Chapter 6 - THE INTERRUPTION
Feeling the silent pressure of a hundred watching eyes beginning to turn against his performance, Mercer took another deliberate step toward the firing bench, reaching his left hand out toward the stock of the rifle.
“Let’s take a look at what you’re doing here—” Mercer began, his voice tightening.
Before his fingers could graze the weapon, a sharp voice cut through the air behind him.
“Sir... wait.”
Mercer paused mid-reach, visibly irritated by the interruption. He turned his head sharply over his shoulder to locate the speaker.
Standing fifteen feet away near the central control tower was the primary Range Officer. The man was a veteran Sergeant First Class, his face weathered by years under the Arizona sun. He held one hand pressed tightly against his tactical headset, listening intently to an incoming transmission over his radio. His face had gone completely pale, his eyes wide as he digested whatever information was being relayed to him through the encrypted channel.
“What is it, Chief?” Mercer snapped, annoyed that his authority was being disrupted a second time.
The Range Officer did not answer Mercer immediately. Instead, his gaze shifted away from the Lieutenant Colonel and locked straight onto the unidentified woman standing calmly at Lane Twelve. The casual, administrative demeanor the officer had maintained all morning vanished instantly, replaced by an expression of deep, solemn dread.
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The woman remained perfectly still beside her rifle, her arms loose at her sides, showing no surprise at the Range Officer's reaction.
Mercer slowly turned his head back toward her, his hand dropping away from the weapon. For the first time since he had shouted down the range, his confident smile was completely gone.
