My staff was currently assembled in front of one of those maps, the map of the second anthill, Raht’s assignment.
“The difficulties in assaulting this particular anthill are obvious,” I stated in opening. “As you can see, one of the major egg chambers lies here, under this lake.”
I indicated the specific location on the map.
“I have called this meeting to seek your counsel on a problem which has arisen, or more specifically has failed to be corrected. The latest progress report from the Technicians indicates they have been unable to perfect a watertight Borer unit. What is more, their current projections for a completion time on that task fall well beyond our anticipated departure date. That means our original plan to bore directly to that chamber is no longer valid. We will have to formulate and implement a new plan if the assault is to be successful.”
I waited as they pondered the problem. Raht bent over to examine the map more closely, a gesture I realized was merely a formality to help her think, as she had long since committed the map to memory.
“Commander,” began Zah-Rah,” am I correct in assuming a force will have to traverse the tunnels from one of the other bore points? If so, it seems logical that they would have to come from this point, as it is the nearest to their objective.”
“With your permission, Commander?” Raht requested.
“Certainly, Raht.”
“That is not a viable possibility, Zah-Rah,” she began. “They would have to travel one of these two tunnels. Our current plans call for both those tunnels to be collapsed by Surface Thumpers. Failure to do that would allow the Ants to bring support units into position to protect the queen’s chamber, here.”