The Tower and the Hive (42 page)

“Those of us who can should do so,” Perry said, “leaving the lifts for those who can't.”

He took Adela's hand in his and disappeared. Immediately half the assembly followed suit.

“I could take you, Captain Osullivan, if you don't mind that kind of transport.” Elizara said, “and Pietro can convey . you, Mr. Laney.”

“Pierre, please, Elizara.” Then the Nose turned to Pietro and spread both hands. “When you're rea—”

“Neatly done,” Osullivan said with a grin.

“Show-off,” she said, but the next instant she was facing Osullivan on the deck of the main hangar where a long U-shaped formation had been set out, with white napery that glistened in the overhead lights, set for the many diners. At one side, in a straight line, the captains and executive officers of the other ships awaited the arrival of the Talented guests. The main hangar had been cleansed of its usual grease and oil and was redolent with aromas activating everyone's salivary glands.

“Ah, superb!” Pierre said, lifting his hand, forefinger and thumb meeting, and then he inhaled deeply. “Magnificent! May I escort you to your seat, Elizara?”

And it
was
a magnificent meal. Several times the captain thanked the Primes for bringing in the raw materials—fresh meats, fish, vegetables, cheeses, fruits and sweets which the
Washington
's galley had transformed into such an elegant repast.

Once the meal was completed and everyone sated with good food and wine, Perry stood and suggested that a good night's rest would be essential for the morning's endeavor.

The guests were escorted to personnel carriers in the smaller boat bays and returned to the ships that accommodated them.

 

The next morning after a solid breakfast to sustain them in their labors, the Talents gathered in the cabins designated for their use: comformable couches, screens, an expediter and engineer as well as assistants to keep track of the progress on screen and in notations. To one side of the large screens were a big schematic of a queen's facility and the map showing which queen was to be transferred to which place on the Main Continent. The targets of each of the four teams were a different color.

“Very organized,” was Xahra's comment when Captain Halsted led her into the mess room of the
Strongbow,
which had been converted for this usage.

“Very well done,” Gollee Gren agreed as he and Pietro followed her. “As good as I have back in Blundell,” he added amiably, and caught startled thoughts from both T-1's.

Xahra smiled as she checked on the other amenities. There was a courteous tap on the door before the five minor Talents on board the
Strongbow
reported themselves ready for duty and stood at attention by the padded chairs arranged behind the three major Talents.

“Shall I stand by?” Halsted asked politely.

“It won't bother us,” Xahra said, and took her seat, gesturing for all to be seated. “Do you have the order of... transfer, expediter?”

“Yes ma'am,” was the prompt reply.

“Engineer, prepare to effect the gestalt. Gollee, let's start Operation Switch... to number fifty-four green.”

The expediter highlighted number fifty-four on the map, and its destination on the Main Continent, and the two quarters came up on screen: the one with its occupants grooming their queen, the other empty and ready to receive its new tenants. The generator hum increased.

“Gollee, merge. Pietro, Sam, Jennifer, Elias, Amos, Kathleen...” Xahra paused just the moment to gather the merged minds to her, then: “NOW!”

A sudden deep noise in the generators and then the queen with every creature, was transported from their original premises into their new domain.

“Let's wait for it,” Xahra said, eyes going from one screen to the next. “Ooops. One just entered, stage right,” she said, and flicked it to its new quarters.

A squeak was plainly heard.

For a long moment, the queen sat still, then slowly, majestically, she rose to her hind limbs, staring straight ahead of her.

“Aha,” Gollee said, “she's noticed the screen isn't hers!”

From under her and around, movement could be seen, but even with the remotes set up to receive images in the usual darkness of a Hive, the watchers could not tell where and what was sent. Then, all of a sudden, a perceivable green glow bathed the queen. She sat back down.

“Suspects merely a power outage,” Gollee said, chuckling.

The queen had just settled back when she rose and scrambled with unexpected speed down her tunnel... beyond the remote's range.

“Can we get an outside fix on transfer fifty-four?” Xahra asked.

“I'm working on screen transfer, ma'am,” said the expediter. “On screen three.”

That showed the outside of the collection point. The queen, scuttling with breakneck speed and followed by her male attendants, raced to the top of her facility and stood, slowly turning to survey the fields. She moved her lower limbs.

“The queen of all she surveys,” Gollee remarked.

“I don't think she likes what she sees,” Pietro said.

“Not one little tiny bit,” Gollee agreed.

“Let's get her workers in place, shall we? She's going to be calling them and they'd better answer or we've blown the maneuver,” Xahra said, and the generators built up speed. “Expediter, let's see the garages there.”

The screens split into several smaller sections. Quickly Xahra leaned into the merge and one stable after another the workers were transferred from one facility to the other. Immediately, the ranks began to move.

“We got that in time.”

Thanks for the warning, Xahra.
Perry's voice came to them.
I think we caught number one in her morning nap. Ah, now she's waking up to the switch. Damn it. Why couldn't we have transferred their screen designs too?

Number fifty-four is sending her children out in their hordes,
Gollee said as the ranks came trundling up out of the building, two by two, each file turning off and up into the fields.
If she's setting them to work, she seems to be settling in her... new quarters all right enough.

The trampled fields were farther from the queens' quarters, as each had tried to protect her home grounds. The queen remained in position, slowly turning to be sure the workers were reaching the damaged fields before she came down on all legs and descended into the dark interior and back to her Hive. She arrived and could be seen on the remote putting her face close to the screen, before she backed off and resumed the position in which she had first been seen.

“One down and fifty-three more to go,” Gollee said.

“We have the eggs to do first, you know,” Xahra said. “Let's see if we can get them in the one basket.”

That was the trickiest part, as they all admitted, trying to keep the ovoids from slipping away from their 'port. The first time they tried, half the eggs eluded their grasp. Some fell out onto the deserted floor of the queen's Hive. These had to be gathered up.

Get the sides, Gollee and Pietro, I'll get the top and bottom,
Xahra said.

Why not,
Pietro said,
think a sleeve around them so they can't escape?

That's not a bad concept,
Gollee agreed.

A stocking is better because it has a toe and nothing can slip out the bottom,
was Xahra's amendment.

Then let's do it. Ready?
Xahra asked her crew.

“When you are, ma'am,” said Amos, who was the receiving 'path.

This time the transfer worked smoothly.

“Whee, that's a 'port and a half,” Gollee said.

“You're just out of practice,” Xahra said with a teasing contempt in her voice. “Expediter, may we have the coordinates for number fifty-three.”

“Yes ma'am.”

Let's not be so sloppy this time. On the double, queen and her gang first, the workers second and the eggs third. Then we can watch the queen react,
said Xahra.

Now, now, we have to learn the tricks of doing these mass 'ports,
Gollee said cheerfully.

Xahra shot him a startled look.
What do you mean?.

We are?
Pietro looked delighted with the prospect even if Xahra didn't.

Speak for yourself, Gollee,
she said rather tartly.

Oh, I do. And we all obey Earth Prime.
A touch of reprimand colored his tone, but he had carefully spoken only to Xahra. He could see the flush on her cheeks. “Let's handle number fifty-three, shall we?”

And they did, with expedition and efficiency, missing not one egg or tiny scurrier.

 

Sir, said Prime Thian to Earth Prime from the
Washington,
in orbit around its second target Hiver-occupied planet.
This one has twelve empty facilities. It was one of those that sent its sphere after us... or rather, came out to join the sphere heading toward the system with the right kind of primary.

Really? replied Jeff Raven with suddenly active interest.
Just twelve? Been down on the surface yet?

Thian chuckled.
As you wish. And, ah, how's Operation Switch doing?

Jeff Raven chuckled.
With the massed might of eight fine Primes, the switcheroo is going very well indeed. Got two more days of shifting to do. They average about ten a day. Bit tricky getting those eggs from one basket to another. Young Pietro thought of a sleeve and Xahra upped that notion to a stocking just about the time Elizara thought of a tube bandage.

Yes,
Thian replied, remembering how they had been stored on the Great Sphere,
that would be tricky. They don't make a neat package, like workers do.

However, the ones that fell out don't seem to have been harmed, nor did their fall concern the queens. They had more on their minds than wobbling eggs underfoot.
Jeff Raven sent Thian a flash of a report of the queens' marshaling workers to the fields.
Your father, your brother and your two sisters have all performed very well, Gollee tells me.

You sent
Gollee Gren
out there?

Why not? A change is as good as a rest. Broaden his outlook on life.
There was a pause.
Your grandmother informs me that Gollee Gren's outlook is quite broad enough. Get me some GC readings and data for comparisons, will you, Thian? We want to try Pierre Laney's gentle rain from heaven on that planet and see if it is as effective as we hope it will be at Xh-33. Smell may be more powerful than a missile after all.
A chuckle.
The deterrent of the future—alter the outlook by altering the ambient smells. Wish I could apply that to certain elements on Earth.

Then the touch of Jeff Raven's mind left Thian's.

“Anything wrong, Thian honey?” Alison Ann Greevy asked him.

“More tunnel crawling,” he said with a sigh. “To get comparison stinks and all the data we can find.”

She laughed, rumpling his hair. “You know you love it when you stand right in front of a queen and she doesn't so much as give two hoots 'n' a holler.”

“I do like that part.” Thian smoothed back his hair. “It's that damned hazmat suit... and decontam and deodorizing afterwards.”

“Yeah, but that suit keeps the sting-pzzt out, doesn't it?” Gravy said.

“It does.” He rose from the couch and took the four long strides to the door into the bridge. “I better tell the Admiral. Oh, and honey, Operation Switch is going along well.”

“Wonders will never cease!”

“I hope not.”

 

Thian did, however, shorten the time of the onerous assignment by organizing twelve teams, all eager for a chance to do a live inspection of a Hive facility. There were enough T- 2's and T-3's in the First Fleet to accompany each team in case of trouble. Not that one expected any from the aloof queens, but he wasn't about to have anyone under his guidance become a victim. He wondered what
could
provoke a Hiver queen to action—aside from checking her fields. Surely there must have been some recognition among the queens on Xh-33 that they had been removed from their original quarters?

Gravy went with him this time, and she was rather more impressed than she had been from the visuals and all the reports he had made. ,

“Sure is one thing to hear about and another to see,” she remarked, having clung to his hand as they entered the queen's quarters.

With the familiarity of many such visits, his teams collected the samples of air and soil both inside and outside the facility, counted workers, checked to be sure none of them were sporting new macelike accessories in their extendables and returned to the
Washington.
By midafternoon, Thian was able to send the carrier with the garnered samples and details back to Earth Prime. He received the formula of the pheromone “gentle rain” that was being used on Xh-33. This was to be disseminated in a spray over the lands, to disperse through the soil and thus into the food and the Hives.