War No. 81-Q

In the year 2127, war has become a tightly regulated spectacle. When Tibet and America—or, more precisely, the Mongolian Alliance and the United American Nations—contest control of the Radiant Heat Monopoly, the Universal War Board authorizes a two-hour battle over the remote Kerguelen Islands. Ten enormous aero-dirigibles, armed only with nonexplosive machine guns and controlled by pilots thousands of miles away, take to the skies while spectators watch through Q-ray telescopes.

The contest quickly turns chaotic as smoke screens, crippled ships, and daring maneuvers test the limits of this supposedly controlled form of combat. With celebrated aces on one side and a young, untested pilot suddenly placed in command of three vessels on the other, the battle becomes both a technological marvel and a perilous human experiment. Fast-moving and inventive, this early science-fiction tale imagines a future where war is bureaucratized, remote-controlled, and performed for an eager audience—yet remains every bit as unpredictable as the old kind.