Among all the idiocy, there were voices of reason as well. Several governments were as incensed and baffled by the inaction as Victor was. Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa. All were advocating forming a coalition to build an immediate defense. But Russia and China and the U.S. beat down the idea in the U.N. Security Council. Further provocation would only lead to further violence.
On the fourth day, with a small cadre of STASA ships acting as escorts, the hormiga ship reached Earth's geosynchronous orbit and came to a full stop.
CHAPTER 10
Mothership
"What do you see?" said Bingwen. "Are they letting people inside the library?"
Above him, Hopper clung to a drainpipe on the side of one of the village houses. Even with his gimp leg, Hopper had always been a better climber. It was the position of his bad foot that gave him the advantage. Since the foot was turned slightly inward, Hopper got more of the sole of his foot on the surface of things without having to bow his legs. It allowed him to scurry up rickety pipes like this one despite it being wet and narrow. "There's got to be at least four hundred people here," said Hopper.
It was dark, well into evening, and the crowd was dotted with lanterns. Nearly everyone from the nearby villages had come to the library to see what would happen when the alien ship arrived. Bingwen's parents were somewhere in the crowd, as was Grandfather. Bingwen had been standing with them, clinging to Mother's hand. But as the crowd grew and shuffled forward toward the library, bodies began to push against each other, and Bingwen felt as if he might be crushed. Before Mother could stop him, he had ducked down and crawled through people's legs behind him until he came out the back and found Hopper.
"Ms. Yi's got the door closed," said Hopper. "She's getting up on a chair."
Bingwen was desperate to see. He looked around him. There was a rain barrel to his right below a windowsill. He grabbed a fruit box from the trash pile and used it as a stepping stool to climb up onto the barrel. From there he pulled himself up into the windowsill. He didn't have nearly as good a view as Hopper, but he could see over the crowd well enough.
Ms. Yi, the librarian, was motioning for quiet. "Please. Everyone, please. The library is closed. We will reopen tomorrow for the news feeds at normal business hours."
The uproar from the crowd was immediate. "Let us inside!" someone shouted.
"We want to see the feeds!"
Ms. Yi waved for quiet again. "Even if I could let you in, we don't have enough machines. You wouldn't fit. If we hear any news, I'll post it on the door."
"You'll open the door!" someone shouted.
"This is our library!"
"Push her out of the way."
"They're going to rip her arms off any second now," said Hopper.
It was true. It was about to get ugly. Bingwen had to do something fast. "Hop, we need to get on the roof of the library."
Hopper gave him a mischievous grin. "I don't know what you have in mind, but I like it already."
Bingwen lowered himself to the ground, and Hopper followed. They ran around the crowd to the back of the library. There were no doors or windows in the back, just a smooth stucco wall.
"No way to get to the roof," said Hopper. "Nothing to climb. I could give you a boost, but the roof is four meters up."
Bingwen was hardly paying attention. He had run past Hopper to a stretch of tall grass behind the building. The bamboo ladder was right where he had left it, anchored to the ground with two hooked stakes. Even if someone had stood right where Bingwen was standing, they likely wouldn't have seen the ladder; it was too well concealed beneath the thick net of grass and undergrowth. Bingwen lifted it free of the stakes and dragged it toward the back of the building.
Hopper blinked. "What is that?"
"A ladder."
"Obviously. Where did it come from?"
"I made it."
"When?"
"About a year ago."
"And when were you going to tell me about it?"
Bingwen gestured with his hand. "Hopper, I'd like you to meet my ladder. Ladder, Hopper."