Earth Awakens (The First Formic War 3)

He walked out and closed the door behind him.

Victor shook out the contents of a crate, turned it over to use it as a seat, sat down in front of the terminal, and began to type.

*

Just outside the women's restroom on the Gagak, Rena Delgado rubbed her eyes with her thumb and index finger and tried to stay calm. Julexi and Sabad had ambushed her in the corridor as Rena had left the restroom, and now she was getting an earful.

"We're not engineers, Rena," said Julexi. "We can fix things here and there, but we can't turn this ship into a digger. It's ludicrous."

The restroom was at the end of the corridor, so Rena had a wall behind her. She couldn't retreat that way. Julexi and Sabad had her boxed in.

The two women made an unlikely pair. Julexi had lost her husband Pitoso on El Cavador, and she had argued and questioned every one of Rena's proposals and decisions ever since. Sabad, Arjuna's youngest wife, despised everyone from El Cavador. How these women had formed an alliance, Rena could only guess. What was the saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend?

"Your stay here was intended to be temporary, Rena," said Sabad. "Arjuna, in his kindness, took you in for a time because he pitied you. It was not an invitation to alter our entire operations. What gives you the right to come onto our ship and tell us we're doing everything wrong? Do you think yourself so much better than us?"

Arjuna took us in because he needed laborers, Rena wanted to say. Which is what we've been doing since we got here--working our fingers to the bone, which is more than I can say for you, Sabad, whose only occupation seems to be whining, backbiting, and flirting with the other men on your husband's ship.

But aloud Rena said, "No one is implying that your operations are flawed, Sabad."

"Then what are you implying? That our work is beneath you? That the salvage trade is for a lower class? Is that what we are to you, Lady of El Cavador? A lower class? Because we are Somali?"

Rena sighed inside. Why did Arjuna persist in calling her Lady of El Cavador? Didn't he see that it angered Sabad?

Of course he saw, thought Rena. That was probably the reason why he was doing it. To annoy her, a way of publicly poking her with a stick. Everyone saw how Sabad would move around the ship half naked, lingering in the engine rooms where the men would ogle at her healthy breasts. It wasn't uncommon for the Somali women to go bare chested, but Sabad put hers on parade, twisting her hips as she moved through the room, so her breasts would sway back and forth in zero gravity like an invitation. Arjuna had told her to cover herself on more than one occasion, but Sabad had merely found ways to avoid him.

Is that what you're doing, Arjuna? Rena wondered. Annoying your wife through me?

"There is no caste system on this ship," said Rena. "There are two tribes. Ours and yours. We are equals."

"We are not equals," said Sabad. "This is our ship. You are guests here."

"We have formed a partnership," said Rena. "Making the Gagak a mining ship is Arjuna's wish as well."

"It is a false partnership," said Sabad. "You cannot form an alliance without a male leader among you."

"Our male leader is on Luna," Rena said--although in truth she wasn't sure if that was accurate. Once the ship had logged in to the network, Rena had trolled through the news feeds until she had found Victor's name. It hadn't been difficult. When the invasion began, several news outlets had recalled the video a young free miner named Victor Delgado had uploaded onto the nets and that everyone had dismissed as phony. Rena had done some additional digging and learned that Victor had been arrested by the Lunar Trade Department for various ridiculous charges involving his flight into Luna. He had escaped custody, however, and that's where the trail ended. Maybe he was on Luna, maybe he wasn't. Maybe he had gone to Earth. Maybe he had tried to return to the K Belt. Maybe he was trying to find El Cavador. She wished she knew.

But for the moment, what she did know was enough: He was alive. He had made it to Luna. He had done the impossible.

It struck her as ironic that he had made such a sacrifice only to have the world reject him. All that way, all that suffering, and what does Earth do? How do they thank him? By throwing him into prison. It was a wonder more families hadn't fled the insanity of Earth and taken up the mining trade.

"If your son is on Luna, why doesn't he talk to us?" said Sabad. "How do we know this alliance is his wish? Are we to take your word on it?"

"Our Council of women met and voted on the matter," said Rena. "Victor is our chief in absentia. The Council makes decisions in his absence."

"First off," said Julexi. "Victor is not our chief. I don't care if he's the oldest male or not. That doesn't make him our leader in our culture. Second, the Council's vote is meaningless. We're not a true council. We haven't been a true council since the Incident."

She meant the destruction of El Cavador and the death of all the men. That's the name Julexi had given it. The Incident. Rena found the word offensive. It sounded so insignificant. Uncle Jorge having too much to drink at a birthday party. That was an incident. Victor as an infant peeing into the air during his baptism and unleashing droplets of urine throughout the cargo bay. That was an incident. But the death of half of their crew, the shattering of their livelihood, the orphaning of their children, the widowing of the wives, the ripping in half of their families, was not an incident. It was far more than that.

"Our true Council included our husbands, Rena," said Julexi. "Sensible men. And if they were here, they would laugh this idea of yours to scorn. It never would have been put to a vote. The group you call the Council now is a grieving pack of terrified widows who will jump at the chance at any return to normalcy. What's that, you say? A mining ship? Just like El Cavador? Why yes, let's do that! Even though they have no idea how to actually pull it off."

"Our women are making intelligent, informed decisions, Julexi. We discussed the challenges in detail. We debated the issue five times. Everyone's voice was heard, including yours. This was not an emotional decision. It was a financial one. We are much more likely to achieve the independence we want if we make this move. I honestly think it's in our best interest as women and in the best interest of our children."

Julexi threw her hand up in exasperation. "That's what you always say. It's in the best interest of our children." She pointed in the direction of the cargo hold. "None of those little ones are your children, Rena. Not one. They're ours. So I don't see why you think you have the right to speak on their behalf."

Rena forced herself to smile and keep her voice calm. "Forgive me, Julexi. I misspoke. I say 'our' because that's what I've always said, ever since Victor was born. But you have kindly reminded me that my inability to have more children after Victor removes my right to use that possessive pronoun once Victor is gone. I assure you, hereafter, I will say 'your.'"

Julexi folded her arms. "Now you're being snide."