This game, though, was much, much bigger with thousands of players on either side. And winning wasn’t about breaking records or taking home a championship trophy. It was about the continued existence of the human race, and maybe the freedom of a dozen other intelligent species on other distant worlds. He stood in the flight bay by a cart used to service their I.C.E.s. On the top of the cart was a flattened map of the Yucatán Peninsula. The map had lines, circles, and arrows drawn over it. This was Ethan and the colonel’s joint plan of attack. It showed how their new robotic forces would move over the terrain and strike the Ch’zar forces—with the sole purpose of distracting them, so Ethan’s team would make it to the beanstalk elevator and blow the thing up (or in this case, down). Simple. Just like making a soccer goal across an incredibly well-defended field. More reassuring than any plan, though, were his sister and friends. Standing around the cart and going over the last details with him were Madison, Emma, and Felix.
