Forced to open for business, Midai gave a brief account of how things stood with the main fleets just now.
The vanguard of the Empire's main fleet groups had already clashed with the Order hive-race units around Hive Nest No. 1.
But they were not very many.
So there had been no great effect.
In about ten combat hours, Owl Dragon interstellar warships were expected to have Hive Nest No. 1 itself within range.
Midai laid these things out in the fewest words she could.
All so that this talk could end as soon as possible.
"That's about it. If there's nothing else, Sis, I've got things to deal with here, so I won't keep chatting." Midai put on a good-little-sister look and gazed hopefully at Charlotte.
Charlotte naturally knew what her sister really had in mind.
She waved a careless hand.
Midai, as though granted a pardon, shut the video window without a moment's hesitation.
Afraid that if she were any slower, Charlotte would find something more to talk about.
Looking at the video window gone dark,
Charlotte thought a moment, then tapped another account.
This time the wait was a little longer.
But in the end the other side answered.
It was Lilith.
"Big Sister Charlotte, what did you want me for?" Lilith looked at Charlotte; the background on her side was plainly the office of the secretarial department.
The Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire now had a secretarial department of the highest level, headed by Lilith, charged with every kind of business.
If the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had a left brain and a right brain, the secretarial department was one of them.
"I've been put on compulsory rest. And I'm not sleepy. So I thought I'd find someone to chat with. I just called Midai, and that fellow had actually sent people word not to talk to me too much about the battlefield." With Lilith, Charlotte put on hardly any airs.
Though Lilith called Charlotte "Big Sister," in their looks, manner and bearing it was Lilith who seemed the more grown-up of the two.
Just now Charlotte wore the look of someone telling tales, lips pouting.
It was, one had to say, rather cute.
"That's because he cares about you, isn't it? You're nearly due; it could come at any moment. If you hadn't insisted so firmly before that you didn't want to go straight on leave, he'd probably have given you two or three months' maternity leave outright. Oh, right. It seems where he comes from there's also a custom called 'sitting the month'." Lilith looked at Charlotte teasingly.
Charlotte at once bristled like a cat whose fur had stood on end. "Sitting the month, my foot! I won't do it! Once I've had these two little things, I'll go straight back to my post. And then, whatever he says, I won't listen! Hmph!"
She paused.
Charlotte looked at Lilith. "Oh, right, I never asked whether you're busy now. Am I bothering you, calling all of a sudden like this?"
"It's fine; I've just finished some of what I had in hand. I can take a break," Lilith said.
Charlotte said, "You're pretty busy over there too. Every matter in the Empire needs your eye. If I had to deal with those things, just a few looks and I'd feel my head was about to burst."
Charlotte might look as though she loved to work.
More exactly, what she loved was fighting.
If Lilith's work were handed to Charlotte, Charlotte would likely have not the least wish to work at all.
One for the pen, one for the sword, one might say.
Charlotte and Lilith chatted idly about this and that.
Suddenly Charlotte brought up a certain person.
"That Angel Queen we've locked up, has she still not given anything useful about the two Hive Nests?" Charlotte asked.
By that Angel Queen's own account, she had once gone into those two Hive Nests herself.
So she ought to know something about the Hive Nests.
"She has said some things, but nothing crucial. And ever since we showed her the footage of the Judgment Angel star system after the Supernova Ultimate Bomb went off there and the whole system was returned to its first barren state, I hear she hasn't said a single word all this while. I've been busy too, so I haven't been to see her much," Lilith said.
She noticed the look on Charlotte's face and asked, "Is something worrying you?"
Charlotte was silent a moment, then said gravely, "I feel these two Hive Nests look calm and peaceful just now. Like fish on our chopping board. But I have a premonition that these two Hive Nests hold a tremendous threat. But… what exactly will happen? No one knows."
Having heard Charlotte out,
Lilith thought a moment and said, "I understand your worry. But these two Hive Nests, we must deal with them. They are a great hidden danger in this universe now. And they may be the key node for Order's descent into our universe. So whatever lies behind these two Hive Nests, we can only know by lifting the lid ourselves!"
Charlotte said nothing.
What Lilith said was indeed reasonable; she knew very well there was no way around it.
The Hive Nests had to be dealt with.
Even if they were floods and savage beasts, they had to be faced.
It was something the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had to deal with.
There was no other way.
"Whatever happens, we make every preparation. Then, whatever comes, we will have the means to meet it. I believe that even if Order has left us some trouble, since they cannot descend in person, we are sure to find a way to deal with whatever moves they have left behind, too!" Lilith said gravely.
Charlotte nodded, then went on: "I've just been thinking. I've decided to draw up another reserve battle plan. Suppose something really does happen on the Third Battlefield, at the Hive Nests. Then I will lead the Reverse Scale ace fleet group and the other imperial fleet groups, and by every means go to the relief of the Hive Nest side first. As for the Order hive-race on the First Battlefield, a few interstellar fleets will be enough to hold them."
Having heard Charlotte out,
Lilith nodded her agreement too.
After that, the two talked a while longer about these matters.
In the end, busy as Lilith was, she ended the call.
The room fell quiet again.
Charlotte lay on the bed, stroking her belly.
She said softly, "You two hurry up and be born, and grow up well. Daddy and Mommy are both waiting for you. And you watch over Daddy too, let everything go smoothly, and keep him safe and sound."
……
Hive Nest battlefield.
At last, through the starship's own deep-space telescope, Zhao Chen could see the so-called Hive Nest.
At first sight,
Zhao Chen was stunned.
It was a feeling wholly unlike anything in pictures or video footage!