An hour and a half later, Damian, carrying a small duffel bag in one hand, interrupted RX-9’s lecture on the history of the Queltan Station, halfway through the story of the Ryrrne smugglers’ bait-and-switch using barrels of Rynnenscap, something along the lines of alien corn syrup. RX promised to finish the story later as Nick followed Damian into the hallway.

“Where are we going?” Nick asked.

“After the events of this morning, I realized that tagging along with me might be a little more dangerous than I thought.” Damian paused to tap on the control panel by the exit ramp.

“You’re not sending me back home, are you?” Nick asked desperately.

Damian froze. “No. Nope. No, after thorough deliberation, I decided on a different course of action,” he said quickly. “And we need more space to try these out.” He shook the duffel in his hand as the ramp descended in front of him.

Nick walked down the ramp onto an empty plain. Thin, vivid green grass spread out about thirty feet in every direction, before it fell away behind the horizon.

“Woah,” Nick said. “Is this…?”

“A habitable asteroid?” Damian asked. “Yes. The rock we’re on is about sixty feet across by ninety feet wide.”

Nick hopped slightly and landed normally. He looked up, at the clear blue sky. “This… can’t be natural.”

“It’s not,” Damian said. “You know how, in World War Two, there were a bunch of airfields on tiny little islands that were little more than a scrap of coral sticking above the sea?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Well, this asteroid is just like those islands,” Damian said. “It used to house a cramped, isolated base for Imperial ships to repair and refuel. It was the largest settlement in this whole star system.”

“There’s an Imperial base here?” Nick perked up.

“Was,” Damian said. “If you look closely, you might find some remains on the other side of the asteroid. RX has looked before. But there’s not much to see.”

“What happened?” Nick asked. “RX has mentioned an empire a few times, too. What’s that.”

Damian sighed. “The Ishtani empire ruled ninety percent of the galaxy at one time or another. They discovered the hyperspace routes and built the most amazing ships you’ve ever seen. The Stargazer is an old Imperial shuttle, one that saw a lot of use in its day. The Ishtani built this asteroid. They used a chunk of neutronium to increase the gravity, added a suitable atmosphere and planted CO2 filtering plants. They did stuff like that all over the place. They were great at it.”

“What happened?” Nick asked again.

Damian shrugged. “They’re gone. Was a war, or, a lot of wars, along with a few long-term trade shifts and I don’t know what else. RX could name a million and one reasons the Ishtani fell, if you ask her. Point is, they’re gone now, and you could spend your life looking for all the crap they left behind, like this asteroid.”

That sounded like a pretty good life to Nick, but he could tell Damian was after something else. “So, why are we here, if not to look at the cool military base?” Nick asked.

“I'm telling you, it's just a pile of rocks.” Damian shook his head. “We’re here for something else.” He shook the duffel bag again. “The odds of us getting into a scrap like the one on Qeltan again are… let’s just say they’re not small. We’re here so that, if you get into trouble again, you won’t be completely helpless.” He opened the top of the bag, and a series of drones came out. 

They were all different sizes and shapes, most of them different colors and made out of different materials. They looked like someone dragged a magnet through a scrap yard and welded the resultant mass into a half dozen barely functional drones..

“Fleith threw some things together for us,” Damian said as the drones began to drift through the air. 

“What are these?” Nick asked.

“Target practice.” Damian smiled. “You’re going to need this.”

He pulled a gun out of his coat and handed it, grip first, to Nick. The gun was small but solid, made of a shiny silver metal, with two prongs that stuck out an inch or two from the end of the barrel. Damian pointed to the safety, and the spot on the butt of the gun where the energy core could be replaced.

Nick pointed the gun at the ground and fired. A small burst of green plasma shot from his gun, hissing in the air before evaporating against the ground.

Nick smiled. “So cool.”

“It is,” Damian agreed. “And, also, very dangerous. The nagging adult in the back of my brain is telling me to warn you not to play around with this, it’s not a toy, don’t point it at anyone you don’t want to shoot…yadda yadda.”

“I don’t think that’s how the advice usually goes,” Nick said. 

“Well, it’d be counterproductive to tell you to not point it at anybody,” Damian said. “Just try not to shoot at anybody who hasn’t shot at you first.”

Nick nodded. “I think I can manage that.”

He turned toward the rapidly dispersing crowd of drones and raised his gun.

“Two hands, nice and easy, hold your breath when you fire,” Damian suggested.

“Just like taking a picture.” Nick closed one eye and squinted along his arm. He aimed at the closest drone, an uneven blob with a square body and tufts of loose wire sticking out of one end. Nick took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

There was no kickback from the gun, just a buzz Nick felt in his palm as a bolt of plasma jumped from the barrel of his gun and flew through the air, grazing the loose wires of his target. The air tasted like ozone.

“Crap,” Nick said.

“Take your time,” Damian said. “It won’t be easy at first.”

Nick fired again, and again. His third shot hit the toaster-drone through the body, sending shrapnel flying and leaving a glowing hole in the drone, which fell to the ground. Damian gave Nick a high five.

“Nice job,” he said. “Let’s see if you can get the rest of them.”

“From where we are?”

Damian nodded. “Not much target practice in chasing them down and shooting them point-blank.”

“It would be easier, though,” Nick grumbled. He adjusted his stance and aimed at the next drone. It took him four shots, and the next took him three. He managed to get the last two in two shots apiece. 

“Looks good,” Damian said when the fifth smoking husk fell to the ground. We should get back to the ship.”

“But there’s still one left,” Nick said.

“It’s way out there. Fleith must have messed up the proximity protocol.”

The last drone, a whispy thing that looked like Fleith had taken a giant corkscrew and added wings, was slowly getting farther away. It was teetering on the horizon, on the edge of going over. Nick adjusted his stance and raised his gun.

“Alright, kid,” Damian shrugged. “One shot, then we leave”

Nick took a deep breath and aimed carefully. His finger twitched on the trigger. This was at least twice as far as the other targets. He’d be lucky to hit it with a dozen shots, but Damian wasn’t likely to let him stay out of a stubborn desire for a hundred percent.

Nick took another breath and froze. Something changed within him, like the ringing of a bell, like the calming of a storm, his center becoming still and his arm dropping just a millimeter. Nick closed his eyes and took the shot.

The crashing sound told Nick all he needed to know before Uncle Damian gasped. Nick opened his eyes to see that the drone had disappeared below the horizon, leaving only a thin tail of smoke to show where it had gone.

“It worked.” Nick grinned.

Damian whistled. “That was one hell of a shot, kid. You’ll have to show me how you did that sometime.”

Nick shrugged, not sure what had happened himself.

“Now, that was our last target and, as of four hours ago, we’ve got a job to do,” Damian said. “Let’s get on the road.”