Chapter Ten
"There has not been a Night Herald for millennia," stated Vector.
"Have you come to question our decisions?" asked the queen.
"Not at all, we were just wondering why now?"
"We are reaching a point where the hives must expand their territories. The Dawn Heralds seek the unknown, open the doors and the Night Herald gives visions of the impossible, he shows us the way. He offers no succor or retreat to our enemies and defends this throne with a fierceness not seen in hundreds of years. He is necessary as Night Herald to all the Kind and has accepted this burden, he will be the enforcer of our will, his presence will determine all matters of conquest and battle.
"It is our understanding that you declined the position of Dawn Herald to all nests, we ask why."
"We had other priorities at the time and those priorities are still in our thoughts. We seek one who was lost to us and have pledged that we will not stop until she is found."
Vector noted the Night Herald's mouth curl into a sneer at his words but patiently waited for the queen's response.
"We could take that as an affront, but will hold our judgement for the time being since you are now present on behalf of the mother nest. We will send scouts to search for a suitable planet for the relocation of Oroboro, there are several prospects and all should return in three days time with their findings.
"Take this time now to meet with the others who dwell here, share thoughts and membrosia, we will partake of the Star Dance tonight. It has been many cycles since all hives were present."
Vector inclined his head to the queen one more time before he turned to look around the chamber at the various killiks and joiners present. One female joiner caught his eye as she motioned for him to approach. He walked over to her and they exchanged the usual greeting.
"We are Lianna of the Iesei nest, we believe you knew Diazanna? We are the new Dawn Herald, and you are Vector of Oroboro?"
"Yes, we are. We felt the loss of Diazanna most deeply as it was at a summit of our design where she lost her life."
"Iesei was not pleased by that outcome. We are here as her replacement and they were loathe to send us at all. Go meet the others, Vector, but we need to speak alone soon. We have a warning for you that cannot be discussed here."
Vector wandered around the room, greeting the different hives, some he had met before, some he had never seen. He recalled the Aebea who taught him how to separate from the hive mind for a short time which brought back the memory of the day he had shown Rey'elle his human eyes. Even here in this place, his life with her haunted him. No matter where he traveled, a reminder always lay in wait.
He moved on to the joiner who was Dawn Herald of the Kolosolok hive, whose killiks were too large to enter the chamber. They often measured one hundred fifty feet in length by thirty feet in height. They were the warrior hive who had little tolerance for species outside the nest and he recalled how, during attempts to get an alliance between the Killiks and the empire, the Kolosolok voiced their opinion that the empire should be eliminated completely. They were the battering rams of the battlefield and their thoughts and demeanor mirrored their disposition.
He met with Manam and Horoh who he also remembered having reservations about the alliance but had finally joined with the prodding of Saras, the artistic hive, who was eager for trade. Saras were weavers and makers of extraordinary cloth woven from cocoon silk and articles created from hardened wax and metals. They were also wonderful artisans of jewelry and he recalled the popularity of their silks and goods in Kaas City.
From the corner of his eye, one joiner caught his attention. It seemed as if his clothing continually shifted on his body, forming waves and swirls and rivulets of movement. When Vector got close he realized that the joiner was covered with many of the Jooj nest, tiny Killiks less than an inch in length. He had heard tales that they moved in great swarms when provoked and could strip the flesh or drain the blood of any creature in a matter of minutes. Tiny, yes, but not to be underestimated.
On and on around the room he went, greeting Killiks as small as his fist to some over fifteen feet tall and all the while he could feel the weight of the Night Herald's eyes on him, following his every movement.
He finally circled back around to Lianna who asked that he follow her outside to walk awhile. She guaranteed that Unu had cleared any and all dangerous wildlife from the area and that they were safe. Vector was grateful to be away from the almost overpowering pheromones and dreaded the Star Dance when the concentration would be even more dense, but he dared not be absent.
As they walked down the path together, Lianna said in a low voice, "do not look back. He is there watching us from the entrance. Let us walk a bit further before we begin our conversation."
They walked out into the knee high sedge that moved like waves in a restless sea. It whispered secrets of the land and Vector found comfort in the sound. A little further out was a small copse of trees where they stopped beneath the shade to discuss whatever she had hinted at.
Vector leaned his back against one of the trees and watched Lianna pace back and forth in front of him.
"Sorry," she said. "We have always had a difficult time standing still. We want to warn you about the Night Herald. For some reason, that we cannot understand, he holds an intense animosity toward you. Whether this is a result of his conditioning or not we cannot answer, however, we caution you to be wary when in his presence. Give him no reason to act against you for he is a formidable warrior and he shows signs of force sensitivity, a dangerous and deadly combination."
Vector's eyes widened. "Unu has absorbed this knowledge? This will affect the nest for generations to come. What is the reasoning?"
"We do not know, but a few of the hives grow uncharacteristically greedy for new territory and conquest, it may bear watching in the millennia to come. If enough evil seeds are sown, surely something must grow."
"Have they begun breeding force sensitives yet?"
"Not that Iesei has detected, but the new brood will not hatch for a few weeks yet and we cannot guess what the future may hold. The queen is ruthless in her own right, Vector, and we feel that she has eyes on expanding territory. She is hoping that the Night Herald will unite the hives under her vision, if it is her vision at all. But, she knows that her control is still too weak to take us to war, and war it will be if she continues this expansionist view. Things have been worse since they absorbed the Night Herald, their disposition has changed, but that is the way of things in the hive.
"The queen rules the Colony with an iron claw so it is good, at this time, that only representatives of the hives live here. The hives, themselves remain scattered, ruled by their own queens so her plans could take millennia to come to fruition. Most of the hives prefer to remain peaceful and apart from concerns of the greater universe. Kolosolok and Horoh require watching and Manam is not far behind, but again, it will take a very long time for such sweeping changes.
"The Night Herald is young and strong and may sway a few, but not all, no matter the queen's desires, but, even should he die, they have already absorbed all that he was and the prospect is troubling. The Night Herald can bring naught but chaos and death. And, Vector, take care when dealing with the queen, do not push a subject past her tolerance."
"We will take your warning seriously and tread lightly, you give us much to consider. If we may ask, where did you hail from before the joining?"
"We were part of the Imperial Reclamation Service, we even attended classes with Talos Drellik under Professor Auselio Gann for a time. Last we heard, Drellik was still with Darth Nox assisting with her Sphere of Ancient Knowledge. He was quite talented in his field."
"We thought we recognized the accent as Dromund Kaas," Vector observed.
"Yes, Dromund Kaas was our home and where we attended academy. We were on Tatooine when our group was attacked by sand people, all were killed and we were left for dead. The Iesei found us and nursed us back to health but the pheromones had already taken effect and then the hive decided to make us the replacement for Diazanna. There is not much to tell beyond that. What of you, Vector?"
"Our father was a Captain in the Imperial Military and married our mother when the planet Jurio came under Imperial jurisdiction. That is where we were born. It seems we had a penchant for more diplomatic endeavors and so became part of the Diplomatic Service until we were sent to Alderaan to open negotiations with this new species known as Killiks. Why the Killiks joined us is still a mystery as most hives do not openly recruit, perhaps they saw some worth in our abilities and then, of course, we became Dawn Herald.
"However, it was some time later that a friend revealed the suspicion that we were intentionally sent to the killiks to be exposed so that the science division could witness the joining process. A distasteful prospect but one that we can believe."
"The empire would do such a thing?" asked Lianna.
"That and much more," Vector replied as he thought back to the Castellan Restraint used on Rey'elle as a means of mind control, his face displayed a look of dismay at the memory.
Lianna eyed him closely. "And what of this woman mentioned to the queen? The one you seek."
"She is a matter best kept personal. And you, was there no one?"
"As you say, a matter best kept personal."
Lianna raised her eyes to the sky. "We had best return, the dance will start soon, and the queen can be quite intolerant. Did you know that they are producing black membrosia here? We advise extreme caution should it be offered."
"Black membrosia, outlawed in the core worlds ages ago, why would Unu be making it now? Has the Night Herald's influence run so deep? Many things beg for answers here, but that is not our mission. Let us return to the meeting and see what transpires."
Membrosia was being passed around when they returned to the cave, regular raw membrosia that he could adjust to as long as he sipped slowly. Each hive had a Dawn Herald and one or two additional joiners as well. He was the only one without a hive present, except the fingerlings in the ship, so he stayed as close to Iesei as possible without intruding upon them.
The chamber became quiet and the queen began to click her mandibles in a rhythmic beat, which signaled the beginning of the dance. Soon others joined, adding to the tempo while the joiners added a sonorous hum as the killiks began to slap against their chest armor plates with their arms, alternating with a foot stomp and a step forward.
Vector followed along; alternating between step, stomp, slap, step as the procession moved around the room. Different groups started to weave in and out of the center of the chamber, brushing forearms as they passed, their bodies performing an intricate pattern of steps. The smallest rode their joiners like beasts of burden, the tallest bent, bobbed and spun and only the precision of the dance prevented collision or injury.
The Star Dance was old, dating back thousands of years and thousands of generations and the Kind remembered the intricacies and intent. The dance was communication in a language that spoke from the genetic core, a story given form. Each movement, each pattern, told the tale of beginnings, belonging, wars and peace, new discoveries, unseen horizons and instilled a sense of restiveness in all who participated.
The pheromone release was cloying, overpowering and Vector began to get lost in its effects. Nothing else existed except the dance and the hive, nothing else mattered except that he was one with the nest. He could feel the fingerlings in the ship reaching out and sharing in the dance, using him as proxy, trilling inside his head.
The cave floor trembled as the giant Killiks of the Kolosolok hive joined in from the plains outside, sending tremors through earth and stone. They danced on and on until Vector was slick with sweat beneath his armor and his hair hung in wet clumps against his face.
Many of the joiners had already withdrawn from exhaustion but Vector still felt only the restlessness and exhilaration and somewhere deep in his mind he knew that it was something more than the pheromones that drove him.
Subconsciously, his frustration and desire prodded him well past what he should have been able to endure but he could not conjure her face, he could not reach that place where she dwelled, he succumbed completely to the drive to keep moving.
His legs burned and his head felt ready to split, and when he took a second to glance about, only he, the killiks and the Night Herald were still on their feet. Whenever he and the Night Herald met in the middle, they pushed the other off balance with a violent shove and this continued until neither one could move another step. Both stood, on trembling legs, at opposite sides of the floor, bent over with side stitches, laboring to breathe and glaring at each other.
The dance had been known to drive joiners into a murderous frenzy, but both were too far gone to act. The beat began to slow and dwindle and Vector backed away to where Lianna sat, her back against the wall and her eyes closed. He struggled to sit beside her as his muscles would no longer obey and his knees could no longer bend. He half slid, half dropped down the wall and drifted into sleep, he inhaled clouds of pheromones and did not dream.