Earth Afire (The First Formic War 2)

"Bingwen."

"Captain Wit O'Toole. Mobile Operations Police. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but that would be a lie considering the circumstances." He turned to Mazer. "You brought a civilian into a hot zone, Mazer. Not smart. And a child, no less."

"It's not his fault," said Bingwen. "He tried to get rid of me, but I kept coming back."

"You must have already been at the lander when you saw us," said Mazer.

"We arrived last night," said Wit. "Observing. Undetected. We blew our cover to save you."

"You shouldn't have," said Mazer. "Don't think me ungrateful, but destroying the lander is more important than our lives."

"I'm glad to hear you haven't lost all sense," said Wit. "Because you're right. Strategically, it would have been smarter to let the Formics kill you."

"Well I for one am glad you didn't," said Bingwen.

"The shield only goes to the surface," said Mazer.

"We know," said Wit. "We saw the tunnels. We counted twenty of them around the lander. We'll have a hard time using them, though. Transports patrol the area, and the holes have a lot of traffic. Plus they're too narrow for us. They're Formic sized."

"I could fit through," Bingwen offered.

"Those tunnels aren't the answer," said Mazer. "But the principle is. What's the range on this vehicle? Could it get us fifty klicks south of here?"

"Why?" asked Wit. "What's to the south?"

"Drill sledges. We're not going to use Formic tunnels. We're going to dig our own."

CHAPTER 27

Launch

There was little heat in the shaft and only the standing lights of the construction crews to see by, but Lem was more worried about secrecy than comfort. Father had ears throughout the Juke complex, but he didn't yet have them here. The shaft had been dug only twelve hours ago. The walls and floor were still barren rock. The dust in the air was still thick and chalky. It seemed the perfect place to meet with Norja Ramdakan, longtime member of the executive board, who now stood opposite Lem, hugging himself in the cold.

"I should have told you to dress warmly," said Lem.

"You should have told me what this is about," said Ramdakan.

He was a plump man who cared far too much for fashion and far too little for his own health. Fine fabrics and colorful little boutonnieres didn't make you any less round in the midsection and thus more attractive to the womenfolk. No doubt Ramdakan's three ex-wives had told him exactly that as they stormed out of his life with a good chunk of his fortune.

Lem had known it would be this cold, and he could have easily passed the information on to Ramdakan, but he rather liked watching the man squirm.

According to the map on Lem's holopad, they were standing in solid moon rock, fifty meters from the nearest Juke tunnel and thirty meters below the surface. The tunnel was to be a connector between two of the wings, but since the excavation and construction were far from complete, the company map had not been updated to include it.

"I'm worried about my father," said Lem. "And I didn't know who else to talk to but you who know him best."

Ramdakan had been with Father since the beginning, handling most of the finances in Father's early mining ventures. He had even spent a few years in the Belt with Father, though Lem could hardly imagine that. Ramdakan recoiled from any discomfort. He must have been a bear to live with aboard a mining vessel.

"Why should you worry about your father?" asked

Ramdakan, trying not to look suspicious. He was one of Father's most trusted lieutenants, but he was also the most transparent. The man couldn't act to save his life. He had no sense of his own face, no awareness of how to conceal emotion. It made him seem enormously stupid. For an instant Lem tried imagining the man doing King Lear or Prospero, and the idea was more than a little revolting. Falstaff is more to your liking, chubby, except sapped of all wit and humor.

"I think someone in the company may be trying to usurp my father by discrediting him to investors," said Lem.

Ramdakan laughed. "They'll have a hard time of that. Your father is loved by investors. They all care about one thing, Lem. Coin. And your father gives them plenty of that."

"Yes, but Father could quickly fall out of favor. Everything could turn in an instant. You no doubt know about this business with taxes and tariffs, for example."

"I know we pay taxes and tariffs," Ramdakan said cautiously.