Free April 3: The Middle of Nowhere by Mackey Chandler Page A

Not only do I value her personally, after last night I'd never do anything to piss you off. I Tased him, but it was just following through what I'd started. By the him I hit him he was a dead man standing. You had two rounds in him before I fired. I was primed to draw and watching him. You had to react to his actions from a blank slate."
    "You'd have gotten him before he fired though," Gunny ceded, "and Ruby…That woman is scary. She pushed off the counter instead of just using traction to go at him. I'm not sure she wouldn't have had her knife in him before he had that pistol extended and aimed."
    "Even if he got it extended, it's tough to aim and fire effectively with a face full of scalding hot coffee," Margaret pointed out.
    "Ed Page works out with our Tai Chi group most Wednesdays," April told them. "We don't just do the slow. We even do sword. He wasn't getting up to ask the guy for the next dance."
    Margaret, had to yank her napkin up and catch her explosive laugh. She folded it over and wiped her eyes and blew her nose. "Sorry, your droll humor catches me now and then. I just had this mental image of Ed posed holding his hands the way guys do to ask for a dance. By the way, Jon has the guy's pistol and says it's rightfully yours as a trophy of combat," she told Gunny.
    "Wow, the cops Earthside would never do that. I think you should give it to Ruby. She was the one who the nerve to attack a man armed with a gun with a kitchen knife."
    "Ruby probably has better," April told him. "I know she and Easy own a Singh laser. Easy is the sort, well, when we flew together he brought his own Russian anti-armor missiles along. He had those and was holding them before the war last year. So who knows what he owns now?"
    "Fine, then give it to Ed. He was just as brave as Ruby and maybe he needs an upgrade from a coffee mug."
    "I'll tell him. Jon instructed medical to not do an autopsy on the guy. He just had them doing a toxicology work up, because Ruby said one of the reasons she was so suspicious of him was he had dilated pupils. They may have had him on some kind of drug."
    "That would be stupid. It would ruin your sight picture. April wants me to see the clinic about some medication for PTS. I have concerns it would mess up my ability exactly like that."
    "I'm on a low dose of two drugs that complement each other. I have been over a year, since the war. I haven't felt any need to adjust them for yesterday."
    "Well whatever you're taking sure didn't seem to slow you down. I find that encouraging," Gunny said.
    "Are you modified like April?" Margaret asked. "You just got here so you couldn't be a customer of Jelly, could you?"
    "Jelly?"
    "Nickname for our local gene-mod doc from his college days. He's okay and I'd say he's just about as fast as you or April. I can't afford it yet."
    "Ruby wondered the same thing, but no, I am as I was born. I'm just naturally quick."
    "If you go to the clinic talk to Dr. Lee. He's the one who helped me. Later guys." She was done with her light breakfast and hurried out.
    "So, she fought in the war?" Gunny asked, fishing.
    "She wiped out a squad of a dozen Space Seals by herself and folded the Heavy Space Shuttle Cincinnati over double, with its nose against its belly. In all fairness she did write on the lock not to enter or they'd be met with lethal force. The idiots came in anyway."
    "You have some scary friends."
    April decided that was some genuine humility. "Come on let's see if this Lee is in."
    Doctor Lee was in and busy. They waited while he treated a beam dog who got pinched by a slow moving but massive truss. He left limping a bit with a three day rest order. He wasn't happy to lose suit hours even though he got base pay and even less happy that he was cut off from drinking while he used the pain medication.
    It appeared Dr. Lee and one nurse practitioner were the entire duty crew.
    "What do you do if you get a bunch of casualties all at once?" Gunny wondered.
    "I have an off shift