Hellstrom's Hive

Hellstrom stood in the aerie beneath a Hive-sign display that translated “Use everything—waste nothing.” It was past 3:00 A.M., and he had gone beyond wishing he could get a brief sleep. Now, he only prayed for rest of any kind.

“See those changes in the air pressure,” an observer behind him said. “He’s into the emergency ventilator system again. How is he doing that? Quick! Send the alarm. Where’s the nearest search team?”

“Why aren’t we blocking off that system, level by level, or at least every other level?” Hellstrom asked resignedly.

“We only have enough teams to keep a ten-level guard on the system,” a male voice to his left said.

Hellstrom peered through the green gloom of the aerie, trying to identify who’d spoken. Had that been Ed? Was he back from checking the Outside patrols already?

Damn that Janvert! The man was diabolical in his ingenuity. Dead and injured workers, behavior disruptions from the disturbance of his passage, the growing turmoil left in the wake of running searchers—everything was conspiring to upset the entire Hive. They would be years finding and clearing up all of the traces of this night. Janvert was terrified, of course, and the chemistry of his terror was spreading through the Hive. As more and more workers read that subtle signal from a human who, according to his other chemical markers, seemed one of them, their fears moved like an outspreading wave. It could damned well provoke a crisis if he wasn’t caught soon.

It had been a mistake not to increase his guard as they brought him back to normalcy.

My mistake, Hellstrom told himself bitterly.

The chemistry of fellowship was, indeed, a double-edged blade. It cut both ways. Those guarding him had been lulled by it unconsciously. When had a worker ever attacked his fellows?

He listened to the observer stations coordinating this new turn in the search. Their hunt juices were up and he sensed the excitement in their voices. It was almost as though they didn’t want to catch Janvert too soon.

Hellstrom sighed and said, “Get the female captive up here.”

Someone off in the gloom said, “She’s still unconscious.”

That was Ed for sure, Hellstrom told himself. He said, “Well, revive her and get her up here!”