Hive (The Color of Water and Sky Book 4)

by Andrew Gates

  “Like normal?” Misha repeated.

  “That’s right.”

  “But nothing about this place is normal!” Kaitlyn protested. “How can we have playtime here? There are no toys! We don’t have pods!”

  “You’ll find different ways to play.”

  “But I want the old ways to play. And… and… I don’t want the mantises around!” Kaitlyn said, slapping her hips again.

  “I know it’s hard, but the mantises will be around now. That’s something we will have to get used to. This is their space. They are nice enough to let us stay here.”

  “But why?” Kaitlyn asked.

  Grey sighed.

  “Because it is safer here than it was in Country Roads or in the woods,” Grey explained. “Don’t you remember how dangerous it used to be? It won’t be like that here. You want to be safe, don’t you?”

  “I want to be safe, but I don’t like the mantises,” Misha said. “They killed Iris.”

  Grey paused. He looked to his wife, who lowered her head in solemn reflection. Grey let out yet another sigh, then turned to face Misha again.

  “Yes,” Grey agreed, “they did kill Iris. But this time, it’s different. The mantises won’t hurt us now.”

  “But why?” Kaitlyn asked.

  Selena stood up from the block and promptly walked over to the others.

  “Don’t worry, Kaitlyn,” Selena said. Grey was glad she was finally jumping in to help. “You don’t have to see the mantises on your own if you don’t want to. Dad and I will be with you the whole time. We won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “Will the mantises be there when we eat breakfast?” Misha asked.

  “Yes, they probably will,” Grey answered, “but it’s like your mom said, we will be there. Everything will be just fine. These are not the same mantises that hurt Iris.”

  “Killed Iris!” Kaitlyn corrected.

  Grey let out a deep breath and nodded his head.

  “Yes,” he said. “Not those ones.”

  “I don’t want to be killed,” Misha muttered, trembling.

  “We won’t let that happen. I promise,” Selena replied. She pressed her hands against Misha’s shoulder.

  The room was quiet for a moment. After a few seconds, Kaitlyn and Misha both let out a few sniffles, then took a step away from Grey. He wondered if Selena’s words were enough to convince them to quiet down, or if they had finally realized that complaining would not get them anywhere.

  “I have to pee,” Kaitlyn said, quietly.

  Selena smiled, glad that the girls were finally talking about something else.

  “Now Kaitlyn, is that the way we say it?” Selena asked, slipping back into her normal disciplinary tone of voice. It had been days since Grey had heard her speak that way, but hearing it now made everything feel somehow normal again.

  “I mean… can I please use the toilet?” Kaitlyn responded, looking up into her mother’s eyes.

  “Yes, you may. I’ll help you out,” she said, turning and escorting her daughter into the next room.

  “I need to go too!” Misha replied, running after them into the relief room.

  As soon as the door closed behind them, Grey let out a sigh and slowly walked toward the door.

  “This will not be easy,” he muttered to himself as he approached the door. The girls were too young to be going through all this, but even still, they were troopers. Kaitlyn and Misha had survived so much already. They would survive this too. He knew it.

  Grey tapped on the door, then stood still, waiting. Kho Avan said all he had to do was knock and he would be there to let them into the hall. It was time to see if Avan would make true on his word.

  Even from where he stood, Grey could hear the noise of soft feet hitting the relief room’s floor, then the sound of the toilet’s vacuum suction. He was glad that the girls were already getting the hang of the technology here. It was the first step in starting their new routine.

  Moments later, the door to the relief room rose. Selena and the girls emerged with worried looks still adorned across their faces, though considerably less intense than they had been moments ago.

  As if right on cue, the door to the hall suddenly began to open. Grey turned back around to face the doorway. Avan stood on the other side, waiting with Jallah beside him. Surprisingly, Jallah was still wearing his regular grey jumpsuit, rather than the white robes the mantises had given them.

  “It’s alright, girls. Don’t worry about the mantis,” Grey said, knowing that they must have been trembling behind him. “Look, Jallah is here and he is fine.”

  “Good morning,” Jallah said, waving to the room.

  “See, girls? He is calm. Nothing is wrong,” Grey said. He leaned in and whispered to the boy, “Jallah, the girls are a bit on edge. They’re nervous about the mantises.”

  “Okay,” Jallah replied, nodding.

  “Nervous? You have no reason to fear me,” Avan said, taking a step inside.

  Grey could hear the girls shuffle behind him. He quickly placed both hands out before him, toward Avan.

  “Hey, hey, Kho Avan, please take it slow. They still aren’t used to you.”

  “Must evolved-ones… I mean humans slow their pace when meeting new acquaintances?” Avan asked, still confused about human customs.

  “Not normally, no. But you are not human and they don’t fully trust you. Look at it this way, the girls haven’t had the best impression of mantises until now. Just, be careful, alright?”

  “I do not understand, but I will proceed with caution if that will make things easier,” Avan said, nodding. “And we do not call ourselves mantises. We call ourselves Kholvari.”

  “Kholvari, yes,” Grey replied. He had learned the word before, but had forgotten it.

  “Anyway, we are ready for breakfast now. We are all hungry. Do you mind showing us the way?” Grey asked.

  “Of course, human! Your counterpart, Kho Jallah, had just asked to eat as well. He woke up only moments ago. Normally I would have sent for another to escort you, so that I could keep a watchful eye on your quarters, but seeing as you are all here together, I see no reason why I cannot take you all myself.”

  “Good,” Grey said.

  “I cannot say whether these circumstances are ‘good’ or not, but the timing is certainly coincidental. In any case, you may follow me, please,” Avan said, finally stepping out of the room and motioning down the hall.

  Grey turned to face his girls, who nervously clenched Selena’s legs.

  “Come on, girls. You don’t have to go near the mantis, but we need to go this way if you want breakfast. All you have to do is follow me. You can act like the mantis isn’t here if you want,” Grey said. “Can you do that?”

  Kaitlyn gulped, then took a step away from her mother, toward the door.

  “Good, that’s good,” Grey said. “Come on, follow me.”

  They started moving. Avan led the way. The family exited the room and entered the hallway behind him. Kaitlyn walked by Grey’s side, holding his hand, while Misha stuck to Selena, holding her hand. Surprisingly, Jallah seemed comfortable around Avan. The boy stuck by Avan as if he were any other human. Grey wondered how Jallah was so unfazed by all of this. And why he had not changed out of his ratted jumpsuit.

  Another mantis passed by in the opposite direction. Kaitlyn clung to her father as it passed but did not stop walking. The creature shot them a curious glance, then continued along.

  “See? It didn’t hurt us,” Grey said.

  Kaitlyn nodded her head, not saying a word.

  After a few more steps, they turned left down the hall and continued along. The hall widened a bit here and the hum of machinery could be heard through the air.

  “How much farther?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “I don’t know. It could be a few seconds or a few minutes. I’ve never been here before either.”

  “I hope it’s soon” Kaitlyn said.

  “Me too.”

  A
s the group continued along, more mantises began to fill the hall. Clearly, they were entering a denser section of the undercity. As each mantis passed by, Kaitlyn continued to cling to her father, though her grip grew progressively lighter as time went on. She must have been growing more comfortable around the mantises, whether she realized it or not.

  “Where is Dr. Parnel?” Jallah asked as they walked along.

  “The one called Kal Sanja is not under supervision as you all are,” Avan replied. “She is granted access to freely move about the undercity.”

  “Why is that?” Grey wondered.

  “The one called Kal Sanja has been accepted as a member of our society. Therefore, we shall treat her as such. Yet you all are new to us. You do not appear to pose any threat, but still, we must be cautious.”

  The mantises are worried about us but not Sanja Parnel, Grey thought. By the Lord Beyond Both Seas, they don’t realize what she’s capable of.

  “Humans, we have arrived at the feasting hall,” Avan declared as he held his wrist against a massive door easily three times the size of the others.

  Once Grey heard the words feasting hall, he instantly forgot all about Sanja Parnel. He felt his stomach rumble again and his mouth water as the door opened, revealing a massive gymnasium-sized rectangular room with tall seats spread out across the floor. The room was full of mantises.

  Kaitlyn gripped Grey’s hand a little harder.

  “Please, follow me,” Avan said, moving forward.

  Jallah was the first of their group to follow Avan inside, followed by Grey and Kaitlyn, then Selena and Misha. Once inside, Grey spotted the other humans almost immediately. They were seated not too far from the door, with a mantis standing beside them. They were all dressed in white robes like the others, making Jallah the only one still in his old jumpsuit.

  Margery was first to spot them. She waved to the group. Jallah blushed and waved back, then darted toward her.

  “Slow your pace, Kho Jallah!” Avan said, hurrying after him.

  “Worry not, Kho Avan. I can watch him,” replied the mantis beside the table. It reached out its claws, suggesting that it had the situation under control.

  “Thank you, Kal Knor,” Avan said as Jallah reached the others and gave Margery a big hug, then shared a seat with her.

  Avan turned to Grey and his family.

  “Please, take a seat with Kal Knor and the other humans. I will fetch food for you all so that you do not have to move,” he said, motioning toward the table.

  Grey nodded and pulled Kaitlyn toward the table.

  “Come on,” he said.

  The backless seats around the table were tall. Grey had to lift Kaitlyn nearly a meter just to get her on top of an open spot next to Dan. He then took his own seat next to her. Small circular holes had been cut into the table before them, with hollow spike-like horns resting inside. At closer glance, Grey realized that these horns were full of water.

  “Good morning!” Dan said as Selena and Misha took their seats directly across from Grey.

  “Good morning,” Grey replied, letting out a deep, relaxing breath as he adjusted in his backless seat.

  “What’s this?” Misha asked, quickly leaning forward toward the horn.

  “It’s water,” Dan explained. “This is how the mantises drink.”

  “That’s weird,” Kaitlyn said. She poked the horn before her. “Why don’t they use cups?”

  “I don’t know,” Dan replied.

  Grey leaned forward and faced his brother.

  “How did you sleep?” he asked.

  “Like a rock,” Dan said, smiling. “We all did. How about you?”

  “Same,” Grey replied, smiling back. “We shared a bed last night.”

  “Good idea.”

  Grey looked down at the table. An empty tray rested before Dan. Two more rested before Ophelia and Margery.

  “Looks like you already ate,” Grey noted.

  “We did. They served us when we arrived. Must’ve been about 20 minutes ago.”

  “How is the food?” Grey asked.

  Dan made a subtle grimace and shrugged.

  “It’s not like what we had in the Atlantic Station, but it’s edible.” He glanced down at the tray, then back up at Grey again. “Let’s put it this way. With the empty stomach I had, I was willing to eat just about anything.”

  “I see,” Grey replied.

  He turned and looked at the older kids on the other end of the table. Margery, Jallah and Ophelia seemed distracted with their own conversations.

  “Hey, can I ask you something,” Grey said, keeping his voice a bit quieter.

  “Sure,” Dan replied.

  “What’s with Jallah? Why hasn’t he changed out of his jumpsuit?”

  Dan quickly looked toward Jallah, then back to Grey. He leaned in over Kaitlyn.

  “I’ve been wondering the same thing,” Dan said, keeping his voice low. “After the procedure last night, when we were all given new clothes, Jallah refused to change. He practically begged the mantises to let him keep his jumpsuit.”

  “Weird. I wonder why.”

  “I don’t know why, but I didn’t question it. He’s old enough to make his own decisions.” Dan looked to Jallah one more time to make sure he was not listening in, then leaned back to Grey again. “And when the mantises showed us to our quarters, we were exhausted. You know how tired everyone was. But Jallah didn’t want to go right to sleep. Instead, he went to the relief room. He was there for nearly 45 minutes. He said he wanted privacy. I’m not sure why.”

  “Maybe he was having trouble operating the toilet? It is pretty complicated.”

  “I never heard any water running, any vacuum sucking. It was like he just stood there by himself for all that time.”

  Grey shrugged and shook his head.

  “It’s a bit weird, sure, but I don’t think that’s something to be suspicious of,” he said.

  “Grey, he didn’t just do it before bed. He got up in the middle of the night to do this too. All this time living on the surface has made me vigilant in my sleep. He might not have known that I saw him, but I did. He must’ve gotten up at least three or four times in the night to go to the relief room, for nearly 45 minutes at a time.” Dan leaned back and sighed. “It may just be that he’s having trouble adjusting to life down here with the mantises. At least, that’s what I hope. But I can’t help but feel like something else is going on with him.”

  “Hmm. I wonder what that could be about,” Grey responded.

  “Maybe he had to make a poopy!” Kaitlyn said, jumping in.

  Grey could not help but smile at the silly comment.

  “Maybe you’re right,” Grey replied, patting Kaitlyn on the shoulder. “Maybe that’s it.”

  Avan returned to the table now, carrying three platters in his claws. Another mantis stood beside him, carrying two more. The mantises distributed the trays one by one.

  “At last, your sustenance,” Avan said.

  Some sort of mushy substance covered the tray, which had no silverware of any kind. He assumed, whatever it was, it was meant to be eaten with bare hands.

  “Thanks,” Grey said to Avan. “What is it?”

  “You join us on a most splendid hour! Today our chefs have prepared klodegokh, a Kholvari delicacy.”

  “What’s in it?” Grey asked.

  Just as he said the words, Dan shot his hand past Kaitlyn and grabbed onto Grey’s arm.

  “Don’t ask that question,” Dan said. “Just eat it.”

  “What? Why?” Grey wondered.

  “Because,” Dan replied, keeping his voice down. “We already asked that question and trust me, you won’t like the answer. Just eat it and enjoy it.”

  “Oh,” Grey said, pausing before he took a bite. “Okay.”

  Dan removed his hand now. Grey hesitantly felt the mush between his fingers, then lifted it off the tray and up to his mouth.

  “Enjoy!” Avan said, as he took a step away from the tab
le.

  “Mmm,” Grey mumbled, though he honestly did not know what to make of the mush. He did not like it, per se, nor did he dislike it. It was different, to be sure, but in neither a good nor bad way.

  Grey looked down to Kaitlyn. To his utter shock, Kaitlyn had already taken several bites.

  Wow, he thought. She is adapting faster than I thought.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Duty

  SQL Kal Jakhu

  Jakhu promptly sped down the narrow, damp halls of T’Dakho’s undercity. She felt the aches in her legs, her back, her arms, practically everywhere, but ignored the pain, suppressing it as best she could. There was no time to delay and pain only created distractions.

  A few Kholvari walked along here and there, but the halls seemed abandoned for the most part. After spending so much time in these bustling quarters as part of Khtallia’s guard, Jakhu was still not quite used to how little staff remained down here.

  Rounding the corner that led to the room where Ikharus was staying, Jakhu suddenly paused in place as she came face to face with Kal Flokh, nervously seated on a stool against the wall. There was not normally furniture in the halls, so Jakhu figured the builder must have brought it here herself.

  Honor guards stood at the far end of the hall, only a few kotans away, protecting his Majesty as he resided in the next room beyond the door. The guards kept a watchful eye on the builder.

  Flokh stood up as she saw Jakhu, as if she had been waiting for her this whole time.

  Jakhu nodded and slowly proceeded onward, carrying her helmet by her side.

  “Kal Flokh,” Jakhu greeted.

  “Squad Leader,” Flokh responded, bowing subtly. “I am glad to see that you have returned safely from your mission.”

  “Please, there is no need to bow,” Jakhu responded, waving her free claw. Once again, she ignored the aches in her arm. “I did not expect to find you here. What brings you to this hall?”

  Flokh let out a slight exhale and shrug.