The Hive Engineers

by Emilia Zeeland

  Pieces of the puzzle fell into place inside Eric’s mind. The wormhole they’d used before hadn’t been a freak occurrence and it was stable for a reason. It had been designed to be stable by creatures who weren’t new to this solar system after all. Perhaps they’d monitored it. Perhaps they wanted Earth to be their next Nova Fia. Why else would Felix rush into a war to hand it over to them? To prove himself their equal.

  Fully aware that there’d be no telling what weapons that ship might wield, Eric turned to Cooper. “This is them—the aliens Sibel said were coming. And we need to stop them.”

  Part III

  YALENA

  Chapter 24. In the Falling Rain

  Her heart hammering in her chest, Yalena stared at the red-and-blue swirl that was Nova Fia.

  Natalia sighed with exasperation next to her. “Any day now, boss.”

  Yalena gave her a sideways glance that was meant to seem sullen, but in truth it was hard not to think of Natalia as a friend now. If everything they’d been through on the ice moon wasn’t enough, Natalia’s vibe regularly reminded Yalena that the Moonie wasn’t so bad underneath it all.

  “I thought you wouldn’t be in a hurry to crash-land on a planet full of Fians,” Yalena remarked.

  “Be that as it may, that weird planet just so happens to be the only habitat I can survive in now.” Natalia’s voice sounded nasty, but Yalena only smiled at her. “And besides, haven’t the hostile Fians all gone to Earth?”

  Yalena swallowed, trying not to think of what would be happening if her message hadn’t reached Eric. “It’s Nova Fia,” she said quietly. “We never know what we’ll find here.”

  “And on that cheerful note...” Natalia gestured to the planet they could see on the main screen.

  Yalena took a deep breath. “Land on water, in the vicinity of the main city. With any luck that should cushion the landing and hide our vibes.”

  “Or drown us,” Natalia said, but she was already inserting the coordinates.

  Yalena stiffened in her seat when the spacecraft dove toward the assigned location. Apart from the déjà-vu of landing here at the end of her first year at STAR Academy, completely unprepared for the Fians, she also couldn’t shake Ronnie’s warning about the spacecraft’s fragile state from her memory.

  Yalena checked the oxygen levels on their clone uniforms. Despite being thin, the material was enough to protect them under different pressure and the helmets let them breathe underwater. If the spacecraft were to sink, they would be able to swim up to the surface.

  That turned from a reassuring thought to a mantra Yalena repeated to herself on a loop as the spacecraft broke through the clouds. Natalia’s face contorted from the effort of slowing the ship down enough, but the waves grew closer and closer fast.

  “Hold on,” Natalia said. The spacecraft swung around in loops which were probably meant to slow it down.

  Yalena felt queasy and she had to squint so as not to focus on the spinning view outside the ship. With a drop which made her stomach lurch, and a deafening thud, the spacecraft sunk into the water. White foam was the only thing visible from the main window.

  Yalena checked the corpus condition, flicking through screens of signals and error codes. “We won’t be able to open the door with the difference in pressure.”

  Natalia glanced sideways at her. “Are we losing air?”

  Yalena paused until the spaceship finally balanced. “No,” she said. “We should rise to the surface.”

  Then, she felt a little pull behind her navel and the spacecraft started gliding up. Her ears popped like they always did in an Earthling air transporter. When the ship broke the surface, Yalena unbuckled herself and stood up, knees slightly bent for balance because the corpus was swaying lightly from the waves.

  Natalia clicked through satellite views of the area. “It’s about a hundred-meter swim to the shore.”

  Yalena hesitated. “I’m not sure I could manage that.” The memory of almost drowning in that water tank on Mars was still fresh in her mind.

  “Me neither,” Natalia said. When Yalena threw her a look of surprise, she added, a little irritated, “Get over yourself—I’m no Martian.”

  Yalena resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the Moonie. “Can we move closer to the shore?”

  “I’ll try.”

  Yalena sat back down. The gentle sway of the ship was making her seasick already.

  As soon as Natalia had pulled the lever, the corpus shook. “Ugh!” Natalia smacked the controls with both hands. “Useless piece of scrap metal.”

  “Don’t lash out at our transport. The spacecraft did its job—it brought us here. If it can’t go farther, we’ll have to leave it here.”

  Natalia sulked. “Great, so we’re on our own. Time for a long swim.”

  Yalena shifted her attention to the screen in front of her and zoomed into a topographical scan of the jagged seabed. “We don’t have to swim directly to shore.” Yalena traced a line between a few of the points where the seabed was highest. “We’ll take it bit by bit.”

  Natalia’s vibe signaled she wasn’t convinced, but she stood up regardless.

  They checked each other’s suit seals, especially around the helmets. Then, Yalena opened the ceiling hatch and they climbed up the ladder. The spacecraft wobbled in the quiet waves, which had a green glint up close. The sky above them was covered with a layer of murky gray cloud.

  “It’s different from the last time we were here,” Natalia said.

  The sky of winter with the temperatures of summer. Yalena had difficulty coming up with the right words for it. “It must be a different season.” Her gaze dropped to the screen on her wrist, showing the map of the seabed. She pointed to the green water on their left. “We start here. It’s about twenty meters to an underwater cliff we can stop by.”

  “You don’t think there are currents under here, do you?” Natalia sounded a little panicked on the comms.

  Yalena observed the ripples in the water for a moment. “The sea looks calm.”

  Natalia scoffed. “That’s not really an answer.”

  Yalena didn’t even bother looking back at her. “Let’s go.”

  She lowered herself to sit on the Fian ship’s roof and then slid down the side of the spacecraft, splashing into the water. It wasn’t as cold as she’d anticipated. A blur of white bubbles swirled around her, followed by more when Natalia jumped in next to her.

  Grateful she didn’t have to hold her breath in the suit, Yalena spread out her arms, while at the same time kicking to propel herself forward. Over and over again, they fought their way from shallow areas to rocks that would help them stay afloat. When they finally reached the shore, Yalena’s weak knee pulsed with pain. She was positive they never would have made it without the suits.

  She stepped, wobbly, on the pebbled beach. Natalia undid her helmet and breathed in deeply. Yalena followed suit, drinking in the sweet scent of Nova Fia. One large, cold raindrop landed on her forehead.

  “Welcome to my new home,” Natalia said, devoid of any enthusiasm.

  Yalena squeezed her shoulder, hoping it could pass for sympathy. “We’ll figure this out, but for now we have to get moving. The Fians must have spotted the ship by now.”

  Natalia nodded slightly, then her eyes returned to studying the surroundings. Raindrops fell all around them, quicker now, rustling the nearby tall grass.

  “And we have to use the water to hide our...” but before Yalena had finished her sentence, it was as if the clouds broke open. Rain fell—heavy drops that merged together into streams. Yalena’s hair was soaked through in seconds.

  A devious smile crept across Natalia’s lips. “Well, that should take care of the vibe.”

  Yalena probed with the vibe, but couldn’t pick up Natalia’s emotions even though she was right next to her. “Great,” she tried to sound pleased, although the water running down her neck felt cold against her skin. “Now we have to get out of here.”

  They stum
bled away from the rocky shore and headed through the mud and the tall grass to the city.

  “What exactly is the plan, boss?” Natalia whispered behind Yalena. “Will you leave me here?” Then she added, as if to sound casual, “To eat Fian bugs for breakfast and stuff?”

  Yalena allowed herself a second to think as her mud-caked boots grew heavier with every step she took. “We have to find the resistance. Sibel, Blaine...” She took a strangled breath instead of saying “my father”.

  With only the sound of their feet slugging through the mud for a while, they reached the outskirts of the city. The rain was so heavy that it looked like a curtain blurring the view of the city ahead. Yalena stopped to check the monitor on her wrist. The satellite view showed the city’s empty streets.

  “It looks deserted,” she said.

  Natalia came over and angled Yalena’s wrist so she could see. “Maybe all the Fians left for Earth on Farsight?”

  “Would you take your enemies along on that kind of a mission? I think not.” Yalena zoomed into different parts of the city, searching for anything that stood out to her. “We have to find the prison.”

  Natalia tugged at Yalena’s wrist again. “There!” She pointed at a square building on the screen and Yalena zoomed in further. It had barbed wire all around it. “What are the chances we’ll run into hardened criminals rather than Felix’s political prisoners?”

  “About fifty-fifty, I’d say.” Yalena shrugged her shoulders, which were growing stiff from the cold rain.

  “Better than the odds of surviving our landing.” Natalia wiped the water from her face, only for new rivers to trace their way down from her hairline. “Let’s go.”

  Yalena felt exposed the second they were out of the grass and on the streets. Last time she’d been to Nova Fia, they’d only visited the science center outside the city. She’d never roamed around the city the way the locals would.

  By the looks of it, the outskirts of the city were an industrial zone full of air transporter landing spots and big yellow buildings. The residential quarters were few and far between. Yalena tried not to think of what might be produced in the factories—more Novofex injections, laser weapons or whatever device Felix would use to disperse Novofex on Earth.

  “It’s a ghost town,” Yalena said, after they’d turned yet another corner, keeping close to the side of a building.

  “I can’t see any cameras, but they may have hidden micro ones,” Natalia added. “We should climb up for a better vantage point.”

  The sound of splashes in the rainwater made Yalena raise a hand in warning. “Shh!”

  “Oh, you did not just shush me,” Natalia said, but her voice had turned into a low hiss.

  Yalena sneaked around the next corner. A land transporter the size of two Eagles hid the source of the sound from her. Natalia knelt down, trying to see behind the transporter tires.

  Yalena willed her vibe to break through the rain, but it was like wishing she could breathe underwater. She moved to the end of the transporter, debating if she should sneak a peek. And then she heard his voice.

  “This way?” The elongated, almost lazy way he dragged out the “a” made her heart flutter.

  Forgetting everything, even Natalia’s hushed curses behind her, Yalena jumped out of cover.

  Alec had turned back in anticipation of a reply to his question, but the group of Fians behind him blurred into a faceless crowd in front of Yalena’s eyes. Only Alec stood out to Yalena. The sight of him shocked and dazzled her in equal parts, making her heart leap.

  Alec looked ahead just in time to feel the force of her jumping into his embrace. His muscular arms almost crushed her waist, but Yalena couldn’t breathe for a different reason.

  Only faintly aware of the rain slowing, she pressed her wet forehead into his. She must be dreaming, but it was him. It was Alec.

  “Lenly...” Gently, he brushed wet hair away from her cheek.

  Yalena pulled away just enough to look into his eyes. His face had thinned, making his defined cheekbones stand out more. Her heart sunk at his complexion, which had lost its usual healthy glow. “It’s the effect of Novofex, isn’t it?” she breathed a whisper.

  He nodded, but he didn’t seem to want to continue that conversation. Alec planted light, quick kisses from her cheek to her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck tighter.

  “I can’t believe it,” she said breathlessly. “I hoped you’d gone back.” Her arms loosened around his shoulders and she let go of him, then lightly punched him in the chest. “You should have ignored my orders and gone back to the near worlds.”

  Alec regarded her calmly as the rain slowed further. “I couldn’t leave. I needed help to get you away from that place, from the army...”

  “I’m fine,” Yalena insisted.

  Alec looked her up and down as if to check she wasn’t lying. “I was going to come and get you, but it looks like you didn’t need help escaping.”

  An “aww” got stifled in Yalena’s throat. Then, she retraced the conversation back to something he’d said. “You were going to come and get me? How? Did you find...”

  Alec’s arms untangled from her waist. When he looked back at the group of Fians behind him, a man in his sixties stood apart from the others. Closer.

  The rain drew to a halt, with only stray drops falling here and there. Rainwater drained from the streets into multiple shafts in the road. It took Yalena a second to feel the vibe returning to her.

  She stepped away from Alec. With her heartbeat pulsating at her fingertips, she observed the Fian standing apart from the group. His slightly Hispanic features drove her brain into overdrive, comparing his face to the one she’d seen in Lexa’s recording.

  “You know,” Stanley said, “it’s not common for a father to meet his daughter’s boyfriend before he’s met her.”

  Chapter 25. The Resistance

  Every beat of Yalena’s heart was surely going to break it. She felt the group of Fians withdraw their vibe as if to give the Troians their space. Then, Stanley’s vibe reached out to her with a tremble so gentle, soft, and full of anticipation.

  “Lena,” he whispered, his arms spread open.

  Yalena couldn’t help the emotions streaming through her vibe. It was like a radio channel that had picked up a new frequency. It flooded her mind, allowing a stream of emotion to course through her.

  Raw. Uninhibited. Heartbreakingly hopeful. His vibe told her all she needed to know.

  Eyes streaming with tears, Yalena rushed into Stanley’s arms.

  “It’s all right, baby,” he soothed, as she shook in his embrace. “You did everything right. You’re home now.”

  Yalena ached in the tightness of the hug, unable to hold back her tears. She clung to Stanley like she was afraid of letting go, of losing him the second she relaxed. He gently stroked the back of her head, despite her soaking wet hair.

  When she finally let go of her father, Yalena felt a little dizzy. Her knees were weak, threatening to buckle under her.

  Another Fian stepped out from the crowd. His exotic green eyes made him recognizable at once. “Are you all right there, cuz?”

  “Blaine?” Something in between a cough and a strangled giggle came from Yalena’s throat.

  “She’s never felt a vibe quite like family, kid,” Stanley said to Blaine. “She needs a minute.”

  Suddenly self-conscious, Yalena wiped her face clean of tears. “Are we related?” She hesitated, eyebrows drawing closer together as she looked at Blaine.

  “Don’t mind him,” Stanley said. He had a commanding presence, reminiscent of O’Donnell, but his tone was different— still wise and patient, but warmer, more casual. “He’s being funny. The Troian, Morgan and Blaine families have always been close, but we’re not related.”

  Yalena glanced at Blaine, then quickly scanned the rest of the Fian crowd. “Where’s Sibel?”

  Blaine’s expression and his entire body seemed to tense. “Felix took her. I couldn�
��t save her.”

  “We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Stanley interrupted. “But before we do, can you please tell us one thing? Who do you have with you?”

  Confused, Yalena looked behind her. Natalia had remained hidden throughout the entire exchange, but her vibe, similar to that of a caged animal, betrayed her. More than one of the Fians were peeking around the transporter, waiting for her to emerge from hiding.

  “Nat,” Yalena called out. “It’s all right. You can come out.”

  Reluctance radiated from Natalia, coming off in waves.

  “What’s wrong?” Alec asked, but Yalena didn’t answer.

  She only rushed back around the land transporter.

  Natalia stood rooted in place, shaking her head. “I can’t. I don’t want to be here. I don’t know these people. This isn’t home.” Her eyes were wild.

  Yalena reached out a hand to her. “I promised I wouldn’t let you die. And you won’t. There’s nothing here that will hurt you. I won’t let it.”

  Natalia’s eyes turned glossy. “This sucks.” It was a statement born out of stubbornness.

  Yalena gave her a small smile. “I know. Now come on.”

  Natalia took her hand reluctantly and let Yalena drag her out of hiding. When they found themselves facing the Fians, none of the mutated humans made a sound.

  “Nat?” Alec said like he’d barely recognized her.

  “Stop staring,” she snapped at him. “And nice to see you’re alive, too.”

  Alec looked to Yalena for an explanation.

  “The army on the ice planet... They were all clones of Veronica,” she said.

  Alec nodded and his eyes met Stanley’s. “Your dad told me.”

  Your dad. Yalena had to quickly shake herself out of the spell those words placed her under.

  “I’m so sorry,” Yalena stuttered. “I couldn’t stop them. I was unconscious.” Her lower lip trembled out of control. “They got Dave’s body.”

  A vein on Alec’s temple pulsed as his jaw set. “I saw the crash.” His voice was strained. “I figured he hadn’t made it.” He looked away for a second as if to collect himself.