Shadows of War by Larry Bond

second.”
    Doner had four different workstations lined up on the table behind his desk. Two showed simulations in progress. He made sure each was working properly, then pulled out his seat and sat down. Besides his personal laptop, a simple Dell open at the corner of his desk, he had no less than twelve working CPUs in the office, most of them in a double bank against the far wall. There were also a number of laptops stacked on a trolley in the corner.
    Doner was not the typical hands-off military supervisor Zeus had expected from his tours before Special Forces. The colonel was an unabashed geek who had hand-assembled several of the larger computers in the office, and written parts of the software that ran the war games simulations he oversaw.
    Doner liked to claim that when he had joined the Army, the only thing he knew about computers was how to turn them on; while it was a slight exaggeration, the forty-year-old colonel had truly learned on the job.
    â€œAll right,” said Doner, returning to his desk. “How was your weekend?”
    â€œReal fine, Mike. Yours?”

    â€œThe ten-year-old needs braces. I didn’t know they put them in braces that early.”
    â€œNeither did I.”
    â€œI don’t think I even knew there was such a thing as braces until I was sixteen or seventeen,” said Doner.
    And by then it was too late , thought Zeus—though he didn’t say it. That was the difference between him and Rosen. His friend didn’t know when to shut the hell up. Not very important for a captain, but critical for a major, and all ranks above.
    â€œYou probably didn’t need braces, did you?” added Doner.
    â€œNo, actually I didn’t.”
    â€œCharmed life.” Doner smiled—it was a crooked smile, with a bit too much enamel missing on the front teeth—then leaned back in his chair. “Zeus, I need a favor from you.”
    â€œA favor?”
    â€œWe have some visitors coming today. They’re interested in seeing Red Dragon.”
    Murphy felt his face flush. The colonel was going to ask him to throw the simulation and let Perry win.
    Could he agree to that?
    It wasn’t simply a matter of ego. Though they operated like very sophisticated computer games, the simulations were very serious business. The results were recorded and analyzed, then integrated into various war plans and strategy papers prepared by the Army staff. The results from one simulation might not make that big a difference in the overall scheme of things … and then again, they might. Especially if he threw the simulation to let the U.S. win.
    But was this a request he could turn down?
    Before he could ask, Maggie returned with the coffee. Glad for the interruption, Zeus took the cup, then fussed over how hot the liquid was, waving his hand over it.
    â€œAs I was saying, we have a few VIPs coming today, and we’d like them to see the simulation in action.”
    â€œOrdinarily General Cody deals with VIPs.”
    â€œYes, but the general won’t be here today. He has business elsewhere.”
    So I have to take one for the team, thought Zeus. He sipped his coffee, waiting for Doner to drop the other shoe. But Doner didn’t say anything.
    â€œWell, okay,” said Zeus finally, standing up. “Guess I better go get myself ready then.”

    â€œThere is a little more to it.”
    Here it comes , thought Zeus, sitting back down.
    â€œWe’re going to use Scenario One—Lightning War.”
    â€œOkay,” said Zeus. The scenario called for war in the very first round, a condition that generally favored Red.
    â€œThing is, I’d like you to take Blue.”
    â€œYou want me to be Blue?” said Murphy. He tried to keep his voice level, but his relief still came through.
    â€œGeneral Perry is pretty much convinced that there’s no way for Red to lose. I don’t blame him, given the results over the past