“You have visual, Maloney?”

“Copy that, Sarge. I have visual. And it’s wonderful!”

Rip looked out through the viewscreen of his skimmer, and had to agree with Maloney. The view was indeed wonderful.

“Well, let’s not get too caught up with the sights and sounds of these new neural implants, boys and girls. We’ve got a job to do in this newfangled wonderland.”

A string of replies came back over the com.

“Yes, Sergeant.”

Rip pulled back on the “wheel” of his vehicle. Here in NeuralNet, the latest version of the metaweb, everything truly was full immersion.

While he and the others in his squad reclined on cots in the gaming center back at Ft. Meade, apparently asleep to those in meatspace, they traveled this world’s neural pathways in military skimmers, armed to the teeth with virtual weapons.

The difference, he thought, was that these weapons could hurt and kill in real life. What happens in the brain is interpreted by the rest of the body as real, thanks to the new implants. Several people had died in firefights and other intense encounters on NeuralNet before the public fully grasped the implications of violence in this digital playground.

Then terrorists and the world’s militaries got involved in squabbles in NeuralNet. It wasn’t long before the Army’s eSports teams were repurposed for doing battle in this new immersive reality. And Rip’s squadron had one of the best kill ratios against enemy forces online.

Lightning quick reflexes and years of online gaming honed their skills in this new environment. Military coders provided them with topnotch weaponry and vehicles, too.

Coding in this advanced environment was a lot more labor-intense than traditional games required. But the US Army has some of the best nerds in the world working for them, Rip thought with a smile.

“Heads up, Sarge. We’ve got company at two o’clock.”

“I see it, Maloney. E Squad, divert course for intercept. Let’s check out the bogey.”

Specialist Debbie Maloney was one of the few female players on Rip’s team. On any eSports team in the US Army, for that matter. She took a lot of grief from the male dominant group, but dang if she didn’t kill more bad guys in NeuralNet than most of the rest of them combined.

The five skimmers diverted course, racing across the rich, highly detailed and multicolored digital landscape. They maintained a V-formation, with Rip in the lead vehicle.

Trees and mountains, even birds and flowers, were all rendered in high detail within this setting. Currently, they were west and north of the closest metropolis, “Online New York,” often referred to as ONYC. They were in an area labeled “Wilderness” on the maps.

A spy satellite in the game noticed an incursion and sounded the alarm in real life. An unidentified vehicle approached the city. There were no authorized vehicles in this area, part of the North American Online Alliance. Thus, Rip and his team were sent to investigate.

The flying object heading toward them looked huge.

“What is that thing, Sarge?”

Maloney’s voice came over the com tinged with awe.

“I dunno. But it’s not supposed to be here.”

They faced a giant floating platform, sleek lines racing back. It looked big and flat, and aerodynamic.

“That looks like a flattened blimp,” Joel Farmington said. “Maybe it’s a mother ship of some kind. I think I see things riding on it.”

Rip said, “Whatever it is, you know it took a boatload of money to code. We’re not looking at some kid playing around in his parents’ basement. This is a government project, no doubt.”

“Yeah, but which government?” Farmington said. “The Russkies? The Chi-coms?”

“Unknown. But it’s headed for ONYC. Let’s intercept and open a com. Watch out for aggression and respond in kind.”

“Yes, Sergeant!”

Rip made some adjustments on the skimmer’s control panel, flicking a switch.

“Unidentified vehicle, you are encroaching on North American Online airspace. Identify yourself and state your purpose.”

Silence.

“Maybe they don’t speak English, Sergeant.”

Rip frowned and said, “They should at least have translation software, Farmington.”

The formation flew closer, rapidly gaining on the sleek giant approaching them.

“Unidentified vehicle, state your purpose and affiliation. I repeat, you are in violation of our virtual airspace.”

No response.

Rip spied multiple guns poking out the top of the giant oval platform now, as well as . . .

“Flyers are taking off from it, Sarge! I count 20.”

“I see them, Maloney. We’ve faced worse odds before. Alright, boys and girls. This counts as a hostile act. Engage with prejudice.”

“Yes, Sergeant!”

The skimmers to either side of Rip peeled off, each picking targets. The enemy flyers swarmed them, but separated as they came close, with multiple vehicles clumping together to take on each Army skimmer.

Rip opened up with some short bursts from his phaser cannon. The big forward-facing gun spat out blue bolts of energy, tracing a path of destruction across the sky and instantly downing two enemy vehicles.

The others in that cluster scattered, making follow up impossible. Rip banked right, trying to line up another shot. He gave up and let loose a smart missile, which shot away from his wing.

Each skimmer carried four missiles, one of the reasons he was not too worried about their odds. His first one streaked after the nearest enemy flyer and detonated when it came within five meters.

That’s three down, Rip thought. I wonder how the others are doing?

He caught a brief glimpse of two more missiles exploding, and Specialist Martin Prentice’s ship blazing away at another flyer.

The 18-year-old Prentice had terrible natural eyesight, not easily corrected via surgery. But here in the metaverse, that didn’t matter, Rip thought. The neural connections trumped physical shortcomings.

“Good work, Prentice. That’s why you’re in E-squad.”

“Copy that, Sergeant! Let’s get these bastards.”

Rip heard a curse over the com and looked out the other side of his skimmer. Maloney’s vehicle raced by, angling down and taking hits. She had four enemy flyers behind her, all firing away.

“Hang on, Maloney. I’m coming to help.”

Rip pushed the wheel down and angled off, coming up behind the flyers. He lined up the forward cannon on one and released all three of his remaining smart missiles. Simultaneous explosions lit up the digital sky.

“It’s over Maloney. You owe me.”

“Thanks, Sarge. Four beers on me later tonight.”

He grinned. That was their rule. One beer for each enemy you got off the other’s tail.

“Heads up, Sergeant!”

Specialist Jeffery Wellman’s voice came over the com. Rip looked around. Only a dozen enemies were left.

“What’s up?”

“Something else is taking off the big ship. I don’t like the looks of this one, Sergeant.”

A huge flyer lifted off vertically from the top center of the giant platform. This one did not look very aerodynamic. It reminded Rip of the old battle helicopters, all loaded with missiles and guns. Only this one had no rotor on top. Two sharp wings swept back from its center, like a bat.

“Lieutenant, are you seeing this, sir?”

Back in meatspace, observing on a monitor in a darkened room, Lieutenant Harry Jackson responded over the com in his native south Alabama drawl.

“I see it, Sergeant. Someone spent a gosh-awful lot of time and money designing that thing. Looks like it’s only there to kill skimmers. I want your squadron to take it out. Watch out for the side guns on that floating platform, though.”

As he spoke, one of the big weapons mounted on the mother ship’s side opened up, spewing out a burst of energy. Martin Prentice flew right into it.

His skimmer lit up in red and parts flew off in all directions. He spiraled quickly downward.

“I’m hit! I’m going down!”

“Bail out, Marty!”

His avatar disappeared from NeuralNet just before the skimmer hit the ground and exploded.

“Everyone stay on their toes. Whoever these people are, they mean business.”

“Yes, Sergeant!”

“Maloney, Farmington, on my wings. Wellman, keep the little guys off our tails. We’re going to take the new player out.”

Three skimmers looped up and out. Rip lined up his forward cannon, knowing the two on either side of him would do the same.

“Light him up!”

Three phaser cannons blipped repeatedly, sending massive energy into the big flyer. It absorbed several hits before taking evasive measures, speeding up suddenly then aiming its nose straight up in a 90-degree assent.

“Whoa! We can’t do that,” Maloney said.

It did not stop Rip from trying. He pulled up on the wheel, wishing he still had a smart missile left.

The enemy flyer stopped and dropped, twisting like a broken top and aiming back down at the ground again.

When Rip finally reached the apex of his loop, he saw two missiles zooming into his viewscreen.

“Sarge! Bail—”

Everything exploded.

“Sarge!”

The Lieutenant’s calm voice came over the Com.

He said, “Get out of there, Maloney. All of you. That thing’s too powerful.”

Maloney watched pieces of Rip’s skimmer flutter to the ground. Then the giant flyer turned toward her and fired more missiles. She mentally activated her evac button.

In the gaming center, she opened her eyes and gasped, consciousness flooding back into her body in the real world.

She sat up, disconnecting the wire running up to the neural implant just below her right ear.

She glanced to her left, where the sergeant would be lying, expecting to find him dead.

“Lieutenant? Lieutenant!”

Jackson picked up a microphone. He stood behind a window overlooking the gaming room. A tall black man stared back at her through the glass, and his voice came over a speaker.

“What is it, Maloney?”

“Where is he, sir? Where’s his body?”

They both turned and stared at an empty cot.

The other members of E-squad woke up. Prentice put on his thick Army-issued glasses and squinted, checking under the cot and all around the room, but to no avail.

The sergeant had disappeared.