The formalities over, I nodded to Zur, who turned on the row of view tables, Immediately, tri-D projections of the five anthills appeared, one over each table.
"These are our targets," I said. "As you can see, we have been assigned one of the more formidable planets, one having five rather than the average two or three anthills. The mission of this campaign is to destroy the queens and the egg beds of the Ants."
I turned from the tables to address them directly.
"Each of you will command a team assaulting one of those anthills. The specific data and plans pertaining to your anthill are contained in the data pack you have been issued. You are to review that data immediately and inform Zur or myself of any proposed changes in the battle plan or support requirements. You will also prepare and present for the entire staff a summary of the battle plan for your specific anthill."
I paused and reviewed my words thus far for omissions before turning to the next subject.
"As we are one of the first wave of Planetary strike forces, you will have a wide choice of Warriors to build your specific teams from. I would caution you, however, not to take an excessive amount of time in submitting requests for specific team members. The longer it takes to form your team, the less time they will have to train. If I feel you are taking too long to name your preferences, I will give you one time warning. If after that you are still unable to make a decision, your force will simply be assigned to you.
"The quartering assignments for your teams and the tentative training schedules are included in your data packs. If you would propose any changes to that schedule, discuss them with either Zur or me immediately. I would anticipate one question, and point out that if the training period seems both long and intense, remember the nature of our mission will require that much of the combat be done in the tunnels of the anthills. As the Warriors are unaccustomed to fighting in complete darkness, maximum time must be allowed for familiarization with the new equipment if they are to perform at peak efficiency."
I faced them squarely for my closing comments.
"You will all be quartered here with Zur and me. Once your teams are formed, you will be on call to me at all times. If I call a staff meeting, I will expect to see you, not your second-in-commands. Serious illness or injury will be the only excuse for nonattendance, and if your impairment is serious, we will not expect you to recover and will seek a replacement. I mention this so you will not overextend yourselves between sleep periods. Do not allow yourself to become fatigued to the brink of exhaustion, for your planned sleep may be interrupted."
"As we are one of the first strikes forces to be sent out, we will have to adapt to any new developments or equipment in minimum time, or not at all. Are there questions?"
The team leaders were silent for several moments as they digested the briefing.
I waited.
"Question, Commander!"
"Yes, Tur-Kam?"
"Would you clarify the necessity for destroying the egg beds as well as the queens?"
I turned to Zur and nodded for him to reply.
"It has been discovered," he began, "that in event of a queen's death, the Ants are able to inject additives to certain eggs to produce a new queen. Therefore, if we are to succeed in exterminating the Ants as a continuing species, we must destroy the eggs as well as the queens."
"Commander?"
"Yes, Raht?"
"In our selection of specific Warriors, particularly our second-in-commands, are there any Warriors you would deem unacceptable?'
"While you will be expected to review your choices with Zur or myself prior to acting on them, we currently have no prejudices against any individual, Hatching, or ability group which would result in an immediate veto."
"Question, Commander."
"Yes, Kah-Tu?"
"What are your anticipated casualties on this mission?"
"If the assault proceeds according to plan without unanticipated resistance, we expect to survive the mission with no more than seventy percent casualties." No one said anything else.
CHAPTER THREE
Zur accompanied me as I rode the shuttle flyer to the Technicians' portion of the colony ship. Actually, I realized, the term "colony ship" was a misnomer. The reality of the situation was that the colony was actually a collection of smaller ships traveling in close alignment without any physical connection between them. Although they theoretically could be joined together to form one massive unit, and each new module was designed with that purpose in mind, the fact of the matter. was that they had not been so arranged since shortly after the Empire relocated its population into them. Each massive module was a self-contained, stand-alone unit. When it was necessary to form a new colony ship, orders were simply issued for certain modules to set a new course, and there would be two colony ships where before there had been-only one. How many such colony ships there were currently in the Empire I neither knew nor cared.
The modules that composed the Technicians' portion of the ship were easily distinguished from the others on the screen. They were the ones that were solid discs as opposed to the rings that were the Scientists' and Warriors' modules. I had never known the reason for this until the first time an occasion arose necessitating a visit to the Technicians' section. Once there, it became obvious. Unlike the Scientists and Warriors, who worked and trained in the centrifugal-force-simulated gravity of rim-module, the Technicians did much of their work in the near-zero gravity that existed at the center of the module. In fact, certain subcastes of Technicians, such as the pilot of our shuttle craft, the transport pilots, and the heavy construction workers, were specifically bred for zero-gravity work and spent the majority if not all of their lives in that condition.
The docking process interrupted my thoughts. We departed the shuttlecraft without exchanging words with the pilot. As I have noted before, exchanges between members of different castes are rare except at certain rank-levels.
A Technician was waiting to receive us as we disembarked.
"I am Or-Sah," he introduced himself. "I have been assigned to answer your questions."
"This is Rahm," Zur responded, "a Planetary Commander of the Warriors, here to inspect the progress on various pieces of equipment being prepared for the Ant campaign."
I did not question why Zur did not introduce himself. Part of the reason I had him accompany me on these trips was that he was far more familiar with intercaste protocol than I.
"First," I stated, "I would wish to inspect the new Borer units."
"Certainly, Commander," replied Or-ah without hesitation. "This way."
The Borer units were an improvement on the fortification we had used in our last mission. Instead of simply burning their way into a ground-level position, the new units were fitted with telescoping walls that extended downward as a tunnel was burned to accommodate them. Although all the units were of the same general design, they had to be individually modified. As each anthill was unique, the Borers designated to each anthill had to be built to penetrate to different depths. In cases where the chosen path for the Borer intersected existing Ant tunnels, ledges and firing slots had to be added to enable the Warriors to defend the tunnel from assault.
"Here is the prototype of the Borer unit, Commander," Or-Sah said, leading us into a large chamber.
High above us, work crews were laboring, furiously constructing additional units. We ignored them and studied the unit at our level.
One feature that was immediately apparent to the eye was the additional armament. The weapons at the top of the dome were heavier and more numerous, and there were additional weapons mounted along the perimeter of the unit.