Uplift by Ken Pence Page B

the all clear.”
    “Fire in the hole, fire in the hole, fire in the hole,” Word shouted, and took the shot followed by two more in quick succession.
    “Shall we sergeant?” Word said, and got the nod from me.
    “Squad – move out,” and the men fell into positions for a daytime patrol. They carried live ammo unlike regular units who weren’t trusted with live ammo when leaving the range. Word liked these guys. The walk past the ‘shot up’ cars was enlightening.
    Word heard some saying, “Wouldn’t have wanted to have been using those for cover.”
    Komenski had recorded the effects on his cell phone. The first shot had rocked the tank with the round hitting the turret piercing it, and leaving a huge hole on the inside of the crew compartment. The second hit had penetrated the side reactive armor, and punched a large hole. The third round just below the turret, and ripped the turret completely off the tank.
    The sergeant moved up beside Word. How long before my boys get these for duty? …AcuMint is using gasoline instead of ammunition? Those laser pulse rifles hardly got hot in continuous firing.”
    “Write the manuals for them. Send me the file. Also send a detailed report up the chain of command. Do the same with the stun pistols. Look for problems – what you like, and dislike about them – what we should change – we’ll fix the problems,” Word said. “My boss, Richard Patterson, said this is the tip of the iceberg, and he was now free to create. He wants the US military to have first dibs. You guys will get the first of anything that looks good.”
    “You know this stuff will get out, and we’ll have to fight it,” the major who was observing said to Word.
    He knows Major. He knows, thought the sergeant.
    “We have some very effective armor that works against kinetic, and energy weapons. We are working to make them powered with a version of the guns’ power supplies. Richard wanted all the weapons to run off the same plentiful supplies,” said Word.
    The sergeant turned to Word. “I will make sure the sergeant major knows. Are these things going to be on the general market? Will the private companies be able to get hold of them?”
    “Sorry Sergeant. We are manufacturing these in several countries already on contract. The Chinese are particularly active in their assembly though many of the components come from Euro countries. You better press to get these. We will give you brother-in-law prices with all spares since y’all are writing the manuals. Ten percent above cost – roughly your ammo costs for the M8s. We will give you the defenses to them at near cost also, but you need to get it up the chain-of-command.”
     
                                               ****
     
    Anderson was livid. “We need to get those ATF inspectors in there again. This can’t go on. This…traitor is giving other nations the ability to kick our ass.”
    Jeb Johnson was in Anderson’s department, and on a level – par in National Security.  He didn’t see the problem. “He is offering these weapons almost at cost to our country. How does that make him a traitor?”
    “You don’t see do you? He has given a weapon to the unwashed hordes that can defeat our troops. You don’t see that as a problem? Are you one of them?” Anderson asked.
    “Steve. Where do you get off making this guy a bad guy? He has ALWAYS fought for us, or for our interests, and when he retires he comes up with new weapons, and offers them to us first – before anyone else in the world – to us. He lets our guys write the manuals. He asks our guys what they want, and designs stuff just for them. How the FUCK does that make him a traitor?” Jeb asked.
    “Did you see how he treated that ATF agent? That video went viral, and hurt the reputation of that agency?” Anderson said.
    “Geez Steve. That agent was WAY out of line. HE wasn’t manufacturing any firearms…none…nada. That agent