Earth Afire (The First Formic War)

by Orson Scott Card

  “And do what exactly?” asked Imala. “Blow it up? Your family already tried that, Vico. It didn’t work.”

  “My family tried damaging it from the outside. They didn’t go inside.”

  “So you’ll go in the ship? How?”

  “I don’t know yet. I just came up with the idea. I’ll figure something out.”

  “I know you’re upset about not being able to enlist, Vico,” said Imala, “but let’s think rationally here. What you’re suggesting is suicide. We don’t have any of the supplies you’d need. We don’t have a shuttle. We don’t have camouflage for a shuttle. And we certainly don’t have weapons for doing any damage inside the Formic ship even if you were, by some miracle, able to get inside.”

  “What is it with you planet people?” said Victor. “All anyone ever does around here is say something can’t be done. We don’t have this. We can’t do that. That’s against the rules. Well guess what? This is how we live, Imala. This is how free miners think. When there’s a problem, we don’t sit around and take note of everything that can’t be done, we do something. We find a way, and we fix it.”

  Imala folded her arms. “You and I are on the same team, Vico. I’ve made sacrifices for you, and getting snippy with me doesn’t help. Everything I’ve said is true. You may not like it, but those are the facts. We don’t have those supplies. Just because I question your idea doesn’t mean I’m wrong. Are you telling me that every free-miner idea is a good one?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  “Then let’s think this through instead of arguing.”

  Victor exhaled. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  Imala turned to Yanyu. “Does the observatory have a shuttle we could use?”

  “I thought you were dismissing the idea,” said Victor.

  “I’m figuring out if it’s feasible,” said Imala. “I’m trying to help.” She turned back to Yanyu.

  “No,” said Yanyu. “We sometimes have the scopes serviced, but there’s a repair crew that does that. They have their own shuttles. I’ve never even seen them before. I wouldn’t know how to acquire one.”

  “What about the Juke shuttle?” said Victor. “The one we just docked?”

  Imala shook her head. “It’s in the system now. We don’t have authorization to reboard it or take it anywhere. Juke Limited wouldn’t let us near the thing. How would you camouflage a shuttle anyway? Maybe we start there.”

  “Space junk,” said Victor. “There are thousands of pieces orbiting Earth. Old satellites, retired space stations, discarded shuttle parts. We simply scoop up some of that and then weld it all over the surface of the shuttle to make it look like a big chunk of a destroyed ship.”

  “Weld it?” said Imala. “Who’s going to loan us a shuttle and then allow us to essentially destroy it by welding junk all over it?”

  Victor shrugged. “I don’t know. I have some money. Maybe we buy a used one.”

  “You don’t have enough,” said Imala. “Not even a fraction of what we would need. Operating shuttles are expensive. Even old ones. Especially now. With the war on and people in a panic, you can bet the price of shuttles has skyrocketed. I’d give you everything in my account as well, but we’d still be shy. Plus there’s the cost of fuel to go out and recover the space junk. That’s probably nearly as expensive as the shuttle itself. It’s a good idea, Vico, but we don’t have the money for that.”

  “I’d give you everything in my account too,” said Yanyu. “Maybe the others at the observatory would chip in also.”

  Victor and Imala exchanged glances.

  “It’s worth a shot,” said Imala. “But I still don’t think it will be enough.”

  “Let me conference with everyone,” said Yanyu.

  She hopped to the holofield and began a chat with her coworkers. Several of them pledged money, but most of them were skeptical and politely refused. They had the same issue that Imala did. Once you reach the Formic ship, then what? What good is it to invest in a shuttle if you can’t do anything once you get there? Imala spent the time looking on the nets at shuttles for sale, becoming increasingly more convinced that they couldn’t afford to buy one.

  After the conference, Yanyu and Imala shared notes. They were still far short. They didn’t even have enough to buy the shell of a shuttle someone was selling. No engine. No flight controls. Just the body of the ship.

  “We need a benefactor,” said Imala. “Someone with resources. Someone who could give us a shuttle and a weapon.”

  “If you’re going to say Ukko Jukes,” said Victor, “I’ll politely remind you that he wants us off the grid. He practically threw us out to the Belt.”

  “Not Ukko,” said Imala. “Lem.”

  “Absolutely not,” said Victor. “He’s a murderer, Imala. He crippled my family’s ship. He tried to kill me.”

  “He helped your family later, Vico.”

  “He abandoned them. He left them to die.”

  “He has what we need, Vico. And he wants to get rid of the Formics as much as we do.”

  “We don’t even know if he’s on Luna. He was still at Last Chance when we left.”

  “I already checked while Yanyu was on the holo,” said Imala. “He arrived several days ago. It was all over the news.”

  “He can’t be trusted, Imala.”

  “He came clean about your family, Vico. He didn’t have to. He told the truth.”

  “His version of the truth. And that doesn’t make him an ally.”

  “Anyone who wants to destroy the Formics is an ally, Vico. I don’t like it any more than you do. I find the man as repulsive as his father, but he can get us what we need if we can convince him to cooperate.”

  “He’ll only take the idea and do it himself.”

  “All the better,” said Imala. “Let him take the risks if he wants to. It doesn’t matter how the Formics go down. It only matters that they do.”

  Victor was quiet a moment. “If he refuses I want permission to punch him in the face.”

  “If he refuses,” said Imala, “you’ll have to get in line.”

  * * *

  Lem agreed to meet them at a botanical garden in the Old City an hour after the facility closed. Imala suggested that Yanyu stay behind and continue the search for a reasonable shuttle.

  Victor and Imala arrived at the appointed hour, and the man at the gate escorted them through the azalea garden to a bench beneath a crabapple tree and then left them there. Lem had not yet arrived, so they settled onto the bench and waited.

  Imala pointed out all the flowers she knew. Azaleas and rhododendrons lined the path all around them. White, pink, coral, magenta. Huge lilac plants swayed gently in the artificial breeze, their purple blossoms giving off a sweet scent. It mixed with the smells of damp earth and grass and other flowers, and was so powerful and so foreign to Victor that it made him a little sick to his stomach.

  Lem showed up ten minutes later with a retinue of security guards who hung back at a distance. He took the bench opposite them and settled back languidly.

  “Why meet us here?” said Imala. “Why not somewhere more public?”

  “Because he doesn’t want to be seen with a filthy rock sucker,” said Victor.

  Imala put a hand on Victor’s leg to calm him.

  “Wherever I go I get assaulted by paparazzi,” said Lem. “It’s annoying. I figured you didn’t want cameras shoved in your faces.”

  “Yes, you’re a big hero now,” said Victor. “We watched some of your interviews this afternoon. You were so brave to abandon those free miners. Wherever did you find the courage?”

  Lem rolled his eyes. “Is this why you asked to see me? To insult me? Because I really don’t have the time.” He started to get up.

  “No,” said Imala. “That’s not why.” She shot Victor a look, and Victor put his hands up in a show of surrender.

  Lem settled back on the bench. “Look,” he said, “whatever your agenda is, let me begin by saying that this compan
y has the finest legal team in the world. If your intent is to blackmail me, you’re making a mistake. It won’t work. My father would never allow that to happen. If you go to the press, they’ll ignore you. If you go the nets, it will be removed, and you’ll be slapped with a lawsuit that would pretty much guarantee a very dismal financial future for yourselves. Trust me. I know how my father works. I know you’re not wearing listening devices because I had the gardener sweep you when you came in, but if this is your intent, let me save you a lot of heartache and end the conversation right now before you say something you’ll regret. Because whatever it is, my father will hear of it, and it would not bode well for you.”

  “You see, Imala?” said Victor. “All he has for us is threats.”

  “I’m not threatening you,” said Lem. “I’m warning you. I’m doing you a favor. You don’t want to make a spectacle of what happened in the Kuiper Belt. You’d lose. There are other ways to do this. I’m willing to settle with the family of the man who died. We would do it privately. In a way that is untraceable back to me. But I will gladly do that. No lawyers. No documents. If the wife and children are still alive, I’ll happily set up an account and see that they’re taken care of.”

  Victor was so angry it took everything not to shout the words out. “You think you can buy my family? You think my uncle Marco can be paid for?” He turned to Imala. “This was a mistake. He’s not going to help us.”

  “Help you do what?” said Lem.

  “We didn’t come here to blackmail you,” said Imala. “We came here because we think we’ve found a way to get inside the Formic ship.”

  “And why would you want to do that?” asked Lem.

  “There’s a war on,” said Victor. “Maybe you didn’t notice.”

  Lem narrowed his eyes. “Your family was far more charming than you are, Victor. I find it hard to believe you’re even related.”

  Victor stood up. “That’s it. We’re out of here, Imala.”

  “Sit down, Victor.” Imala’s voice was sharp as a whip. “Both of you are acting like children. There are people dying. Millions of people. I would like to do something about that. I thought the both of you did as well. If I’m wrong, tell me now, and I’ll look elsewhere.”

  Reluctantly, Victor sat down again.

  Imala looked at Lem, who sat back and put his hands up, acquiescing. “I’m listening. What’s your plan?”

  She told him.

  When she finished Lem was quiet a moment. “How do you get inside the Formic ship once you reach it? I’ve seen it up close. There are no doors. No windows. No entry points anywhere.”

  “I’ll go in where the guns emerge,” said Victor. “On our way to the ship, I’ll stop at one of the bigger chunks of debris, I’ll attach a propellant to it. A small engine of sorts. It wouldn’t take much. Then when I reach the Formic ship, I’ll initiate the propellant and fly the hunk of debris directly at the Formic ship as fast as it can go. The guns will emerge to blast it to smithereens, and I’ll slip in through the hole.”

  Imala regarded him. “That’s actually a good idea. Why didn’t you mention it before?”

  “Because I just thought of it,” said Victor.

  “How would you get back out again?” said Lem. “Once the gun retracts, you’re stuck inside.”

  “I’ll take braces with me, made of the strongest reinforced steel available. I’ll prop open the crevice enough to squeeze back out.”

  “What if there’s no entry point inside the hole?” asked Lem. “The gun could sit in a recessed space without any access to the interior of the ship.”

  “Then I’ll use the opportunity to disable the gun,” said Victor. “I’ll cripple the ship as much as I can. I’ll make the most of my time. I’ll do reconnaissance. I’ll learn as much as I can.”

  “And what will you do if you do get inside the ship?”

  “Find the helm and plant an explosive,” said Victor. “Whoever is leading the army will likely be there. Kill him, and you put the army in chaos.”

  “How would you know where the helm is located?” asked Lem.

  “It’ll be in the center of the ship,” said Victor

  “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 farmhouse. “You dishonor me. Outside. Clean the pots.”

  “Yes, Grandfather.” The boy bowed low and scurried off.

  “You will forgive my grandson, Mazer. He is young and loose lipped and knows little respect.”

  “He’s right,” said Mazer. “I do owe you.”

  “You owe us nothing. We are alive because of you. There is no debt between us.”

  “You should go north,” said Mazer. “You can’t stay here. There aren’t any more supplies in the valley. You need food, fresh water. You’ve only stayed this long because of me, and for that I’m grateful, but I can’t allow you to endanger yourselves anymore on my behalf. Let me take you north until we find another group or family you can travel with. Then I’ll leave you and come south.”