by Saxon Andrew
“Why did you call it a hornet?”
“It looks like a giant flying creature and exhibits all the characteristics of that earth insect. Once a hive locks on an intruder, they will chase it and never give up on attacking it. Their stings are one of the most powerful in the insect world. That creature you see in front of us is smaller than the last time I saw it. It has evidently evolved since the last time it was used.”
Pare said, “Smaller!! That thing is two hundred and fifty miles long.”
“They were five hundred miles long before. I can see that even at their smaller length, they still produce the same amount of energy. Millions of them were killed during the extinction of the Five in our universe when hundreds of ships would attack them together. I suspect that with their smaller size, nothing can harm them now.”
Ping looked at Sprigly, “You knew they were going to use these creatures.”
“I suspected they were. I really didn’t think they would come up with a safe way to move them to this universe. I guess I was wrong.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about them?”
“And allow you to feel despair and hopelessness? These creatures do not have a consciousness. They are totally instinct and once they lock on a civilization, that civilization dies.”
“Is there any way to escape them?”
Sprigly leaned back, “No, they are like you, Ping. Once one of them scans you, it can look out into the universe and see every place one of your species is located. It will then extend a violet colored field around itself and the other members of the hive will fly through it and have all the information transferred to them.” Sprigly pointed at the single hornet hanging is space twenty thousand miles out from the planet. “I suspect that is the one that destroyed our battleship. The others will arrive momentarily.”
Pare said, “How many others?”
“Well, since we’ve moved all of our ships here and they don’t have to go out and destroy them all over Creation; I suspect the entire hive will arrive.” Suddenly space around the planet was glowing with a brilliant violet color. Ping and Dahlia looked out and saw a globe of the giant creatures that filled their solar system all the way out to the last planet. All of them were flashing multicolored lights and Sprigly said, “There are quite a few of them and I can tell from their flashing lights that they are not exactly happy about being ripped from their former location and brought here.” Sprigly paused and leaned to the right side, “Can you feel the vibrations?”
Dahlia and Ping heard the hull of the Rover humming with the voice being created by the swarm. Sprigly was right, they weren’t happy.
Dahlia walked forward and leaned against her panel and stared at the first Hornet to arrive. It was out in front of the hive that was flashing through space faster than they could see behind it. Dahlia looked at it closely and she could feel its anger. She knew that it would be like taking her baby away from its home and dropping it in a strange location. She felt sorrow for what had been done to it and she shook her head. Sprigly said, “Here they come!”
• • •
The humming rose to an intensity almost too loud to bear and the huge swarm turned and rushed toward the planet. Dahlia straightened up from the panel, held out her arms, and screamed, “STOP!!!”
The onrushing swarm immediately stopped. The giant mass suddenly started humming at an even higher intensity but the one in front floated in space and was not flashing lights. Dahlia turned to Ping, “Take me out to it.” Ping looked at the giant Hornet and shook his head. Dahlia took his hands, “If we’re going to die, I want to see my killer up close. I’ve hurt that one and I have to go to it.” Dahlia’s armor appeared around her and Ping was surprised it fit around her huge midsection. “Take me, Ping.”
Ping glanced out of the viewport as the humming rose and sighed. His armor appeared and they disappeared out of the Searcher. They appeared less than twenty feet from the single hornet in front of the wildly rushing swarm around them and Dahlia stared at it. Its head was more than forty miles wide and the body of the Hornet disappeared in the distance. Ping watched the Hornets flashing around them but none of them stopped. He looked at Dahlia who had moved close to the giant and heard her say, “You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”
The Hornet’s purple colored light started flashing. Dahlia reached out and touched the fine covering and tiny hair that flashed at her touch. The crimson colored light moved out from where she touched the Hornet and moved the entire length of its body. Dahlia placed her other hand on the Hornet’s head and suddenly, multicolored lights appeared around her hands and moved down the Hornet’s body; violet, purple, orange, green, lime, yellow, blue, jade, and then violet again. Ping stared at the creature and then saw that all the other Hornets in the solar system had stopped vibrating and were moving gently from side to side as they emitted the identical colors of the Hornet Dahlia was touching. The view was incredible and beyond imagination.
“I know you’re angry over being brought here against your will.” The Hornet flashed a bright purple light and all the others flashed an instant later.”
“This place was always meant to be your home. You’ve come here to find those that love and admire your beauty. You are the most beautiful beings ever created.” Dahlia leaned forward and laid her head between her hands on the Hornets head and the lights started moving slowly and rhythmically along its giant body. Ping knew that if one looked up ecstasy in a dictionary, that Hornet’s picture would be an example of it.
Ping looked across the universe and saw the orange portals growing to the point of breaking through to the Realm’s universe. Dahlia saw the image in her mind and sighed. The giant sensed her distress and it flashed a bright violet light.
Dahlia raised her head and said, “Do you see those bright orange lights?”
The Hornet flashed one Violet pulse of light.
“The beings attempting to go through those lights have been trying to kill those of us that love you.”
The change in the Hornet was immediate and overwhelming. Its lights flashed at a speed too fast to follow. The massive swarm turned and all faced away from the planet; their colors were identical to the Hornet Dahlia was still touching. Dahlia said, “Will you stay here with me?”
The giant flashed one purple flash. Dahlia moved forward and lay down on the huge creature’s head. It began flashing rhythmically just a moment after the huge swarm disappeared.
Ping continued to watch the Four prepare to enter the Realm. The portals were only minutes away from opening, when the swarm arrived. Ping focused on one portal the Beasts were lining up to transit and saw two Hornets flash in. The first Hornet spit a white ball at the portal and it blew apart in fragments. It then turned and joined the second Hornet that had already started at the front of the long line of Battleships spitting white balls at them as it flashed down the line. Ping was stunned. The two Hornets blasted the portal and killed every warship gathered in front of it in less than three seconds. Sprigly was right, they were indestructible. The millions of beams and missiles fired at them had no effect. He saw that the million plus portals were gone in less than a minute. The huge swarm then disappeared, scattering in all directions.
Ping turned to Dahlia shaking his head and heard her say without opening her eyes as she lay on the Hornet, “My child feels they do not deserve to continue to exist; I can’t say that I disagree with him.”
Ping jerked his head up and looked at the Beast’s governing planet. He saw a Hornet turn and flash away. He looked closer at the planet and there was no evidence that a civilization ever existed on it. There were wide swaths of bare soil but nothing remained of the billions of inhabitants and their buildings. The entire planet had been stripped of them in less time than he could have imagined. He began looking out into the Four Domains and their planets were being cleared faster than he could track. He looked at Dahlia shaking his head; trillions were being killed every second.
Dahlia opened h
er eyes, “How many have they killed?”
Ping stared at Dahlia and saw in her mind the vision of her planet being bombarded from space. He saw the Royal Palace where her parents had died along with Tess’ husband and child. He remembered Mios and Jody being blasted into atoms by the Black Ships and Nicole’s death at the hands of a surviving Black Ship. He knew that their loss was only a tiny insignificant piece of what the Four had done in their past. He slowly nodded and Dahlia put her head back down on the Hornet and closed her eyes. Ping looked at her thoughts and discovered he didn’t need to use his vision to see what was happening. Dahlia was seeing it all with her connection with the Hornet. Ping closed his eyes and watched the destruction of the Four. He saw that the Rageon were ignored by the Hornets; they had not sent ships to the portals and were spared death. All of the others were not.
Ping noticed that the Blue Ships attacked the Hornets because they were destroying a valuable supply of food. The Hornets went about their business and ignored the Invaders. Ping looked at Dahlia’s mind and saw she was deliberately not thinking about the billions of blue ships scattered around the universe. Ping forced himself to follow her lead.
• • •
The hundreds of thousands of ships in orbit wondered what was happening. Tess tried to contact Dahlia but was unable to get through. Pare said, “Sprigly, you need to do something about all the ships in orbit. They’re starting to panic.”
Sprigly forced his mind away from Ping and Dahlia and saw the communication panel was lit up solid. He pressed Tess’ button and said, “Tess, start the ships landing everyone back on the planet.”
“Where’s Dahlia!!”
“She’s currently resting on that giant creature’s head.”
“WHAT!?!”
“I’m not completely certain but I believe she has saved us from them. Either way, you need to get the citizens back on the planet. They’re crammed into close quarters and no one can tell them what’s happening.”
Tess sighed and turned to her panel, “Dean, you and Victoria need to teleport down to the control room. I need your help getting the ships down close to where they picked up their passengers.”
Dean and Victoria appeared and Tess said, “No, I don’t know what’s going on so don’t ask. It appears we are not going to be killed immediately and we need to get our people back down to the planet. You and Victoria get the process started.” Dean didn’t like being put off but the Queen had spoken. He went over to his panel and ordered the ship that had all of the control room’s staff landed first.
Tess lifted her communicator, “Attention all ships. The Mites will remain in orbit with their defenses turned off. The Battleships will be given a time momentarily to land and disembark their passengers. For the moment, we are in no danger. Please remain calm and assist your crew in getting you back home.”
Dean began issuing orders and glanced to his left and saw Victoria had used one of the planet’s defense scanners to view the giant creature hanging out in space. The view began moving in closer until the creature’s head filled the display. It continued to move closer and after a minute he saw Ping and Dahlia. Dahlia was lying on the creature’s head and Ping floated a short distance away. The creature was flashing a series of different colors that ran down the length of its body at a slow pace. He turned back to his terminal to take incoming calls and knew the creature was at peace. He wondered what that meant.
• • •
The Rageon Ruler looked at the Admiral on his display, “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know, Your Majesty. Our scanners indicate that every portal and every ship near them has been destroyed. Nothing survived and the scouts sent to the other Domains’ ruling planets found no trace that a civilization ever existed on them.”
“What caused that!?!”
“We don’t know. However, one of our scouts saw this” an image of a Hornet appeared on the Ruler’s display and he shook his head. The Admiral said, “The image doesn’t do that creature justice. It’s about two hundred and fifty miles long.” The King was shocked silent. He had toyed with the idea that maybe the Crystal Beings were causing the destruction but knew in his heart that they would not kill any living thing deliberately. It had to be the creature on his display that was doing it.
“Did that creature attack the scout that took the image?”
“No, and they appear to be ignoring the Blue Ships as well.”
“Recall all of our ships to our Domain and keep them here until I order otherwise.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Ruler started attempting to contact the Rulers of the other Four Domains and after an hour, gave up. No one answered.
• • •
Rranga and Rrena were lying next to an ocean on the planet they had selected to escape. They were happier than they had ever been in their life and were both thankful they had deserted their duties. They closed their eyes as they hugged each other…a moment later a white ball shot down through the atmosphere and they disappeared. They were the last two Beasts killed and, without doubt, they were the happiest.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Swarm began arriving back at the Planter’s Planet and Ping saw they were still in a killing frenzy. They were traveling too fast to see and were emitting light flashes at an incredible rate. As millions arrived above the planet, space appeared to be a massive lightning show of incredible colors. But then, slowly at first and then faster, the Hornets slowed down and came to a stop around the single Hornet above the planet. Their lights slowed and began matching the slow rhythmic pulses of the Hornet that Dahlia lay on. Six hours later, the entire swarm floated in space above the planet to the edge of the planetary system.
Dahlia raised her head and looked at the Hornet, “You know I love you.”
The giant creature shivered and flashed a slow purple light once.
“Now before you leave me…”
The Hornet flashed three fast purple flashes.
““I know, but you are going to leave me momentarily.”
The Hornet flashed twice.
“I know you, now. But before you go, I ask for one request.”
The Hornet flashed once.
“We welcome you to our home. You are without doubt the most magnificent creatures in all Creation. It would be a crime for your neighbors here not to be able to see your glory. Will you allow those who live here to come and see you without being attacked?”
Ping had started sending Dahlia’s thoughts to Sprigly and he said, “Uh oh!”
Ping thought, “What?”
“They are programmed by their instincts to attack anyone that comes anywhere near their nest. I don’t know that they can do anything about that survival instinct. It might be dangerous for her to even ask.”
Ping jerked his attention back to the Hornet and saw it flashing lights at an incredible rate. The rest of the swarm began flashing as well but Ping saw they were not identical to the Hornet Dahlia was on. “Sprigly, what are they doing?”
Sprigly leaned left and right, “I don’t know; it appears they must be discussing it.”
“I thought you said they have no consciousness.”
“They don’t; that’s what makes this confusing.”
Pare said, “They’re like me.” Ping and Sprigly were surprised by the statement. “I didn’t possess consciousness until Ping and Dahlia linked with my central processors. Ping and Dahlia have now linked with that Hornet who is linked to all the others. I suspect that whatever barrier was previously preventing them from having consciousness has now been removed. I can see in their patterns that they are communicating with each other.”
Ping looked out at the swarm and saw the flashes were getting faster and brighter. They became too bright to look at and Ping turned his head from them. Suddenly, the flashes instantly stopped. Ping looked back at the Hornet in front of him and he saw it flash once.
Dahlia hugged the Hornet as tightly as she could and the entire swarm f
lashed their ecstasy. “Thank you, my wise friend. We will not go to your home. We will only come to the outer edge of your galaxy and wait for you to come and share your beauty with us. Will that be satisfactory?” The entire swarm flashed a purple light once.
“Now I need to tell you about those Blue Ships that have been attacking you as you went about your business.” The Hornet flashed three times, showing its confusion.”
Dahlia turned around and said, “Ping, show them the blue portals.” Ping looked up and found one of the blue portals, where ships were still pouring through the opening. Dahlia saw it in her mind as the entire swarm turned and looked out into the universe. “Those beings are coming here to consume all of your neighbors…including me and my mate. They could never harm you but they could remove all of us that find you beautiful.”
Dahlia pushed off the Giant Hornet and said, “I’ve seen your heart, wise one. Go and do what must be done. Take your home to a safe place here and come back to take me with you to see it when you’re done. I understand why you must go with your family.”
The Hornet flashed a soft violet glow and then turned and looked out with the rest of the swarm. In an instant, they flashed away.
“Ping, show me what you’re seeing.”
“I’ve tried to watch them attack the billions of ships already in our universe but they’re moving too fast for me to follow. I can tell you that Blue Ships are disappearing at an incredible pace. It’s like a giant wave is sweeping across our universe leaving no Blue Ships behind it.”
Ping took Dahlia’s hand and they teleported back on board the Rover. Dahlia’s armor disappeared and she collapsed into her command chair. Sprigly saw their thoughts and said, “Even if they kill every ship in our universe, the Harvesters will eventually return.”
“They’re not stopping with the ships here.”