“I’ll do what I can.”
“Be discrete.”
“Roger that, sis.”
Sighing, she added. “And don’t get yourself killed.”
“If I die then I’ll be right back where I started. No harm, no foul.”
“Don’t joke around.”
“I’m not. Dying changes your perfective.”
“I need you, Dark. You’re the only family I have left.”
“I’ll be careful, Em. You know I always have your back.”
The corridors were suspiciously empty leading to the arena. It left Ember with a bad gut feeling. The decided to enter from the second floor catwalk. It was filled with drones, who moved back out of her way.
Looking down on the floor below, her blood ran cold at what she saw. Haroc was hanging from the ceiling by long chains, his feet barely touching the ground. The young queen was standing about thirty yards behind with brandishing a long whip that seemed to be made of electricity. Haroc’s shirt was torn open in the rear and his back was raw and bloody.
Several drones stuffed weapons around her body and walked away fast, as the room slowly went quiet. Without thought or plan, she jumped over the railing and landed on her feet, some six or seven feet below. Walking directly over to Haroc, she totally ignored the young queen.
“You should not have come.”
“Well, I crazy in love with you.”
Unfortunately, the young queen is just crazy. She’ll kill you if you give her half a chance.”
“Hey, I ain’t just a pretty face you know.”
Hearing a crackle, she activated her shield and used to protect Haroc’s back. Turning, she looked at the rapidly approaching Maruvian queen. Besides the hideous lashes whipping around, each with their own sharp point, she didn’t look like much. She recognized the crazy gleam in her eye though. Post-apocalyptic earth really fell down on the job when it came to mental health care and she recognized the look.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ember saw Dark moving into position.
“Prepare to die at my hands, weak humon queen.”
Ember didn’t respond, not wishing to escalate the situation. This woman was extra twitchy, and kept jerking her head and shoulder like she had something in her head dying to get out. Her entire body even jerked once or twice.
“That’s close enough. Stay back. I don’t want to hurt you.”
The woman sneered. “As if you could. I can’t believe you bred a queen maker. You don’t look like you have the stamina for such pursuits.”
Standing directly in front of Haroc, she shoved her hands into her pockets and did her best aww shucks hip twist back and forth. “Human queens are very fertile. We cycle every lunar instead of once a year like your kind.”
The woman’s eyes blazed with anger. “Liar.”
Doing another little swivel with her hips as she grasped her little weapon, she looked up at the woman over her long lashes. “I’m afraid it’s true. We can also have one orgasm after another all night long. It’s why your drones really love breeding us.” Ember knew she was slowly pushing all the woman’s buttons, trying appear superior and humiliate her in front of her drones. It was working big time.
When she took a step closer, Dark blasted her in the back, throwing her forward onto her face. Ember hated ganging up on the younger woman but things being what they were, it was the best of some poor solutions.
The young queen, rolled to her feet and lunged for Ember. Fortunately the lashes were hanging limply at her waist. Spinning on her left leg, she caught the woman by surprise with a round house kick to the face. Her new leather boots were no joke.
The young queen, twirled her whip around and tried to hit her with it. Activating the shield again, Ember blocked it. There was something about the shield that almost repelled the whip. Tossing it aside, the young queen grabbed a large knife from her waist.
“You die now, humon.”
“It’s actually human. You got a lot of crazy twitching going on there. What’s up with that?”
“You think you are clever, but know this. When I kill you, your queen maker will become my breeder.”
“Young people. Always bringing a knife to a gun fight.” Yanking out her little gun, she aimed and fired. The queen maker had not even activated her shield, probably because she didn’t think Ember was going for any of the large weapons strapped to her person. Valic and Dark released, Haroc and they all approached Ember. The young queen had fallen to her knees and trying unsuccessfully to get up.
Chapter 13
Stand Off
~ Ember ~
Music Mix
Finally giving up, the young queen yanked off a pendant from around her neck and smashed it into the cold metal floor, before fading into unconsciousness. A holographic image popped up of a more frail version of the motionless beings. She wore only a thin swath around her waist, covering her queenly treasures. Looking vulnerable and frightened she stared straight into the recording device for a brief moment before turning full circle. Unfurling her delicate wings, she kept turned until she had made a complete revolution.
Unclear what she was seeing, Ember concentrated on figuring out what the woman was trying to communicate.
Dark filled in the blank. “This footage was captured before her lashes grew in.”
A thousand dark thought filled Ember’s mind. Unfortunately, when the impossible young queen spoke, everyone’s mouth dropped open. “My name is Shana and I am over fifty solar revolutions old.” Holding her arms out from her side, she continued. “This is what a Maruvian queen looks like before they force the transition upon us.”
Crawling her fingers over a nearby computer pad, triggering a short informational simulation on a large nearby screen. It shows the familiar lashes, being fitted to the small of a young queen’s back and her bulking up three times in size, her skin getting thicker and her becoming highly aggressive.
“No queen in my region of space escapes the transition, and once the symbiont joins with us, we are no longer in control of our own bodies. The queens of our world crave the transition because it confers upon them great power. The symbionts use us to feed their craving for inflicting pain and misery on others. Some few of us have no wish to become the lifetime host of an insidious parasite.”
Letting her wings drop to her side, her antennas constricted with emotion. “Working together, we have discovered an interdimensional rift. There are some few drones who wish for freedom, so we shoved them through the rift. It is the only way to escape for any of us, for the symbionts rule here. I am the first of the queens to break free. I beg of you to remove the symbiont from my body before it is embedded to deeply to successfully remove. They have tentacles on the inside much like the lashes on the outside. They grow, slowly wrapping themselves around our organs and bones.”
Looking forlorn, she continued. “If this cannot be done, please terminate my life functions, for I have no wish to exist as a helpless observer to the crimes the symbiont will commit while having control of my body.”
The very moment the image faded away, Valic’s raised his weapon. Ember’s hand came down on his, gently urging him to refrain from killing her. Ember sucked in a stuttering breath. “I want her dead as well. Yet it seems wrong to kill her for the evil acts her symbiont committed.”
Looking down at the blue skinned Queen, she appeared to be sleeping. She looked so innocent and helpless.
Haroc spoke his peace. “Maruvian queens are clever and manipulative. They are not to be trusted.”
“By spawn mate is the reason you are now free. Would you terminate her precious life without first verifying her words.”
Ember shook her head. “All beings deserve a chance at life. Put her in stasis and we will see what the Shardon clones make of her symbiont. They will remove it if they can and if not we may be forced to terminate her.”
“Your will be done my queen.” Haroc’s tone communicated his w
illingness to acquiesce to her wishes.
Valic reluctantly placed a stasis bar down her body and activated it. Several healers moved forward and stopped short about twenty feet away.
Haroc spoke. “Take the young queen to your medical unit. Do not remove the stasis until, until we can determine if it is possible to remove the symbiont.”
One of the older healers shifted his gaze to Ember. “Is your queen maker also your actionator, my new queen?”
Smiling indulgently at the older man, she noticed the drones were all staring at her uncomfortably. “Things are much different in this region of space. My queen maker was given command of our vessel and tasked with transporting over a hundred queens to our new home world. His mission changed once we encountered your vessel. He speaks because now commands both vessels.” Since the man was still looking very confused, as were most of the drones, she tacked on diplomatically.” I suggest you follow his directions like they were my own.”
“All will be as you say, my new queen.” Clearly the man accepted that Haroc was her actionator but were simply called something else. Sighing, Ember worried about how they were going to handle learning how their new world operated.
Ember watched them levitating the young queen onto a hover board. Snagging a medical bag from one of the medics before they left, she pulled out a medical scanner and began trying to figure out how to use it. Valic leaned over and silently pressed some buttons. Pointing it in Haroc’s direction, she slowly scanned it over his body. His systems were blue lighted all the way down his body.
One gigantic hand came out to close around hers and the scanner. “I am fine my queen. There is no need to worry over your queen maker.”
Noticing the burned flesh around his wrists, she almost teared up. Swallowing thickly, she locked down her emotions and began digging through the small pouch for a healing device. Carefully taking one hand into her lap, she began the tedious process of healing the scorched skin. The entire room remained silent for several long minutes while she healed his wrists and turned him around to work on his back.
Valic seemed emotional. “It is not our fault, Haroc. I scarcely know how to accept that fact.”
Haroc’s free hand came out to land on his longtime friend’s shoulder. “Thanks be to the Gods.”
Ember murmured without looking up. “What’s not your fault?”
Haroc cleared his throat. “Valic and I wondered many times why our queens were so filled with hate for us. We forever subjugated ourselves to their wishes and dedicated ourselves to obeying their every command. Still they deal only pain and misery back to us in return for our loyalty.” Becoming overly emotional, Haroc snapped his mouth shut.
Valic’s quiet voice finished his partner’s thought. “We honestly thought it must be something to do with us. Queens were made to be perfection. I thought we must somehow bring out the worst in them, without meaning to. We thought drones must be flawed in some way.”
Ember replied soothingly. “Drones are not to blame. Being on our home world should have shown you the flaw in your reasoning. Many drones have females and those females are not growing into monsters.”
Haroc chuffed an exhausted laugh. “This is something we did notice. Valic and I spent many weeks debating the phenomenon. We decided that human queens must have some natural resistance to whatever provokes our own queens.”
“You two are hilarious. How could you have thought drones were the problem?”
Valic, who was typically a little more introspective than his best friend stated sincerely. “When one is mired in a situation beyond one’s control, seeking answers to the why of it all can provide momentary relief from the pain.”
Ember smiled up at the sensitive drone. “I’m really loving all the emotional honesty.”
Dark interjected sarcastically, “Well, I sure as hell am not. It made me throw up a little in the back of my throat.”
Swatting him playfully on the arm, Ember snorted a laugh. “Leave my clan alone, brother.”
Rubbing his arm, Dark grinned. “You’re packing a good punch there, sis. You aren’t sneaking into the warrior’s serum are you?”
Kalon looked from one to the other of them, before settling on Ember. His expression was amused but also worried. “My spawn mate had no young. Will you free her enemies from holding?”
Chewing her bottom lip, Ember thought it over. “I suppose it depends on what they did. We should look at each case individually. If I have any doubts, we will leave in holding and talk to her when she is free of the symbiont.”
“Might I advocate for my sire? I believe the symbiont hated him, because our queen was very attached to him.”
Dark interjected. “Ember is right, we should interview them without delay and begin with her father. Humans respect our parents above all others. He should not be left in holding any longer than necessary.”
“You look like hell though. You should rest and let Kalon and I handle this.”
“Fuck that.” Haroc’s crude words sounded absurd coming from the normally respectful drone. Finishing the last of the healing on his back, she quipped. “I can’t believe my brother is rubbing off on you. I had hoped it would be the other way around.”
Haroc leaned over and kissed her. “Thank you for coming for me.”
“You doubted that I would.”
“I hoped you would not risk yourself, but I believed you would. Human queens can be very selfless.”
Running her hand through the side of his hair, she whispered. “I would never leave either of you behind. You’re my clan, remember?”
Kalon tilted his head sideways. “What is a clan?”
Coming to his feet and pulling her up as well, Haroc answered diplomatically. “It is the new social order for drones on our new home world. We break ourselves into small family units of three to five drones and search for a queen. Many human women prefer to mate a single drone. Our beautiful queen has elected to accept Valic and myself.”
Smiling, she added excitedly. “On Earth it’s called a tri-bond.”
Kalon looked from one to the other of them before stating. “I would have to see that to truly believe it.”
Haroc jerked to his chin to Valic. “Call the training ship back to us. We are safer traveling together. I will contact the closest Shardon vessel and ask for their assistance once more.”
“I worry that they will tire of trading biological samples for medical assistance.”
Shaking his head, Haroc replied. “I think they would respond because they have sworn their allegiance to Queen Carolyn. Getting more samples is merely a bonus for them.”
Chapter 14
Symbiont
~ Haroc ~
Music Mix
Standing once again on the other side of the glass watching the healers trying to save a person’s life, Haroc felt like his life was on a bit of a feedback loop. Having retrieved the young queen’s father and numerous hatch mates. They were watching the clones, slowly extracting all the parasitic material from her small body.
It’s my fault. I should have protected her better.”
“You were a good sire and did all that could be done. She does not blame you.”
Dargon growled, “You should find her a sentinel. She is a small and delicate queen, in need of a strong protector.”
The young queen’s family all turned to look at the Golugua. Haroc cringed to see him sitting on the floor licking his privates. Did the foolish creature have no shame?
Ember quietly redirected their attention. “It looks like they have removed the bulk of it.”
Everyone turned their attention back to the operating theatre. The symbiont was considered too dangerous to keep samples of, so it was placed in a disintegration chamber immediately upon removing it. Watching it suddenly come to life and begin writhing around was disturbing.
Sinking back into uncomfortably hard seats, they waited patiently for the healers to complete the procedu
re. They were warned that tracking down every single piece and removing it from her body would take many microns.
Kalon spoke nervously. “I have attempted to apprise my father of the new social order and he does not understand.”
Going through the whole small clan and individual mating preferences of the human queens left the older drone clearly perplexed.
“How do you keep the queens from warring with one another.”
Leaning forward slightly, Ember spoke. “Human women aren’t aggressive by nature. We’d probably fight to protect our families or our world. Otherwise we’d rather be spending times with our drones or doing something enjoyable.”
“Do you mind if I ask what do you enjoy doing, Queen Ember?”
“I like spending time outdoors, tending a small garden, spending one-on-one time with Haroc and Valic and cooking. Dark and I spar sometimes to stay in shape. We also hike and swim and I like to practice shooting a weapon. I really want to spend a lot of time raising a family. On Earth we were only allowed to have one child, so being able to have as many as we can handle seems like a dream come true to me.”
“You are fortunate to have secured the services of a queen maker. We are prolific breeders.”
His fiery queen sighed. “I don’t think of myself as someone who secured Haroc. We fell in love. I want him for the kind protective person he is, not just because he is a queen maker.”
Glancing at his sons, he stated. “I hope my spawn are as fortunate in their quest for a human queen.”
Valic spoke up. “That is right. If you have a spawned a queen, that means you and your line are queen makers as well.”
Haroc asked curiously. “Why do you hope your spawn secure queens, but not yourself?”
The man’s eyes got perfectly round and Haroc guessed his thoughts. “My own father thought that because he was no longer in the prime of his life that no queen would wish to mate with him. He has been approached by several lovely age mates who accompany their daughters to our world.”
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