Conversations on the Fortune's Smile: Four

"You can wait," Chief Tactical Officer Fisk Hurun said to the two marines in front of him. "Range is occupied."

"We booked - ouch!" Private Helmi Alpassi turned and glared at her squad-mate. "What was that for?"

Private Visa Honka turned a bland, innocent gaze to her, exactly as if he hadn't just elbowed her in the ribs. "Nothing," he said. "We'll wait, sir."

Alpassi sighed, and followed Honka as he walked a little way away to lean against the wall. "We booked." she hissed.

"CTO's outside, Pilot's in there," Honka said "Pilot's in there, we wait. Booking or not."

"Fine. For how long?"

Honka shrugged. "Until she's done. Or we're due back."

Alpassi sighed again. She leaned back against the wall and balanced on her heels, listening to the dull report of gunshots from inside the range. The shots came in long bursts, as if who-ever was firing was emptying the clip in one go and then reloading. "Sounds like she's just blazing away," she said. "Hurun should tell her to pick her targets."

"Mind your own business and let the CTO mind his," Honka advised.

"Fine." Alpassi stared at her toes and listened to the gunfire. "But she'll -"

"Mind your own -"

"Business, I know."

Alpassi had counted the rivets in the opposite bulkhead five times, multiplied them by the number of joins in the deckplating between where she stood and the range door and found the square root of the result to eighteen decimal places before the gunfire stopped. She straightened up and stood at attention as the door opened, seeing Honka do the same from the corner of her eye.

"Pilot," Hurun said, saluting.

"Fisk, thank you," the pilot said. "At e - stand easy. Please. All of you."

"Yes'm. Was everything to your requirements, m'm?" Hurun asked.

"Yes, thank you." Pilot Roth handed a small blaster pistol gingerly to the CTO. "Oh, have you been waiting? I'm sorry - "

"They don't mind, m'm," Hurun said.

The pilot still looked worried as she turned to the two marines. "I am sorry. I hope you haven't been here too long."

"No, m'm," Honka said promptly.

"All right then," the pilot said.

As she passed the two marines Alpassi was almost certain the pilot's eyes were red-rimmed, her eyelashes wet.

And wondered what Pilot Roth saw in the target silhouette, that took a full clip to kill.