Special Equipment

Mike hurried to catch up to where Skylar was walking with Jenna. He opened his mouth, then glanced at Jenna and shut it. Skylar watched him and could see the tussle between curiosity and caution written on his face.

Curiosity won. With another sideways look at Skylar, Mike softly commented, “I see you got yourself a kitty. What’d you hit him with, a club?”

Equally quietly, Skylar said, “I shot him.” He looked at Mike’s shocked and disbelieving face and grinned.

Mike snorted. “With a wet pistol,” he said, “Right!”

Skylar’s smile widened. “Special equipment.”

Mike cut in, a bit of frustration showing. “Let me guess, it’s experimental and you’re not allowed to talk about it. Are you in the air force or something?”

Skylar choked back his laughter. “Or something,” he agreed.

 “Skylar, that cougar’s dead and there’s not a mark on him! What on earth did you use to kill him?”

Skylar placed a hand on Mike’s shoulder, facing him squarely, and with a serious tone which told Mike not to push too far, replied, “Let’s just call it space-age technology and leave it at that, all right?” (from Assignment to Earth by Scott Ashby) Read more here.