‘We did it!’ Field Marshal Jolie shouted excitedly as the world map flashed red on her screen. ‘The dinosaur world has been crippled. Their information systems have been comprehensively disrupted. All of their cities have lost power, all of their roads have been blocked by vehicles disabled by mine-grains, and fires are spreading widely and rapidly.’ Her antennae were vibrating at speed now as she enumerated the Federation’s successes. ‘Operation Decapitate has neutralised 4 million leading lights of the dinosaur world, and the ruling bodies of the Gondwanan Empire and the Laurasian Republic have ceased to exist. The two great powers have been paralysed and dinosaur society is in chaos.’

‘And this is just the start,’ added Kachika. ‘Dinosaur cities are already having problems with their water supplies, and their food stocks will soon run out. That will be the tipping point. Vast herds of dinosaurs will flee the cities, but with no functioning cars and with all the roads blocked, they will be unable to evacuate in time. Given their voracious appetites, at least half the population will starve to death before they find food. Their high-tech society will be in tatters. The dinosaur world is regressing to a primitive, pre-industrial era even as we speak.’

‘What is the status of their nuclear-weapons systems?’ someone asked.

‘As expected, all of the dinosaurs’ nuclear weapons, including their intercontinental missiles and strategic bombers, have been reduced to scrap metal by our mine-grains,’ replied Jolie. ‘There have been no nuclear accidents and no cases of nuclear contamination.’

‘Excellent! This is truly a momentous occasion,’ Kachika said. ‘Now we just need to wait for the dinosaur world to destroy itself.’

Their celebratory mood was short-lived, however. A secretary ant now reported that Professor Joya had returned and was requesting an urgent meeting with Kachika and Jolie.

The weary chief scientist had barely made it through the command-centre door before Kachika launched into an angry tirade. ‘Professor, you betrayed the great cause of the Ant Federation at its most crucial moment. There will be serious consequences for your actions.’

‘When you hear what I have to tell you,’ replied Joya coldly, ‘it will be quite clear which of us is the most deserving of censure for their… actions.’

‘Why did you go and see the Emperor of Gondwana?’ asked Jolie.

‘To learn the truth about Luna and Leviathan.’

This immediately dampened the ants’ high spirits. All eyes – and parts of eyes – were now trained on the professor.

Joya scanned the assembled company. ‘So, does anyone here know what antimatter is?’

Every ant but Kachika remained silent.

‘I know a little,’ the supreme consul said. ‘Antimatter is a material that dinosaur physicists have theorised may exist. They say that its subatomic particles have the opposite electric charge to the matter in our world: its electrons carry a positive charge and its protons carry a negative charge. It’s purported to be a quantum mirror-image of the matter in our world.’