The years passed slowly, Victory and Jedd jubilantly celebrating the victory of Ohio State winning the Rose Bowl, both being buckeye fans thanks to Jacob's dedication to his home town team and Cobb being an alumnus, with Cobb remarking on the incredible precision of the band as it marched through the script Ohio. Watching the tiny figures on television reminded him of the ants he'd seen on their porch, and he wondered if ants were actually sending messages in their orderly processions and marked in his mind to investigate that.
The successful launch of Sputnik I restored Jedd's interest in the space program, and he actively began seeking employment at the base in Florida, the hardware store struggling to make a living for the family. Cobb watched the launch in silence, fearful the aliens were actually returning to their home base to restock and would return in force in the very near future. He decided he'd best be employed too, to place him in a position to defend the human race. He began sending resumes to munitions factories and defense plants, stating as part of his qualifications his familiarity with the Martian military routine, and his knowledge of the language of ants. Victory and Jedd read his resume in silence, knowing no one would hire him, but held their tongues, having learned it wasn't wise to bring up Cobb's ghosts. Frustrated weeks followed as Cobb received rejection after rejection, most clearly sarcastic in nature as the employers viewed him as a madman and made it quite clear he would never work for them. Cobb spun into a deep depression, spending his days roaming the neighborhood, telling its occupants the aliens were coming soon and by God the world better prepare. They had taken over the leaders of industry and men in the know like himself were one at a time being put aside and their warnings ignored. This delusion was strengthened when Jedd came home from work one evening, exhausted and worried, announcing he had been laid off.
Jedd reluctantly left Georgia and took off for Florida to seek work down there, leaving Victory and the girls with Cobb in the house, and loading and leaving his hunting shotgun with her just in case, feeling certain only she knew where he hid it, unaware he'd put it in Cobb's favorite hiding place behind the frigidaire, overlooking the scraps of paper Cobb stashed there with elaborate diagrams of planetary attack forces. She assured Jedd she felt safe with her brother; she had learned how to keep him on an even keel, and Jedd believed her. Victory and Cobb began spending their days puttering in the garden with Cobb making copious notes on the activities of ants, the girls capturing them for him, and their evenings playing cards at the kitchen table, encased by now towering piles of magazines and plastic containers. Cobb being an adept player, he usually beat Victory hands down in the cool southern nights, but Sunny very often could beat Cobb, much to his consternation and her glee.
For a while, the time passed peacefully, Victory receiving excited calls from Jedd that he was beginning to have interviews and soon they should be able to move. Dixie came down, a dark shadow moving throughout the house, to help Victory in her packing and with the girls and Cobb. Cobb had managed to get a job bagging groceries in the local store, regaling customers with warnings to keep their trash covered at night for fear the Martians would stop by and refuel on their garbage, and slipping bags over his hands to touch any food remotely reminding him of the Japanese, looking suspiciously at the purchaser to determine if they may be a Martian sympathizer. Cobb listened to Jedd's news in silence, resentful of his menial job, a fire building in him fueled by his own frustration in finding a professional position.