Hive Mind

by Timothy J. Bradley

  “All right, students. Miniaturization complete. You can open your eyes,” Talos’s voice boomed.

  Whoa! Sidney glanced at Hari and Penny. They looked normal to him, but when he saw the mirror above, he realized what had happened. The mirror that was large when he had been normal size now looked as though it took up the whole sky. They were all nearly microscopic! A thick layer of mist was evaporating from around their feet as Sid watched.

  “Pradeep never gets miniaturized at his school,” Hari said. Sidney shook his head in agreement. He was pretty sure no one else ever got miniaturized at their schools.

  The platform rose like an elevator. Guardrails appeared on all sides. A large, boxy structure labeled MINIATURE RESEARCH UNIT 04 was rolled carefully next to the platform. A door in the wall slid open.

  “Come in, everyone. Come in,” a voice called from inside. The teacher, Dr. Sharp, was a small, thin, balding man wearing a white lab coat with the Sci Hi logo embroidered on a pocket. Sid could see jeans and a well-worn pair of hiking boots below the lab coat. Dr. Sharp had been miniaturized earlier so he could greet the students from inside the lab. “Welcome to Microbiology,” he said with a grin.

  The students cautiously made their way from the miniaturization platform to the research unit. Still standing on the platform, Sid couldn’t take his eyes offhis surroundings. At his reduced size, the steel-walled miniaturization warehouse looked as huge as the Grand Canyon.

  Hari finally had to grab Sidney’s arm and pull him into the research unit. “Sid, you have to see this. Come on!”

  The inside of the lab was brightly lit with tiny LED bulbs that appeared as large as searchlights to the miniaturized students. The white plastic walls were smooth and shiny.

  As Sid followed Hari, he came face-to-face with a honeybee the length of a city bus. The stinger was as long as Sid’s hoverboard.

  The bee’s antenna twitched, and in a gruesome split second, it scraped against Sidney’s face.

  “Are you trying to kill us?” Sidney yelped. He took one last glance at the bee before running back outside. Sci Hi had been amazing, but there was no way he was up for this.

  Dr. Sharp chased after Sidney. “Didn’t mean to scare you, son! We just find it’s better to jump right into the miniaturization process rather than try to explain it beforehand.”

  “Oh yeah, that. That was actually pretty cool,” Sidney replied, trying to slow his heartbeat. “But I’m allergic to bees.” Sidney ran his fingers through his hair, trying to shake off the feeling of the bee’s antennae on his skin. “I guess I forgot…I haven’t thought about that for a long time. I forgot to log it in the health datacube.”

  “I see. Well, then I certainly understand your reluctance to be in the same room with a huge bee!” Dr. Sharp said. “Actually, at this size, a bee sting would kill any of us. However, I assure you, there’s nothing to fear. The bee has been sedated and immobilized. It can’t possibly hurt you.”

  Sid was still doubtful, but when he stuck his head back in and looked over the bee’s restraints, he felt a little better.

  “Don’t be shy, people, come right up and take a look,” Dr. Sharp said, placing a reassuring hand on Sidney’s shoulder as they slowly moved back into the lab.

  Hari edged closer to the bee, reaching out a tentative finger to touch one of the spiky hairs that extended from its exoskeleton. “Wow. It feels like wire,” he said.

  The rest of the students crowded closer, touching the bee and watching its abdomen expand and contract.

  A student raised her hand. “How come you had to miniaturize us to do this? Why couldn’t you make the bee bigger?”

  “That’s a good question,” Dr. Sharp replied. “Insects have an exoskeleton on the outside of their bodies, unlike the endoskeleton we have on the inside of our bodies. When you’re very small, an exoskeleton works very well, but as you get bigger, the muscle attachments just aren’t able to exert the kind of force a gigantic insect would need in order to move or even to support its own body. Another thing preventing giant insects is their lack of lungs. When they are small, they get all the air they need through diffusion. Enough air molecules actually wander into their bodies without it having to breathe as we do. Instead, air enters through holes in their sides called spiracles. But a huge insect wouldn’t be able to take in enough air to survive.”

  Penny patted Sid’s shoulder. “Are you all right?” she whispered.

  He nodded, embarrassed by his reaction to the bee. “I was stung once when I was a little kid, and I had to be rushed to the hospital. I broke out in hives, and my throat started closing up. It was pretty scary.”

  “That’s awful,” Penny said.

  “I never really think about it now, but that huge bee caught me by surprise.”

  “I think you could say we were all caught by surprise,” Hari said ruefully.

  “The reason I had us all meet here is because I wanted to discuss a very exciting research opportunity that has been presented to Sci Hi,” Dr. Sharp continued. “Over the last fifty years, there has been a serious decline in honeybee populations around the world. The decline was first noticed about a hundred years ago in the early twenty-first century, and it has been growing worse. The honeybee decline could lead to catastrophic effects around the world. Worker bees responsible for caring for the young, foraging, and defending the hive are disappearing for an unknown reason. Without the worker bees, hives are dying. Scientists call the phenomenon colony collapse disorder—or CCD.”

  A boy raised his hand. “What’s the big deal? They’re just bees.”

  “An excellent question. Let’s think about that for a moment. What do bees do?”

  Penny raised her hand enthusiastically. “They gather pollen from flowers.” Sid was annoyed with himself for not getting his hand up more quickly that time. I knew that one, he thought.

  “That’s correct,” Dr. Sharp said. “Bees forage for food outside the nest, gathering pollen and nectar from flowers to feed the hive. One aspect of the pollen collection is very important to us humans. As they collect pollen from different plants, bees are also dropping pollen grains into those plants, enabling them to reproduce and grow. We use bees to pollinate our food crops, such as fruits and vegetables. So, tell me, what would happen to us if the little organisms we depend on to pollinate our plants become extinct?”

  The students looked at one another.

  “We’d starve,” someone said quietly.

  “Exactly,” Dr. Sharp said, nodding. “Humans are dependent on thousands of other creatures, many of them considered unimportant until you understand how they impact our lives every day. So it is in our own best interests to find out what is affecting the bees before the effects become disastrous for them and for us.” As he spoke, Dr. Sharp climbed a stepladder next to the bee’s thorax and pointed to an orange disk stuck to its back. “Most scientists think there are many factors behind CCD. Hornets have always been a threat. But there are new factors at work as well. This orange creature is a varroa mite. It feeds on the bee’s blood, which weakens the bee. It also passes diseases, such as deformed wing virus, to the bee. There are several other natural parasites, viruses, and fungi that may contribute to CCD. And around the world, humans appear to play an alarming role in hive destruction. The chemical pesticides we use and the way beekeepers move bees from field to field may contribute to the disorder.”

  Sid started to wonder if maybe the bees had more to fear from humans than he did from bees.

  Dr. Sharp continued, “Sci Hi has been invited to research CCD at several locations around the world, and we are taking along our first-year microbiology students for a closer look. You’ll all be miniaturized and allowed to conduct studies inside a living beehive alongside your instructors. You’ll be notified which location you’ll be assigned to shortly. At the end of the term, each team will present their findings at the Sci Hi Student Symposium.”

  Sid grinned at the news. “Wow!” Hari smiled back.

&nb
sp; Penny was giddy with excitement at the chance to go inside a beehive. “That’s going to be brilliant!” Her eyes sparkled. “Can you imagine? Going inside the hive with the bees still there! That’ll be amazing!”

  “My throat’s swelling up just thinking about it,” Sid said dryly.

  CHAPTER 5

  “Scientists don’t just do their work sitting at desks,” Ms. Newton explained to the students back at the main campus. “You might end up doing research in the Amazon rain forest, the Arctic Circle, or underground in a cave. You need to be in peak physical condition to do that.”

  The students had been training to move around inside a beehive by rock climbing. They had already learned some of the basic handholds, and now they were putting that knowledge to good use on a huge climbing wall in the cavernous gymnasium.

  Ms. Newton typed a few parameters into her voxpod, and the climbing wall folded into a grade 2 climb marked with deep crevices and small ledges.

  “How sure are you these zero-G harnesses will work if we fall?” Hari was slowly moving his right hand to a new handhold on the climbing wall.

  “Pretty sure, I think. Try not to look down, Hari,” Sid puffed as he climbed a little higher.

  “You two climb like little old ladies,” Penny said from near the top of the rock.

  “Oh, yeah?” Sid shot back panting. “Watch this!” He tried to reach a distant handhold, but his foot slipped, and he tumbled back from the rock face into the air.

  As soon as he started to fall, his zero-G harness nullified the gravity around him, and he floated gently across the gym, about fifteen feet off the ground. There were already thirty other students in the same predicament.

  “Oh, come on!” Sid shouted, exasperated as he floated midair, tumbling slowly.

  Just then, Hari fell away from the wall and started floating. Penny was the first one to make it all the way up the wall. She gave a victorious whoop.

  “I can see that most of you need a little more practice climbing,” Ms. Newton said laughing. She turned the master control for everyone’s zero-G belts up a fraction, and the floating students slowly settled to the ground.

  “Let’s try that again,” she said, and the students groaned as they struggled to their feet.

  A few days later, the students were ready to experience the interior of a beehive. They put on coolsuits, which kept them comfortable inside the hive, where temperatures soared. They reminded Sidney of lightweight wetsuits, only with small cooling units on the belts. The helmets had wide acrylic faceplates and powerful lights mounted on top. Tiny cameras would record their movements, and a microphone and speakers kept them in contact with the other students and instructors.

  Penny, Sid, and Hari walked with their class to the miniaturization platform. Soon, it was their turn. Sid felt dizzy for a few seconds as the miniaturizer was activated, and he wondered if he would ever get used to the feeling. Somehow, it had been easier when he hadn’t known that he was about to be miniaturized. Okay, he told himself. Get a grip. You can do this. There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’ve just been miniaturized, and you’re going to go into a hive of huge bees. No big deal.

  One sting would… No. That wasn’t helping. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on not freaking out.

  Inside the research room, there was a huge beehive anchored to the center of the floor. To the miniaturized students, it was as big as an office building.

  Dr. Sharp called for everyone’s attention. “All right, everyone! You’ll find a scan of the hive’s interior downloaded in your helmets. Use it to find your way around inside. The scan can be projected on your faceplate, using the keypad on your left arm. Make sure your gravity controls are set for wall proximity, just like in practice.

  “This hive was found locally. There aren’t any live bees inside, but be aware that there may be thousands of dead bees and larvae. Once inside, look for signs that the hive may have suffered from CCD.”

  The students started entering the hive single file. Their helmet lights switched on automatically as they crossed the threshold into the dark hive interior. Sid looked up nervously to see rows of hexagonal cells stretching into the darkness beyond the reach of his helmet light. He felt the familiar itch of curiosity take hold, crowding out his fear. He wondered what the hive must have been like when it was filled with thousands of bees coming and going. Now, it felt deserted and empty, like an old house after everyone had moved away.

  “Come on, guys! Let’s go,” Penny said excitedly. She stepped up onto the wall of a cell the size of her body and clambered upward.

  Hari and Sid followed.

  “Am I crazy, or is this easier than the climbing wall in the gym?” Sid asked.

  “Maybe it’s because we’ve been miniaturized,” Hari said.

  They heard a yelp from Penny.

  When they reached her, she was kneeling on a honeycomb shelf. Several dead bees, each the size of a small car, lay nearby, exoskeletons dull under the light of the helmets. The three friends leaned in to study the bee carcasses, looking for any sign of sickness or damage.

  When Penny moved to examine another bee, Sid spotted something orange on her back. “Wait, Penny. You’ve got something stuck to you.” He stepped past a dead bee and pulled at something attached to her respiration unit.

  “Whatever this is, it’s hard to get off,” Sid grunted, pulling at the object.

  It finally came away, stubby legs wriggling.

  “It’s one of those varroa mites,” Hari said. “Ugh.”

  Penny shuddered when she turned around and saw it. “That thing’s disgusting! Get rid of it.”

  “I think he’s kinda cute,” Sid said, examining it. “Look at all those little legs. He’s like a fat little spider.”

  “Those things feed on blood! They can cut through a bee. You think they’ll have any trouble cutting through our suits?” Penny retorted.

  “You should get rid of it,” Hari agreed.

  Sid imagined the little mite slicing through his coolsuit to feed on his blood. “Maybe he’s not that cute after all.” He placed the mite a safe distance away in an empty cell.

  The class spent several hours exploring the hive while looking for other signs of disease that might have affected the bees. Then, they reported their findings to Dr. Vary, who keyed the information into his master data log.

  “Well done, everyone. I’ll tabulate this information and share it during our next class. Let’s move back to the miniaturizing platform so we can all get back to normal size. Then, you’re dismissed.”

  Sid breathed a sigh of relief. He had actually spent a day inside a beehive without getting killed—or looking like an idiot.

  After dinner that night, Sid, Hari, and Penny did some work designing their creature for the Great Mutation Challenge. “How about a name for our team?” Hari asked. After each suggested some names, they decided to name their team Biopocalypse because they hoped, if they made it sufficiently dangerous, their creature would dominate everything else in the simulation.

  “I want to make a carnivore,” Sid said as they sat down to work.

  “Forget it. Carnivores need a lot of space and lots of prey to feed on,” Hari said. “Very inefficient organisms.”

  “How about a plant eater? They’re pretty tough, right?” Penny asked.

  “Until a drought hits or some climate change kills off all their food,” Sid said.

  “Hey, what if we do something a little different?” Hari’s eyes shined. “Looking at that varroa mite earlier gave me an idea. Let’s try something that will be able to live through any environmental changes. Like a parasite.”

  “Ewww,” Penny said.

  “That is a totally lethal idea!” Sid sat up in his chair. “Think about it. The parasite could live on blood from any creature that has blood. That way, if one species dies out, the parasite can still find food. We could have it live inside the host’s body so it’s protected from outside weather. And we could program it to follow r
eally simple rules like ‘Drink blood, but not so much blood that the host dies.’ I think that could really work! We’ll have to think of a really gross way for it to spread. Something to do with eyeballs.”

  “Maybe it could take over the host’s brain, controlling it like a zombie,” Hari said.

  “You two are absolutely sick—” Penny began, but she was interrupted by the chiming of their voxpods. “That could be our field-trip assignment!” They consulted their voxpods and saw they all were being sent to Japan to study a beehive.

  “Awesome!” Sid said.

  “We have to get our virtual organism designed and turned in before we go, so let’s crack on,” Penny reminded them. “Dr. Vary is going to let the simulation run while we’re gone.” She sighed. “All right, I do think a parasite is a good idea.”

  “Lethal!” Sid cried.

  For the trip to Japan, the students were transported in one of Sci Hi’s gigantic flying labs equipped with a miniaturizing unit and a collection of instruments needed to conduct research in remote locations. The passengers sat high up over the nose, leaving most of the fuselage free to act as a mobile laboratory.

  When the jet’s massive engines fired up, a cloud of dust blasted up around the plane. As the large aircraft lifted straight up from the landing pad, Sid watched the ground fall away. He could feel the thrust from the engines increasing as the jet picked up speed, rising faster and faster.

  The cabin intercom interrupted Sid’s thoughts.

  “This is Talos, your pilot. We have reached our travel altitude of sixty-five thousand feet and will switch to scramjet engines in approximately thirty seconds. Please stay fastened in your seats at this time. Our flight will take us to the island of Tsushima, off the coast of Japan’s mainland. Our flight time will be approximately five hours. Thank you.”

  “Hey, Talos is a pretty talented ’bot,” Sid said, turning to Hari only to find he had fallen asleep with his head resting on a scratchy blanket.

  Sid was restless and nervous about the trip. He hadn’t done much traveling before, and now here he was zooming around the world. Even though he had only been at Sci Hi for a short time, his life had become very different. How could Hari sleep?