This post has been floating around in my head of late. I think it’s mostly because I’ve started reading this book, plus a number of other factors. Ah, well - enjoy.
Shana Barrow carefully eased herself through the slim opening in the back that, for the moment, served more or less as an entrance into the war-torn building; all of the other “doorways” were now just gaping holes that the enemy could easily use as target practice.
She wished John had joined her for this simulation run, but the practice schedule he’d enforced for his students seemed to have wiped him out just as much as it had the students themselves. No matter, she thought. There’s always next time.
She silently slipped up the stairs to the third level of the seven-story building and let herself into the room where her Baby was waiting. A half-smile briefly crossed her face as she approached the loaded rifle and checked it over one more time.
Perfect. Everything was perfect. And her target was right on schedule, from the crunch of pebbles and the hollering voices wafting in from right outside the building.
Shana had checked to make sure no one had followed her back to this particular spot; it was not like her to boast about the ability to play a shadow, as it were, but her own safety was her first priority. The target itself was secondary. If he saw even a glimpse of her, her operation would be endangered.
She checked the scope, letting her vision adjust to the barely visible crosshairs etched into the eyepiece. Her Baby was angled down so that the barrel pointed at the wide swath of dirt that served as the main street in this part of the city. Anyone standing in her line of fire would be dead before they’d figured out what had killed them, mainly because no one would suspect that she was behind the room with the actual window until it was too late.
Snipers were very meticulous about their set-up, John especially. Shana would know - the man had once been her instructor. And she could still hear him lecturing her about the myths the old Terran movies had depicted about sniper positions.
“You don’t ever stand next to a window in an urban area, Shay. You could be dead before you got a shot out. They’d be able to see yer muzzle flash, and they’d be all over you in seconds.” The numerous simulations they’d run had more than proved this to be true.
Her target slowly rolled into view in an early twentieth century vehicle that still seemed brand new. The soldiers milling about and the target’s various lackeys failed to shield him from her Baby’s eye, which she quickly lined up with the tiny patch of skin just above his upper lip.
Turn your head just a little to the right, my friend, and say “Auf Wiedersehen"�
“Corporal Barrow?”
Shana slowly straightened and quickly schooled her features as the entire simulation dissipated in a quick flash of pixels exploding into nothing. She turned sharply and saluted to the officer standing in the simulation chamber doorway. “Mon Capitane?”
He smiled apologetically and inclined his head to one side. “Lights out, I’m afraid.”
“Ah, of course.” Her shoulders slumped, but her face stayed expressionless. “I’m sorry, sir … I didn’t realize how late it was.”
“It happens.” He watched her salute again and begin to leave the chamber, then stopped her just outside the doorway. “I caught you at a bad time, didn’t I?”
She paused, then turned to look back at him. “I nearly had him, Lieutenant.”
“Who?”
The half-smile that had touched her lips earlier now reappeared. “Have you ever wondered what Terra would’ve been like if certain tyrants had been done away with before they had the chance to unleash their terror upon innocent people?”
“I dream about it, Corporal. Frequently.” He gave her a curious look. “Which target were you aiming for this time?”
“The F�hrer,” she simply answered. “Adolf Hitler. Goodnight, Lieutenant.”
