“What the hell…” Raas shook his head as he looked inside the mark II currently opened up on his workbench. The inside of the thing was completely blackened and the emitter crystal was cracked down the middle. How on earth the young ensign who’d brought it in had managed to break it quite this badly, he had no idea. But he had.

Raas sighed and started taking it apart, stripping out what was actually usable and discarding what wasn’t. The cracked emitter crystal he kept, putting it on the shelf on the back wall of the workspace tucked behind his office. It was his ‘hall of honor’, where only the weirdest and most wonderful failures he’d come across got a space.

“Boss?” A voice sounded from the door, and he lifted the magnifier screen to turn and look. Ensign Coxon stood there, one shoulder against the frame. “Got a CPO out here wanting to sign out a type III-C. Says he knows you?”

Raas grunted as he straightened up, checking the time. It was eighteen thirty. He frowned. The only CPO he knew that was rated for a type III-C was Barrington. But Barrington arrived at nineteen hundred, on the dot. No exceptions.

“About this high? Dark hair? Intense look about him?” Raas asked, slipping the magnifier off and leaving it on his desk as he walked across the workshop, skirting around the big bench that took up most of the room. He could have picked one of the bigger workspaces, but he liked this one. It was big enough for what he needed, bigger than a lot of his workshops in the past, and, unlike them, it had the added advantage that no one was shooting at him.

“Yeah,” Coxon nodded, tilting her head up to meet his eyes as he approached. She was a tiny little bit of a woman, but Raas had learned a long time ago never to discount either small, or quiet. Both could give you a nasty shock in a fight. Coxon was not an exception to that rule. “Like he’s looking right down into your soul.”

“Yeah, that’s Barrington. He’s early.”

“So you know him? Cool, I’ll sign the III-C out then.”

“Nah.” He clapped her lightly on the shoulder as he passed her. “I got this one. Could do with a bit of range time myself.”

“Oh, sure thing boss.” Coxon sounded a little relieved. “I’ll head on through and log section four’s weapons back in then. They just got off ratings checks with Bancroft.”

“Sounds good. And watch out for Martinez’s. He’s a swine for clocking the barrel on things. Give his an expanded check, in case he’s knocked the coils out of alignment. Make sure to get on his case about it as well.”

“Will do!” She waved at him over her shoulder as she headed down the corridor. Raas smiled and headed down the other way to the booking desk. Every time Coxon was on duty, he knew things would get done right the first time. Others… not so much.

Surprise rolled through him as he reached the desk, and spotted the dark haired man waiting there. He offered a puzzled smile. Barrington wasn’t in uniform. And was that… cologne?

He smiled as he pulled the padd on the desk toward him, already starting the logging out process. “Early today, kid.”

“Yes. I…” Barrington looked a little discomforted. Another first. “I’m meeting someone here later. So I wanted to get some in first.”

“Ahh… sounds good.” Raas nodded, then looked up. “You want some company now? I got half hour, could do with a run through on the Acesa temple simulation. If you’re up for it?”

Barrington looked surprised for a moment. The Acesa simulation was a difficult one with a duo, but not impossible. “Actually, yes. I’d appreciate the practise.”

“Me too.” Raas added a second rifle to the record, attaching his ID. It was the work of a moment or so to release the two rifles from the racks. Checking both over, he placed one on the counter for Barrington, turning the padd for his personal ID.

Checking his own rifle, he grinned. “Come on then, kid, we’re on range seven. Let’s see what you got.”