Hive (The Color of Water and Sky Book 4)

by Andrew Gates

  “The others in this room?”

  “Many are victims of your own claw,” she continued.

  “Then is it safe for me to rest here among them? Do they not hold spite in their hearts?” Jakhu wondered, feeling nervous. She feared they would assassinate her in her sleep.

  “Do not fear. These soldiers have orders to stand down. There are also guards standing beyond the door to this wing. You are under close protection. Any ally of the Supreme Chieftain is not to be harmed. They all know that to harm you means death,” the second healer explained.

  “Stand down?” Jakhu was confused. “But I am not an ally of the Supreme Chieftain. I openly opposed him. Who would give such an order? Surely not Kho Veznek himself.”

  “She doesn’t know,” the second healer muttered to the first in a quiet whisper.

  “I see,” the first healer said.

  “What do I not know?” Jakhu wondered.

  The first healer sighed and slowly bowed. Jakhu did not understand.

  “Kal Jakhu, this news will come to you as a surprise,” she began. She cleared her throat and took a step closer. “Your mission to defeat Kho Veznek was a success. Kho Ikharus bested him in combat. As a result, Kho Ikharus will be coronated later this very day.”

  “Coronated?” Jakhu could not believe the news. Her heart raced. “Surely you must have misspoken. Are you saying Kho Ikharus is now the Supreme Chieftain?”

  “I am, yes,” the healer replied.

  Jakhu gasped and stared directly ahead. She could not think straight.

  “But… but… that was not our plan.”

  “Kho Veznek had no named successor,” the second healer said. “Though it has been many planet-cycles since combat decided the ascendance of any Supreme Chieftain, precedent does dictate that the mantle of rulership now falls to Kho Ikharus.”

  “But… but… how did this happen?”

  “At first Kho Ikharus simply sat upon the throne. He was weary, you see,” the first healer explained. “But those in attendance knew right away what had happened. In that moment, Kho Ikharus stopped being a target. In that moment, he was now a hierarch. A hush seemed to fall across the entire ship in that instant. Even from here, tucked away in the medical wing far from the throne room, I knew something had transpired. I could feel it in my bones. Moments later, he collapsed. Kho Ikharus, weary and damaged, was hurriedly brought to this very wing, though he was given a private room of course. My fellow healers managed to stabilize him. He had lost a tremendous amount of blood, sustained numerous injuries including several concussions, burns, punctures, cuts and, of course, the obvious lost limb, along with severe dehydration and muscle overuse.”

  “Lost limb?” Jakhu repeated.

  “I am sorry. I forget how much you still do not know. Kho Ikharus lost an arm in combat.”

  Suddenly the memory returned to Jakhu’s mind. She recalled the blast from Ezenkharam’s cannon blowing Ikharus’s arm clean off. Yes, now I remember. Piece by piece, the battle is slowly coming back to me.

  “But you say he is healthy and stable?” Jakhu asked again.

  “He is. You need not worry, Kal Jakhu.”

  “And his coronation is… today, you say?”

  “Indeed. It should transpire any minute now,” the second healer replied with a grin.

  Jakhu felt her eyes open wide. Supreme Chieftain, she thought. Kho Ikharus is the Supreme Chieftain. My, my, by the Chiefdom.

  The squad leader smiled as she recalled the memory. The soreness in her arms suddenly reminded her that she was not sitting in a bed, but standing in a gym lifting weights. She blinked her eyes, quickly coming back to reality.

  Jakhu sighed and placed the weights back on the rack. Only a few minutes in and she was already tired. It seemed this would be a long recovery indeed.

  The squad leader wiped some sweat from her face, sipped down a horn of water and proceeded to the exit. She was done with the gym today.

  Now in the open halls of Fruitful Spring, uniformed Kholvari walked freely around her. She took a few seconds to stand still and take in the view of it all, when, to her surprise, a furless evolved-one garbed in Kholvari-like clothing walked through the crowd. Jakhu squinted her eyes, hoping to get a better look. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. She had never laid eyes on an evolved-one before, at least, not in person. She had seen projections of them on holographic displays, video footage or autopsy reports, but never with her own eyes. It was smaller than she expected and its skin was dark even beneath the light. The evolved-one crossed from one end of the hall to the other. Strangely enough, not a single Kholvari seemed to pay it any mind.

  Jakhu turned to a nearby crewman and motioned for him to come. He was a younger sort, likely fresh out of training.

  “Yes, Squad Leader?” the young Kholvari asked as he approached.

  “Did you see that evolved-one?” Jakhu asked, pointing to where the evolved-one had gone. “What is it doing here?”

  “Ah, you must be referring to the one known as Kal Sanja.”

  “It has a name?”

  “And a position among the hierarch’s council,” the young crewman answered. He smiled as he said it. “In fact, I do believe she has a meeting scheduled with his Majesty in several minutes. She must be on her way to see him now.”

  “It holds a position? What position?”

  “She serves in an advisory role. Kho Veznek unofficially brought her on during the final days of his rule. It was through her help that we were able to find and eliminate the remaining evolved-ones below the ocean. Kho Ikharus then made her position official when he came to power.”

  “An evolved-one killing evolved-ones?” Jakhu asked.

  “Strange, I know.”

  That was an understatement.

  “How did it get here?”

  “I cannot say. I do not know the full story myself,” the crewman confessed, “though I have heard rumors.”

  “Tell me what you have heard.”

  The crewman gulped and slowly nodded his head.

  “I heard she was an enemy of the evolved-ones and fled from their secret base. Her vehicle came up near the shore of Kholvaria only to be found by scientists in a remote research outpost. They took her in and kept her hidden from the Chiefdom’s eyes for several days.”

  “If the creature was hidden, then how did Kho Veznek come to find it?”

  “Again, I can only speak to rumors I have heard. They say Kal Sanja’s vehicle was rather large and our equipment was easily able to detect it. Kho Veznek wanted to investigate the vehicle personally. That was how they met.”

  “And what happened to the scientists harboring it, I wonder?” Jakhu asked.

  “I know not. I suppose they may have met the fate of death as punishment for their secrecy,” the crewman said, “but I cannot say anything for certain.”

  Jakhu nodded her head. Knowing Veznek’s wrath, she was willing to bet this crewman was right.

  “What do you think of it?” she asked, turning to face the hall again as if the creature were still there.

  “Think of what? The evolved-one?”

  Jakhu nodded.

  “She is hard to understand. At first, I did not trust her. Few aboard this ship did. But Kho Veznek trusted her, so we accepted her nonetheless.”

  “But now?”

  “Now I trust her,” the crewman said. “She proved herself to Kholvaria the moment she helped us destroy the evolved-ones. I can see that now. The Chieftain is stronger with her by our side. It was wise for Kho Ikharus to accept her.”

  Funny, Jakhu thought, I cannot help but feel the opposite. If the evolved-one really betrayed its people like that, it could not be trusted. This evolved-one was volatile, dangerous, unpredictable.

  “Thank you for this information,” Jakhu politely replied, nodding her head. “Now please, feel free to go back to your business. It is not my intent to keep you from your duties.” She motioned down the hall.

  “Understood, S
quad Leader,” the crewman replied. He calmly bowed before continuing on his way.

  So, the evolved-one is on its way to meet with Ikharus, Jakhu thought. For some reason, that thought made her tremble. I wonder what they are to meet about.

  Whatever it was doing aboard Fruitful Spring and whatever they were meeting to discuss, Jakhu knew that Ikharus could handle it. Ikharus may not have been the ruling type, but he had a keen sense of judgment and rationality.

  Jakhu snickered to herself as she thought about Ikharus. During their first mission together to secure an escaped Sorrevahni prisoner, she nearly had to walk him through it step by step. But that was the old Ikharus. She had watched him grow in just a few months’ time. Now she witnessed his strength, his resilience, his brilliance firsthand. Their fight together aboard this very ship cemented her new view of him forever.

  By the time they reached that throne room, Jakhu trusted Ikharus completely. As far as she was concerned, there could be no greater fighter than he.

  But now, Ikharus was no longer a fighter. Instead, he was a ruler. Ikharus would have to learn this new world from scratch.

  Jakhu wondered how long it would take to trust him again.

  Chapter Five

  Ladder

  Dr. Sanja Parnel

  “No!” Sanja shouted as the traitor called Ikharus ran his right claw into Supreme Chieftain Kho Veznek’s face. She darted forward as she screamed, but a claw held her back.

  Watching him take a hit like that sent a flash of fear through her body. Veznek was her key to power. If he failed this fight, she would lose everything. She needed him.

  Sanja turned to face her restrainer. It was a nameless honor guard, one of the many useless sentries currently standing at attention and watching as the hierarch they swore to protect bore the brunt of this attacker’s blow. She shot him a disapproving glance without saying a word, then turned to face the fight again.

  “That’s more like it,” Veznek said, grinning as he recomposed himself.

  He wants Ikharus for himself, Sanja realized. Why does he face his enemy alone when he has so many around him? Why not just order his guards to finish this traitor off?

  Sanja knew the answer, of course, but she refused to admit it. Like her, it was pride that drove Veznek on. Nothing more than that. She guessed he even enjoyed it, taunting the weakened and battered Ikharus like this. Even if in this case, it meant putting his life at risk.

  “You desired a challenge,” Ikharus boldly replied as he stared at Veznek. For someone so weak, Ikharus’s words were surprisingly confident.

  Sanja was lucky that this Kholvari attacker had a translator installed in his brain. Otherwise his words would have sounded like nothing but roars and growls.

  Veznek did not seem at all intimidated by Ikharus’s taunt. The hierarch ran forward with his scepter raised. He swung it. Ikharus quickly blocked the blow with his claw, but Veznek pulled back and swung again, undeterred. This time Ikharus ducked and avoided the hit entirely. He popped back up and immediately grabbed hold of the end of Veznek’s scepter.

  “No,” Sanja muttered. Her heart raced. She turned to face the guard holding her back. “Are you a fool?” she asked. “He has Kho Veznek’s scepter!”

  “You would be wise to stay silent, Kal Sanja. The Supreme Chieftain ordered us to stand down, and so we shall,” the guard replied in a monotone voice. He stared straight forward the entire time, not daring to meet Sanja’s eyes.

  “You are also sworn to protect him, are you not?”

  “He ordered us to stand down. That is what we shall do. You would be wise to remain quiet or I shall remove you from the premises.”

  “You would really take the time to do that instead of help him?” Sanja replied in a tone of disgust. She turned to face the fight again. “Fools.”

  When Sanja saw the two combatants again, they were busy tugging on the scepter, each trying to overpower the other.

  “It does not belong to you,” Ikharus said.

  Ikharus pulled and pulled until the scepter was finally free of Veznek’s grasp. Sanja gasped as Ikharus raised it up, then brought it down with intense force.

  Smash! The scepter collided against Veznek’s head, sending him flying a few meters back. Sanja jolted forward, but again, the claw held her back.

  “Are you mad?” she asked, not even bothering to face the guard this time. She would not dare look away from what happened next. The others in this room might not have been able to sense that something was wrong, but she could.

  Veznek’s body was still.

  Sanja let out a long gasp of shock.

  The guard slowly released his grip on her, suddenly realizing what had just happened.

  No, Sanja thought, keeping her eyes fixed on Veznek’s motionless body. No, no, no. This can’t be. He was winning. How did this happen? He was winning!

  The traitor was weary. He stumbled until he met the throne and sat down. He closed his eyes and let out deep breaths until he slowly raised his head. His eyes widened, as if he had forgotten where he was and only just now remembered.

  In that moment, Sanja could not believe what happened next. Rather than stop the murderer who now sat on the throne, the guards took to their knees and bowed.

  Sanja simply stood there, bewildered. In an instant, everything she had known about the Kholvari, about her position among them, had changed. She dared not move a muscle. For all she knew, she was now their enemy once again.

  The one called Ikharus sat up straight and examined his seat. He tightened his grip around the scepter, then boldly declared to his audience, “You may rise.”

  Sanja could never forget that moment. It played through her mind whenever she closed her eyes. She had relived it for days now. And even after all this time, it still did not seem real.

  When Ikharus first sat upon the throne, Sanja did not know what to do. During the initial few hours, her first instinct was to be still, quiet and invisible. After all, she knew little about this usurper. If Ikharus hated humans the way Veznek did when they first met, she would not want to draw too much attention to herself.

  But as time passed, it occurred to Sanja that Ikharus did not hate humans as Veznek did. In fact, he seemed wholly unconcerned with the human race. And so, Sanja changed her approach. In the days following Ikharus’s rise to power, instead of hiding quietly, Sanja now did the best she could to stay noticed and relevant.

  So far, she wasn’t sure that approach was working either.

  Aside from a few glares here and there whenever she spoke, Sanja’s efforts to stay noticed had garnered little response. Even her simple “congratulations” to the Supreme Chieftain during their first official meeting had been dismissed and, to her surprise, regarded as the wrong comment to make at the time.

  Without Veznek, it seemed Sanja was on her own.

  The council felt different now under this new regime and as a result, so did her entire life. Sanja almost felt like she was not even there during meetings. Of course, she was there in a physical sense, but her voice was lost or ignored whenever they assembled. Where Veznek would take great interest in her words, Ikharus would wave his claw to them immediately. Where Veznek would have her map coordinates and oversee bombing strikes, Ikharus gave her nothing to do. She was simply dismissed at the end of each meeting and, without a task, would wander the ship or sit alone in her quarters whenever she had nowhere else to be. To fill her time, Sanja explored the halls, stared at outer space from her window and tried more unpronounceable foods from Fruitful Spring’s mess hall than she ever cared to put in her mouth (and wondered how much of it was nothing more than glorified animal shit).

  Though she would not admit it, there were moments when Sanja longed for another human connection. She desired to see her old friends Andre, Jordan or Yuri. Her thoughts suddenly stopped on Yuri. She felt a knot in her throat as she recalled his face. If there was one thing she regretted about destroying the FCP, the station’s backup shelter also known as the Fin
al Contingency Plan (or more commonly the “afterlife”), it was that loyal Yuri had to die with the rest of humankind. He had been like a son to her. Yuri was the only thing she still loved from the old world and now, even he was gone. Not even the loneliness of her prison cell in the afterlife compared to the loneliness she now felt in her heart.

  It’s own my fault. I brought this fate upon myself, she told herself as she quietly shifted across the metal seat. She sighed. Get a grip. Do not wallow like this. It was my choice to trade friends for power.

  Only now I’ve lost my power too.

  This wasn’t the first time Sanja had felt powerless. She certainly felt the same feeling of uselessness when she retreated to the FCP following the destruction of the Atlantic Station. But where she was eventually able to adapt to the new order of things in the afterlife, this time Sanja was not so sure she could ever figure out how to play the game under Ikharus’s rule.

  Nothing about this new ruler made any sense at all. Everything he did was a contradiction. As a military man, Ikharus ignored advice to openly attack factions of rebellion, as an injured and unseasoned ruler, he had not yet named a successor, even when that same mistake led to his predecessor’s downfall, as a freshman politician whose priority should have been to gain respect from those around him, he resented compliments from his allies and lastly, as a high-valued person of interest, he surrounded himself with those who tried to kill him; the former captain of the honor guards, Kho Kozakh, and the former special operations commander, Kal Ezen-something-or-other (Sanja still struggled with the strange and complicated Kholvari names).

  I could rule better than this fool, Sanja thought to herself. Even with her limited knowledge of the Chiefdom and the Kholvari people, she was sure of it. She knew more about leadership, and that counted for something.

  Sanja closed her eyes and recalled how 10 months ago she practically had the whole Atlantic Station following her orders. She could shut down entire sections of the city, command Navy soldiers and detain prisoners at will. That was the type of power she yearned to wield. If it wasn’t for Horace Fielder’s devious bill and some last-minute backstabbing from President Ortega, she would have even carried that power with her down into the FCP.