Light At The End | Book 2 | Light To Dark

by Benson, Tom

  Sandy nodded slowly. “Craig and Anne are together, and Hope is their daughter. When Anne became Craig’s partner within our community, she was pregnant with Kenny, the dead police officer’s child.”

  Flint said, “Unless Anne was an extraordinary person, I can’t see her living alongside the woman who killed her lover; her son’s father.”

  Bill said, “I know we’ve hammered the topic from several directions but now imagine if it would work bringing Patsy and her child to live here.”

  Sandy said, “I admit, it throws completely new light on the whole issue when you bring Anne into it.”

  “One option,” Flint said, “might be to broach the subject of Patsy before we mentioned it to the general community.”

  “Okay,” Bill said, “let’s examine that for a moment. We’ll say for instance, that we’ve reached the fourth phase in Sandy’s original plan. Instead of telling everybody, we only tell Anne.”

  “Now that you’ve made me more aware of it,” Sandy said, “I’m thinking as a parent, and I think Anne’s response would be no to that woman joining us in any way.”

  “Wait,” Flint said. “Surely, if we allowed visits by other people and they happened back and forth; if Anne, Craig or their children weren’t involved, it might work?”

  “Human relationships don’t work that way,” Bill said. “From the very start, our group has survived with the notion of total inclusion and trust. From the moment Paul pulled out of that parking area in the wilderness and speeded towards that old tunnel, we were inextricably connected. That is, we were a like-minded group except for Patsy. Every passenger was to learn rapidly that it was in our mutual interest to watch out for each other.”

  “And then you came through the tunnel, and we joined—”

  “No, Sandy—before we ever left that coach we were joined by Norman and Chloe who just happened to be in the forest near the tunnel entrance. They ran inside to offer help and within minutes became a part of our group. On a recce of the tunnel, we discovered Harry in his old train, and he became another member.”

  The two soldiers had heard the details before; this explanation put a different perspective on the issue of the wild woman.

  “Ironically,” Bill said, “we thought we’d increased our number by adding Harry. Meanwhile, a certain woman was in the darkness at the original entry point killing Ken because she feared that she’d finally be caught.”

  “I can’t understand why she’d have killed him in those circumstances,” Flint said. “The bloody world around you was falling apart, so why would it matter if she was uncovered?”

  “Serial killers don’t think like regular people, mate,” Bill said. “If it hadn’t been Ken it would have been someone else in due course. Since his death, I’ve tried to rationalise it by reminding myself how we tightened up the movement of individuals from then onwards, right up until we locked Patsy in that portal.”

  “Shit,” Sandy said, “I can still clearly recall the look in her eyes—she was one crazy bitch.”

  “No, not was, Sandy,” Bill said, “I think she might still be a crazy bitch.”

  Flint nodded. “I take it you’re not still talking as the Devil’s Advocate?”

  “No, mate. Either Patsy Mayne becomes a part of our community with the blessing of every single person, or she is not allowed near our front door or our people.” Bill paused. “In what used to be our supposedly civilised world, we had a section of society who believed in the rehabilitation of criminals. I had many talks on the subject with Linda, our ex-Prison Governor, who now sadly lies down there.” He nodded to the three graves down the hill. “The huge percentage of serial killers who were freed after rehabilitation and killed again was always a sensitive subject around Linda. A supposedly repentant serial killer murdered her husband.”

  Sandy said, “We’re between a rock and a bloody hard place, Bill.”

  “Yes, we are mate. Now that we know of Patsy Mayne’s presence, we must do the right thing both as human beings and as responsible members of our community.”

  Flint said, “This whole thing has become much deeper than—”

  “There you are,” Fiona said and smiled as she approached. “I’m sorry, Flint, did I interrupt something?”

  “No, no, Fiona, please join us.”

  “Go on then,” Fiona said. “What’s much deeper?”

  “The forest,” Flint said, trying to recover. “The forest is much deeper than I thought it was.”

  “You’re worse than him,” Fiona said, smiling as she nodded towards a grinning Bill and followed with a rhetorical question. “Who needs a lie detector when you’ve got a woman around?”

  10 - Stunning and Deadly

  Monday 18th July

  Sandy led his two pupils down the mountainside for an hour to the first area of grassland, which wasn’t a steep gradient. He was carrying a laser rifle and wearing his laser pistol in the underarm holster.

  “Here we are in our firing-range classroom, and those two small formations of rocks are the firing point.” He indicated an area a little farther away, where two handfuls of small boulders were spaced out to form separate two-metre L shapes. The upright of the Ls pointed uphill with the base of the letters following at a right angle. “You can sit down, get comfortable and enjoy a drink if you wish while I give you a rundown of our first session.”

  Marie and Calvin looked around before sitting on a grassy mound. Following the descent, all three people took the opportunity of a drink.

  Sandy placed his rifle on the ground to his right. He stepped back two paces and faced his pupils, smiling. “I’ll apologise now because some of what I say will come across formally. When teaching anything dangerous, it tends to lessen the impact of the subject if it’s treated in a casual or light-hearted way.” He grinned. “Having warned you about my tendency to drop into instructor mode, please feel free to ask questions at any time after my introduction to the weapon features and characteristics. Okay so far?”

  They both nodded.

  Calvin said, “Do we have to remember the features and characteristics?”

  “No, mate, but I will repeat anything of importance, and by the time we go back up the mountain I’d like you both to feel happy with what we’ve done today.”

  “Thanks, I was having flashbacks to when Des first introduced us to the panels in the Control Room.”

  Marie laughed. “It is a bit heavy going in there the first time you see it.”

  Sandy said, “In military training, even if they say otherwise, the average recruit has certain things he or she is terrified of doing. Likewise, there are other things they’re eager to try. Consider climbing, abseiling, parachuting, skiing and, of course, shooting.” He looked at their expressions and was reminded of the attention paid by such recruits. Sandy felt at home. “The first serious issue we’ll deal with is the reason for you being here because these devices are not toys—they’re deadly weapons. Why do you two want to be able to shoot?”

  The muscular personal trainer clasped his ebony fingers around his raised knees. “I’m confident in a one-to-one situation because of martial arts training, but with the possibility of predators, we should all have some knowledge of using weapons. We have youngsters to defend now.”

  “How about you, Marie?”

  “Defence of our community would be my priority, but being able to shoot accurately is one of those things I’ve always had a yearning to learn.” She laughed. “It would also be useful to me if I’m going to be spending a lot of time down at this level or lower when it comes to building work.”

  “Now, that is interesting,” Sandy said. “Marie, you didn’t say you’d like to shoot, you said shoot accurately, and there is an important difference.”

  Calvin said, “How would you classify the difference in simple terms?”

  “Shooting is holding a weapon and squeezing the trigger. Shooting accurately is aiming at a selected target at a given distance … and hitting it intentionally.�
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  “Intentionally,” Calvin said and laughed. “I love that—intentionally.”

  Sandy pointed. “Three hundred metres in that direction is a group of about ten trees—can you see them?”

  They both nodded.

  “If I told you to shoot at those trees and you hit one of them, then that would be okay, but if I wanted accuracy, I’d nominate a tree and expect to see that tree—your target being hit.”

  Marie lifted her bottle for a drink. “I’m enjoying this lesson, and we haven’t used a weapon yet.”

  Sandy said, “A good cue to get into the weapon handling aspect of today’s session.” He unclipped and drew his laser pistol from the holster, holding it side-on at arm’s length in both hands. “This laser pistol is one kilogram in weight and twenty centimetres in length. The main body is made from Fibron casing which is extreme temperature-resistant and waterproof. It’s finished in standard DPC … that is Disrupted Pattern Camouflage.” He paused. “It’s similar to our uniform which is DPM, Disrupted Pattern Material.”

  Calvin and Marie both nodded.

  Sandy said, “Did you get all that because I’ll be asking questions?”

  Calvin’s lips parted.

  “Only kidding,” Sandy said. “That’s the stuff you don’t have to remember.”

  Calvin sighed, and Marie grinned.

  “The handle,” Sandy continued, “or as I expect you to refer to it, the pistol grip is the thicker, friendly end.” He smiled. “The narrow, pointed nozzle is the barrel, which is the unfriendly or business end. In between the two is the clever circuitry which does all the work. To this day it is still referred to as the working parts.”

  Marie said, “What do you mean, to this day it is still referred to as the working parts?”

  “The working parts was how the main mechanism was described over one hundred years ago. No matter how modern a weapon has been developed, it has always required ‘working parts’.

  The two people studied the small but deadly device as their instructor stepped forward and paused in front of them to let them view it close up briefly.

  “Within the pistol grip is the power pack, but unless a sequence of actions is performed, it is totally harmless—unless swallowed.” He was enjoying their expressions as he threw in the occasional humorous comment recalled from his days as a weapons instructor. “In similar fashion to some classics of the twentieth century our modern laser weapons still use tiny levers rather than buttons for some functions.”

  Marie said, “Surely buttons would be less likely to catch on something?”

  “Correct, but in research and development, buttons were found to be next to impossible to get free if they got stuck in the wrong position.” He paused. “Imagine a situation where you have the power of life and death, but you don’t have the choice of stun or kill because a little button is stuck.”

  “Oh, my—” Marie murmured.

  “There are only two levers, and they’re recessed, but they are equally important and interdependent.” Sandy turned the weapon around to let them see the other side. “You’ll see the power selector which has three positions; S for Safe, L for Light stun and H for Heavy stun. Light will stun an average human target up to fifty metres away. Heavy, will stun a target up to two hundred metres away.”

  Calvin said, “What about stunning somebody or something farther than two hundred metres?”

  Sandy shook his head. “Beyond that range, the weapon is used for a shoot to kill and to enable that function you must flick the lever on the other side which has S for Safe and T for Terminate.”

  Marie said, “Wouldn’t it be more efficient to have the T available on the same side as the Light and Heavy stun lever or just have a Safe lever on one side?”

  “Yes, it would be more efficient if you weren’t bothered about accidentally terminating somebody you had intended to stun.” It was a humorous response if a little dark. “Okay?”

  “Yes,” Marie said, “I can see that now.”

  “Are you both okay with the idea of the two levers?”

  They nodded.

  “As I have this weapon right now, both of those levers are on S, so the weapon is safe. If I try to flick the Terminate lever to T, it won’t move which is a safety override. The stun lever, on the other side, must be used first to select a power option.” He paused and then repeated the features of the two levers.

  They both nodded as Sandy turned the small weapon around both ways and pointed to the levers.

  “The next thing we need to look at is the trigger mechanism which also has a failsafe. The trigger guard is the narrow loop of material which sits away from the trigger to prevent accidental firing. In other words, you have to slip your finger inside and hook it around the trigger. Another safety aspect of this weapon is that unless the trigger is squeezed fully to the rear, it will not operate.”

  Marie lifted her water bottle, but while drinking, she continued to stare at the laser pistol. “If the weapon can only fire up to two hundred metres on the Heavy stun, how far can it fire when you engage the … Terminate option on the other lever?”

  “If you set to Terminate you can kill at any distance up to two hundred metres.”

  “Isn’t two hundred metres quite a distance for the average human eye to focus on a target?”

  “Yes, and thank you for bringing it up because it leads us to the flip-up magnifier sight.” He continued to hold the weapon side on but changed the grip slightly with his right hand to flick an area at the top of the pistol grip. A small, clear and narrow flap snapped up vertically from the weapon. “This sight will give a magnification of twenty times so you can fire accurately with practice.”

  “I’m impressed,” Calvin said. “What you’ve explained so far suggests that although that device is a deadly weapon, its safety features are as important as its efficiency in stunning or killing.”

  Sandy nodded. “For a long time, it was a standard part of weapon design to install a safety lever or as it was sometimes called a safety catch. As weapon systems became more manageable and ultimately smaller, lighter and more deadly, it became necessary to adapt the safety features.”

  Marie said, “I know we’re not being trained as soldiers, but surely when you were in an armed conflict, you must have been under pressure. You have to be sure you’ve made all the appropriate settings before firing?”

  “Yes, I suppose there was always a delay before firing.” He looked around and pointed. “Can you both see the large boulder to the left of that patch of heather … about one hundred metres away?”

  They nodded.

  Sandy turned to face his pupils and casually slipped the laser pistol into his underarm holster. “Let’s say for the sake of argument that the boulder is an enemy with a gun, and while I’m walking up the mountainside he raises his rifle into the shoulder to aim … okay? Calvin, in the next thirty seconds, whenever you’re ready I want you to shout ‘Enemy left—one hundred’.”

  “Enemy left—one hundred!” Calvin responded immediately.

  Sandy dropped to one knee as he turned and simultaneously drew his laser pistol. Less than two seconds later, the rock which had sat peacefully for five hundred years was disintegrated.

  “Holy shit,” Calvin murmured.

  Sandy holstered his weapon and faced the wide-eyed stares of his students. “I could probably have reacted faster if I wasn’t watching that snake creeping up on you, Marie.”

  Calvin burst into laughter as Marie sprung to her feet and looked down at a caterpillar in the grass.

  “Did the rock demonstration put your mind at rest regarding speed, Marie?”

  She was still laughing as she resumed her sitting position. “It did, thank you.”

  “We’ll take a short break now to have a drink and a snack. While we do, you can throw any other questions. Afterwards, we’ll do some individual weapon handling. If we have no major issues, we’ll go on to simple firing practice.”

  The three people sa
t enjoying fruit and a couple of Ramona’s protein bars. Questions aimed at Sandy were more to do with his military exploits than the weapon he’d been teaching them.

  “Corporal, may I join your range detail?” Flint laughed as he approached.

  “If you must,” Sandy said to the accompaniment of laughter from his pupils as they turned to see the other soldier.

  “Is my timing, okay?” Flint unslung his rifle to place it on the ground.

  “Yes, we’ve dealt with the theory and preliminaries on the laser pistol and had a short break.” Sandy turned from Flint to the pupils. “I think they’re eager to get their hands on a pistol before we start the shooting practise.”

  “Yeah, they look like an eager pair.”

  Sandy said, “What we’ll do now is split into two pairs. Calvin stays with me, and we’ll move away a short distance. Marie, you stay there, and Flint will take you through practical handling drills.”

  In a similar time scale, both soldiers worked one-to-one with their individual pupils. They started by pressing the small release button to one side of the pistol grip, and in a flash, they were holding the weapon in one hand and the power pack in the other.

  “The weapon is now harmless,” the pair said almost in unison, an indication of how closely they were matched in the terminology and method of teaching this subject. For a while with no more than the laser pistols minus their power packs, it gave the pupils confidence. They learned how to hold the weapon, flick the various levers when told and how to bring it from a pocket or inside a jacket quickly and prepare to fire. Using the magnification sight was an eye-opener in more than one sense.

  Ensuring that they were pointing the weapons down towards the loch, Calvin and Marie were taught how to hold a pistol and safely load a power pack. They were taken through load and unload drills several times before a slow sequence of activating the firing potential with the levers. There was as expected a noticeable slowing in speed when the two people remembered how deadly a mistake might be.