BYRON SAT up in bed, looking around at the blaring sirens in the cabin. "What's going on?"

"New mission." Scarlett got up and crawled off the bed as the dripping hatch that formed her pussy lips snapped shut. "Orientation's over. Time for the real game to begin. Incoming distress signal."

OBJECTIVE: ENGAGE ENEMY FIGHTERS

She hurried out of the bedroom.

Byron dragged his shaking legs off the bed to pull on his underwear and jumpsuit. As he zipped the jumpsuit up his chest, he paused for a moment when he caught his reflection in a full-length mirror.

For the first time, he saw himself but almost didn't recognize the image. His body looked like a Greek god with huge muscles on his chest, arms and legs. His head had a smooth haircut with brown hair and the face resembled his, just a lot thinner. What struck him was the scar.

It was gone.

He reached up to touch his left cheek and feel the smooth skin instead of the slightly pitted flesh he was used to. Of course, the game wouldn't copy his scar, but it made his throat burn a little to see it. He wished he could have gotten rid of the scar that easily in real life.

He shook himself and hurried out of the bedroom and down the corridor after Scarlett.

On the bridge, one of the screens blinked with a wireframe image of a boxy-looking spaceship. Scarlett sat in the right of the two chairs seated in front of the bank of controls with her hands flying over the rows of equipment.

Byron finished zipping up his jumpsuit, feeling the thrill of action. The adventure in space was about to begin. "What've we got?"

Scarlett tapped buttons on consoles. "Incoming distress signal. Looks like a class-2 light freighter in orbit around Caurus Prime. It's flying a flag from the Yulon Corporation, but the codes don't match."

He shook his head. "What's that mean?"

She raised her metal eyebrows. "It means the flag is fake. Could be an ambush by some asshole pirates. Could be smugglers. Only one way to find out. Caurus Prime isn't far from here. It's your call."

"We're going for it." He sat down in the captain's chair and held his hands out in front of the consoles before he put them down. "I, uh, I don't know how to fly this ship."

Scarlett rolled her glowing eyes again. "Man, they really should have put you through orientation. How'd you get in this game without learning all this stuff?"

Byron thought back to what happened to him, and it seemed so long ago. "Apparently not in the right way. I saved some guy from getting run over by a train and he gave me the invitation. I guess his name was Otis."

Her eyes bulged in their metal sockets. "Otis gave you the invite?"

He remembered the reaction of the deliverymen when he mentioned the name, and felt like he needed answers. "Who's Otis?"

Her mouth fell open. "Uh, Otis Accolade is only the guy who invented this whole fucking game. He designed the code himself, runs the whole Venus Online game system."

"What was he doing in a dirty old subway station?"

She waved a hand. "I don't know. Go ask him. Anyway, we'll talk more about that later. I'll fly the ship for now and we'll teach you later."

She tapped on keys, flicked switches, and took hold of two levers. "Get ready for hyperspace jump. This is so fucking cool."

She thrust the levers forward.

The ship lunged forward with enough force to press Byron up against his chair. Space outside the window of the ship turned into a rainbow of swirling light as a vibration ran through the deck and through Byron's whole body. A strange sound like a musical tone began to play just at the edge of his hearing. It reminded him of the scenes in Star Wars when ships went into hyperspace or maybe the psychedelic sequence at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The song ended with a pop and the colorful lights faded, leaving a view of a huge blue planet floating among a haze of stars. A gray spaceship with the same shape as the one on his screen drifted in the planet's orbit with three smaller starships swirling around it, firing beams of light. Wherever the laser fired, explosions boomed over the length of the larger ship.

Scarlett flicked switches. "That's the freighter sending the distress signal. I can pick up its broadcast."

One of the screens switched to a view of a woman's head and shoulders. The woman had to be an alien, because she had dark brown stripes covering her face and neck, and pointed ears on the top of her head that reminded him of a cat. Her full black lips curled up to reveal fangs as she spoke.

"--anyone out there. This is the RSS Xuar requesting immediate assistance. We are under attack. Is anyone out there? Please, this is the RSS Xuar requesting immediate assistance."

"Oh, boy." Scarlett leaned over to study wavelines on another screen. "Those are Necralia Imperial fighters."

Byron shook his head at her. "You say that like I'm supposed to know what that means."

"Shit, you need to read the fucking manual. Lady Necralia rules the biggest and most dangerous empire in the whole Galaxy. She makes Genghis Khan look like Mister Rogers, and her soldiers are the best of the best. This ain't gonna be easy."

Byron grinned. "Sounds like fun."

"It totally is." She tapped keys. "Except this is kind of weird. Normally, new players are supposed to fight the Nood Continuum on their first battle. Total pussies, just cannon fodder. Even experienced players don't meet the Necralia Empire until level ten. Anyway, I've got you patched into the comm frequency. She can see and hear you now."

The cat-like woman on the screen widened her slitted green eyes. "Oh, thank the gods. Can you read me, handsome stranger?"

The "handsome" part took him aback a little until he remembered what he looked like.

Byron looked at Scarlett, who tilted her head towards the screen and nodded while mouthing, "Talk to her."

He faced the screen again. "Uh, we read you. This is the Icarus, responding to your distress call."

The cat woman broke into a smile. "Oh, thank you for your assistance! We feared we were lost. We're heavily damaged and under attack by Necralia fighters. We have no offensive weapons. We beg you--"

Static flashed across the screen, replacing the cat woman with a black helmet that had fang-like teeth curved into its surface.

"Icarus," the soldier on the screen said, "this is Sergeant Forsh of Death Wing Alpha Squadron. You will break off your intercept course. This freighter and its cargo are the rightful property of Lady Necralia as they were stolen from Her Ladyship's fleet. We are merely enforcing intergalactic law by recovering it. You will not interfere or you will become an enemy of the Necralia Empire and will be destroyed. Leave this sector immediately."

Byron leaned back against his chair. "Sorry, you're breaking up. We didn't catch that. We'll be defending that freighter, though, so I suggest you break off your attack."

Forsh reached up a black-gloved hand to tap a button on the side of the helmet. A visor snapped up, revealing glowing white eyes surrounded by pale skin the color of a drowned corpse. "Tread carefully, Icarus. You do not want to make an enemy of Lady Necralia."

"Got it. She's the boss." Byron looked at Scarlett and made a chopping motion with his hand.

She got the message and tapped a button.

The Necralia pilot's face vanished from the screen, replaced by bar graphs.

She whistled. "Captain, if you knew who that was, you'd know you had balls of steel right there."

Byron shrugged. "Hey, we're out here to have fun, right? Fighting enemy empires is what it's all about."

"I like your attitude." She snapped a lever. "I'll handle the flying, you handle the guns."

He nodded as he looked over the screens in front of him. One screen showed a glowing series of circles with colorful dots moving on it. He had seen enough videogames to know it was a mini-map of the area. When he looked up at the glass window in front of him, it flickered with an overlay showing text next to the ships out in deep space. One label highlighted the larger ship as the Xuar while the smaller fighters were highlighted as "Necralia Fighter." When he looked closer at the main viewing window, all the ships popped up the same text along with health bars.

A joystick popped out of a slot and into his hands. It had two triggers; one on the top, and another on the side. When he took hold of the joystick, a targeting reticle appeared in the window as well, turning green as it drifted and red when it landed on a fighter's path.

As the Icarus began to turn and rush towards the freighter, Scarlett pointed at the joystick. "Top button is guns, side button is missiles. Gun turrets are powered by the ship's engines so as long as we have power, we have guns. We've got ten missiles. Don't waste 'em. Read out's on the upper right corner."

He took note of the number ten in the corner of the map screen. "Got it."

"Then let's kick ass."

The Icarus rumbled as its engines burned hotter, taking them closer to the battleground. Byron gripped the joystick tighter as he looked out at the vast window before them. They had drawn close enough to see the enemy fighters clearly. In space, they looked like balls of metal spikes spinning and twisting around the freighter. Their guns poured laser beams into the freighter, leaving tiny explosions in their wake.

Byron pushed the trigger on the top of his joystick. Red streaks of light rushed out of the Icarus and streaked across the stars. One of the enemy fighters spun close to his laserfire, and he twisted the joystick to turn it towards the fighter. The lasers cut across the fighter, causing it to explode in a ball of flame.

The text popped in front of him.

+200 XP

XP 200/1000

100 CREDITS

Scarlett whooped. "Leveling up, baby!"

He couldn't hold back a huge smile. "I love space sims."

Byron turned the joystick while pulling the trigger. He remembered how many hours he spent playing games like Elite: Dangerous and Eve: Valkyrie and it all clicked into place. He aimed the laser turrets ahead of the swarming fighters, and watched the lasers clip the wing of one of the enemy fighters which sprayed a trail of flames.

Forsh returned to the communication screen, eyes blazing through his visor. "Icarus, you have already sealed your fate by killing an elite Death Wing pilot. Continue to fire on us and you will suffer greatly for destroying vital tools of the Empire."

Byron held up two middle fingers to the screen. "I got your vital tools right here."

Scarlett burst out laughing as the screen went back to showing bar graphs.

Byron went back to firing lasers at the enemy fighters. One of them twirled around to face the Icarus and its gunfire slammed into the ship.

Byron felt the ship rock as red lights and sirens blared. "That's not good."

"Playtime's over." Scarlett flicked switches. "Shields are down thirty percent. I'm boosting power from life support to compensate."

He swung the joystick around and pressed the secondary fire. A missile roared off the Icarus as a glowing spear launching into space. The Death Wing fighter he aimed at blazed red to put on a burst of speed, moving out of the missile's range.

The Icarus rocked again as another boom shook the entire ship. Byron almost fell out of his chair as the sirens went off again, and red lights started showing up on all the screens.

Scarlett tapped switches to bring up a new image on the main screen. It showed a Necralia fighter spinning in space. "We've got one right on our tail! Evasive maneuvers!"

Byron felt the drag as the ship began to spin and the stars twisted around the windows. The fighter stayed with them. "Can I get rear guns?"

She pointed at one of his screens. It had a button for "Forward" and "Rear." He flipped it to "Rear" and pulled the trigger. Spears of red light flashed across space, but the Necralia fighter twisted out of range and fired back.

Byron felt the shudder of the impacts, and one of the consoles popped with sparks. "Status report?"

Scarlett shook her head. "Shields are down. One shot got through, hit the main deflector dish."

He leaned back in his chair with a deep sigh. "Great. Doesn't sound like we're gonna win this one. Can I respawn?"

"Uh, Byron, once again, you should have read the fucking manual. There's no respawn. You get one life. You die, that's it."

"So I'll get out of the game?" He let go of the joystick. "Maybe I'll try to get killed then. Venus Online is cool, but I don't think this is what I thought it would be."

She winced at him. "Uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. It's one of those 'die in the game, die in real life' kinda deals."

He stared at her. "And you're telling me that now, in the middle of a battle?"

She jabbed a finger at him. "Hey, you're the one who jacked into the game without even a fucking quick start guide. Again, I thought you knew that already."

Byron pressed his hands over his face, feeling sweat gliding under his palms. "Okay, okay. We have to win this."

He held the joystick again and tapped the button to turn on forward guns again. His eyes scanned the battlefield, reminding himself he was in a game, not a real spaceship. All combat sims had rules that could be exploited as well as strategies that applied to battle, and he just needed to see what they were.

His weapons couldn't destroy the fighters directly. However, what if he could make them destroy each other?

He watched the fighters closely. It didn't take long to notice that two of them moved in a familiar serpentine pattern or a straight line, depending on whether it was pursuing the freighter or the Icarus or just going in for an attack. The third one moved in a less predictable way, but still in a pattern he could recognize.

He also started to figure out the console. A wireframe of the Icarus showed glowing lines that faded from green to yellow to red. That was obviously shields. As he watched the impacts from the weapons of the enemy fighters, he saw the shields dropped faster with weapons from one specific fighter.

He pointed at one large red dot on the heads-up display. "That ship. It's labeled a Death Wing MK-3. All the others are MK-1. Does that mean it's more powerful?"

Scarlett nodded. "Yup. It's probably Sergeant Forsh's ass."

"Head for that one. Keep us in a spiral to avoid the others, but I want to be focused on that one. We're taking it out first."

"You got it, Captain." Scarlett's hands became a blur as she keyed in commands.

The Icarus swung around, pressing Byron against his chair until it headed for the MK-3 Death Wing. Byron aimed the guns and fired a hail at the oncoming fighter. The fighter's heath bar dropped but only by a quarter of its length, even as numbers floated off to show the damage. Not nearly enough damage. At this rate, it would take hours to finish it off, even if every shot connected.

The communications screen lit up again with Forsh's angry glare. "You dare to target a Death Wing commander? You will roast in the fires of Haela for--"

He vanished as Scarlett pushed a button.

"Yada, yada, yada," the robot sneered. "I blocked him, we get the gist of it."

Byron continued to fire as the Icarus drew up close. The fighter tried to spin around, but the Icarus stayed on his tail. Byron held off firing while biting his lower lip until he saw the fighters in the right position. He fired a missile.

The missile flashed out, whipping past the enemy fighter, which veered to one side to avoid them. As it changed course, it swung into the path of another enemy fighter. The two slammed into each other. The MK-1 enemy fighter health bar dropped to zero and exploded. The MK-3's health bar dropped to only a quarter of its length.

+200 XP

XP 800/1000

+100 CREDITS

As the MK-3 struggled to get under control, its flight path weaved less quickly, and the reticle glowed red with a lock. Byron unleashed four of his remaining missiles, forming a column of flame at the fighter reeling before him.

The MK-3 fighter exploded in a fireball that faded quickly in space.

+400 XP

XP 1200/2000

100 CREDITS

OBJECTIVE COMPLETE

LEVEL UP!

YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 3!

Scarlett jumped out of her chair. "You did it! Holy shit! You took out a MK-3 fighter!"

Byron collapsed in his chair, breathing heavily. His whole body trembled from the rush of adrenaline and fear from the battle. It felt way different than playing one of his space combat simulations.

Scarlett dropped back into her chair and looked up at the main screen. "We're getting a hail from the freighter."

He held up a shaky finger. "Go ahead."

The feline woman appeared again, her eyes wide and gleaming. "A thousand blessings upon you and your house, handsome stranger. We're opening the hangar bay. Please come aboard so we may thank you properly."

Scarlett leaned against the console in front of her while raising her chrome eyebrows. "To the victor goes the spoils, baby. Let's see what was worth killing for, shall we?"