Journey to the Heart of Luna - Andy Frankham-Allen [41]
The light from the lanterns cast shadows on the tunnel walls, and their first glimpse of the owners of the unearthly sound was the elongated shadow of some kind of protuberance. It seemed to have soft serrated edges, with a rather vicious looking hook at the end. More of the creature was revealed, and Nathanial was hardly able to credit his own eyes. Even from the shadow, distorted by the multiple lanterns, it was clearly the shadow of some kind of ant.
It was patently absurd. Even an ant standing directly in front of a lantern would not cast such a huge shadow, but this one…It came into view, and Nathanial swallowed in fear.
The ant stopped a few feet from them, tilted its head from side to side, its large compound eyes clearly regarding the armed men with caution. The ant stood at least five foot tall, and although a great deal shorter than Nathanial himself, he did not fancy the idea of coming into direct contact with the insect. Even Earth ants were deceptively powerful, their mandibles capable of cutting through creatures of a similar size. As a child he had once watched, in fascinated horror, as a trio of weaver ants collaborated to dismember a copper ant. It was one of the most singularly vicious things he had ever witnessed. He dreaded to think what an ant the size of a small man could do.
The dark-skinned ant was no longer alone. Five more of its fellows emerged from the shadows, all of them standing before the men, blocking the way.
Nathanial swallowed. “Captain?” he whispered.
“Stand easy, Professor, these creatures have not made a move to attack us. They just seem…curious,” Folkard said in a similarly hushed voice.
“I admire your detachment, Captain. Could these be the moon men we have heard rumour of?”
“Hardly seem anything like men to me,” Folkard pointed out. “And I assure you I am not ‘detached’. One false move and these ants will discover how attached I actually am.”
This comment reassured Nathanial, but the sudden sound behind them did not. Nathanial slowly turned his head. He wished he had not.
Another ant, this time copper in colour, stood there. Holding a rifle, which was aimed directly at them.
“Captain,” Nathanial said softly.
Folkard turned to look and brought his carbine to bear. He frowned at the gun in the ant’s claws. “That is not Navy issue,” he said.
Nathanial was not too sure what relevance that could have, and so he hurriedly asked the captain.
“It means these ants are most certainly allies of the Russians, Professor.” With that being so, Folkard lifted his rifle and aimed it directly at the copper ant’s head. “In the name of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy I order you to stand down.”
Nathanial doubted the wisdom of addressing the ant. Clearly it would not understand the words spoken, but, he supposed, Captain Folkard felt honour bound to issue a warning. He was, therefore, quite surprised when the insect replied in a twisted abomination of English.
“Not hurt we Selenites more!”
Chapter Six
Ambush in the Tunnels
1.
ONLY ANNABELLE talked as she and Stevenson led the way deeper into Luna, after all she was the only one who really could since she did not need to conserve oxygen, and she told them about recent events on Luna.
“After the previous test flight of my uncle’s propeller governor, it was a foregone conclusion that he would return to Luna. His interest was piqued by the mystery surrounding the glow. He wrote me many letters about this new obsession of his. He had heard that a Russian scientist, Vladimir Tereshkov, was also interested in this glow, and being the competitive man he is, Uncle Cyrus just had to get to Luna first. Alas, further