The day after the destruction of the Ivory Citadel, Supreme Consul Kachika of the Ant Federation led a team of doctors to Boulder City and requested an audience with Emperor Dadaeus.

‘The Ant Federation has been deeply humbled by the Gondwanan Empire’s tremendous show of power,’ Kachika said meekly.

Dadaeus was immensely gratified by this display of unequivocal submission. ‘Well then, Kachika!’ he boomed. ‘Finally some sense out of you.’ He patted his humongous belly in absent-minded contentment. ‘This is not the first time dinosaurs and ants have gone to war, but you ants no longer have the capacity you once enjoyed. You cannot start fires in our cities and forests any more, as the fire alarms and automatic sprinkler-systems we have installed will immediately extinguish any flame larger than a cigarette butt. As for that barbaric tactic of sneaking into dinosaurs’ nostrils…’ He snorted derisively, unconsciously clearing his own nasal passages in the process. ‘Even during the First Dinosaur–Ant War we had ways of putting a stop to that. It’s an irritant, nothing more.’

‘Just so, Your Majesty,’ Kachika replied politely, keeping a cautious eye out for any imperial snot that might be jetting her way. ‘The purpose of my visit is to request that the Gondwanan Empire immediately suspend all attacks against other cities in the Ant Federation. We will call off the strike and resume our labours throughout the empire. The Ant Federation has made the same pledge to the Laurasian Republic. Right now, on every continent, tens of billions of ants are returning to dinosaur cities.’

Dadaeus nodded repeatedly in approval. ‘This is all as it should be. The disintegration of the dinosaur–ant alliance would be disastrous for both our worlds. At least this incident has shown you ants once and for all who really rules the Earth!’

Kachika dipped her antennae. ‘It was a vivid lesson indeed. And as an expression of the Ant Federation’s sincere respect for Earth’s rulers, I have brought with me our most distinguished medical team to attend to Your Majesty’s eye.’

Dadaeus was very pleased. His eye injury had been troubling him for the past two days, but all his dinosaur surgeons had been able to do was prescribe him yet more antibiotics.

The ant medical team set to work straight away. Some of them operated on the outer surface of the emperor’s eyeball, while the rest passed through his nostrils to focus on the back of the eye.

‘Your Majesty, the first stage of the operation entails removing the dead and infected tissue from your eyeball and administering an injection,’ Kachika explained. ‘We will then repair the wound with the latest therapeutic agent – living tissue cultivated through bioengineering. It will completely heal your eyeball, leaving your vision and the appearance of your eye unaffected.’

Two hours later, the operation was done. Kachika and the ant medical team departed.