The Hive

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say, Commander Bak thought darkly to himself, as made his way towards the bridge of the massive space craft. He did not want to find out if it were true. He had gone so long without knowing and today was not the day.

He had sent for reinforcements and they had come. It was only one Celestial ship against the Liberated Alliance Fleet but no one was taking any chances.

“Sir, all the ships are ready. The Captains are on standby, waiting for you on the bridge.” Her voice was flat, emotionless, but she was an android, there wasn’t much else to expect from that, but he wanted there to be more life to that voice, laughter, and cheer, since it wore the face of his dead wife. It was her last gift to him, she knew she would die and she didn’t want to leave him alone but looking at her face and body had made him even more depressed than she could have ever imagined.

“Thank you Lana.” He said and walked down the narrow halls of the ship and boarded the elevator, followed closely by his shadow. The doors opened with a soft hiss and he moved forward onto the deck where all eyes followed his every move, everyone had stood and saluted the man and he nodded at each one never looking them in the face, but holding them at ease.

“Captains, lock your weapons on the ship. Is the Hive in place?” Bak asked as he smoothed his hand over his silvery hair. The walls behind his chair flashed to life and the faces of the Captains appeared, the whole fleet was there. Men and women, no one was smiling. Bak sank into his chair and turned around to see the faces of the Captains, their ships lined in formation to strike, posed and ready.

“On my command,” He nodded as he faced them. He knew they could all see him, just like he could see them. “Fire on the Celestial ship.”

“Yes Commander.” They said in unison and he turned his chair around to the window. The vast expanse of space was overshadowed by the massive alien ship that hovered in front of the fleet. Its shiny outer shell glowed with a soft blue nimbus, its haul was silvery, like liquid mercury that pulsed with its own power. It looked alive.

Bak took a deep breath and released it slowly as he watched the platforms between his ship and the Celestial ship slide and open, bridging the two massive hulks together for the exchange. They had requested an exchange of words, not through the communications portals but through face-to-face interaction. Everyone was hoping that a call of truce was in order but Bak had no delusional hopes.

“Is The Queen ready?” Commander Bak asked, and it was Lana that replied. “The Queen is on the docking port now, Commander Bak. The Hive is standing by if aggression by the Celestials is initiated.” Her voice sounded through the intercom system, everyone on every ship heard her, and he realized then that his own voice was being projected through the fleet.

“Solider 108, this is Commander Bak.”

“Commander.” The Queen replied, her voice was soft, it didn’t belong on someone like her. Not on a solider.

“Maintain communications at all time.”

“Yes sir.” She replied.

“The Celestial ship haul is opening.” Lana’s voice filled the intercom system again, not for his benefit but for those that could not see, for the rest of the men and women anxiously awaiting for peace or war.

“108, are you ready?”

“Yes, Commander.” She replied in that same voice, there was no fear, no resignation.

From the bridge Bak could see the whole expanse of the port that linked the two ships together, he had only seen a Celestial being once, and that had been the day they took solider 108 away from her mother. But what stood at the opening of the haul was nothing like the beautiful creature they had captured so many years ago. The Celestial that moved across the port was male, and massive. He was taller than any human on earth but his size did not look like a deformity, every aspect of his body was in perfect symmetry to his height. Even the massive white wings on his back, didn’t seem out of place.

“Approaching a member of the Host.” The Queen said and everyone on deck turned to see Commander Bak.

But he looked as shocked as they did, and it was too late to call her back now. “108, proceed with caution.” He said darkly, it was all he could do to let her know he was not pleased. The thought of treason had crossed his mind, but there had never been any real fears until that point. His blood ran cold when he saw the lips of the angelic figure moving, but there was so sound coming in. The Queen had cut communications.

“Secure the Hive, replace it with the Aurora unit. Now!” Commander Bak called out and the deck erupted with a swarm of activity as orders were issued and the tension on board went up even more.

“Judge me.” It was Lana’s voice filtering through the system. “Judge my soul.” Commander Bak turned to Lana, and watched as her gaze remain transfixed on the figures below. She was reading their lips.

Bak could see the sneer on the face of the Celestial and stood up when he saw The Queen bow her head. “You are not worthy.” Lana’s mouth moved with the Celestial’s and watched in stunned silence as the towering creature reached for the metal rod at his side, unsheathing it like a sword.

“Commander, the Hive unit has been secured, Aurora is taking its place.” He could hear his officer report.

“Tell them to fire! Fire at will!” He roared but it was too late, the rod instantly burned in the angel’s grasp, flames licking the entire length of it weapon like a glowing beacon of flame, and it brought up just as The Queen lifted her gaze. She didn’t move nor say a word as the rod sliced down across her chest, burning the space suit through to her flesh.

“The Queen is down. The Queen is down.” Lana’s voice filtered through the intercom, stoic and empty. Commander Bak stared in horror as the prodigy and only hope to defeat the Celestials lay unmoving on the port. The Celestial moved forward and brought up the sword once more but lines of golden light bombarded it as the Aurora team shot at the towering angel of myth, made real.

“The Queen is dead. Heart function has ceased. Initiating emergency cryogenic response to the suit.” Lana said.

“Abort that response.” Commander Bak ordered.

“Command aborted.” Lana responded and stared straight ahead, at nothing and at everything.

“Pull back the port! Recover the body! Fire on the ship!”

The Celestial had also fallen and lay unmoving on the bridge, and he watched as the Aurora team marched across the platform and dragged the Queen’s body. The docking pylon was already being pulled back into the main haul and the explosions began.

The Celestial ship had nowhere to go, and the fleet destroyed it. It was one against sixty, but they had others. And as Commander Bak stared at the exploding ruins of the ship before him he knew they would have no mercy for them.

“Commander Bak. Five Hive members are dead.” Lana stared at the Commander and smiled, she had been programmed to smile and try to look as comforting as possible when he was frowning, but the effect left him sick.

“How?” He asked hoarsely.

“They died with the Queen. The others are in serious condition, they have managed to restrain them before they finished their attempts of suicide, others are falling where they stand. It appears as though they were driven into a hysteria upon the death of the Queen.” Lana finished, her face relaxed as her eyes stared off past him, watching through the ships cameras, listening to the voices and screams as the soldiers of The Hive collapsed.

Bak closed his eyes and sank into his chair and rubbed his face, everything had gone wrong and it had all happened so quickly. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned up to look at his wife’s face, smiling down at him again.

“It will be alright, I’ll always be here to help you.” She said.

Bak turned away, “I know…I wish you weren't..” he said softly and pulled his shoulder away from her cold touch. He had to prepare earth for the bad news.

“Prepare the retreat. Now.”

***

Trojan paced the width of his padded room, quickly. He had clawed at the walls and screamed for hours but it only served to tire himself out. The event had passed and he was no longer suicidal, no longer crazy but it didn’t really matter. He still felt dead. When he wasn’t laughing he was crying and his only comfort was the fact that he wasn’t suffering alone. The screaming of his companions nearby kept him company. The screaming that not even the cold vacuum of space could silence in his head.

He had no idea how long he had been in the room, but the stubble on his chin had now grown into a thick carpet along his jaw.

He had regular visits from doctors, but they wouldn’t ask their questions. They only came to keep him company, to keep him from losing his hold on reality, to talk to him about what was going on, but he didn’t care. Who cared if the Celestial’s won? Who cared if earth lost? He didn’t. He just wanted to … sleep. To join her in sleep.

“Trojan.” The deep rumbling voice of Commander Bak filled the cell and Trojan turned towards the man, flanked by a doctor and a face he had seen only on the livecast, the Primary of the United Earth Alliance stood there in all his superficial arrogance. His proud chin was bare, his black hair slicked back away from his forehead and his gray eyes shined as bright as silver tokens. He wasn’t in a suit, instead he was fully clad in formal military dress.

Trojan smiled and scratched his beard as he turned to the men as nurses brought in a table and four chairs. The three men sat down but Trojan remained standing, staring at the men before him. The doctor had a remote monitoring device, the whole session was being recorded and watched by others.

“I want a cigarette.” He said and looked directly at Primary Darcy, before he closed his eyes and took a deep ragged breath. “I can smell them on him, under all that cologne.”

Commander Bak glanced at the Primary and the doctor, but the doctor only looked at the Primary and nodded, while Darcy looked a bit taken back by the request but fished for the shiny metal case that carried his cigarettes. “I read somewhere you quit.” Trojan said as he snatched the whole case from his hands and popped the lid open and lit the white tip and breathed in, fiery ambers glowing as he sucked in deeply. “You quit too, Trojan, why are you smoking again?” The doctor asked.

Trojan narrowed his eyes slightly as he blew out a large cloud of gray smoke in the doctor’s direction and read his name plate: Admiral Dr. Adam Roderick.

Trojan laughed softly and cracked his neck and took in another breath of his cigarette, finishing it and smothering the butt on his palm. He didn’t feel the heat or the pain.

“Yeah I quit a lot of bad habits when I joined The Hive.” He said as he reached for another one and finally sat down in front of the men and tapped his hand restlessly against the table. “Why is the commander of the fleet, the commander of earth and the Admiral of … mental health?” Trojan quirked a brow and smirked sardonically, “here to see me?”

“We want to ask you a few questions regarding the Europa Rescue Mission.” Commander Bak replied but Trojan shook his head.

“No you want to know what went wrong with the Queen. You want to know why she …” Trojan looked away and the metal case in his hand bent under the force of his grip. Commander Bak gently touched his earpiece and shook his head. “No threat. Stand down.” He said as he watched Trojan. He had been watching the man for some time now, the Hive was always watched but Trojan was the only one that was managing to climb out of the psychological disaster created after the Queen was killed. No one had anticipated the effects would be this damaging, they were too busy celebrating the creation of the Hive. Soldiers linked, all of them connected to each other, not through equipment but through a mind, every mind, but especially to one. They were the most effective force ever assembled. The Hive was the only team able to stand up against a small host of Celestials and win.

Trojan lifted his gaze and glared at Commander Bak, but Bak stared back, unflinching even though the gaze left him cold. “You commanded them to take us away. We could have helped her.”

The Commander nodded slowly, “You know why the Hive was secured. The Queen was compromised and I had been warned before that she might use her abilities to turn you all against Earth. The Hive had the power to cripple our entire fleet. It wasn’t until that day, though, did it actually occur to me that she would do it. That she would turn.”

Trojan began to laugh, and the Primary shifted in disgust and the beginnings of anger. He had never been shown such disrespect before and it was beginning to wear on his nerves.

“The Queen, cut us out. We had no idea what was going on anymore. We were all by ourselves then, alone in our own minds, it was horrible but she was still there, like a shadow, keeping us calm, even when the Aurora team told us to stand out and we were escorted from the scene. And after that… well nothing else matters after that. I don’t remember much except feeling like everything good in the world was gone and the unbearable pain. It was like being eaten by fire on one end and grief on another.”

“Grief?” Primary Darcy scoffed and looked at the two other men at the table. Trojan nodded slowly and spilled out the rest of the cigarettes onto the table, the case was broken but it still worked to light at least. “It was like God died, it was like my mother died, my father, my cat.. It was like who I had become had died and all that was left was what I was before … a worthless piece of dog shit?” He paused and sighed softly, soaking in the nicotine. “It was like I became you.” He looked at the Primary and smiled a little, baring his teeth. “I never really believed in madness or insanity. I never thought I was capable of feeling so much, and I would have given anything to die then…. I still want to die.” He said as he took another puff of smoke.

Darcy was insulted, and he didn’t understand why Trojan had said what he had said. And although Dr. Roderick knew the mechanics of grief, and understood how the mind worked, he could not relate, but he wanted to find out why the affects had been so drastic.. Only Commander Bak understood what it was like to suffer, and although he felt his own pain could not be compared to what the Hive had suffered, he knew that recovering from such a deep loss was nearly impossible. You were never the same again.

“Tell us what happened on the Europa Mission.” Commander Bak ordered, he felt sorry for Trojan and what remained of the Hive but they couldn’t spend time wallowing in misery with him.

“Yeah I’ll tell you what happened, but I want to be euthanized soon after.”

Commander Bak’s lip twitched a little but he nodded. “It will be arranged.”

Trojan’s shoulders slumped a little, his whole body seemed to visibly relax. “Thank you.”

***