Earth Unaware
Aaron Johnston
 A clan of "free miners" living on the spaceship El Cavador is working an asteroid far out in the Kuiper Belt when they detect what appears to be an alien ship decelerating from near light speed as it approaches the solar system. Meanwhile, Lem Jukes, son and heir of the hard-driving founder of the largest mining corporation, is also in the remote region, far from the prying eyes of competitors, secretly testing a "glaser" (gravity laser) that promises to revolutionize mining. Back on Earth, Captain Wit O'Toole goes recruiting among the elite New Zealand Special Air Service for the even more select, multinational Mobile Operations Police (MOPS). In his haste to step up the glaser testing process, Jukes orders his ship to "bump" El Cavador from the asteroid the family is mining. During the violent collision, one of the crew of El Cavador is killed. In retaliation, El Cavador launches a "sniffer" probe to hack the corporate ship's network, planting a message for Lem Jukes and downloading confidential files pertaining to the glaser. Jukes, realizing that a scandal involving the death of a free miner and the loss of the confidential files will ruin him, sets out for Weigh Station Four, where he intends to plant a hacker to strip El Cavador's files. Having detected the alien ship using a sky-scanner called the Eye, El Cavador also identifies a smaller pod racing toward an Italian freemining ship with which they had recently docked and exchanged crew. With their laserline transmission equipment having been destroyed in the bump, El Cavador is helpless to warn the Italians as the pod destroys them. El Cavador hurries to attempt a rescue of any survivors, meeting with very limited success. As the bulk of the El Cavador crew works to rescue survivors trapped in a large intact section of the Italian ship, a three-man crew (including Victor) modifies and mans a "quickship," an automated vessel normally used to send processed metals to a Luna, and continues to search for survivors. When the pod diverts to attack El Cavador, the men on the quickship ram and disable the pod using mining equipment. During the attack, the crew of the pod emerge to battle the humans. Their physiology is revealed to be Formic (ant-like), and the Venezuelan men name them "hormigas." The crew of El Cavador realize the Formic ship is a formidable threat to Earth and make a plan to get a warning out. El Cavador will head to Weigh Station Four and use their laserline transmitter. As a backup, Victor volunteers to take a datacube with all the evidence the free miners have accumulated back to Luna aboard a quickship. The journey is perilous due to the realities of limited movement and prolonged zero gravity. Meanwhile, the Juke ship makes its way to Weigh Station Four only to come under attack from roughnecks who recognize the crew as corporates. Several of the attackers are killed by Chubs, a man seemingly junior to Lem Jukes but revealed as having been assigned by Ukko Jukes to protect him. The corporates are still able to leave behind a hacker who intends to strip El Cavador's files, but the whole ordeal ends up moot when the Formic ship destroys the station. El Cavador sends a short-range, broad radio call and is able to contact the Juke ship and a Chinese mining vessel, both of which pledge to attack the Formic ship. El Cavador sends its women and children aboard the Chinese vessel, which is too small to help in the attack. The plan of attack is to plant mining explosives along the hull of the alien ship, then execute a synchronized detonation to avoid contact with the Formic soldiers. Unfortunately, one of the explosives detonates early, drawing a response from the Formic crew, who at first engage the humans wearing space suits, but subsequently attack without any protection, demonstrating a fanatic loyalty to their leadership, hinting at the Hive Queen/Worker relationship demonstrated in other books set in the Enderverse. Chubs pulls Lem Jukes and his men away from the battle and moves the corporate ship away as the Formic ship focuses its weapons on El Cavador and destroys it. Victor arrives at Luna, only to be largely ignored and confined for his illegal arrival. But rumors begin to spread on Earth that an alien invasion is looming, prompting Wit O'Toole to prepare his MOPs for that (he thinks) hypothetical situation. Victor is eventually given a case-worker who believes his story and helps him transmit the evidence onto the Nets.