Promised to the Alien King

9

“Thirty minutes is up- time for guns! If you need help with these poses after class, I’ll be here, so don’t hesitate to approach me if I’m doing something else. I’m here to help you.” she said.

“Now, I will activate the shooting range at both sides of the wall. There’s fifteen stalls on each, so you’ll all have your place, don’t worry. For safety reasons, you’ll be using gum bullets.” she said. She then approached one of the walls and made them move aside. Everyone was shocked at the walls moving so easily, and even I was surprised, although I’ve seen it before.

“You’ll find guns and bullets on the deck. I will teach you how to load a gun, and then how to shoot it. Now, get your place.” she told us, and not knowing what else to do, I went to stand in front of Laine.

“Cadet Watson, you already know all of this. I prepared other things for you to do- listen up.” instructor Mel said once she noticed me, and she approached me so not everybody had to listen.

“Watson, you will get a special gun today. It’s a Neuran gun. The meaning is not important now. This gun doesn’t operate on bullets- instead, it compresses energy into bullet-like balls.” she said, handing me a bigger version of the gun I stole. “Feel free to change the distance as speed as you go. Once you got the hang of it, take the second gun and try shooting two targets at once. Have you done that before?” She asked me.

“No, I only own one gun.” I replied. How was I supposed to aim at two different targets? She must’ve noticed my unease, because she spoke again.

“The aiming you use is called instinctive aiming, as you already know. It’s a very rare skill because of which you are able to even aim with your eyes closed- but leave that for after you can hit two targets without a problem. You don’t aim with sight, you aim with your instincts. Just try it, you’ll see it’ll come naturally.” she told me and turned to other students, explaining the process of loading a gun. I blocked out the sound and looked at immobile targets in front of me. There were fifteen on the field, and I had an option to bring out more, but I didn’t need more.

I already had a feel for a gun like this, but since it was bigger, I decided to take instructor Mel’s advice and do one round of only one gun. I took a deep breath and began. The light buzzes were pleasant to listen to, and all the targets were soon marked in the centre. I did well, and I pleased with myself.

“You saw how Watson did it. If you payed close attention, she barely looked at her targets- she used something we call instinctive aiming. My goal will be to teach you at least basics of it, and I’ll help you improve your regular, basic aiming.” I suddenly hear instructor Mel said. I wasn’t aware that I was being used as an example, and I blushed at the attention. I was rarely good at something, and the fact that the instructor trusted I’ll make no mistakes made my heart warm.

Now, I took the other gun in my other hand. I could shoot accurately with both my right and left hand, but I preferred my right hand because most shooting ranges were made to be used either with both hands or only the right hand. But this range was wide and there was space for me to shoot with my feet if I wanted to.

The immobile targets were clear of marks again. I decided to start by shooting the targets closest to each other. I took my time- speed wasn’t necessary yet. I aimed, trusting my gut and I managed to hit both targets. My right-hand aim got a bullseye, and my left hand was pretty close to a bullseye. Not bad for my first try.

I kept repeating this until I could hit bullseye with both hands. All I needed was some time to get used to this, and my body did the rest. I started doing it faster and faster, before I could completely dismiss my thoughts and aim with my instinct, like the instructor said. There was five minutes left until I managed to have that happen.

“Watson, that is fascinating! It took you only twenty-five minutes… Try moving targets now, and feel free to come here after class to practice.” she told me and I nodded in understanding. I set the targets to slow movement, and tried it out.

I never had problems with moving targets- I interpreted them as immobile, and I was able to shoot them easily. I realised that I could do the same with both guns. It was no different than immobile, and they were all gone extremely fast.

I set their moving to maximum, ready for a real challenge. I noticed that all eyes were on me- I couldn’t afford failure now. I was usually nervous when people were watching me, but I felt powerful.

I took a deep breath, as always, and began shooting after a quick scan of the field, marking the positions and the moving speed and patterns in my mind. The patterns kept changing, and I could only barely predict them, so I had to rely on reflexes to be able to quickly adjust my aim. I stopped thinking and started shooting. There were fifteen targets, and they were all shot within seven seconds. Even I saw that my speed was abnormal.

I was greeted by an applause, and I turned around to see my fellow cadets cheering. I smiled- they were nicer than I expected! 

Since this was my last class, and I wasn’t hungry yet, I decided to stay and help Laine with shooting.

“Instructor Mel, may we practise shooting now?” I asked her, and she nodded eagerly.

“Of course! Feel free to use the Neuran guns, but return them to me once you’re done, okay? They weren’t easy to get!” she said with a smile. I walked towards Laine’s place. She was holding the gun awkwardly and was in a weird, unnatural position. There were only a few people at the gun range.

“Laine, that’s awful! Let me show you how to hold the gun!” I said, faking a stern voice. She rolled her eyes.

“Oh, Apollo, please teach me how to improve my aim!” This time, I was the one to roll my eyes. I corrected her feet position and showed her a few ways of holding a gun- she preferred using both hands, so I helped her adjust into a most comfortable position. I also had to show her where her finger should be on the trigger. After all the basics out of the way, I made her shoot. I had the two Neuran guns with me so nobody could take them, and I put one on the board in front of us so I could show her the way I shoot with both hands.

“I won’t teach you instinctive aim, as they call it. I started out with normal aiming, and I guess instincts rolled in later. Find your target first- make sure you know its position well. Use your dominant eye for aiming, like I told you.” I said. She was next to me, repeating everything I did.

“Look at how I stand and try to copy me, but only as far as you’re comfortable. This isn’t the only way of standing. If there was an actual fight, you’d probably have to run while shooting unless you’re under good cover.” I told her, and she nodded.

“Now that you got the target in your sights, just press on that trigger.” I said and shot, hitting bullseye. Laine shot too, her gun moving upwards from the impact. She hit the target closest to her not far away from bullseye- she was a lot better now that she got the basics right.

“Congrats! Now you just need to keep practicing. I’ll be here to correct you.” I told her.

“Thanks, girl!” she said happily.

“Cadet Watson! I am urgently needed somewhere. I’m putting you in charge- make sure everybody returns their gun and try not to let any incidents happen. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes, so nothing should happen.” Instructor Mel told me suddenly and hurried away without waiting for my reply. I was alright with that, since I was going to stay here anyways.

“Laine, I’ll have to check around now, so call me if you need me, alright?” I told her, not wanting to mess up the instructor’s trust. I left my other gun at the board, not wanting to carry it around with me all the time, since I’d only seem like a bossy know-it-all.

I saw the guy that stopped me after language and tech class shooting- he was pretty bad, but it was probably his first time shooting as well, so I couldn’t judge him. Suddenly, he stopped shooting and looked around. When his gaze neared me, I turned around completely, wondering what he wants. I felt his gaze on my back for a few more seconds, and then I heard footsteps quietly moving away from me. I turned around and saw him at the stairs, the gun still in his hand.

“Hey!” I called out and ran to him. He didn’t try running- instead, he turned towards me and pointed the gun at me. What did he think gum bullets could do? Sure, they could mortally wound me if he shot me in the eye, but he was terrible.

“Let me go, witch, and I won’t shoot you. I’m just taking it to practice.” he told me, pointing the gun clumsily. Sure, he could leave a bruise but he’d get caught and disqualified.

“You can’t do much with gum bullets, smart-ass. Give me the gun and I won’t mention this to the instructor.” I told him.

“These aren’t made from gum, babe.” he said wickedly, and I noticed that he had one of my guns. When the heck did he take it? I took a chance to look behind me and saw both of my guns there. Instructor Mel must have taken one out to show them it existed while I was practising, and she didn’t return it. God damn her! I could die because of that! Luckily, I relocated the little gun while in the dorms, and it was within my reach. The pockets of the PE pants had zippers, making it a perfect hiding place.

“Oh, you’re going to shoot me?” I said slowly as my hand went for the pocket. I knew that all eyes were on us now, but nobody dared to do anything, afraid of the shooting me, or even worse them.

“Yes, witch! I’m not afraid! I won’t shoot you if you say that-“ he started, but I had my little gun out already, aimed directly at the head. He stared at me in shock.

“Where did you get-“ he started, but I moved my foot upwards, kicking the gun out of his hand. He lowered it unconsciously when I raised mine. Rookie mistake.

My gun was pointed at his head as he lifted his arms up slowly.

“Geez, I wouldn’t actually shoot you, I just wanted to, uhm, see what you’d do! I was testing you!” he said, forcing on a smile. I suddenly realised what I did- I basically saved my life. I never knew I’d manage so well in a situation like this, but it was as if my emotions shut off when my life’s in danger, and instincts take over.

“What’s going on here? Watson, why is your gun pointed at this man?” Instructor Mel said, appearing suddenly.  put my gun down.

“She just tried to kill me!” the guy said, faking a petrified voice.

“Oh, really? Why is my gun on the floor, then?” she said, noticing her gun next to the guy’s feet.

“I kicked it out of her hands!” he said.

“Actually, I aim using only one hand.” I corrected him.

“Watson, is his story true?” She asked me. Before I could reply, all the cadets that were behind me said ‘no’ in unison.

“You idiots, this was your chance to get her expelled and get rid of competition!” the guy said through gritted teeth.

“Watson, tell me what happened.” she said, picking up her gun from the floor.