said RTIFIS,

“Didumos, Didumos...” Maqsud echoed, tapping an index finger on his nose. “Something Earth-Greek?”

PLANET DIDUMOS

TEMP.: -32C AV. GRAV.: 104% ATM.: 0.008 ROT.: 43 HOURS SURF. H2O: 2% REV.: 275 DAYS BIOMARKERS: NONE NAT. SAT.: NONE

“I’m not surprised there are no biomarkers,” said Perri. “It’s frigid, it’s got about as much air as ancient Mars, and it’s a desert.”

“Atmosphere’s a little thinner than pre-human Ayrus, but otherwise they’re about the same,” Jarek corrected her. “And look where we are not even a century later. People will be takin’ their airsuits off in a few years. Same thing will happen to Didumos.” He stared intently at the screen. “After we capture it.”

That’s right, Nic agreed with him silently. Stop doubting your squad, Nic. Be like Jarek. Have confidence in us again. We almost won last time—and we’re better than we’ve ever been. Not only that... He swallowed the quiet dread welling up in his throat. We know the consequences if we lose this time.

“Well, that’s a fair bit quicker than I anticipated,” said Maqsud. “Nic, how will this, erm, impact our little movie night here?”

Perri’s shoulders dropped almost imperceptibly. “Yeah, does this mean I should save my movie choice for another night?” If we lose Planet Didumos, we’ll never have another movie night together for the rest of our lives, Nic realized. “I mean, I’m guessing you’ll probably want us to hit the Simnasium until bed, right?”

No, I want to hit the Simnasium until we can’t keep our eyes open anymore, Nic corrected her in his mind. Until we’re hanging from the support cords. Then we’ll go back to practicing once we come to, and we’ll just stay in there until we reach Didumos. But... That’s not the way to do this. Maybe skipping the movie for a few rounds before bed would be fine. He saw his squad looking at him expectantly. No, no, that’s still not right. Come on, Nic.

“I think we should practice Wargame,” Nic began, and everyone but Jarek got a wary look on their face. “...first thing in the morning. Like always. We’ll have about three days to get to our next assignment, so I say we add some post-dinner practice to our regular schedules each day. But we’re already done for today, and the popcorn will get cold, so I don’t think it’s responsible to abandon our current objective.”

Perri smiled. “Good, because I was trying to figure out how to stuff a handful of this into my SimSuit helmet with me,” she giggled. “Let’s have one more night where we try not to stress about our next planet, right?”

“Amen,” said Maqsud.

“Sounds good to me,” Jarek replied.

Nic smiled and added, “That’s right,” but deep down the stress was already eating away at him. He stared at the screen during the entire movie, running through battle plans and calculating contingencies in his mind the whole time. He didn’t taste the popcorn; the slushy he’d prepared melted in his hand, and he didn’t notice until the perspiration from the cup dripped into his lap.

We have to win Didumos, Nic thought. I don’t know what I’ll do if we lose again. He realized one thing was certain: if Nic and the rest of Team Scarlet were disqualified from competing in Wargames, then he’d never amass enough credits to do anything with his life. To travel the galaxy. To retire. Or, the least likely of all, to see his mother ever again.

Not that I’d even want to, if all I ever amount to is a loser.

***

Wargame. Breakfast. Sim of the day. Lunch. Wargame. Dinner. Wargame.

They powered through the next three days with intense focus on the mission ahead of them. Nic hadn’t seen this kind of resolve in his squad since their first round of Arena back on Gwher. They readily accepted the additional training he suggested, and beyond that, they gave it their all every step of the way. Everyone was exhausted from the simulated exercise at the end of the day—moving an avatar in a SimSuit still required the same amount of physical energy—but everyone still rose well before breakfast to do it all again the next morning.

Never forget the importance of morale and good team cohesion, Nic told himself one morning at breakfast. This is not the same squad that walked out of the Simnasium after Ghwer. This feels different—in a good way.

He indulged himself with a little pride in all the changes Team Scarlet was making. Another big change he made on behalf of the squad was to request better accommodations for Shanti. “RTIFIS, there’s got to be some way you can help Shanti communicate with us.”

was the AI’s uncharacteristically clueless response.

“Yes,” Nic sighed with frustration, “and I’m confused as to why that feature wasn’t activated already.” Just then, the other members of Team Scarlet wandered into the Simnasium one by one, ready for their final practice session.

Nic approached his silent squadmate cautiously. “Shanti, RTIFIS is going to—” but before he could finish, her wide doe eyes were already giving him a look of recognition. She nodded once. “Okay, so you heard that. Good. Everyone, let’s give this last practice our all. Then we’ll share a lunch together...”

“What could be our last meal together ever as Team Scarlet,” Maqsud observed bleakly.

“It won’t be,” said Jarek. “Not with how good we’ve gotten.”

“And not with our new and improved leader,” Perri added, flashing Nic a friendly smile. “Things will be different this time. Don’t you think, Nic?”

For all the times he’d feigned a voice of authority or confidence since they’d set out from Planet Ayrus, this time was the most difficult for Nic. “I do, Perri. We’re going to win this. For now, let’s put our practice to the test and get a solid warmup in. RTIFIS, set the difficulty to Expert. Team Scarlet, ready up!”

***

When their Corvette reentered normal space, Nic’s stomach was already in knots again.

said RTIFIS. The telltale thump of a puff of vented air followed; the pods containing their robotic Wargame stand-ins broke off to land elsewhere on Didumos, on the real battlefield prepared for them and Team Malachite.

As always, Nic ensured the others were safely secured before he strapped in himself. Planet Didumos revealed itself in their viewscreen, a fairly uniform reddish ball with a single tiny ice cap visible at what was apparently the northern pole. He felt his weight shift as the starship transitioned from artificial to natural gravity.

A few minutes later, once the landing sequence was complete, RTIFIS excused them from the Control Room.

Nic led his squad back to the small room where they’d spent much of the past week; it looked wholly new and intimidating all of a sudden. But he reminded himself that the fate of Planet Didumos would not be decided by him—no matter how hard he tried. It could only be won with all of Team Scarlet working in unison. Without the coordinated help of the other four squadmates, each individual member had no hope of winning anything.

“You may be asking yourself if you’re ready for this test,” Nic announced, “that will decide if we’ve got what it takes to keep this job. You may be wondering if the rest of the squad has what it takes, too. The answer to both of those questions is yes. Trust yourself. Trust each other. That’s all we can do now.” He slid on his SimSuit helmet. “This is how we win.”

RTIFIS announced. Nic opened his eyes to an astrosteel wall on the surface of Planet Didumos some 50 kilometers away from their ship. Nic’s heart skipped a beat—another brand-new mode they had no idea how to play.

It’s a single-elimination fistfight to the death, Nic thought. With Realistic pain feedback in our SimSuits. It occurred to him then that they’d been practicing with Moderate Tactile feedback for some time now—this was about to hurt. “If anyone has any questions, now’s the time,” he said into the team chat. He waited a few seconds and then answered for them. “No, there are no questions.”