I turned and continued my review, my staff accompanying me.
As we entered the next training bay, we could hear behind us the cautious sounds of the Warriors resuming their training.
CHAPTER FIVE
“…the earlier possibilities of the Ant’s utilizing either poison gas or an acid spray have been discarded. While these devices are within the grasp of their technology, there have been no indications to date of their use or development.”
Of all my duties, I found these briefings with representatives of the Scientists’ caste the most distasteful. The briefing was particularly uncomfortable as I was without Zur’s counsel. He was justifiably preoccupied working with his reserve force. Unfortunately, this left me to deal with the Scientists alone.
“We are still working on a means of disrupting the Ants’ communications, but at this time it seems unlikely an adequate counter will be perfected prior to your departure. Effective countermeasures have been developed, however, to deal with the stun rays.”
She indicated a small flat mechanism on the table at the side of the room.
“They are worn strapped to the chest, and field tests have proved they will nullify the effect of a stun ray. The Technicians are currently producing them for issue in the near future.”
“Has the exact range of a stun ray been defined yet?” I interrupted.
“No,” the Scientist answered. “It seems to vary according to the amount of energy fed into the projector.”
I made a mental note to require all transport crew members to wear these units. Having the Planet-side Warriors immune to the stun rays would be of limited merit if the Ants could succeed in using them against the orbiting transports.