“Mistah Yoo-Ree? You wanna learn ta shoot a gun?” Obviously, that was what Yuri was asking.
Yuri learned as a child that you could always tell a good stew by how little pepper you needed. And sure enough, the thick concoction he found himself greedily devouring was a good stew…really good, in fact. Seasoned to add just the right amount of bite to its’ natural heat, and a flavor that permeated both the meat and vegetables. The memories wafting up to his nostrils and taste buds carried him back to the days when everything was alright. “Fantastika!” he exclaimed in the mother tongue. “And yes,” he dabbed his lips with a napkin before answering. “It’s been years since I held one. Better to start at the beginning.”
“Do ya wanna shoot a pistol or a rifle? The process is similar but the handlin’ is a bit differen’. I have both.” Joe stepped away from the table and pulled his Ruger Red Hawk out of its holster.
“A pistol, I think,” the mechanic replied. “I’m one-armed right now, and I’ll need to borrow a weapon from someone before we get to Osiris.”
“Lesson one, treat all weapons as though they are loaded, unless ye know.” With that said, he popped the cylinder out of the frame and tapped the six .44 caliber cartridges into his open hand. He placed the bullets on the galley table, then looked into the empty cylinders. He walked closer to Yuri and showed him it was empty. “To load it,” he promptly reached back for the bullets on the table and picked them up. “Place each one into the cylinder one at a time or you can pre-load six rounds into a speed loader to make it faster. Jus’ line up the heads with the holes and pull on the back ah the speed loader. The bullets all drop into the cylinder.”
Yuri watched with interest as Hook handled the weapon with ease. The cook demonstrated the same disciplined comfort that was a part of the mechanic’s everyday life among machines and tools. Expertise was to be valued, and this man who worked wonders in the galley now surprised him with the confidence of his tutelage. “Oh,” he suddenly remembered Edina’s earlier request. “I forgot. Would this same technique work for Ms. Wyman’s pistol?”
“Wait! We need Miss Wyman too. Less go fin’ ‘er.” He holstered his pistol, then took another gulp of coffee, preparing to walk out of the galley with Yuri.
“I think she was headed to her room,” Yuri nodded agreement as he fell in beside Hook.
With the shuttle now crisp and clean behind her, Edina returned the cleaning supplies to the shelves in Abby’s room. There she paused, taking in the sight of the girl’s compact world, and the color she added with each stroke of chalk. The captures caught her eye. Basic family pictures of a babe in arms and a little girl with red, curly hair in the company of two different sets of doting adults. “You must be Uncle Bob,” she whispered to a grizzled man in frontier clothing. Next to him stood a beaming woman of Spanic descent…Abby’s Aunt Lupe. A quick study of the younger couple revealed Abby’s mother to be Lupe’s younger sister, possessed of a strong resemblance. But it was the girl’s father who raised a smile from Edina. The man was tall, angular of his features and a serious look about the eyes. A shock of unkempt red hair poked out from beneath his uniform hat. “You should see your kid nowadays,” she chuckled as a single tear broke free. “We’re gonna get her back. I promise.”
She’d just rounded the turn toward the portside guest rooms when Yuri’s hail caught her ear. “Oh, hey,” she acknowledged both the mechanic and the cook.”
What are you doing right now?” Yuri asked. “Hook’s offering to help us with some gun training.”
“Let me git a rifle,” Joe offered. “My room is right here.” He took a few moments to gather the M1 carbine from his quarters and a magazine with a box of ammunition. He returned to the hatchway, “let’s head to the cargo bay. More room to spread out down there. I have a trick to help y’all with stability.” As they walked, Joe recalled Yuri mentioning Edina’s weapon. “Miss Wyman, what sort of handgun do you have? revolver or semi-automatic?” He put the box of ammo in a cargo pocket and the empty magazine into the rifle’s well.
Edina blanched. “It’s a…pistol,” she stammered, a sheepish grin rising to her face. “I know the bullets load into a thing inside the handle. The guy who sold it to me said it was simple. Just
point and shoot?" She glanced from one to the other. “Does that sound right?”
Joe smiled slightly, “Miss Wyman. You have a semi-automatic pistol. I’ll show you a revolver in a minute. The magazine is in the grip. Proly a nine-millimeter.”
Once in the cargo bay, Joe took the rifle, pointed it away from the people and the cargo. He pulled back on the charging handle, locking the bolt to the rear. Then he depressed the magazine release and pulled the magazine from the well. No casings or bullets were ejected and the magazine in the well was empty. “Ah kin safely say this weapon is clear.” He held it up so the two could see the open chamber. “This rifle is safe. You can hold it ta see how heavy the rifle is.” The rifle weighs just over five pounds empty.
Yuri accepted the weapon. Mindful of Hook’s ‘Lesson One,’ he was careful to avoid pointing its’ business end toward his shipmates or the myriad of crucial systems sitting just behind some of the bulkheads. He knew they wouldn’t be shooting…a recipe for catastrophe while in the black…but his limited experience was showing signs of rust as he attempted to handle the rifle. The left arm in its’ cast and sling wouldn’t permit him to use the gun’s barrel sights, but eventually he did find a comfortable posture. “This isn’t bad,” the mechanic said of the M-1 as it rested upon the cast. “Probably not very accurate when I hold it like this, though.”
“No, Mistah Yoo Ree. You proly right. Best ta use a handgun,” Joe admitted to the one armed mechanic.
After handing the rifle off, he pulled out the Ruger and just as he had done in the galley, he cleared it, leaving the cylinder open. “This is a revolver, Miss Wyman. The cylinder revolves inside the frame. It moves one sixth of the way around every time a bullet is discharged, placing the next round in front of the barrel ready to fire with the hammer in the open position. You must pull the trigger to get the hammer to fall. When it falls, it will strike the primer at the rear of the cartridge, ignitin’ the powder and sendin’ the projectile down range. It holds only six rounds. Be prepared to reload often. Your semi-auto proly holds thirteen or fifteen rounds dependin’ on the mag. I do keep two speed-loaders handy jus’ for this reason.” He handed the pistol off to one of the two and then removed one speed loader from a pocket. The shiny device held six forty-four caliber cartridges in place in the proper order to be dropped into the cylinder when needed.
Edina accepted the revolver. “Ruger,” she repeated as unaccustomed hands turned the gun this way and that. “It’s very different,” the woman acknowledged, though she could grasp the cook’s explanation fair to well. She found something that looked like the safety switch on her pistol. On the right side of the trigger was another small button. Edina pushed it and was rewarded with high pitched whine of a gun scan. “This is sort of like Abby’s gun. She calls it a Colt?” The passenger directed a curious eye toward their teacher.
“Yes, Miss Wyman. Miss Abby has a Colt forty-five. This here Ruger is a forty-four. Believe it or not, there is only a slight difference between the two.” Joe chuckled. “The number, which is its
caliber, is measured in inches. The forty-five-caliber projectile is point forty five inches in diameter. The forty-four-caliber projectile is point forty four inches. This is a difference of point zero one inch or one-one-hundredths of an inch.” Joe smiled as he picked up the .44 Magnum cartridge. “The forty-five is actually smaller in length than the forty-four.” He held the bullet up between a forefinger and thumb to get a good look at it. “That has to do with the amount of gunpowder inside the casing. The more powder, the bigger the boom. The bigger boom means the forty-four has more kinetic energy coming out of the barrel or more knock down power. It has a better range too.”
“Mistah Yoo Ree, I know yous lookin’ for a handgun cuz ah yo bum arm, but that Ruger has a hella kick to it. Ya might wanna ask Miss Wyman to borrow her’s. She could handle the Ruger. Jus’ need two hands, ma’am.” Joe Hooker suggested to Yuri and Edina.
With a shrug, Yuri relinquished the rifle. “That makes sense. Edina, is your pistol handy?”
“I’ll get it right now!” She returned the Ruger to Hook, her gestures doubly cautious. “Be right back,” the woman called over her shoulder as she dashed off.
After waiting for Edina to hurry out of earshot, Yuri turned to face Hook. “I’ve been around some idiots waving guns about, and once or twice I saw what they can do. The bikers I knew back then were idiots…dangerous idiots. Got any thoughts on how we might shape up when we square off with these idiots?”
“Do you know how many idiots we be facin’?” Joe thought to ask. “The best we can do is hide behind somethin’ that stops bullets. If you wanna shoot back, pop up, aim quick and shoot. Then get back behind cover. After two shots, move to a different hidin’ spot or fire from cover from a different angle. Don’t fire from the same position more than twice. After your third shot, they may rightly have a bead on ya. Might be a good idea ta use some ah dese crates as cover juss’ to practice moving in and out ah cover. Using the firearm is juss’ about getting used ta the noise. Dey is loud. Folks advise usin’ earplugs, but then it's hard to hear what others are sayin’ to ya too. Either way, it is a lose-lose situation…hearing-wise. Most times ya don’ have time to put in earplugs. Do we even have any on the ship? I have one set myself.”
Yuri responded with a shake of his head. “No idea…I can only guess. Probably a bunch.” He cast a glance in Edina’s direction as she approached. “Hopefully it won’t come to that, but if things go bad, I want her to be safe.” His expression lightened as the passenger rejoined the group. “That,” he said of the handgun she held up, “looks like I can single hand it. What is it again?”
Joe took the pistol in his hand and looked it over. “Miss Wyman, where did you get this?” Joe asked the question simply because he saw the name,
Ruger stamped on the side. The pistol was black constructed of a polymer grip in the lower receiver and a gunmetal steel for the slide group. “This is a real nice handgun, Miss Wyman.”
Joe inspected the pistol some more. “There is a magazine release here on the left side. Push this in and the magazine will drop a fraction of an inch. You kin pull it out and reload when necessary. Best to keep a few loaded magazines on you.” Joe pulled the magazine out, looked inside. It was loaded with 9mm ammunition. He showed it to Edina and Yuri. “Just because the magazine is out of the well, doesn’t mean it is safe yet.” He pointed the pistol toward the deck and pulled the slide group to the rear. As he did this, a cartridge ejected from the chamber. It flew up several inches and then dropped onto the deck. Joe locked the slide to the rear, leaving it in the open position. “Clearing this weapon is a two-step process. First remove the magazine and second pull the slide to the rear. When you pull the slide back, it kicks out any bullets in the chamber. Like we just saw happen.”
Joe looked at Edina, “Miss Wyman, you think you be OK firing my forty-four? It has a much heavier kick than this nine-millimeter. I think ya kin handle it.” Joe knew it would be nice to have some range time like he and Miss Abby had back on Greenleaf, but they did not have that luxury. The dry fire drill would not be necessary with handguns. That was something you did with a rifle, not a pistol. “On the plus side, Revolvers are more accurate than semi auto pistols. You will want a few speed loaders to help you along. I can give you some loose ammo too.”
“When you was fetchin’ yo handgun, Miss Wyman, I was tellin’ Yoo Ree we could use the cargo as cover if a fight were to happen here in the cargo bay. Cover is merely something solid that will stop a bullet. Also, try not to fire from the same place too many times. It could be fatal. Best to move around a bit so the bad guys don’t get a bead on ya.” He watched the pair look the pistols over. “Any questions?”
The woman hoisted the revolver to shoulder height, her left hand steadying the mild tremble in the right. “So, is this right?” she asked. “Do I have to pull the hammer back, or can I just squeeze the trigger?
“Good question, Miss Wyman. This is a double action revolver meaning you do not have to pull the hammer back. Just
point and shoot!” Joe remarked.
