He was sounding like a Scientist again, but I felt it unwise to bring it to his attention.
“So you would propose…?”
“Activity. Constructive activity. Perhaps some form of drill or practice.”
“That could be potentially counterproductive, Zur. If the noise of target practice did not draw unwanted attention to us, the damage to the landscape would surely betray our position. Without the proper training equipment here, practice with the hand weapons could be potentially injurious to the Warriors, at a time we can ill afford casualties.”
We pondered the problem in silence.
“What about the skimmers?” asked Zur finally.
I considered it.
“Possibly. Let me speak to Horc about it.”
Horc was understandably annoyed at the request. His team was already overloaded with assignments with the defense and ravine-span designs. Still, he was a Tzen and followed orders without complaint. In an impressively short time span, the Technicians had checked out the skimmers and cleared them for use by the Warriors.
The skimmers were a modification of the water darts used in the campaign against the Aquatics. As four of us-myself, Zur, Mahz, and Kor-had missed that campaign, the extra practice in their handling was more than justified.
They were a two-seater craft with the seats mounted in tandem to conform to the vehicles’ extreme streamlining. Even though there were dual controls, allowing the craft to be operated from either position, only one set of controls could be operated at a time. This was a necessary safety precaution, as the craft normally traveled at such high speeds that attempting to coordinate the efforts of two operators would, inevitably result in a crash.