“Come on, Evan! Get on frequency!” the confined space of the military communications van filled with Linc’s voice, as his partner heard the demands through military-issue headphones.

“Hold your horses, cowboy! I don't have them yet!” Evan adjusted his position on the thinly cushioned metal seat.

He reached to turn one of the multitudes of dials on the board occupying the wall in front of him, causing the static in the headphones to merge with the squeal of the metal stool.

Evan winced at the noise. “Billions of dollars on state of the art modern tech, and they can’t get us a comfortable chair that won’t squeak.”

Sleek monitors mounted above eye level flickered to life, before reverting once again to static. The snap of an image caught Linc’s eye before it was lost in a haze of pixels and scrambled data.

“That was it!” Linc straightened his lanky form in his seat. The energy of the moment coursed through his tattooed arms. “We’re almost there!”

Another flicker of images, and both men sucked in a breath. Anticipation and adrenaline coursed through Evan’s rigid form.

Linc wiped his palms over the camouflaged pants of his uniform.

“Hands on the wheel, man.” Evan grabbed at the dials.

Linc gave the comment a brief grin. His hands struck the keyboard stationed in front of him, fingers flying.

Code and commands screamed across the faces of the monitors below the flickering screens. Evan’s eyes flitted between each of the four main viewing channels. The images and data streams were joined by a garbled audio feed.

“Yes!” Evan locked in the dials within his reach. “Okay, okay, I’m in! I got it! I got the link!”

Linc’s smooth shaven face ripped into a broad smile. “Yes, you do! Right next to you, brother!”

Evan’s gaze tore from the screens long enough to roll his eyes at the comment.

“Whatever, man. There! Decryption set!” The screen directly in front of Evan blossomed with encoded text. “Let's get this!”

Linc wiped his face on the sleeve of his uniform. “Enemy tank battalion closing forward line. Grid six, tango-five-two. Is the drone in position?”

Evan’s hands surfed across the board below the monitors. “It is now. Ready to jam when you say.”

Evan glanced to his side at a small Army Cyber Command motivational poster taped to the front of a door panel. He smiled as he recalled its words:

Einstein never guessed the weapons of World War III would be information, data, and control of the Infostrada.

Evan keyed in another myriad of code.

“Okay... Now! Block 'em out.” A flicker of dots scattered across the screen as Linc whistled.

“Done! Look at those dots bounce the battlefield. They have virtually no electronics. They're blind! Total confusion!” Laughter echoed off the walls of the communications van.

“Shit. They’re all over the place.” Evan smirked.

Linc shushed Evan with a wave as he sent a verbal all-clear through the headset. “Red Rover Four, this is Snoopy Three. The battlefield is yours.”

Another voice filled both Evan’s and Linc’s headsets. “Roger. We can probably hold jamming for twenty. We'll tell you when they finally knock down our bird. Clean 'em up while you can. Out.”

Linc’s eyes flashed as he accepted the go-ahead for the real prize. “Let's get back to the data. I see the signals. You are dead on frequency now.”

Evan’s eyes locked on the screen in front of him. “Crypto key cracking routine... set! Let's grab these data streams. They’re in a panic out there and trying anything! Their guard is down. Transmissions are sloppy.”

“I've got your data sample! The routine is cracking on the keys on four, three, two, one, busted! Got their crypto keys,” Linc called out over the headset.

“Good.” A smile plastered Evan’s face. “I've got the first data streams downloading. Shoot me the keys.”

A long pause sucked the air from the small cabin. “Okay.” Linc’s voice was barely a whisper. “Decrypting... decrypting... Yes! Clear text. I can't read their characters, but it’s clear text. Let's send it all home!”

Chinese characters flashed across the screen.

“The decrypted keys are on the way to Intel at G-2.” Linc slammed the return key at the corner of his board.

“Packaging enemy data streams. Ready. Link established and three, two, one, data streaming is on-line.” Evan tagged the keys of his board and relayed the command through Linc’s screen.

“Full download complete!” Evan whirled his stool to another monitor and keyboard station to his left. “Now, we have to send it home!”

The new monitor sprang to life with the same streams of code and text sync echoing in the other screens. Evan glanced at another memo above his station:

Ours is a war of devastation equal in mass to a nuclear bomb, yet with minimal toll on human life. A war of minds and data; a game of codes and keys.

The two young men, sweating in full military uniforms, slumped their shoulders only a moment before spinning their stools to face one another.

“Heroes again.” Linc sighed as he stretched in his seat. “Coffee break.”

“I wish they hadn't fried all the satellites months ago or we wouldn't have to be so damn close to the front line,” Evan lamented as he returned to watch the dots bustle on the screen.

Linc laughed. “Oh, but this makes it more interesting. We're not rear echelon monkeys sitting in an office in Nebraska.”

“True enough.” The slap of their hands meeting in a double high-five echoed through the small space. There was barely enough room for the pair of communications soldiers within the tangle of wires between screens, keyboards, and various LED spotted electronics. Linc pointed at the small poster above his station and jabs his finger in the air:

We are Spartans of the mind, elite warriors with a keyboard and screen.

“Yeah! That's right! Never a problem when you've got the Linc on your side!” Linc wove his fingers together and stretched his arms over his head.

A series of audible pops followed as his tired back realigned.

Evan twisted on his stool with the same result. “Damn straight! Communication is key to modern war!”

Evan took in the steady stream of data flowing from one screen to the next. Linc’s gaze rose to the images on the monitors. A team of soldiers slammed a battering ram into a door. The camera angle, poor image quality, and lack of color obscured their faces. He felt another rush of adrenaline, different than the thrill of the hunt.

Linc turned a haunted gaze on his partner. “Evan, man, you have been on your ass in here longer than me. Why don't you go take a break? Don’t you need to take a piss or something?”

Evan shrugged. “Meh, there’s still a glitch or two in this stream to work out.”

Linc lowered his eyes to the monitor over Evan’s shoulder. “Let me give it a go.”

Evan smiled at the suggestion. “Serious? I thought cleaning and gutting the beast was the boring part for you?”

Linc waved off Evan’s jest. “I gotta learn. Someday, I might not have you by my side to do the tedious stuff.

Linc kicked the base of Evan’s stool, rolling both man and seat aside. Evan caught himself on the far wall.

“Well, okay. The ship is in your capable hands, sailor.”

Linc waved Evan off, totally focused on his work.

Evan glanced up as he passed through the narrow hallway of cables and shelves to a small metal hatch:

The spoils of war are simultaneously infinite and infinitesimal. The secrets of nations, the wealth of empires, all controlled by invisible streams of data coursing through wireless echoes and oceans. He who controls access, controls the world, even from an ivory tower.

He stole a moment to look back and smirked at his friend’s hunched form furiously striking at keys before he turned the latch and pushed through the door.

He squinted and shielded his eyes with a salute to the high sun. As his pupils adjusted, he took in the clear, pale blue sky. His combat boots crunched the gravely beige earth as he dropped from the metal steps of the communications van. Desert brush did little to camouflage the dirt-colored vehicle.

Evan gazed out over the surrounding hills as he stretched his aching limbs. The heat of midday brought a glisten of sweat to his brow, even as he breathed a sigh of thanks for the weak but present breeze. The van’s air conditioning was to protect the equipment, not the soldiers. Vents were mandatory, windows were optional.

He walked up the rise of the hill that sheltered the van from sight. It only took a few steps before Evan crested the ridge far enough that he no longer had a direct view of the van.

***

A strange aura swept the sky. A flash emitted from above and a violet bolt of electricity struck the tallest of the steel array of antennae protruding from the roof of the communication van. Electrical striations of colorful magnetic threads pulsed in all directions surrounding the van and its antennae. 

Within the confines of the van, Linc rubbed his eyes to clear away the strain pressing at his lids. The screens suddenly flickered between light and darkness in a rapid, random succession of energy. His headphones hummed an unbearable droning pitch. Linc groaned and gripped the device connecting him to the network of cables and electronics.

Before he had a breath of a chance to remove the head gear, the screens crackled. Wires deep within the walls popped against thin metal shielding. The whole of the cabin came to life in a sudden surge unharnessed electromagnetic energy. As equipment voltage meters rattled, needles violently pegged the warning zones. The smell of heat and electricity burned into Linc’s nostrils. The inside of the van burst into a vibrant fireworks display.

***

Evan clutched his temples, clamped his eyes closed as he stumbled over the plateau toward the van. He fell to his knees, doubled over and grasped the back of his head. The ringing in his ears, the throbbing inside his head became so intense that he folded over in the fetal position. As calmness returned, the ringing remained in his head. He slowly rose and wiped a thin line of blood from beneath his nose. He stared for a moment at the red smear maring his hand. In a daze, Evan meandered toward the van.

The violent rings of magnetic vibration left the earth surrounding the van rippled, small rocks and debris scattered away from the tires. The entirety of the episode hardly lasted more than a heartbeat.

Evan’s gaze caught the glint of light on metal as the door to the van squealed open below. Evan stumbled toward the vehicle, still uncertain what transpired, yet knowing full well he needed to get out of the open field.

***

Shafts of light splintered the darkness within the van as Evan swung the door wide. The smell of hot wiring assaulted him as he lingered in the entry hall.

“Yo. Linc.” Evan’s shadow cast the space into darkness. “I felt the weirdest pulse out there.”

Evan picked his way into the van, covering his face with his sleeve, stifling the acrid smell filling the confines of the space.

“Linc? What the hell, man? Why is it so dark in here?”

Evan fumbled for the touch lights adhered to the ceiling of the vehicle. He tapped a dome once, twice, a third time. He pressed as hard as he could. A wire popped, snapping a flicker of electricity near enough to his arm to singe a few hairs.

As he passed into the primary work space of the van, he squinted into the shadows. “Linc?”

Evan struck another plastic dome with his fist. A pale glow illuminated the wall of monitors. Liquid crystal screens burbled melted images. In the half-lit glow of mangled tech, a blue-grey glow illuminated the cabin.

The air was thick with the odor of electricity, fire, and something else, something Evan feared to recognize. The smell for a moment reminded him of home and weekends and summer barbecues, but the sick scent mingled, turning Evan’s stomach to darker thoughts.

Unprompted, Evan’s gaze fell to the empty stools set before the decimated workstation. Evan fought to will his eyes to travel no lower, but his body refused to obey. His gaze settled on the smoldering mass crumpled on the floor. Charred fabric, still red-trimmed with dying embers. Flesh blackened at contact points - the fingertips. Molten remains of headphones and charred flesh around what were ears formed a seamless mold.

Words refused to form on Evan’s gaping lips. In their place, a breath caught in his throat before the scream of anguish and confusion released into the van and escaped the twist of sparking wires out across the barren wastes of the desert.