Earth Afire (The First Formic War)

idea. Sad but true. Some of these people are wolves. I’ve disproved a lot of their theories, and that hasn’t exactly endeared me to them. They’d all be quite happy to put a shot across my bow. If we go without Ukko, we have to be ironclad. We have to be so convincing, that the doubters are the ones who look like irrational crazies and not us. That may take time. The team is working on it, and we’re getting there, but I think Yanyu and Imala are right. Ukko is our fastest recourse. If we can get him, we’re golden.”
    Hours later, long into the evening, Prescott pulled Victor and Imala aside. “The staff is staying here tonight. It doesn’t look like we’ll get word on Ukko until tomorrow. I can have someone take you to your apartment, Imala, but that might not be a good idea. I’d rather keep Victor here, and frankly it’s probably better if you stay as well. We have extra cots. They’re not terribly comfortable, but they’re yours if you want them.”
    Yanyu showed Victor and Imala where two adjacent offices were being used for storage. Two cots had been set up, one in each office. Yanyu brought Imala and Victor each a pillow, blanket, emergency pack of toiletries, and a clean Juke jumpsuit. Victor found the men’s restroom down the hall, showered, then dressed in the jumpsuit. He felt like a traitor wearing it, like he was disavowing his family somehow. But the suit fit well, and it felt good to get into clean clothes.
    He returned to his room and lay down on the cot. He tried to get comfortable but sleep wouldn’t come. Rehashing his experience to the observatory staff had turned his mind to home.
    Nine months. Had it really been that long since he had last seen Mother and Father?
    The images from Yanyu’s holopad of the destruction in the Belt weighed on him. He knew that none of the destroyed ships at Kleopatra could possibly be El Cavador—there was no way his family could have beaten the alien ship to the inner Belt. Yet the mere existence of the debris had unleashed a flood of dark possibilities in his mind. What if the alien ship had caused the same level of destruction in the Kuiper Belt? Victor’s family had been rushing to a depot to warn the people there that the hormiga ship was coming. What if the hormigas had attacked the depot just as El Cavador arrived?
    It wasn’t the first time Victor had imagined worst-case scenarios. A day hadn’t gone by since leaving El Cavador that he hadn’t pictured some horrendous accident befalling the ship.
    Yet in every instance, whenever such thoughts surfaced, Victor’s confidence in his family had always allowed him to push the fears aside. Father would keep them safe, he told himself. Everyone would work together. They would be fine. That’s what the family did. They survived. They always had. When critical systems failed and the worst outcome seemed imminent, the family always found a way to overcome it. Father had never failed in that regard.
    I shouldn’t worry, he had always told himself. Not yet. Not until I have cause.
    Well, now he had cause. The images of the destroyed ships in the inner Belt gave new life to every horrendous outcome he had imagined.
    Victor pressed the palms of his hands into his closed eye sockets. Please God, let them be alive. Let Mother and Father and Mono and Edimar and all of them be alive.
    He pulled the blanket up and tried to shake the thoughts away. Father would keep them safe. Father had never failed them.
    When sleep took him, he saw hundreds of hormigas crawling over the surface of El Cavador , twisting open the hatches and peeling back the armor. They scurried into the holes they created, pouring in, climbing and clawing over each other, rushing through the cargo bay, flying down the corridors, hungry, determined, maws open, arms outstretched, wriggling in a massive wave of scurrying bodies and pattering bug feet. They burst through the door of the helm and rushed inside, where Mother and Father and the whole family were crowded in a corner, cowering, screaming, desperate, arms raised up to protect their faces.
    *   *   *
     
    Word came back from Ukko’s office the following morning as Victor was having breakfast with Imala in the observation room. “He’s agreed to see us,” said Prescott. “He’s giving a presentation to the press this afternoon, and his assistant said he’d grant us five minutes afterwards.”
    “Five whole minutes?” said Imala. “Well, I’m glad to hear the