"We can collect our own gods damned supplies!" Seth growled.
"Not if you do not return immediately," Basil retorted, "and very likely not then. They began to disperse the supplies on hand and no one from your squad was there so I gathered our share."
"There is no 'our'!" Seth growled threateningly. "You are not a member of our squad!"
"Wait a minute!" Danika snapped, surging to her feet. "What do youmeanthey started dispersing supplies?"
Basil set his burden down. "Reuel left orders to disperse."
Danika gaped at him in outrage. "But ... that was only if they didn't make it back in the time he'd set, damn it! It hasn't even been a full day since they left!"
Basil shrugged. "If they return as planned, there will be no problem. The supplies that we have will be safe. We discussed the situation, however, and concluded that we could not be certain that Reuel did not lead his group into an ambush. If that was the case, then we would not have four days. We might not have even one. We decided it would be best to disperse supplies now so that we would not lose them if there was an attack on our base camp."
Seth, Dane, and Niles all exchanged a speaking look.
Danika's suspicions were immediately aroused. "That wasn't part of the orders that Reuel gave before he left?"
"Not precisely," Dane responded after a brief hesitation.
"What do you mean 'not precisely'?" Danika growled.
Dane shrugged. "He said that we must be prepared for an attack in the event the Confederation had already surmised that we had come here and that we must act in our best interests in his absence."
Basil nodded. "And we discussed probabilities and decided that it would be best to disperse supplies in his absence."
It was a logical decision and Danika wasstillpissed off.
Under the circumstances, she didn't think they should be too hasty about running Basil off. He had considered the good of their group, after all, and collected supplies for them. She pointed that out.
Seth scowled at her. "He wasnotconsidering the good of our squad! He has nothing more on his mind than fucking you! We do notneedwhat he has brought! Dane! Niles! Return to base camp and collect our share of the supplies!"
Danika gaped at him.
Dane and Niles both looked torn between following his orders and staying long enough to run Basil off. After a brief hesitation, however, they headed toward camp at a lope.
Shrugging, Basil looked around for a prop, leaned against a tree trunk, folded his arms, and settled to wait.
Seth narrowed his eyes at him.
Danika emerged sufficiently from her shock to feel the beginnings of anger. "Just what the fuck do you mean by that, Seth?" she demanded.
Seth flicked a stunned look at her. "By what?" he asked blankly.
"That nasty comment!" Danika growled.
Seth frowned, obviously reviewing the comments he'd made. "I did not make a nasty comment," he said after a moment.
"Oh, yes, hell you did! You said all Basil had on his mind was fucking me!" she snapped.
He looked surprised. "That is a nasty comment?"
Danika glared at him. "Itimpliesan insult!"
Seth stared at her. "Imeantto insult the bastard! I meant to provoke a fight, but he acknowledged that he is a bastard and sees no reason to defend his honor!"
"You insulted my honor?" Basil growled, instantly bristling. Surging away from the tree, he stalked toward Seth. "I will knock your head off!"
He barely managed to get the threat out before Seth sprang. The two of them collided with an impact that Danika felt certain could be heard for miles. Before she could gather her wits, they were in the midst of a battle of titans--slinging punches at each other, slinging eachotheraround. When they flew past her, bumping her hard enough to knock her off her feet, she scrambled for cover. "Stop it! Stand down this instant!" she bellowed at them.
