The Lifeguard

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. If you are

offended by graphic descriptions of homosexual acts, go

somewhere else.

Copyright c 2000 by Orrin C. Rush. All rights reserved.

Neither this story nor any parts of it may be distributed

electronically or in any other manner without the express,

written consent of the author.

This is a work of fiction, any resemblance of the characters

to anyone living or dead is pure coincidence and not

intended. They are all products of the author's imagination.

THE LIFEGUARD

Chapter 34

Mary took one look at Eric and asked "You on a diet or what?"

"Yeah," he teased her, "Goin' for the lean and hungry look

like all the male models have. Even thinking about having

all my back teeth pulled so I'll have hollow cheeks."

She looked at him like he'd lost his marbles.

He kept a straight face as long as he could, then started

laughing. "Hell no, I just missed your cooking."

Edgar hadn't conceded defeat and was still actually running

the Railroad. That had to be changed. Fast.

The Peabody guys advised us on the procedure we'd have to

follow. This time, Eric was a very active participant.

We had to call a "special" Board of Directors Meeting,

propose a new slate of directors to replace Edgar's cronies,

and, since we had control, elect them. Once the new Board

was seated, they could pass a resolution to take the Company

private. We'd have to repeat this procedure with the

Development Company.

"Remember, though," the Peabody guy warned, "You won't be a

totally private company for three years until you can call

some of the bonds that are out there. Until then, you'll

have to report everything that you do just like a Public

company does."

"I've got an idea," Eric said. "See if you think this'll

work. They're fixed interest bonds and only fluctuate in

market price when interest rates move up or down, but that

really doesn't concern us. When we call them it's at a fixed

amount. Am I right so far?"

The Peabody guys all nodded.

"What if we set up an Escrow account with the principal

amount in it, and enough extra to cover all the interest

payments as they come due. The money could be held by a

third party and invested in something real safe like Treasury

Bonds, and when the Railroad's Bonds are paid off in three

years, we'd get back whatever's left over. Would that keep

the SEC happy and out of our hair?"

The Peabody guys looked at each other and shrugged.

"Nobody's ever tried anything like that. Logically, it makes

sense, but I don't know if the SEC would go for it. It's

worth a try, though, if that's what you want, but why would

you want to do something like that?"

"We're a private company," I told them. "We don't

particularly like making what we do public knowledge. We

don't have anything to hide, but we don't like to have anyone

looking over our shoulder either."

"We can propose it, the SEC should go along with you," the

Peabody guy said.

When the group broke up, Bill walked over to Eric and me.

"You're back," he said to Eric, "and am I ever glad. Now,

who are we going to put in as directors? We need nine."

"The family, of course, all four of us," I said. "You, Bill,

Jack and Dale from Legal, and Mike Burdette. At least he

knows something about running a Railroad." I winked at Eric.

"That's eight," Bill said. "We need one more."

"How about Dad," Eric suggested. "He'd be a friendly face."

"Settled," I said. "We'll put the same ones on the

Development Company Board."

"Do you think Burdette'll go for it?" Eric asked me later.

"Count on it. He did help us, a bit reluctantly, but he

deserves recognition. And," I told him conspiratorally, "If

his games ever come to light, it'll look like we didn't know

anything about it."

Annie and I worked at dismantling our clandestine operation.

It had served it's purpose, and soon we would be tied in with

the Railroad's computers and putting our guys to work

plugging their leaks.

"How's Kevin?" I asked. "Haven't seen much of him lately."

"He's history," she answered.

"I'm sorry, want to talk about it?"

"There's not much to talk about. He's a wimp and I don't

need that. He caved in to his father, and if he can't accept

my family, what's next that he wouldn't be able to accept?"

"Unfortunately, there are a lot of people like that," I told

her. "I'm sorry that you're in the middle and had to suffer

because of me."

"Sure, I suffered a little. I cared about him, but I'd

rather know that he can't think for himself now than later.

It's not your fault, that's just the way he is. I'm damned

sure I can do a helluva lot better!"

"Do you want to take some time off?" I asked.

"And miss all the excitement? No way! Maybe, though, in a

month or two when I've got him entirely out of my system.

Then, I'll be ready for some serious hunting."

"Just let me know," I told her, giving her a big hug.

A secretarial pool office on the 30th floor was moved to the

floor below and Eric moved in. It was about a hundred feet

from my office which pleased him. Near enough to be "in on"

everything, but giving him his own space.

John Bussey called wanting to know how to proceed now that we

owned the land. Knowing that Eric was as curious as I was

about it, I invited him to come to our office and insisted on

sending a plane for him.

Eric and I agreed that we'd handle this aspect of our

acquisition ourselves. It would be exciting even if we

didn't find anything.

When I introduced Eric as my "partner", John got a knowing

grin on his face. He didn't comment, however.

From the USGS maps and other sources, he and his crew had

ranked the various tracts of land. At the top of the list

were "Highly Probable", then "Probable", then "Possible" and

on down the scale.

"This is Arizona only," he said. "We haven't had time to

work on the other States yet."

"What would you do next, if you were me?" I asked.

"If I had your resources, I'd do a thorough survey on all of

them, starting with the ones that showed the best prospects.

If others that didn't look quite as good were in the same

area, I'd work on them, too, while we had our equipment

there."

He took out a map and spread it on the conference table. All

the sites were color coded by rank.

"I'd start in this area," he said, pointing at a

concentration of little flags. "There's enough work here to

keep my boys busy for six months."

"Why there?" Eric asked.

"Call it a gut feeling," John told him. "There's a lot of

'Highly Probables' and to my knowledge, nobody's ever done a

thorough survey job on it. It's relatively accessible, and a

good place to start."

"Sounds exciting," Eric said. "Just wish I could be there."

"It's really just a lot of hard work," John chuckled. "When

we get our base camp set up, you guys should come over and

see for yourselves, that is, if you don't mind 'roughing it'."

"When can you get started?" I asked.

"Damn, I was hoping you'd say that! We're all ready to go.

Give us a week or so, then come on over. All you'll need is

a sleeping bag."

Financial arrangements were worked out, and John couldn't

wait to get back and get started.

"I'm serious," Eric told me. "I really do want to go over

there. I took a Geology course for dumb jocks a few years

ago. It was dull as hell, but this is a lot more

interesting. Let's do it!"

"OK, but make sure the sleeping bags you get zip together," I

leered at him.

Annie's Guru, Henry, paid us a visit. Eric was there this

time, for sure, asking probing questions, involved up to his

armpits. So was Tina.

Eric explained our plan of attack. It would take us up to

six months to finalize our acquisition, then we intended to

start selling off the marginal properties. First, however,

we wanted Henry to evaluate each and every one and give us

his opinion.

"A very good idea," he pronounced. "The timing couldn't be

better. Just about all California Real Estate is in demand,

and I predict that the trend will continue for another two

years. Prices are higher than they've ever been, too."

"We'd like you to concentrate on this, but don't forget about

the land we've already decided to develop," I put in.

"I think I'd better explain exactly what I do," Henry said.

"My firm is small, a carefully selected group of people who

are imaginative. We look at a piece of land, study it in

relation to it's surroundings, and decide what would be it's

highest and best use. From there we develop a concept of

what should be done with it, taking all factors into

consideration.

"We produce a 'concept' only. We are neither Engineers nor

Architects. We leave that to others. The drawings that I

showed to you the last time we met were produced by other

firms following the concepts we had developed. We can use

the firms that you choose or some that I've worked with

successfully over the years."

"You have to understand that none of us has any experience at

developing anything," Annie told him. "We're going to need

all the help and direction we can get."

"Are you going to do this 'in house', or are you going to use

Consultants to get through the permit process?" Henry asked.

"Hadn't thought about that," Eric said. "Which would you

recommend?"

"With the number and scale of the projects you're

contemplating, I would definitely recommend that you do it

yourselves. The elected officials who will be approving your

projects are, as a rule, put off by consultants. They

appreciate direct contact with the principals, not 'hired

guns'. I can also recommend several people who would be

ideal to head your effort. You might also consider your own

Engineers," he added.

"Where are we going to put them?" Annie moaned.

"We're already adding another section to the new building for

that," Tina spoke up.

"How long does the permit process usually take?" Eric asked.

"It will vary," Henry said. "A lot depends on how badly a

community 'needs' what you're proposing, and I've observed

that projects that are presented with a great amount of

detail go through fastest. Of course, you will encounter a

certain amount of opposition on every one. The NIMBY's have

to be dealt with."

"What's a 'NIMBY'?" Tina asked. Glad she did because I had

the same question.

"Not in MY backyard," Henry explained. "Those who usually

support progress as long as it isn't close to them. With a

few minor modifications, they can usually be pacified, or

overruled if necessary."

This guy was a real find! He was sensitive to people's

needs, but at the same time a total realist. Up to this

point, we'd assumed that he'd work with us, now it was time

to find out for sure.

"You've been of enormous help to us, Henry. Would you

consider working with us on an ongoing basis?" I asked.

"As a consultant, definitely, but not exclusively," he

answered.

"That would be excellent, Henry. I'm going to leave contract

details up to Annie."

Back in my office, Eric had a few things to say. "That guy

really knows his shit! His presentations are impressive, but

in person, the guy is awesome."

"Do you realize what it's worth to have his stamp of approval

on a project?" I asked him.

"I do," Eric nodded kind of sheepishly. "I may have been

pissed at you but I still kept up."

"Feel better now?"

"I'm where I wanted to be all the time, and didn't have the

balls to say so."

"No more misunderstandings," I told him.

"Ready to go play in the desert?" I asked Eric, my hands

stroking his wonderful hard dick.

"Did John call?"

"Late this afternoon," I answered. "They're all set up and

hard at it. He said to come over anytime."

"Have they found anything yet?"

"He didn't say."

"When do you want to go?" he asked.

"Anytime, everything's under control on my end, how about

yours?"

"I'm OK too, how about day after tomorrow?"

"Let's do it," I agreed, getting a little more vigorous with

the toy in my hand, all thoughts of camping evaporating fast.

I was still coming down from an incredible orgasm when Eric

asked "Think we'll have any privacy?"

"Wha..... Where?" I asked, totally confused and disoriented.

"In the desert," he laughed.

"Oh. I don't know."

"I want to make love to you under the stars."

"You're really excited about this, aren't you?"

"It's exciting to be in on the start of what could be another

big adventure for both of us."

I propped myself up on an elbow facing him. "We'll make it

one."

John met us at the airport in Prescott, the nearest town with

a runway that could handle our plane. Eric winked at me when

he saw me looking over John's battered Jeep.

Our stuff was tied down on top of the load already there, and

we were ready to go. I told the pilots we'd let them know

when to come back for us.

We started out on pavement, then dirt road, then no road at

all. For hours we went across what looked like uncharted

territory. When we started into the mountains, it was much

slower, John guiding the Jeep over terrain that I, quite

frankly, would not have cared to cross on foot. It was a

white-knuckle ride.

Whenever I could take my eyes off the non-road, the scenery

was awesome, huge rock formations stretched in every

direction.

We crested another ridge, the 476th, it felt like to my sore

butt, and there was a little patch of green about a half mile

ahead on the other side of the canyon. A couple of trucks

were parked off to the side of the green, and several tents

pitched closer. This, I prayed, was our destination.

"Home sweet home," John announced as we pulled up.

Eric bounced out of the back and came around to help me. I

felt like I was 200 years old and had just had my entire body

systematically worked over with a ball peen hammer.

A little moving around and stretching helped a lot. As soon

as I was able to concentrate on anything else, I noticed the

sound of gas or diesel engines running in the distance.

John and Eric were talking and I hobbled over. "That's our

tent over there," Eric said, pointing to a four man dome tent

about fifty yards away from the others. "I'll get our stuff

and we can get organized."

I followed him to the Jeep and took the sleeping bags. Eric

grabbed the rest and I followed him to our tent.

A big tarp was spread on the ground in front of the tent.

"The Patio of our cottage," Eric giggled. I groaned. We

unzipped the tent and found two double air mattresses,

already inflated, thank god. They were the big, thick ones.

"The playroom," Eric intoned, continuing his guided tour. I

collapsed on the matress and started laughing.

He dropped down next to me and rolled me on my stomach. His

hands moving on my back brought me back to life. My moans

weren't sexual, just pure relief.

A few minutes of this and I was feeling a helluva lot

better. I rolled over, reached up and kissed him. "Looks

like we've got a little privacy," I observed.

"Yep," he said, leering.

We got busy and organized our stuff and got our sleeping bags

laid out and zipped together.

The motors were shutting down when we walked back over to the

"camp".

Folding aluminum chairs were arranged around a fire pit where

wood was stacked, ready to be lit. I dropped into a chair

and looked around. Five more of the dome tents were set up

in a row. There was a large rectangular tent. Gas cook

stoves in front of it had big pots boiling on them.

Everything was organized, orderly, and clean. A tiny little

stream flowed along the side

Eric brought me a soda and sat down. "This is fun," he said,

"but I wouldn't call it exactly 'roughing it'."

John joined us. "Not exactly the Ritz," he said.

"Don't apologise," I told him. "You have everything you

need."

"That ride bother your back?" he asked.

"Yeah, kinda stiff and sore," I told him.

"Get that big fella there to give you a backrub tonight," he

suggested.

"I fully intend to," I told him.

"It gets dark real fast up here," John explained. "All my

men are on their way in. We start as soon as it's light in

the morning, so it's a long day. Tomorrow I'll take you out

and show you what we're doing."

Men were walking up, collecting a boiling pot off the stove

and disappearing behind the big tent. "Bath time," John

explained.

When they reappeared in clean clothes, they looked ready for

a night out on the town. We were introduced as they wandered

up. Some were friendly and talkative, others didn't have

much to say.

Gas lanterns were lit, and everyone pitched in to cook. Some

were making sandwiches which I assumed were for the next

day's lunch, others worked on dinner. Everyone seemed to

have an assigned task. They worked as a team, John included.

Dinner was hearty and so were the portions. A two pound

steak was a bit more than I was used to, but it disappeared.

The lanterns were turned out and we sat around in just the

light from the fire, and the stories started. All of them

had either been full-time prospectors at some point in their

life, or were out in the hills in their spare time. They

were of the unanimous opinion that only a small fraction of

Arizona's underground wealth had been located.

Finding gold was everyone's dream, but, as John explained,

the really big money was in finding deposits of other

minerals that could be feasably mined on a commercial scale.

"We don't exactly ignore gold," John said. "It's just not our

primary objective."

Eric asked a few questions, and one of the guys chuckled "You

must've taken a Geology course somewhere along the line."

"Yeah, back in college."

"Bet you slept through most of it."

"Sure did," Eric admitted, laughing. "It was an easy course

for dumb jocks."

The fire died down and the men started going off to their

tents. After washing up a bit, Eric and I went in our own

direction.

"Ready for that massage?" he asked.

I didn't answer, just stripped and spread out on the sleeping

bag.

He started on my legs, working upward. The tension

dissolving as he went. Straddling me, he gave my shoulders

and lower back a thorough working over, relaxing the knotted

muscles. Rolling me over, he repeated the process.

"Too tired?" he asked, taking my half hard dick in his hand.

"No," I told him, "just enjoying what you're doing to me."

By the time he finished I sure wasn't half hard any more. He

lay down next to me and rolled over for a kiss. Feeling his

wet dick against my thigh, I moved around so I could lick it

off. He tasted so good I didn't stop there and before I knew

it he was all the way down my throat.

One hand rubbing his left nipple, the most sensitive, my

other hand rolling his balls, and a few long deep strokes

with my mouth had him on the edge. I backed off and teased

him with my tongue. His guttural groans told me he was

ready, so I went back to his dick and finished him off.

It wasn't until he rolled over for a kiss that I realized

that I'd cum all over the sleeping bag.

"You're no fun!" he said, digging out a cum towel to clean up

the mess.

"Didn't mean to, it just happened."

The noise of rattling pans woke us both. "Jesus Christ, it's

still dark," Eric muttered.

It was barely light when we heard the diesel motors start

up. They weren't wasting any time.

John insisted that we eat a big breakfast. "You'll need the

energy, we're going to do a lot of walking." Over coffee, he

explained what they were doing.

"We have four small drilling rigs out there," he said.

"We're drilling 'cores' to get a sampling of what's

underneath."

He gave us each a backpack and a bottle of water and we

started hiking. The first rig was about a half mile away.

The diesel generator powered the drill and it was operated by

two men.

We watched for a few minutes then John explained what we were

looking at. The bottom ten foot section of the drilling pipe

had the coring bit on it. It cut a circle with the "core"

going up the center of that section of pipe. After every ten

feet of depth, the whole thing had to be pulled up and the

core removed for analysis. "Sludge" was pumped into the hole

to lubricate the diamond-tipped drill bit.

When a "core" was pulled up, another bit was attached and

sent down the hole. While it was grinding away, the contents

of the core just brought up were removed. A rod was inserted

in the upper end of the pipe and the center was pushed out, a

foot at a time. These were put in heavy-duty ziploc bags and

labeled.

John told us that he then coded each bag with the location

and depth before they were sent off to the lab. This

certainly was no haphazard operation.

We walked another mile or two to the next rig. They had just

pulled a core and we watched as it was carefully extracted.

"There's a souvenir for you guys in bag 32, that is, if

John'll let you have it," one of the operators told us.

John found bag 32 and rolled it around, then showed us the

small gold nugget.

At that instant, both Eric and I contracted "Gold Fever".

"We'll take it back to camp," John said. "I'll wash it,

weigh it and log it, then you can have it. Our first

'color'."

We loaded our backpacks with bagged samples and started back,

picking up more at the first rig we'd visited.

We unloaded and headed out again in the opposite direction.

This trek was longer and over much rougher terrain. When we

got back to camp in midafternoon, I was tired, but not sore.

Both of us were full of questions which John answered while

he coded the bags. First, however he ran a Geiger Counter

over them to check for radiation. "There's a lot of Uranium

out here," he said. "Isn't worth much anymore,

unfortunately."

We learned that the drilling sites had been selected by

studying the underlying formations, experience and plain gut

instinct. The underlying formations also were factors in how

deep they went with each test hole. Depending upon what they

hit and the depth, test holes could take anywhere between one

and five days to complete, averaging a little over two days

each, and more than 300 test holes were planned for Arizona

alone.

I borrowed John's pocket calculator and went to work.

Factoring in their work schedule of 10 days drilling then

four days off, I figured that it would take 428 days or about

14 months to survey Arizona alone, and we owned much more

acreage in New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Colorado than we did

in Arizona. At that rate, it would take more than seven

years just to find out what we had, if anything.

I made up an excuse to go to our tent and motioned for Eric

to follow me. I told him what I'd come up with, and he

agreed that that was just too long. "Let's make John a

deal," I suggested. "Get him whatever it takes to finish

this in two years or less."

"We got the land for virtually nothing," he said, "so a small

investment wouldn't hurt."

"Let's look at the odds. We've got a thousand square miles

worth of potential. There's got to be at least one 'find' in

all of that. We already know that a couple of pieces have

copper that's worth mining."

"I like John, he knows what he's doing," Eric added. "Let's

see if he's interested."

We went back over to where he was finishing up the samples.

"I've been playing with some numbers," I told him. "Looks to

me like it's going to take you about 14 months to survey our

land here in the State of Arizona."

"That's about right," he agreed, "barring any major

breakdowns. Then it'll take us a month or so to get another

State mapped and ready to go."

"What would it take to speed things up?" I asked.

"More equipment, which I can't afford," he said calmly. "I'm

not a big operator like the ones out of Texas."

"What if we bought it for you?" I asked.

"I don't want to get stuck with a lot of equipment that I

have no use for when this job is over," he said. "Those

drilling rigs are expensive."

"Don't worry about that. We'll buy them and let you use

them. When we're done, they'll be our problem," I told him.

"We'd need support equipment, too," he said.

"No problem."

"Why don't you just go to one of the big outfits in Houston?"

he asked.

"Because I'd a helluva lot rather deal with a

straight-shooter like you, not some starched asshole in a

highrise who doesn't have a clue about what's really going

on."

He smiled. "I like working with you, Dave, you don't mince

words. I'd like to think about your offer, can I let you

know in the morning?"

"Sleep on it," I told him, "then make up a shopping list.

Think about adding at least twelve more drilling rigs so we

can get this done in two years."

"I will," he said. "I'd appreciate it if you don't say

anything in front of my men."

"We won't," I assured him.

Now it was Eric's turn. "It must be a sonofabitch getting

all your equipment into these remote places," he said.

"We've got that worked out pretty good. The real problem is

keeping them supplied with fuel and the other supplies we

need," John answered.

"You ever think of using choppers?" Eric asked.

"Too damned expensive. Only the big outfits can afford them."

"Who ends up paying for them?"

I knew where he was heading, and nodded my agreement.

"Whoever's having the surveys done, I guess," John answered.

"If you decide to go along with us, use them and add it to

the tab."

"You guys are going to make me run a first-class operation

whether I want to or not," he said, laughing.

The sun was partially over the horizon, so Eric suggested we

get our sleeping bags arranged for the night. "I want to

sleep under the stars tonight," he said, winking at me. "Are

you going to join me?" he asked facetiously.

John started chuckling. "Don't be shy, fellas," he told us.

"All us old prospectors indulge in a little stick pussy from

time to time. Get's mightly lonesome out in these hills."

I felt my face getting red. Eric, however broke out

laughing. "Never heard it described that way," he laughed.

"I like it!"

"I KNOW my boys had wet dreams about the two of you last

night, at least those who didn't find another outlet," John

chuckled.

We drug the air mattresses and our sleeping bag out onto the

"patio". "This is going to be so much fun," Eric giggled,

"watching the stars while we're seeing stars, and we don't

even have to try to be quiet."

I grinned in agreement. "Do we have lube?"

"I put in a couple of bottles and some 'Wet-Ones' to clean up

with."

We washed up before the crew got back. It was a far cry from

a shower, but we washed each other, making it a lot of fun

and difficult to get everything back into our pants.

That night we were treated differently, like members of the

gang. Our trip out to the rigs had evidently changed their

opinion of us.

"You're the first one of John's clients ever to come out to

the site," one of the men told me. "We didn't know what to

expect. Thought you'd be a couple of city dudes and just sit

around camp for a few days then go home, but you seem to

really want to know what's going on."

"We like to take a hands-on approach to everything we do," I

told him.

"That's why you're successful," he said.

When bedtime rolled around, I was ready, but not for sleep.

We lay side by side, looking up. It was so clear the stars

looked enormous. We took our time, touching, stroking,

loving. "I hate to intrude on this wonderful quiet," Eric

whispered, "but I need you to make love to me real bad."

My answer was to reach for the lube, put some on my fingers,

and start preparing him. There was just enough light that I

could see his body outlined. No way was I going to ignore

that stupendous dick waving in my face.

While probing with my fingers, I took just his head in my

mouth. My tongue slowly worked it's way around his corona.

He moaned audibly. We were ready and entry was smooth and

easy but causing a few gasps to come from both of us.

My strokes were slow and deep. I watched his face, his eyes

in particular. He was so peaceful and serene as I made love

to him. Slow and easy, with a stream of sensations running

up my spine with every stroke.

Sitting up so I could see his face, I felt him stir. His

muscles contracted on me, then spasmed and grasped me. His

body shivered and lightly convulsed, his dick shot arching

ropes in the air. That's the last I saw as my eyes closed

involuntarily and short strokes deposited my seed more deeply

than ever before.

I eased myself forward carefully, spreading his cum between

us. I licked the drops from his chin and nose then just held

him, my head beside his.

"I think I just had a religious experience," he half

whispered, half groaned.

I just held him to me tighter.

"I think I saw a comet just as I started," he chuckled, "but

I can't be sure."

I rolled off, still holding him.

"Even if we have to stay an extra day, you HAVE to experience

that," he said.

"I see stars every time you make love to me."

"This was different. The stars, the universe out there, and

the man I love a part of me. Fucking awesome!"

"I see the lovebirds are up early," somebody giggled when we

joined the crew for breakfast.

I tried to act like I hadn't heard. Eric brazened it out

with a big "Cat ate the Canary" smile.

After the crew had gone off to work, John asked us to sit

down and talk. "I've come to a decision," he told us. "I'll

never get another offer like the one you made yesterday. I

like working with you guys, even though you are a little

noisy at night, and I think I can do a good job for you."

We both laughed.

"In fact," he continued, "if I take Eric's suggestion, we can

do an even better job."

"How's that?" Eric asked.

"Using a chopper, we can drop men and equipment into spots we

couldn't possibly even have gotten to before. I know, your

next question is 'so what if you do find something, how do

you get it out?' Let me assure you, if a commercial deposit

is found, there's always a way to get it out.

"Now here's something else to consider. WHEN, not if, we find

something that looks highly promising, one or two holes

aren't going to prove that much. That's just the starting

point. We'll have to go back and drill holes all around it

in all directions to prove that it's not just an anomaly.

That'll slow down new exploration.

"I have a question for you two, now. When we find these

deposits, what are you going to do with them?"

I looked at Eric, shrugging my shoulders, "Just start

digging, I guess."

"Wish it were that simple," John chuckled. "There's

extraction, transportation, and smelting or refining to

consider. You could be out hundreds of millions before you

even got started. But, there are other options."

"Hadn't thought about that. You can see how naive we are,

John. That's why we need somebody like you," I told him.

"Somebody who'll explain things to us without treating us

like a couple of idiots. What options do we have?"

"There are a lot of mining companies that are always looking

for proven deposits to exploit. They work with the

landowners in several ways, buying the land outright, or a

percentage of profit basis, or, the best, in my opinion, a

royalty basis."

"Why do you consider that the best way to go?" Eric asked.

"The least risk with the greatest potential reward," John

told him. "Let's face it, any mining venture is a

crapshoot. What you think you've found may turn out to be

much less than you expected, or it could be a lot more. Let

somebody else take that risk, and if they're successful, you

reap the rewards."

"Looks like we have a helluva lot to learn," Eric said to me.

"And a good teacher," I said, "but I don't want John wasting

his time tutoring us. He's got more important things to do.

He's pointed us in the right direction, and now it's up to

us. Have you thought about what you're going to need?" I

asked, changing the subject.

"I plan to work on that today," he said.

"Now that I know a little more, I'd like to go back up to

where they're working," Eric said. "Want us to bring back

the samples?"

"Nah, the men'll bring them in tonight. Appreciate the

offer, though."

"It's getting hot today, I'm gonna put on shorts, how about

you, Dave?"

The drillers were a lot friendlier, answering our questions

and volunteering a lot of information. I'd taken my camera

and got pictures of everybody with the spectacular scenery in

the background.

After visiting two of the sites, I went back to camp. Eric

went on to the other two.

John had put up an awning, and after drinking a gallon of

water from the stream, I joined him in the shade. It was hot

now, I could only imagine what it'd be like when summer

rolled around.

During our conversation, John threw out an interesting

question. "I don't want to seem nosy, but is Eric your

'partner' in every sense of the word, businesswise too?"

"Absolutely," I answered. "He's my lover, my best friend,

and he's financially involved in everything I'm doing now."

"He's a damned sharp cookie."

"Eric sees what I miss," I told him. "We work as a team.

Over the past two years, he's saved me hundreds of millions,

and he's piled up a fortune of his own."

"You've been together two years? I thought you were still on

your honeymoon."

"Yeah, I know, we're the 'lovebirds'. It'll be two years in

April."

"Don't mind them," he chuckled. "They wouldn't bother to

tease you if they didn't like you."

"We can handle it," I assured him.

"You're completely different than anyone I've ever worked for

before," he said. "Most of the time it's Eastern types in

three-piece suits looking to make a quick buck. I get the

impression that you're in this for the long haul, and with

that attitude, I think you'll do well, very well, but I can't

guarantee it."

"We got into this by accident," I admitted. "We went after

the Railroad for other reasons, and didn't even know about

all this land until we started digging around. My daughter

dug it up.

"Sure, we could sell it all off and make a bundle, but what's

the fun in that? We don't need the money, and we're always

looking for something new."

"You can put up three billion for the Railroad and not have

to worry?"

"It'll be closer to four billion before the dust settles," I

told him. "I usually don't talk much about our finances, but

since it looks like we're going to be working together for a

long time... We bought the Railroad with surplus cash, and it

looks like we may put a lot more into it before we're

through. A subsidiary of the Railroad has a lot of

undeveloped land in California. That's what we were after in

the first place."

"I thought you were in manufacturing, not real estate."

"My family has been in manufacturing for about 80 years, real

estate is something relatively new. Last year we bought a

company that owned hotels, and now we're branching out.

Natural resources weren't in the plan, but it's beginning to

look like we're going to get involved there too."

Eric wandered back. He got a small pot and came over. "Will

you give me a shower with stream water?" he asked. "I

stink! I'll give you one too if you want."

"Too goddam cold for me," I told him.

He got soap from our tent and we went downstream and found a

small pool. Eric perched on a rock to take off his boots,

then his shorts. I dipped and poured. Spring water is cold,

but after the inital shock, he enjoyed it.

"You gotta try this," he insisted. "Feels so good."

What the hell. I stripped and he gave me the same treatment,

washing my back like I had his. With the sun and low

humidity, we were dry almost immediately. It did feel good

and it was nice to feel clean again.

Back in the shade again, John had his shopping list ready. I

glanced down the list, not really knowing what I was looking

at, and saw the total. It was less than I expected,

$1,400,000.

"Looks reasonable to me," I said, passing the list to Eric.

He scanned it. "Less than I expected. Looks like we have a

deal," he said, getting up to shake John's hand.

I shook his hand too.

"Since we'll be using choppers like Eric suggested, we don't

need as much support equipment," he said.

"Get backup," I suggested. "You never know about the

weather."

"Then add another hundred and fifty thousand," he said.

"Done," I told him.

I went over to the tent to get my checkbook. When I handed

John the check, he took a look at it. "This isn't right,

it's too much," he said.

"You're going to need front money for a lot of things, new

employees, supplies, fuel. Just consider that an advance on

your services. We'll work it out in a couple of years."

"I've been a little concerned about that," he admitted.

"You've solved all my problems."

The men filtered in and the cooking ritual started. "Stop

everything," John shouted. "Don't put the steaks on yet. Go

sit down a minute."

They obeyed, taking seats around the fire ring, John too.

"After looking over what we're doing, Dave and Eric here

don't think we're moving fast enough." He let that sink in.

There were expressions of surprise and a few of anger around

the circle.

"So," he continued, "since we can't drill any faster, I guess

we're just gonna have to expand. They're going to buy us

twelve more rigs and everything else we need. How does that

sound?"

The frowns had all turned into big smiles, and they started

getting up to go give him a handshake. One even gave him a

nervous hug. They just glanced over at us, smiling but not

saying anything to us.

"Another thing. From now on, we're using choppers!"

This brought a shout of "All rights".

"We're going to have to build ourselves a fucking

organization," he continued, saying each syllable of

organization separately, bringing hoots and laughs.

"Get some cups," John said to noone in particular. "This

calls for a celebration and I've got my stash."

In a minute or two, he was back with three bottles of Jack

Daniels. Cups appeared and water from the stream was mix.

Back in the circle, John raised his cup. "Dave and Eric have

shown a lot of faith in us, and we're not gonna let 'em

down. Here's to them!"

"Speech!" somebody said, then it became a chorus. I looked

at Eric and nodded.

"I know we're just a couple of 'city dudes' who don't know

diddly shit about mining," he started, which got a good

laugh, "but we're willing to learn.

"We don't know what we'll find or if we'll find anything at

all. Hell, we don't even know what we're LOOKING for!

"We do know, however, that working with John and you guys,

our chances are vastly improved." He got a round of applause.

"Dave?" John said.

"I'll admit, we're anxious to get an idea of what we may

have," I said. "That's why we talked John into getting more

equipment so you could do the preliminary work on a two-year

timetable. That won't be the end of it, though. You've got

over a thousand square miles of land to cover, and we're only

looking at the 'hot spots' now. This project will probably

go on for years and years after that. We're in this for the

long haul.

"One more thing," I added. "We're interested in what you're

doing so you're going to be seeing a lot more of us."

Three bottles didn't go far with eleven thirsty men. After

dinner, the fire was lit, not for heat, but hell, you just

had to have a fire! Instead of sitting on a chair, Eric sat

on the ground between my legs, his arms draped over my

knees. Nobody even noticed.

The moon seemed much brighter than the night before. The

stars as bright or brighter too as we lay there looking up at

them. We leaned toward one another to kiss. It was tender

and sweet, unrushed. Our dicks bumped together and our hips

involuntarily moved closer. We each knew what we wanted.

Preliminaries weren't necessary.

Eric's lubed finger found me, circling and stretching,

unnecessary because I was so totally relaxed. He sat up

between my legs and slid in, just the head, then stopped,

then further and further until I felt his body against mine.

I wasn't watching him, feeling him instead while I gazed

upward. I looked down. His eyes were glued to mine, a smile

on his face as he moved backward then forward inside of me,

slowly, but neverless causing my breath to catch. The love I

felt, as much as the stimulation he was providing, made me

feel warm all over my body.

I looked at the stars but thought of him. I glanced at him.

His eyes were intently on mine. I spotted a comet over his

shoulder, bringing my attention back to the twinkling stars.

The warm feelings started at my toes and moved upward

covering my entire body. I didn't fight, I just let it

happen. The stars disappeared as the intense feelings swept

me up and away.

When my eyes reopened, they were focused on his. There was a

smile on his face as he slowly rocked back and forth. The

much larger than usual puddle of cum on my chest attested to

the intensity of my orgasm. "You were right," I whispered.

He remained still while I recovered. "Did you get there?" I

asked.

"Not yet. Relax, we have all night," he said so softly I

could barely hear him.

"Wanna roll back," I suggested. "Let me be on top so you can

see the stars."

He wiped off my chest then laid back. I followed, still

impaled. With my knees under me, I rose and fell on him in

slow motion. I surprised myself by hardening again, and when

I felt him begin to tense up, spewed another load on his

chest while I felt him spurting inside me.

I worked my muscles to get out every drop, then fell on his

chest to share the afterglow.

We were going home that day, so we got up as soon as we heard

activity. There were a couple of remarks about the

"Lovebirds" that we laughed at along with everyone else.

"We're taking a different route out," John announced. "It's

a little longer but nowhere near as rough." That sounded

good to me.

I dug out my phone and used it for the first time to let the

pilots know when we'd arrive. John, seeing me talking,

wanted to know how it would work, way out there. "Direct

Satellite," I told him. "It works anyplace."

The trip back to Prescott was a helluva lot easier, well

worth the extra two hours it took.

John was going on into Phoenix to drop off samples and go on

a shopping spree. At the airport, we thanked him, and he

urged us to come back. "We're going to have to find

something that makes it absolutely necessary for you to come

again," he said.

To be Continued.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I appreciate hearing your comments on the

story, my writing, and anything you would like to offer -

good or not so good. Send me a message at

orrinrush@yahoo.com and also let me know if you would like to

be included on my "alert" mailing list for new postings.