Earth Unaware (The First Formic War 1)

"The breakers have mini cams. We have a very good pilot. He can steer them pretty much wherever you want them."

"Won't El Cavador detect the movement?" asked Lem. "Won't they see the breakers coming?"

"Their collision-avoidance system doesn't monitor the surface of the asteroid. It can't. They've got miners walking around the surface all day. Believe me, it's the last place they would look for an attack."

Lem didn't like it. This was supposed to be a clean operation. They would swoop in, zap a few devices on the hull, push the ship aside, and be done with it. Simple. Nothing with breakers. No explosions. No creeping up in a shuttle. This was far more variables than Lem had intended.

One of the crewmen launched from his workstation and landed near Lem.

"They're rotating away, sir," said the crewman. "We can accelerate as soon as you're ready."

This would be the last push forward. They were close now. They would land on the rock within a few hours. Lem turned to Benyawe. Her face was a mask. She seemed poised, but he knew she was angry. She'd hate this new development more than he did.

"What's the word, Lem?" said Chubs. "We can cut bait now and scoot away if you'd like. Otherwise we need to punch it. We have a brief window here."

Nine days, thought Lem. They had come nine days. The rock was right there in front of them. What would you do, Father? Go off and shoot some more pebbles? Fly eight months to a different asteroid? Or knock these gravel suckers off the rock? Lem could almost feel Father here beside him, looking over his shoulder, shaking his head in disgust, oozing disappointment. "Why do you even hav

e to think this one through, Lem?" Father would say. "Are you a Jukes or are you a child?"

Lem turned to Chubs. "Put us on the rock."

CHAPTER 6

Marco

Victor was on a spacewalk, outside El Cavador, bolting one of the pebble-killers into place with his hand drill. Mono was beside him, his feet anchored to the hull, holding the PK steady with bracing cables. They had removed the laser a few days ago and taken it into the cargo bay to make modifications. Now, with those completed, they were reinstalling it on the side of the ship.

Victor wasn't sure if their efforts would make much difference. If the alien starship proved to be aggressive, Victor probably couldn't do much to stop it. The starship moved at near-lightspeed, which required an almost inconceivable amount of energy and huge leaps in technology, far beyond anything human tech had ever achieved. And if the starship's builders could do that, there was no telling what their weapons could do.

Victor inserted a bolt into his drill and moved to the next hole, noticing that the hole was slightly off its mark. He looked up and saw that Mono had fallen asleep. The bracing cable drifted lazily away from Mono's open hands, and his arms floated limply beside him. If not for Mono's boot magnets, he probably would have drifted away from the ship.

"Mono," Victor said sharply.

Mono jerked awake, suddenly alert, eyes wide. He grabbed the bracing cable and pulled it taut. "Sorry. I'm awake."

"No you're not. You're exhausted. And I don't blame you. I've pushed you way too hard today."

"No, no. I'm fine. Really. I'm good now." Mono blinked his eyes in an exaggerated manner and shook his head to force himself to stay awake.

"Three more bolts," said Victor. "Then we'll go inside. It's already an hour into sleep-shift. You should be zipped up in your hammock."

"I'm fine," Mono said, though Victor could tell from the look on his face that if given five more seconds of silence, the boy would be asleep again.

A message from Mother appeared on Victor's visor. "It's late, Vico. Bring Mono inside. His mother's worried."

Victor and Mono finished the install, collected their things, and hurried to the airlock. Mother greeted them inside with containers of chili and two hot arepas wrapped in a cloth. Victor wiggled out of his pressure suit and sucked the first taste of chili up through the straw. It was hot and spicy with finely minced peppers the way he liked it.

"Perfect as always," he said.

Mother scowled. "You're not winning me over with compliments, Vico. You're in trouble. Mono should have been in a bed an hour ago."

"I'm not tired," said Mono, though he was barely keeping his eyes open.

Mother smiled. "No, you're as perky as a jackrabbit." She frowned at Victor. "You're not resting and eating like I told you to, Vico. You need eight hours of sleep a night. As does Mono. He's nine years old."

"Nine and three quarters," said Mono. "My birthday's coming up."

"You're right, Patita," said Victor. "I'm sorry.