1 year 5 months 7 days since the last update. Yet another year or more may pass before I am able to write as I once was. Until then, I present this to you. Thank you for your patience.
November 20, 2017. 1:08 P.M. UTC.
Local time: November 21, 2017. 4:08 A.M.
Location: Above Jerusalem.
May landed on the organic floor of her Leviathan with an ungraceful thud. She silently hoped that the other people aboard her Leviathan were uninjured by the jump. Given that a submarine was a mass of metal with little room for comfort, she doubted it. Hopefully, nobody was going up or down a flight of stairs when it happened.
Shoving her worries aside, May returned her thoughts to the matters at hand and mentally contacted Matilda.
"How are our forces divided? What have we got and where have we got it?" May asked.
"We have five thousand six hundred fliers aboard the Leviathan, most of which are Scourges and Mutalisks, and sixteen thousand ground forces, most of which are Zerglings, Roaches, and Hydralisks. Our two forward Hatcheries in Iraq and their defences are the only remaining structures we have. There is not even a Spawning Pool left."
Growth. If there was one thing that the Swarm desired, that was it. May had never felt as if the Zerg was influencing her actions, but she could very much feel what they felt. Now they were all but crippled, and the Zerg were...uneasy. With the old Zerg Hive cluster gone, replaced by radioactive ice and snow, and the rest of the land in the world claimed by other countries, the only way for the Swarm to grow on this world now was to conquer. A conquest that would undoubtedly end in the same way Broodland had: in fire and death.
On the bright side of all of this, May had always kicked herself about the name Broodland. Perhaps she could come up with a better name for whatever she named next. Matilda would certainly not be naming anything else after having come up with Hydrolisk.
May's viable options for keeping the Zerg strong were few, but from what she had, the Zerg would come out alive if nothing went terribly wrong; Israel would be infinitely more affected in the long run than the Zerg. The Zerg could rebuild quickly, and the lives of the individual only mattered as much as they were worth to the whole. Israel was filled with individuals whose worth to their country was very different from their worth to their families.
"Matilda, contact Amos. Inform him of the situation and see if he can get me an audience with the Knesset or the Prime Minister. In the meantime, take back the rest of Israel through whatever means are necessary. Nothing gets in via land without a Zerg escort. I will work out the details with whoever Amos gets me in touch with."
"Yes, my queen." Matilda said before her mental presence faded.
With that taken care of for now, May turned her thoughts to her prisoners and her parents. John and Timothy were the last people she wanted to talk to, even if they could give her some insight into the why, how, and who behind the nukes. She doubted that the submarine crew knew more about the situation than she did herself, and she was not entirely sure how she would go about getting into the submarine at all.
As much as she wanted to see her parents, May figured that they would be asking about the more human version of herself sooner rather than later, and the excuse that she was in Broodland no longer held any weight. Eventually they would figure out that something was not right. Most of the Swarm was aboard the Leviathan, and the Israelis would know nothing about a random American named May Flowers.
May then realized how problematic her relations would become if she told the Israelis that she had been housing a human for six months. Her parents would probably assume that she was being housed by the Israelis because living among the Zerg was hardly a comfortable option.
Eventually May would either have to tell her parents that she was leading an entire army against several nations at once, or change back into her human self to show them that she was actually alive...and probably be forced to explain to the Israelis why a human girl had been secretly living with the Zerg for six months. Her only other option would be to hope that she could maintain a complex web of lies and secrets between herself, her parents, and the Israelis which, if caught, could cause her relations with Israel and her parents to suffer. No easy way out it would seem.
It boiled down to creating political problems, personal problems, or risk both for the sake of buying time to decide later. She considered what she would do from a purely Zerg perspective. Advance the Swarm? Maintain allies until they were no longer useful? Act before some unknown timer expires?
Time was one thing that May could not know. Time until America would attack again. Time until the I.S.I.S. Nations decided to attack again, not they they would be a problem for much longer. Time until the people in the submarine starved to death or died some other horrible death from being locked inside of a metal can that was stuck inside a giant floating Zerg creature.
With that thought, May postponed her decision and decided to see if she could find a way of contacting the people inside of the massive metal war machine she had on board. Dead prisoners of war would not be helpful. With a thought from May, a door of flesh and bone opened into a large passageway meant for Roaches, Hydralisks, Drones, and other moderately sized Zerg.
May began making her way down to the "room" near the exterior of the Leviathan that housed the submarine and enough water to fill the space occupied by the submarine five times over. As she walked, May ordered air to be pumped into the housing via an internal Nydus Worm. The housing expanded to accept the extra volume, and enough air was added to allow the submarine to surface if it chose to do so. Given that May was not about to leave the decision to surface to the people aboard the ship, May ordered the Nydus Worm to begin pumping water out of the housing and out into the ocean below. Once enough water was gone to reveal the deck clearly, May made her way to an entrance to the oversized biological fish tank.
Upon entering, she was surprised at how small she felt. Although she had felt the space inside of the housing through the psionic connection to it, actually seeing the size of the submarine and the housing made her feel somewhat small. Although the Leviathan was truly massive in size, she understood it on an intimate and genetic level, so it was not quite as awe inspiring as it probably was to anyone else who saw it. The submarine, on the other hand, she did not understand. She knew a little bit about submarines and ships in general, and the mechanics behind pretty much all of the systems that the machine used were beyond her understanding.
The massive vessel was about halfway submerged in the remaining water, and the bottom of it rested on the bottom of the chamber. The chamber ceiling was several times taller than the submarine was, but that did not take away from the imposing presence that the metal beast of war had. At around fifteen to twenty yards tall, the body of the submarine was easily four times taller than she was. May tried to guess its length, but could only figure that it was probably not longer than two American football fields.
After admiring the massive submarine for nearly a minute, May leaped into the air and gently landed on the top of the submarine. After some searching, she found a hatch near the base of the large tower positioned on the front half of the ship. Unsure of what else to do, May knocked on the hatch with her claw.
"Hello," she shouted, "I am here to make sure you all don't suffocate in there."
After a couple of moments of nothing happening, May decided to keep shouting in hopes that they could hear her inside of the submarine.
"I am too big to come in there, if that is what you are worried about."
Several moments of silence passed.
"I am not going to eat you guys or anything. I just want to make sure that you aren't going to die while I keep you locked up in here."
Probably not the best thing to say.
"If you change your minds and decide to come out or something, I will be keeping an eye on you. I just want to make sure that you aren't going to die or launch any more nukes or…" May sighed. She couldn't help but reprimand herself for not having the slightest idea of what to say. "Look, I have some civilians out here that I can't exactly feed, and there is no drinkable water anywhere around here, so if you could help me keep them from dying of dehydration and starvation, that would be great."
While she technically had food and water, she doubted that her charges would appreciate water and food obtained through purely organic means.
Several moments of silence later, not even the slightest sound was made.
"How about this, if I bring the people here, will you at least let them in? One knock for yes, and two knocks for no."
After several minutes of waiting, nothing happened. As May began to formulate a less than friendly means of ensuring her prisoners and guests stayed alive, a single loud clang echoed through the massive chamber.
May smiled and hastily jumped off of the submarine. A moment later, she was running through the halls of the Leviathan, making her way to the room that had held her parents. Upon entering, she found the black car with her parents inside. Once they saw her, they both began stepping out of the vehicle.
Her father eyed her warily as he closed the door.
May took a moment to catch her breath. Why had she been running anyway? It was not as if a few minutes without food and water would hurt anyone.
"Sorry." May replied. "I'm just in a hurry to get things done. I picked up the sub that nuked us, and I am taking you two there so that you don't starve to death or anything. I doubt that you will be on the Leviathan for long enough for that to become an issue, but while I'm gone I won't have any way of contacting you to make sure that you are well provided for.
"Hopefully soon I will be speaking to the Israeli government about what to do with you and my prisoners. As of right now, you are not safe in America. I have no doubt that the man you killed earlier was a part of this. If the American government wants you dead, then the best place for you is with me."
"Where is May?" Clark asked, apparently ignoring everything she had just said.
May narrowed her eyes in annoyance at him before sitting down and actually thinking through what she was going to say.
"I will not answer that question," she said slowly, "but I will tell you that she is currently being protected by an army of over twenty one thousand Zerg, this Leviathan being the largest. I don't want to put either of you in any more danger, and the best way to do that is to make sure that neither of you can be questioned on May's whereabouts. There are several nations that would rather May be dead than alive, and the fewer that know where she is, the easier it will be to keep May alive."
"So she isn't here?" Clark asked.
"She might not be here." May said evenly.
Clark took a deep breath and spoke slowly, "I want to see my daughter."
May struggled not to break her composure, looking away and pretending to think about something.
"Once we-" May stopped herself. She would have to factor her parents into her plans. She did not trust anyone else to be able to protect them.
"Alright." May sighed and considered her words. "There are two options for you. You can stay on board this Leviathan and you will be able to see you daughter sooner. You will be safe from anything that could want to do you harm, but you will have to go where this Leviathan goes. Otherwise, I can take you to Israel where there is constant war and I don't know when you would be able to see May again."
"Then we are staying." Lauren said as soon as May finished. "How long until we can see her?"
May relaxed a bit, thankful that she would not have to worry about them. "I will need to discuss some things with the Israelis, then we can leave. Until then, I think it would be more comfortable for you to stay aboard...well...I picked up a submarine. They do not know who you are, and it would be best if you kept it that way. The two of you have become very important; your daughter more so."
May considered saying more, but did not trust herself to remain stoic.
"Come with me." May said as she began walking away, the footsteps of her parents following closely behind.
"What is this thing?" Clark asked while gesturing to the walls and ceiling as they walked. "You called it a Leviathan, right?"
"It is called a Leviathan, yes. It is a living vessel that allows interstellar travel."
"Interste-" Clark muttered before being cut off.
"LIVING?!" Lauren exclaimed, "We're inside something that's alive?!"
May stopped walking and looked back at her parents. It had never crossed her mind just how weird that fact was.
"The walls are moving." Lauren announced with a faraway look in her eyes. "Honey, the walls are moving."
"It's-...There isn't-..." May tried to think of a response as her mother began whispering under her breath. "Everything the Zerg has is alive. Technology requires a form that the Zerg just don't fully comprehend."
Lauren did not seem to comprehend any of what May had said, and Clark had wrapped an arm around her in an attempt to console her.
"May isn't living in a place like this, is she?" Clark asked, briefly looking up to meet May's gaze.
"Well is she?"
May cleared her throat. "She is, but May isn't normal."
Clark flashed her an angry glare.
"I didn't mean that in a bad way. If she was normal, none of this would be here."
"I'm having a hard time," Clark said in a low voice, "not being angry with all of you...things...right now. You are the reason my daughter was kidnapped! You are the reason why I haven't heard her voice in months! You are the reason my wife and I almost died today! You are the reason someone apparently wants us dead! I would give just about everything I have just so that May COULD be normal!"
May held her breath as Clark pointedly ignored her. Lauren had stopped her muttering and begun staring at her husband instead.
Several moments of silence passed, filled only by breathing and the faint sounds of the Leviathan.
"You'll be escorted to the sub." May said between her teeth before walking away.
As she neared an opening in the tunnel, she turned to her parents. Clark met her gaze. She wanted to say something, anything at all, but she did not want them to know any of the things she wanted to say.
Instead, May continued through the opening and made her way to the front of the Leviathan. While much of the back was devoted to troop holding areas and necessary biological functions such as the hearts, food storage, the central nervous system, etc… the front was devoted to the primary brain and psionic core of the Leviathan as well as the central control room.
Upon arrival in the mostly empty space, May called out to Matilda.
"Yes, my queen?"
May almost did not even notice the title. She wondered if Matilda had been using it still and she simply had stopped noticing.
"Change of plans. Tell the Israelis that we will drop off our remaining forces, and cancel our meeting with the Prime Minister or the Knesset if that ever became a thing."
May waited for a response from Matilda, but none came.
"As soon as I arrive, I will need you to evolve into a Broodmother on board the Leviathan. I will stay behind once you finish and get to the bottom of what is going on with America, and you will leave with the Leviathan."
"What of the submarine?"
"We are going to keep the sub but not the soldiers. I will drop them off with our forces and they can become Israel's problem. Maybe I can get some Zerg to learn a thing or two about technology some day."
"Is there anything else?"
"No, I just need to think for a while."
"My queen, the Israelis do not like that we have taken over their war entirely, and they grow weary of our presence."
"If they want us gone, then they should ask."
"Is that what I should tell them?"
"Tell them that our survival is certain and that it is theirs that we are concerned about."
May sat in silence as the conversation ended about as abruptly as it had begun. In the resulting silence, she began to think about everything that had happened. Questions formed in her mind, but remained unanswered. Should she have come back to America? Should she have gotten involved with Israel? Was her dream of a Zerg nation just the silly imaginings of a little girl with no understanding of the world?
Most prominently, she wondered what mistakes had brought her to this point and whether or not she would be forced to pay for her mistakes any more than she already had. Had she become too confident in the Zerg?
Hours of asking questions did little for her, so she decided to work on preparing herself for her… "plan" to get to the bottom of things in America. Should she even try? She shook that thought from her head. She had to know why she was attacked, otherwise it would certainly happen again.
She decided to address one problem at a time, and figuring out how she would uncover why her Hive Cluster was attacked was at the top of her mental list.
A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden, but the anger of a fool is heavier than them both.
