[i]‘I need a red king and a black six,’[/i] Joe thought to himself as he flipped over the cards. Then, he noticed someone walk into the galley out of the corner of his eye.

[i]"Hey, whatever that is, it smells mighty good.”[/i] Yuri the new mechanic commented on the beef stew simmering on the stove. [i]“Any chance I could get a bowl?"[/i]

“Sure thing. Help yahself.” Joe flipped the next card over. It was the six of spades, which he promptly placed on the seven of hearts. Then moved the five of diamonds off its stack onto the six. When he flipped over the top card from where the five came from, it was an ace which went to the top of the table. Then he revealed the king of diamonds which went into the open space on the left. Next a two went onto the ace and the final card to flip in that stack was the King of spades, which ended that round.

When Yuri asked about helping him and Ms. Wyman with weapons handling, it caught Joe's attention. Joe put the deck on the table and looked up. “Mistah Yoo-Ree? You wanna learn ta shoot a gun?” Obviously, that was what Yuri was asking. “Do yaw wanna shoot a pistol or a rifle? The process is similar but the handlin’ is a bit differen’. I have both.” Joe stepped away from the table and pulled his Ruger out of its holster. “Lesson one, treat all weapons as though they are loaded, unless ye know.” With that said, he popped the cylinder out of the frame and tapped the six .44 caliber cartridges into his open hand. He placed the bullets on the galley table, then looked into the empty cylinders. He walked closer to Yuri and showed him it was empty. “To load it,” he promptly reached back for the bullets on the table and picked them up. “Place each one into the cylinder one at a time or you can pre-load six rounds into a speed loader to make it faster. You need only line up the heads with the holes and pull on the back ah the speed loader. The bullets all drop into the cylinder.”

“Wait! We need Ms. Wyman too. Less go fin’ ‘er.” He holstered his pistol, then took another gulp of coffee, preparing to walk out of the galley with Yuri.

[@sail3695]