Earth Afire (The First Formic War 2)

The kid disappeared. The star icon returned. Mazer waited for ten minutes. Finally Sergeant Major Manaware, Colonel Napatu's assistant, answered. Before Mazer could say a word, the sergeant major said, "Your orders are to maintain your position, Captain."

The holofield chimed, and a memo from Colonel Napatu appeared as an icon in the field. A form order, no doubt.

Mazer exhaled to keep his cool. "Sergeant Major, if the SAS deploys, my team needs to be on hand. No one knows the HERC like we do."

"Captain, I know you're frustrated, but the colonel's got seventeen strike teams on assignment all over the planet, and right now we don't have the means to bring you all home. And even if we did, the colonel is asking everyone to stay put. We don't know what we're up against, and we are not yet in a state of war. The alien ship remains in geosynchronous orbit. We're not circling the wagons just yet. Colonel Napatu is on conference with the admiral and other unit chiefs as we speak. In the meantime, watch the feeds and stay informed."

"That's just it," said Mazer. "We can't watch the feeds anymore. After the alien ship destroyed the news shuttles, the Chinese blocked all public access to the feeds. We're in the dark. We have no idea what's going on now. I think the Chinese are trying to prevent a panic, but they're liable to only make things worse."

"Then check in with us on the switchboard every few hours, we'll keep you informed."

"I usually can't get through," said Mazer. "It's a miracle I got through this time. Request permission to keep this line open."

"Negative. I need every available line. If you can't check in with us, then use your receivers to access one of our satellites."

"We can't do that either. The Chinese only allow access to their own satellites. They jam everything else. It's been that way ever since we got here."

Manaware was getting impatient. "Then talk to the Chinese. Even if they've blocked public access, the military will still have access to feeds. Ask them to keep you informed."

"Yes, but--"

"Captain, I've got twenty holos in my queue to answer. Excuse me."

He clicked off.

Mazer tried reconnecting with the switchboard, but he couldn't get through. He waited ten minutes, tried again, then slammed his fist on the desk when the transmission failed. He switched off the machine, closed his eyes, and exhaled. The SAS wasn't getting them out. And now Mazer and his team were cut off from the world, right when they needed minute-by-minute intel.

He tapped the memo Manaware had sent and opened it. He skimmed through it in five seconds and saw exactly what he had expected. Carry on. Continue in your duty. We'll keep you informed. Blah blah blah.

He couldn't take much more of this. The world had known for eleven days now that the ship was coming, and all anyone wanted to do was wait and see. Let's not act, everyone was saying. Let's wait and see. Let's observe this alien ship. Let's watch it and see what it does.

Well guess what, geniuses, "waiting and seeing" is the same as "waiting and getting blown up." Did the U.N. actually think all that wreckage in the Belt was the miners' fault? And now the aliens had just disintegrated the secretary of alien affairs. A clown to be sure, but the man was an emissary of the human race. These creatures, whatever they are, just took our little flag of peace and pissed all over it.

And what does the SAS do? Do they bring Mazer and his team home at all speed and prepare for the worst? No. They park us in China and have us whistle our way through our training exercises.

Mazer got up and headed back toward the barracks. He knew exactly how the world would respond. The Chinese would shy away from any coalition agreement and claim that the protection of their own people was their first priority. In other words, China would look out for China. The Russians would almost certainly bow out as well, though for different reasons. Why help the U.S. and other superpowers retain their strength? Why not let the aliens hammer the coalition? That would suit the Russians just fine. Their military is the weakest it's been in decades. They'd love to see everyone else brought down to their level.

Mazer entered the barracks and found his team waiting for him.

"Did you get through?" said Fatani.

"What did the colonel say?" said Reinhardt.

"Quiet," said Patu. "Let him talk."

"I spoke to Manaware," said Mazer. "Our orders are to stay put."

"Stay put?" said Reinhardt. "Are you kidding me? They just blew up the damn reception party."

"The colonel is in council," said Mazer. "If orders change, they'll ping us."

"Well that's fine and dandy," said Reinhardt. "That's just roses and pansies. And what are we supposed to do when this thing starts blowing up cities? Sit here and eat our rice and wave in the general direction of the destruction?"

"You watch too many movies," said Patu. "Nobody's blowing up cities."

"How do you know?" said Reinhardt. "It blew up those shuttles easily enough. And with a single gun no less. Who knows what it can do?"

"Why keep us here?" said Fatani. "We need to be back home, ready to deploy."