Chapter Text
With his head down, his fingers busy disassembling and reassembling his laser gun - advanced finger exercises - and most of all, deliberately keeping a bit of distance from the others, Tex Hex sat in the hold of the shuttle that took him and the other cadets to the Aikon Jungle.
There, they would undergo a rigorous survival training course. Those who passed it would have passed the final practical test to become a Marshal.
The white-haired man grumpily adjusted his vest. Like everyone else, he wore a brown-and-green-speckled camouflage uniform, black combat boots, and a headgear that looked more suited to a trout fisherman than a budding lawman about to fight his way through a wild jungle.
Well, at least he had been spared the humiliation of having to wear the gold uniform of a planetary marshal.
It had been surprisingly easy to smuggle oneself on board; as soon as one wore the same uniform as everyone else - and at the lowest possible rank - one was hardly looked at more closely by those in charge anyway. And the fact that there was another cadet in the shuttle wasn't really noticed, especially since even the cadets didn't know each other.
With a loud click, Tex snapped the energy cell into place on the barrel, twirled the weapon once around his finger - out of sheer habit - and then pointed it at the opposite wall.
He couldn't help but snort disapprovingly. This weapon was simply awful to hold, far too unbalanced and guaranteed to pull to the right - not that he wanted to try that right now, but it was obvious that the thing needed some fine-tuning.
At least the half-fingered gloves that came with the uniform were good for something. They were very grippy, and the handle of the weapon didn't slip out of his hand for a second.
Actually, it was a shame to send future marshals into training with such poor weapons.
"Wow. Can you teach me?"
"What?"
Surprised, Tex jumped and turned to face the speaker.
He was about to tell him rudely to mind his own business, but one look at the dark-skinned face with the prominent nose and soft brown eyes made him freeze.
His heart almost stopped for a moment as he suddenly found himself face to face with his target, no more than an arm's length away, and just in time he held back the purely instinctive, gasped "Marshall".
No, this man was not yet a Marshal, and if all went according to plan, he never would be.
So he forced a smile.
"Excuse me?" he asked politely to the younger version of his coffin nail, Marshal Brave Starr.
For a tiny moment, his fingers itched to pull the trigger now, but then it wouldn't look like a tragic training accident and the last thing he wanted was for his own self of this timeline to be on the wanted list for murder.
“That one right there,” Brave Starr had to lean forward to make himself understood over the noise of the engines. He pointed meaningfully at Tex's left hand and the gun in it.
“That whirling around. That looked great. I can never really do that myself,” the young man grimaced unhappily. “Will you show me?” he hesitated and then added, after glancing at Tex's name tag:
“Hex?”
The leader of the Carrion Bunch - currently as much of a Sagittarius ass as everyone here - almost choked on his laughter, which he quickly turned into a cough.
“Better get back to your buddies, greenhorn,” he hissed.
With a nod of his head, he gestured over to the other cadets, who were all chatting more or less animatedly with each other. Only two of them, who had been talking shop with Brave Starr about the purpose of this training before he had noticed Tex and come over to him, looked over at them curiously. Tex wasn't at all surprised that they were both women; Marshall Brave Starr was and remained a womanizer, no matter how old he was.
“I'm Brave Starr,” just like his older self, THIS Brave Starr wasn't the least bit intimidated by unfriendliness, and he held out his hand to Tex Hex.
For a long second, Tex Hex stared indecisively at this hand, which looked really strange in the same gloves as his own, which also looked a hell of a lot like the ones he wore as a desperado, then he remembered the motto of not attracting unnecessary attention and forced himself to take the outstretched hand and give it a quick squeeze.
"Tex," he growled reluctantly.
He should have used a pseudonym instead!
But just an hour ago, when he had stepped through that stupid space-time gate, such a thing had seemed superfluous. Just like assuming another form. Since he had no intention of failing, this mission should and would end with Brave Starr's death, and since it would look like an accident, it didn't matter if he used his real name.
All right, his pride played a not insignificant role. If he was going to kill Brave Starr, he didn't want to do it as someone else. In fact, he wanted to be the last thing the budding tin star wearer ever saw.
"Are you going to show me how to twirl your gun around your finger, Tex?" asked Brave Starr again.
Tex looked him up and down and back again. It was very, very hard for him to get used to the sight: the future Marshal Brave Starr in his green and brown camouflage uniform, and he had to admit that he almost didn't recognize him in the crowd of others when he came aboard.
He only knew him in his golden uniform.
And, damn it, green was actually his - Tex Hex's - color!
"Maybe in exchange for some other tricks?" Brave Starr offered, interrupting his counterpart's thoughts. "I can do a few things, too."
Tex snorted contemptuously.
"You're just a greenhorn. What do you have to offer?"
"I'm the best at crossing a rope bridge," the young man next to him listed, not without pride. "I am unbeatable with the tomahawk. And I'm A in theory."
Tex tried not to grin.
"I don't need a rope bridge to cross a gorge, a rope will do for me," he replied dryly. "I can cut up a fly on the wall with a throw of a knife, if I set my mind to it. And I can learn any language in a month. If I want to. You see, so far you have nothing to offer me. Now leave me alone."
He waved his hand, but much to his chagrin, Brave Starr didn't move.
"I can show you," he began suddenly in a lowered voice - for which he had to lean even closer to Tex because of the engine noise - and Tex shivered as his warm breath slid over his ear, followed by the smell of Brave Starr's penetrating aftershave, which was exactly the same in this timeline, "how to get with the ladies."
He cast a quick, conspiratorial glance over at the two women who were still looking at them.
Tex fell silent and began taking apart his gun again, looking decidedly bored.
Brave Starr watched him for a while, then leaned forward again.
"Or don't you like girls?" he asked in an obviously provocative tone.
Tex felt the little nerve in the corner of his right eye begin to twitch, as it always did when he was about to explode. How could this greenhorn dare?
Then again... there was something tantalizing about the thought.
"I'm bi," he explained calmly, watching with interest to see how the young New Cheyenne reacted to this outing.
Something like surprise actually flashed across his features, though he quickly hid it behind a neutral expression.
"And anyway," Tex leaned over conspiratorially and placed a hand on Brave Starr's right knee. "Your ass is mine, sweetheart."
He gave him a truly sinful look, knowing full well that it looked damn creepy in combination with his skull face. And when he licked his bared teeth with relish, Brave Starr hastily slipped off him, jumped up and ran back to the others.
Tex just grinned to himself and went back to his finger exercises. Maybe he should wait a little longer with this "little training accident", at least until he had paid this arrogant greenhorn back for all the humiliations his older self had ever put him through.
And it looked like he had found a pretty good starting point.
***
"You are on your own. For all I care, you can form groups or go it alone. It is completely irrelevant. It's not the path that's the goal here, it's the flag. Thirty miles northeast of here is a ruin. There you'll find a flag with your name on it and a radio. Use it to call the shuttle and we'll pick you up. Assuming you make it there and are still alive. Any more questions, you losers?"
"No, sir, no!" the cadets shouted, obediently standing at attention.
It took some effort for Tex to participate in this silly theater, but he pulled himself together, he didn't want to draw attention to himself.
But when the instructor turned and stomped back to the shuttle, parked in a clearing ten meters away, he couldn't help himself. A small, inconspicuous, magical gesture and the instructor stumbled and landed nose first in a mud hole.
Not only did this amuse Tex Hex, but the cadets secretly grinned to themselves. They watched calmly as the man climbed into the shuttle, cursing and swearing and rubbing his dirty uniform, and as the shuttle finally ascended and disappeared behind the high treetops.
"Okay," one of the cadets, a blond, broad-shouldered fellow, said suddenly, looking at them all in turn, his gaze lingering a little longer on Tex Hex, who had made himself comfortable on his backpack, twirling his weapon around his finger in boredom.
"I suggest we stay together in the group, it will increase our chances."
"Sure," Tex said cynically, "fifteen stupid greenhorns in a bunch is no dinner invitation for big, bad predators. Especially if they have to drag themselves single file through a dense jungle." He stood and slipped his gun into his holster. "I suggest we split up into several small groups. A minimum of three, a maximum of five. That way we should be able to move fast enough and still be able to help each other in an emergency."
The blonde stared at him with narrowed eyes.
"Who appointed you leader?"
"No one," Tex agreed with a shrug and a smug smile:"But I like giving orders."
"The suggestion sounds good," the dark-skinned woman who had flirted with Brave Starr on the shuttle agreed, immediately stepping to the side of the other woman who had been sitting next to her on the flight. "I'll go with Sorsha."
And so smaller teams formed, and at some point the blonde joined one of the groups.
Tex Hex watched the whole thing calmly and waited. Still, he grinned broadly when he saw young Brave Starr join the two women he had already picked up in the shuttle, and he was not at all surprised when the three of them finally formed a team.
The first of them shouldered their packs, pulled out their compasses and set off.
Brave Starr's team was still checking the contents of their packs when Tex Hex sauntered over to them. With the most charming smile he could muster - and he could be very charming when he put his mind to it (ask Vipra!) - he turned to the clearly shyer of the two women.
"Could you use someone else in your group?"
Brave Starr visibly jumped at the sound of the dark voice behind him and whirled around, but before he could make another sound, the woman was already saying:
"Yes, of course. Gladly." Only to add: "You seem to know something about such training sessions? I mean, it can't hurt to have someone with experience on our side."
“Oh yes,” Tex grinned and winked at Brave Starr, ”I actually have some experience.”
The young man's face darkened noticeably and he involuntarily moved a little closer to the other woman.
The strange glint in Tex's red eyes gave him goose bumps. He had actually hoped that this guy would join another group, and he felt like turning him down, but he quickly realized that he would be quite alone in this opinion. After all, the other woman had already approached him and introduced herself as Tasha.
So the young New Cheyenne sighed and resigned himself to his fate.
***
Even before they entered the jungle, Brave Starr decided to clear up this misunderstanding - because that was all he thought it was about. After all, they were dependent on each other now, so they couldn't have any quarrels. So he quickly approached their new team member and tugged on his sleeve.
“I'm sorry if I offended you in the shuttle earlier.”
The other stared again at the hand offered to him with a strange expression on his face before he took it and squeezed it. He had a firm, determined handshake, and although he gave little more than an approving hum, Brave Starr took it positively for once. And at least this unusual man seemed to know exactly what he was doing here
Brave Starr didn't know his race and therefore couldn't tell his age, but he was definitely older than twenty, and his whole being radiated so much self-confidence and assurance that he immediately respected him as the leader of their little group.
In fact, he was quite happy not to have to be the protector anymore.
And how masterful he was with his weapon ... no, Brave Starr hadn't given up on that idea yet. Perhaps once they knew each other a little better, this Tex Hex would be more inclined to show him his little trick.
In the beginning, the jungle wasn't much denser than a normal forest, and they could easily walk two abreast, and while Brave Starr walked behind with Tasha, Sorsha kept close to Tex. She might be shy, but once she'd worked up some courage, she could ask a lot of questions, and Brave Starr listened with more than moderate interest, quickly realizing that she was asking many of the questions that were burning on his own tongue, but which he was afraid to ask because of his experience on the shuttle.
“Where are you from, Tex? I've never met your species before. And do they all look like you?”
Tex Hex, who hadn't entered a forest, let alone a jungle, in ages, would have preferred to enjoy the fresh, earthy air and sounds of the forest in the reverent silence he deserved, but even he didn't slap someone who was just curious.
So he just sighed deeply and gave the most meaningless answers ever.
“I come from a distant, small, insignificant planet, the name of which is guaranteed to mean nothing to you. And of my species, I'm the only one who looks like this.”
“And how old are you?”
Okay, Tex Hex has never been able to resist such questions.
“Two hundred and twelve,” he replied deadly serious, ”and actually I'm long past being a cadet, but I try something new every fifty years, otherwise it just gets boring.”
There was a stunned silence for a few seconds, then the two women giggled in amusement.
Only he heard nothing from Brave Starr, and Tex Hex involuntarily cast a critical glance back over his shoulder, only to see a dark, serious face.
Dear me, did he really believe this nonsense?
Shaking his head, the leader of the Carrion Bunch looked straight ahead again and continued on through the undergrowth.
This younger version of Marshall Brave Starr did not match his expectations at all. On the one hand, there were certain character traits that he recognized and could use to his advantage - like the little scene in the shuttle - but on the other hand, this Brave Starr was noticeably lacking in self-confidence. He was also far too quick to subordinate himself to supposedly superior people.
Well, that promised to be a lot of fun.
Tex Hex grinned to himself.