Y’all sound dead. Are y’all expecting a win just handed to us? But I tell you something ... those boys are getting ready for battle. They gonna ru...n all over us if you don’t get your heads in the here-and-now,” Troy Williams yelled at his teammates.Annoyed grunts were the only response to the offensive captain. Troy could not believe what he saw from his team.“Yo, fuck that! What the hell are y’all doin’? You actin’ like you bad! Like we gonna walk right over these fools! Bullshit, guys! If. I didn’t … did I?’ ‘I’m afraid so.’ ‘Oh, this is awful. I can’t begin to apologize to you. I never do anything like this. I feel terrible about it.’ ‘Doreen … relax. It was fun. You had a couple of glasses of champagne and it made you a bit silly. No harm was done. It was fun. I know I enjoyed myself, and if I get the chance, I’d love to go dancing with you again.’ There was silence at the end of the line until, ‘Thank you, Val. I did have a good time. Maybe too good.’ I caught the upbeat tone. You know, stuff you wouldn’t understand.”He recalled she’d said something about quitting, but he knew that was bullshit, he asked, “Where?”She looked at him briefly, grimaced, and looked back out the window before she said, “None of you damn business.” The girls got up and left.He knew where she was headed and said, “Western part of the state.”She turned on him, “What business is it of yours. You’re leaving us anyway.”He chuckled, “Not for a few more days,” then he added, “They want to dump you. You should be able to spot whoever they send after me, if they do send someone.’ ‘I can do that,’ agreed Kokata. ‘Great,’ said Lei with a wide smile. ‘Let’s do it then.’ It was a well-sized caravan. Lei counted nine full-grown giant beetle-beasts. Seven carried living-boxes as well as cargo boxes. So, most likely, there was seven termite families. Approaching the camp, Lei also counted a total of seven guard posts each marked by an ember-pole. Most termites knew how to keep fire. Lei’s mouth.