Page 54 of Tanin's Treasure
That was something of a relief, though now she was wondering how safety mode was disengaged. But Trove didn’t appear at all concerned as she looked the device over.
It didn’t have a hole at tip of the barrel. Instead, the spiral of green light came to a point at the end of the muzzle like it would shoot a laser. It also didn’t have an obvious trigger like she would have expected. But it fit in her hand rather comfortably as she turned it around, surprised by its weight. It was lighter than she expected.
“You’re giving me a gun?” She asked, lifting her head.
“Made it for you.” He tapped the body. “Your hands are smaller than ours. So, had to craft a weapon that you could comfortably wield.”
“Youmademe gun?” She asked, smiling, a bit choked up, as she brought it to her chest. “That’s so sweet!”
He chuckled. “Figured if you were going to go running into danger, might as well equip you to do it properly. Got time for me to teach you how to shoot it?”
“Yes!” She yelled, bouncing on the balls of her feet, speaking over him before he could even finish the sentence fully.
He laughed. “Come on. This way. We got an artificial range in our training room. I’m the resident sharpshooter here. I’ll have you dishing out shots like a pro in no time.”
“This is so great,” she giggled eagerly, following after him as she looked down at the gun like it was a precious jewel.
She’d always wanted to learn how to shoot. But guns were expensive. Hell, bullets were expensive when you added them up. And there was just never enough time to actually learn. She hadn’t expected to get a weapon like this, but she was definitely excited.
They turned into the room she’d been calling the gym. It had a couple machines in it that Alred told her were used for weight training and cardio. There was also a lone lane along one wall that reminded her of arcade games. The kind where you stood at one end and threw things to the other. She knew it was a gun range, but Alred told her that she couldn’t use it without Tanin’s permission. And Alred couldn’t teach her anyway because he didn’t actually know how to shoot.
It was fascinating the things Alred didn’t know. Just by virtue of not having a body and therefore not needing to, he didn’t know how to do a lot of things in any way but theoretically. Yet, at the same time, he had incredibly deep, complex knowledge about so many other things, it seemed incongruous.
Trove took her to the front of the range and plucked the gun from her hands.
“Gun safety first,” he said, carelessly waving it in the air. “First of all, never ever,evernevershoot this inside a starship. Not even for practice. This weapon is for terrestrial use only. It’s probably not powerful enough to shoot a hole in the side of the ship, but that’s a gamble every time it’s fired. Especially with a ship as old as ours. You will almost never see fights in space done with guns, simply because it’s a dumb idea. One stray shot in the exact wrong place, and we’re all dead. So, what I’m going to do is attach this here before I turn it on...”
As she watched, he pulled what looked like a button from the range. It was about the size of a quarter and dark red. He clicked it on the side of the gun, right on the muzzle, and immediately, the light spiral at the end went dark. It was still glowing, but it was a dim, gray kind of light.
“There. Now, it’s in practice mode,” he said. “It won’t actually shoot, but you can practice your aim here at the range. Now, take it. Nope. Not like that. Hold it like this.”
Garnet already had a pretty decent idea of basic gun safety. She wanted to learn, after all, even if she never got the chance to. But the safety tips Trove started giving her seemed just a bit… off.
A general rule on Earth was to never point a gun at anything you weren’t prepared to kill. In other words, never point it at anyone, even as a joke. Even if you were sure it wasn’t loaded.
Trove said, “Make sure you only point this at other people and not at any of us. Got it?”
On Earth, you always made sure to unload a gun if you weren’t using it.
Trove said, “You can dial back the power here, and that will act more like a stunning shot. But that’s stupid. Keep it set to high power. If you’re shooting someone, might as well do it right.”
On Earth, you weren’t supposed to keep your finger on the trigger unless you were imminently using the weapon, in case you twitched and fired it accidentally.
Trove said, “Make sure you always keep your finger here so you can shoot it instantly if you have to.”
“I feel like you’re giving me bad advice,” Garnet finally said, giving him a look. “I thought you said we were doing safety first.”
“Thisissafety first,” he said, baffled, like he genuinely might not realize what he was saying wrong. “This is the most important part of operating a gun.”
“So, shouldn’t you be telling me to never point it at anyone or to be careful of the trigger? Something like that?”
He scoffed, crossing his arms. “And what good will that do you? This is a gun. It’s not a toy. You’re not learning it to be a good little peacekeeper, protecting the people, or a hobbyist who wants to play at having power. It’s a weapon. It’s for dealing death as quickly and efficiently as possible. And that’s what I’m teaching you. Now, stop asking stupid questions and aim like this.”
Garnet was a bit doubtful as he showed her how to stand and aim. It just seemed wrong. But she followed his instructions, trying to at least get her stance right. She did still want to learn, but she didn’t want to learn the wrong thing…
But before she could express those feelings again, the sound of quiet footsteps made them both turn as Tanin approached from behind.
Garnet couldn’t stop herself from smiling upon meeting his gaze. Her heart jumped in her chest as her belly swooped delightfully.
