Orbital by bill zhao copyright 2017 Bill Zhao Table of Contents act one (earth)

out.” The STN slowed to a stop and Derek could see what he meant.
There were two guards patrolling the outside. The RTG-40 Bolt Action
Sniper System would be able to take them out with relative ease.
Stanley looked at Derek and said “Look, if you don’t want to be the one
that takes them out then-” “No. I have to do this.” Derek stepped out of
the STN and carried the Bolt Rifle to the front of it. He set up the bipod
on the hood and steadied the scope. It was a dark, rugged gun. Jagged
shapes and rough panelling made it look menacing, and its colour
scheme of black, white and sand made it look all the more professional.
The rifle was ready to fire.
Derek looked through the scope and saw the guards. If the second one
moved slightly to the left, he could probably take them both out at
once, but at a range of 500 metres, he couldn’t risk it. This moon’s
surface and absence of obstacles made the shot obvious and easy. With
small shifts, he was able to line one shot up. A synced shot would have
been better but with only one rifle, that was going to be pretty hard.
Derek placed the crosshair right on the guard’s head. Range drop was
not a factor with this gun. Designed for long range low gravity combat,
it could land a perfect shot out to two kilometres on the moon. Derek
hesitated but he didn’t want to, and so he pulled the trigger. With a half

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muzzled shot and a fast wiz, the guard dropped dead. Derek cycled the
bolt to chamber the next shot and quickly lined the crosshairs up with
the second guard. He was alerted. This had to be quick. Derek fired,
perhaps too quickly, but as he looked through the scope he saw that