The Hive Engineers

by Emilia Zeeland

  Yalena didn’t even dare blink. Despite having been preparing this mission for months, she still felt like a child, trying to make sense of the world they were seeing for the first time.

  “Are they out there?” Eric waited a little too long for her reaction. “Yalena?”

  Deep inside her, the vibe twitched. “I don’t know.” She tried to focus on the vibe, to pin down a feeling, the way Sibel had taught her to, but the remnants of a vibe she caught were erratic and confusing. “There’s someone with a vibe out there,” she said at last. “But they’re blocking me.” She didn’t want to say “confusing me”. It probably wasn’t the best idea, but she signaled in the direction she thought she’d sensed the Fian presence. “This way.”

  Despite the certain feeling that the vibe was nimble and too fast to pinpoint, she decided to try and track it.

  Eric’s uneven breathing next to her barely registered over the focused way she was overextending her vibe. “What’s happening? What do you feel?”

  “I can’t be certain.” It pained her to admit it. “But if the Fians have created anything to mask their vibe or make them faster, possibly stronger, I imagine that’s what their vibe would be like.”

  “A genetically enhanced army?” Jen whispered from behind.

  “I wouldn’t put it past Felix,” Eric said. “So let’s find them.”

  Yalena swallowed, feeling like the heavy, hot air was clinging to the back of her throat. “Not just find them, but find a weakness, stop them if we can.”

  “Yes, we’re ecstatic about your growing list of demands, boss,” Natalia chimed in, sounding sulky.

  Alec’s voice was a low hum. “Nat, shut up.”

  Yalena’s boots started sinking deeper and deeper into the mud with each step. The third-years halted when they came to the edge of a small lake. Its water was dark, barely reflecting the little sunlight that could squeeze through the lush treetops above. Alec, Reid, Sebastian and Michael established a parameter, while Jen, Natalia and Carmen proceeded further with taking probes, this time from the soil.

  Yalena moved through the knee-high grass which resembled papyrus. She couldn’t distinguish her features when she looked down at the murky lake water. Perhaps it was her own aversion to natural basins, but she was fairly certain the water would be poisonous.

  She’d have to walk away from the lake if she wanted to keep tracking the strange vibe she’d felt. The water would deafen it. But something caught her eye— a sand wave underneath the blurry surface. Yalena leaned in closer. She wasn’t imagining it. The murky water shifted again and splashed. Fast like a whip, a creature with a set of long spiky jaws shot out of the lake.

  Yalena staggered back and slipped into the mud. Her eyes barely took in the scaly body of the beast—an odd cross between an alligator and a shark—before it pulled her by the leg, and she fell into the grimy waters of the lake. Her feet couldn’t feel the bottom. A panicked gasp was the last breath of fresh air she inhaled before she was pulled under.

  Yalena forced herself to resist the instinct to breathe in. The simple air-filtration mask was no use against the murky water. The body of the beast was long and strong. Yalena held her eyes shut, while the creature weaved around her in a deadly hug, but the water isolated the vibe.

  Resistance was futile. She was sinking deeper, and unable to hold her breath anymore, she let out a string of bubbles. The dread of dying there, suffocating in the brownish depths, made Yalena force her eyes open. The dirty water stung, but the big yellow slit on the side of the monster’s head stared back at her. The beast twirled her in the water.

  Choking on the last air in her lungs, Yalena couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t attacking her. Otherwise its sharp teeth would have reduced her to bloody chunks of meat already. It was playing with her. Because it had felt what she’d felt. A sense of familiarity.

  The vibe.

  Yalena’s boots grew heavy with water and pulled her further down. She had to fight her way out fast. She placed a hand on the scruffy, scaly body of the monster. Even though she knew the water must be isolating her vibe, Yalena still forced it out like a beacon. The monster’s limbs untangled from her ever so slightly. She pushed up, desperate for air.

  Her head broke the surface for a second, just enough to let her get in another breath, before she felt a light tug at her boot. Her playmate didn’t seem to be done with her. Yalena twirled in the water with the scaly beast, but pushed herself up to the surface, stronger this time.

  When they popped up to the surface again, Alec’s robust arm caught Yalena and hauled her to shore. He must have been ready to jump in after her. Yalena removed the soaked-through mask and coughed up brown water for a minute. Natalia had been right. This air was different, almost too potent, so she needed a second to ease into breathing it in.

  When she glanced up, Eric was standing before the rest of their classmates, gun ready to fire. “Jaws off my sister, pal.”

  The creature’s vibe washed over Yalena as soon as the immediate threat of choking to death on murky water had been avoided. It was wild, brisk, restless. But it wasn’t bloodthirsty.

  Yalena raised a hand, hoping to halt Eric’s command. “Don’t!”

  Her brother’s face didn’t twitch, and his gun remained leveled for a shot. “Yalena...” Eric said through clenched teeth. “Duck, please.”

  “This creature has the vibe.” Each word caused the air in her lungs to burn, so she panted. “It’s Fian...somehow.”

  The vibe Yalena was trying to hold onto was slipping away. She didn’t have to look at the brown waters to know the creature had retreated there. The entire third-year class, though, stared unblinking behind her, frozen with their fingers on the sonic guns’ triggers.

  Slowly, as if poking through thick layers of the polymer that made their Eagles invisible, the erratic vibe she’d first felt in this jungle resurfaced. Yalena rose to her feet in the breathless silence. Afraid to make a sudden movement, she didn’t even wipe the wet hair from her face as she turned around.

  The tall reptile behind her bared its teeth. It was an almost exact copy of a velociraptor. Nostrils flaring, it studied her without producing the slightest sound.

  Yalena poured all her concentration into not letting her vibe betray her. The tingly sensation in her fingers, the blood pumping in her veins faster and faster, the wide-eyed look. She had to dull it all, even when the nearby bushes ruffled, and she spotted a bright yellow eye or a tail here and there.

  These prehistoric hunters probably moved in packs. If they were Felix’s secret weapons, they must have been trained to attack in packs, too. The only reason she was alive—and the only way to get her classmates out—was to use the vibe. To fool the creatures into submission.

  Not daring to blink, Yalena forced a slow breath in and out. She couldn’t flinch.

  The raptor lowered its long head closer to her and sniffed her. Yalena turned down the volume on that voice inside her that wanted to scream, to run and hide. She kept her chin up, refusing to blink.

  “What’s the plan, Yalena?” Eric grunted through clenched teeth behind her.

  She had to believe it or else it wouldn’t work. “It will come to me.”

  Chapter 4. Monster Vibe

  The yellow eye of the velociraptor stared at Yalena, unblinking. She was steady, but her mind raced. How long would these creatures observe them before they realized most of the students had no vibe? What would they do then?

  She felt the prehistoric monsters studying her classmates, while letting the guard down on their vibe ever so slightly. Underneath it was no playful creature like the one from the lake. They exuded hunger. Untamed power. Ferociousness.

  As much as she didn’t want to give them an inch, Yalena needed to think of an extraction plan, because if it came to a clash, the instincts of these predators would eclipse the third-years’ STAR Academy training.

  Moving her lips as little as possible, Yalena whispered, “Back away slowly. To the Eagles.
No sudden movements.”

  She waited, straining her senses to feel the others retreating behind her. Turning around would be too much of a risk. Instead, she had to focus on those yellow eyes tracking her. She had to keep them glued to herself, to demand obedience from the beast before her.

  The seconds dragged out with only feeble sounds of knee-high grass crushed under her classmates’ boots. Yalena’s eyes grew watery. She clenched her jaw, determined to hold out until the others made it back to the Eagles.

  “Yalena.” Eric’s voice was a low hiss.

  He didn’t have to say more. The vibe seeped in and Yalena squinted a little to focus. She felt the raptors’ communication. The vibe they shared allowed them to coordinate and assemble into a circle around her classmates.

  “Don’t shoot,” Yalena warned. “Walk between them.”

  She couldn’t stay with her back to her classmates anymore and she couldn’t remove her eyes from the raptor in front of her. Slowly, she raised a hand, as if it could signal peace. A humid gush of monster breath felt warm against her hand when she placed it in front of the creature’s large nostrils. The yellow eyes focused on her palm, as the raptor sniffed it.

  In one fluid movement, Yalena turned away. The sight that had unraveled behind her almost made her break the confidence she sought to emulate through the vibe. Alec was the closest one to her. He had taken aim at the beast in front of Yalena, as if all the others didn’t exist. Behind him, Natalia, Jen, Nico and Dave stood back to back, guns at the ready, like a lotus flower about to rain fire in all directions.

  And then, between two of the raptors, Heidi was taking small and slow steps, reaching a hand over to Eric, who’d crossed over first. A breath felt trapped in Yalena’s lungs. One second of distraction, one flinch in her vibe, and the nearest raptor wouldn’t hesitate to attack.

  Miraculously, Heidi made it to the other side, followed by Sebastian and Theo. Dai was frozen in his place when he whispered for Carmen to go first. She was trembling uncontrollably. Yalena couldn’t help but want to shake her head. They had to send the others through first. Carmen’s ragged breaths were audible from meters away.

  Carmen took a step closer to the creatures, almost whimpering. Yalena wanted to stop her, to shout out a warning at her, but it was too late. She felt the thirst ebb in the raptors’ vibe. They sensed the weakness. In one simultaneous movement, the two raptors on either side of Carmen shared a quick look and then their sharp jaws bit, fast like a rattlesnake, splashing red and pulling the girl’s body apart.

  A part of Yalena screamed inside her, but her body was petrified. The red splash bathed her classmates and gave the raptors the signal they’d been waiting for. Jumping on their hind legs, the creatures broke the circle they’d formed. Yalena only caught a glimpse of Eric and Heidi, shooting sonic blasts at the beasts before breaking into a run. It wouldn’t take the raptors long to get on their trail again, but the immediate threat was to the small group of Jen, Nico, Natalia, Dave, Reid and Alec, who had all stayed with Yalena.

  The Martians and Natalia fired sonic blasts left and right, while Nico and Jen crouched over his metal briefcase, fumbling through its contents. Two new drones flew out and rose high above the fight. Nico was scouting for the best escape route.

  It wasn’t until the throaty sound the raptor made behind her back that Yalena realized the creature was still there, possibly the only one that hadn’t moved an inch in the attack. She turned back to monster with glowing yellow eyes. Its nostrils flared. It was still trying to place her vibe, to understand who she was, but Yalena wasn’t about to waste time on it anymore. She plunged with the vibe, scanning the creature’s conscience for a weakness, any weakness.

  “Nico,” Yalena shouted over the sound of blasts behind her. “Hit them with something loud.”

  The drones shifted in the air above them and, on command, they let out a high-pitched blare. Yalena knew it had worked as soon as the yellow slits of the raptor’s eyes closed and the it let out a pained shriek. The creatures’ cries mixed together, like a panicked conversation.

  “Run, now!” Alec shouted.

  Yalena forced her legs to move, but she knew they only had seconds before the raptors recovered. With the drones blaring above them, the group pushed through the muddy grass back to the Eagles.

  But the raptors’ revenge followed fast. Two high jumps from the sides took down the drones. One of the blaring alarms died instantly. The other only ceased after the raptor destroyed the entire device with its jaw like a rabid dog.

  Jen and Natalia ran ahead, while the Martians brought in the rear. Yalena stumbled along with Nico, squirming as the bloodthirsty wilderness of the creatures screamed at her through the vibe.

  When they got to the Eagles though, her stomach plummeted at the sight.

  The Chameleon had materialized, probably Sebastian’s idea to make it easier for the crew to get to safety. The Eagle’s gate was closed, and a raptor jumped straight in front of it, placing itself in Dai and Sebastian’s way. They halted. Dai shot out a blast, but missed, and the Eagle shook from the commotion. The creature attacked Sebastian, its jaws closing around his sonic gun. Then, it pulled the weapon, making Sebastian fly to the side and smash against the Eagle. Yalena didn’t keep her gaze on him long enough to see if he moved again after he crumpled to the ground.

  The Chimera crew had managed to squeeze a few people inside their Eagle. Heidi stood at the gate, shooting to cover for those that still needed to make it to safety.

  “Theo, get inside,” Eric screamed, but his eyes searched the group for Jen.

  Under Heidi’s fast shooting Jen, Nico and Theo made it inside the Chimera.

  “Yalena,” Nico shouted over his shoulder. “We need to get the Chameleon open.”

  “Leave it to me,” Yalena said. “Stay there.”

  It didn’t matter who made it to which Eagle. Given the blood mixing into the mud in her feet, Yalena had probably not even seen all the classmates they’d lost.

  She raced to Dai, who was firing to give them cover, his back to the Eagle. Yalena entered the unlocking sequence into the panel by the gate. She turned back to see Dave and Natalia sprint to the gate.

  “Alec?” Her scream tore the air. She saw him alone with Reid, surrounded by four raptors who were closing in around them. One jumped, but got a silver fist in its jaw from Alec, and it wailed in pain. Reid was shooting in all directions, pressing the trigger faster than the weapon could recharge.

  “Get inside,” Dai shouted at Yalena. “We can’t do this without you, so get in, I’ll help them.” He ran out before she could stop him.

  Yalena fired at the raptors surrounding Alec and Reid, but they were out of range.

  “Get in here!” Natalia shrieked from inside the Chameleon. Yalena climbed up, but she remained by the gate, ready to cover the boys in their escape.

  The raptors grew in numbers, and only a few poked at the Eagles. They were smart. They knew they’d only be able to get to the students out in the open.

  Yalena’s blood turned to ice in her veins. She wanted to scream out Alec’s name again, but she’d only be breaking his concentration.

  It all happened in a matter of seconds.

  Two raptors jumped at Alec and Reid, separating their back-to-back stand. Alec’s gun flew out of his hand, but he found the electrocuting bar in time to jab it under the raptor’s neck. The electrical shock was only enough to agitate the creature. Its head flung back and then its amber eyes found the bar. As quickly as it had attacked, it backed away, screeching. For a second it evaluated Reid, who was still shooting sonic blasts, before it realized he didn’t have an electrocuting bar in his hand.

  “Reid!” Alec’s scream came too late. So did his effort to derail the raptor by jabbing the electrocuting bar into its ribcage.

  The creature jumped at Reid from behind, sharp nails digging into the Martian’s back. Reid screamed and dropped to his knees. His sonic gun fell out of his hands, then his body s
plashed into a pool of mud, which turned crimson with blood.

  Dai pulled Alec back. “Run! It’s too late for him. Run!”

  They sprinted back to the Eagles and split away from each other to confuse the raptors on their trail. Dai ran to the Chimera, which was hovering a foot above the grass, ready for take-off. Alec raced toward the Chameleon, a raptor close behind him.

  “Get us in the air,” Yalena shouted back at Dave. The Eagle hummed for launch.

  Fumbling clumsily, Yalena took her electrocuting bar out, jammed the electric wave button in and threw it at the raptor following Alec. Alec ducked to avoid it, almost falling to the muddy ground. With boots heavily caked in mud, he made a final jump onto the gate of the Chameleon, which was still down. Yalena grabbed onto him, praying that Dave could take them away fast, even with the gate gaping. Alec pulled himself onto the platform, leaving the raptors jumping down below, getting smaller as the wind blasted at him and Yalena.

  She pulled him inside by the hand and sealed the gate, panting heavily. Neither of them had enough resolve to get back on their feet just yet.

  The Chameleon crew as of that moment consisted of Alec, Dave, Natalia and Yalena. Some from her crew surely had made it to the Chimera, like Nico, Theo and Dai. But what of the others?

  Alec squeezed Yalena’s arm above the elbow. She met his gaze and nodded, even though the last thing she felt was fine. He pulled himself up and headed to his first pilot seat.

  Yalena found herself facing Natalia—her face smeared with mud and sweat. Without a word she pushed Yalena into the med chamber they also used as a shower.

  She unzipped Yalena’s jacket and pulled it off. “We need to disinfect you.”

  She proceeded to pull Yalena’s top over her head forcefully.

  “Hey!” Yalena protested, but Natalia’s comeback was too fast to leave room for an argument.

  “Who knows what you might have been exposed to in that water. I’m not looking forward to catching some alien bacterial infection from you.”

  Yalena stared at her wide-eyed.