The Tower and the Hive Read online

  one

  By noon of the day after the destruction of the Number Three Hiver sphere, the newly promoted Admiral Ashiant was already giving orders to elements of his Fleet to implement the second phase of their five-year mission. They could now begin to identify and reconnoiter all Hiver-occupied worlds in this quadrant of space. They were to initiate in-depth probes of such planets, disable any orbiting spheres and establish monitoring satellites to warn the Alliance of any further suspicious surface activity.

  As the Vadim and KLTL were already within the system targeted by Number Three as possessing a primary similar to their original one, Admiral Ashiant ordered Captains Pat Shepherd and Prlm to do a thorough environmental exploration of the viable planets in the M-5 and M-6 positions.

  “They might as well,” Admiral Ashiant told his Captain, Ailsah Vandermeer, “since the chase to destroy the two remaining scouts has already taken them halfway there. Rather far out to consider an immediate colonization of those worlds, but who knows how fast the Alliance will spread once the threat of Hivers is reduced? The Mrdini certainly need more space.”

  “So they do,” Ailsah agreed sympathetically.

  “I suspect those habitable worlds closer in to our home systems, ’Dini and Human, will receive the first mandates. However”—and he slapped his desk top decisively—“no need for us to hang about. Captain Vandermeer, if you will please initiate a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn of the Washington, we’ll begin the long journey home.”

  “Aye, sir,” Vandermeer said, giving him a crisp salute and a wry grin. “It will, as you know, take us five full ship days to slow enough to execute the maneuver.”

  “Long enough for Shepherd and Prlm to do their probes and be halfway back to us,” Ashiant murmured.

  “Should be an interesting cruise, sir.”

  “Indeed,” Admiral Ashiant said, lightly fingering the circle of tiny stars that was his new rank. Hastily withdrawing his hand, he cleared his throat.

  “Anything else, sir?” Vandermeer asked, pretending not to see that gesture.

  “No, Captain, that’ll be all. Good day.”

  When news of those orders reached the Primes relaxing in the FT&T lounge, there was both excitement and regret.

  “I wish one of us had been able to go with Captain Shepherd,” said the recently promoted Lieutenant T-2 Clancy Sparrow in a wistful tone. “It’d be interesting to see what Hivers consider ‘perfect worlds.’ ”

  “They seem to have found sixteen planets near enough perfect to eliminate any other life-forms, including Deneb,” Prime Talent Thian remarked in a droll tone. “And seemingly about one in five of other M-type worlds we marked on our way while pursuing Number Three.”

  He still couldn’t believe that he and his fellow Talents had managed to defeat the Hiver sphere: a process in which, after the first skirmish, only the enemy had died. It had been incumbent on the Alliance—somehow—to keep the Hivers from establishing a new home system to replace the original world that had been consumed by their sun’s nova. If Prime Talent Thian had thought of a way to reduce loss of life among Human and Mrdini, surely he should not be criticized for devising what was now known as the Genesee ploy. That fact that he was Talent was the point of dispute, for Talent should not be involved in combat, however tenuous the connection. The pacifist element of Humankind had been appalled and the FT&T organization had received considerable criticism, despite the success of the Genesee ploy. The success was almost irrelevant in the storm of display and rebuke. However, the majority of the Alliance had been relieved that the problem had resulted in few losses. After all, the Prime Talents had only delivered what the Navy explosive experts had prepared. “Teleportation” was a main FT&T function. The explosive packages, carefully placed on the Hiver fuel tanks, had been actually detonated by naval personnel with the sanction of the High Council and on the orders of Admiral Ashiant, so the Talent involvement had been a quite legitimate duty.

  The old argument about a gun not being dangerous until it is loaded and aimed at a target was revised and adjusted to the FT&T. So, as the delivery agent, like a gun delivering a bullet, were the Talents guilty because they had sent a lethal package where it could destroy the acknowledged enemy of the Alliance? Or were those who gave the command for the substance to explode the guilty ones? That the resultant combination of “Talents” and “naval specialists” had caused the enemy ships to disintegrate offered much fuel to the point where the satisfactory outcome was nearly irrelevant.

  A good night’s sleep had restored energy to the Primes and the rest of their team on the Washington, and they’d wound up the last details of their controversial participation in the battle to their own satisfaction. They were definitely looking forward to the exploration phase of their current assignment, studying the scanty probe reports of the first Hiver-occupied planet on the Fleet’s return heading.

  “Will we have to wait until the other ships rejoin the Fleet before we actually get to probe or land on the upcoming world?” Clancy asked, pacing up and down the lounge cabin.

  “Don’t see why we’d need to wait for Shepherd and Prlm,” Thian said. He was himself beginning to get restless, though the respite from frantic activity and precision teleportations had been welcome.

  “Don’t see why not if we get there first,” Clancy said.

  “Speaking of getting anywhere, just when do I get transferred to the Columbia?” asked Prime Rojer, cocking his head and making his urgency plain to his older brother and team leader. “That was the deal for me, remember? I help demolish the Hiver spheres and then I get transferred to the Columbia—”

  “And Cousin Asia,” Clancy put in, his expression carefully bland. Rojer shot him a dire look that Clancy ignored.

  “When you’ve helped me reprovision this squadron,” Thian answered, linking his fingers behind his head as he leaned back and stretched out his long legs.

  “Then you don’t think the conservatives are going to insist that FT&T stop assisting the Fleet?” Roj asked.

  Clancy’s scoffing laugh echoed Thian’s dismissal of that possibility.

  “Look, bro,” Thian said, sitting forward, elbows on his knees. “The FT&T was very carefully,” and he emphasized the syllables, “nurtured as an autonomous public service—”

  “And who can argue that getting rid of an implacable enemy isn’t a public service?” Clancy put in.

  “Back in the twenty-first century, when Henry Darrow was the manager of our budding organization, he determined to split it from any political group and to remain legally separate from any governmental agency until Earth became a united world. His successors studiously kept FT&T apolitical and also made certain that the facilities of the Towers were on a first-come-first-serve basis. It’s impossible to bribe a Talent, remember, not with Primes who can ‘read’ anyone’s mind. The guilty always give themselves away anyhow.” He grinned. “Of course, the present emergency with the greedy Hivers required FT&T to do a lot of kinetic transfers that would make the founders of our elite band spin in their graves. Nevertheless, it is still in our precious Charter that we Talents are required to teleport a lot of people and things that are repellent to our sensitive souls, though not illegal. Meanwhile we preserve the entity and integrity of FT&T ...”

  “And suborn Primes whenever they could be found...” Clancy added. “Like your grandmother on Altair.”

  “Granddad was the one who was really suborned. He had had no intention of leaving Deneb ... before he met Grandmother.” Thian’s grin was broad. “Had the Hivers but known they had met their match in Jeff Raven and Angharad Gwyn aka the Rowan as partners, they might have quit while they were ahead.”

  “Not while there were Hiver queens needing planets to colonize,” Clancy put in.

  “And that, of course, brought the entire FT&T organization in at the time of the Deneb Penetration with the Rowan as the focus for the Mind Merge that helped Jeff Raven dispatch the Hiver scouts trying to depopulate his homeworld
,” said Rojer.

  “And why the Mrdinis decided to ask us, through Mother and Dad, to join forces and defeat the Hivers,” Thian said, “since we could take out a Hiver sphere without having to resort to suicide missions.” He leaned back again, pleased with his summation of the events leading up to recent developments: denying the Hivers a new base from which to continue their unique form of colonization.

  “I wonder how many of the bleeding hearts and conservatives have bothered to see the Hiver queen at Heinlein Base,” Rojer said. “The sight of her would be instructive.”

  “We could ask Cousin Roddie Eagles.” Thian gave his brother another sly look.

  Rojer’s anxiety to get to the Columbia had much to do with his courtship of Roddie’s youngest sister, Asia; an engineer as well as a T-4. Initially the Columbia, flagship of Squadron B’s five ships, had been sent to examine four M-type planets that had been used, and abused, by the Hivers, one—named Marengo—being on the verge of total ecological disaster. The massive effort initiated to save the world was well under way and some encouraging succession of hardy grassoids had already been triumphantly broadcast. Ruins of Hiver occupations were evident on two of the other planets, Waterloo and Talavera, while the fourth, Ciudad Rodrigo, seemed to have an active Hiver colony.

  “I should be aboard the Columbia. Now. Not still stuck here.”

  “Don’t fret so, Roj,” Thian said, broadcasting soothing thoughts to his pacing brother. “Our orders were approved by both High Councillors, Admiral Mekturian and Gktmglnt. They’ll handle any interference to the rest of our mission.”

  “Not to mention Earth Prime Jeff Raven and Callisto Prime Rowan,” Clancy added. “I see no reason for anxiety, Roj.” Clancy at least forbore to tease his cousin about the real reason for his fretfulness—missíng Asia.

  “All we have to do on our way home,” Thian said, “is find all the Hiver-occupied planets ... and constrain attempts by any of them to dispatch another colonial venture.”

  “That’s all!” Rojer’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Which will probably take the best part of our lives,” Clancy said, not particularly depressed by the prospect. “I might even make commander by the time we’re done.”

  “I doubt we’ll devote our lives to the project,” Thian said, gesturing to include his brother.

  “No, you’re Primes,” Clancy agreed without rancor.

  There was a pause.

  “Think I can talk the Admiral into letting me get down on the Hiver world we’re heading for?” Thian asked wistfully. He clasped and unclasped his hands in frustration.

  “You’re a Prime, Thi,” Clancy said. “Too valuable to be risked.”

  “And far more capable of defending myself than anyone else on the ship,” Thian said, then bowed quickly to his brother. “And you too, Roj. I’m sure I’d find something no one else could.”

  “You’re a Lyon, aren’t you,” Clancy said, “as well as a Prime? You will,” he added with a reassuring grin, and stretched his legs out, yawning. “The Admiral won’t deny you anything.”

  “Well, then again, Ashiant may be under orders not to risk you on anything, Thian.” said Rojer in a knowing drawl.

  “Oh?” Thian’s raised eyebrows encouraged Rojer to elaborate on that statement.

  “You can’t be risked, bro,” Rojer said with a snort. “They need you to take over from either Grandmother or possibly Grandfather.”

  Thian gawked at his brother. “How do you come to that remarkable conclusion?”

  “You’ve been the focus for all our Mind Merges. I’m surprised you didn’t guess. It’s obvious to me”—Rojer looked over to Clancy, who nodded in agreement—“that you’re the logical successor.”

  Thian sat for a moment, mouth agape; then he “glanced” into the minds of his younger brother and cousin and realized that both were certain of that. Slapping his forehead dramatically, he flung himself back on the couch, staggered by the prospect.

  “Not for a few more decades,” Rojer said consolingly, “since, praise be, our grandparents seem in excellent health.”

  “Spare me!” Thian said, groaning, his hand still clapped to his forehead.

  What’s the matter, Thian? asked Alison Ann Greevy, T-5, nursing empath, from the sick bay.

  Thian let his lover, Gravy, “hear” the conversation.

  Oh, I thought something was wrong, she said with a mental sigh of relief, and her mind touch left his.

  “What’s wrong with that sort of future, bro?” Rojer asked. “You’re at least getting a chance to travel now and see real life and all that good stuff. Besides, you’ve got Gravy. And it isn’t as if you can’t pick a nice inaccessible spot to live in to enjoy your private life when you do get stuck with being Earth Prime.” Rojer rolled his eyes, coloring his thoughts with envious scenes of marital harmony.

  That’s enough of that! Thian said sternly, abandoning his shocked surprise.

  Rojer only grinned, delighted to have annoyed Thian. “And don’t keep me here one moment past getting the last load of supplies on board.”

  “I’ll be well rid of you,” Thian said emphatically.

  “I’ll never be more than a thought away,” Rojer said, and teleported himself out of the room before his brother could take physical vengeance.

  Thian caught Clancy’s amused glance and, with a laugh, was restored to his usual good humor.

  “Younger brothers,” Clancy murmured sympathetically.

  That evening in the privacy of their quarters, Thian and Gravy had talked over the prospect of his having to take up either of those tremendous responsibilities—Earth Prime or Callisto Station. Since both his parents and grandparents had expressed their approval of Alison Ann, the couple no longer needed to conduct their liaison as discreetly as possible. Indeed, once Thian knew his attachment to Gravy was approved, he teleported her belongings into his quarters.

  “Frees space up for someone else,” she’d muttered as she saw her things neatly being fitted into his closets and drawers. “Though it was kinda fun being zapped about by you, Thi darlin’”

  “You never knew where you were going to wake up, though,” he’d teased, hugging her tightly against him.

  “Well, I’m here where I belong,” was her contented reply.

  She was, however, surprised when Admiral Ashiant adroitly started including Lieutenant Greevy when he invited the FT&T personnel to his mess table, a tacit recognition of their current status as well as public approval. Once Alison Ann got over the shock, she rather enjoyed the perks that now came her way more frequently.

  “‘Sides which, no one dares complain about ’em either,” Gravy added, tweaking Thian’s nose. “They’re jealous and can’t do a thing about it.”

  The next morning Earth Prime Jeff Raven contacted Thian.

  Supply drones are ready, Thian, said Jeff. Let’s see how many we can forward at a time, shall we?

  As you like, Thian replied, accepting the challenge, and allowed his grandfather to hear him summoning the merge on his end of the exchange. He smiled to himself, remembering Rojer’s prediction, though he kept that very much in the back of his mind. He didn’t intend to be styled a “cocky boy” by his grandmother, the Rowan. Incoming cargo, he ’pathed to the other ships in the Fleet in a broadcast alert.

  Thian’s team quickly assembled in their “command” room, with its comformable couches: Rojer teleported in, Clancy and Commander Semirame Kloo used their own feet, and so did CPO Lea Day since she had been nearby when she received Thian’s summons. The Fleet electrician was a new addition to the team but was improving steadily with each new opportunity to use her previously unexpected parapsychic Talent. She liked being what she called a “power weasel.”

  They had only just arranged themselves on the couches when Jeff warned them of the first shipment—nine drones.

  And we thought the big daddies from Iota Aurigae were heavy, Rojer said, and warned the boat bays to stand by to receive the drones abou
t to be imported.

  On their way, Jeff said, and the team caught the first shipment at the halfway mark and deftly brought them in to the readied space.

  That’s for the Washington. Are the other boat bays alerted? asked Jeff.

  They have been, Thian replied, and checking briefly, knew the other ships’ Talents were standing by to receive.

  Then Jeff called out which drones went to which ship and they spent the next half an hour completing the reprovisioning.

  Now can I go to the Columbia, Grandfather? Rojer asked.

  Are you packed? There was a malicious laugh tagging along with that question.

  Half a mo, Rojer replied, frowning in concentration.

  “We’ll send on anything you left behind,” Thian said at his most helpful. “And say hi to all when you get there.”

  Rojer disappeared from his couch, his ’Dinis, Gil and Kat, with him.

  We’re set. Takes longer to get into the carrier than...

  Thian didn’t really need his team’s help to push Rojer’s personal capsule to the Columbia, for he felt his grandfather’s touch assisting him, then Flavia’s when Rojer arrived at the Constellation-class Columbia flagship.

  Thanks, Jeff, Thian. We’ve been expecting him.

  Keep him out of trouble, Thian said, and sent a fleeting kiss to Flavia and his younger sister, Zara, who was present in the Columbia’s teleport team.

  You couldn’t, was Zara’s pert reminder, and Thian kinetically tweaked her nose to remind her of his seniority. She sent a laugh back over the incredible distance between them.

  How soon will you arrive at the first suspect system, Thian? asked his grandfather, all business after the sibling exchange.