Free AMP Private War by Stephen Arseneault

materials for use were hidden and she had credit routing numbers of funding accounts. It would have been a gold mine for SCore, but I was unsure of who could be trusted.
    I next met up with Ham who was having a discussion with his friend. Jeb Carson had made a small career out of his hobby as a kinetic weapon enthusiast. After hand manufacturing several of the weapons found in the Grid archives he sought a place to put them to use. The only indoor gun range on the Grid was opened only a few months before our arrival.
    I was introduced to Jeb and instantly saw why Ham had spoken so highly of him. "Ham tells me your name is Rex?" I shook his hand and responded, "Rex Bumbalee. Ham speaks highly of you and he thought I might be interested in learning about your weapons."
    Jeb flipped on a closed sign, locked the door and ushered us into his range. It was a re-creation of a range as described in the archives. "You see, our ancestors enjoyed shooting these weapons for pleasure, kind of a sport. They had a whole variety of guns that were made for different purposes. It seems hunting wild animals, sometimes for food and sometimes for sport was something that many of them enjoyed."
    "Your basic bullet, as it’s called, is a lead or composite metal slug that gets pressed into the end of one of these brass cartridges. The cartridge has a blend of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate as a charge that when ignited pushes that slug down and out of the barrel of one of these guns. I tell you, the first time I fired one I almost pee'd myself; have been hooked ever since."
    "Now, they aren't as accurate as a blaster, but I think that adds to their charm. I've read that some of the more primitive species we have encountered during our traveling times used similar weapons exclusively. You put me in combat and I'll take a blaster over one of these every time, but for sport... they are a hoot!"
    We spent the afternoon at the range firing different caliber pistols, rifles and shotguns. Jeb even had a muzzle loader, but he rarely fired it because he felt it was a bit too inaccurate and a lot of work. For Jeb, shooting was supposed to be fun.
    As the day progressed he moved on to other weapons that made use of gunpowder or gunpowder like substances. He showed us drawings of fragmentation grenades, mortars and bazookas, none of which he had crafted as he had nowhere to fire them. The conversation changed when I asked if he would be interested in building a range on Bullwort.
    Jeb replied, "Bullwort? Who named it that? No offense intended but I think there should have been some kind of committee setup to name some of these planets."
    After a brief hesitation Jeb continued, "I'm just joshing with you there Rex, just having a little fun at your expense."
    I nodded as I responded, "That's OK Jeb, I live there, but the Grid is my home and I'll have to say I sometimes wonder who named it the Grid. But to get back to my question, would you be interested in constructing one of these ranges back on Bullwort? Credits are not an issue and that would include funding for the other devices you mentioned there."
    "I'm looking for a whole slew of kinetic weapons for a special purpose. And if you are interested I can pay you a healthy consulting fee just for coming out there with us. Ham can vouch that it will be worth your time. I would like to leave in the next couple days though, if you can swing that."
    Jeb stood and looked around at his range. "Well, I've been bringing in about 1,500 credits a week here. I would guess that we are talking about at least a month. Add in a little bonus for inconveniencing my customers and... I'm thinking 8,000 credits might just get me out to Bullwort!"
    I stood and held out my hand for a shake. "How about 20,000 and we leave tomorrow?"
    Jeb grinned and then thrust his hand back into mine. "For 20Gs I can be ready in 20 minutes! I look forward to doing business with you Rex!"

Chapter 6

    Jeb was blown away by the Swift as we