Seastead, Tahiti
care of you?”
“That really wasn’t what I expected,” Bella said.
“Really? Why?” Janice asked.
“I guess I figured it would be like where we practiced moves for different scenarios. You know if someone grabs me from behind. Then you do this or that.”
“Oh, I see. That’s not how Gina operates. What did she say was the most important thing to remember?”
“My takeaway was get strong, fast, and decisive… and go for the eyes,” Bella said, making claw hands and holding them up for Janice to see.
“Then I’d say your first lesson went well. Are you still sure you want to leave tomorrow? A month here training with Gina and working on weapons with me would go a long way.”
“Janice, I know you think it’s safer for me here. But I can’t live my life in fear. I won’t.”
“Okay, I had to give it one last try. I trust you have some homework to do while you’re away.”
Bella held up the set of bodyweight exercise cards and said, “This will keep me busy. And Gina says she’s having something shipped to me that will help. But she won’t even give me a clue what it is. I think she has a penchant for drama.”
Janice laughed and said, “You could say that.”
Bella had not paid attention to where they were going. Suddenly, she realized they were close to the corridor that led to the tennis courts. Close to where she had been escorted off and out of the arena. Shivers ran through her, and the curved wall and lights of the open hallway made her feel queasy. “I’m not feeling good. Do we have to get there this way?”
“It’s alright, Bella. You’re safe.” Janice patted the bag slung over her shoulder and said, “I’ve got enough firepower here to deal with a couple of stormtroopers and you’ve got your claw hands. We’ll be fine.”
“Humor? Nice try.” Bella stopped and leaned against the wall and took in some deep breaths, like she was recovering from a sprint. “This is so weird. I’ve had nothing like this before.”
“It’s okay, Bella. It’s anxiety. That’s expected. Take a minute to regain your composure. The range is that entrance you can see right up there.” Janice placed her hand on Bella’s arm and pointed in the direction they were heading.
A minute later, Bella was feeling better. She stood straight up and began walking with purpose toward the door. When she looked back and Janice was lagging, she said, “Are you coming?”
She had never been to a gun range before. Janice had reserved a private area to shoot from. They had put safety glasses and earmuffs on for protection before entering the range. Janice pulled a pistol out of her case and used it in her safety demonstration.
“Safety is the priority. Number one, treat all guns as if they are loaded. Number two, never let the muzzle point at anything that you are not willing to destroy. Number three, keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have made the decision to shoot. Number four, be sure of your target and what’s behind it.” She laid the black pistol down with the muzzle pointing at the backstop thirty yards away. “Can you repeat that back to me?”
“Sure, those are simple and make sense.” Bella had no problem repeating the four safety rules.
Janice showed Bella how to choose a new target and select the distance through a series of options on a monitor set at eye level, just to the left of the firing line. Without delay, a target dropped in place from the ceiling five yards away. “We are going to start with the basics of squeezing the trigger. There are ten rounds in this weapon. I’m going to shoot the first two and then you can finish.”
She watched as Janice showed her how to hold the pistol with two hands and how to lean a little forward from the waist.
“Keep both eyes open at all times and when you’re sighted into your target, put your finger on the trigger and give it a steady pull straight back.”
Pifht! Pifht!
Janice eased the gun onto the booth’s counter, turned, and smiled. “You were expecting a loud gunshot, weren’t you?”
Bella laughed as she realized she had been holding her breath. “Oh, my, yes!”
“This is how I start out newbies. It’s a pellet gun and runs on CO2 cartridges. The worst thing new shooters do is to expect the bang. It causes a person nothing but bad habits.” Janice retrieved the target and looked. “Not the most accurate gun, but it’s cheap to practice with. Here you take over.” She backed out of the booth and stood at Bella’s left shoulder.
When Bella’s groupings were about as accurate as her mentor’s, Janice returned the pellet gun to its place in the bag and retrieved a black plastic box. She opened it and pulled out a gun that looked like it was from a sci-fi movie. When Janice screwed on the silencer, it looked even more futuristic.
“This is the gun I take when I need to assassinate someone at close range.” She reached out with one hand and fired four rounds into the new target. “It’s a Ruger 22/45 with red dot sight and a suppressor, making it barely louder than my pellet gun. But it has a substantial lethality to it, especially if you make a headshot.” She retrieved the target from seven yards, set the gun down, and traded places with Bella.
“I thought you said you weren’t a good shot without a laser,” Bella said as she admired the tiny tears in the paper target-all within a quarter inch of the center.
“You’ll see. Try it.”
She liked this gun even before she raised it into firing position. It had a nice feel to it and even with the suppressor, it felt well-balanced. She peered into the red dot optic and saw the target with a pinpoint light moving around and understood what Janice was alluding to. She lined up the red dot over the target and pull the trigger. “It won’t fire.”
“That’s because you still have the safety on. The working of this pistol is very similar to the Kimber Micro 9 that I’m giving you. You need to understand how it all works. It’s called a thumb safety.”
It took no more coaching. Bella pulled the safety downward with the thumb of her right hand, aimed and fired.
An hour later, Janice said, “It’s time for a lunch break. You are a perfect student. You follow the safety rules like a pro, and you’ve become an excellent marksman, but that is easy with my assassin gun. After intermission you’ll get an hour of range time with the baby 1911.”
Bella didn’t know what she meant by baby 1911, but she would not let the assassin thing pass for a second time. “Thank you for instructing me. This is more fun than I expected. But what’s this about your assassin gun?”
“Oh, it’s an old joke. Don’t give it a second thought. Besides, do you really think I’d bring it up if it were true?” Janice hefted the gun bag over her shoulder and headed for the door.