The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(87)

‘Yes sir!’

‘I want the status of my squad. Notify His Majesty the humans are safe and in my custody. After you are finished with the communicator, issue us one rifle and a laser cartridge for each of our guests.’

‘Yes, sir.’

We all marched off to a huge marbled room two stories high and of colossal size—about two football fields side by side. We gaped in awe at the magnificence of it all.

‘We are now in the training facilities of His Majesty,’ the lead guard announced.

‘Whoa, dude!’ Dan exclaimed, his eyes bulging. ‘Bigger than even that on the Uriel!’

‘The Uriel, as majestic as it is, is constrained by the necessity of design intended for space. Here, we have no such limitations,’ the guard intoned dryly. He pushed a button on his jacket, and before our eyes, an array of bull’s eye targets emerged from the floor through an automatic shaft lined in the floor. Another guard approached us, hauling a wooden barrel of rifles.

‘Let’s just go over a couple of things first,’ the lead guard said, his eyes darting sideways at the rifles, ‘Time for your training to begin. His Majesty has decreed so.’

Lincoln piped up. ‘Now? We just barely escaped an ambush, and we haven’t even been given a decent tour!’

‘Exactly why you should start now. These Rangiers were after you, as instruments of Odion.’

Lincoln pointed toward the wall, as if pointing outside to indicate the site of the ambush, ‘Are all Rangiers bad?’

‘No. Rangiers are very intelligent and they are peace-loving. Unfortunately, their projection skills and mastery of illusory deception makes them very highly sought after. Only a few Rangiers have become corrupted, yet you still must be careful. Odion knows you’re on the planet, and you must defend yourself. There’s no time to lose.’

‘Odion wants us that badly?’ Lincoln asked, somewhat in a state of shock. ‘We’re just teenagers from Earth!’

Dan jumped in. ‘Dude, we’ve been over this. Zane was very clear why we were valuable to him. Get in with the program.’

‘A very wise boy. Theodore knew this, and you doubtlessly need his guidance now,’ the guard said, nodding his head. He held out a rifle, striking in its beauty and handicraft. ‘Never, and I mean never hold your finger on the trigger unless you plan on shooting the weapon. Always assume the weapon is loaded and capable of firing. Your relationship with a weapon is based on respect. It can end a life, it can destroy a home, and this power is steered by you. Always point the rifle in a safe direction—muzzle toward the ground.’

‘Right, sir. That’s the TZ-47. Locked and loaded,’ an assistant confirmed.

The guard firmly held the rifle closer to us and fiercely said, ‘Hear what he just said? Locked and loaded. This gun is ready to fire and we will treat it accordingly. Follow me.’ We walked over to the firing range they had just summoned. It was the length of a bowling alley. Eight target simulating holograms were displayed in front of us.

‘What is your name, sir?’ Lincoln asked the lead guard.

‘You have it correct,’ the guard said.

‘Sir?’ Liam asked, disappointed.

‘Yes. Names do not matter. I am only a subject of His Majesty, King of Karshiz. His name is the only name that matters here, aside from our Supreme, Zane. Now, listen. This is the firing range. This weapon fires a laser that can incinerate on contact.'

‘Who is going first, dude… I mean—sir?’ Dan asked; his unruly shock of hair was flopped over his eyes due to our recent battle.

‘You will,’ the guard said. He handed Dan the rifle. Dan lovingly embraced it with his fingers, then held it into position, confident.

‘This is just like a first-person shooter! I will give you a lesson, Mariah! Ha ha,’ Dan said. He lowered his body into a prone position and prepared to fire. ‘Just aim and shoot, sir?’

‘Correct. It’s not that simple. You are to be elite warriors, so let us reduce the size of the targets to exaggerate distance. Lasers have a completely straight and linear trajectory.’

Comfortable in his challenge, Dan was talking trash as usual. To my surprise, the guards around us smiled to each other. My guess is that they did exactly the same thing when they were out of earshot of the king. Following Dan’s lead, the other boys started bragging about hunting with their fathers for deer years ago.

Well, they can brag all they want. I wasn't impressed with their shooting. After they all finished about twenty rounds among all three of them, the best score was four bull’s eyes.


They didn’t even invite me to hold one of the rifles or ask me to step up. They just automatically forgot about my existence in the shooting range because I was a girl. Well, I showed them! Back on Earth, I lovingly recalled the many hours of laser tag battles with my friends—not just girls, but also tons of astonished guys, several of them much older than me.

After the boys showed off their mediocre skill, I stepped up to the firing platform. The three boys snickered when I defiantly held the rifle in my arms.

‘Okay Mariah, this is the trigger and this is where the laser comes out,’ Dan said. He seriously felt he was being very helpful and that I would swoon at his chivalrous gesture.

‘Thanks, Dan,’ I hissed, surprising him with my reaction. ‘How very belittling and ignorant of you.’ Resolutely, I aimed, attempting to block out my seething thoughts. Then I missed my first target by about a mile. More snickers from the lads.