’clock. It’s only seven. Why’re we getting up this early?”
“We aren’t. I am. You’re the one made a triple jump, lover. Not me. I slept all right.”
“I was out like a dead ‘dillo.”
She smiled. “I noticed. Tried to get some life out of you a couple of times. I reckon I’d have had a more positive response from a dead armadillo.”
“Sorry. Make it up to you tonight.”
“Depending on where we are, of course. Lie down and go back to sleep.” She pulled on her white shirt, covering her superb breasts, which disappointed Ryan, as he was just beginning to discover that he wasn’t quite as tired as he’d thought. “I’ll go brew up some coffee and see if there’s anything for breakfast that isn’t too disgusting.”
He held out his hand and she went to clasp it, bringing it to her lips. She took his index finger into her mouth and sucked it hard, running her tongue up and down it, and glanced down at the sudden movement beneath the layer of crumpled bedclothes across Ryan’s loins.
“Mebbe we won’t have to wait until tonight, after all,” she said with a grin.
THE COFFEE SUB WAS HOT and black and even had a faint, residual taste of coffee, one of the great rarities in Deathlands, where the climate didn’t favor it.
Ryan stirred three spoons of sugar sub into it, sipping at the brew as he lay back in the bed.
“Could get used to this,” he said.
“Make the most of it.”
“Where’s my breakfast in bed?”
Krysty was sitting at the desk, drinking her own unsugared coffee. “Not much choice. Egg sub, so you can have an omelet. Some frozen meat, but Mildred recommended that we steer clear of that. Cans of tomatoes. Cans of luncheon meat that Mildred says should be all right if they’re not blown.”
“How’s Dean?”
“Others are all still fast asleep. Don’t know about J.B. and Mildred, though. Their door was firmly shut, so I just left it like that. Surprised they didn’t have a Don’t Disturb sign hung outside.”
“Thought the boy might’ve been up and playing with those vid games. If they work, they’ll probably be the first he’s ever seen. Me too, for that matter.”
“Omelet with canned luncheon meat and tomatoes?” She moved to the doorway. “And some more coffee?”
“Sure, why not?”
DEAN WAS STILL SLEEPING like a babe after all the others had risen, showered and eaten.
“Want me to wake him?” Jak asked.
Ryan shook his head. “No. Leave him be. Just Nature recharging his batteries for him. Lad needs it. And we aren’t in any hurry to leave here.”
“I’d vote for staying for another week, or more,” Trader said. “Warmest crib I’ve come across in years. Surprised nobody’s broken into it from outside.”
J.B. wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Shouldn’t have put so much hot pepper sauce on that omelet. Double-stupe of me.”
He turned to Trader. “Had a quick look around, but all of the main control areas and the ob section’s locked tighter than a war wag’s sec code. There’s a way to the main entrance, but I figured better to wait until we’re all together before opening that.”
“Find anything else interesting?” Ryan asked.
“Smell of sulfur’s strong close to the sec door to the outside. And salt, as well, like you figured.”
“Yellowstone,” Trader said.
“Western islands of California,” Ryan stated, grinning at his former chief.
“We’ll see about that.”
“Yeah, Trader, we will.”
ONLY TWO OF THE STUDIES hadn’t been cleared out.
One of them contained a small pile of paperbacks. One without a cover was advertised as Stephen King’s Big Fiftieth, and there were ancient Westerns that had been read so hard that they crumbled like the Dead Sea Scrolls when touched.
Doc had been browsing in the other room. “I say!” he called. “I believe I’ve found the remains of a diary or journal. It had become stuck between two of the drawers and overlooked when the redoubt was finally evacuated.”
As Ryan came into the passage to examine Doc’s find, he bumped into his son, walking blearily along, rubbing at his eyes and yawning.