9 by James Phelan

Author:James Phelan [Phelan, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781925063271
Publisher: Scholastic Australia
Published: 2014-02-11T16:00:00+00:00

Outside, Sam walked with Eva, following Lora through the maze of school buildings and then across the sports ovals. He thought they were headed for the boathouse but then they took a path towards the woods. The path led to a clearing which Sam could see was an archery range.

‘Something for you,’ Lora said, handing Sam her dart gun. ‘You might need one of these.’

‘Really?’ Sam said, holding the weapon.

‘It’s like any other air pistol,’ Lora said, ‘only it fires small darts, about two centimetres long.’

Sam felt the weight of the weapon in his hand.

‘The darts are tipped with a neurotoxin,’ Lora said, ‘that will shut down a target for anywhere from half an hour up to about six.’

Sam nodded, remembering Sebastian shooting him in the neck, close-up and hitting him mid-vein … he’d dropped like a sack and was out for a few hours.

‘The length of time they’re out will depend on their size and physiology, as well as where you shoot them, but even the biggest guy, shot in the back, will be incapacitated for thirty minutes.’ Lora pointed to the top of the pistol grip near Sam’s thumb. ‘There’s a setting there to adjust the levels.’

Sam asked, ‘How many darts does it hold?’

‘Eighteen,’ Lora replied, and handed him two more loaded clips. ‘And there’s enough compressed gas in there to go through nine clips, then you have to change the cylinder.’

Lora demonstrated by pulling the gun apart in a couple of seconds, then piecing it back together in a series of clicks.

‘I don’t think I’ll get that trigger happy,’ Sam replied, testing out the loading sequence.

‘Go ahead,’ Lora said. ‘Send some darts down the range.’

Sam aimed the weapon and fired—it hit low.

He tried again, on the level but to the right.

‘Try and be steady with the way you pull the trigger,’ Lora suggested. ‘Squeeze it gently.’

Sam did as instructed—still far wide of the bullseye. He fired another three times, getting closer to the centre target each time. Then he tried a few combinations of quick-drawing in different stances, and got the hang of it when he finally hit a round next to the bullseye.

‘Good work,’ Lora said. ‘I sometimes forget what a quick learner you are.’

‘Thanks,’ Sam said. ‘Eva, want a shot?’

Eva’s eyes narrowed.

‘I’m not really a fan of weapons,’ she replied.

‘Come on …’ Sam said. ‘One shot.’

‘It might come in handy one day,’ Lora encouraged.

‘Fine,’ Eva replied, taking the dart gun. She took aim and squeezed the trigger.

WHACK!

‘That’s—incredible!’ Sam said, marvelling at the small dart stuck perfectly in the middle of the tiny target. Eva raised one eyebrow and handed the dart gun back to Sam.

Lora’s phone beeped. She was still smiling as she read the incoming message.

‘I’ve got to run back, but you should stay and practise. Finish those clips then replace the gas canister,’ Lora said, walking away.

Sam fired off the remainder of the darts and then loaded in a new set.

‘Come on, you know you want to see if you can do that again,’ Sam said, handing the dart gun to Eva again.

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