The recording began to play.

DODOMI: Your Majesty, are you not aware of the real reason the ants capitulated so readily? Those crafty critters are playing us for fools. Their return to work in the dinosaur world is nothing but a dastardly diversion… a smokescreen… a masquerade! The truth is that the Ant Federation is plotting something huge against the dinosaur world.

DADAEUS: Mr President, do you really think me so dense that I would fail to recognise the obvious? But compared with Laurasia’s decision to put Luna on a command-loss timer, the threat posed by the ants – even the threat posed by your nuclear weapons – is trivial. A dastardly diversion, as you so alliteratively articulated it.

DODOMI: Yes, that’s quite true. Luna and Leviathan are indubitably by far the greatest threats to the continued existence of civilisation on Earth. Let’s discuss that then, shall we? For kick-off, it is outrageous to point the finger at us, since Leviathan started its timer first!

‘Stop! Stop! Stop!’ Kachika interrupted, waving her antennae. ‘Professor, I have no idea what they’re talking about.’

Joya paused the recording. ‘This conversation contains two seemingly crucial but currently uninterpretable pieces of information. Number one: what are “Luna” and “Leviathan”? Number two: what is a “command-loss timer”?’

‘Professor, strange codenames crop up all the time in the conversations of top dinosaur leaders. Why are you so worked up about this?’

‘From both the tone and the substance of the dinosaurs’ conversation, I can draw no other conclusion but that these things, though unknown to us, are so dangerous as to constitute a threat to the entire world.’

Kachika shifted irritably from leg to leg. ‘Logically speaking, that’s impossible, Professor. Anything capable of constituting a threat to the entire planet would by necessity have to be a massive installation. To wipe out civilisation on Earth, for example, one would require upwards of 10,000 intercontinental missiles. Imagine the size of such a launch facility! Not to mention that such a vast, complex system could never function properly without us ants being extensively involved in its maintenance. If such an installation existed, therefore, the Ant Federation would certainly be aware of it. And given that we are essential to the smooth operation of the current nuclear-weapons systems of both dinosaur powers, we are already fully apprised of everything there is to know about them.’

‘I agree with you, Madam Supreme Consul, that no large installation on Earth could be kept hidden from us. But a simple installation of more modest scope could be. A single intercontinental missile, for example, might not need ants to maintain it and could remain on standby for immediate launch for a long time without our involvement. Perhaps Luna and Leviathan are weapons along those lines.’

‘In which case, there’s nothing to worry about. Such small installations could hardly be considered a danger to the planet. Like I said, to destroy Earth would require thousands of even the highest-yield thermonuclear weapons.’