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“Wait. What?” She frowned. “Stunning the Powluks will hurt them?”
“They’ll survive.” He repeated that fact. “We could shoot them with projectiles, aiming for their legs. There’s not a 100.0000 percent probability they’ll survive that, however.”
Being shot in the leg would hurt also. “We can work with the stunning.” If they were the tough warriors others claimed they were, they shouldn’t complain about that pain. Much.
“And we’ll stun everyone we see.” Strike wound one strand of her hair around his right index finger. “Not merely the abductors.”
She didn’t like the thought of hurting everyone. “If we see kids?—”
“I’ll graze them.” Her cyborg had a response for that situation also. “That’ll minimize their pain.”
Fates. She wasn’t happy with that plan. But she didn’t have a better one. “I’ll graze them also.” She had that ability. “I’m okay using a gun.”
Her mom had insisted she learn how to wield an assortment of weapons. Training sessions were regularly scheduled for that purpose.
There’d been a chance, a small one but it had existed, Syndiculous 5 would have had to send living fighters into the war with Powlus Zetus. Her mom wanted her to be prepared for that possibility.
“If I had a gun.” Kesser’s lips twisted. In her rush to rescue her friend, she hadn’t thought of obtaining weapons. “All I had in my pockets when we left was the handheld, and I doubt I could stun many beings with that.”
“A handheld could be modified for that purpose.” Strike surprised her with that information.
She was beginning to suspect he could turn any device or object into a weapon.
That seemed to be a cyborg thing.
“But it isn’t necessary to modify the handheld.” Her male gave her an adorably naughty smile. “I should have a weapon you’ll like.”
* * *
Half a shift later, Kesser discovered that had been the understatement of the universe.
“You brought all these weapons with you?” She looked down with amazement at the collection spread out on the training chamber’s floor. “Were you anticipating outfitting an entire army of warriors?”
“A warrior should be prepared for any situation.” Her cyborg picked up a small gun. He was flying the ship remotely using the guidance system. “There’re more in the cargo hold if you don’t see a weapon you like.”
“I’m only familiar with this one.” She chose the CR-748 blaster. “This is standard issue for Syndicul military. We use a long gun also.”
“A long gun wouldn’t be practical for this assignment.” Strike holstered the small gun and took the blaster from her. He examined it. “I can modify the stun function on this.”
“If you can’t modify it—” She used his word for it. “—I’m sure I can find something else to use.”
He seemed to have every gun in the universe on the floor before them.
“It’s best that you use a weapon you’re familiar with.” He perused the selection and chose another gun. “This one is similar to the CR-748 blaster. It was crafted by the same designer.”
He handed it to her.
It fit in her palm like the blaster did. She pointed it at an interior wall. The aim was the same. “I’ll need to try it out, but it feels good to me.”
“You can try it out now.” He must have remote access to the chamber’s functions. Projected targets appeared in the middle of the space.
“The target will sense a stunning?” Kesser changed the gun’s settings. In the past, she had always practiced with projectiles. “I want to see how that would feel during the rescue.”
“The target can sense a stunning.” Strike nodded.
She aimed for the center of the target and tapped the trigger. The burst of energy hit exactly where she wanted it to hit. “The recoil is less than the CR-748.”
She rolled her shoulders back. It would be less wearing to use.
