We've Seen the Enemy

by Paul Dayton

  After a twenty minute strenuous hike, they arrived at the entrance of the hive. Once there, they climbed down into the tunnel and worked their way to the hive center, a large chamber that held hundreds of ant eggs. They could clearly see the same structure they had seen many times in their spy 3D’s, but this was real and Timothy, Ruth and Emerfield looked around wide-eyed. The ants didn’t wait, but took them along a path running the perimeter towards another tunnel. A few dozen meters later, the tunnel opened up into the primary chamber containing the Hive Queen. It was huge, with a bulbous head, the thorax easily the size of a large person. Their concentration focused on the huge abdomen, with dozens of spiracles lining both sides of the upper part of it. The lower part was submerged in a pool of liquid, and around the pool waited a dozen or so drones. Other drones came and constantly fed the queen.

  Timothy, Ruth and Emerfield watched as the thorax pulsed, followed by unusual noises sounding like a group of people wheezing as they took labored breaths. After a number of pulses, an egg would float to the top of the liquid, and a drone would come and take it away.

  She seemed oblivious to their presence, until the crab crawled down from Ruth’s shoulder and made its way to the queen.

  Minutes passed as the queen continued to lay her eggs one at a time. Each cycle took about ten minutes, and resulted in a new egg. Ruth sensed an incredible amount of patience in the act, and some pleasure too. Eventually she noticed a much smaller ant about the size of a human arm on the queen’s abdomen, but it had somehow become attached to the queen, its own abdomen completely embedded. It was completely still except for the tiniest of movement that came with each pulse of the queen’s abdomen.

  Emerfield watched, horrified and fascinated at the same time. He had no idea what they were doing there, so he simply waited until Timothy or anyone else reacted.

  Finally, the queen interrupted her egg laying and a strong mental thought was broadcast that could best be described as, “What?”

  The three humans received a quick procession of mental images transmitted by the crab. It translated into, “Life not from this planet has an urgent message for this Hive and requests your audience.”

  “Why?” the queen asked, and Ruth could tell she was annoyed at the interruption. Ruth could sense nothing at all from the male attached to the queen.

  “Danger to all life not from this planet.”

  “From what source?”

  “From hive life like us, but not like us. From Danger Hive.”

  The three immediately got a mental image of a previous attack, and they could clearly see ants warring against each other. Ruth didn’t understand, until she saw that some ants had the markings while others did not.

  “Timothy, the ants have been here before!” she whispered.

  Before Timothy replied, the queen answered, “Danger Hive is no longer a danger to us.”

  The crab stayed silent, and Timothy spoke up mentally, hoping the crab would process what he was saying. “Not at the moment, they aren’t. But they are destroying all life in the universe, planet by planet.”

  The queen was curious that a male was speaking, but replied, “Danger does not affect my Hive.”

  Ruth was well aware that they did not want to expend resources without finding a need for it, so she said, “All life is intertwined, as water and vegetation is. What affects the universe will also affect you.”

  “That is not possible,” the queen said as it prepared to return to its chore.

  Ruth and Timothy could see they weren’t making any headway, and felt desperation start to creep in.

  “They know how to destroy worlds.” Emerfield’s voice surprised both Timothy and Ruth, and it apparently affected the queen too. She had immediately stopped any movement and urgently asked, “How?”

  “They have the technology, and tried to use it to destroy our planet. We intercepted it and one of their hives was destroyed in the process. They plan to use this to destroy any planet they want to.”

  The queen processed the information, and finally asked the question Timothy was dreading, “Who gave them this technology?”

  “We’re not sure,” Timothy said, “But in an attempt to protect our hive from their invasion, we destroyed their homeworld with this same technology.”

  The queen was silent and motionless. They all waited, sensing it was time to stay quiet. Minutes passed until Emerfield cleared his throat to talk, but Timothy and Ruth motioned for patience.

  After fifteen minutes, Ruth sat on the floor, having been taxed by the pregnancy and trip over. The other two followed her actions and also sat down. Time passed and Ruth starting wondering how much longer the wait was, as pressure was building on her bladder from the pregnancy. Just as she was about to whisper this to Timothy, the queen finally replied, “Human with offspring. Why did you come?”

  “How did you know?” Ruth asked, surprised.

  “Why did you come?”

  “We came because our lives are all at risk. Many lives, not only human lives. Many planets are at risk. Out of five planets we recently visited, three are no longer able to hold life because of the ‘Danger Hive’. All life has been exterminated. That’s why we came. They are consuming everything, and their appetite is voracious, and getting larger.”

  It was obvious the queen had already reached a decision, as the answer came very quickly. “They must be stopped.”

  Within moments, an ant came up to Ruth and gave her a mold like substance. Ruth held it in her hands, and it felt cool and damp. When she squeezed it, the material broke apart like wet powder. “How are we supposed to use this?” Ruth asked.

  Emerfield said, “Great, another magic powder,” under his breath.

  “This grows on our vegetation rapidly. It is food for us. Grow this, and give it to the Danger Hive. All must know this. Send workers to collect vegetation for your storehouse.”

  The queen quickly went back to her egg laying, and it was clear that this communication session was now over.

  Ruth and Timothy looked at each other as the crab crawled off her shoulder. The other ants that had escorted them to this area had now left, except for one who got behind the group and starting gently pushing them out. Ruth hung on to the substance, resigned to the fact that this must be the answer they were all waiting for.

  Once back on the Destroyer, they had broken orbit for their return back to Earth. Several trips made on their three largest troop carriers brought in a cargo load of the vegetation the queen had indicated was necessary to grow the mold, and Timothy was now in the science lab trying to find out what made this mold so special.

  Stasi had done preliminary testing and found the mold to be similar to many mold compounds and thus not dangerous to humans, but it was planet specific, and slightly but significantly different in a number of ways. Level One quarantine had been established and Stasi found no reason to lift it just yet.

  “But what makes this valuable to us?” Timothy asked.

  Stasi had no answer. Timothy thought back to the vision of the ant war, immediately followed by the queen offering Ruth this substance. This was obviously an important weapon in the war, but it was used as food for the ants on the planet. He wasn’t seeing how this would help them and admitted as much to Ruth and Emerfield.

  “Since the war, they were apparently never bothered again by the ants, right?” Ruth asked. The others shook their heads. “And immediately after saying they must be stopped, the queen gave us this. So this is obviously linked to the ants never coming again.”

  “But this is food to ants,” Emerfield said. “Perhaps it’s a logistical thing – ants need energy, and without it they can’t fight. This gave the ants on the planet needed energy.”

  “That doesn’t help us. She gave it to us as an answer to the enemy ant problem. And anyway, this would provide food for both sides, meaning that this isn’t much of a help.”

  They stood quietly as they looked at the mold and thought things out.

  �
�Captain, I mean Counselor…” Stasi said, “…you’re right and wrong at the same time. It is food for the ants, but it’s only found on B Fomolhault. It doesn’t exist on any other planet in this form, so this means it hasn’t been used as food for any other Hive.”

  “So, you’re saying that this food is specific to these ants but it’s not food for others.” Ruth added.

  “It’s possible. It happens on Earth all the time. Many animals eat the same vegetation, but some stuff is poison for us but perfectly fine for other mammals,” Timothy said.

  “What if they think it’s food, but it’s not?” Emerfield asked, getting to the point. “What if this looks good, but somehow kills them?”

  “It’s very possible. Bodies are fickle with proteins. Give a human the wrong ones, and the very least that will happen is that they pass through inertly. Or, they get a reaction or immediately die poisoned. The same would logically apply to all organic life.”

  ‘That’s it,’ Timothy thought. Food for these ants, death for the other ones. But how? Timothy didn’t wait a second longer. “Comm to Officer Brigfield. We need to get to Earth immediately. Mr. Stasi, find out what makes this so special.”

  “Yes, Sir!” Brigfield said from the Bridge. “Jump calculations have already been started, but I’ll push everyone to give you their all.”

  CHAPTER 36

  The Unsuspecting Hero

  Prime was exceptionally pleased. The hive was together, and the human previously known as Finley who was now her present mate had proved himself extremely useful.

  She thought back to the moment he was brought in, his ship captured in transit. Something hadn’t been quite right, and worry plagued her as she watched the Hive Queen cleanse his personality. She could clearly see this human’s abilities, and his ship had been on an important and secret mission to install new software on all computers, so Prime allowed the addition to the hive. Nevertheless, his value now was obvious. Usually, humans, once unencumbered of their memories and social programming, quickly jumped in intelligence in their preferred fields. And yet none of the techs had been able to break the encryption until Finley came along. His intelligence notably surpassed theirs.

  Prime had just finished transmitting the new information found on the carbon fighter. The fact that their enemies were bringing all Federation ships to earth orbit for a retrofit by the council was perfect. Their new weapon would be online shortly, and their attack on powered down earth ships would be devastating. Scouts would soon be in position to confirm all reports, but in the meantime, it gave Prime intense pleasure to know that this issue with their enemies would be taken care of once and for all.

  It was almost as intense a pleasure as Prime had received from the mating. She looked at the human and beckoned him over from where he stood near the center of the group. Looking at his now erect stature, he was far from the curved, bespectacled man she had seen when he was taken. Intelligent and able, he was indeed the perfect, present mate.

  Lying, she said telepathically, “Your sperm did not take. I have analyzed the situation and have concluded that more time and different positions are needed to make me pregnant. My cycle is still active, and will be so for three more days. You will mate with me for the duration.” She released the pheromones which would guarantee continuous copulation, and she well knew that Finley would not be able to resist if he had wanted to anyway. However, she was pleased to sense that Finley was expecting to enjoy this. Dosing herself with the appropriate pheromones, she became extremely aroused as she took Finley to a private chamber.

  ***

  Finley didn’t know what it was, but he was worried. Installing the Angela persona software on the hive base computer gave him much pleasure. It had been his previous mission to do this with all human computers, but now that he had been cleansed and the software analyzed, he was to install it on hive systems instead.

  It was obvious that this new software and the accompanying hardware would boost productivity and efficiency tremendously, and he had calculated that all hive systems should see this retrofit. Prime had communicated with all and the agreement had come in. The telepathic connection was fast and immediate, and with the right technology which he could easily build, all hive computer systems could be connected telepathically in real time. This was a huge leap and would have been a real advantage for their enemies, but instead it was now being incorporated by his hive, and it was his new assignment to do the same with all the other major hives before the earth attack.

  He was very pleased, pleased to the very core of his being, and it was this that worried him. It was unusual to be pleased in this fashion. His subconscious had transmitted immense satisfaction at accomplishing this, and he felt an urgency that he couldn’t understand or explain. He wanted to talk to Prime about it, but he somehow knew this would be wrong and so he hid this frustration. He didn’t even think Prime would listen, as she obviously enjoyed the telepathic link that had been established with the persona, now installed on the hive computer.

  Right at this moment though, he knew Prime was far more interested in something else…

  CHAPTER 37

  Death

  A great, hairless and generally naked mass of humans had gone to a common cafeteria to wait patiently in line at the food dispensers. Keenan was grossed out at the muck pouring out, a mushy substance that people either ate or drank, depending on their disposition, but he didn’t want to stand out so he took it anyway.

  Whenever he had drifted away from the crowd, someone would query him as to his assignment. He sensed his time running short and felt the need for urgency, but he saw no way he could leave without being seen, and he struggled with both the urge to get moving, and the need to keep his feelings muted. These feelings had already raised flags from those nearer him, so Keenan simply waited with the group until he saw his opportunity. It was now evening of the first day he arrived, and he fought the urge to think about Mike, John and Jane.

  ‘Focus.’

  As soon as everyone had finished eating, they got up and proceeded out of the room, passing an equal number of people that were coming in as they exited. The two files were going in opposite directions, and Keenan couldn’t understand why until he noticed his group working its way to a dormitory, a single room filled with mats stacked in bunks. The room was clean and well kept but the mattresses had obviously been slept in. Each person went randomly to a mattress, and Keenan felt the one he chose still warm, obviously just vacated by someone they had passed a few seconds before.

  ‘Focus.’ He breathed deeply, in and out, and lay down. Within seconds, a woman came to his mattress and mentally projected the thought, “I’m ovulating. Mate.”

  Keenan hid his surprise and tried responding with the thought, “I’ve just mated,” but she seemed confused.

  “When?”

  Keenan realized his mistake. He would have been working, not mating, which means he was capable of mate again.

  “Yesterday, but I sustained a temporary injury to my penis. Tomorrow I should be capable,” was all he could come up with.

  The woman seemed satisfied, and got up and went to the next male to repeat her command. He couldn’t believe the lack of human emotion he was seeing. Others in the room were also mating, but it was quickly over and they then went to sleep. He thought about the mattress he was on and felt revulsion.

  ‘Focus.’

  Keenan waited until he found his chance. Everyone had quieted down and had fallen asleep. He quickly got up and made his way quietly to the exit, but was queried by someone near the door.

  “I need to defecate,” was his only reply as he exited.

  Working his way silently down the empty hallway, he made it seem as if he was exactly where he should be. Nearing the intersection, he called up a mental schematic of the compound he had been drawing up in his head and worked his way toward the obvious large area that had not been explored earlier, where he figured they had whatever they were hiding.

  As he continue
d, he encountered more and more people busy in their assigned tasks. Some queried him, but he simply said he was performing his duty.

  Finally, as he neared a large double blast door, a sentry there asked him why he was trying to enter.

  “Reports have come in of a possible infiltration.”

  “Why has there been no general warning?”

  “The reports are so far unsubstantiated. It would be a waste of resources to interrupt activity until reports can be confirmed. I was assigned to confirm them.”

  The sentry was doubtful, so he persisted. “By which entity?”

  Keenan saw the clear mental image of a human who was obviously in some sort of control in the sentry’s mind, and he projected the thought back.

  “Prime.” Seconds passed as the sentry’s mind worked out the issue. As he was warned he would once he ate the food, Keenan picked up the thoughts: ‘Prime is not to be disturbed as she mates with entity 405. Order can only be confirmed when she un-copulates and joins the hive once again.’ “Proceed.”

  ‘Focus. Breathe in, breathe out.’

  Walking through, the image that greeted him almost took his breath away. A massive, black, disc shaped craft rose in front of him. It was far bigger than any of the WF ships they had ever constructed. The surface of the ship shimmered and parts of it seemed to disappear as he continued to walk towards it. It was obviously made of similar material Keenan had seen on the new experimental fighter in Base Arctica. He could see the usual defense weaponry and loading portals, but Keenan couldn’t see any ship bays, unless there was one on top.

  He turned on the implanted visual recorder and panned the object, focusing on the unusual detail – hundreds of small, round openings in the craft’s surface that penetrated deep, their interior lost in darkness. Each one was about thirty centimeters wide. From there he zoomed in on the countless docking clamps on the outer perimeter of the disc, designed to hold fighters.

  Keenan couldn’t understand why the ship was so big, or so lightly protected for that matter. Did they have new shields? “It can’t be that simple. I’m missing something,” he said to himself. He knew he should leave now, but he had to find out what made this ship so special.