“This isn’t the Kuiper Belt, Vico. You can’t do whatever you want and expect people to agree to your terms. There has to be an order to things.”
“And look what that order has done for Earth, Imala. Look at the situation now. Stagnation. Infighting. Disagreements. Inaction. And thousands of people dead on the sidelines.”
“So what, you think you can waltz in, join the military, and fix the problem?”
“I’m not useless, you know. I have skills I can offer.”
“Of course you do. But that doesn’t change the fact that the system is what it is. I doubt NATO would even take you.”
“What’s NATO?”
“An intergovernmental military alliance. A bunch of countries who agree on defense measures and military action as a combined force.”
“Why aren’t they doing anything already?”
“I’m guessing they will, eventually, though not in China. Not unless the Chinese change their mind and allow outside troops, which isn’t likely to happen any time soon. NATO will be focused on space, taking out the mothership.”
“That’s perfect for me. I’m built for space. That’s where I can help.”
“If they’ll take you,” said Imala, “which I doubt they will. And even if they did take you, you’re not likely to see action any time soon. They’ll want to train you, specialize you, shape you into what they need you to be.”
“Fine. As long as I’m helping.”
She watched him for a moment. “Are you sure about this?”
“I wasn’t five minutes ago, but I am now, yes.”
“And what if we go back and NATO won’t take you?”
“Then I’ll do my own thing.”
She laughed. “Your own thing? Meaning what? Take on the mothership by yourself?”
“If I have to.”
Imala laughed again, and then her smile faded. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why not? Why should we sit back and accept someone else’s inaction or failure? I have just as much right to protect the human race as they do.”
“And how do you propose to take on the mothership by yourself, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I have no idea. I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”
“And what about your family?”
“I’m doing this for my family, Imala. If we lose Earth, we lose everything. How long do you think miners would last without supplies? If Earth loses, my family loses.”
“The landers are only in China, Vico. Earth is a big planet. It doesn’t hang in the balance just yet. We don’t even know what the aliens want.”
“The report said the aliens were dropping bacteria into the sea, right?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Why would they do that?”
“Kill marine life? I don’t know.”
“Terraforming, Imala. They’re seeding bacteria in the oceans for the same reason they’re using defoliants to kill all plants and animals. They want the planet. They want Earth. But they can’t have it in its current state. It has to be a planet that conforms to their biology, not ours. All existing life in the sea, all biology on land, evolved here without them. That makes it hazardous to them. They don’t have natural defenses against our biota. Our strains of bacteria are different from theirs. So they’re going to change Earth to be more like the world they do know. They’re going to burn it down and start all over. If we were going to seize a planet, we would do the same thing. We’d drop stuff in the atmosphere, wipe out all existing biological life, seed Earth-born plants and animals, make the new planet as much like Earth as we could. It’s the ecosystem we were engineered for. Why else would they have come, Imala? Why else would they be acting the way they are? They don’t want to communicate with us. They don’t want to negotiate. They’re not going to ask us for Earth. They’re already taking it. And I’ve seen these creatures, Imala. I’ve seen how they attack and how they think, how relentless they are. If they can land on Earth, if missiles and weapons can’t hurt them, they won’t quit until Earth is theirs.”
The waitress floated back over. She wasn’t carrying any food. She looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask both of you to leave.”
“Why?” said Imala.
“Someone is renting out the entire depot. They want everyone else off.”
“We paid a docking fee,” said Victor. “We just got here.”
“I know. I’m sorry. We’ll refund the fee.”
“Why does someone need the entire depot?” asked Imala. “Do they have that many people in their party?”
“No,” said the waitress. “There are just the two of them. They docked a few minutes ago. They said they needed their privacy. I guess when you have that kind of money, you can do whatever you please.”
“Who is it?” asked Imala.
“Lem Jukes,” said the waitress.
CHAPTER 17
Transmissions