Earth Afire (The First Formic War)

and Victor sensed he had gone too far.
    “What I mean,” he said, keeping his voice calm, “is that I could make a very good case that I was not the pilot of the quickship. Which, it stands to reason, would render the charges dismissible.”
    “I’ll determine the validity of the charges, Mr. Delgado. That’s what the taxpaying citizens of Luna pay me for.” She waved her hand through the holospace again, and windows of data appeared in front of her. “You disrupted a restricted radio frequency. Are you going to argue that the quickship made you do that as well?”
    “That was clearly my own doing,” said Victor, “but I had no idea the frequency was restricted. I was being buried in a warehouse by damaged quickships. I was desperate for help. Every frequency I had tried before was silent.”
    “Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it, Mr. Delgado. This isn’t the Kuiper Belt, where it’s every man for himself and laws be damned. This is Luna. We maintain order. We’re civilized.”
    Victor felt his face getting hot. “With all due respect, ma’am, free miners are not lawless barbarians. I’d argue that our society is far more civilized than Luna.”
    Imala cleared her throat, but Victor pretended not to have heard.
    Mungwai looked amused. “Is that so?”
    “In the Kuiper Belt if someone needs help, you help them,” said Victor. “If their ship needs repairs, if they’re low on supplies, if their lives are threatened, you rush to their aid and do whatever you can to keep them alive. And once you’ve helped them, they don’t humiliate you or arrest you or threaten you with lengthy prison terms. They thank you. I find that more civilized than what I’ve experienced here.”
    “You have been given the finest medical attention at no cost to you, Mr. Delgado,” said Mungwai. “Muscle- and bone-building medications. Rigorous physical therapy. Room and board. Your criticism of that treatment strikes me as incredibly ungrateful.”
    Victor exhaled. This wasn’t going well. “I am grateful for the care I have received. But I would rather have a listening ear than a pill. I know what has crippled space communications. I know what’s causing the interference. A near-lightspeed alien ship is heading to Earth. It’s in our solar system already. It has weapons capabilities far beyond anything we’ve seen. It destroyed four ships of free miners and killed hundreds, maybe thousands, of people, including a member of my own family.” He was trembling now but keeping his voice calm. “I saw the bodies. Women, children, all of them dead.”
    Mungwai raised a hand to silence him. “I’ve read your file, Mr. Delgado. I know what you claim to have seen.”
    “I don’t claim anything. I don’t have to. The vids and evidence speak for themselves.”
    “I’ve seen your vid,” said Mungwai. “I also saw four other vids from the scientific community refuting yours as a likely hoax.”
    Victor opened his mouth to speak but Mungwai cut him off.
    “However, rather than pass judgment, I forwarded your evidence to a friend at STASA.”
    Victor nearly leapt at the words. STASA, the Space Trade and Security Authority. Imala had been trying to get their attention for days. STASA monitored all space traffic and commerce and had deep ties with every government on Earth. If anyone could add credibility to Victor’s evidence, it was STASA. Earth would instantly respond.
    “What did they say?” asked Imala.
    “My friend said he would pass the information on to the proper department. STASA apparently has a whole division dedicated to addressing these kinds of anomalies.”
    “Anomalies?” said Victor.
    “Tricks of the light,” said Mungwai. “Hallucinations. It happens all the time. A miner doesn’t regulate his oxygen levels correctly or is suffering from fatigue, and he sees all sorts of things.”
    “These aren’t hallucinations,” said Victor. “This isn’t based on testimony—”
    Imala cut him off. “When will you hear back from your contact at STASA? Can we contact him directly?”
    “You won’t be contacting anyone, Imala,” said Mungwai. “You are on administrative leave effective immediately. I’m removing you from this case. And don’t look so surprised. You’ve been neglecting your other duties, and what’s worse, you aided a criminal and uploaded his vids onto the nets.”
    “To warn Earth!” said Imala.
    “That is not your job,” said Mungwai. “Your job is