Hive (The Color of Water and Sky Book 4)

by Andrew Gates

  The queen took a subtle step back along her glowing tentacles.

  “You forget that I can sense your thoughts, your emotions, your desires. I sense another motive. You want something more.”

  “There is one thing,” Sanja admitted, raising an impressed eyebrow. “I am willing to help the Hive destroy Earth in exchange for a seat of power.”

  “A seat of power?” the queen repeated. Then came the sound that Sanja could only describe as a deep, powerful, bellowing maniacal laugh. The laugh sent shivers down Sanja’s spine and instantly casted her plan into doubt.

  The creature moved closer to Sanja now and reached out two of its long tentacles.

  “A seat of power?” the queen repeated, laughing some more.

  The two tentacles pierced Sanja’s oxygen bubble and wrapped around her shoulders. They felt sticky and moist against her skin.

  “You are a fool! An amusing fool, but a fool,” the queen declared. “I took your request to meet out of mere curiosity and amusement, but know, human, that there is nothing you can do to help me, for the Hive has already won. The Hive will claim Earth without your help. It is all just a matter of time.”

  “But… but…” Sanja muttered.

  The queen removed her tentacles from around Sanja’s body, then turned and walked away.

  “Goodbye, Sanja Parnel. Thank you for entertaining me. I get few visitors here.”

  “But… but…” Sanja stood still, absolutely dumbstruck. She did not know what to do or say. How could the meeting already be over? This was not the plan. This was not how this meeting was supposed to go.

  And then, in an instant, the bubble popped. Sanja opened her eyes wide in shock as the queen continued to walk away, uncaringly.

  “Queen!” she shouted. “Help!”

  This was wrong. Everything was wrong. It was not supposed to go this way.

  Sanja gasped for breath, but only methane gas entered her lungs. Her vision grew blurry again and her muscles gave out. She stumbled to the side, disoriented and low on air. She felt her foot catch on an edge and then she tumbled into the abyss.

  The fall was long, but finally Sanja was able to see the bottom of the pit.

  It was the last thing she ever saw.

  Chapter Twenty

  Slayer

  SQL Kal Jakhu

  Sleep, wonderful sleep.

  Knock, knock, knock!

  In an instant, sleep was over. This should not have come as a surprise. Somehow, she knew she would not sleep for very long.

  The sudden knock on the door to her quarters prompted Kal Jakhu to open her eyes and roll to her side. She quickly grabbed her helmet and placed it on her head, reading the time on her HUD. To her surprise, it was the middle of the night. She had only gone to bed a few minutes ago. If I even fell asleep at all.

  “Yes? This is Kal Jakhu,” she said, speaking to whoever stood out in the hall. She sat up on her bed and faced the closed door.

  “Squad Leader, it is I, Kho Bernol. There is an issue with our shift change,” the soldier reported.

  Jakhu sighed. She should have known this would have something to do with the regular grunts.

  The soldiers here in the shelter of Korgo were not chosen for being the best. In fact, they were not chosen at all. Whoever made it aboard the transport out of T’Dakho were simply the lucky ones who happened to be there at the time. None of these soldiers were ranking officers. Most were low-level recruits and without a formal superior among them, that made Kal Jakhu the highest non-hierarch rank in Korgo. As a result, whether she wanted to or not, that meant Jakhu was now in command of both her Kreed the regular military here.

  Jakhu had not learned the soldiers’ names yet, and she doubted she would ever learn them all. She was not quite sure which soldier Kho Bernol was, but she had a guess. If she were thinking about the right soldier, he struck her as young and in good shape, but not particularly bright. She wondered what this “shift change issue” could be about.

  Apart from the helmet she placed on her head when she first woke up, Jakhu had gone to bed wearing her full uniform in the event that she would be spontaneously deployed. The squad leader stood up from her bed, walked to the other side of the room and opened the door. Sure enough Kho Bernol was the one she had in her mind. The young soldier nervously looked to her eyes.

  “What is the matter, Kho Bernol?” she asked, getting right to it.

  “Squad Leader, I apologize for waking you so late at night, but I was supposed to take the guard shift in the control center, however when I went to relieve Kho Reeko, he told me that Kho Novep had not yet returned from his shift outside Korgo’s gate.”

  Jakhu sighed and shook her head. She did not know what any of this had to do with her.

  “What does all this mean, Kho Bernol?” she asked, exhaling in frustration.

  “In simple terms, Kal Jakhu, I was supposed to take the control center shift, Kho Reeko was supposed to take the outside shift and Kho Novep was supposed to be retired for the night, but Kho Novep never returned, so neither Kho Reeko nor I were able to take our new positions.”

  At last Jakhu understood what he was trying to say.

  “Are you trying to tell me that Kho Novep is lost somewhere outside?” Jakhu clarified.

  “I am.”

  Finally, the point.

  “Have you gone looking for him?”

  “We have not, Squad Leader,” Bernol replied, shaking his head. “My first act was to find you and inform you of the situation.”

  Jakhu checked the time on her HUD again. The last shift change was supposed to have taken place 11 minutes ago.

  “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Kho Bernol. For now, Kho Reeko will remain at his current post and you will accompany me.”

  “Accompany you? Where are we going, Squad Leader?” Bernol asked.

  Jakhu pulled a pistol off a weapons rack that clung to the wall of her quarters, then stepped into the hall and closed the door behind her. She checked to make sure the pistol was loaded, then faced the young soldier.

  “We are going to search for Kho Novep,” she explained. “You said he was last seen outside?”

  “That was where he was stationed, yes,” Bernol replied.

  “Then that is where we shall start. Come.”

  There were a thousand other things Jakhu would rather have done in this moment, but duty called. A missing soldier was not something to be taken lightly. If someone went missing out here in the barren desert of all places, something must have been wrong.

  Jakhu and Bernol moved through Korgo until they came to the control center, guarded by a nervous Reeko. The young guard trembled by the exit door.

  “You must be Kho Reeko,” Jakhu said, walking toward him.

  “Affirmative, Squad Leader,” he replied, subtly bowing.

  “Have you noticed anything out of place tonight?”

  “Uh… no, not really.”

  Something about the way he spoke did not sound convincing. On top of that, he did not make eye contact.

  “Not really?” Jakhu repeated.

  “Well, maybe something. I did not think much of it at the time, but since Kho Novep went missing, I have begun to wonder if it could be related,” the guard said.

  “If what could be related, Kho Reeko?” Jakhu was growing impatient.

  “When my shift started several hours ago, I heard a noise coming through the hall. It was like some sort of clanging sound. When I went to investigate, I found two scanner rings in the center of the hall. I did not know what to make of them, so I brought them back here,” he said, motioning to two metal rings atop a nearby desk.

  “These were in the hallway?” Jakhu asked. She walked toward the table and picked up one of the rings.

  “They were,” Reeko confirmed.

  “And you do not know how they got there?” Jakhu examined the ring in her claw. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it.

  “That is correct, Squad Leader.”
>
  “Hmm,” she replied as she placed the ring back on the table. She then spun around to face the door.

  “Who was last to leave the facility?” she asked.

  “Just Kho Novep,” he explained.

  “No one else?”

  “That is correct, Squad Leader.”

  “And you had your eyes on this door the entire time?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “How about when you went to collect these rings?” Jakhu asked, motioning to the table.

  “Well… I suppose that was an exception,” Reeko said in a nervous tone. “But, Squad Leader, there is no way someone could have gotten to this door. I was only away from my station for a few seconds.”

  “A few seconds is all it can take,” Jakhu said, exhaling with frustration.

  She had forgotten what it was like to deal with regular soldiers. They were far from Kreeds, more like nymphs than anything else. Their lack of common sense was staggering.

  Jakhu pressed the icon on the door controls, prompting it to open. She checked her pistol one last time and took a step forward as the door slid up and a wall of warm desert air overtook her.

  “Stay here, Kho Reeko, and make sure to monitor this area properly this time. I do not want even an insect to pass by without your knowing,” she ordered. Then she turned to the other soldier. “Kho Bernol, accompany me.”

  Both soldiers followed her command without saying a word.

  As she stepped outside, Jakhu switched her helmet’s settings to night vision. The world suddenly glowed bright green around her. She cautiously moved out the door and through the ravine until the ground sloped up again. When she finally exited the ravine, back on flat surface, she instantly noticed that something was wrong.

  “This does not seem right. What is missing?” Bernol asked, still stuck by her side. He was obviously not as quick to notice the issue as she was.

  “The ship,” Jakhu explained, motioning forward. “The ship is not here.”

  Bernol instantly froze in surprise.

  “The ship? How can the ship disappear?”

  “Ships have been known to fly away, but never without a pilot,” Jakhu replied. “My guess is, someone took it.”

  “Took the ship? But who would do this and to what end?” Bernol asked. He finally started walking forward again. “Do you think it was Kho Novep?”

  Jakhu stopped as her feet suddenly kicked something solid. She looked directly down as a charred Kholavri in a military uniform rested on the dust before her.

  “No,” she replied. “The thief is someone else.”

  “How can you be certain?”

  “Because,” Jakhu explained as she pointed down to the dirt, “Kho Novep is dead.”

  * * *

  “Step aside. I need to speak with him,” Jakhu ordered as she marched toward the two honor guards positioned outside Ikharus’s quarters.

  The two guards did not even take the time to question her. They nodded and quickly stepped aside, allowing her to pass.

  “Your Majesty,” she declared as she stood before the closed door. “I apologize for waking you at this hour, but there has been a development I need to share with you.”

  Jakhu heard rustling coming from inside, followed by the patter of footsteps across the floor. When the door finally opened, Jakhu was stunned to see a female standing before her. It took her a few seconds to realize that this was Kal Flokh.

  “K… Kal Flokh,” she greeted, slightly confused.

  “Kal Jakhu,” Flokh replied, obviously embarrassed. She took note of the fact that Jakhu still wore her helmet and a serious expression quickly covered her face. “What is it?”

  “Is the Supreme Chieftain here?”

  “He… he is, yes,” Flokh replied, still obviously embarrassed, though her embarrassment was now overshadowed by worry. She stepped aside and motioned inward.

  Jakhu stepped forward into the Supreme Chieftain’s quarters. She spotted Ikharus right away, seated on the end of a long stool. He was clothed, though he did not wear his cape or crown.

  “Kho Ikharus,” Jakhu greeted, bowing.

  “You may rise, Kal Jakhu. What news do you bring?”

  “I apologize for visiting so late at night. Especially to disturb your-” she paused in the middle of her sentence and glanced over at Flokh, realizing she had already said too much. Jakhu cleared her throat and tried again. “Your Majesty, there is news. I regret to inform you that Kal Sanja fled the facility earlier tonight. The evolved-one stole a transport and killed one of our soldiers in the process.”

  Ikharus quickly stood up. A look of shock covered his face.

  “She did what?”

  “The evolved-one stole our ship and left, your Majesty,” she clarified.

  “How do you know it was Kal Sanja?”

  “Kreed Scion swept the facility. My team verified the location of everyone in Korgo while they slept, except for Kal Flokh, but I now know why we could not find her. Of everyone in the facility, Kal Sanja is the only one not accounted for.”

  “Her and the slain guard, you mean,” Ikharus said.

  “Yes, of course.” Jakhu lowered her head out of respect. “His name was Kho Novep.”

  “And do you have any idea where Kal Sanja has gone?”

  “No, your Majesty. We have no word,” she answered, meeting his eyes again.

  Ikharus clenched his claw, turned and looked down at the scepter leaned against the wall. He held that position for several seconds before quickly spinning around again. A stern expression covered his face.

  “This is disturbing news, Kal Jakhu,” he said in a worried voice. He stared up at the ceiling. “I think I know where she might be going, and if my theory proves true, it means we have even less time than I originally thought.”

  “What would you have me do, your Majesty?” Jakhu asked.

  “We cannot afford to wait any longer. Our alliance with Sorreveous must happen now. We have no other choice.” He sighed and returned his eyes to Jakhu. “I did not have a plan before, but now I know how to gain the Empire’s trust.”

  “How?”

  “Kal Jakhu, I have discovered a secret weapon that may allow us to destroy the Hive once and for all. With this weapon in our possession, the Sorrevahni may hear our call for alliance.”

  “A secret weapon? I do not understand what you mean.”

  “I will explain to everyone later. Come morning, we shall assemble everyone in this facility.” He slowly bobbed his head. “We move tomorrow.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Weapon

  Mr. Jallah Sane

  Jallah giggled to himself as the massive toilet whooshed with the intense power of its vacuum suction. The waste made a noise as it sucked down into the pipes below. Jallah remained on the seat a few seconds later, enjoying the strange sensation of suction across his butt, before finally hopping off.

  Unlike the toilets back in T’Dakho, where the flush button was located on the side, the toilets here had the buttons right next to the hole. Here, Jallah could comfortably press the button while still seated. Once he made that discovery, he wasted no time having fun with it.

  Jallah rinsed his hands in the strange mantis water blasters and wiped them off on his jumpsuit pantlegs. He walked across the room, then exited into the hall.

  Out in the hall, Jallah heard commotion coming from the right side. He had not completely gotten his bearings here yet, but he knew that was the direction of the mess hall. It was morning now and about time for breakfast. He had just woken up and assumed that the others must have already been awake and were eating.

  Jallah followed the noise until he arrived at the mess hall. Sure enough, both species were awake and getting their fills. There were three main tables. The mantis leadership sat around one table, the guards and soldiers at another and the humans at another. Jallah went over to the tall dispenser towers positioned against the far wall of the room and removed a few packaged food items from several of its d
rawers. Then he walked over to the humans’ table and sat down between Margery and an empty seat.

  Everyone seemed to be here already except for Dr. Parnel. But Jallah remembered that she stayed up late last night, so he assumed she was still asleep.

  “Hey,” said Margery.

  “Hey,” he said back.

  “Good morning, Jallah,” Grey greeted. His entire family sat together. Misha sat next to Grey, then Kaitlyn next to her, then Selena next to her. The two parents basically sandwiched their daughters.

  “Good morning,” Jallah replied, slowly opening one of his prepackaged foods. The wrapping reminded him of the probars back in the station.

  “How did you sleep?” Grey asked.

  “Fine, I guess,” Jallah replied. But it was a lie. In reality, he was so nervous after his surprise conversation with Kho Ikharus that it took him hours to fall asleep.

  All he could think about last night was Ikharus’s idea to use the serum against the Hive. Jallah hoped Ikharus would not actually do something like that. He knew that if Ikharus wanted to use the serum somehow, that he would end up roped into his plan. He did not know how exactly he would be involved, but he knew he would one way or another. After all, he was the one with the serum in his possession.

  Jallah imagined himself opening the vial and inhaling the gas before Ikharus. He trembled at the thought.

  “Are you alright?” Margery asked, taking note of his shivering.

  Jallah snapped back to reality.

  “Oh, me? Uh… yeah, I’m fine,” he said, acting like nothing had happened.

  “You seem worried about something.”

  “No, well, nothing more than normal,” Jallah replied, not sure what he even meant by that.

  “It sounds like you must have heard the news then,” Dan said, changing the subject.

  “News? What news?” Jallah asked.

  “I mean the news about Sanja Parnel,” Dan continued.