Roadside Crosses

and sunglasses on, so he wouldn’t be recognized? Ten miles from here? One mile?
    He wasn’t at the Game Shed. She knew that. After learning that he spent time there, Dance had ordered surveillance on the place.
    As she watched Travis’s avatar engage and easilykill dozens of creatures—women and men and animals—she found herself instinctively drawing on her skills as a kinesics expert.
    She knew, of course, that computer software was controlling the boy’s movement and posture. Yet she was already seeing that his avatar moved with more grace and fluidity than most. In combat he didn’t flail away randomly, as some of the characters did. He took his time, he withdrew a bit and then struck when his opponents were disoriented. Several fast blows or stabs later—and the character was dead. He stayed alert, always looking around him.
    This was a clue, perhaps, to the boy’s strategy of life. Planning the attacks out carefully, learning all he could about his victims, attacking fast.
    Analyzing the body language of a computer avatar, she reflected. What an odd case this was.
    “I want to talk to him.”
    “To Travis? I mean, to Stryker?”
    “Right. Get closer.”
    Boling hesitated. “I don’t know the navigation commands very well. But I think I can walk all right.”
    “Go ahead.”
    Using the keypad, Boling maneuvered Greenleaf closer to where Stryker was hunched over the body of the creature he’d just killed, looting it.
    As soon as she was within attack distance Stryker sensed Dance’s avatar’s approach and leapt up, his sword in one hand, an elaborate shield in the other. Stryker’s eyes gazed out of the screen.
    Eyes dark as the demon Qetzal’s.
    “How do I send a message?”
    Boling clicked on a button at the bottom of thescreen and a box opened. “Just like any instant message now. Type your message and hit ‘Return.’ Remember, use abbreviations and leetspeak if you can. The easiest thing to do is just substitute the number three for e and four for a. ”
    Dance took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking as she stared at the animated face of the killer.
    “Stryker, U R g00d.” The words appeared in a balloon over Greenleaf’s head as the avatar approached.
    “who r u?” Stryker stood back, gripping a sword.
    “I’m just some lus3r.”
    Boling told her, “Not bad, but forget grammar and punctuation. No caps, no periods. Question marks are okay.”
    Dance continued, “saw u fight u r el33t.” Her breath was coming fast; tension rose within her.
    “Excellent,” Boling whispered.
    “what is your realm?”
    “What’s he mean?” Dance asked, feeling a sprinkle of panic.
    “I think he’s asking for your country or the guild you’re in. There’d be hundreds of them. I don’t know any in this game. Tell him you’re a newbie.” He spelled it. “That’s somebody new to a game, but who wants to learn.”
    “just newbie, play for fun, thought u could t33ch”
    There was a pause.
    “u mean u r sum n00b”
    “What’s that?” Dance asked.
    “Newbie’s just a beginner. A n00b is a loser, somebody who’s egotistical and incompetent. It’s an insult. Travis has been called a n00b a lot online. LOL him but say you’re not. You really want to learn from him.”
    “lol, but no d00d, i w4nt to learn”
    “R U hot?”
    Dance asked Boling, “Is he coming on to me?”
    “I don’t know. It’s an odd question under the circumstances.”
    “sorta people tell me”
    “u board funny”
    “Shit, he’s catching on that there’s a delay in your keyboarding. He’s suspicious. Change the subject back to him.”
    “like really w4nt to learn, what can u t33ch me?”
    A pause. Then: “1 thing”
    Dance typed, “whats that?”
    Another hesitation.
    Then words appeared in the balloon above Travis’s avatar. “2 die”
    And though Dance felt an instinct to slam an arrow key or slide the touchpad to lift an arm and protect herself, there was no time.
    Travis’s avatar moved in fast. He swung his sword again and again, striking her. In the upper left-hand corner of the screen a box popped up showing two figures, solid white: the heading “Stryker” was above the one on the left, and “Greenleaf” on the right.
    “No!” she whispered, as Travis slashed away.
    The white filling the Greenleaf outline began to empty. Boling said, “That’s your life force bleeding out. Fight back. You have a sword. There!” He tapped the screen. “Put the cursor on it and left click with