The Call of the Swarm

by Melani Matejak

  Their efforts yielded results. It didn’t take long before first Hunting Fly fell under their strike.

  That was an ugly monster, the huge Stripped Hammerhead, with hard metallic armor streaked black and white and widening in a typical odd shape over its head. Horrid chopping jaws could spread sufficiently to get two Eeol bodies in one bite. Its metallic wings glistened with sickly bluish glitter.

  A hideous insect tried to assault Scouts down by the Dry Stream; a shallow flow that had water only during heavy rains. It was lurking behind the rotten log resting on the ground, but was no match for youngsters. Pa 2 and Go simultaneously raised the alarm, and their blasts focused on it mercilessly. The Fly toppled down and turned on its back, smoldering with six legs clutched tightly on its disgusting belly. The left rear leg twitched one last time, its slimy snout produced a final squeal, and the armored insect was dead and gone.

  Young Scouts approached the carcass with great caution. To be sure the enemy was truly dead, Da pierced it once in the belly. His brutal blow caused greasy yellow blood to plop all around; the stench was simply horrible.

  The cry of triumph broke out of the Starters’ chest.

  “Good job” complimented Commander Ce. “But don’t forget, youngsters, that’s just one single Fly you destroyed. There are many more out there waiting to come after you.”

  The Evening Rally was especially lively that day.

  The Queen reached her verdict in the matter of appointing the Swarm Leader for the swarm number two, and it was the Supremes’ duty to announce it to the Hive. In the cramped Central Chamber, there was such tension in the air it could be cut with a knife.

  Curious Starters stopped stirring on the floor as Supreme BeraX7719 appeared on the waxy prominence striding proudly and followed by four Queen’s Servants. They positioned themselves behind him; two on each side.

  The Supreme looked angry. He even skipped his traditional dramatic pause before commencing his speech and instead went on speaking straight away.

  “Eeols of the Swarm! We are gathered here today to hear the will of our Queen on a recent dispute regarding the position of Leader for the gathering swarm number two. But before I read the verdict, I want to express my sincere hope that such disgraceful events as the one we have witnessed in connection with this dispute will not repeat ever again. Incidents like that don’t belong in the Swarm because they aren’t in our nature. Ways of the Swarm are unity and harmony, Eeols! Part of the Hive, part of the community. We are the Swarm!”

  His auditory was tongue-tied, and some feeling of shame could be sensed radiating from certain cliques.

  “The Queen’s will be as follows” said Supreme BeraX7719 sternly as one of Pages handed a waxy plate to him. “Hereby the Queen, after evaluating the complaint lodged by First Class CommanderHegoM2008, finds his claim to be without grounds. Thus, previously appointed First Class CommanderHotoL8785 will keep his position of Swarm Leader for the gathering swarm number two.” He lightly bumped the plate against his chest. “So says the Queen!”

  Muffled grumbling arose from the audience, but nothing more than that. The Queen’s word was the law, and her decisions were final; liked it or not, all members of the Swarm had to accept them.

  Regardless of that, Supreme BeraX7719 felt compelled to continue.

  “Eeols of the Swarm! All of you, from Starters to the highest ranks, follow your commands meticulously. Never disobey your Superior, as insubordination weakens the community and leads to anarchy and chaos. Remember, order is our only defense against adversities of this world.”

  Like he would know much about those adversities, thought Xe bitterly. The Supremes never went on missions; actually, they were hardly ever leaving the safety of the Hive. They were not the ones who had to face the hazards and blood-thirsty inhabitants of the outer world.

  Unfortunately, no matter how passionately Eeols honored the order, their world proved to be leaning toward disorder over the next period.

  With the first days of the summer, rains gradually ceased.

  The skies turned clear. The unforgiving sun was scorching the land and ravaging the great plains bone-dry, determined to suck out every drop of moisture. The green and brassy colored vegetation started to wane, the leaves wrinkling and falling off, freshly opened flowers withering away, and previously bountiful meadows wilted with drought.

  Despite all the hard work of the scouting companies, the rich pastures could no longer be found. With the amount of food decreasing on a daily basis Scoutmasters were under tremendous pressure making them anxious and edgy, and irrational accusations of being responsible for the seeking failures began to boom.

  In such an unhealthy atmosphere, arguments were simply bound to occur.

  One especially distasteful conflict erupted in scouting company three soon after it received a permanent setting of twelve Scout units. Mission Commander DeraB1044 and Second Class Commander DeraN0996, one of the lower ranked Scoutmasters, silently disliked each other for quite a while, and now under unfavorable conditions their mutual antipathy became more than evident. Mission Commander was blaming scant findings of the company on his Subordinate’s poor execution of his orders, while Commander DeraN0996 accused him in return, claiming that failures originated from his incompetent leadership. Once kindled, the conflict didn’t show any tendency to resolve peacefully.

  The Scout unit 33 was present during many confrontations between their two Superiors. They would just stand there with the rest of the company, not making a sound but exchanging looks with one another.

  “You are the worst Flyer I have ever seen,” hissed the Mission Commander. “Efforts of all others Scouts are wasted by your misconduct and waywardness. You are nothing but a hindrance for the whole company!”

  “Everybody knows you are just looking for excuses to hide your own incompetence,” Commander DeraN0996 was snarling back.

  That would turn to nothing more than unproductive yelling and swapping of insults, shadowed by a quiet but unsettling clangor of their hand gears. Those watching could only hope both Commanders were smart enough to be satisfied with clangor alone.

  Xe didn’t understand how his Superiors could not see that they were not responsible for the drought. Surely, each of them would occasionally make a mistake, but in general both Commanders were excellent Scouts and had his respect and full support. He wasn’t taking sides.

  Others were.

  In Da’s opinion, no Eeol had the right to oppose his Superior, so he believed Commander DeraN0996 had to be wrong in this case. Pa 2 reckoned more or less the same way, while Pa 7 was not sure and neither was Te. On the other hand, Go sided with Commander DeraN0996, convinced that their Mission Commander’s incompetency was genuine. Le also agreed that the Scoutmaster was a better Flyer than his Superior. The rest of the unit 33 was split.

  Naturally, this debate was taking place only when young Eeols were alone. In front of their Superiors Starters were saying nothing, and they were expected to do so. At this age, their role in the Swarm was solely to listen.

  As both parties demanded that the other one be removed from command and transferred, in the end the Supremes had to arbitrate in the subject. After long talks with the Supreme Command in their underground quarters on level 6, Commander DeraN0996 consented to move with unit 22 to scouting company two, which in exchange supplied one of their units to serve in the scouting company three.

  Xe was assigned to a small escorting troop formed temporally for the sole purpose of accompanying Mission CommanderDeraB1044 during the official talks. Being the only Starter among the Matures in the troop, he saw it as a great honor, although the duty consisted mostly of waiting in front of the Supreme Command Quarters.

  It had been a while since Xe visited subterranean levels. He spent his Internalhood here, but as a Scout, he didn’t have any reason to come down except for his personal affairs. Young Scout was in the middle of daydreaming about his Internalhood days in the brood chambers when a party of the Queen’s S
ervants emerged from the hallway, moving slowly by hovering just above the floor. Recognizing Head Page MedaM0075 at the front, Xe snapped right out of his thoughts and straightened up in official posture with Troopers around him doing the same.

  Head Page smiled friendly at the troop as he closed in. “At ease, Scouts.”

  Assuming that Servants were on their way to the Supreme Command, Xe swiftly stepped away from the entrance, but the Head Page gestured by a hand wave it was unnecessary. “We are just passing by. Scout XeraM6697, I presume?” His hand waved again and all accompanying Pages hovered down to the floor; their feet touched the floor lightly, without any hearable thump.

  “Yes, Page” replied Xe, bowing his head with respect and wondering if the fact MedaM0075 knew him by name was a good or a bad thing.

  “You are escorting Mission Commander DeraB1044, aren’t you?”

  “That’s correct, Page. My Superior just went inside with the rest.”

  “The drought is giving you Scouts a hard time,” he noted in a plain voice.

  “And everybody else.”

  “It will pass. In time all the calamities do. Trust me, youngster, I remember long enough. I’m almost four years old now.” For an Eeol, that was a lot. Xe was barely a year old.

  Young Scout has never seen a Head Page from such close proximity before as he could only glimpse him standing there on the waxy prominence in the Central Chamber. Interestingly, chief of Servants seemed smaller this way. In addition, the vicinity made apparent the pattern of scars, a feature completely undetectable over a large distance; his red metal armor was furrowed heavily by network of pale lines indicating healed injuries many places on his body, and his right hand was missing two fingers.

  It would be impossible for Xe to say much about the position of the Head Page. He was unsure even of the whole spectrum of responsibilities it was supposed to cover, as in many aspects the Queen’s Servants remained a mystery to him. They were secretive crowd and spoke little outside their circles, but it was generally deemed unimportant anyway as Pages played no part in commanding the Swarm. They issued no orders of their own, but served only as a link keeping the Queen informed and taking her commands to the Swarm.

  “Every year is different, youngster,” MedaM0075 continued. “When I was due to become a Starter, the spring was late with persisting coldness and snow piles lingering, and to us young ones it seemed like warm days would never come. But we were wrong. They eventually did, and that spring was a beautiful one.” He folded his arms. “Last year we were plagued by drought as well, though not so early in the season. It struck in the second half of summer and dragged on and on, yet it didn’t last forever, and neither will this one.”

  “We are surely hoping so, Page” said Xe quietly.

  “Hold on, youngster. It will pass.”

  But the drought refused to release its grip any time soon.

  Supreme BeraX7719 had no choice but to declare this a crisis. Special measures were implemented and that meant more work and additional pressure for the Scouts.

  Atmosphere in scouting company three didn’t improve a lot with the recent swap of units. Its Scouts were nervous and suffered from exhaustion. Losing his temper one sultry afternoon, Xe was astonished hearing himself talking impulsively and accusing his friends for the meager findings in pretty much the same manner two Commanders had blamed one another in their fights. He stopped that instant, but felt ashamed nonetheless.

  Fortunately, Commander Ce was there to comfort his Starters.

  “Patience, youngsters” he was saying stoically time after time.

  “Haven’t we been patient enough, Sir?” whined Go, flicking off the dust from her shoulder. The great plains were becoming a big dust bowl.

  “We simply must weather this. There’s no other way. Embrace that fact and you will do yourself a favor, youngster.”

  The next day Scouts finally sought out some flower fields at last. It was a grove of good old Farras, a modest but resilient plant that was always there for Eeols.

  As the summoned gathering swarm arrived, Le and Go dashed together to one of its yellow blossoms. Hungry Eeolesses crawled up the funnel-like chalice and looked around for bulky nectar container. Its metal fastener went off easy and they both dipped their suction pumps into the nutritious liquid, complaining about the stress of quick meals on duty and how much they missed serene dinners of their Internalhood days spiced with conversation and laughter.

  Yet for the unit 33, that day didn’t turn out the way it should. Before noon they already had to return to the Hive as there was an incident in which Pa 2 was injured; going down some steep slope, the hasty youngster tripped over vine and took a plunge, crashing on the hard rocky ground at the bottom. It cost him several cracks in his armor, and a piece from one of his batteries chipped off also, causing the pink energizing fluid to ooze out.

  “Nothing serious, but we have to get him to the Hive immediately,” assessed Commander Ce.

  That was a dangerous trip. With their friend bleeding, unit 33 knew they had to be extra careful. A number of Scouts from other units joined them to ensure a safer way back, so the group of about a hundred has been formed. Starter Za was among them too, volunteering for this duty.

  Da and Xe were carrying the wounded, holding him by his shoulders.

  “How do you feel, fellow?”

  “It hurts,” admitted Pa 2, grinding his teeth as the small party rushed home.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll recover quickly and buzz back with us in no time. Just hang on!”

  This time the drought was their ally, reducing the ranks of their foes as many dangerous plain dwellers fell into summer sleep and lay dormant in refuges under rocks or buried in the soil. Under the beating sun there was hardly anything stirring; the party did encounter a single Peaceful Fly, and that was all.

  Once they arrived at the Hive, Pa 2 was taken to his quarters by his three roommates. Several other Scouts and Commander Ce went to summon the medical crew while the rest remained in the Central Chamber. It was simply too many of them to fit into Pa 2’s small sleeping chamber.

  Anxiously expecting their friends to return with the news, Xe, Da and Za found themselves lost amidst the huge red mass. The Central Chamber was crammed with Eeols, an unusual sight at that time of a day. Those were the Flyers of gathering swarm number one, anticipating to be called to work, but their summons never came. Actually, some Scouts from company one had just arrived a few moments ago purely to inform the swarm no pastures had been located yet.

  Starter Wa 17 happened to be with them. He was in bleak mood and gave a nasty grin at three friends he ran into by chance.

  “Unit 33, great. Just the ones I need to see now. Are you happy, useless clump, with this horrid pasture dearth coming so conveniently to disguise your incompetence?”

  Being already on edge, Da snapped. Crying like mad, he jumped on a provocateur and drew out his sharp metal spikes in full length. In reply, Wa 17 took a stand and popped out his weaponry.

  “No!” screamed Xe, but then some nearby Mature interrupted the clash, grappling both Starters by their wrists and pulling them apart. “Stop this instant, youngsters! Like we do not have enough problems already,” he snarled angrily.

  “Yes, Sir,” Da mumbled, pursing his lips and lowering his head.

  “Yes, Commander Ce,” said Wa 17 with dropped glance.

  That was not Commander Ce of unit 33, but Commander CeraM9988, a Scoutmaster serving in scouting company one and being among the same group of Scouts which recently returned empty-handed. He looked noticeably dissimilar, taller and more strongly built; additionally, he wore extensive yellow markings on his knees and ankles and very distinctive yellow colorations on his elbows. Anyhow, Xe felt awfully glad he happened to be around.

  After adding few more lines on value of order and alike, the Scoutmaster left taking Wa 17 with him and that ended the affair.

  It wasn’t long before Starters received news about their injured friend.
Pa 2’s injuries weren’t so terrible, but he had to stay inside until he completely recovered and had to forgo quests for several days. As it was too late to rejoin their swarm on the pasture, young Scouts proceeded to their sleeping chambers.

  That day the gathering swarm number one didn’t fly out at all.

  The next day the scouting company three visited the Black Soils Area. That patch of fertile black land lay in a natural depression which was accumulating water from the higher grounds, and although there was no free water visible on the surface, its deeper layers were sufficiently moist to sustain lush and abundant vegetation. The multitude of gracious flowers greeted the weary eyes of Eeols.

  “Such a pity this lovely area is so small,” said Za sorrowfully.

  The messenger Scouts dashed in the direction of the Hive while the other half of the company was busy securing the zone. That wasn’t hard as drought turned its surroundings into a dry and dusty wasteland. Still, there was a lesser covert rising in the center of the black lands that required scrutiny; brassy and green and reddish colored, it was a jumble of various shrubby plants and was adorned with golden cup-like flowers of the Yellowsticker creeper on its top.

  Commander Ce led a comparatively large patrol that had to go to check it. “Caution, youngsters, and pay attention to the earth. Perhaps we’ll discover some problematic tracks.”

  Xe stuck close to his Scoutmaster. Buzzing low above the ground, Eeols were nearing the covert. Its herbage was still and seemed innocuous. Nobody was particularly tense and Starters even talked a bit among themselves; but when patrol skirted the covert, everybody winced with the unexpected view.

  Commander Ce landed abruptly, mute as a grave. That was the first time ever Xe has seen fear in his eyes.

  Noticing something odd was happening, all remaining Scouts clustered in to aid their friends; yelling but going speechless and stiff when they approached the thing Commander Ce and Xe were staring at with terror. In front of them, a dozen mighty emerald-green stalks were arising out of a single tan root slightly prominent above the ground. Lancet-shaped leaves were just undergoing unfurling.