Earth Awakens (The First Formic War) (6 page)

“They’ve already left. They’re at the ship now, Simona. My father has to abort. If the drones fire on the ship, my people are dead.”

“Can’t you contact them?”

“Of course I can.”

“Then call them yourself and have them pull out. The drones won’t reach the ship for another few hours.”

Lem’s voice rose. “They can’t pull out that fast, Simona. If they rush away from the ship, the Formics will detect their movements and blow them away. They have to move slowly, at a drift. And even if they started drifting now, they wouldn’t be far enough away by the time the drones arrived. If the glasers fire on the Formic ship, the subsequent gravity field will expand outward and consume my people and their shuttle. Are you following me here? They die if they run, they die if they drift. There’s no scenario in which they survive if the drones attack. Father has to postpone. My people need days to get clear.”

“They don’t have days, Lem. They have hours.”

“Are you listening to me? Is your mind processing the words I’m forming into sentences? The drones can’t attack.” The casual way she was regarding him was infuriating, as if she already knew every one of his arguments and simply didn’t care.

“Where is my father?”

“In a very important meeting. He can’t be disturbed.”

“He’s about to be disturbed. Where is he?”

“He’s inaccessible, Lem. I’m sorry.”

“We’re talking about people’s lives, Simona. My father can afford a momentary interruption.”

“No, he can’t. Not in this meeting anyway. I’m sorry, Lem. I wish I could do more. Now you answer a question for me: How did you get inside the drone plant? I just spoke with the foreman. Who let you inside?”

Lem disconnected, and Simona’s head winked out. She wasn’t going to help.

He debated calling Benyawe but then decided against it. If she knew about the launch she’d fly into a panic, insisting that they contact Victor and Imala, which would only put them into a panic as well. No, Lem would handle this. He didn’t need Benyawe barking her disapproval. That wouldn’t help his anxiety or the situation.

He made another holo call, this time to Father’s office. No one answered, which was odd since Father had a team of secretaries on staff around the clock. It meant Simona had gotten to them already and told them to avoid his calls, or she had put a block on his holo signature. Either way, it meant she was sandbagging him. He would have to find Father himself.

But where? The tunnel system was extensive, stretching for several kilometers in every direction, a labyrinth with secret wings and levels not found on any map. Father could be anywhere. Or he may not be in the tunnels at all. He could be dining with a potential client in Imbrium. Or visiting one of the shipyards, or a hundred other places.

Who are you meeting with, Father? What could be so important?

The skimmer Lem was flying was a company vessel, he remembered. It was connected to the company’s data system. It knew all, saw all. It was better than Simona.

“Computer, access today’s meeting schedule for Ukko Jukes.”

“I’m sorry,” the woman’s voice said. “You do not have access privileges.”

Of course I don’t. Father’s security restrictions on me saw to that.

“Access the meeting schedule for Simona Moratti,” he said.

“I’m sorry. You do not have access privileges.”

He exhaled. This wasn’t going to work. The answer was there in front of him; he just couldn’t reach it.

“Computer, check dinner reservations throughout Imbrium in the name of Ukko Jukes.” He doubted the company’s data system could access every restaurant in the city, but he knew the company had relationships with the finer establishments, the kind of places Father would go. He had seen Simona make reservations with her holopad.

“No matches found,” said the computer.

“What about reservations in the name of Simona Moratti?”

“No matches found.”

Again, another strike out. There had to be another way.

“Computer, can you access the security cameras throughout headquarters?”

“Affirmative.”

“Can you identify the location of a specific employee?”

“Only if the employee’s face is currently within view. Otherwise I can only approximate a location based on the last recorded sighting or based on the last use of the employee’s proximity chip.”

“Can you identify the location of my father Ukko Jukes?”

“Affirmative.”

“Where he is?”

“You do not have clearance for that information.”

Lem swore. “Override clearance restriction.”

“Permission denied.”

Lem was ready to hit the dash when he remembered that he
did
have clearance. He had purchased it. “Computer, how are you identifying me right now?”

“Voice recognition. Lem Jukes. Executive Director of Mining Innovation, Kuiper Belt Division.”

“Cancel voice recognition. Identify me based on my proximity chip only.”

“Done. May I be of further assistance?”

“Give me the current location of Ukko Jukes?”

“Ukko Jukes is in the executive dining room, C Gate access, room 1345.”

Lem changed course and accelerated toward C Gate. He arrived moments later, parked the skimmer, and took back passages toward the dining room. Knowing Simona, she would have taken every precaution. If she had alerted the secretaries at Father’s office, she had likely sent similar warnings to Father’s security detail. Keep your eyes open for Lem. If he shows up, politely deny him access.

Or, knowing Simona’s dark mood at the moment, maybe she had ordered them
not
to be polite. Either way, Lem wasn’t going through the front door.

The staff entrance was at the back of the kitchen, accessible via a side corridor off the main tunnel. A crowd of chefs in stiff white uniforms looked up from their work when Lem entered. Lem smiled and sidled past them, heading for the double doors that led to the dining room. No one spoke or tried to stop him.

The company had spared no expense on the dining room, a lavishly decorated space with a vaulted ceiling and chandeliers. There were over a dozen tables, but only one of them was occupied. Father sat across from a woman in conservative business attire. Lem didn’t recognize her, but he knew at once that she was here on business and not as Father’s date. Father would never pursue a woman so close to his own age and with such plain features.

Lem squared his shoulders, buttoned his suit coat, and approached them, smiling pleasantly. “Father, I’m so glad I found you. Could you and I speak in private for a moment regarding a most urgent matter?”

The surprise on Father’s face was replaced with a forced smile of barely contained fury. “Lem. This is very unexpected.”

Lem turned to the woman. She had a pin of the American flag on the lapel of her jacket. A politician most likely, though Lem had no idea who. A congresswoman, perhaps. Or someone from the current administration. Why was Father meeting with the Americans?

He extended a hand. “Lem Jukes.”

She took his hand, showing no signs of irritation. “Margaret Hopkins. U.S. State Department. And you hardly need introduce yourself to me, Mr. Jukes. I’ve seen several of the interviews you’ve given on the nets. That must have been a harrowing experience to face the Formics in the Kuiper Belt.”

“I don’t recommend it,” said Lem. “A summer cabin with a nice mountain breeze is more to my liking.” He turned to Father, impatient. “A moment, Father?”

Ukko Jukes dabbed at the corner of his mouth with a napkin and leaned forward in his seat. “Ms. Hopkins and I were having a private conversation, Lem. Perhaps you and I can talk after.”

“It can’t wait. Would you excuse us, Ms. Hopkins?” Lem gestured to a door across the room that led into a parlor.

Father considered a moment, forced a polite smile, then stood and followed.

The parlor was four times the size of the dining room. Rustic leather furniture, Persian rugs, shelves filled with antique paper books. When the doors were closed behind them Father said, “You have ten seconds to explain yourself.”

“You launched drones at the Formic mothership. You need to recall them. I have people there now.”

Father showed no surprise. “I know about Victor and Imala, Lem. And I’m not recalling the drones.”

It took a moment for Lem to find words. “You know about them? And you’re going to let them die?”

“They died the moment they launched, son. They’re taking on an alien ship with tech far greater than anything the human mind has ever conceived. Victor is eighteen years old, practically a child. Imala’s an auditor. These aren’t soldiers, Lem.”

“Victor is intelligent, Father. He’s resourceful.”

“Simona is resourceful. A three-legged dog is resourceful. That doesn’t mean we should launch them into space and expect them to defeat an army. Victor has a personal vendetta against us. Imala Bootstamp is no better. She threw away her career to go to war against me. And you want to
protect
these people?”

“Does it matter who they are if they defeat the Formics?”

Father laughed. “Do you honestly think that’s even possible? They’re fools if they think they can take out that ship, and you’re a bigger fool for believing them.”

“At least let them try. What have we got to lose?”

Father looked incredulous. “Do you watch the news, Lem? Are you even aware of what’s going on in the world? People are dying by the millions. Old, young, women, children. They’re hit with the Formic gases, and their flesh melts off their bones. Guangzhou, Foshan, all along southeast China. How long do you want me to wait exactly? Because every second I do, for every minute I keep those drones waiting, more people are going to die. Scientists, doctors, engineers, people a hell of a lot more resourceful than Victor Delgado. Is that what you’re proposing to me? That I sit back and let that happen, let thousands and maybe tens of thousands of people on Earth die so I can give more time to
two
people who have no chance of getting out of that Formic ship alive anyway? Is that what you’re suggesting? Am I reading your logic right? Because if so, than I wasted a hell of a lot of money on your education, because that’s bad math. Two people are not greater than thousands.”

Lem said nothing.

Ukko exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m proud of you for taking the initiative, son. You had good intentions. But this problem is bigger than you think.”

“I know how big the problem is, Father. And saving Victor and Imala isn’t the only reason why I’m here. The glaser is unstable. You can’t fire it this close to Earth.”

Father rolled his eyes. “This again.”

“Benyawe has seen the schematics. The design is flawed. Blowing up Earth won’t exactly save us from the Formics.”

Father was suddenly angry. “Do you take me for a fool, Lem? Do you have such a low impression of my intelligence that you think I would not take precautions? If one of the glasers were to misfire, we would terminate the drone from our position here on Luna. They’re not on preprogrammed flights. We control them here.”

“The misfires aren’t the real problem,” said Lem. “It’s the
well-aimed
firings I’m worried about. We have no idea what will happen if we hit the Formic ship. It has mass. The resultant gravity field will expand outward exponentially, consuming everything in its path. I saw it happen. We blasted an asteroid in the Kuiper Belt much smaller than the Formic ship, and the subsequent gravity field grew so fast and so large that it nearly consumed our ship and killed us all. The Formic ship will likely react the same way. If you hit it with fifty glasers, it could create a gravity field that reaches Earth and rips the planet apart.”

“You’re describing highly unlikely probabilities, Lem. You’re pulling at straws.”

“Talk to Dr. Benyawe if you don’t believe me. Or to Dublin. Get their opinion, if you don’t want mine.”

Father was quiet a moment. “Are you finished? Because I have a meeting to return to.”

He wasn’t going to abort, Lem realized. He was going to do what he always did, ignore anyone who disagreed with him.

“And let me give you some unsolicited advice, Lem. Don’t send a message to Victor and Imala. Don’t warn them. That would be cruel. You’d essentially be telling them they have a few hours to live.”

“
Not
telling them is cruel as well.”

“
Dying
is what’s cruel, son. Protecting someone from the knowledge of their own death is a mercy. Stay silent. For their sake. You may think that monstrous, but it’s a kindness.”

Ukko turned and walked out.

Lem stood there, considering, alone. He pulled his holopad from his pocket and prepared to call Benyawe, imagining how the conversation would go. Then he pocketed the pad and looked for another exit. Father was right. He couldn’t save Victor and Imala. Silence was the only kindness he had left to give.

CHAPTER 4

Gravity

The Formic was down on its arms and legs inside the shaft, pulling a metal cart behind it. Victor caught himself on the walls before colliding with it, his helmet less than a meter from the creature’s face. Victor rolled to the side to avoid it, fumbling for his weapon. The gun was up and in his hand an instant later, but his finger paused on the trigger. The Formic wasn’t paying him any attention, Victor realized. It hadn’t so much as flinched or turned in his direction. Instead, it continued down the shaft, moving past him with slow methodical steps, showing no signs of alarm.

It was then that Victor noticed the metal plate over the Formic’s eyes, a sort of half helmet that obstructed its vision like blinders.

It didn’t see me, Victor realized. I was simply in its path over the track.

The cart was an odd thing: boxy, metallic, and covered with rust, without any lights or visible tech along its surface. Its four sets of ancient, corroded wheels fit snugly into the recessed grooves of the floor and ceiling, keeping the cart securely locked on the track. The wheels squeaked and jostled as they rolled over minor bumps and imperfections on the surface.

A harness around the Formic’s midsection locked into the track beneath it and prevented the creature from going anywhere but forward. Two poles extended back from the sides of the harness and fastened to the cart like traces. One of the Formic’s hind legs was injured, Victor noticed. It bent outward instead of inward, forcing the Formic to walk with an awkward limping gait that made Victor almost pity the thing.