Hive (The Color of Water and Sky Book 4)

by Andrew Gates

  “Have you any idea when we will deploy on a mission?” Evirak wondered, changing the subject.

  Jakhu shook her head.

  “We conduct special operations. Our missions come when we are needed. You know this. It is impossible to predict our deployment.”

  “I only ask because I hope to have a mission soon. I grow restless waiting aboard this ship for my body to recover,” Evirak said.

  “I understand your restlessness, Kho Evirak. We can only wait and see what transpires. But I do not think we will wait much longer. The Chiefdom is splitting apart. Factions on the surface have declared war. I imagine we will not be without a mission for long. Circumstances will undoubtably arise soon that necessitate our skills.”

  Evirak sighed and lowered his head again.

  “It is a shame that such division has come to our people. Kholvaria was once so strong.”

  “It shall be strong again, Kho Evirak. Rest assured, Supreme Chieftain Kho Ikharus will set it straight. Of this I have no doubt.”

  “It is a heavy burden that he must bear,” Evirak said, meeting her eyes again. “I know you are right. I have no doubt Kho Ikharus is up for the task that lies before him in his new role, but I sympathize with him. Kho Ikharus’s new role is one he neither asked nor prepared for. We depend heavily on results that he does not know how to deliver, at least, not yet.”

  “I cannot help but feel for him,” Jakhu agreed.

  “He was a good squad leader when I fought by his side in Kreed Marauder. From our very first mission together, he was so composed, so sure of himself. It is strange seeing him so unsure of himself now.”

  “Your first mission was to the moon, was it not?”

  Evirak cautiously checked over both shoulders, then leaned closer to Jakhu.

  “Should we speak of such matters so close to the others?”

  Jakhu paused for a moment. She did not know what had come over her. She was so used to speaking freely around her fellow military personnel, she had forgotten that there was some intel that even others aboard this ship did not have access to. She wanted to slap herself right in the face for her ignorance.

  I am a fool! Why would I think to bring up classified information in the middle of a busy training room surrounded by all these soldiers? Perhaps her brain had still not fully recovered.

  Jakhu looked around. Nobody seemed to pay her any mind, but Evirak had a point. She could not know for sure who was listening. She motioned to a nearby empty practice room. Evirak took the hint and led the way toward it. Once inside, Jakhu secured the door behind them.

  “I apologize. It was not my place to inquire about classified information so close to the others. In truth, I have grown so used to speaking freely, it nearly slipped my mind,” Jakhu confessed, though she knew that was a poor excuse.

  “Then it is good we have found this room,” Evirak said, nodding. Jakhu was glad to see that he was not offended. “Remind me, Squad Leader, what was your question?”

  “I was asking about your first mission with Kho Ikharus. You were deployed to the moon, were you not?”

  “That is correct, Kal Jakhu. And in the chaos of the Lunar Civil War, no less.”

  “I read the mission report from that day. It was an impressive achievement to be sure.”

  “Thank you, Squad Leader.”

  “I have never been to the moon myself. I imagine the low gravity must have added an extra element of complication to the mission.”

  “It did, yes,” Evirak agreed, “though I would not worry yourself over having never been there. To be honest, I would not recommend a visit to the moon. The colonists, or Confederacy, as they now call themselves, do not have much. They live in small, isolated outposts. Many of them are miners or unskilled laborers. Even today, months after achieving their independence, they have little in the way of businesses, infrastructure or even a standing army.”

  “They cannot rely on the Sorrevahni Empire for those things anymore. Now that the lunars are independent, they must develop those necessities on their own. That is the price they must pay for their newfound freedom.”

  “Indeed it is,” Evirak replied.

  “And your mission that day was to capture Soh Saratti, yes?”

  “You understand correctly, Kal Jakhu. Our mission was to capture the Sorrevahni general and bring him to Vigilant Behemoth.”

  “General Soh Saratti is a valuable prisoner. The old Sorrevahni knows many of our enemy’s secrets,” Jakhu said.

  “Indeed, he is valuable.”

  “Do you know where he is now?”

  “I confess, I have lost track of his whereabouts, but it is not my place to inquire, as you can surely understand. I hope he is still under Kholvari imprisonment, though I cannot say for certain. Last I had heard, he was kept in a secure facility somewhere in the eastern mountains.”

  Jakhu slowly bobbed her head.

  “I heard the same. Somehow I cannot shake the feeling that Soh Saratti’s involvement in this tale is not yet over.”

  Evirak sighed and nodded back to her.

  “I have the same thought, though I cannot explain why.”

  The two were quiet for a moment as they reflected on those words. But after a few seconds of silence, Jakhu turned to the door and motioned toward it.

  “Come,” she said, abruptly changing the subject, “let us return to the training area. Kal Ukhrani and Kho Kozakh are likely wondering where we have gone.”

  “Yes, of course,” Evirak agreed.

  The two of them exited the private room and returned to the training area. Sure enough, Ukhrani and Kozakh approached the mat now, each carrying horns of water in their claws. Kozakh’s was nearly empty already.

  Jakhu smiled as the members of her squad formed up.

  “Why do you smile, Squad Leader?” Kozakh asked.

  “Because it is by mere happenstance that we have all gathered here. The irony amuses me. How fortuitous that the members of Kreed Scion should all be practicing here at the same time without planning,” she replied.

  “We are not all here. Kal Ezenkharam is not among us,” Evirak noted.

  “Yes, yes, but still, it is an interesting coincidence that Kho Kozakh and I should be sparring at the same time as Kal Ukhrani and Kho Evirak,” Jakhu stated.

  “While your suspicion of coincidence has proved you right in the past, I do not think anything will come of it now,” Kozakh joked. He took another sip of water and smiled to her.

  Jakhu could not help but chuckle in response.

  Here they were, four members of Kreed Scion, sharing humor in the training wing. If Jakhu did not know any better, it looked like they were starting to become a squad already.

  Jakhu’s wrist-based holodisk suddenly lit up, taking her by surprise. She removed the disk from her suit and held it before her face as she powered it on.

  The image of Kho Ikharus filled the air. He sat upon his throne with Kho Vylan by his side. Jakhu was surprised to see the Supreme Chieftain before her eyes, though she did her best to hide her shock.

  “Squad Leader Kal Jakhu,” the hierarch greeted.

  “Your Majesty,” she replied, bowing as she held the holodisk in place.

  “You may rise. Tell me, Kal Jakhu, how quickly can you assemble your squad?”

  She smirked as she glanced at the three squad mates by her side. Evidently, they must not have been visible from Ikharus’s perspective.

  “As soon as the order is given,” she replied.

  “Good. The order is given now. Meet me in the throne room. At last, I have a mission for Kreed Scion.”

  Chapter Seven

  Reunited

  Mr. Jallah Sane

  Jallah bit into the thick green leaf for the second time and ripped off a portion with his teeth. He chewed it vigorously, hoping to swallow it down before he could taste much of its unpleasant flavor. He had already learned from his first bite to get through it quickly.

  “It’s good,” Margery said as she swa
llowed her first bite.

  Jallah grimaced and turned to face her as he swallowed his own bite.

  “Seriously? You like it?” he asked. He stared at what remained of the leaf in his hand. “I think it’s terrible.”

  “Like it or not, you should eat it. It’s good for you,” Dan said, staring at them both as they sat with their backs pressed against the outside wall of the lab. He had just given them each these new leaves to eat and insisted that they have some.

  “How do you know it’s good for us?” Jallah asked as he blindly bit into the next chunk.

  “Because we had this back home. Don’t you recognize it?”

  Both he and Margery shook their heads.

  “You really don’t recognize it? We had this down in the station. It’s spinach,” Dan explained.

  “Spinach?” Jallah replied, quickly spitting it out. “Yuck! No wonder I don’t like it. I didn’t like it in the station and I don’t like it now.”

  “You don’t like spinach?” Margery asked. “Since when?”

  “Since forever!”

  Dan sighed.

  “Still,” he said, “it’s good for you. It’s high in iron and fiber. You should eat it.”

  “How can there be spinach here? I thought spinach would be extinct on the surface,” Margery said.

  “True. It’s probably not spinach in the same form we had down in the station and it’s probably not the same form that used to grow on the surface before the Descent. It’s similar in biological composition though,” Dan explained. “Evolution must have just run its natural course, creating a similar leaf over generations.”

  Jallah reluctantly put the rest in his mouth and chewed it as fast as he could. As he bit, he dreamt of topping the gross leaf with thick goopy salad dressing. That would make it go down easier, he thought.

  “Where did you find all this spinach?” Margery asked.

  “Ophelia was actually the one to find it. We headed down south about a 12-minute walk from here to look for food. I was too busy searching for animals to hunt that I didn’t even notice it, but Ophelia spotted the spinach growing on a hillside. I didn’t even think much of it when she first pointed it out to me. I just thought it was a pile of leaves. She was the one who recognized that it was spinach.”

  Jallah remembered that Ophelia’s father encouraged them to eat natural foods, not processed products like probars. She had grown up with food like spinach all her life. No wonder she was able to identify the familiar vegetable so quickly.

  “Where is she now?” Margery asked with her cheeks full of leaves.

  But before Dan could even answer the question, Ophelia appeared walking down the hillside, into the shade beneath what remained of the dome. She joined the others by the wall only seconds later.

  Everyone now huddled out of the sun’s reach. Shade was becoming valuable lately. It was weird. When Jallah first arrived on the surface months ago, he felt cold wherever he went and would often move into the sun for warmth. But now, for reasons he did not understand, the sun now challenged him, weakening him, forcing him to sweat until he found cooler temperatures. Now he felt hot most of the time and moved to the shade when he could.

  Dan had tried to explain to Jallah why it was so hot. According to him, the change in weather had something to do with the planet and the sun or something like that. Jallah did not really understand what Dan was talking about. Most of it sounded like nonsense anyway, but he didn’t know enough about surface weather to offer any other explanations.

  “Good job finding the spinach,” Margery said as Ophelia sat down and leaned her back against the wall next to her.

  “Thanks,” was all she said as she pulled some leaves from her pocket and placed them into her mouth.

  “You like it too?” Jallah asked, watching as Ophelia swallowed the spinach.

  The quiet girl nodded.

  “Come on, this stuff is yucky!” he said, reluctantly chewing on another leaf anyway.

  Dan took a sip of water from his canteen, then passed it to Jallah without saying a word. The boy accepted it and took a sip as well, then passed it along to Margery.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “You’re welcome,” Dan replied. He was the only one standing up. The kids were all seated upon the muddy ground.

  “As nice as this spinach is,” Jallah said sarcastically, “do you know what I could really go for?”

  “What?” Dan asked.

  “A waffle.” He smiled as he said the word and imagined that he had one now. “Not just any waffle, either. A huge waffle with whipped cream and sweet syrup.” He could practically smell it.

  “Mmm, that sounds good,” Margery added. She shifted next to him. “You know what I could really go for?”

  “What?”

  “A cup of hot chocolate.”

  “Hot chocolate?” Jallah repeated. “But it’s so hot out here!”

  “I know,” Margery replied, “but I still want it, you know? I guess I miss the taste of chocolate and the creamy flavor of milk. It doesn’t have to be hot, I guess. It could be a warm cup of chocolate.” Margery giggled and placed another piece of spinach in her mouth.

  “You know what I want? I would love a big pile of nachos,” Dan said, staring out into the distance. “Salty nachos, with onions and cheese and peppers and beans.”

  “It’s been ages since I’ve had any cheese,” Margery muttered.

  “And salt,” added Jallah.

  “What about you, Ophelia? You like vegetables, don’t you?” Margery asked, turning to face her.

  Ophelia slowly bobbed her head as she considered the question.

  “My dad always wanted me to eat natural foods, but I never really liked them,” she slowly replied. “I guess if I could have anything I wanted, I’d want a whole bowl of candy.” She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. “All types of candy; sour twirlers, sugar sticks, pop lickers, razzlers, sweet chews…”

  “Mmm…” Jallah mumbled as Ophelia continued her list.

  “Or pizza,” Margery said.

  “Or jerky,” Dan suggested.

  “Or pie!” Jallah added.

  “Think we’ll ever eat anything like that ever again?” Margery asked.

  The others were all quiet in response. They each knew the answer, but nobody was willing to say it aloud. Jallah knew Margery must have known it too.

  “We can only hope,” Dan finally said with an exhale.

  Hope. The word had a strange ring to it. Just hearing it filled Jallah’s mind with bright images of white light and… blue.

  In that moment, Jallah felt a pressure building up between his legs. He calmly looked down, then stood up.

  “Where are you going?” Margery asked.

  “I need to pee,” he replied.

  That was only half true. While he did need to go, it wasn’t the main reason he was leaving now. Another need gripped him, an insatiable need.

  The Metamorph.

  It had been hours since Jallah had looked at his precious vial and he could not go on for much longer without seeing it again. Memories of food from the station no longer concerned him. Once the thought of the vial entered his mind, he could not think of anything else.

  When the vial first came to him, Jallah could make due with staring at it once a day. But as he held onto it longer and longer, he could feel its weight grow heavier and heavier in his pocket. Day after day, he yearned more and more to see its shimmering liquid inside.

  Now the unrelenting desire took hold of him almost once an hour. If he went too long without seeing it, he became restless, anxious, sweaty and in some cases, his muscles would even grow weak. At night, he would wake up to find himself unable to go back to sleep until he saw the vial again. It was as if the liquid had taken hold of him, slowly transforming him into a zombie without it ever leaving its containment.

  Jallah shook his head, trying to put that thought out of mind. I’m not turning into a zombie, he told himself. I’m just look
ing at the color. That’s all. I’m doing this because I want to, not because I have to. I can stop whenever I want.

  Once he was well out of view from the others, Jallah stopped by a tree and pulled the glass vial from his pocket. He held it into the light and stared at its beautiful image. He could feel his heartbeat slow as he took it in.

  “It’s… it’s beautiful,” he muttered aloud, not even meaning to say anything at all.

  He stroked the vial with his fingertips, careful not to leave any smudges or fingerprints across its cool, smooth surface.

  All time seemed to stop. He let out a deep breath, feeling a wave of calmness rush over him.

  Once again, Jallah could not help but feel that he was meant to have this vial, like it was his destiny. He could not explain it, but everything just felt right.

  A sudden snap of a twig forced Jallah to quickly stuff the glass back into his pocket. He immediately turned to face the noise but soon realized that it was nothing but a small bird.

  “Oh,” he said aloud, laughing to himself, “nothing to worry about.”

  The boy grinned as he stared at the bird. The animal stood there innocently staring back at him for a few seconds before flying away into the canopy above.

  Jallah sighed and turned back around to face the tree, now recalling why he was here. Oh yeah, he thought. I came to pee. That’s right. He had been so distracted by the vial to remember anything else.

  With the need to see the vial satisfied for now, Jallah took a few steps toward the tree and began unzipping his jumpsuit. He nearly got the zipper all the way down before another, much more menacing sound graced his ears.

  Stomp, stomp, stomp!

  The ground shook. Rocks and sticks trembled with the Earth. Animals scattered. Jallah felt his heart beat ever faster.

  He zipped his jumpsuit back up and turned to face the noise as trees slowly came down like tall dominoes falling in the distance. He stared at the sight with wide eyes, suddenly realizing what was coming for him.

  A mantis’s mech. They must know where we are, he thought. I must warn the others!

  Jallah quickly darted back to Country Roads – the biodome they’ve been living in - as the roaring of the mech’s engine now echoed through the air, complementing the loud stomps in a chorus of noise. Step after step, Jallah continued along, not realizing how far from the dome he had traveled.