He taps a panel on the wall and a door slides open behind him. Once we’re inside, he explains the safety procedures and has us sign an agreement. Then he walks to the wall and taps another panel. Two racks slide out: the first has headsets, body vests, and tendril gloves, and the second holds two of each type of weapon I saw in the hall.

I strap on a headset and secure my vest, then sync the gloves. The whole setup feels like I’m about to run into a Hologis arena. Even Glacia is flexing her hands, her body prepared for action. We’re just missing lights on our vests and voices in our ears.

Sergeant Marnell grabs one of the rifles from the rack and holds it up for us to see. “This is an L-Class rifle,” he says, pointing at the L printed on the butt of the gun. “Stands for Laser Class. Weapons are designated by the ammunition they use. B-Class uses solid bullets and R-Class uses rockets. Then you’ve got frag, shock, smoke, and incendiary grenades—the G-Class. Sonic weapons are installed on aerial and ground vehicles. There are no handheld versions of sonic weapons, but several people have proposed plans to produce them.”

He returns the rifle to its slot and pats the rack, making it wobble.

“Grab an L-or B-Class rifle and take up a post.”

Michael, Ellin, and John take B-Class guns. Glacia copies me and picks up a laser rifle. I stand behind a podium and look down the firing lane: a target flickers in the air fifteen yards away. Sergeant Marnell shows us how to position the butts of the rifles against our shoulders and install the ammunition packs. He also has us practice looking through the scopes and adjusting the magnifications.

John has trouble and gets frustrated when he can’t keep up. I’m practicing how to reload while he is still trying to unlock his ammo pack. Lucas eventually helps him, and the rest of us have to wait until John can reload by himself. At last, Sergeant Marnell clears us to fire. I hoist the rifle against my shoulder and line up with the target.

Phewwwwwm!

The laser bursts from the barrel and vaporizes on the hologram. A dot glows at the bottom of the target: I missed the center by more than a foot.

“Got to hold it steady,” Sergeant Marnell says behind me. “Focus and keep your shoulders firm.”

I suck in a breath, close my left eye, and look through the scope with my right. The black dot in the scope covers the center of the target. I can’t miss.

Phewwwwwm!

The laser vaporizes about four inches too low and to the left. What? I was point blank! How could I be so far off?

“Muscle fatigue,” Sergeant Marnell says. “Guns are heavy. Your aim dropped when you fired. Aim higher.”