“You’re dead, Sergeant Major,” Hvarser said.
“How the hell can I be dead? I fired my BFG.”
“Did you multiply?” Kat asked. “A Level One BFG can’t touch a gorgon.”
Rev disconnected his jack, pulled off the blackouts, and wiped his forehead. The damn goggles were making it itch.
“You never said anything about force multipliers,” he said.
“It’s all in the player’s handbook. If you’d read it, you’d know.”
“That damn thing’s got to be forty-thousand words. If I wanted to read a novel, I’d read a novel.”
He looked over to Tiwari, who was sitting behind Hvarser with a crooked smile on his face.
“Don’t look so smug, Per. Do you know how to play this damn game?”
Tiwari held out both hands in protest. “I’m too old for this stuff.”
“Give me a nice, quiet hand of Knock-On,” Rev muttered.
“Oh, by the Mother, please no,” Kat said.
“What? You like Knock-On,” Rev said.
“No, I don’t.”
“But you’ve played with us. Many times.”
“That’s ’cause I’m with you old geezers.”
“Bull. Why don’t you like it? It’s a real game, where skill counts. You’re playing against each other, not the game AI.”
“It’s boring as shit,” Kat said. “No action.”
“Hey, youngster. When you get to be my age, a good shit is far from boring. It’s a cause for celebration,” Tiwari said.
Rev laughed. He wasn’t as old as the Dalit, but he understood the sentiment.
“So, Sergeant Major. Are you in or out? You’ve got two more lives,” Hvarser said.
Rev was tempted to give up. He couldn’t play if he didn’t understand the rules. He thought he’d had the gorgon—Hvarser—dead to rights, but evidently, his BFG wasn’t powerful enough.
Even without a jack, he’d played immersion games before. But as a Marine, he’d drifted away. AI combat was not as fun when you’d been in the real thing. When he’d been invited by the youngsters to join them in the first round, he figured it wouldn’t take him long to get up to speed, and he’d enjoy mopping up the place with young butts.
Only he was the one getting killed. He hadn’t made it to a single phase end yet.
The mere fact that he’d accepted the invitation was proof enough that he was bored. The last mission had been a bust, and then Captain Nyad had decided he’d be proactive and conduct some maintenance on the ship.
The Galaxy Explorer was their only ride, so Rev was all in on making sure the maintenance was done, but Umman had complained that this was way too early on the schedule.
Things would start hopping soon enough, but for the moment, the Marines were sitting on their asses, not doing much. That was a recipe for disaster, particularly when war tension could start to create conflict. Rev had pulled out classes and started to cross-train his troops, but everyone realized it was just busy work, and no one put any real effort into it. That’s why when Kelly suggested a game tourney, Rev was more than happy to agree with the idea.
He just hadn’t thought he’d actually take part in it until Kat’s invitation/challenge.
“Rev?” Kat asked. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid?”
That was it. Rev slammed the cable back into his jack, put on the blackout goggles, and said, “Start this game up again. I’m going to kick me some ass.”
* * *
Damn kids!
It was Rev who got his ass kicked. He’d lost all of his lives and was the first one out of Round 1. For someone as competitive as he was, it was a bitter feeling.
And he didn’t get it. Rev was a combat vet with more experience than all of the others put together. He’d faced deadly enemies and defeated them. So how the heck was he not only beat, but crushed by a bunch of snot-nosed kids?
It was bad enough with Hvarser and Kat, but Hedgehog? Lance Corporal Larry Victor was Top Singletary’s IT clerk, and he’d never fired a shot in anger. He certainly fired the shot that knocked Rev out of the tournament, though.
The raison d’être was to keep the troops occupied, but once committed, Rev had wanted to win, and he’d left in somewhat of a huff. He’d come back for the finals and crown the winner, but he didn’t want to sit there and listen to all of the “Good effort, Sergeant Major,” and “You tried your best!”
Trying your best was all well and good, but a dead Marine was a dead Marine, even if it was in a game.
He opened the door to his stateroom and stepped inside. Tomiko was crashed out on the lower bunk, still in her utilities, while the girls had their heads together over their gerbil’s habitat.
Tomiko cracked an eye as he entered.
“Back already? Did you teach them all a lesson?”
She’d told him things weren’t going to go well, and he’d left her with braggadocio on how he was going to succeed. And now, she was going to rub it in.
“Eat me,” Rev said, followed by two little “Eat mes” as the human parrots did their thing.
“Rev! Language!” Tomiko said.
“No, girls, we don’t say that.”
“Eat me!” they repeated, followed by peals of laughter.
Rev moved over to them. Blue was on his wheel, running madly, going nowhere.
I know how you feel, buddy.
“Blue’s funny!” Willow said.
“He’s exercising,” Rev told her. “Just like you do.”
As with all of the children on the ship, Rima had instituted a program of OT, or occupational therapy. Even on Safe Harbor, twins often required OT, but here on a spacegoing ship, it was imperative that all of the children participate to ensure their timely development.
They watched the gerbil for a few moments when Aspen first hugged him, then slyly looked up and quietly asked, “Can we take Blue out? He wants to play.”
Rev immediately looked at Tomiko. She’d already fallen back to sleep.
He mentally grimaced as he considered Aspen’s request. Tomiko didn’t like Mr. Blue. To her, the gerbil was nothing more than a rat. She’d only relented after Rima said it would help the girls develop their immune systems, and then, it was with the caveat that Blue was limited to his habitat, saying that he could get loose in the ship.
Rev wasn’t sure how the little guy could do anything in the stateroom. The vents were on the overhead, and unless gerbils had suddenly learned how to levitate, he was stuck.
But, happy wife, happy life, and he’d agreed to the compromise.
She’s asleep, though.
Rev looked back at his daughters, and in a conspiratorial tone, said, “We can let him out for a minute, but we have to be gentle. OK?”
Both girls’ eyes lit up in excitement.
Rev opened the habitat, reached in, and carefully extracted the little guy, who crouched quietly in his hand, his nose twitching.
He held Blue in front of the girls, whose smiles threatened to break their faces apart.
“Careful, now,” he said.
Willow reached out to touch the gerbil’s back.
“He’s so soft.”
Aspen was next, and she gave a quiet little squeal before Willow shushed her.
Both girls gave a quick look at Tomiko, and Rev felt guilty. He knew he was teaching them to, if not disobey, then practice subterfuge.
He might regret it later, but for the moment, he felt like this was their little conspiracy, something they were doing together.
“Do you want to hold him?” Rev asked.
Aspen pulled back, putting her hands behind her, but Willow eagerly stepped forward.
Rev had brought Blue out before, and it was always this way. Willow was up for anything, but Aspen had to watch her twin before she committed to whatever it was.
“Cup your hands,” Rev said.
He gently placed Blue in her hands. She stood stock still, but her face was a wonderment. Aspen, seeing that the little gerbil had not turned into a girl-eating demon, stepped closer, getting her face centimeters from Blue’s nose.
She reached out a tentative finger to touch him when Blue jumped out of Willow’s hands and onto the deck. Both girls screamed, and Rev bolted for the gerbil, who was a lot quicker than he’d expected.
“Get him, Daddy!” Willow shouted while Aspen grabbed his leg for protection, which of course, slowed him down as the gerbil raced up and down the stateroom looking for refuge.
Rev missed what he thought was an easy grab before he looked back to Tomiko. She was awake, watching him, before she rolled her eyes, turned away, and went back to sleep.
“Here, Daddy. He’s here!” Willow said, pointing at the scurrying gerbil.
It was Aspen, though, who let go of Rev’s leg to open the habitat. With one last rush, Blue jumped through the door and disappeared into his little house.
Rev let out a sigh of release right before Aspen said, “That was fun. Can we do it again?”