Earth Afire (The First Formic War 2)

"How can you be sure?"

"Because that's where I would put it. Look at the shape of the thing. Where would you want to be if you were the captain and you were moving at a fraction of the speed of light through space with collision threats all around you?"

"As far away from the side of the ship as possible," said Lem.

"Right," said Victor. "The center of the ship. The most protected spot."

"Assuming you're right about its location," said Lem, "how do you plan to reach it? The ship is likely crawling with Formics."

"I won't know until I'm inside," said Victor. "And I'll be recording everything. So even if I die, the footage would be useful. Whatever team follows me wouldn't be going in blind."

Lem sat silently for a moment. Then he came to a decision and leaned forward. "There's a corner of the Juke production facility dedicated to a project I'm working on. Wing H16. It has its own dock and entrance and exit. My father's people don't go there. Only my engineers are allowed access. Once you've collected the space junk, bring the shuttle and junk there. I'll give you space in the facility to camouflage the shuttle and prep it for launch. I'll have all the tools you need and engineers on hand should you require them. I'd offer scraps of Juke ships for the camouflage, but I don't want my father to have any part of this. This is not a Juke mission, this is our mission. Understand? If we use anything from Juke other than my facilities and private finances, my father would strip this from us and make it his own. We'd lose control.

"So we can't use a Juke shuttle either. It has to be one you buy from an outside source. Small so it would blend in with the debris, but outfitted properly. Something reliable. Not a junker. We're not going to fail because of faulty equipment. Buy a new one. You'll also need a cargo shuttle or a dumper to haul in space junk from orbit. You can't load everything into a tiny shuttle. So get both. A dumper and a small shuttle. We can resale the dumper if we have to. You'll need fuel as well of course, plus other supplies I'm probably not thinking of. How much do you need?"

It took Imala a moment to find her voice. "Um, I hadn't factored in the price of a dumper--"

"You'll need one," said Lem.

"All right." Imala thought for a moment then gave him a number.

"I'm tripling that," said Lem, tapping digits onto his wrist pad. "You need a cushion. These things are always more expensive than you think. If you need more, let me know." He motioned for her to extend her hand, then he tapped his wrist pad to hers.

Imala looked at the amount. It took a moment to find her voice. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for the human race."

He stood up to leave. "One more thing. I read your file, Imala. You uncovered a lot of dirt on my father. It cost you your job. I know you may think otherwise, but my father wasn't involved in those business practices. He has some dishonest employees, and he's dealing with them. In the meantime, I want to settle the issue. Whatever back taxes and tariffs my father may owe, I want to know about it. I will see to it that it's paid. My father won't be running this company forever. And when it's mine, I don't want any dirty laundry. There's a link in that amount I gave you. Send me everything you found, and I'll take care of it."

Imala nodded, surprised. "I will."

"Good. Now get the supplies and bring them to the dock."

"Wing H16," said Imala.

"Right," said Lem. He adjusted his coat and checked his cufflinks, as if he thought a photographer might be waiting right outside the door. Then he turned and walked out, his security retinue falling into step behind him.

When he was gone, Victor said, "Is it just me or did the smell of flowers go away when he and his stink walked in?"

"I don't trust him either," said Imala, looking down at her wrist pad. "But I'm not going to argue with this." She tapped him on the chest with the back of her hand and moved for the exit. "Come on, space born. You and I just declared war on the Formics."

CHAPTER 24

Blood and Ashes

At dinner, Mazer sat cross-legged on the farmhouse floor across from Danwen and Bingwen. It was the third night in a row eating rice and boiled bamboo shoots. Mazer finished his portion and set down his leaf bowl. "I'm well enough to move now. I should set out in the morning."

Bingwen looked panicked. "You can't. We have to stay together. Tell him, Grandfather."

"You do not command your elders, Bingwen," said Danwen. "Mazer must do what he thinks is best."

"But ... you can't leave us," said Bingwen. "I saved you. You have to protect us. You owe us."

"Bingwen!" Danwen clapped his hands together so loudly it was like thunder inside the farmhou

se. "You dishonor me. Outside. Clean the pots."

"Yes, Grandfather." The boy bowed low and scurried off.