‘This was truly the darkest day in the history of the Laurasian Republic. The Gondwanan Empire now had the reins of life on Earth firmly in its grasp and it grew increasingly wild and unrestrained, making claim after claim on Laurasia’s territory and repeatedly ordering the Republic to get rid of its nuclear arsenal.

‘Needless to say, this lopsided state of affairs did not last long. Just one month after Gondwana’s Operation Leviathan, Laurasia responded in kind. Using similar technology, they collected a second antimatter fragment from space, brought it back to Earth and gave the empire a taste of its own medicine. They loaded their antimatter onto a cargo ship called Luna and sailed it into Gondwana’s largest port. And so balance was restored in the dinosaur world. A balance born of the ultimate deterrent, a deterrent that pushed Earth to the brink of destruction.’

‘It’s so unfortunate that we knew nothing about all this,’ muttered Field Marshal Jolie.

‘Yes indeed,’ replied the professor. ‘To avoid a global panic, operations Leviathan and Luna were carried out in absolute secrecy. Even in the dinosaur world, only a very few knew the exact details. Both teams designed their systems so that they could be maintained without ant involvement. A great deal of money was spent on ensuring that the equipment was super reliable, and the containment systems were built using replaceable modules. As a result, the Ant Federation knew nothing about it until today.’

*

Joya’s account shook every ant in the command centre to the core. The mood in the room had plummeted. Where previously the ants had been celebrating a great victory over the dinosaurs, they were now staring into a terrifying hellhole.

‘This is beyond madness – it’s depraved!’ Kachika cried. ‘An ultimate-deterrence strategy predicated on the total destruction of the world renders all political and military considerations meaningless. It’s an abomination.’

Field Marshal Jolie tossed her head contemptuously. ‘Is this not, Professor, an inevitable consequence of the very curiosity, imagination and creativity you so admire in the dinosaurs?’

‘Let us stick to the matter in question,’ replied Joya, unperturbed by Jolie’s snideness. ‘The world is in grave danger and we should be focusing on that.’

Kachika began to formulate a plan. ‘At least we know that those two fragments of antimatter are still intact and untouched in their magnetic containment vessels. The destruction of the world is therefore not an inevitability.’ She glanced over at Jolie. ‘Do you agree, Field Marshal?’