by D. W. Vogel
Waves pounded into my back as I found footing in the shallows and lurched toward dry land. Chen was up on the beach, dumping a bagful of the smaller shells from the tide line into his circle. I jogged up the beach, pulling at the rope that tied my bag shut, clanking with sharp seashells around my legs. When I emptied the bag into my circle, I could see that I was in the lead so far. My pile was the biggest, but not by much.
Get back out there. Win this.
I turned and headed back to the sea with a glance at the Masters. Their faces had no expression, hard plates shining in the sun. Their chests bellowed rhythmically, slow and calm under the hot sun. My own chest was heaving, but I could rest later. Win this.
White foam tickled my legs as my feet slapped into the water. I turned back one last time to make sure the Masters hadn’t called a halt.
A figure was in my circle, crouching over my pile of shells. The boy grabbed a large handful and scuttled over to his own circle, dropping them inside before trotting down toward the water.
Zero doubt who had stolen my shells.
Gil. And the Masters had watched it happen.
***
My face heated up, neck burning with rage. He took my shells. They watched him take my shells.
Was this some kind of test? Of course it was. The Masters were far above caring about the petty squabbles of Lowforms. Why would they care if someone cheated? Only results mattered.
Gil trotted down the water’s edge where Chen was bent over, digging out a shell. He shoved hard into the smaller boy’s side as he passed, and Chen toppled over onto the wet sand.
My hands were pulling the pry rod from my waist before I knew I was running.
“Hey, that’s it!” I shouted. “You’re a thief and a dung-scraper. I saw you take my shells.”
Gil whipped around and saw me coming, pry bar raised over my head.
“Noah, no!” Chen’s voice barely reached my ears through the white-hot anger pulsing in my head. He tried to grab at me as I flew past him toward Gil, who had turned to run but gotten his feet mired in wet sand. Gil toppled over and Chen grabbed my arm. The prybar fell from my hand and I fell onto Gil, fists flying.
Neither of us could get purchase in the wet, sticky sand, but I caught him a solid blow right in the nose. Crimson blood streamed out and his eyes got huge and round. He rolled his weight on top of me and reared back to punch me, but Chen launched into him from behind. Both boys crashed into me and someone’s knee drove the air right out of my lungs.
“Stop! Stop! The Masters said it’s over!” The other boys crowded around us, pulling us apart.
I couldn’t get air. My chest wouldn’t rise and I lay there on the sand as wave after wave rushed up around me. Chen pulled me up to a sitting position and slowly my chest relaxed, allowing a trickle of air in.
“Noah, what were you doing? He just knocked me over. That’s just Gil. He’s always been a dung-scraper.”
I shook my head. “Took my shells.” Words came in quick gasps. “Saw him.” Breathe. “Masters saw it.”
Chen looked up the beach to where the Masters watched the rest of the boys gathering up our harvest. “Why would they let him do that?”
I shrugged. “They just want shells.”
He helped me to my feet and I retrieved the prybar from where it had fallen into the sand. My whole back was gritty. There was sand in my hair, in my clothes, ground between my toes. I took a moment to wade into deeper water and rinse off before joining Chen and the rest of the boys up the beach.
Gil was holding his nose, tipping his head back. His whole chin was red, and where he’d touched his chest, the skin was smeared with his blood.
Good. Deserves it.
I didn’t win diving, but even with Gil’s treachery, I was a solid second. Chen was right in the middle, which should be pretty safe. Gil won, but there was no way they’d pick him as a Diver. They wanted a shellfish harvest, and although he proved he could steal them, he hadn’t proved he could collect them. My dream was still alive.
My stomach growled. I picked up one of the bags of shells and joined the party carrying them toward the Hive.
***
By the time we got the harvest turned over to the Masters in the Hive, the sun had disappeared behind the bulk of our enormous home. Built by the Masters over a hundred generations, it was a masterpiece. Mud hardened to solid rock, smooth brown on the outside, but on the inside the warren of hallways was as intricate as any spiraling seashell that washed up on the beach. Branching corridors led away from each other, crisscrossed, and doubled back, twisting ever downward. The higher levels allowed the Masters to survey the surrounding area, breathing in the world for miles. Our Queen owned every bit of land that could be seen from the topmost lookout of the Hive, from the ocean’s shore north and south along the coast, all the way through the grasslands to the green mountains and beyond. There had once been enemies on our land, other Hives ruled by inferior Queens. Our Soldiers destroyed them, and their Hives lay empty. We were victorious in battle every time. How lucky were we to live in the greatest Hive that ever was?
“Did you see it?” Chen startled me out of my reverie as we grabbed baskets, filled them with stones that had sat out in the sun all day, and entered the cool comfort of the Hive.
“See what?” I rubbed my ribs, sore where Gil had kicked me in our fight.
“The Feral.”
We followed the rest of the boys into the tunnels, heading for food. The stones in our baskets glowed with a clean, green light as we passed through the dark portions of the corridors. The walls were rough and brown, with holes to the sunlight at regular intervals, the floor smooth from generations of Masters’ feet, hard exoskeleton with delicate feelers all around, and our Lowform feet, soft and plodding.
“A Feral? You saw a Feral?” My eyes widened. “Where?”
“During the race outside. Didn’t you see it?”
Chen and I lined up behind the rest of the boys at one of the outer chambers on ground level. It had been specially formed at ground level as an annex to the Hive, with a lattice of holes in the roof and walls. Inside sat three huge tubs. They were made of a material not found anywhere else in the Hive, but similar to what our prybars and some of the other tools we used were made of. It was hard and smooth, and cold to the touch. Metal.
“No. What did it look like?” I swung my bag of glowstones over my shoulder and grabbed a tightly woven bowl. From inside the cool tubs I scooped a bowlful of the green slimy soup that was most of our diet.
Chen grinned, already slurping the green soup from his bowl. “It was a male. Bigger than us, looked pretty old. It was hiding almost all the way to the rock.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm. “You really didn’t see it?”
I shook my head. “No. I was pretty mad, just trying to make up time.”
A Master stood at the exit of the tub room with a basket of the shellfish we had collected. As we passed, each boy was allowed to take one. I cracked open the shell and sucked down the salty goodness, tossing the empty shell into another basket at the doorway. My bowl of green soup sloshed as I walked, heading down the slope toward the sleeping room.
Chen’s soup was gone, and he dropped glowstones along our path, saving a few for our quarters when we got there. “I think it was alone. They usually are.”
Ferals. So close to the Hive. I hadn’t seen one for ages. They looked like us Lowforms, but they were not like us. They didn’t live in the Hive, and because they served no Queen, they were wild and dangerous. They were one of the many perils the Masters protected us from when we ventured outside.
I shuddered. “I’m glad I didn’t see it. I wonder what it was doing so close? Hope the Masters killed it.”
We trooped down and down, past the fungus rooms where Masters and Lowforms tended the mushroom gardens, past the long hallway that led to the Mothers’ chambers, where female Lowforms and their babies lived in the calm glow of th
e stones, protected from all the dangers above. We never went down that hallway. Masters guarded it, keeping our breeding females safe. I had been born somewhere down that hallway, to one of the females I had no memory of. When I was four years old, the Masters brought me out, never to return. Only mothers and babies were allowed in that area of the Hive, and I had no interest in going down there, anyway. Who would want to be around a bunch of babies?
I shuddered again, for a different reason. What if I failed the Ranking? I hoped I’d be a Diver, spending every day of the rest of my life in the ocean prying up food, or down in the clear, cold rivers that flowed beneath the deepest tunnels of our Hives. I dared to dream I might possibly gain the highest honor and enter the Queen’s Service. But what if I didn’t? What if I got Ranked as a Gardener in the fungus garden, or a Cleaner, carrying out waste from Masters and Lowforms? Worst of all, what if they made me a Caretaker? I would spend the rest of my life in the Mothers’ Hall, locked away with the females and screaming babies, never to see the sunlight again.
No, that couldn’t possibly happen. I did well in the footrace, and I was second in Diving. Tomorrow was another swimming event, and I’d do well. I wasn’t the strongest for the rock carrying challenge, but there was no way I’d get Ranked so low as to end up a Caretaker.
Chen and I found our sleeping room, a small alcove off one of the hallways. We bunked with four other boys, and mercifully Gil wasn’t one of them. The Hive was chilly and the light from the remaining stones in our baskets cast long shadows up the walls. I was deep in the Hive, safe and protected. Whatever happened tomorrow, I’d be ready.
And by the end of the day, one way or another, my fate would be sealed.
Chapter 3
Noah
We started the next morning with rock carrying. It was simple: move heavy stones from a giant pile into a marked-off area, just like the shellfish areas had been marked.
The stones were piled on the deep sand where the beach rose up to the high dunes. Tall seagrass bordered the upper edge of the sand, ending in a copse of trees that extended inland toward the distant hills. Cool wind blew in off the ocean, ruffling my hair as I lined up next to Chen.
Three Masters stood in front of the rock pile, all Soldiers. The largest one was a bright golden color. Another was more mottled brown, and the third had scars all along the plates of its left side. Bright morning sun threw their massive shadows onto the waving grasses at their backs.
The golden one clicked, gesturing with his pincers. “Get. Go. Drop. More.”
It meant pick up a stone, carry it over to the destination area, put it down, and repeat. I stretched out my shoulders and cracked my neck. Ready to go.
The wind shifted and all three of the Soldiers tensed, feelers twitching. The two larger ones darted away into the seagrass, leaving the scarred Soldier behind.
“Stay,” it clicked, and we all huddled together behind the rocks.
I peered out over the pile of stones. Over the top of the high grass, the raised tails of the two Master Soldiers slipped together into the trees.
“What’s out there?” Chen whispered.
“Can’t tell.”
The Soldier guarding us clicked for silence.
I edged away from it around the other side of the rock pile. Our Soldiers were on the trail of something, and I didn’t want to miss it.
A dark brown shape burst from the trees. It ran on two legs, and I could hear its ragged breathing as it lunged through the grass toward us. A Feral. Maybe the one Chen had seen yesterday, lurking near the Forbidden Zone when we raced to White Rock. It was taller than me, and its skin lighter. It had a thick beard and was wrapped in some kind of strange cloth, tight around its legs.
My mouth hung open as the creature ran straight toward us. I couldn’t move, frozen in terror, my feet dug into the sand. Feral. They were dangerous. Everyone knew that. There was no threat our Soldiers couldn’t protect us from, but of all the creatures that lurked in the forests, Ferals were the ones we feared most. We whispered stories about them in the night. If a Feral got into the Hive, it would kill all the children. They were stronger than us Lowforms, and they hated us because we were safe inside and they were left to the horrors of the outside world.
The Soldiers emerged from the trees behind it in hot pursuit.
Behind me, the rest of the boys scrambled backwards, but I was paralyzed by the sight of the thing heading right for me.
With a flip of its tail, the scarred Soldier knocked me out of the way, placing itself between me and the approaching Feral. I stumbled back and crouched low in the sand.
The creature skidded to a halt, surrounded by the three Soldiers.
It’s all right. They won’t let it get us.
With a terrifying shriek, the Feral lunged for me. I barely registered the motion as the scarred Soldier whipped its tail around, driving the thick barb into the creature’s side. When it pulled the barb away, blood leaked from the hole it left.
The Feral dropped to its knees. In seconds, the venom from the Soldier would paralyze it, ending the threat to our Hive.
Sound gurgled from its throat. It almost sounded like words.
“You . . . you . . . we . . .”
Words. Ridiculous. The grunting noises ended as the venom took hold and the Feral collapsed in the sand.
The Soldiers parted and I got a better look at the creature. It looked just like a Lowform. Male. Older than anyone I’d ever known. His eyes were still moving, though the rest of his body was limp on the ground. His breathing was shallow and labored.
My heart swelled with pride. This monster had come to destroy us. If our Soldiers weren’t so brave, he would have snuck into the Hive and killed all the babies in the Mothers’ Hall deep in the tunnels. My skin was chilled in the warm air as I stared at him. The thing was heading straight for me. He would have killed me too, but our Soldiers protected me. They put themselves between me and the evil creature that lay on the ground before me. I hadn’t even known he was out there, lying in wait.
The brown Soldier grabbed the Feral’s arm in its pincer and dragged him through the sand, leaving a trench in the deep powder. His eyes rolled in his head. They locked onto mine as the Soldier dragged him past me, and another shiver raced down my back.
I watched the Soldier pull the thing all the way to the Hive, disappearing into the shadowy entrance.
Chen appeared by my side. He peered out toward the tree line. “Do you think there are more out there?”
I looked at the two remaining Soldiers grooming brambles off their legs. They paid no attention to us or to the forest behind them.
“No,” I said. My shoulders relaxed and I sighed, my heart slowing back to normal. “They’d know if there were. Nothing’s out there.”
I grinned at him. “We’re always safe with our Masters around.”
Chapter 4
Noah
The sun was hot on my back as I puffed along, rocks under each arm, feet slipping in the deep sand. After the terror of the Feral’s attack, we still had to complete the rock-carrying event in the Ranking. I didn’t win, and neither did Gil. Chen was one of the strongest, and finished in second place.
“Good job, buddy,” I said, slapping him on the back. “Impressive.”
He grinned and nodded, too out of breath to talk.
We followed the Masters back inside, down the spiraling tunnels to the very bottom of the Hive. The air got more damp as we descended, with brown mold on the walls. Our glow stones lit the way. Maybe that’s where Chen will end up. It was someone’s job to constantly renew the stones all over the Hive, taking out the spent ones to recharge in the sunlight and bringing down the ones that had absorbed enough light to illuminate the tunnels. The Masters didn’t need light, of course. They could navigate in total darkness. I’d seen them coming out of the restricted areas, black tunnels in the center of the Hive. But Lowforms needed light. That wouldn’t be a bad job for C
hen. Inside and out, fresh air and protection. I’d still see him sometimes, coming in from the sea if I was a Diver.
The sound of trickling water echoed up the corridors. Down and down we went. Finally we gathered in one of the huge chambers where the underground rivers flowed. There was a great network of water down here, nearly as convoluted as the Master-made hallways above. I had dived through as many as I was allowed, carrying glowstones down into the darkness to search for the little scuttling waterbugs that were another of the Masters’ favorite foods. I preferred the open sea, but Divers had to be comfortable anywhere, and I was determined to win.
There was no need of the glowstones here. The walls were covered in a blue slime that glowed brighter than the rocks. Anywhere the deep river flowed down here was lit with that soft blue light. It didn’t extend into the water, dark and rushing at our feet.
We each grabbed a small bag of stones for our dive, and another empty bag for collection. Chen was eyeing the dark, rushing water with evident terror.
“Just do what you can,” I whispered to him. “I’ll try and get you a couple so you don’t come in last.”
He nodded, hands trembling on his bag of stones.
“If you get too deep, drop the stones.”
He nodded again. We would lose points for dropping stones, but it was all too easy to get lost in the warren of water. He would have to stay very close to this central chamber.
Not me. I was never lost in the rivers. No matter where I was in the water, all I had to do was feel the direction of the current, and I knew where I was. The older Divers said I’d ventured farther out away from the Hive than most of them ever did, popping up into cavern after cavern for air. Some of those hidden caverns were beyond beautiful, with dripping stalactites covered in glittering crystals. Holes in the roofs let sunlight come slanting in, and tiny flying creatures flapped in and out when it was evening. I never got to see the flapping things up close, but wherever they roosted had a horrible, sick smell.