Making the Barrell

The man in the black sunglasses examined the display. Parameters set, flashed across his vision. Stability in shift around Prime at 70 percent. Better than expected, Prime was helping to establish the shift. He grinned. In the end, it was all too easy. He couldn't have asked for a better set of circumstances. He'd established what should be happening and brought the target around to believing that this shift was possible. And the target had done the rest of the work for him.

The bastard would be pleased.

Then he noticed a flashing light in the corner of his vision. Twisting his head, he read the warning. SEP field violated. Prime locking onto position. Crap. His heart started to speed up. But the man in the sunglasses had been in worse positions. His fingers danced across the deck, plucking the parameters defining this reality. Readjusting variables. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. SEP field violated. Can not restart.

Taking a deep breath through clenched teeth, he let the field collapse. There wasn't anything he could do about it now, except play it by ear. But by now he was good at it. After all Ryan Almacodi would be the seventh member of the Covenant that he killed.

And the way this was going he'd be the easiest. Stripping off the Mitsubishi goggles, he stared straight at the target and smiled.