‘Our technicians have already reconnected the wires and repaired the machine,’ replied Kachika. ‘Please begin the transmission immediately.’

The engineer shook his head again. ‘We have no power.’

‘You don’t have a backup generator?’

‘We do, but it runs on petrol and now we’re out of petrol. We poured all the petrol we had into the trench outside and… er… set it alight.’

‘All of it?’

The lieutenant took over from the engineer. ‘Every last drop. Our only thought was to defend the station. We even used up the dregs in the generator’s fuel tank.’

‘Then go outside and collect what’s left in the trench.’

The lieutenant glanced outside and saw that the flames in the trench were dying down. He opened a cabinet in the central console and pulled out a small metal pail. The ants stepped back to clear an exit route for him.

When the lieutenant reached the doorway, he paused and looked round at them. ‘Is the world really going to end in ten minutes?’

Kachika’s answer came through the translator loud and clear. ‘If that signal isn’t sent, yes, the entire planet will be burnt to a crisp in ten minutes.’

The lieutenant turned and hurried down the stairs. He soon returned, setting the pail on the floor. Kachika, Jolie and Joya crawled to the edge of the console and looked down at it. There was no petrol inside, only half a bucketful of stinking mud mixed in with a lot of frazzled ant corpses.

‘All the petrol in the trench burnt up,’ said the lieutenant.

Kachika checked out the window and saw that he was telling the truth. The fires had gone out. She turned to Field Marshal Jolie. ‘How much time is left on the countdown?’

Jolie kept her eyes glued to her watch as she answered. ‘Five minutes and thirty seconds remaining, Supreme Consul.’

Kachika inhaled sharply and allowed herself a couple of those seconds before she shared her momentous news. ‘I have just received a call. Our forces in Laurasia have been defeated. When they attacked the Laurasian signal station, the dinosaurs guarding it blew up the building. The interrupt signal cannot be sent to Luna. It will detonate in five minutes.’

‘It is the same for Leviathan, Supreme Consul,’ Field Marshal Jolie said calmly. ‘All is lost.’

The dinosaurs did not understand a word the three leaders of the Ant Federation had said. ‘We can get some petrol from nearby,’ the engineer offered. ‘There’s a village about five kilometres from here. The highway is blocked, so we’ll have to go on foot, but if we’re quick about it, we can be back in twenty minutes.’

Kachika waved her antennae feebly. ‘Go, all of you. Do whatever you want.’