The Dead Planet Series: Exodus (Book 1)
Page 30
Chapter 29
Urgent, this was the only way to describe it. It was urgent that I teach Kara how to use the gauntlet. It was urgent that I train her in basic fighting techniques. It was urgent that we go undetected throughout the transport while doing so. Kara followed me through the passageways as I sought out a suitable training area. We were deep in the bowels of the transport when I finally found it. In the level below the cargo bay there were engineering spaces, long and empty passages separated by bulkheads every thirty yards. There was no one in the area to disturb us down here while I trained Kara. This would be perfect, and we could start the training immediately.
"Move that control to the right to arm the laser," I said as I pointed at the control on my own gauntlet. "Keep the level low to keep from damaging anything. When the time comes to use it for real then you will need to set the level higher. Down here we will practice targeting and firing at low levels, alright?" I asked to gauge her comprehension of what we were doing. She shook her head.
"Alright then, do you see that yellow sign painted on the bulkhead at the end of the passageway?"
"Yes," she said.
"I want you to aim for the center of it and will the laser to fire with your mind."
Kara took aim and a blue laser exited the gauntlet and struck the yellow sign just above the center. She ceased firing the laser and looked at me with a smile. "I did it. I hit the target!" she was giddy with excitement.
"Yes you did. But the thing you need to realize is that your enemy will be returning fire," I said.
"I thought we were the only people on board with gauntlets," she said.
"Maybe we are, but that's not something that I want to leave to chance. If we experience a fight then you need to be able to take aim and fire in a split second. This time I want you to take aim and fire within two seconds, roll to your left and fire again, still trying to hit the center of that target."
Kara squinted at the target and took a deep breath.
"Visualize the target," I said.
She exhaled and threw her arm up and fired the laser. The blue beam struck below the target. She rolled left and fired again this time missing the target by more than a foot. Kara cussed under her breath.
"It takes time," I told her. "Just keep practicing. You will get better each time you do."
She stood there and glared at the target again. She thrust the gauntlet forward again and fired this time hitting the yellow target. "Yes!" She said.
"Very nice shot," I said. "Now do it again." She gave me a dirty look. "You have to be consistent. Just because you hit an unmoving target once does not mean that you can hit that same target under pressure. The mechanics of it need to become muscle memory. Now try it again."
She eyed the target again and fired just to the right of it.
"See?" I said.
"Shut up," she retorted as she fired again, another hit in the center of the target. She relaxed her stance and tried again, another hit. She smiled but it went away as she missed the next shot. We stayed in that area for two hours as she stood and took shots at the sign at the end of the passageway.
"I think that is about enough for the day," I said. "We don't want to run the power down on the gauntlet."
Kara sighed as she turned the control off. She had come a long way in those two hours. She may not have seen the progress because she was too focused on the missed shots, but the reality was that she could fire faster and with more precision than she could when she started. I put my arm around her shoulder as we walked away.
"Honestly, you did really good, Kara. I’m very impressed.”
"I'm angry that I keep missing the target," she said. "I would get a few in a row and then miss. It was really frustrating."
"I know, but that's just how it goes. No one is a perfect shot every single time. Trust me though, you did great."
Kara smiled at me as we walked up the ladder leading up to the cargo bay. It was packed with people walking around and meeting other people on the transport. We walked through the cargo bay towards the passageway that would lead us to our stateroom. We stopped at a booth that had been set up to sell clothing to those who needed it. There was no line so Kara and I stopped to check it out.
The clothing selection was somewhat generic. For men they had plain mock turtleneck shirts and black pants similar to the ones that I was already wearing. For the women they had a similar outfit with a different cut around the neck to expose a little more flesh. I looked at Kara and could see that the pant suit that she was wearing was not practical and decided that it would be best to purchase some new clothing for each of us.
"What color shirt would you like?" I asked Kara.
She looked at me and then down at her gauntlet. "Black, I think it will look more militant."
"You don't have to dress militant just because of what we are doing," I said. I was a hypocrite because that was the reason that I was choosing black. Well that and the fact that it makes it easier to hide in the shadows.
"I still want black," she said with a smile.
I nodded at her and looked at the person running the booth. "Two black outfits for each of us," I said. The woman in the booth grabbed the new clothes and put them in a bag for us. I paid for the clothes with the last of the money that I had on me. It didn't matter considering the fact that the food was paid with a voucher, besides Kara brought money as well for toiletry items. I handed Kara her bag of clothing and we left the cargo bay behind us and headed to our state room to change before lunch.