Earth Unaware (First Formic War)

theory,” said Dublin. “The interference. If the Formics didn’t consider as us equals or at least near their place on the species hierarchy, why are they working so hard to cloak their approach with the interference? What they’re doing to our radio suggests they fear us and have developed tactics to avoid our detection. It implies they consider us a threat.”
    “Only if the interference is deliberate,” said Lem. “But what if it isn’t? What if it’s nothing more than a by-product of their propulsion system? What if they have no idea they’re wrecking our radio? Yes, it’s working to their advantage, but that doesn’t mean they meant for it to happen.”
    “If that’s true,” said Benyawe, “then Earth is in more danger than we thought. If the Formics aren’t doing anything deliberate to hide their approach, if they don’t care if we notice them or not, then they don’t consider us a threat at all. They’re so confident they can destroy us that it doesn’t matter if we know they’re coming.”
    The more they talked, the less Lem liked what we he was hearing. “So what do we do?” he asked. “We can’t communicate with anyone. We can’t surpass the ship and get ahead of it—not at its current speed anyway. It’s moving too fast. We can’t even catch it if we wanted to.”
    “Which we most definitely don’t want to do,” said Chubs.
    “I see two options,” said Benyawe. “We can either deviate and take a gamble that there’s a way out of this interference. Or we can continue to track the ship and gather intelligence and hope that it decelerates enough for us to zip past it and beat it to Earth.”
    “Also a gamble,” said Lem.
    “There’s no easy answer,” said Benyawe.
    “Option B gets my vote,” said Dublin. “That puts us closer to Earth. That’s our destination.”
    “I agree,” said Benyawe. “There might be something else we can learn about the Formics, a weakness perhaps. That would be more valuable to Earth than anything. If we lose sight of the ship, we lose that chance.”
    “The Formics are leaving a wake of destruction,” said Chubs. “People may need help. I say we stay the course.”
    Benyawe said, “An odd philosophy for you, considering you’ve left quite a wake of destruction yourself.”
    “Always to protect us,” said Chubs, annoyed.
    A navigator from the helm appeared on the wall-screen. “Sir, sensors indicate that the Formic ship has vented again.”
    “Decelerate immediately,” said Lem. “I don’t want us flying into the gamma plasma. Bring us to a full stop if necessary.” It was the second time the ship had vented since the battle with El Cavador.
    The navigator made a series of hand movements offscreen, then returned. “Deceleration commenced, sir.”
    “Were there any ships near the Formics that may have been affected by the plasma?”
    “Don’t know, sir. The only reason we can detect the Formic ship at this distance is because of its size. Anything smaller doesn’t show up on the sensors.”
    “Keep scanning. Let me know if we find anything that might have been hit by the plasma.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    The navigator disappeared. Benyawe walked to the systems chart that stretched across one wall. A line representing the Formics’ trajectory cut across space. Benyawe touched various points on the line, leaving blinking red dots. “The first venting happened here, near Weigh Station Four. The next venting was here, roughly six au later. Now we have a third venting that’s approximately six au after that.”
    “So they vent every six au,” said Dublin.
    “Which means we can approximate where it will likely vent again,” said Benyawe. She tapped her finger down the line every six au and left more dots. As she reached the inner Belt, she placed a dot near an asteroid.
    “What asteroid is that?” asked Lem.
    Benyawe enlarged it until it filled the screen. Lem thought it looked like a dog bone: thin shaft in the middle, with two knobby lobes at either end. “It’s called Kleopatra,” said Benyawe. “M-class. Measures two hundred and seventeen kilometers across. She moved her fingers on the screen and rotated the asteroid until the opposite side came into view. There, on the surface of one of the lobes, was a small cluster of lights.
    “What is that?” asked Lem. “Zoom in.”
    Benyawe moved her fingers and zoomed in on the lights, revealing a massive mining complex at least five kilometers across. Buildings,