Horizon Beta

by D. W. Vogel

  I clicked out the ‘Mite words for “Goodbye,” which literally translated to: “Eat well.”

  With a great, heaving breath, I jumped into the cold, flowing water and descended into the current.

  Chapter 17

  Kinni

  “He did what?”

  My dad looked like the top of his head might blow off. I had thought about pleading ignorance when the idiot boy Noah was missed at breakfast, but Dad raised me to be truthful.

  “He left,” I repeated. “He thinks the Queen larva might still be alive. He’s going back to try and get her.”

  Dad paced around the main hall. Most of our people were out before dawn, hunting for food and gathering anything we could use in the bug-house.

  “When did he leave?”

  I shrugged. “Sometime after second moonrise, I expect. He took Sunshine with him.”

  The ‘Mites didn’t have names of their own. Apparently that wasn’t a thing in bug-life. So when they showed up, somebody would think of a name so we could keep them straight. Not that it mattered. They were all the same. Huge, stupid, blind bugs with no independent thoughts, some with a tail that could take down anything on the planet. They were strong and easy to boss around. Used to doing what they were told. The ones that came from the Slaver’s Hive all understood the clicking language that was the only kind of sound they could make. A few that had drifted in from farther away couldn’t even do that, although some of them learned in time.

  Dad was royally pissed off. “He’s gonna get himself killed. And if he doesn’t, he’s gonna lead them straight back here to us. What’s he thinking, getting close to the Slave Hive when there’s not a pollen storm happening?”

  “How would he know any better?” I countered. “He’s literally been a slave his whole life, and he didn’t even know it until yesterday.” Why was I standing up for him? He was an idiot, like every other idiot we’d tried to rescue.

  “But we told him,” Dad said. “We told him the whole story. He knows now. Why would he do this?”

  I grabbed a strip of dried bat from the line where we hung meat. “He seemed kind of crazy. Kept rubbing the spot on his belly where he thinks the Queen was sucked onto him. I swear, it’s some kind of chemical thing. Pheromones or something, like Lexis says. Anybody that comes out of that Hive is just not right in the head.”

  Not that this Hive was any better. This place had been abandoned generations ago, when the Slaver Queen wiped out all the bugs anywhere near her. It was one of many places I’d lived in my fourteen years. Wasn’t safe to stay anywhere for long. The Soldiers hadn’t come after us for a long time, and I hoped what Dad said about the Slave Hive was true. That the Queen was old and sick and would die soon. We didn’t know what would happen to a Hive that didn’t have a Queen, but if the bugs around here were any indication, they’d probably just wander around and look sad all the time. If nobody told them to do something, they didn’t do anything. Bunch of stupid bugs.

  Dad seemed to come to a decision. He looked around the hive at the few people that were getting breakfast and starting their day’s chores.

  “We move out tonight.”

  Oh no. That was even stupider than the idiot going back to the Slave Hive.

  “Dad, we can’t. We never move except at pollen time. They might smell us.”

  “We have to take that risk.” He peered out one of the little holes in the ceiling at the gray sky. Some days were bright blue, and others were a dusty, shifting gray. Dad said it was something to do with an asteroid cloud. Today was a light gray day. “We’ll gather our things and head up into the mountain camp at dawn tomorrow.”

  “What about the maggots in the basement?”

  He ran a hand through what was left of his hair. “Blast it. We can’t leave them. We’ll need them.”

  A couple of the older men offered to stay with them.

  Dad nodded. “Yes, I think a few people should stay. If somehow Noah manages to get back with the Queen larva, he won’t know where we’ve gone. I’ll stay here with a couple of men and the ‘Mites to guard the larvae. Everyone else will head to the mountain camp. Next pollen time, we’ll come back and see where things lie.”

  “I’m staying too—“ I began, but Dad cut me off.

  “No way. You’re far too valuable. You’ll go up the mountain with the rest and wait. We’ll join you when Noah comes back.”

  He didn’t look hopeful, and I started to doubt whether I should have let the boy go. But what would it matter? There weren’t enough of us humans to keep a population going. We were never going to get the rest of the people rescued from the Slave Hive. It was a pipe dream. In another thirty years or so, the only humans left alive on this forsaken planet would be slaves to the ‘Mites. They’d survive, but would they still be humans? Not really. Humans didn’t live like that.

  Part of the old legend that Dad hadn’t included last night was the bit about the other ships. We were supposed to have come down from a spaceship called the Horizon Beta. If the legend was true, there were two others out there. The Alpha should have landed on its planet a couple of years ago, by Dad’s figuring.

  I hoped they were doing better than we were. If the fate of the human race was up to the pathetic descendants of the Beta, I didn’t hold much hope for our species.

  Chapter 18

  Noah

  I took a huge breath and plunged under the water. No Diver had ever been this far from the Hive. The light from the open sinkhole didn’t penetrate far, and I had no way to know how far downstream I might find another air pocket to breathe. If it was too far, I would drown. My body would wash on down the black river, past the Hive where my people were held as slaves, and on out to sea. No one would find me, and no one would miss me.

  She would. My Queen.

  If I drowned, she would never know. She would die, too, starved to death in the algae tank where I’d wiped her away.

  If she hasn’t already.

  I argued with myself as I kicked downstream. Here and there, tiny cracks in the ceiling allowed pinpoints of light to shine down through the crystal clear water. Without any sense of smell to guide me, only those shafts of light showed me the way. But I was never lost in the water. I ducked under a steep overhang and came up in a sunlit pool, gasping for air.

  Four of the water beasts that the humans called seals grazed in the shallows.

  “Stay away from the Hive,” I warned them, as if they might understand. “They’ll suck you dry. Just like us.”

  In a moment, I was re-oriented. The section of river I had just come down had taxed my lungs. And coming back, if I came back, I’d be swimming upstream instead of down.

  Once more I ducked into the icy flow. The river forked, and I went left. Another air hole was just large enough to push my face out of the water and grab a breath, fingers scrabbling to hold on to the underside of the rock.

  You’re going to die.

  I shoved the voice away, sucked in air, and descended.

  Twice I chose the wrong path and had to double back when the walls closed in too tight to admit my body. I clawed my way back upstream and chose a different tunnel, marking the way in my memory.

  Slowly, the caverns began to feel familiar. By the time I reached the sunny pool where I had collected waterbugs for the Ranking, I knew I would make it. But this was only half of the journey. The easy half.

  I didn’t want to emerge in the main pool where the ‘Mites sent humans into the water to fetch their food. Instead, I turned left and headed for a different area that I knew must lead under the Hive, into the area beyond the Boundary, where humans weren’t allowed.

  When I surfaced into the familiar darkness of the deep tunnels, I nearly retched at the smell.

  Sickly and yellow, the stench of the aging Queen and her dying Hive was overpowering. How had I never smelled this before? How had I lived in this horrific stench my whole life? How did anyone survive here?

&n
bsp; I crawled from the water and checked the bags of pollen under my slave tunic. The wax felt intact, but there was no way to know if the pollen inside had stayed dry. If it came out in a big, wet clump, I’d be dead for sure.

  So many ways to die here. And only one way to live.

  On the journey across the hills, I had worried that I might smell different to the ‘Mites in this Hive. In total darkness, I should have been lost and alone down here. But the corridor was awash in scent trails. Kneeling on the hard ground, I took a big sniff. ‘Mites had traveled this path, though not recently. They left a faint, moist trail as they went. I had never realized.

  I rolled in the scent trail, grinding my wet tunic into every trace of the sick yellow stench I could find. If Kinni was right and the ‘Mites really were blind, I was now invisible. At least, I hoped so.

  But the humans would see me. As soon as I emerged from beyond the boundary, I was certain to run into someone. Dung-scrapers or Gardeners would be about. I pulled my hair down over my face and slumped my shoulders, eyes on the floor.

  Outside one of the fungus gardens, I found a large, empty basket, which I grabbed and held in front of me. I walked quickly, with purpose, as if I had somewhere to be.

  The humans I passed didn’t even glance up from their own work. The ‘Mites waved a feeler in my direction before scuttling away on their own business.

  Up and up I climbed, staying to the outside edges of the Hive’s tunnels. I could feel the hated Yellow Queen below me, wafting out sickness and decay. This Hive was doomed, but they couldn’t see it. Most of them, anyway. For the first time, I thought about the ‘Mites that had pulled me and the other boys out of the pools instead of stinging us as they should have. They must understand what was happening there. Somehow they must have made contact with the free humans and agreed to the plan, to save a new Queen larva before the old Queen could have her killed. Surely they realized it was best for all of us if this succeeded. But I didn’t know which ‘Mites they were, or if they were still in the Hive. I’d been so dazed and sick from the paralyzing venom, I hadn’t stopped to try and recognize which ones they were.

  No matter. This was my mission. No one could help me.

  By the time I reached the corridor that led to the outer chamber where the vats of algae were, it was late in the evening. ‘Mites skittered around, and the last few human slaves stood in line for their bowls of the slime I now knew had been taken from one of the transports that brought our people down from space. I felt stupid for never realizing that the vats were clearly not made of anything the ‘Mites could produce. But I hadn’t called them ‘Mites then. They were Masters to me.

  One of them stood in the doorway to the algae room. I would have to pass right by it to get inside.

  Calm. It will smell fear.

  Deep breaths.

  I crowded right into the back of the man in front of me and pushed past the ‘Mite in the doorway. If it realized I didn’t belong, I’d be trapped in here. There was only one doorway out.

  We circled around the vats, each man scooping out a bowl of algae. I was last in line.

  Was she here? I couldn’t smell her. My heart pounded at the thought that she might be alive, just an arm’s length away. It pounded harder at the thought that she might be dead.

  At the far end of the room, I dropped my bowl on the floor. The vats sat on thick legs, and there was just enough room to slide my body underneath the farthest one.

  Breathe. Calm. Don’t make a sound.

  I couldn’t see a thing, lying flat on my back under the vat. If the man in front of me realized I was gone, it would all end right now.

  I listened. The ‘Mite in the doorway gave out the last of the shellfish, harvested that day by Divers in the sea. It scuttled around the outside of the vats. I held my breath.

  No one here. Just the sick, rotten stench of your dying Hive.

  It paused on the far side and I willed my heart to stop beating so loudly.

  It skittered away.

  Long moments I waited, lying on the cold, hard ground, my chest pushed against the underside of the vat.

  The room grew dark. No one would come in here until morning.

  I crept out from under the vat and crouched behind it. I was alone.

  Three giant vats sat in the room. I had wiped all the larvae off me into the one nearest the doorway. I crept over to it now and plunged my hands inside. Sweeping them from side to side, I let the thick slime pass through my fingers.

  Nothing.

  Despair gripped my chest. She had to be here. She had to be alive.

  I couldn’t reach the bottom of the vat leaning over the side. I stripped off my wet tunic, pulled the bags of pollen from my waist, and vaulted over the edge into the algae. My toes slid along the bottom, searching for anything solid in the slimy tank.

  Something was there.

  My hands plunged down and closed around a fat, wriggling, soft shape. The moment I touched it, my heart burst into song.

  I pulled her from the slime. She was as long and fat as my thigh, shiny and beautiful. The green slime clung to her and she sucked it up into her perfect mouth.

  “You love the algae?” I purred to her. “You’re so nice and fat, you beautiful thing. Did you eat all the other larvae?” Of course she did. She was the Blue Queen. It was only right.

  I held her to my belly and she latched on, covering the tiny ring she’d made only days ago with a much larger mouth. As soon as she connected, a wave of ecstasy flowed through my whole body and I shivered with joy.

  “I’ve found you, my Queen. And I’ll never let you go.”

  Chapter 19

  Noah

  I could have stayed there forever, wallowing in the glory of my connection to the Queen. Even in the midst of all that sick yellow stench, having her against my skin, sharing my blood, was electrifying. But there was no time to revel in my incredible good fortune. The Queen was still covered by a layer of green algae slime, but her scent would soon be a beacon to every ‘Mite for miles around. I dunked my tunic right into the vat and pulled it over my head, squishing the algae all around the bulge that she made. In each hand I held one of the bags of pollen, which I re-tied to the cord around my waist.

  “Time to go home, my Queen.”

  The Hive was quiet, but I had no illusion that I could walk unmolested out the entrance. Most of the ‘Mites and all of the humans would be down below in their sleeping chambers, but Soldiers would patrol inside and outside all night long, and Diggers and Builders were always at work. If they smelled us, we could never outrun them.

  I slipped out of the algae room and into the corridor. A few scattered glowstones lit the path, but I didn’t need them. Scent trails on the floor told me the story of every human and ‘Mite that had passed through these hallways. Still, I grabbed a basket of them and held them under the large bulge under the front of my tunic. It supported the Queen’s surprising weight and took the pressure off her hold on my belly, which was starting to hurt. My feet were silent, padding along the dim tunnels.

  When I passed the turnoff to where the human females were kept, I paused. There would be ‘Mite guards right down the hall. I had always thought they were there to protect the mothers and babies, and perhaps they were. But now I knew they were also there to keep anyone from escaping.

  Chen was down there somewhere. How could I be this close, knowing the truth of our existence, and not try to rescue him? I stood there at the crossroad, taking quiet breaths. Could I blind the ‘Mites’ sense of smell with the pollen, rush in, and grab Chen? Would he follow me without question, as I needed him to do? He probably would. The life of a Caretaker male was a horror, stuck in the dark underground forever. Once a boy became a Caretaker, he was never seen in the Hive again. Just like Queen’s Service. Was he still alive? How many Caretaker males were there? One or two got chosen every Ranking, and when I thought about this I realized they couldn’t be Caretakers for very l
ong. We could live twenty or thirty years, and there wasn’t room for hundreds of adult male humans. And there wasn’t a need. The ‘Mites were very efficient at serving the Hive’s needs. What happened to them once their time was up?

  As if I didn’t know.

  But I couldn’t take him with me now. Chen wasn’t a strong enough swimmer, and our lives would depend on kicking upstream in the underground river farther than I’d ever gone before. I might not make it. Chen would never survive.

  I’ll be back for you. Soon.

  I scuttled away down the corridor.

  I’d been lucky so far, but as the algae started to dry up around the Queen, her perfect blue scent was becoming evident. ‘Mites would smell her if I could. I ducked down a passageway toward an off-limits area. A large, falling sky-rock had caused a collapse of a small part of the western part of the Hive a few weeks ago, and Builders would be shoring it up while Diggers removed the debris. It was a calculated risk. There would probably be more ‘Mites in that area, but they wouldn’t be Soldiers. Diggers could snap me in half with their huge claws, but they were slow and methodical in their work. Builders might bite off a limb, but one sting from a Soldier and this rescue would be over.

  Glow stones in my basket lit the way. Through the bond of my blood, I could feel the Queen’s displeasure as the algae coating dried, pulling on her delicate skin. Her scent went from pure blue to a veined purple. Just a little ways farther and we’ll be in the water. I couldn’t speak to her out loud, but I hoped she might feel my intention.

  I turned a corner and ran straight into a Builder. It was spitting out the chewed wood and dirt that built our Hive, cementing a fallen area back into place. Just past it, fresh air drifted into the Hive and I sucked at the absence of the Yellow Queen’s stench.

  The Builder froze. It scuttled around in place to face me, jaws working at the last bits of pulp and mud. Its feelers vibrated on the top of its head, waving in my direction.