The Tower and the Hive (9 page)

Thian informed his brother of their discoveries on Arcadia, emphasizing the size of the workers.

That's int'resting,
Rojer said.
Yakamasura and Blairik noticed that with the worker shells here. Much smaller than those at Xh-33. You can see the difference with the naked eye. Are you telling me that the planet you're investigating is that old and not overcrowded?

Not at all,
Thian replied, refusing to rise to his brother's jibe. Just
being cautious.
This
planet is occupied.

Hmmm, yes, that would advise some caution, I suppose. Five hundred and eighty years? That's grabbed the xenos' attention.
And there was laughter in Rojer's mental tone.
Yes, that's what Thian said.... How'd you arrive at that estimate? They want to know.

Thian flipped the file in a 'port to his brother's position.

I'll send on the samples.
And with an image of himself giving Rojer a brotherly pat on the back, Thian disengaged.

He did not, however, resume his control of the probes.

“I would like to get down to Arcadia's surface, Admiral Ashiant,” he said after a long, thoughtful pause.

“What?”
Ashiant was astounded. “I don't think I can allow that, Thian. You're far too valuable to us...”

Thian held up his hand. “I'd run no risk, I assure you.” Then he turned to Grm and Weiman. “The queen kept on the Heinlein Base. Is she still ignoring the presence of Humans or 'Dini?”

“It has made no response at all,” Grm said, shaking its head.

Sam Weiman sighed. “I had the opportunity to transfer to the ... ah ... facility,” he said. “Stood as close to her as I am to you right now, sir. I have never been so completely ignored in my life.” He gave a droll grin on his moon face. “No one has ever had a reaction from her. There have been so many attempts at some form of communication. Every method has been tried: sound, color, every radio-wave band and electromagnetic frequency modulation. We don't even know if she's been aware of them.” He sighed again. “It is so terribly frustrating,” he added with considerable vehemence.

Thian turned to the Admiral. “I would be in no danger because the Hivers do not recognize us as enemies or friends, or anything. They don't
recognize...
any ... other ... living species.”

“Not even those who have recently blasted all their spheres to bits?” asked the Admiral, cocking one eyebrow at Thian.

“I won't be
in
the ship, sir. I do need to be in their ambience,” Thian said in a slow, measured way. “I will bring a full squad of marines, if you feel that is necessary. I don't. And Clancy would be here to snatch me right back if I was threatened.”

Sam Weiman jerked his index finger up and down, the eagerness on his broad pink face suggesting that he'd be very willing to accompany any such expedition. Grm gave Thian a long searching, hopeful look.

“You go, Prime. I go and Sam,” it said with more than usual firmness.

All three regarded the Admiral, who looked from one to another as if he doubted their good sense.

“Such a mission, seeing the queens in their natural habitat, would be most instructive, sir,” Sam said, his body taut with anticipation. “I'd like to take as many readings as possible, of soil, air ... anything that might be useful for our study of the Hivers as a species. And perhaps leave remotes to view while we're still in orbit?”

Ashiant gave a snort, then exhaled with a combination of impatience and irritation.

“Very well,” he said, flicking his fingers to show that he was not happy with the request but permitting it. “If there is
any
reaction groundside, you'll be hauled out instantly.” He fixed a basilisk stare at Clancy, who nodded vigorously in agreement.

Sam's face was beatific, Grm did a little dance on its feet and Thian grinned.

“And that squad will be right there beside you ...” Ashiant pointed at each in turn. Then he twisted around, finger pointing at Clancy, who was trying to maintain an imperturbable expression, though his eyes danced. “And you don't lose sight of them for one moment.”

“No sir, of course, sir,” Clancy replied, sitting up as if at attention. One of the probes zigzagged and he instantly rectified its course.

“Sir, if I may be allowed to lead the surface party,” Lieutenant Commander Semirame Kloo said, “I'd be able to assist Lieutenant Sparrow with a speedy evacuation.”

Ashiant widened his eyes, threw both hands in the air and rose to his feet.

“You're all mad. Very well, Commander. Assemble a squad. Handpicked martial arts experts. I've seen the clips of how fast that queen can move the few times she has. Side arms, missile-loaded. I want to see where you intend to land! And
you”
—Ashiant pointed again to Thian, his finger shaking a bit—“wear body armor.”

“Yes sir.”

Ashiant glared about the room once more and then with an exasperated “Whoosh” went through to the bridge.

“Admiral on the bridge,” was plainly heard just as the door slid shut.

Thian brought his hands together with a loud clap. “Let's get with it, team,” he said enthusiastically. “Sam, you get into body armor too. Grm, do you have anything similar?”

Grm drew itself up to its full meter and a half. “I am 'Dini. I need no armor against queens.”

I could throw Grm back by myself, if I had to,
Semirame said with a sniff. Then she held up her wrist com and started snapping out her orders.

“Shall I keep on with the probes?” Clancy asked.

“Please, Clancy. We ought to have a full surface scan so we can map all the Hiver installations. Get Lea Day up here to help, and who's that other good telekinetic on board?”

“Vlad Ivanov in the machine shop,” Thian said. “He'll do fine if he's available.”

“He is,” Semirame said, interrupting herself. “Thought he'd be needed. And have you picked out our landing spot?”

“Yes.” Thian pointed to one of the unused screens in the bank ranged across the bulkhead. A scene came up from some of the initial footage of their day's scanning of Arcadia.

“By a collection facility?” Semirame asked in surprise.

“Why not? That space right there.” Thian put the cursor on the spot. “Nice open space for the shuttle, good visibility. Computer, print screen five.” The hard copy rapidly extruded from the unit and he handed it to Semirame, who frowned as she scanned it. “Copy to the Admiral's screen. I'll leave it up for you, Clancy.”

“Thanks,” his cousin said drolly.

Then Thian flicked his fingers at Sam Weiman and Grm. “C'mon. Get ready. I don't want to hang around ... in case the Admiral has second thoughts about this.” He grinned, once more, mischievously before he turned. With a skip and hop more suited to a much younger person, Thian made his way to his room to suit himself in the gear specified by the Admiral.

 

Any sign we've been noticed, Clancy?
Thian asked when he felt the slight bump as the shuttle landed on Arcadia's surface.
Nice 'port. You're improving.

Thank you.
Clancy's tone was droll.
Nary a flicker on the telltales!

Thian turned. “Let's have a reading on the air, Mocmurra,” he said, and the woman promptly held up the peculiar device she carried. A long, thin spiral tube contained a worm of intricate, flexible coils coated with a polyamide material that turned them brown: a compact and efficient gas chromatograph.

Mocmurra grinned. “Air's fresher than the
Washington's.”

“Let's move out, men,” Commander Semirame said, touching the shuttle's hatch control as her squad instantly got to their feet. She nodded to Thian, allowing him to be first, but Grm slipped in ahead of him and jumped deftly to the ground, the tools on the belt it wore clanking together.

“Soft,” it said as it flipped its feet through the greeny-brown ground cover that stretched beyond and over the collection facility. Tendrils from the vegetation had spilled over the wide entrance but were trimmed short of covering it.

“Keep the place tidy, don't they,” Semirame said, right at Thian's elbow as he stepped onto the surface. She gestured for her squad to spread out and around the shuttle, checking on all sides.

“All clear, sir,” her sergeant reported.

“Now what, Thian?” she asked.

“I don't quite know,” he said, looking around at the plain that extended in all directions, at the cultivated land with an occasional access alley for the workers. He took deep breaths of the air, tasting it, feeling it on his skin. “Faint odor?”

“There is.” Semirame took another deep breath. “Sort of ... crisp.”

“Yes, exactly,” Thian said, having been unable to find the right descriptive word for the lingering smell in the air.

It was extraordinary to be standing here, on a Hiver world, and he didn't bother to hide the slight smile of wonderment and incredulity this moment provoked. He snapped mental fingers at Rojer's jibe that he'd never be “risked” on a personal tour.

Semirame pointed. “Look at it move!”

Thian saw the 'Dini, cavorting over the ground cover, headed right for the collection facility entrance, down the slope.

Semirame whistled for her squad leader's attention, but the sergeant had already allocated two men to follow the 'Dini.

Just don't expect me to move
all
of you out of danger if you run into it.
Clancy's tone was slightly sour.

Thian only laughed as he started down the steep slope that led into the subsurface collection center. He was elated in a way he had never before experienced, not even when he and Kiely-Austin had penetrated the nova-seared Great Sphere and found the egg repositories intact. Even the familiar sting-pzzt that was now noticeable couldn't dampen his mood. Anyway, the body armor somewhat deadened the sensation. He hoped that it would continue to do so when they were in closer proximity to the Hivers.

Semirame had sent men trotting on ahead of the adventurous Grm, whose short legs could not match the jog trot of the marines. She gave a brisk nod of her head and then tilted it to mentally inform Thian that her advance scouts had seen nothing inside to alarm them. Thian stepped onto the approach ramp, excitement rising inside him. With his special senses, he couldn't hear, see or feel anything. No, that wasn't quite right. There
was
something ... a presence ... not something truly sentient, but something alive. Some things, he corrected himself.

The ground beneath his feet had been trampled down for so long that it was now below its original level by several centimeters. In fact, if he looked closely he could see the slight ruts worn by workers that had tramped up and down it for centuries. In the depths beyond the overhang, he could see light—Semirame's scouts checking it out.

“Scouts say it's all clear. Stinks a lot, like rotted vegetation,” she said with a snort.

She raised her arm to call the rest of her team forward. Sam Weiman had knelt down to scoop up more soil samples, grunting as he forced his tool to loosen the closely packed dirt. Semirame pulled down the dark-vision visor from her helmet and Thian followed her example as they moved into the facility.

The prevalent smell was indeed of slightly rotting vegetation. The odor deepened as they penetrated farther in. The flooring was clean and their boots scraped on a different surface. Thian leaned down to touch it.

“Some sort of plascrete,” he said.

Another of Semirame's noncommittal grunts.

“Lots of low tunnels now, sir, leading deeper in and down to other levels,” said the tinny voice issuing from Semirame's wrist com. She looked at Thian for orders.

“Can you navigate them?” he asked into his own wrist unit.

“Can do,” was the answer after a slight pause.

“Hands-and-knees job?” Thian asked.

“Can do,” was repeated.

“Found where the stuff must get dumped, sir,” another voice reported. “Straight ahead of you. 'Bout ten meters.”