Page 28 of Trove’s Purpose

“I consider this reasonable.” He shrugged. “As much as I consider this next part to be reasonable.”

Chee frowned, narrowing her eyes. “What next part?”

Chapter 11

Trove

There was something about the familiar weight of a pistol in his hands that brought Trove no small amount of comfort. He smiled as he tested the weight of his new weapon, looking it over and stroking its body with a joyful reverence.

“A shooting range?” Chee asked, incredulous.

“It’s fun,” Trove chuckled, turning to her with a grin.

His weapons, like his clothes, had all been destroyed in the Humility’s destruction. It would take a while to restore his collection. He enjoyed a wide variety of weapons, not just projectile ones, but a standard, handheld pistol would always be his favorite.

This was a great one too. A sleek, silver body, rounded and curved in all the right places, fitting comfortably into his hand. It had options for plasma fire, laser fire, and less lethal pulse fire. It had a range of five kilolengths, four underwater, six in zero atmosphere. The glowing purple lights on the side could be turned off for night mode or brightened just to look good. He even got it engraved up the side. The old domini words gave him comfort as he tested it between his hands.

Chee, who was watching him play with it, made a simple, “Uh-huh,” sound in the back of her throat. “You just wanted to test drive your new toy.”

“Guilty,” he winked. “But I’m not selfish. I’ll let you have a turn too.”

“How generous of you.”

“I’ll take a few shots, then you can take a few. I’ll show you how it’s done, don’t worry.”

Chee grinned, hands held behind her back. “Oh, really? Will you?”

“Of course. I’ve taught all my sisters how to shoot.”

“You have sisters?”

“I mean Goldie and Grace and Haven, of course,” he said. “The captain taught Garnet. But self-defense is a very important skill, you know. And with your smaller bodies and weaker forms, a weapon like a pistol very neatly evens the playing field.”

“True.”

“Now, the most important thing about owning a weapon is to always make sure it’s loaded, ready to fire, and set to the highest lethality that is safe. Typically, you don’t use plasma fire on ships, because plasma can cut through the hull and that would kill you. Which you don’t want. You only want to kill your enemies. Which is why you always shoot to kill.”

“Yeah, none of that sounded right,” Chee muttered, but he wasn’t listening. His sisters had all had the same complaints to what he considered very basic instructions.

Turning, he aimed down range and let out three quick shots. The private range room he had rented for them was designed also for any shot type besides plasma. Unlike the simulation one he had on the old ship, this was for live rounds. And it felt good to feel that familiar, determined pulse of energy humming against his palm.

The three shots clustered perfectly in a little triangle downrange in the middle of the target. Just as he wanted them to.

And like venom draining from a wound, just that was enough to make him feel a bit better. The tension and unease and discomfort that had been following him for so long, since the Humility had exploded really, finally began to ebb a bit.

“See?” he smiled at Chee. “Nothing to it.”

“It does look easy,” she agreed, beaming back at him. “You’ll really teach me how to use it?”

“Indeed,” he smiled. “In fact, I’ll make you another deal. If you can hit that middle of the target there, anywhere in the middle white circle, I’ll do whatever you want for the rest of the day.”

Chee giggled. “Deal! Okay. Teach me then.”

He did so, passing his pistol to her. He took the time to show her how to grip it first. Since he had chosen it for his hand, the grip was a bit too big for her, but with just a little adjustment, she found her own grip. He then moved on to her stance, showing her how to plant her feet and bring up her arms. Shooting really wasn’t difficult; it was the aiming that was the hard part. He honestly would be happy if she just hit the target at all.

“So, what you want to do is line up your hand and your eye. It’s a bit different for me, as I have three eyes, but my other human students tell me that you naturally hold it just a little lower than I would, so however that looks for you.”

Chee did so, holding it with both hands just like he taught her. Staring straight down the barrel with a surprisingly serious look on her face.