RESTORATION (a science fiction novel) (RESTORATION (the science fiction trilogy)) (28 page)

Dodge knew which ones Alan loved the most and steered clear of those.
         “Okay I guess I’ll take the Smith & Wesson Snub nose 38 and the two 9 mil. Glocks”
         “Good choices Son, I’ll go upstairs and grab the cake box.”  As Alan went up to get the box Linsey stood by Dodge holding the gun in her hand still looking a little awkward.
         “Don’t worry you probably won’t have to use it and neither will I. It’s just insurance, you know, help us sleep a little better at night.”
         “Sleep!”  Linsey shot back sarcastically.  “Who’s gonna to be sleeping?” 

“Look, I’m scared too babe, but we really have no choice but to fight this, otherwise we may well just end up another train accident, something that no one can explain, our LifeCorders mysteriously failed to work properly and our Life Files got corrupted somehow.  You know I told you about how Ron and the others died and couldn’t be restored for those reasons.  I don’t want us to end up the same
way, I’d rather go out shooting.” 

“Okay, okay, I get it, I’ll try my best.”  Alan was returning with the box.     

“I wiped it out and here is some paper towel to wrap them in.  Put the guns and ammo in here and then take some extra ammo in your pockets.” 

They packed up the cake box, stuffed their pockets and headed up stairs.  As they walked outside onto the front porch, they saw Bobby and a neighbor boy chasing Sarah across the yard with water balloons.  Just as the boys rounded the corner by a
large shrub Sarah’s friend Jenny popped up with a water balloon in each hand and nailed the two boys at point blank range in the face.  They were so startled that they fell down and dropped the balloons intended for Sarah’s back.

The adults busted out laughing and then the kids did too.  Dodge yelled
         “That a boy Bobby, way to show those girls.” Alan turned to Linsey.     

“Ya see what that girl just did, perfect aim, if she can do that, then you can too.”

Linsey smiled and said, “Girls rule.”  The boys were picking themselves up off the ground as Sarah was returning to point and laugh.  Then the chase was on again, the boys had rallied and were in hot pursuit across the yard.  The adults just stood there watching and laughing at the great fun the kids were having.  They talked for a bit while the kids drip dried and then they all said goodbye and piled into the van. 

When they got home Dodge carried in the box and took it downstairs without the kids noticing.  They ate dinner while talking about the historical day they had with Alan coming home as the first family member to be voluntarily restored.
         “Hey, where’s that left over cake,” Bobby asked as they were finishing up.  “I could sure go for some more of that.”  Linsey smiled and looked at Dodge.  They both knew full well that it was gone and that Bobby noticed what he thought was left over cake being carried home.   

“Uh, well, there was only one piece left, I couldn’t resist so I ate it after we got home,” said Dodge.  Linsey almost laughed out loud at Dodge’s lie.  Bobby was dejected.

“Really Dad?  You ate all of it?”
         “Yes Son, but no worries there will be another cake.”
         “Hey, how about strawberries and ice cream?” Said Linsey.  Bobby’s eyes lit up.     

“Yes!” He said.

After desert they headed for the family room for some TV time.  About forty-five minutes later Dodges phone vibrated on the end table, it was John with a text message. 
         “BO team moving on target, perfect op, couldn’t wait, I gave okay, okay?”  Dodge texted back.
         “Okay, I trust you.”  Another message followed.
         “Watch local news at 11,”  Dodge sent back.
         “Will do.”

They had made their first major move and Dodge couldn’t wait to see what went down or at least the media’s version of it.  He looked at the clock, it was only 8:00,
he had three hours to wait. 

“Hey Bobby, you got any of those fireworks left over?”
         “Yeah, why?”
         “Well, I read in the daily digital yesterday that the city was considering banning them next week because we haven’t had much rain.   If you’re gonna use them maybe tonight would be a good night to set them off.” 

Bobby jumped up.  

“Oh man, yeah, I don’t want to get stuck with them, I’m gonna go  see if Matt wants to set them off with me.”  He went out of the room and Sarah got up as well. 

“
I  think I’ll go keep an eye on those two, I can’t believe you trust him with explosives!” She said as she left the room shaking her head pretending to be concerned.  The truth was, she liked firecrackers almost as much as the boys. 

Dodge knew they had an opportunity, so he motioned to Linsey and they headed for the basement.  He had a nice firing range down there from several winters ago when he and his father sighted in guns for a competition that Alan was entering in the
Spring.  The longest point across the basement diagonally was 44 feet, it wasn’t much but plenty far enough for handguns.  He had a homemade bullet trap on the far wall.  In the front he had a replaceable ½ inch thick piece of plywood.  Behind that he had mounted a sheet of ½ inch thick lexan plastic glass at a forty five degree angle towards the floor on a heavy steel frame with springs.  Below this sitting on the floor was a series of 12” x 12” polyurethane rubber cubes that he and Alan made up.  They became the final resting place for the expended rounds. 

The bullets would enter in through the plywood and hit the angled plastic, then ricochet into the soft rubber cubes on the floor.  It worked great for a homemade bullet trap and it allowed them to be inside instead of out in the
freezing  Indiana weather in January. 

Alan had home loaded low grain rounds just for the purpose of indoor sighting Dodge still had several boxes of them and they
would be perfect for teaching Linsey to fire the gun because they have less kick than a standard round. 

The kids had begun setting off the fireworks and even had a radio playing pretty loudly out in the garage.  He and Alan used to fire the guns down there all the time with no complaints from the neighbors.  It was barely audible outside the house, but Dodge felt better having the cover of the fireworks, they didn’t want their watchers thinking they were preparing for a battle.

Dodge quickly checked the trap to make sure the rubber blocks were still good and they were ready.  He tacked up a target on the plywood for Linsey to shoot at.  He loaded the gun while Linsey watched and then unloaded it and gave it to her.  She loaded it and chambered a round.

“Hold on” Dodge, said, He went over to the workbench and opened up a drawer and retrieved some ear plugs, they both put them in. 

“Okay, let’s see what ya got girl.  Oh wait.”  He decided to move her closer for the first few shots, it was a huge target for him but not be for a beginner.  He really didn’t want to be dodging bullets in the basement.  He showed her how to hold it properly and the correct way to look through the sights. 

“Now just hold your breath right before you squeeze.”  She fired a round and then laughed.     

“Wow, that feels so powerful!”

“Ah, I think she likes it!”  He said with a chuckle.  

He moved her back another ten feet.  She fired another and laughed again.     

“Wow, this is fun, I see why you guys like doing this.” 

He was glad she was having fun and wasn’t terrified of it like some people were.  She was doing good with the aim, and actually hit the target, not bad for her first time. 

He moved her back all the way to the far corner now and she fired a few more rounds, she was out.
         “Okay, reload,” he said, but this time the rounds are full grain, that means they’re going to kick harder so be ready for it, okay?  And also aim just about two inches lower on the target to compensate at first.” 

She nodded and began reloading.  She inserted the clip and chambered a round.  She raised the gun and unloaded the entire clip without stopping into the target.  The rounds had noticeably
more kick and he could see the recoil move her hands a lot more.  As she lowered the gun she grinned at Dodge.    

“Wow, what a rush, I could really feel the power in those!” 

Who knew it? Linsey liked shooting guns!
He was glad.
         “Okay, let me show you how this is done,” he said as he quickly loaded his gun with a clip.  He walked over to the trap and tacked up a fresh target that was much smaller than the one he had put up for Linsey.  Hers looked pretty good though, it was a twenty four inch target and she had put almost all the rounds at least somewhere on the paper and a good number of them were from about 30 feet. 

His much smaller target looked tiny to Linsey from back in the corner.  As he walked back he said, “I guess we’ll see if I still got it.”  He turned and faced the target with the gun, and immediately fired the entire clip.  It felt
great, he hadn’t fired a gun in more than six months.  Since Alan became so ill he hadn’t been over so they hadn’t fired the guns.  It felt good in his hand.  He missed the feeling of raw power that it produced. 

He and Linsey approached the target.  All but two of the rounds struck the target near the center while the first two rounds were almost off of the target to the left, still very good from 40 feet.
         “Wow, you’re still really good even after not practicing for a while,” said Linsey.
         “Yeah I guess it sticks with you.” 

They both walked back over to the workbench where Dodge showed Linsey how to disassemble the guns and clean them, check the firing pin, and reassemble.  The sounds from upstairs had stopped.  They must have run out of firecrackers.

They heard Sarah, Bobby, and Matt entering the kitchen.

“Well we better get back up there,” Dodge said.
         “Where do you want me to keep this thing?” Linsey asked. 

“Well you should really carry it with you, probably in your purse.  Keep the clip in it but don’t chamber a round.  That’s how a lot of people get hurt, they forget to put the safety on and it goes off when they reach for it and hit the trigger.  It’s easy to do if you’re in a panic. 

Of course if you think you’re entering a dangerous situation, you should chamber a round and remove the safety, there’s no time for that in the heat of the moment, you have to be ready.” 

“Okay, I got it.”  Linsey and Dodge both tucked their guns in the backs of their pants and put their shirts down over them.
         “Okay let’s move them upstairs, I’m going to carry mine daily but I’ll store it in the night stand at night and you should probably put yours in your purse up in the bedroom.” 

They went upstairs only stopping briefly to talk to the kids and then on up to their room to stash the weapons.  They made normal small talk in the bedroom and discussed going back down for a snack and some TV.  They went back down to the kitchen and made a snack.   Dodge came up behind Linsey and kissed her on the neck and then whispered in her ear, the heist is on, should be on the news at eleven.  Linsey turned around and gave him a long kiss just as Bobby spotted them.  He laughed.
         “Oh yuck, I’m gonna barf!”

Matt was sitting at the table with Bobby setting up a board game for them to play and he laughed too.
         “My parents do that in front of us too.  Both boys laughed.

Sarah said, “Oh please grow up,” to the boys as she headed past with her snack and drink on the way to the TV room.  Dodge and Linsey joined her for the last twenty minutes or so of her favorite show which was a bloopers reel of people and their pets doing ridiculous things. 

It was really funny and they all had fun watching the show together.  The news came on, and as usual, Sarah left the room out of shear boredom.   Dodge and Linsey were especially interested to see if the heist went down and to see what the media had to say about it. 

The main anchor came on.     

“Breaking news tonight folks, we have a very unusual crime here in the down town area, and it’s sure to be a national news story as this is the first crime like this that we’ve ever seen.  A group of angry thugs stormed the north side 116
th
street Lifecenter tonight demanding that everyone lie down on the floor and hand over their skyphones, jewelry, wallets, and purses.”

“One security guard attempted to thwart the attack, but was knocked through a plate glass window and out into the parking lot where two of the assailants continued to beat him until he was unconscious.  A second guard fired two shots at the thieves during the episode but missed, the assailants returned fire hitting the guard in the leg and shoulder.  Doctors reported that he’s in
serious but stable condition tonight at Wishard Medical Center, where he’s expected to make a full recovery. 

The group seemed disorganized and made off with only the victim’s personal items, the cash register from the gift shop and about two thirds of a
LifeTech uploading console.  Dr. James Hullue, a spokesman for the Lifecenter had this to say.

“At this time we believe this to be a random act of thievery.  These criminals
didn’t appear to be after anything in particular and were likely just trying to get something of value to sell, in fact they left behind several pieces of the system.  Without those items it simply will not function.”