CHAPTER IX: GROUNDBREAKING DECISIONS
Everything seemed fuzzy, slow. The whole crowd slowly turned their stares from Quick to me.
'"You have two days. Yours faithfully, Queen Maula,'" finished Quick. '"Long live the Queen!'" Quick looked at me too. I felt completely isolated. My worst fears were confirmed. Maula was after me. It was as though a transparent wall of psychic energy had cut me off from everyone else.
For a second that contained an eternity, I just stared – at the same time – at the ground, my feet and the part of my horn that I could see. Then, before I could fully register what had just happened, before I could feel anything but numb disbelief, I was brought back to my senses by the Queen speaking up.
'Let me see that,' she said suspiciously, moving towards Quick. Quick quickly scuttled back into the crowd. The Queen bent down and scan-read the leaf for a few seconds. Her eyes stretched wide as well.
Slowly, she moved aside, back towards the tunnel entrance. The King quickly read the leaf as well. Just like the Queen, he looked shocked at the content, and followed the Queen off.
Slowly, very slowly, the colony started to go back into the tunnels. Several remained behind to individually inspect the leaf, which nobody dared to move. Their reactions were all the same, and each moved off following reading the leaf.
I didn't move one twitch. Half terrified, half shocked, I just stayed put, only half-watching what was happening. What did the hornets except to accomplish by this?
Eventually, all the beetles were gone. Horror-struck, hating myself for doing it, I moved forward and read the leaf myself.
It was exactly as Quick had said it. The writing showed signs of having been written aggressively, as though the scribe had been angry. The ink appeared to be made out of poison from a hornet's sting – Queen Maula's, most probably. I noticed that my name – in the phrase "Give us Dim" – was written in a different writing style. Queen Maula had never remembered my name. King Palpatine had most probably written that part, probably just to appease Maula. How else could it be?
There was a rustling noise nearby – I looked up. Weaver and Cora were still here. I stared at them for a few seconds before turning away.
'Dim?' said Weaver slowly. I didn't answer. I didn't want anyone, least of all them, to see me like this.
Several seconds passed. I heard feet moving away. They must be leaving me alone, which was just the way I wanted to be. I didn't want to return to the crew rooms, where everyone would start asking me questions. I couldn't stand it.
'Are you all right,' said a soothing voice. I looked around – Cora was still here.
'No,' I said slowly. I didn't want her to see me at the moment, and at the same time I was relieved that she was here with me. I had never felt more down – ever.
'But...' stammered Cora, 'but we need your courage, your help...'
I didn't answer for what felt like a whole minute.
'I can't help,' I finally said. 'I can't help anyone...'
'But you've helped us so much, constructing the rock-trap and everything,' said Cora.
'Maula was right all along,' I mumbled, more to myself then her. 'I'm just a coleopteran – a weak, spineless, worthless, insignificant coleopteran...'
'But... but... you made life so much better for us since you returned,' said Cora. 'For the King and Queen, for the colony, for Weaver... for me...'
'Cora, I...' I stuttered, not knowing what to say, still not looking at her. 'I need to be alone for a while. Please...'
She didn't say anything. After a while, she turned and left. I looked around and saw that she was gone.
By now, it was night time, and the moon was out. It was just like the night I had thought of the rock-trap, which seemed pretty fruitless now...
I really wanted to go back to the crew rooms, but everyone there would either ask me loads of questions, or start feeling sorry for me.
I had no choice, at least not mentally. I would sleep out here tonight. Was it much less comfortable? Physically, yes, but emotionally, no.
I walked over to the grass stalks. In between several of them, there was a small moist space, just about suitable for a rest. I curled up on the ground and closed my eyes. Maula... was evil... No question about it...
I was truly trapped. Maula was standing right above me. This time, her whole skin was covered in ritualistic combat tattoos of red and black. They appeared to be made of various food juices and spider venom, yet they blended so well. I had no idea where she had got them, and yet it blended into her skin so well. It gave her a devil-like appearance.
'How long did you think you could avoid me, eh?' she said quietly.
I didn't answer. To be fair would you have?
'Well, I have you now,' she said, with the air of the galaxy's greatest villain saying a cliched line.
She suddenly grabbed me with two of her claws, and dug deep cuts in my face with her other two claws. I was bleeding even harder now.
'How you even lived for a whole week from birth, let alone a month, I'll never know,' she grinned. 'And you'll have no time to consider it either. We have many hours ahead of us, and no one to hear us...'
She readied her stinger and claws at the same time, and...
I closed my eyes, not wanting to see me fate, but...
'Hey, Dim,' said a voice, most unlike Maula's.
No, no, please...' I moaned, sure that this was a trick of Queen Maula's.
'Dim, please wake up!'
I opened my eyes, all of a sudden. There were several beetles above me, including Quick. I was still on the ground between the grass stalks. It was still night time, as the moon was shining brightly. I could have only been asleep for a half hour at most.
'Oh, phew,' I breathed heavily. 'It was only another nightmare...'
'Must have been a pretty scary nightmare...' said Quick slowly.
'What makes you think that?' I said, somewhat harshly.
'You were moving in your sleep, talking too,' she said. 'It sounded like you were being tortured. Is that the first time?'
'No...' I said slowly. With minor difficulty, I got to my feet. 'What do you guys want?'
'Well...' began one of them, a male earth moulder who I had only ever spoken to once, 'we were kind of wondering why you didn't come to bed. We were worried, see...'
'You were?' I stated curiously. 'Not as much as I was. I was really scared.'
'Come on,' said Quick. 'There's no point getting all worried about the message. We won't let them get you. Let's go back to the crew rooms. After all, there's no place like home!'
'Yeah,' I said. What was I thinking? This was my home, always had been. Everyone I had ever known was here. I would have never thought of leaving this place again... ever.
Smiling now, I walked with the others. As one we walked up to the tunnel entrance, through the tunnels, all the way to the door to our crew rooms. All the time I didn't say a word, but I put on a happy face and tried hard to not think about the hornets or Maula.
All too soon, we were at the crew rooms. We all went in one by one. I purposely went last, hoping to avoid attention inside by entering last.
I went in... and found myself face-to-face with the King and Queen. I froze, totally uncertain what this entailed.
'Good job, guys,' said the Queen to Quick and the others. They nodded nervously. They looked as though they had brought me here against their will. Instead of moving away though, they all watched. All my roommates were watching. That made it all the worse.
'Dim,' began the King, 'we have come to a conclusion. Don't take this the hard way, please...'
I gave no sign that I had heard them, but I continued to stare at them.
'Dim,' said the Queen, with the air of forcing herself to say something unpleasant, 'we're going to have to ask you to hand yourself over to the hornets.'
'What?' I said, sure that there had been some sort of mistake. 'But... but why?'
'You read the note,' she said, 'it said that the hornets will leave us alone if we give you to them. That's why.'
'But can't... can't we do something else?' I mumbled.
'Yes, but this option avoids bloodshed,' said the King, 'and the hornets will leave Louisiana, like they said. We'll never have to deal with them again. I mean, could we have honestly have finished off all of the hornets with that rock-trap?'
'Maybe not,' I stammered, 'but it would have got rid of enough so that we would outnumber them enough for them to flee.'
'But what if it didn't work?' said the Queen. 'We would be in even worse trouble then. Can't you see that this option is so much safer and better?'
'Not for me...' I said slowly.
'It's better for the colony, Dim,' said the King. 'The colony will always remember you as being responsible for ending the threat. Without you, it will continue just like before. Please try to understand...'
Somehow, that last sentence completely broke my ability to object. But there was one thing...
'But, my wings are still broken. It'll take me longer to get there,' I said.
'Exactly,' said the Queen. 'You'll need to leave as soon as possible.'
'OK,' I moaned, now crying. 'I'll leave first thing in the morning.'
'No, you'll leave right now,' said the Queen. 'It's almost morning anyway. Please...'
I stood and stared at them for a while. I was painfully aware that everyone was watching.
Slowly, very, very slowly, I turned away from them. I slowly walked back through the door.
I walked through the tunnel corridors, crying slow tears all the time. It was very soon by the time I had gotten back to the tunnel entrance.
I walked across the clearing, thinking. It would take me about a day to get to the hornet's nest on foot. That would mean walking around the swamp. I strutted my way, pace by pace, towards the edge of the swamp – by coincidence, the very same place from which I had landed after that swamp chase just a week ago.
When I had got there, I paused, looking at the vast swamp. I would have to stay clear of the surface, as the alligator was still in there somewhere – probably in the island containing that tree with the swamp-snaking roots. On the other hand, getting eaten by the alligator wasn't nearly as bad as the pain I was feeling now... on the inside... I would have just jumped straight in the swamp, if it wasn't for the fact that I had to be given to the hornets for the appeasement to work.
I had walked several paces around the swamp by now. I hesitated, curious. This would be the last time I would ever see the colony, or my home – my one and only home.
I looked around – and saw that what looked like the whole colony was waiting just by the tunnel entrance, clearly watching to see me leave.
For about five seconds, I stared at them, although several feet separated us. Recent memories flashed through my mind – my two nightmares, returning to the colony, talking to the King and Queen, being in the sick bay, making friends with Weaver, my roommates applauding me, building the rock-trap, and Cora... I would never see her again. I had never got a chance to tell her how much she meant to me. Whether she felt exactly the same I would never know, but she must have felt something...
Ending the unintentional staring contest between me and the colony, I intentionally burst into tears, long wet sobering tears. Hating myself for thinking anything else, I turned away and, faster than I had ever done so in my life, I ran. Not just around the swamp, but also towards the hornet's nest, where I would surely meet my demise. But most significantly, I was walking AWAY from the colony. I was somewhat certain that some of them (I estimate 67%) were devastated that I was gone, while a few were happy and the rest undecided. Not that it mattered, as I would never see them again.
I kept running, not noticing that I was hungry again, or that my wings were almost completely healed. I just ran, as fast as I could...
I had been running for what felt like ages. I was almost at the hornet's nest; I could see it hanging from the tree.
Suddenly, I realized. What was I thinking? Appeasement never worked, ever (it didn't work for WWII). This was a pointless virtue, absolutely pointless.
There had to be another way. But what? The colony would not let me back, and if I didn't go to the hornets, they would just enslave us. A straight fight was not the answer. We couldn't do it without help.
Help! That was it! We needed help! But who would be brave – or foolhardy – enough to help us?
'Help!' I called out, hoping someone would hear me. My voice echoed around the silent, foggy area.
'Somebody!' I yelled, more desperately this time. It was responded by another echo.
'Anybody...' I moped, in such a whisper that there was no echo. I walked for a few moments, in no direction in particular, before I collapsed from fatigue. There was no way out at all. We were truly stuck...
Approximate Chapter Running Time: 00:32-00:38
