Chapter Twenty Six

Deke lifted the heavy case up through the hatch into the passenger compartment of the shuttle. The children craned their necks from the seats, hoping to catch a glimpse of Deke’s burden. After Deke had gone down into the cargo compartment, word had spread about the goal of his trip. Most of the children had never seen a laser rifle, except for on vids or in plasbooks. Hushed speculation abounded about the reason Deke needed the rifle.

Deke followed the case through the hatch. With quick, deft movements he snatched it up and strode toward the front of the ship. All heads turned to watch him as he passed, as if he was a magnet and the children’s eyes were iron.

He reached the front and lay the case down across several seats. He placed his thumb on the biometric lock and it clicked open. Deke opened the case, revealing the disassembled laser rifle. The sight if it brought forth gasps from the children who had turned in their seats and were peering over them. Deke gave them a hard look and they sat back down in their seats.

He retrieved the focus module from the case and laid it on an empty seat. The emitter module was the key piece required to maximize the power of the laser. The more tightly focused the laser, the more power it had. Deke opened his tool kit and began the task of adjusting the focus module so that is did not work as well as it could. He finished the adjustment he began attaching the other parts of the laser.

Deke carefully finished assembling the rifle, rechecking each piece to make sure it was connected properly. Once complete, he inserted the power cell and peered through the scope to check the power level. Fully charged.

The children had regained their courage and were once again peering over the backs of their seats watching Deke. He flipped a switch, powering up the laser rifle. The children’s eyes widened at the humming sound that came from the fierce looking weapon.

Deke rose from his seat, hefting the laser rifle on his shoulder. The children gasped in wonderment. To them he looked like some hero out of the vids. He cocked his eyebrow and smiled.

“Time to send a message,” Deke said.