The Bug Wars by Robert Asprin

Breaking off the conversation, I strode hurriedly to the screens, accepting the booster band as I went.

“Rahm here.”

“Commander, I’d like your advice on this.”

I hurriedly scanned the operational screens. They displayed a view of ridge and brush, but nothing noticeably unusual.

“Explain, Zur.”

“The clump of brush by the dead tree. Examine it closely.”

I did. At first I saw nothing, but as I used far-focus I saw it. An Ant.

“Kor just noticed it, Commander. It seems to be observing us.”

“How long has it been there?”

“Unknown. It may have been there through our entire skirmish with the spider.”

I studied the Ant, but my mind was elsewhere. Mentally, I was reviewing the briefing we had received from Tzu: intelligent…capable of understanding machinery…able to communicate with the nest.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Surprisingly enough, the Scientists did not seize upon the incident to renew their arguments for a closer study of the Ants. If anything, their efforts in that direction slackened. They even abandoned their covert monitoring of the view-input units by the anthill, leaving the View Screens unwatched for unprecedented periods of time. Instead, they pursued the mission with renewed, almost frantic energy. Not that there wasn’t enough to occupy their time: there were countless specimens to collect and observe. Also, there was the spider.

After they had realized they were being observed by the Ants, the team had cut short their field studies. Instead; they had transported the spider’s carcass back to the fortification, intact. This was accomplished with no small difficulty by draping this spider across one of the skimmers and piloting it back. This involved actually crawling under the body and peering from between its legs to steer. I was quite proud of the nerves of the Warriors who performed this task. It is not pleasant to spend a prolonged period of time in such close proximity with the body of an Enemy, particularly one that has come close to killing you. Still, they carried out the assignment without falter or complaint. It did cause quite a stir when they hit the defense network, though.