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"You've told us how you'll get us there," said Wit. "What happens next? Arriving is only the beginning. You said you had discovered a vulnerability?"
"That is the carrot we'll leave dangling," said Lem. "Agree to work with us, and we'll show you how to cripple the ship and kill everyone on board. Otherwise, we'll take this strategy to another strike force. There are others we can approach, but our strong preference is to work with you."
"We need to debate this among ourselves," said Wit. "But if we agree, how would we get to Luna, and how quickly could we make this happen?"
"Give me a verbal commitment, and I will send an aircraft to retrieve you and carry you to one of our launch sites in Finland."
"How will you retrieve us?" said Wit. "We're
in the middle of a war zone. The skies aren't safe."
"Let us coordinate that. China is being more agreeable to opening its air space, and Juke has aircraft throughout Southeast Asia. The logistics we can work out. Our priority now is cementing the strike team. We will await your answer."
The Luna team said their farewells, and Wit disconnected the call.
"Well?" asked Wit. "What does everyone think?"
The room was quiet a moment then ZZ said, "I'm not crazy about those cocoons. No movement. No flight controls. I'm not claustrophobic, but I think I would be after a few hours. And what do we do if our suit malfunctions? Or if the remote controls fail? Float off into oblivion? Asphyxiate? We can't exactly call for help. We'll be far away from each other. The moment we rush to another's aid, our cover is blown and the Formics start shooting."
"We wouldn't be able to defend ourselves either," said Cocktail. "I don't like that. We'd be floating targets. And not just for a brief amount of time either. It will take us days to float to the ship if we're drifting at a negligible speed. And it's not the boredom that bothers me. It's knowing that I could be vaporized at any moment. That would drive me insane. I think the concept is brilliant, but if the Formics were wise to us it would be like shooting fish in a barrel, and we'd be the fish."
"I agree," said Lobo. "The cocoons are loco. But they're also an idea that might, actually, God willing, work. I'm not too keen on the idea of climbing inside one either, but I feel better knowing they're being built by Juke. This is the most advanced ship manufacturer in the world we're talking about. If anyone can do this, they can."
"I'm with Lobo," said Mazer. "Lem Jukes strikes me as a little too arrogant for his own good, but there's no denying the fact that the man has resources. No government on Earth makes as big a commitment to space tech and engineering as Juke Limited. Better suits. Better life-support systems. And their shipbuilders live and breathe this world. They understand the conditions, they know the physics. If they say they can build a cocoon that will look like a hunk of harmless junk, I believe them. I agree with Cocktail and ZZ that the cocoons have their drawbacks, but there's no golden solution here. Any approach is going to be high risk.
"But even if they didn't have any of that to offer--the ships, the suits, none of it--even if they didn't have so much as a belt buckle to give us in terms of equipment, we still need these people. They have Victor. The guy not only got inside the ship, but he also got to the heart of it and back out again. Without detection. The intel he has changes everything. Until an hour ago, that ship was a giant question mark. With Victor we have something to work with. We wouldn't be going in blind. We could actually plan an infiltration with some degree of confidence. And when they say they know how to destroy it, I believe them. Whatever vulnerability they've discovered, whatever they have up their sleeve, they seem pretty confident about it. I say go."
"Shenzu?" said Wit. "What say you? If we do this we'd be abandoning our post here."
Shenzu dismissed that with a wave of his hand. "The past week has been a master's class for our field commanders. They have learned much from watching all of you. And China will be open to other outside commanders as well. That tide has turned. Ketkar from India will come. Others from Europe and the U.S. will come as well. Strategists we can rally in abundance. I will see to that. For whatever reason, my voice has some weight now. This isn't a concern. The rarity in this war is a strike team that's cohesive enough, trained enough, and single-minded enough to pull this off. That's us."
"Us?"
"Of course," said Shenzu. "Don't think for a second that I'm not coming with you."
CHAPTER 18
Soldier Boy
When Bingwen heard that he'd be joining the MOPs and Chinese officers for dinner, he expected the food to be better than a sludgy protein drink. Canned vegetables perhaps. Or maybe crackers with an MRE, if he was lucky. So when the server in the cafeteria line handed him a plate loaded with steaming beef strips, fluffy white rice, and fresh sauteed vegetables, Bingwen stared at it, stunned. "Is this all for me?"
Mazer was ahead of him in line and picked up a bowl of pudding from the dessert racks. "You don't have to eat all of it if you don't want to."
"Are you kidding?" said Bingwen. "Of course I'm eating it. This is more than I ever got at home. Can I have one of the puddings, too?"
"Help yourself. It's a la carte."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you can pick and choose whatever you want."
"In that case, I'm taking two."
Bingwen grabbed a bowl of chocolate pudding and a slice of peach pie and put them both on his tray.
Mazer tugged at Bingwen's sleeve. "All right, hippopotamus. Better come with me before your eyes make promises your stomach can't keep." He led Bingwen to a small table in the dining hall away from the MOPs and Chinese officers scattered elsewhere around the room.
"Do you eat this well every day?" said Bingwen. "Or is this a special occasion?"
