Earth Awakens (The First Formic War 3)

Victor caught it easily in the lesser gravity. "The kneecaps are where I would start. Then I move my way up."

"Can we dial back the testosterone please?" said Imala. "We came here for answers, Lem. If we like them, Victor doesn't put holes in your legs. If we don't like them, I make no promises."

"I didn't launch the drones," said Lem. "That was my father's doing. If you want to be angry at someone, go shove a gun in his face. I tried to stop him, he wouldn't listen."

"Prove it," said Victor. "I find it hard to believe you weren't working with dear old Dad on this one."

Lem scoffed. "You and your father might have been all chummy chum, Victor, but my dear old dad and I don't particularly see eye to eye on much of anything. He can't stand to be in the same room with me."

"Then he and I have more in common than I thought," said Victor.

"Ask Benyawe if you don't believe me," said Lem. "I fought to protect you. Do you honestly think I would go to the trouble of getting you the equipment and helping you reach the ship just to send drones after you? Do you think I would place more value on silencing you than on killing the Formics?"

"Maybe you were killing two birds with one stone," said Victor.

"Wow," said Lem. "Just wow. You know, I had heard of cases of severe paranoia, but I've never actually seen one in person. Fascinating."

"You forget I'm holding a gun," said Victor.

"Who cut off our communication?" said Imala.

Lem hesitated before answering. "I did. And I had very good reasons, though I doubt you'll agree with me."

Lem explained them. He was right. They didn't agree.

"Can I shoot him in the kneecaps now?" Victor asked.

"You take the right kneecap, I'll take the left," said Imala.

Lem held his hands up. "I did everything I could to save you. You may not agree with my decisions, but I did what I thought was right for you. We can still help each other in this. I want to stop the Formics as much as you do. I'm taking steps independent of my father to further protect Earth. We're setting up a shield of ships to stop any additional reinforcements. Benyawe and her team have developed a weapon to help in this effort. I can take you to the warehouse and show it to you. I want the team to see you anyway. Maybe they'll stop hating me once they know you're alive."

"Why would they hate you?" asked Victor. "Other than the obvious reasons of you being a lying snake and a selfish slug, I mean."

"Cutting your communication was my decision alone. Benyawe and the other engineers had nothing to do with it. They all despise me because of it."

Victor gave a face of mock surprise. "Someone despises you? I can't imagine why."

"You've asked your questions," said Lem. "Now I ask mine."

"Why should we tell you anything?" said Victor.

"Because I'm your benefactor. Because I made your expedition possible. And since the Formic ship is still hovering in space, you obviously failed to disable it. I want to know why, what happened, and what the next steps are. I know you were inside the ship, Victor. What did you see?"

Victor looked to Imala as if to ask how they should proceed.

"Victor took several hours of vids," said Imala. "He explored much of the interior of the ship and he has an idea on how to disable it. How to really disable it this time."

"Our first attempt didn't work because of the drone attack," said Victor. "I lost the explosive before I could plant it. But I doubt the explosive would have been sufficient anyway. We need to kill every Formic aboard and then seize the ship for ourselves."

"Wonderful," said Lem. "I agree. How do we do that?"

"There is no we here," said Victor. "We go our way and you go yours. Taking down the ship is our business now. Protecting Earth can be yours."

"You'll need resources," said Lem. "People, equipment. No one will give you the freedom that I will."

"We've heard this sales pitch before," said Victor. "And we nearly died because we listened to it. Do you honestly think either of us would ever work with you again?"

"Where will you go?" said Lem. "The military? They will cut you out of the equation. They'll take your vids and they'll brush you aside. In their minds, you're nobodies. You don't know infiltration, you don't know demolition, you're not soldiers, you're not qualified to even think about this kind of thing, much less execute an op. You're an auditor and a free miner with criminal records. Period. They'll commend you for your bravery and intel, then they'll show you the door. That is, assuming they don't call the police on you. Then they'll do their own thing based on what they see in the vids. Their own plan, their own approach. And guess what? It will fail. Why? Because they're the military, led by careerist generals who are more interested in elevating themselves and preserving their dynasties than in taking risks and breaking convention."