Professor Joya, however, did not share their excitement. Far from it. She swished and waggled her feelers desperately, trying to quiet the assembled masses, but the cheering did not subside. It was only by shouting that she forced everyone to calm down and pay attention.
‘Enough! Have you all gone mad?’ she yelled. ‘The dinosaur world is a vast and extremely complex system. If that system suffers a sudden collapse, there will be consequences we cannot predict.’
‘Professor,’ Kachika replied, ‘other than the destruction of the dinosaur world and the final victory of the Ant Federation on Earth, can you enumerate for us the other consequences?’
‘I told you – they are difficult to predict.’
‘Here we go again,’ Senator Birubi said. ‘Joya the egghead strikes again. We are tired of this shtick of yours,’ she said.
The other senators grumbled in agreement. The chief scientist’s killjoy attitude was spoiling the party.
Field Marshal Jolie scurried over to Professor Joya and patted her with her front leg. The field marshal was an unemotional ant, one of the few who had not cheered with everyone else.
‘Professor,’ she said sympathetically, ‘I understand your concerns. In fact, I share some of them. But, as a realist, I don’t think the Ant Federation has any other choice. Scholars like you can offer us no better alternative. As to the terrible consequences you spoke of, I can see why you might be nervous about the dinosaurs’ nuclear arsenals, for example. They are capable of wiping out all life on Earth. But there’s no need to worry. It’s true that the nuclear-weapons systems are controlled entirely by dinosaurs, and ants are only permitted to perform routine maintenance work under close scrutiny. But infiltrating those systems will be a cakewalk for our special forces. We will deploy more than twice the number of mine-grains in them than in any of the other systems. When the appointed time comes, they will be crippled. Not a single warhead will explode.’
Professor Joya sighed. ‘Field Marshal, it’s far more complicated than that. The crucial question is this: do we really understand the dinosaur world?’
This comment stunned all of the ants into silence for a moment, even Supreme Consul Kachika. Then she eyeballed Professor Joya and voiced what the others were thinking. ‘Professor, there are ants in every corner of the dinosaur world, and it has been that way for 3,000 years! How can you ask such a foolish question?’
Joya slowly shook her antennae. ‘We should not forget that dinosaurs and ants are two very different species. We inhabit disparate worlds. Intuition tells me that the dinosaur world holds great secrets that we ants know nothing about.’
‘If you can’t be specific, you might as well drop the subject,’ Birubi snapped.
But Joya would not be deterred. ‘To that end, I suggest that we establish an intelligence-gathering system. Specifically,’ she said, inclining her head in Birubi’s direction, ‘whenever we deploy a mine-grain in a dinosaur’s brain, we should also install a listening device in their cochlea. I will lead a department that will monitor and analyse the information sent back by these devices, with the aim of discovering things heretofore unknown to us as soon as possible.’
‘The preparatory work for Operation Decapitate should be finished in half a month,’ said Field Marshal Jolie. ‘Your department will be inundated with information from 5 million listening devices. Even if you invest enormous effort in this, the mine-grains will detonate before you’ve had the chance to analyse a fraction of that intelligence.’
Professor Joya dipped her antennae. ‘That is why, Field Marshal, I ask that the mine-grains’ detonation be delayed by a further two months, so that we can analyse as much information as possible. We may learn something.’
‘This is nonsense!’ Kachika shouted. ‘There can be no delay. One month is all the time we need to lay the mine-grains. We cannot and will not agree to an extension – not even by a single second. Undue delay will only invite trouble. We need to get this operation done! Besides, I don’t believe there is anything about the dinosaur world that we don’t already know.’
14
Mine-Grains
Emperor Dadaeus of Gondwana strode into Boulder City’s Communications Tower flanked by the interior minister and the security minister. The Communications Tower was the nexus of Boulder City’s data network, responsible for the transmission of all information between the capital and the rest of the empire. There were more than 100 similar hubs across Gondwana.
The three dinosaurs headed straight for the tower’s main control room, which was aglow with bank after bank of enormous computer screens. The dinosaur operatives seated behind the screens immediately rose to their feet out of respect for the emperor and his ministers.
‘Who’s in charge here?’ roared the interior minister. Two dinosaurs lumbered forward and introduced themselves as the centre’s lead engineer and chief security officer. ‘Tell me, where are the ants that work here?’ the minister said.
‘They’ve all left for the day,’ replied the lead engineer.
‘Good. Good.’ The interior minister nodded his approval. ‘So you’ve received the order from the Ministry of Security, I presume? And you’ve conducted a thorough examination of every single computer and piece of communications equipment in this tower? Hmm?’ He fixed the two dinosaurs with his steeliest gaze but did not wait for an answer. ‘As you know, this is to prevent possible sabotage by the ants. It’s a nationwide programme being rolled out in every sector and every corner of the empire. It is greater in scope and ambition than any previous inspection.’ He inclined his neck deferentially in the direction of Dadaeus. ‘His Imperial Majesty has come to observe your work.’
The lead engineer lowered his eyes. ‘We conducted a thorough inspection as soon as we received the order,’ he said quietly. A muscle in his jaw twitched nervously. ‘As of this moment, all key equipment has been checked twice. And we have further strengthened our security measures. I can personally guarantee the unassailability of our communications centre. Your Majesty may rest assured.’
‘Show us to the most important area of the tower,’ commanded Dadaeus.
‘To the server room, then?’ The chief engineer shot the interior minister an inquiring look, received an affirmatory nod and set off.
They soon came to an area packed with row upon row of massive white computers. These were the empire’s servers. They hummed softly, like living beings, as they processed the oodles of information pouring in from all over the world.
‘Talk us through the security measures for this server room,’ said the interior minister.
The chief security officer smiled with pride. ‘The ants who work in the tower are strictly prohibited from entering this room without authorisation. All maintenance work is performed under the close supervision of dinosaurs.’ She unhooked a magnifying glass from the door of the nearest server cabinet. ‘As Your Majesty can see, we use these to monitor the ants’ work. Whenever we have reason to dispatch an ant into the interior of a server, we keep them under continuous and rigorous surveillance.’ She gestured expansively around the room, drawing the visitors’ attention to the magnifying glasses hanging on every server-cabinet door.
‘Excellent.’ The interior minister inhaled sharply. ‘And what have you done to prevent infiltration by unauthorised ants?’
‘For a start, we’ve hermetically sealed the server room to stop intruders from gaining access.’
‘Hermetically sealed it?’ interjected the security minister, who’d been silent until now. He gave a hollow guffaw. ‘That’s a laugh! Let me tell you, I have had the dubious pleasure of seeing the most airtight room known to dinosaurkind – namely the vault in the Imperial Bank of Gondwana where the ants’ currency is stored.’ He shook his head in weary disgust. ‘Do you know how tightly that vault is sealed? No? I can assure you: it’s a vacuum inside there. Not even air can get in. Air! Think about that for a moment. It’s a perfect seal. And yet…’