“Impressive, Lieutenant,” Tubbs declared. “But it still isn’t a ticket inside. It is good for a free trip to a gunsmith, if that’s really what you want. Why don’t you show me what you want done.”
“About that, Captain, a friend is bringing my rifle over here,” Lewis explained. “I was planning on waiting outside for him, but these guys were in a hurry to introduce us.”
“Damn, let’s see if I’ve got this straight,” Tubbs intoned, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “You came over here and interrupted this time sensitive project I’m working on and you didn’t even bring a gun.”
“Not exactly, sir,” Lewis answered. “I did bring a pistol, do you want to see it?”
“All right, I’ll bite,” the captain held out his hand, looking exasperated. “What do you have?”
Lewis looked at each guard in turn and when they nodded he reached under his jacket and pulled the ruger from the back waistband of his trousers. He dropped the clip into his left hand, and then racked the slide to look into the chamber. He laid the pistol on the desk with the clip beside it. Tubbs spent a few minutes turning it over and working the slide. He quickly figured out how to extract a cartridge from the clip. He set the cartridge on his desk and took a magnifying glass from a desk drawer to examine it.
Finally he sat back and looked up, addressing the guards. “You guys go wait for Lieutenant Lewis’ friend, what’s his name?”
“Lieutenant Junior Grade Victor,” said Fink, who had been standing like a statue until then.
“Wait for the navy officer, when he arrives bring him to me,” Tubbs said quietly, and then as soon as they had left he turned to Fink. “Who are you?”
“My name’s Fink, I’m from Ladzoo, “Fink answered.
“You have the accent,” the captain mused. “What are you doing here?”
“Hanging out with the lieutenant,” Fink replied.
“Where’d you get this?” he asked Lewis, nodding at the pistol on his desk.
“Standard issue side arm,” Lewis said. “I’ve had it for years.”
“Standard where?” Tubbs retorted.
“Have you not heard? I’m an alien,” Lewis chuckled.
“I heard some rumors,” Tubbs said, raising his eyebrows. “I figured that guy in Ladzoo was making it up to sell papers.”
“What guy?” Lewis and Fink asked in unison.
“I don’t remember his name; he claimed there were aliens in Ascore,” Tubbs informed them. “He said he was going to interview their captain.”
“Do you know where I can get a copy of this paper?” Lewis inquired.
“Never seen one, my cousin went to Wutanna,” Tubbs told him. “He came back yesterday, said he saw it at a friend’s office there. Are you a scout for the people who settled this place?”
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“No, my team and I were on this ship and apparently it came here by accident,” Lewis said. “Since we’re here the captain sent us out to look around while he clears out Ascore.”
“Are you marooned here?” Captain Tubbs asked.
“I don’t know, maybe,” Lewis told him. “But for now we’re going to Landee and then up the mountain.”
The guards came in with Victor, who carried one of the large rifles that Lewis had purchased in the Maze.
“Lieutenant Junior Grade Victor,” one of the guards announced.
Tubbs nodded and the guards left. Victor handed the rifle to Lewis, who set it on the desk. Victor put the scope next to it. The captain picked it up and looked at it, checking the controls.
“This thing’s in pretty good shape,” Tubbs declared. “They made them before the war blew everything to crap. I’ve only seen a couple, where did you get it?”
“I found it in a junk shop on our travels, anyway I’d like it mounted on this rifle,” Lewis said. “Can your guys handle that?”
“Of course, and we’ve developed an upgrade for these rifles, longer barrel, better twist. You want that too?” Tubbs asked. “How about you give us this pistol, so we can dismantle it and see how it works?”
“I could leave it here, and pick it up on our way back through, would that work?” Lewis queried.
Tubbs squinted at him, and then nodded. “Yeah, may I have the ammo?”
“If you throw in some for the rifle,” Lewis countered.
“Deal,” Tubbs declared. “Where do I send this thing when we’re done?”
They were sitting in the common room of suite twelve with Fink teaching them a card game he’d learned in Ladzoo. Two hours after they sat down there was a knock at the door, Victor stood up first to answer it.
“Delivery for Lieutenant Lewis,” the young army sergeant at the door said. “Are you him?”
“Right here,” Lewis answered. “What have you got?”
“Two boxes, please sign here,” the young man replied, pointing at a line near the bottom of the clipboard he carried. Behind him a soldier stood with a box four feet or more in length by eight inches square. On top of that was another box half as long. The boxes were made of plastic with metal corners and a flexible handle on the top of each one.
Lewis signed the paper and when the sergeant gave him his copy, he noticed that there was carbon paper between the sheets. “Hey, can I have that?” he asked.
The man shrugged and handed him the carbon paper, while the other guy gave Victor the boxes. After they left Lewis slid the carbon paper into his notebook near the back, and Victor put the boxes on the table. Lewis opened the long box and saw that the rifle had been quite transformed. As the captain had said, the barrel was at least six inches longer and considerably heavier. The scope mount looked like a factory job and the entire weapon, including scope and stock, was a uniform light gray which did not reflect any light.
Fink whistled under his breath. “Can I touch it?”
“Yeah, go ahead,” Lewis nodded as he went on to open the other box. Inside were small plastic boxes and a note. Victor took the boxes out and laid them on the table.
Lewis read the note aloud. “When you use the match grade move the selector switch to ’S’. Try not to use the crap from the Maze, its corrosive. This box contains all Wutanna blend. The unit performed well out to five hundred meters on the range. Good luck, Captain Tubbs.”
Fink handed the rifle to Lewis who found the selector switch, which was set to ‘R’. He moved it to ‘S’ and opened the ejector door by jacking the lever down. A look inside showed a plate over the magazine opening, allowing access to load a single round into the firing chamber.
The ammunition collection consisted of twenty boxes; four match grade, the rest repeater style, with flat points. The match grade ammo included one box labeled HE, one box that said AP, and two that said FMJ. The repeater ammunition was ball, hollow point, and jacketed hollow point.
They put everything away and retired to their beds. Five hours later they were woken up by a knock on their door. It was a young sailor who had been sent to tell them that a ship was departing for Landee in an hour. Lewis and Fink put on civilian clothes and Victor put on a set of utilities. The dress uniforms were left in the rooms. They threw the rest of their stuff together and hurried out of the building. On the way to the dock they stopped off at a café for rolls and coffee, and then made their way to the pier to eat and drink before joining a line to board the ship bound for Landee.