3012: The Artifact

by John M Grier

  ~***~

  Janet protested at first, but quickly saw the wisdom in the suggestion. Jack led them out to the plateau outside the castle walls and set up some targets. He brought along several types of guns. Paul had only ever seen him with the rifle he used for hunting and as such, was intrigued.

  Suzie accompanied them dressed in cowgirl clothes, with pink western boots and a pink western hat, a pair of western six guns on her hips with what appeared to be pink pearl handles. Jack laughed out loud when he saw her. After composing himself, he said “Paul, you’re familiar with the rifle, and you’re a pretty good shot, I might add. The handguns, however, you have not seen. In a hostile environment, I insist that all of us be armed at all times.

  “This is a Taurus Judge, which is chambered for both 410 shotgun shells and 45 Long Colt.” He showed them the difference between the two rounds and shot one round each while they watched. Then, he showed them the difference in the target resulting from the two different loads.

  “This is a pretty powerful gun and may surprise you at its power when you shoot it. We’ll start with some smaller guns and work our way up to this one. I really want all of us to carry this gun for the stopping power, if we get in trouble and need it.”

  They worked their way through the several handguns and by the time they got to the Taurus Judge, both were comfortable with the idea of shooting a large caliber handgun. Janet surprised herself by hitting the target every time, although Paul hit the center of the target each time.

  Jack showed them both the rifle and shot guns and they spent the afternoon going through all of them. Once back inside, Jack showed them how to clean each gun and then gave them each a holster, with gun and a pouch of ammo, a rifle and shotgun and bandoleer of ammo for each. He also loaded a few extra boxes of ammo for each into the boat before he deemed them ready.

  Once the camping gear and other supplies were secured, they headed back out. Jack said “I would like to get closer to the mainland, but still out of sight before jumping back 65 million years.” After that thousand year jump leaving him under a sheet of ice, he was a bit nervous.