David Jospeh
time it takes for them to remove their fallen comrades in front of them to prepare for the next assault, and she only has the strength for a few encounters, even if she is not stung herself. If her evasive movements are ineffective against her adversaries and she is stung, she will die slowly. Her weariness becomes too great with the fourth usurper. She can smell the pungent sulfur odor emanating from the red and purple ribs of the slavers as they pass above her while she dies. She knows that she has done her best to protect her home-hive, but she can only pray that the workers beyond her can finish the battle she started. Panifor is not the only soldier to fall. In hundreds of corridors the slavers have won their way deeper into the hive. Along hundreds of battle lines they reach the waiting workers. The slaver soldiers are better trained than the workers, but they are far out-numbered. After many hours of furious fighting, the ratio of slaver dead to Bysrene’s is high. The slavers are overwhelmed in all but one battle. In one catacomb of the hive a slaver survives to reach the interior portion. Only the generals, the mathematicians and the queen herself are left, and they are unaware wether any interlopers are left, one, or many. They are prepared for any possibility, but they do not know from what direction the attack may come. They know that the attack will come quickly, and that the attacker will sacrifice herself to kill their queen. They know that there are still slavers outside the hive to gather the helpless workers once the queen is gone, but they also know that they will not attack without hearing the signal that the queen is dead. * * * Venus * * * R’Kree awakens near noon. The sun is not apparent in the sky, it is hidden behind dense clouds, but the heat rising from the sand tells him the time. He is nearly buried in the sand. As it heats up, his body heats up with it. His body cannot control its temperature effectively because of his injuries. His pain prevents him from noticing the dangerous heat, however, and his duty forces him to rise and search out his family. He shakes the sand from his body then collapses. His body shivers even though it is overheated. He is racked with convulsions, the rebellion of his body against his attempts to move. He has survived the night, but he is not well. If he moves too quickly his internal injuries will reopen. He must find his family, however. He must find them quickly, or they may overheat. They will not move without him, but without the benefit of movement, their blood will not 28