Behind them, the Matures still looked gloomy though.
A little later in the Hive, Xe couldn’t stop thinking about all the new things he had experienced. Impatient for more, he hated the fact this remarkable day was over and that he had to wait for the next morning to visit the outer world again.
Becoming a Flyer also meant new and bigger quarters. Like the others, Xe was given one of the countless medium-sized chambers between the top of the Central Chamber and large sheets of honeycombs filling the remaining space to the external wall. It was an area where the majority of adult Eeols slept during the warm season as only Commanders and the Queen with her Servants resided permanently in the underground. Internals had their humble dwelling places in the peripheral network of hallways and small rooms on the flanks of the Hive, and Xe recalled his former tiny corner with the unexpected pinch of nostalgia he refused to admit to himself.
Like all interiors, his new chamber was illuminated by weak green glow of the Eeol wax. Buzzing gently, Xe hovered up to grid-like openings in the ceiling and, with a muffled clack, special plates on his ankles slid aside letting formidable red hooks to spring out. Slowly reversing his body position, young Eeol hooked himself on the openings; hanging upside down with his head dangling just above the floor.
Xe’s air-screw stopped turning and its soft buzzing was replaced by a hissing sound marking sealing into the armor. The features of his figure melted away as his body was transformed into a droplet-like shape with two lines of breathing holes clearly visible arching down over his top half. He was now ready for sleep.
It was very quiet in the chamber and, for a moment, Xe had the feeling that he could actually perceive the inaudible Queen’s Song; it appeared to hum vaguely somewhere inside his head, barely at the hearing threshold.
When the other three Starters Xe was sharing his chamber with arrived, young Eeol was already sound asleep.
2.
Training
Rushing down the luminous corridors while heading to the Central Chamber, Xe was making his way through the endless flow of the passing Eeols. He partly flew and partly strode, depending on what sort of travelling seemed the most appropriate at the moment as green-shining corridors led literally in every possible direction. There were also many small chambers woven into that network, being only a fraction wider than the corridors themselves and used as gathering points for lesser Eeol groups. Everywhere along the way the floors were littered by wax rubble, although mostly piled in the corners.
When Xe arrived, the Central Chamber was already full of Starters waiting in long lines to apply for mentorship.
At this time of day, the Morning Rally would usually take place here with Supremes issuing orders for the daily tasks, and accordingly, at the end of each day, there would be reports on achieved results in the Evening Rally. But the agenda changed today due to the beginning of training for Starters, and the Morning Rally was held early and ended by now.
Xe did not attend these Rallies. Internals were banned from them completely, and new Starters were considered too fresh to attend. Yet they knew permission would be granted to them when they finished their training.
He passed the rear segment of the Central Chamber, going quickly through a current of hot and stale air welling out of the huge openings in the floor. Those were the Main Tunnels, leading to the underground levels with which he was more than familiar with as he often worked there as an Internal; but luckily that was not his destination today.
The zealous youngster picked a line seeming to be a little shorter than the rest, and indeed didn’t have to wait for long.
Commander on duty scarcely looked at him, gripping in his hands the thin wax plate and a metallic stylet made from a bark splinter.
“State you batch and nursery, youngster” he said in a bored voice.
“Xera, Sir” Xe replied with respect, lowering his head. “Nursery M.”
“Personal number?”
“6697, Sir.”
“Your designated mentor is Commander NakaC5602. Next!”
Xe was last to join his training group. Consisting mostly of Xera and Gogo batches, it contained precisely one hundred Starters. Besides the Commander, the group had ten Matures which were ordinary Troopers assigned to serve as his aids and give him a hand with the youngsters.
Relatively young and only a Green, Commander Na told them he was hoping for promotion to the Third Class Commander soon and he was honored to guide their trainings. He talked and laughed a lot, and Xe liked him.
When ashamed Starters mentioned theirs not so brilliant display of skills during the First Flight, Commander Na just smiled broadly.
“In fact, that happens a lot, with almost every generation mucking up its First Flight. Mine crashed right into the Hive during the overflight! Those were the days. We were so young and full of life, fascinated with the outer world…” but then he remembered something and rubbed his gray visor as he continued in a more official tone. “Yet enough about that, youngsters. It’s normal to be excited on First Flight, but such things must not happen again. Being a Flyer means taking your duties seriously and fulfilling orders the best you can! Is that clear?”
“Yes, Sir!” youngsters shouted keenly and all at once.
Looking satisfied, Commander Na got his group ready and led them out without further delay.
Xe found himself charmed with the external world no less than yesterday. The skies were equally blue and the air just as fragrant. That short time he had spent outside only made him to crave more for it.
All training groups were deployed on the meadow clearing in fornt of the Hive. Mature Eeols were still keeping watch as they circled the area, but not in such large numbers like yesterday as part of the Hive Flyers went on a food-gathering mission today.
“First we’ll go through the fundamentals of collective flying” instructed Commander Na. “Xe 23, look this way, and don’t play with your hand gear! It’s essential that every single member of a flying party acts as its integral part. You two, Xe 18 and Xe 4, stop talking among yourselves!”
Mentors broke down their classes in sets of ten youngsters and arranged them in lines with one aid at the head of each. On their mark, the flying practice began and Eeols took a running start, taking off one after another in long files all over the clearing. Once airborne, the Matures showed the Starters how to keep an eye for signals from others and respond to commands quickly and correctly; how to synchronize their actions with those of others; how to raise alarm in case of a need. They also received detailed instructions about turning, changing speeds and stopping to hover within the group and also about landing.
To their surprise, after a few initial mistakes Starters discovered that they didn’t suck at all; flying in the open air was in their blood, the birth legacy of every Eeol. Xe was particularly pleased to see he was still the fastest and swiftest youngster in his group, and even their aids had a difficult time catching up with him.
The flying practice lasted until dusk, when tired mentors signaled to their groups it was over for today. Likewise, Commander Na gathered his class around him and commended them before returning home.
That evening youngsters had dinner in one of the spacious chambers in the underground where the bulk of the honeycombs were situated. In the Hive there was dinner only as Eeols usually ate just once a day. If necessary, they could skip meals for a rather long period; their bodies accumulated reserves in the form of highly concentrated, energy rich fluid in their belt batteries and even a small amount of it sufficed to sustain them for a while. However, active Flyers fed on duty and rarely dined in the Hive during the warm season.
Being in high spirits, crowds of youngsters chatted lively and bragged about their incredible achievements in the flying practice while gobbling at the orange paste-like honey from the hexagonal waxy cells. Occasionally, they would take a swig of oily nectar which was stashed in a few rare cells; a yellow, pink or tan colored fluid, depending on the flower that had yielded it.
There were many cells containing pollen, but those weren’t touched; Eeols didn’t have much taste for that golden powder and used it primary as a food for their youngest ones.
Earlier that evening in the hallway, Xe run into a bunch of Internals heading to the underground levels carrying rations for the brood, and by habit he opened his mouth to engage in conversation with them. But he was now banned from doing it and forced himself to pass the group in silence. Surprisingly, he even envied them a little.
Caring for the brood was his favorite duty during the Internalhood; the only one he didn’t consider dull and mind-killing. The Queen’s Servants would bring elongated gray eggs from the Queen’s Chamber to the huge waxcombes in the nurseries. The hatchlings were tiny, blackish creatures bearing no resemblance to adult Eeols; eyeless and limbless and covered by wrinkled rubbery skin instead of armor. Capable only of eating, they grew rapidly and in time cocooned into red-brown metallic cases.
Many times, Xe had stayed up long into the night awaiting the birth by cocoon, regarding the process fascinating. All of a sudden, a metallic fastener would click sharply and the entire upper side of the cocoon would move and rise, releasing a brand new Eeol into this world. Born to their full size, young Eeols were at first confused and muddled. Likewise, Xe’s own first memories were like a blurred dream, but he cherished them as a great value nonetheless.
That evening before going to sleep he finally had the chance to get to know his roommates. All three of them turned out to be Xera batch too, and by some wimp of Superiors those three got assigned to the same training group. Named for short Xe 1 and Xe 83 and Xe 73, the loud trio could babble to infinity.
“You are lucky to have a friendly mentor” said Xe 73, after hearing about Xe’s Commander Na. “Our drill master is such a grumpy fellow you wouldn’t believe it. Speaks only about official stuff, and that’s it.”
“Strange Eeol” agreed Xe 1, sitting on a handy piece of wax rubble with blunt edges. “Never smiles. We tried everything to make him laugh, but it was all in vain. For him it’s just work, work and work. Although, I have to admit, he teaches us well.”
“And the assistants” sighed Xe 83, which was an Eeoless, “the same story. Mute as a rock. Two of them are females, and I hoped at least with them communication wouldn’t be that hard. But nope. No difference there.”
“I know we are a drag to them” said Xe 1 and leaned against the waxy wall. “Unskilled and undisciplined and all that. But blast it, we can’t help it and they should have more patience and good will with us. After all, every one of them was a Starter once, and I bet they were the same as we are. Or even worse.”
His listeners shrugged helplessly.
The next day the youngsters got the swarm flight simulation on their schedule.
“That means we are all going to fly collectively to the nearby meadow” said Commander Na, standing at the cramped clearing with his arms folded. Previously he engaged in some small talk with his Starters, but he had to cut it short as there was no end to their questions.
“The swarm arrangement is as follows; training groups in the middle and Matures troops in the front, at the rear, on flanks and below. You are going to follow our lead, observing and copying our actions. Rigorous obedience is a must, youngsters. And don’t wander away from the swarm under any circumstances!”
It was time to go. Commanders were shouting orders. All over the clearing air-screws started to turn, their images melting into red blurs, and a soft vibrant buzz filled the air. Thousands of Eeols arose like a whirling eddy, creating a huge swarm that headed southwards, reddening the skies as it moved.
Xe enjoyed the open air and monitored the world around him with fascination.
Despite the fact that Internals had never been permitted outside, they had some elementary knowledge about life thriving in the plains based on pieces of information their Masters were occasionally willing to provide. From those descriptions, Starters were now able to distinguish and name many species of metal-reinforced plants and animals they were encountering during their flight.
Even from this altitude Xe recognized the powerful stalks of Buddi Buddi deep below, dark green in color but adorned with azure-blue buds. Huge heart-shaped leaves of Bigleaved Creeper were also quite conspicuous, resting on the ground and being so strikingly different from tiny foliage of low-rising Farra plants from the nearby clump.
The endless plains teemed with many kinds of creatures too. Ants clad in matte black metal armors scurried from place to place, making their way through the rigid vegetation by means of their mighty crashing jaws. Without the ability to fly, they were equipped well nonetheless having both wheels and six strong legs to move around. Equally earth-bound Grasshoppers were much bigger and vividly green, powering their infamous leaps by long metal springs.
Other beings capable of flight shared the air with the Eeols. From time to time some gigantic Butterfly would come close to the swarm. Brisk and agile, they were gliding soundlessly in the spring breeze on their colorful and unbelievably thin metallic wings. On the opposite, lumbering Great Green Beetles who bore thick and heavy armor maneuvered out of the swarm way with a lot of difficulty; although having as many as four noisy air-screws, their joined action was barely sufficient to support Beetle’s substantial weight.
And there were Relatives also; the cousins of Eeols, similar to them in appearance but larger and of different shades, and none living in such large communities. Xe could see one of them in the distance just over the northern horizon, a vague figure in light-brown armor darting and looping recklessly. That was some gleeful Hep, most common of the Relatives, a creature that dwelled solitary in the caves which seemed awfully strange from the Eeols’ point of view.
After a short trip the Commanders landed their swarm on a flat plateau covered with sporadically growing Buddi Buddi plants. Their coming caused a flock of emerald-green Flea Beetles not longer than an Eeol arm to jump out of the plant crowns. Bolting by means of their loud rear thrusters, small insects disappeared into surrounding meadows to find a more tranquil place.
Mentors took their training groups to practice while other mature Eeols encircled the zone to keep watch. Commander Na led his Starters to one large but withered Buddi Buddi and called his group to try out their weaponry on a plant.
“Start with your spikes, youngsters. Then go with the blasters.”
Starters obeyed, surrounding the huge trunk and stabbing it at random. It amused them how the rotten metal bark crushed and shattered under their violent blows. With spikes Starters were fairly experienced, as they were using them often while breaking down the old wax during their Internalhood. But blasters were a completely different story; they have hardly had chance to fire them, and here the practice was truly necessary.
“Caution, youngsters” warned Commander Na. “No fooling around with blasters!”
On his command assistants lined the Starters up. One by one, they would take position and target the plant trunk, charring it over and over again with their fiery blasts.
Youngsters were having a good time and just started to get the hang of firing when all of a sudden Eeol ranks stirred. Commanders had unexpectedly ordered instant take-off and weapon drills were terminated on the spot.
All Starters’ protests and whining turned futile. Commanders rushed them around and the red swarm soared again, giving youngsters the bitter-tasting opportunity of observing the extraordinary outer world passing swiftly on their way back.
“It’s still early, Sir,” Xe complained to Commander Na, buzzing by his side. “We are losing daylight for further practice!”
“It’s an order,” hissed Commander Na in a strange voice. “We are returning to the Hive and that’s final!”
“But why, Sir?”
“Shut up and do what you are told!” he snapped at the youngster.
But a moment later he calmed down and went on in a lower tone rather apologetically, “Xe 97. We can’t stay here any longer. Watchers sighted somet
hing they didn’t like and it’s too risky to remain out in the open. Don’t ask too much, youngster.”
Starters spent the rest of that day in the Central Chamber in a very poor mood with grumbling continuing even over dinner.
Fortunately, by the next day, everything seemed to be back to normal and Superiors resumed training procedures. The next step was a sample working swarm.
Made again of training groups and a large number of accompanying Matures, the training swarm flew out in the mid-morning to visit meadows in close proximity to the Hive. With the warm season just beginning, pastures weren’t plentiful yet and Eeols had to rely on just a few plants, predominately Farra blooms and white trumpet-like flowers of prickly Spring Weed.
There were three main duties for the Flyers, and each Starter was to try out all three in order to determine which one he or she executed the best. The gathering positions were the most abundant, as Gatherers, whose task was to collect food, comprised the bulk of swarms. Then there were Watchers to keep guard and Scouts who sought pastures.
The mentors seemed tireless, teaching their Starters with lecture after lecture. In detail they spoke of various routine procedures, organization of duties, order taking and commanding chain. A lot of time was dedicated to explaining the key role of coordination; because to be maximally efficient, the Eeol swarm had to act like a giant super-organism, and for that every member had to be perfectly synchronized with the rest.
And above all else, the youngsters were taught three principal rules; to protect the Swarm, the Hive, and the Queen at any cost; to always follow their Superior’s commands; to never get separated from others.
Starters were striving to do their best. Mentors observed them closely, meticulously taking notes on their performance.
“Not bad, not bad. Your progress is obvious, youngsters” Commander Na praised his group. “But then again, double your efforts and concentrate harder to learn as much as possible. Remember, you have to be well prepared for your future service.”
The Call of the Swarm Page 2