Chapter 273

Alice, Terri and Selina had been practicing under Diana's direction for a little over an hour when Jeff walked onto the firing range. Diana acknowledged her husband with a smile as she came to stand beside him, both watching the girls firing their pistols. After firing the revolver for a while, Selina had talked Diana into allowing her to try one of the nine millimeter pistols, but she had not yet progressed past ball and dummy.

As they watched, Selina pulled the trigger on a dummy round, but there was a visible flinch from her, accompanied by a quiet muttering. Obviously, she was aware of the flinch, so Diana said nothing. The six-year-old cycled the slide with her TK, took a calming breath and went on. The next was a live round, then a series of several dummy rounds. Each time she pulled the trigger, the weapon remained steady as she consciously fought to overcome her flinch.

"That's not a bad pattern for someone who hasn't spent any more time on the range than she has," Jeff commented to his Clan Queen. "And unbelievable for someone six years old."

Diana put an arm around his waist and leaned against him as she continued to watch her students. Raising her voice to be heard past Jeff's ear protection, "I never really thought her super intelligence would make any difference in her ability to fire a weapon, but like you say, she's doing very well, indeed, for someone who has just begun firing a weapon – particularly with those small hands. I suppose her TK cancels out her size and weakness. However, I have to agree that for a beginner, she is certainly doing well."

They stood watching for a while before Jeff squeezed Diana against him for a second. "Can I borrow Selina for a while?"

Diana looked up at her husband. "Of course, but what do you have in mind?"

Jeff puffed out a sigh. "Oh, I guess I'm just worrying a bit too much, but..."

" ... TK is dangerous," his wife finished for him. "I notice the remains of that tree almost every day."

"Yeah, I need to have that taken down, or ... I could do it myself. It was my screwup. I guess I must have left it there as a reminder."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I thought I would take her with me to the Ship's range. She says it's in another dimension and there isn't any life there other than plants. She put a shield around me while I practiced with my TK so I couldn't inadvertently hurt myself. I worry that Selina is becoming overconfident. She's playing with powerful energies. One slip and there could be devastating results. I'm certainly no expert with TK, but helped along with some interesting experiences, I've learned enough to be extremely careful."

Diana turned to fully face her mate, grabbed his neck and pulled him down until she could put her mouth on his. When they broke the kiss, "Take her then, but you be careful, too. Since you mentioned that shield, I trust that you'll ask Ship to do that for both of you while you coach our little genius?" she said as a question.

"I promise."

Diana turned back to the shooters and blew her whistle. Immediately, the girls, now all firing autoloaders, extracted their magazines, ejected the chambered rounds and locked the slides back on their weapons. Putting their weapons down on the shelves in their stations, they backed away from the firing line. "Selina, make sure your weapon is safe and go with our Prime, please."

"Yes, My Queen."

Selina double checked her weapon, then put it in her case with the .22 caliber revolver and the tiny pistol, then policed up her brass. Jeff added a couple of boxes of ammunition to her case, then stood with it in his hand.

"I am capable of carrying that, My Prime," Selina began, but Jeff just grinned at her.

"I know you are, but a man takes a lady's burdens when they walk together."

Selina's face flushed, but she offered no further argument.

Well done, my Husband, Diana thought. Selina will remember that you treated her as you would an adult.

As Selina and Jeff walked out the door, Diana raised her voice. "Okay, Ladies. Load a magazine with all live rounds and run fresh targets out to twenty-five yards. Let's see what you've learned."

Jeff didn't bother with a coat, but made sure Selina was bundled properly against the cold. They walked out the garage door, but instead of turning to go in the direction of the Ship, they headed across the parking lot. It had been plowed out and the snow moved to the giant pile just to the left of the range. Near the pile was the remains of the tree Jeff had inadvertently snapped in two while trying to shake it with his TK.

"Notice the tree," he said, motioning.

Selina glanced at the tree, then quickly back at Jeff. "This is a safety lecture concerning my TK abilities," she said as she met his gaze.

Despite himself, Jeff let the grin get past his defenses. More and more, Selina was anticipating what he was going to say, and saying it before he could get it out of his mouth. Somehow though, she didn't do it in a manner that caused embarrassment or anger. Diana frequently did it, too, but she and Jeff had been married for seventeen years. Many times the actions or the next words of a spouse can be anticipated by their partner, but having a six-year-old do it just felt ... different. He knew that part of her ability to anticipate what he was going to say was due to her intellect, but he also thought that she now felt more secure as a family member. At least he hoped she did, because as time went on, she continued to feel more like his second daughter.

"Yeah, I guess it is," he responded. "But let's go try out the Ship's range. We'll talk more there."

Selina held his free hand as they walked across the lot, the man and child taking the cleared path to the Ship.

Inside, Jeff smiled down at Selina. "I think I'm going to take a cup of coffee with me to the range. How about some hot chocolate?"

"That would be nice," the child answered, happy to be alone with her Prime.

After getting their coffee and hot chocolate in the lounge, they eventually stepped through the door into the Ship's range. Selina shivered momentarily at the odd sensation the doorway produced, and stopped a couple of steps later to look around herself. "Is this an illusion similar to the spider?" she questioned the Ship.

"And who says the 'spider' was an illusion?" the Ship responded, her voice smug. "I seem to remember your touching it." Before Selina could answer, the Ship went on, "The spider was real, but not alive by your definition, although it would not have hurt you as you quickly surmised. This is real, but it is what you might describe as a 'bubble' in another dimension where the physical laws of your dimension do not apply, other than in this bubble."

Selina frowned as she looked around at what appeared to be a vast plain with mountains in the background. Scrub brush and smaller growing plants broke up the barren landscape.

"There are no living things here higher than plant life," the Ship informed her.

Jeff put Selina's gun case on the table that had appeared near them. Selina had been carrying Jeff's coffee and her hot chocolate. Putting his coffee on the table, she opened the top on her hot chocolate and took a tentative sip.

With a frown, she turned to Jeff as he retrieved his coffee. "My Prime, have I done something wrong? I have been very careful to obey all the range rules and pay strict attention to our Queen."

Jeff knelt a little to be on Selina's level. "No, no. Nothing like that. Diana gives a very good report on your progress, and you certainly have not misbehaved – ever. But ... I think we need to discuss your TK. Up front, I'll tell you that you have not made the mistakes I've made, and I certainly remain a novice with my abilities." There was a moment's hesitation, before he continued, "Uh, could you tell me which energy level you're using?"

Selina frowned at her Prime as he stood back up. "Energy levels? I am uncertain how to respond to that question."

"But surely you ... Oh, sh ... uh... " Jeff stumbled out. "Uh, the energy that supports your TK ... it originates..." But Selina just looked blankly up at him as he stopped again.

"What type of target do you prefer?" the Ship asked into the ensuing silence.

"Hmmm," Jeff responded, thankful for Ship's interruption while he processed what Selina had said. He looked around as he sipped his coffee before replying, "Well, to start with, I think we'll just fire a few rounds down range without a target." He then turned to Selina and pointed to a clear area that didn't have any groundcover on it. It didn't appear to be sand, but seemed to be hard-packed, lighter-colored dirt. Pointing, "Let's use that light area there. At a guess, I'd say it's about 400 or maybe 450 yards – roughly about a quarter mile.

"Put your ears back on," he instructed as he placed his cup on the table. Taking his ear protection from around his neck, he put the muffs back in place. Jeff and Selina were still wearing shooting glasses. Opening the case, he loaded a magazine, then took Selina's 9 mm pistol out. After checking it, he slid a full magazine home.

He glanced at Selina to make sure she was ready. "The Line Is Hot." When Selina nodded, he let the slide go forward, brought the pistol to bear, then gave it a little Kentucky windage, raising the barrel to roughly a twenty degree angle. After firing the weapon, there was a noticeable interval until they saw dust fly up on the near side of the lighter colored ground.

Roughly, Kentucky windage means the compensation needed to cancel wind effects or bullet drop over a distance. Here, Jeff elevated the barrel to compensate for the effects of gravity on the bullet while it was in flight.

"Let's see if I can hit near the middle," he said as he fired four more times at two second intervals. Small geysers of dust walked from the near side to the middle, then he fired twice more, both rounds hitting within a few feet of each other in the middle of the light area.

Jeff safed the pistol and put it on the shooting table.

"I ... did not know a pistol could fire a bullet that far," Selina said, still staring at the area where the rounds had hit.

"I wasn't firing the weapon at a forty-five degree angle, which would have produced a much farther point of impact."

"I understand why you have done this," Selina responded. "Your demonstration has made me aware that the 9 mm pistol round is dangerous to far greater distances than I had first realized."

"Selina, I'm not sure the weapon will kill at a mile, but the round will go that far, even fired from a handgun. Innocent people have been killed by handgun rounds several blocks away from where a gunfight took place. Every Fourth of July, and every New Year's Eve, there are people injured or killed resulting from fools celebrating and firing their weapons into the air. Others are injured or killed by people firing bullets through walls into homes, or through walls within homes. Most wooden homes are vulnerable to even handgun fire, let alone high-powered rifles. Firearms instructors preach safety, and arguably, sport shooting is one of the safest sports there is, but it's safe because of rules and people who understand them and adhere to them. Now let's have the Ship put up a few targets and we'll learn a little about distance shooting with a handgun.

"Hopefully, none of us will ever have to fire a round at a person, but just because that person may be three hundred yards away, and all you have is your handgun, doesn't mean that you don't have a good chance of hitting your assailant if you have practiced and know where your weapon will hit at various distances.

"Ship, could you please put metal plates that are approximately eighteen inches in diameter at one hundred, two hundred and three hundred yards? Selina and I are going to blow away some ammunition."