Horizon Beta

by D. W. Vogel

  “If anyone goes down there right now, they’re not coming back up,” I said.

  I turned to the people behind me. I loved their story, but like the rest of the men who had spent their childhoods away from it, the words didn’t carry the same power over me as they did for the women who were steeped in it from birth and never left to forget it. Maybe we were angels. Maybe somehow we would learn to fly. But not down there, and not today.

  “Look,” I said, and pointed up to the mountains again. “That’s where the messenger said to go. He told us to go up that mountain pass, and another messenger would lead us higher. That’s got to be the right thing. From way up there, we’ll be able to look straight down over the Forbidden Zone, and when we get our wings, we’ll be able to fly right over it. I’m sure that’s what the story meant.”

  After long moments of murmuring, the people began to nod.

  “I think we need to go down there,” Shari said. “But not yet. I think there’s more we must do to prove our worth. The messenger said to go up. So we’ll go up.”

  I relieved one of the men helping her, slinging an arm under her shoulder. We trooped away from the edge where the battle raged below.

  So many Ferals. I’d had no idea. And Noah had said the new Queen was out here. I smelled her, far across the war zone, and longed to run to her. But even if I made it, the women and children behind me never would.

  One day, I’ll come to you. And even if I never fly, I’ll be content to see you just once.

  Our progress was slow, but the people were strong. We took turns supporting the women who were heavy with babies, and carried the toddlers on our hips. Most of the younger boys had joined us, the unranked, along with most of the Ranked men of the Hive. There were plenty of strong backs to share the load. The men and boys didn’t know the women’s truth, and had no idea where we were going, or why. But one sniff of the glorious smell on Noah, and they would follow his directions.

  The fighting in the Forbidden Zone fell away below us as we climbed. Just around a bend, out of sight of the valley, a Feral woman stepped out of the shadows.

  “You made it out!” she said, and looked over our number. “Oh, my. You’re exhausted, poor thing. Let’s get you somewhere safe.” She was talking to my pregnant sister Shari, who looked about to drop.

  Two Diggers skittered out from behind the Feral woman. They all shared Noah’s Queen’s smell. The Masters were each missing their giant claws, but their hind legs were intact. They weren’t from our Hive. The Feral woman helped us push Shari and one of the other women onto the backs of the Masters where they clung, shivering.

  “The ‘Mites can’t take us all the way up,” the woman said. “Too cold for them. But we’ll get you as high as we can. Rest and hang on, and let’s get you somewhere safe.”

  I waited until the last of my people had filed up the narrow path, and followed the last child up into the clouds.

  Chapter 41

  Noah

  While Chen led the people outside to freedom or death, I turned and raced down the tunnels. The two Diggers I’d commandeered followed along, drawn by the sweet scent of our healthy Queen coming from my skin.

  The farther down I ran, the more my blood boiled.

  This Hive’s old, sick Queen was enraged. Her smell was the color of fire now, orange and red. She could smell me. She knew I was here. The scents she was secreting filled the deep corridors with bitter wrath. I squinted my eyes shut, inhaling her fury in the darkness. The tunnels of this place were well-worn by years of ‘Mite feet, leaving their scent trails everywhere. I didn’t need to see. I knew exactly where I was going, down the empty, back tunnels that led straight to the larva pools.

  A single Soldier burst out of a tunnel just ahead of me. No doubt it could smell me, smell my Queen on me. But the advantage was all mine. It expected a slave. What it got was a madman.

  The machete caught a glint of the dim glowstones as I raised it and charged. The Soldier didn’t have time to whip its tail around before I launched myself straight at its head. The power of my jump and the sharpness of my blade combined into one savage stroke. The Soldier’s head dropped neatly from its thorax. Its mandibles clicked and its body thrashed for a moment before falling still.

  I took a moment to chop straight into its tail. A sharp, acid scent filled the air as I coated my blade with the dead Soldier’s paralyzing venom.

  The two Diggers behind me scuttled over the body, clicking in alarm.

  I could smell that my hold on them was waning. Far below, the hated Queen was spewing her own acid stench, red rage filling the tunnels. The Diggers were getting fearful.

  They should be afraid. Of me.

  “Follow!” I clicked, and bolted down the corridor.

  I took a zigzagging path, hoping to throw the Soldiers still in the Hive off my trail. Nearly all the Soldiers had obviously been drawn out to the Forbidden Zone where I hoped Mo and Lexis were holding them off long enough for Chen to get the rest of our people clear. This detour was never part of our plan, though. If they detonated their escape screen and fled over the hills while I was still down here, all the Soldiers would flood back into the Hive. I could slip away through the rivers, but Kinni’s brothers would never be able to follow me. They’d be paralyzed, and even if I could get them down to the open water, I would never be strong enough to tow them upstream to a safe pool.

  Hurry. No time.

  The Diggers followed me down and down. At the bottom of the tunnel, the familiar splash of the shallow pools echoed around the walls. The nearest pools had been cleaned out since I was dragged through, my belly laden with eggs. The dead husks of seals and humans were gone, and the first pool was empty. In the second one, I found the boys.

  “Matthew? Martin?” I whispered. They couldn’t nod, but their panicked eyes told me everything. The eggs on their bellies hadn’t hatched yet, but the next few pools held seals that weren’t as lucky.

  Sticky white goo glued the eggs to their skin. I dragged them up out of the water and scraped the eggs onto the floor. The smell down here was overpowering. We were so close to the Queen. She knew it and was white hot fury, trapped in the room she’d grown to fill. I could hear her thrashing in the next chamber, and smell the red summons she emitted. Her Soldiers would be here soon.

  “Pick up,” I clicked to the Diggers. “Bring.”

  Matthew and Martin were dead weight. I couldn’t possibly carry them, but the Diggers could. They scooped the boys up and I stepped back, crushing one of the sticky eggs on the ground with a wet pop.

  It smelled like her inside. Sick. Yellow. Full of anger and pride.

  Red haze clouded my eyes. I stomped through the room, popping eggs, grinding the half-developed larvae inside under my bare feet. Sticky goo squished between my toes and its touch drove me insane with the need to kill. The scent enraged my Hive sense. And the memory of being left down here to die, sucked dry for another generation of sick Yellow ‘Mites, made me rage for the generations of slavery that took my identity away.

  Human. I was human. Not a Lowform. Not a Feral. A human, and even more than that, the first human member of a Hive. The blood of both species roared in my veins.

  When all the eggs from the boys were squashed, I raced to the next pool and ripped the larvae off the seals that lay there paralyzed. Stomp and squish. They tried to wriggle away but I was a tornado of hatred. My legs were caked up to the knees in the guts of my enemies, and still I was not sated. The smell of the nearby Queen’s rage mixed with my own, and my ears rang with a screaming din, blood pounding in my veins.

  When I finally looked up from my furious destruction, both of the Diggers had backed into a corner, holding the limp boys close to their bodies.

  And three Soldiers, along with the Hive’s King, burst into the room.

  Chapter 42

  Noah

  They dashed straight at me.

  I raised my machete and charged.


  All three of the Soldiers pounded forward together while the small, unarmed King hung back. Behind me, the Diggers holding the boys cowered into the corners.

  I splashed through a shallow pool right at the Soldiers. At the last moment I tucked and rolled to my right, slashing out with my machete. It sliced through a leg of the rightmost Soldier, and sent it toppling to the ground.

  My shoulder was on fire where I had landed, but I scrambled to my feet. The downed Soldier was struggling in the pool as the venom from my blade made one side of it go limp. There wasn’t enough to completely immobilize it, but it scuttled in a circle, clicking with rage.

  The other two split up, one coming in from each side.

  I dashed to the left and scooped up the severed leg of the Soldier, flinging it right at the face of the one coming straight at me. It dodged the projectile and I jumped past it. I hoped to repeat the single-stroke victory I’d scored in the tunnel, but my blade bounced off the hard thorax and I spun around from the force. Its swinging tail just missed me as I tumbled to the ground and rolled away.

  The other Soldier was right behind me, waving its sharp pincers my way. I jumped up and ran back toward the Diggers, machete arm tingling from the blow.

  Two thick, furry bodies darted past me. The two seals, freed from their parasites, were drunkenly flopping away as the toxin wore off, heading for the sound of open water. The Soldier stumbled over them and crashed just behind me.

  “Look out!”

  I heard the voice and spun around as the Soldier slid over to me.

  My machete found its home. The enemy’s head spun free from its body.

  One down.

  I realized that the Soldiers weren’t great fighters. There was nothing on the planet that threatened them besides other Hives, and this Hive hadn’t seen battle for decades. It ruled the land for miles. This was certainly the first time these Soldiers had ever been in a real fight.

  It wasn’t mine.

  The boys were regaining some movement, squirming in the Diggers’ grasp. One had obviously regained his voice and shouted to me a second ago.

  “Stay there!” I yelled to them. “We’re getting you out!”

  The partially paralyzed Soldier was limping toward me, and the one I’d hit in the chest dashed around to my side. I lurched away from its swinging tail and stumbled into the Digger holding Matthew. It dropped the boy and staggered to the side, spinning around between me and the attacking Soldier.

  I don’t think it meant to save my life. It was probably just trying to get away. But when the Soldier’s tail swung with a lethal dose of venom, it hit the Digger square in the belly. It crumpled to the ground.

  I launched myself over its back and swung at the Soldier. Its stinger was stuck in the Digger’s body and I chopped down, severing the tail. Acid venom splashed all around and hit me in the left eye.

  My vision on that side dimmed and my lips felt fat and heavy.

  Hurry. End it before you go down. Save the boys.

  “Get out of here!” I called to the boys, but my face wouldn’t work, and what came out was garbled.

  The Soldier threw its body at me. Without a stinger it couldn’t paralyze me with venom, but it was three times my weight and plated with armor. It could still kill me with a single blow.

  I raised the machete before me.

  The Soldier landed on me, machete impaling its chest. It thrashed, grinding my back into the hard stone floor, and was still. Its weight crushed me and I couldn’t breathe. This is it. I hope they get away.

  With an agonizing shift, the dead Soldier’s weight was dragged off me. I looked up to see the remaining Digger, heavy claws grasping the dead Soldier.

  It saved me!

  With an enraged click, it drove a claw right at my head. I rolled away as it crashed into the floor.

  Not a rescue. My Queen’s scent was overpowered by theirs. This Digger was no longer mine to command.

  I grabbed for the machete and scuttled away.

  The venom in my eye was already wearing off, and I blinked to clear my head.

  The Soldier that was half-crippled by venom limped toward me. It was slow, but so was I. My blade connected with the legs on its good side, and it went down, tail swinging wildly, splashing up water from the warm pool.

  Behind me the Digger raised its claws.

  “Look out!”

  A rain of glowstones knocked the Digger away. Both boys had dragged themselves around the edge of the room and were pelting the creature with anything they could grab.

  Above me, the tunnels filled with scuttling sounds.

  All the Diggers and Builders were crashing down the corridors. And I didn’t smell like a healthy Queen anymore.

  From the chamber beyond, the enemy Queen’s red rage scent filled the room. She called to her ‘Mites with smell, and they were coming.

  She was the cause of all of this.

  She had lived too long. When our ships arrived from the stars, she had given the order to attack, to take our people as slaves to the Hive. Because of our labor, she’d grown huge and lived for decades, creating an empire that never should have taken over this land.

  She took my childhood. She was killing my friends even now.

  She had tried to kill me.

  It was time for her to die.

  “Get out of here. Run away to the mountains,” I said to the boys. “My people will find you.”

  Leaving the angry Digger and the legless, flopping Soldier in the pool, I rushed toward the Queen’s chamber.

  The small, unarmed King jumped in front of me and I kicked him away. There wasn’t a true door into the Queen’s chamber from here, but a small crack in the wall, which I slipped through.

  She filled the chamber with fury. Eight legs thrashed toward me, her huge, fat tail whipping around. But it held no venom, and she couldn’t kill me with eggs.

  I launched myself at her, climbing up her body. She beat me with her tail, but I hung onto my machete. Her body lurched to the side, crushing mine into the wall. A shower of dirt and grime pelted us from above and I slipped back down to her tail.

  Outside the chamber, the Digger was frantically clawing at the crack I’d slipped through, trying to dig its way through to us. Great chunks of the wall crumbled to dust.

  Do it. Do it now.

  The Digger would be through in seconds. When it got to me, it would kill me.

  I wouldn’t go alone.

  Once again, I vaulted up the Queen’s back, climbing her useless, waving legs. She flung herself from side to side, but I hung on, my fury matching hers. When I reached her shoulders, I clicked to her in a language I didn’t even know if she understood.

  “Dead. Now.”

  One perfect swing.

  The hated Slaver Queen’s head toppled from her body onto the sticky ground below.

  Chapter 43

  Kinni

  Enemy Soldiers surrounded our Queen. She was up there on the plateau that was supposed to be our escape route, along with a handful of our Soldiers and a couple of the men. The enemies were pouring up the edges of the hill on each side, squeezing our fighters toward the steep edge leading out to the open plain. All I could do was watch in horror as all our plans dissolved second by second.

  We would never get another chance. Never get another Queen.

  A sob choked my throat at the thought of losing her when I’d just found her.

  I knew some humans would make it through the day. Noah had gotten the people out of the Hive. If any of Lexis’s explosive powder—or Lexis herself—managed to survive this, they could still blow up the Hive next pollen time, assuming the Yellow bugs didn’t hunt them down before that. None of the new Hive people would know how to make it. They didn’t even know how to read.

  “Lexis, you have to get out of here!” I screamed over the noise.

  She was staring at the plateau where our people were backing right up to the edge.
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  “Lexis!” I repeated, but she wasn’t listening.

  “They’re coming over,” she said, and I followed her gaze.

  She was right. More than half of the enemy Soldiers had streamed up the sides of the high plateau. Now the first of ours leaped over the edge, sliding down the steep front face and crashing into the hard ground below. The stench of terror washed across the field.

  It was hardest on the humans. They didn’t have eight legs to grab at the earth during the skid, and we didn’t have an exoskeleton to bounce at the bottom like a ‘Mite did. The humans at the bottom of the steep slope didn’t move. But the ‘Mites did.

  The Queen jumped. My heart sank with her as she fell, tumbling down and down. The Soldiers we had left, human and ‘Mite, met her at the bottom and started fighting off the hoard of enemies that descended on them. Most of the Yellow Hive’s Soldiers were still on top of the plateau, falling over each other in their desire to attack our Queen.

  One person was still up there.

  Even from this distance, I could smell it was Gil.

  He peered over the edge. Our Queen was scuttling toward the line of ships where Lexis and I stood, her path being cut by her few remaining fighters.

  Gil nodded and turned back toward the enemies all around him.

  Light flashed in his hands.

  The entire plateau erupted in fire, as the explosions we had carefully laid to bring down the pass and secure our escape blew up at once. I ducked back under the rail of the ship I was standing on, gripping it above my head and bracing for the impact.

  Good work, Hivemate Gil. You are honored to die for our Queen.

  Sound thumped into me, with a huge layer of dust and debris. Some of the debris was bug parts, raining down everywhere. Most of it was tiny rocks, and I buried my head in my hands until the thunder subsided and I could peer over the edge.

  Me and all the bugs were scent-blinded by the dust in the air. I could barely see from where I was, but there were enough humans that survived the fighting and the blast to pull the Queen forward, toward the ship where Lexis and I stood.