The ants had stolen the last of the greenery, and Nolan was not happy. He’d been looking forward to munching down on a bit of chlorophyll, and the notion of having to make do with blue grass instead was not appealing. The other bugs took one look at Nolan’s agitated antennae, and suddenly identified a number of weaknesses in the walled fortress that needed their immediate and personal attention.
“Uh, Sir?” A soldier bug darted into Nolan’s line of view, and skittered to a halt.
“Report.”
The soldier bug took a few prudent steps back. “The last of the eastern defences have been completed. We are prepared for the invasion.”
“Good. Keep the guard posted, and stay at battle readiness. Those wretched insects got into my private stock, an impertinence that cannot be allowed to pass.”
“Uh, yes, Sir.” The soldier bug dipped his left antenna in a salute, and scurried off.
If Nolan observed the note of relief in the boy’s voice, he made no outward sign of it. “Pesky creatures,” he muttered instead, and stomped towards his war office buried deep within the sandy fortifications.
The chlorophyll wars had been raging for many cycles. As a young bug, Nolan’s grandfather had told him stories about the campaigns of his grandfather, and his grandfather before him. Some cycles, the ants proved victorious, others the bugs. Recently, the ants had had an unfair advantage, simply overwhelming the bugs’ fortifications with their superior numbers. But Nolan was determined to change the tide of this war. From the time he first heard the tales of his family’s heroic past, Nolan had decided that his campaign, at least, would succeed where so many others had failed. He would one day win back the chlorophyll for his people.
Of course, with the last of the chlorophyll on the western bank gone, Nolan’s task was looking all but impossible…
