First Command

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It was a grippingly cold, blustery, and overcast day at the Fleet Ordnance Proving Grounds. It was the kind of day that makes one want to stay inside in slippers and robe while drinking hot cocoa. John Banks, Chief Test Officer, was just wishing he’d worn a heavier coat. The cold breeze was finding every gap around his neck, waist, and sleeves to crawl inside with him. He was so grateful when the gun was aimed, the target steel plate was in its framework, and he could get back inside the blockhouse.

The damp, slightly dank warmth of the blockhouse felt good after the biting cold outside. He adjusted the final voltage to the Yestepkin Gun and sounded the range siren. He looked around at his various test monitors at their consoles and asked if they were all ready. He got a thumbs-up from each station and fired up his own terminal. As the readouts stabilized, he thought back to how many of these prototype guns, shields, missiles, gadgets, and doodads developed by some talented amateur or backyard scientist he had tested. So few of them amounted to much. Almost none of them lived up to the hyped up sales pitch from their developer.

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