Chapter Sixteen

Vector woke thirty six hours later, looking out into the interior of the medbay on his shuttle through shifting currents of kolto. He saw Tus and Lianna there as he raised his finger to tap on the glass.

Together they removed him from the tank and Lianna ran a scan on him to make sure he was healthy enough to be up and about then brought his clothes and helped him get dressed. Tus informed him that the queen wanted to see him as soon as he was able.

"Are you well enough to go to the queen now?" asked Lianna.

"The arm and shoulder will be stiff for a time as well as the leg, and the scar tissue burns when stretched, but if we are summoned, we must not delay," he answered as Lianna helped with the fastenings of his armor.

Vector walked to the chamber to face his queen who was no longer just his but queen to all and dropped to one knee as he extended his arm. He felt her immediate response and rose to take his place beside her while she told him what had transpired while he was healing.

The Unu queen's fate was sealed as soon as the Night Herald fell and she had come forward to present her neck to the, now reigning queen, who chewed through the fibrous chitin that connected head to body. All hives were present for this except Kolosolok and Horoh who had left the circle once the Night Herald died.

"Will they return?" asked Vector.

"In time. They are hive creatures and will feel the loss eventually. By their very nature they will be driven back to us. It is the way of the Kind.

"We also ordered all of the black membrosia givers be killed as their corruption could not be undone. All orbs were destroyed as well as the hatchlings and eggs of the brood. We must start anew, your aura will help us heal."

Vector could already feel the gravity of what had been thrust upon him. He must seek new ways for the hive to grow, new worlds to explore and negotiations to be made. He would be diplomat for the hive as well as warrior, peacekeeper as well as judge and executioner. His road would be long and difficult but he must not forget Rey'elle, his search must continue and his queen could not deny him this.

"Vector," the queen's voice broke through his thoughts. "We cannot help your empire, you must understand this. We are unknown to this enemy who threatens the core worlds and we will not risk exposure. On that the old Unu queen was correct, our ascension changes nothing."

"Your word is law," said Vector as he left her side to greet the leaders of all the hives that were still present.

He circled around to Iesei where he greeted Lianna and asked her to walk with him. He looked at the queen who nodded her head and he and Lianna left the cave behind to walk in the grass and sunshine. He was tired of the dark.

They strolled to the top of a small hillock and Vector sat down in the tall grass, closed his eyes and leaned his head back feeling the warmth of the sun on his face. He felt the gentle touch of Lianna's hand as she caressed his cheek and treasured this momentary time of quiet.

"What will you do now?" asked Lianna.

"Stand at her side until all folds back into place and the nightmare of the past few years can be left behind. She will need us for a time and then we will resume our search for Rey'elle. We are less than whole without her and as much as we have already lost to the pheromones and auras, she has never lost her importance to us. You understand this above all others."

"Will you still visit us at the Synapse Comb?"

He turned his head to look into her eyes. "Not as much as before, time will be a problem and we feel that there is not much for either of us to hang on to. The humanity wanes and will soon be eclipsed by other matters and you must also continue your search for Lan."

"Will you spend this night with us?" she asked as she lay her head against his shoulder.

"Yes," he replied.

Months he spent with the queen until they both felt it was safe for him to begin his search again but he was always bound by the distances he could travel between refueling stations and he had found nothing new in such a long time.

He returned to Gravis 5 and checked with the new queen of Oroboro to assure that the nest was growing and secure and to find out if the last spitcrete ship had arrived. It had not been seen and all assumed it had been either destroyed trying to leave Alderaan or was lost to the unforgiving expanses of space. It was a great loss to the hive but they would continue, nonetheless.

His visits to Lianna had ceased completely and at four years, seven months, during a visit to Finas Eth she told him that she would be leaving Iesei soon to follow a very promising lead in finding her husband.

Iesei would give her time but would replace her eventually if she did not return and he felt the loss to the hive but nothing personal touched his heart. He was pleased for her but all other emotions were long past his understanding.

Five years two months came and went and he forgot how to count time, the need to find Rey'elle now came from some unconscious place. He knew she was important to him, he knew he could never stop searching but the reasons had transformed from desperation and need to matters of fact, like numbers added in a ledger. The reasons did not matter, only the act was relevant.

His latest trip to Bakura gleaned some information about a place in wild space called Asylum where refugees from the war and from Arcann could find sanctuary. He paid a dear sum for the location, and when asked, the spacer had no information about the location for Zakuul but Asylum might prove to be someplace where he could find some help in his search.

The round trip calculations brought him very close to running out of fuel but he must take the chance, the subconscious drive to find her overrode any sense of self preservation so he made the jump as soon as he left Bakuran space.

He exited from hyperspace to see what looked like a giant space station in the distance and as he got closer it seemed to be a cobbled mass of several platforms welded together. The place had been bombed into ruins, the giant spire was cut in half and hanging loose by bent and broken girders. Husks of buildings stood like tombstones among the rubble, the external docking ports floated free connected only by hoses and his scans showed no signs of life.

Had he been himself he would have been broken by this but his mind, now, simply catalogued the data as one more dead end. He had come to that point of quiet acceptance that Lianna had called a blessing and a curse, and he wondered if it was better to feel the old agonies than next to nothing at all.

He could almost remember, almost grasp what he once was but it dripped through his hands like water. The closest he came was when he dreamed of her and those visions had become more elusive as time passed. He felt the peace of the hive, but there was a kind of death in that peace, a sameness that crippled the soul.

He opened himself to the song to see if it offered any new information but even the song had changed since he had lost his humanity. It was still there but somehow seemed less, more confined even dulled. He must remember to tell the queen of this revelation.

He returned to Bakura and then to Finas Eth and simply waited for the day when she would be his again. He had never learned how to live without her, so he stopped trying. He drew breath, he existed and it was enough for now. The important thing was that she was safe, locked in his song and although he had fashioned the key, he could not use it. That secret was safe as well.