Chapter 2

Hasup was flabbergasted when I told her that, back in my time line, a subordinate of the opposite sex is not automatically married to his or her superior if there is no previous attachment which would make it awkward. "That explains some of your confusing comments earlier in the day. You seemed to be oblivious to some of the things that I would be doing for you, from fixing your breakfast to sleeping in your bed. Well, John, do you find me acceptable, or do I need to find you another assistant?"

"Hasup, please understand my seeming brush offs were caused by ignorance on my part. You are more than just acceptable! I wonder how I was so lucky as to come up being paired with you?"

"There is a simple answer to that. While you were being repaired in the medical facility, our computers were busy scanning for a compatible assistant. As soon as I found that I was on the list, I asked to be the one selected. I have never had a male companion before, and I thought that I would never find one. I am what you would call an 'old maid.' I am 19 calendar years old and am still a virgin. That is very rare in our society. You will have to teach me what I am supposed to do. Of course, I know the theoretical part, but I have never had any real world experience."

"Hasup, I am truly blessed! Now that I understand the situation, may I properly welcome you to the 'family?'"

I stripped as quickly as I could, and gathered her in my arms. One passionate kiss later, we were lying on the bed. I won't bore you with what happened after that, but will simply say that I taught Hasup everything she needed to know to get through her first night of married life. We were both highly pleased at the results.

The next morning, Hasup fixed breakfast—a standard Arklet breakfast which I did enjoy, though I will have to get used to kidney pie for breakfast every day. She commented that it sure was helpful to have the rapid healing abilities; otherwise, she was afraid that she would be too sore to stand up straight this morning. Hasup said that she would be embarrassed to be seen walking bowlegged today. A smile went along with the statement, so I accepted the humor with which the statement was intended.

Today, we were scheduled at the firing range to demonstrate the AA-12 combat shotgun. Fortunately, two of the weapons had been unpacked and assembled for us to use, so we did not have to go through that. There were a number of targets set on the range at around 30 to 100 meters. I thought to make a point, I would load a 20-round drum with slugs and show what that could do, since it was the nearest ammunition we had to simulate a conventional rifle.

I loaded the drum with the ammunition and popped the drum into place. I charged the chamber and set for semiautomatic fire. I was quite familiar with the weapon, and it was one of my favorites, so I was comfortable with thumbing the fire selector into semiautomatic mode and aiming at the nearest target. I fired, and I hit close enough to the bull for it to be called a clean hit. Everyone of the multitude of spectators was impressed, since that slug makes a monster hole, even in paper.

I switched over to full automatic fire and blasted the next target with five shots. This act completely shredded the target, and, I'm afraid, may have rendered it permanently unusable. I thought that was enough showing off and switched to the 8-shot box magazine. This I loaded with buckshot shells. I flipped the selector back to semiautomatic mode and fired at four targets as soon as I could bring the sights to bear. It was pretty much a case of BANG ... BANG ... BANG ... BANG! Four more sheets of paper were shredded.

I then announced to the crowd that I was hesitant to demonstrate the FRAG-12 rounds because they were so destructive, and I asked what to do. General Isrult stepped out from the crowd and ordered me to continue with the demonstration. I saluted and loaded the 8-shot box magazine with one, each, of the three FRAG-12 rounds that I had available.

I selected the target farthest down range and fired the explosive blast grenade at it. When I scored a hit, the target simply disappeared in a loud blast. I dropped back a couple of targets and fired the HEAP (High Explosive Anti-Personnel) round at it. That target disappeared in a manner similar to the previous one, but it also peppered adjacent targets with shrapnel. The third shot was with a fragmentation grenade, so I fired that between two targets and sprayed both of them with metal fragments. I figured that was enough, since I wanted Hasup to have something to shoot at.

I told Hasup to load the box magazine with slugs and mount it in the other AA-12. She had never seen the weapon before, though she had experience firing other guns. I asked her to sight on the nearest target and take it out.

Hasup looked a little dubiously at me, since she was not familiar with the gun, but she thumbed off the safety and selected semiautomatic fire. She took her time to line up the sights and squeezed the trigger. BANG! It was a question of which startled her the most: hitting very close to the bull's eye, the loud report, or the lack of serious recoil. With a smile on her face, she proceeded to fire two more rounds at the farthest targets still standing and scoring nearly as well with them. Then she switched to full automatic and fired the remaining five rounds into a single target. Every round hit near the center of the target, though it would be more correct to say, near where the center of the target had been.

I asked, "Hasup, have you ever used that sort of sight before?"

Her answer was, "No, Sir, though it is close to one type of sight that we use."

I had Hasup switch over to the 20-round drum and load it full of buckshot. I then instructed her to switch to full automatic and fire her weapon as if she was using a light machine gun. She was to shoot at as many targets as she thought was appropriate.

Hasup put on a spectacular demonstration. Firing from the hip, she blasted most of the targets, missing widely only with the first shot as she found her aiming point. By the time she finished, she had pretty well ruined that shooting range. At the end of the demonstration, there was almost no conversation among the crowd of officers as they filed away in a stunned silence.

General Isrult came up to me, and, after saying, "At ease!" he asked a number of questions about the AA-12. Then he said, "That weapon is fantastically more destructive than any we have issued to our front line troops. Do you think that it would be suitable for standard issue?"

"I don't know, Sir. It would depend on what kind of war you were fighting. You saw what it can do at relatively close range, but it is basically a smooth-bore shotgun, so its range and accuracy would be less than that of a conventional long rifle. I would highly recommend it for urban fighting and guerrilla warfare, but it might not be suitable for fighting an entrenched enemy in relatively open country. I really think that you would need to experiment to find out. In my time line, we use more conventional rifles for most operations."

"I think that our R&D people should take a close look at your time line's military equipment. It looks to me like we have a lot to learn!"

"Sir, I need to know, does the enemy use any armored vehicles when they occupy a territory?"

"As far as I know, they have never used anything but soft skin vehicles, mostly trucks with open beds. To my knowledge, they have never used armor of any sort. Now you make me wonder if they even know the concept. An interesting question, I'll put some people on it.

"Well, this is a busy day, so I must be going. Thank you for a very impressive demonstration."

Hasup and I called in the range safety officer and told him that we were through with his range. I apologized for making such a mess of his targets, but he told me not to worry about it. It was about time somebody shook up the Army brass. Hasup told him where to deliver the weapons and unused ammunition, and we returned to our office.