Being at One
The instructor watched as ten students lined up, each at a single station.
"Now, I want you to pay close attention to these instructions," he began. He held what looked like an old revolver in his hand. 'This is a gun. It is not a toy. You point it at someone, you have better be prepared to shoot." In his other hand he held up a pair of headphones. "Now for the safety rules. Rule number one, do not shoot without wearing these, unless you want to loose your hearing anytime soon and then you'd be useless out on the streets. The range will always have at least two people here shooting as well as a qualified officer to be certain you don't accidentally shoot someone else or yourself. It gets pretty noisy in here so you better be certain your ears are protected. If there are others on the range shooting when you come, there will always be extra headphones right outside the door. Use them. Rule number two, do not pick up that gun until everyone is ready and standing at a station if there is someone else here. If there is already someone firing, you wait until they are finished before you take a station. Rule number three, as you can see, each gun is not loaded. That is the first thing you will learn, how to load a gun properly and gun safety. You will notice this gun has a safety on it. It cannot be fired when that safety is in place. You always load a gun with the safety on so you don't accidentally shoot yourself in the foot. Rule number four, no one shoots until all targets are in place. If someone is standing beyond this counter in the target area, all weapons are to be put down immediately. Not everyone is a marksman and bullets can ricochet. The first time this rule is not observed, that person will be immediately suspended from the academy for the duration of the semester. Does everyone understand these rules? If you don't, we'll continue to go over them again until everyone understands."
Silence fell on the room as ten fresh, young faces stared back at the older officer.
"Very well, you can begin by loading your weapons."
Nine of the young men and women opened the casings of their guns and immediately began loading their weapons from the tray of bullets sitting on the counter of each station, all except one young man. The officer watched each of the young officers in training. Then his eyes fell upon the young man at one of the stations. His curiosity got the better of him as he watched the young man run his hands along the weapon. A curious look came on the young man's face.
"Sir?" the young man raised his hand. "There's something wrong with this weapon."
The officer in charge came over to where the young man stood in Station Number Seven. "What seems to be the problem?"
The young cadet handed him the weapon and pointed to the problem. The officer scrutinized the gun then stated, "You're right. The safety on this gun is faulty. Very good." Then the officer turned to the class. "Everyone, pay attention. Put your guns down and take a look at this weapon." The officer held the gun so the safety could clearly be seen. The officer stood at each station pointing out the faulty part. "Take a close look at this weapon. You will notice the safety on this weapon is bent and loose. If the young man had loaded this weapon, it could have caused needless injury. And there is also another lesson to be learned here. Always double-check your weapon to be certain that it is in good working order. If the safety is broke, like this one, you don't load that weapon, but immediately send it for repair. If that young man had not noticed the broken safety, this weapon could have caused great harm to the next person using it." The officer turned back to the young man. "Stand back away from the station and we'll issue a new weapon. Oh, that goes for all of you, too."
The young cadets placed their weapons back down on the counter then stepped back. The look of disappointment appeared on a few faces and they wondered how long it was going to be for them to replace the faulty weapon. It didn't take long. Papers were signed the new gun was handed to the young cadet. He checked that weapon for any faulty parts then nodded to the officer to let him know all was clear.
The officer then signaled that the young men and women could once again move forward. One of the other young men picked up his weapon and aimed it at the target.
"Hold it Eagleton. Not everyone is ready to shoot yet."
Cadet Eagleton, let his arms drop in almost a disgusted action. It was obvious he was itchen to shoot at something. It wasn't long when the officer once again gave everyone the go ahead and each cadet raised their arms and fired their weapons for the first time. The officer smiled at some of the reactions, a typical response for first-time shooters. He noticed a few would jerk their hands back when their gun fired. Other closed their eyes. One young woman turned her head at the side each time she fired. The young man who held the new weapon, however, did not seem to hesitate. He held his gaze on the target as if he had done this before. His hands were rock steady. After one round was fired, the students were asked to put their weapons down and the class was dismissed. The officer in charge, however, noticed that Eagleton was loading his weapon a second time.
"Cadet Eagleton. I ordered everyone to place their weapons on the counter."
"I was just getting ready for the next round."
"There will be another time. Right now, this is only the first day. Each and every one of those bullets has been accounted for. The class is almost over and the next round of students will need to practice. We don't want to come up short, now do we."
Eagleton, lowering his head and answered, "No sir."
"There will be another time. The class is dismissed for now. You will all get a chance to know how you did tomorrow."
The class stood at attention, then filed from the room. The officer watched the students leave then walked back access the room, gazing at each of the targets. He was not surprised at the first ones that he saw. One particular target though caught his eye. All the bullet holes were clustered together forming a gaping hole in the target where a man's heart should have been. The officer, intrigued by the student's target, moved closer into the area. He swallowed hard as he realized it wasn't a trick of the light. He looked at the number on the target and its placement. It had been the target of the young man at Station Seven. He took the target down and headed for the Dean's office.
End of Part 1
Alisa Joaquin Copyright@2002.
This story cannot be reprinted or sold in any other form without strict permission from
the author. It is being distributed here solely for your enjoyment.
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