Queen World of the Insectoid Empire

Brood Chamber of the Hive Mother

Fourth Cycle, 384.97 years, Insectoid solar calendar

June 14th, 2176 A.D.

The Hive Mother woke up, deeply disturbed by the visions that intruded on her long-needed rest period. She felt even more exhausted than she did before going dormant as she glanced around the brood chamber to ensure that the terrible thoughts did not follow her to the world of the living.

All was as it should be, and she laid her large black eyes on Bandit-Friend, who was standing in front of the only tunnel that allowed access to the chamber. Just like before, he was facing the opening, and she quickly glanced at the small bioluminescent chronometer on the far wall that marked the passage of solar hours by the death rate of the single-celled bacteria within it.

She calculated the rate of decay in her mind based upon the level of remaining fluorescence within the crystalline tube. 17.2 solar hours had passed since she went dormant.

The length of time shocked her; until now, she had never been dormant for longer than six solar hours ever since she first emerged from her pupae two hundred and fourteen cycles ago. Perhaps this is why she felt worse than before. A more disturbing thought quickly followed that one, and she felt it bring the fear of death along with it.

Is my time to go into the world of death drawing near?

She felt her ancestors within stirring with unease at her morbid thoughts, and the Hive Mother within made it known she wished to share thoughts. Reluctantly, she opened her mind, terrified of what her advisor would share.

<Daughter of ours, why do you think such thoughts? It is not your time to join us yet; the empire and your sister queens need you now more than ever. Your daughters need you now more than ever.>

<I cannot help it, Hive Mother. We do not know when our time comes, and I do not like that I do not know how much longer I have before joining you. How many cycles did you have before you went to join your ancestors, Hive Mother?>

<I was fortunate, daughter of mine. The empire was in a time of peace during my long reign as Hive Mother, and we were in the process of claiming many suns and worlds for Hives. There was sustenance for all, and my daughter queens loved each other and their Hive Mother more than they loved the power they could have seized for themselves if they chose to.

I reached 346 cycles since emerging from my pupae before it was my time to enter the world of death. My daughter queens let me expire peacefully, and I did not have to endure the pain and betrayal of seeing one of my daughters entering the brood chamber with the ceremonial dagger like many Hive Mothers before me, and after me, did.>

<And your Hive Mother? How many cycles did she have before it was her time?>

<157 cycles, my daughter. She could have lived longer, but she was cruel and made of a spirit of wrongness. She killed many drones and daughter queens without cause, and the Hives were filled with a never-ending fear that crippled us and made life dark.

I think her mind was defective, and her bad reign as Hive Mother finally ended only after I plunged the dagger in between her eyes to save what remained of my sister queens. I think she was secretly grateful that I came at last with the dagger; she did not have her soldier drones cull me, and her thoughts were grateful when she saw me. I think she knew she was made of wrongness and wanted her tormented spirit to leave the world of the living.>

<And the Hive Mother before yours? The daughter that became Hive Mother after you?>

<307 cycles. 297 cycles. The one after my daughter lived 189 cycles, but that was when the time of peace ended, and the queens and Hive Mothers became increasingly hungry to increase their own power at the expense of their Hives and daughters.>

<So, I cannot truly know how many cycles I have remaining in the world of the living. One of my still loyal sister queens could cull me a cycle from now, or one of my coming daughter queens could cull me twenty cycles from now. I do not like that I cannot truly know how many cycles I may live. How many cycles did the oldest Hive Mother live since the time of our awareness?>

<349 cycles, but that was long before we left our birth world. I remember when I reached 345 cycles, and I could feel my mind beginning to fail, though my body was still capable, if not slower and more fragile. I remember being ashamed of my failings and trying to hide my weaknesses from my daughters. I think they knew, and they took on the burden of ruling the Hives for me like good daughters who loved their Hive Mother.

It was difficult to remember things, and tasks would take far longer to do, and I would often forget why I was doing them. It became increasingly difficult to control the drones, and I found myself spending more time in the memories of my ancestors within. I think our minds are not made to go on past 350 cycles after emergence, so perhaps that is the limit of our natural lifespan, my daughter.>

<This makes me feel better, though it does not seem like enough cycles in the world of the living. I suppose I should be grateful for such a long life. Do you know that the natural lifespan of the ones who created Bandit-Friend is typically less than a hundred cycles without their clever interventions?

They have a special caste in their Hives that helps them defeat illnesses and extend their lifetimes to an average of almost a hundred and twenty cycles now, and they think they can extend that further to a hundred and fifty cycles in the time to come. I think they will someday achieve this.>

<I did not know this, my daughter. It is sad that they are cursed to live such short lifespans, though it might explain why they are so clever. Perhaps their short lifespans force them to achieve as much as possible before they go join their ancestors in the world of death.

We, who live much longer, do not feel this urgency, and so our cleverness suffers as a result. We also hoard our knowledge from our sisters, and I think this is another advantage our new animal friends have over us. They share their knowledge with each other, and though they are only a few billion compared to our trillions, they achieve much more because of this.

We who reside within you, think much on this. We think to ourselves: What cleverness of the mind they have; what gifts for making wondrous things they have. They give life and thoughts to machine animals like we give life to eggs, and they make weapons and ships that already surpass our own though we are much older than they. We think to ourselves; what will they achieve in the time to come? We think this, and we do not like the answer.

Think on it, my daughter; we copied the engines and weapons of the persecutors and the other animals, as well as other things we find useful. We did not create these things ourselves. Soon, the animals will far surpass us in power and cleverness, and we fear for the empire and our daughters in the world of the living because of this.>

<I thought this too, Hive Mother. I feared for the empire and my sisters and daughters as well, but now I do not. I see them for what they are now, because of Bandit-Friend, who fought to protect me. I see them for what they are now, because of the animals who came to fight and save me and the empire even though we had yet to make peace between us.

When that terrifying animal ship put itself in the path of the traitors to save my daughters, I did not understand why. I asked Bandit-Friend to explain why to me, and as he did so, I felt great shame for what we have done to the animals ever since we came here to take suns and Hives that were not ours to take.

We, who send millions and billions of our daughters to their deaths because we can always make more, never valued the ones who serve us. To the animals, each life is precious, but our new animal friends believe in a concept that goes beyond that.

Bandit-Friend explained the concept of sacrifice and duty that compels them to fight for others who cannot. This is why they fought us until either they were no more, or we were no more for the tree and canid animals. I asked Bandit-Friend if they would do this for us as well, even though we were enemies and killed many of them.

He told me that the animals who created him will never forget how our Guardian Fleets fought and died to save their daughters in the Forbidden Zone when the persecutors came. He told me we have already spilled ichor for each other, and that to our new animal friends, this, more than anything else, is what truly matters to them. He said because of this, we were already sisters, though we did not know this yet.>

<Yes, we felt as you did when we listened to the thoughts of the machine animal. We too, felt the same shame and grief. We believe the machine animal, but we still advise you to be wary of them. They are not of the Hives, and though we can understand each other enough to convey concepts, they are different from us, just as we are different from them.

We think to ourselves, can we truly know them if we cannot share the thoughts of our minds with them directly? How are we to know what their true motivations are if we cannot see for ourselves? Just as we think this, we know they think this of us too, as is right and proper.

Daughter of ours, it is up to you to make a new way forward for the empire, but it is also your duty to ensure that the way of the Hives remains our way if we and the animals defeat the persecutors. It is who we are, and it is who we must remain.

We know many changes must be made to ensure the survival of the empire and our species, but if the way changes too much, then are we the same as we always were, or will it be as if the animals changed us so much that we might as well have been conquered or exterminated?>

<I feel this too, Hive Mother, but I will wait to share thoughts with the animal Hive Mother before I allow myself to be swayed by such fears. The time is coming soon when I will share thoughts with her, and we will see for oursel->

She never finished her thoughts as one of the many focusers surrounding her began to vibrate and brighten, and as she looked towards it, she saw Bandit-Friend skittering towards her.

She quickly put up her claws in salutation to Bandit-Friend before gently picking up the now fully activated focuser and gazing into it, focusing all her mental energy as she reconnected to the part of her essence within it.

She could feel the mind of the command drone through the other focuser, and she opened her own mind to her daughter's thoughts. They came, filled with panic and indecision, a torrent of emotion that became her own as she tried to control the sharing.

She needed to see for herself, and she told the command drone that she was going to take her. She felt the surprise of her daughter that she would even ask even as the command drone willingly opened herself to be taken, and she went into the focuser with her essence.

She emerged in the next focuser of the relay 500 light cycles away, and she paused for a moment to take in the sight of the brilliant blue pulsar the focuser was orbiting, mesmerized by the strobing lights it was putting out as it spun hundreds of times per solar second.

She felt herself becoming enraptured by the beauty of it, and a deep despondency settled on her essence as she was reminded of her prison in the brood chamber. She would die without ever being able to see such things with her own eyes ever again, and she felt regret for not exploring the wonders of the galaxy more when she was still a queen.

I must ensure my coming daughters do not know this regret as I do. Perhaps they can go with the animals on their ships that look for such things to see and experience for themselves, and I can know such joys again through them. They will be better for it, I think, and it will encourage a better bonding with our new animal sisters.

With the heavy sadness burdening her, she took one last look at the pulsar before forcing her essence to journey to the next focuser in the relay. She saw more wondrous things at each relay, her regret growing each time until she finally reached the sixth and last one, which was being held within the claws of the command drone.

She gently entered the mind of her receptive daughter, easing her way in and caressing it with love as she tried to calm the panic and worry consuming it. She now saw out of eyes that were not hers, and she almost instinctively began to make the biomolecular changes to the pheromone sacs before she stopped herself just in time.

If she did that, she would have to cull the command drone, and she remembered what Luna had shared with her about being a command drone and love without expectations, of knowing they could die at any time because it was the way it had always been.

Instead of subsuming her daughter, she compartmentalized her mind so they would both control and see, and again she felt the surprise of the command drone who was sure she would be culled after the Hive Mother took her but still opened herself anyway, like an obedient daughter was supposed to do.

<Show me, my daughter.>

The command drone obeyed, and she felt the claws that were not her own pressing the fleshy protuberances on the control panel in front of her several times before the viewers displayed the source of their panic.

Within the icy ring that surrounded the solar system, there were thousands of ships, and many more hexads of ships were arriving every solar second. She felt fear gripping her essence as she searched her daughter's mind to understand where they were located within the empire.

A moment later, she gained access to the knowledge she was seeking. They were within the furthermost system along the border of the empire that faced the void between the legs of the galaxy, and she felt confusion as she reoriented their current position in her mind's eye.

This is not along the same axis as the Forbidden Zone, she realized as her own panic grew to match what the command drone was feeling. Most of the ships she had available were positioned along that axis because that was where they were expecting the persecutors to come from, and they were hundreds of light cycles and many solar hours away in a different part of the empire.

She needed to get control of the situation to properly assess the threat, and she made the command drone order the powered-down cruiser engaging in crypsis behind the last gas giant to go out from behind it with cold gas thrusters and focus all their antennae on the invaders.

After several solar minutes that felt like many solar hours passed, she received very confused thoughts from the command drone in the cruiser, asking her to enter her mind to see for herself what the cruiser's antennae were detecting.

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She left the command drone of the Hive ship she was on to enter the mind of the other one on the distant cruiser, and she looked at the viewer with eyes that were not her own for a long time, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

The animal ships now numbered two to the power of thirteen, and more hexads were still flashing out, but they were not the same ships of the persecutors that had come and killed her daughters of the Guardian Fleets in the Forbidden Zone.

Nor were they all the same, and the sheer abundance of ship sizes, colors, and shapes confused her greatly as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Is this an invasion of the empire by other animal swarms we have yet to come across? She wondered as the cruiser's antennae kept capturing the light of the invader swarm and displaying it on all the viewers.

Most of the ships were heavily damaged, while some of them looked like they were on the verge of collapsing at any moment. The damage was consistent with fighting damage, but was it because they were attacking others or because others were attacking them?

What is this? What do I do? She thought frantically as she tried to think of a way to confront the newest threat to her empire. I wish Bandit-Friend could have come with me; he would know what to do.

The thought of Bandit-Friend made her think of one of the first times they shared thoughts and of when she asked how the animal ships could speak to each other without sharing thoughts. He had explained to her their use of electromagnetic frequencies that could share thoughts and visuals, and he also explained the concept of first contact.

She accessed her memories for a particular and intriguing first contact method used by the animals when they first came across each other in space and how they used to use light to share mathematical formulas amongst themselves as the first basis of thought sharing before they learned how to truly share thoughts with the sounds they make.

She remembered how logical and clever it was to use math as a way of sharing thoughts and the embarrassment she felt for her ancestors never thinking of it since the whole of the universe was based on math, for both animals and the Hives. Perhaps she could do the same here.

They were obviously not the persecutors, and if she could somehow share thoughts with them, she could make them leave. She shared thoughts with the weapon drones, instructing them on how to modulate the particle beam turrets to emit light pulses before she went deep into herself to think on how to use math to share thoughts.

Mathematical formulas appeared in her mind, and she concentrated on converting them to light pulses that were easily understood. The easiest way would be to use prime numbers, she decided, followed by more complex mathematical formulas if they shared the same thoughts back to her.

She felt excitement coursing through her as she analyzed the problem facing her and realized that for the first time, they were going to try to share thoughts with new animals instead of attacking them outright like they always have since the time of their persecution.

She created the appropriate light pulses in her mind, and she used the command drone's claws to activate the particle beam turrets. Slowly, she began to pulse out prime numbers towards the animal swarm, and she waited impatiently for the light to reach them and, hopefully, for the light of their thoughts to come back.

If it didn't work or they turned out to be aggressive, she would have the two Hive ships and eight cruisers in the system go into a state of crypsis and track them as she gathered an appropriate force to confront them.

She did not have enough ships to protect the whole empire, and she realized with a deep shame that she would have to ask her new animal friends to help her again if these animal ships turned out to be another swarm of persecutors.

TOI-700 d, 101.4 light-years from Earth

Republic Hive World

The queen's antennae felt the rapid and familiar changes in the air vibrations in the tunnel leading to her chamber, and she felt excitement coursing through her. Her animal sister with the follicles of fire was coming to play with her, and she skittered over to the bench where her favorite thing to do was placed.

She picked it up with her claws and skittered back over to the center of the chamber before gently placing the board with the black and white squares on the rough-hewn rock of the ground. It had been much too long since she last played, as her duties as a queen took precedence ever since her Hive Mother left to go make peace with the animals.

She remembered that her animal sister's stinger area was soft, and she scurried back over to the bench to grab the supple fiber textiles that her animal sister would place under her abdomen. This ensured her animal sister would not be uncomfortable while they played together, as the challenging games sometimes lasted for many solar hours.

A few solar seconds later, her antennae pointed themselves towards the chamber opening as they detected a new presence, and she picked up on the unique scent of the worker drone that always accompanied her animal sister.

The drone leaned its head past the edge of the opening and peered at her with its large black eyes as its antennae tasted the air, and she sent the same thought to it as she always did whenever she saw it.

<Good drone.>

She felt the emotional response her thoughts elicited in the drone as it felt a surge of happiness and contentment from the praise it received from the queen. A moment later, her animal sister appeared in the opening, grimacing happily as she murmured at the drone before lightly tapping it on the head with one of her claws.

She felt the happiness and contentment of the drone again as it responded positively to the touch of Amanda-Friend, and she could feel the love the drone had for her animal sister within her mind, which made her very happy.

She raised her claws in salutations, and Amanda-Friend responded appropriately before stepping into the chamber and slowly skittering towards the board and the soft textile bundle the queen had already set up. She signed to her sister, sharing the same thoughts she always did.

<Thank you, sister. I am grateful you have come to play with me.>

Amanda-Friend responded with her claws, no longer requiring the holographic claw sounds to understand her thoughts after the many solar months she had been in the Hive. As she made claw signs, the queen peered intently at them, her excitement for the game making her impatient.

I am happy you have found the time for us to play chess again, Venus; we do not play as often as we used to since you have assumed more responsibility in running the Hive in your Hive Mother's absence.

If I remember correctly, you won three out of the five times we last played. I shall have to rectify that, Venus; there are some tricks I still have up my legs that I have not used yet.

The queen lightly clapped her claws together in happiness, just like the animals do, at her sister's thoughts and the insinuation of a challenge before signing to her again.

<I anticipated you will remember and make it more challenging this time. You may go first, Amanda-Friend.>

Amanda-Friend grimaced at her and sat down on the textiles before crossing her two lower legs. The drone, understanding what was about to happen, lay on the ground next to Amanda-Friend before pulling all her legs in underneath her. She quickly entered her dormant state, her mind full of happiness and contentment that the queen could easily detect.

Amanda-Friend began to place the white animal-shaped pieces in their proper places. The queen did the same with the black ones, and they began to play. After many solar minutes, she stared at the board, surprised by the unique and unusual first attacks of Amanda-Friend. Her sister was telling the truth; she did have more tricks that she had never used before.

She played the rest of the game to its logical conclusion in her mind, and she felt a mild flash of disappointment in herself as she realized she would lose the first game. Still, she will try her best, and she focused her efforts on delaying her defeat for as long as possible.

Amanda-Friend looked at her and grimaced again, and the queen instinctively knew her sister could sense her thoughts and intentions. She could see the challenge in Amanda-Friend's eyes, and she felt her own desire to challenge her sister rising in response.

She may lose, but she will fight to the end, just like the animals do when faced with adversity. After looking at her pieces, she looked back up at Amanda-Friend and made claw signs to her.

<Will you sing for me, sister?>

Amanda-Friend grimaced at the question before making claw signs back at her.

Of course, Venus. Which song would you like to hear?

The queen thought about the question for several solar seconds before deciding.

<The one that has thoughts of the fields of ichor and dancing winds of leaves, and the changing seasons and war and peace. Can you sing this one again for me, sister? It brings me to a place I feel like I have been before in my distant memories, though I have not been there before.>

Yes, my queen. The one you are asking for is the Celtic song called 'The Voice.' Do you want the holographic claw signs again so you can see the thoughts as I sing them?

<Yes. I am grateful for you, sister.>

Amanda-Friend reached up a claw and activated the small device on her thorax before she began to make sounds while she moved a piece. The queen carefully considered the move Amanda-Friend had made, the possible countermoves she could make appearing in her mind.

After some thought, she made what she thought would be the best move to delay her defeat, and she looked at the holographic claw signs that were sharing the song thoughts as Amanda-Friend sang for her.

She felt her essence drifting freely, momentarily forgetting about the game as her sister continued to make beautiful sounds that touched her deeply in her spirit. The song soon ended, and with a deep reluctance, the queen's essence returned to the chamber.

The song made her think of Bandit-Friend, and she felt the terrible void of his absence within herself. She sent out a thought to him even though he will never receive it, imagining her plea crossing the vast distances and entering his mind.

I love you, Bandit-Friend. I do not like you being away from me. Please come back to me and fill this void.

Queen World of the Insectoid Empire

Brood Chamber of the Hive Mother

Fourth Cycle, 384.99 years, Insectoid solar calendar

June 14th, 2176 A.D.

The Hive Mother returned to herself in the brood chamber, utterly exhausted by the efforts of sending her essence back and forth for several solar hours. Bandit-Friend was there just as he was before, still as stone while he waited patiently for her to adjust to the transition.

After a short time, she was ready to share thoughts with him again, and she made claw signs as she explained the terrible truth of the new animal swarm that was invading her empire.

<The animals are fleeing a terrible enemy, just as we did when we fled from the persecutors long ago. They speak of an unending enemy that eats them and takes their Hives from them without mercy. It must be the persecutors that are attacking them, Bandit-Friend; they describe the same ships as the ones in the Forbidden Zone.

They are the last of their Hives, and they are many different types of animals, though they were of the same empire. They were all joined together, many different Hives, in a long peace that lasted for hundreds of cycles, and now they are no more. They want to enter the empire and keep looking for a new Hive of safety, but there are too many of them, Bandit-Friend.

They now number three to the power of nine. They say they will not attack or take my Hives, but I do not know if this is true or falsehoods, since I cannot see their thoughts. If they are telling falsehoods to trick me and attack, we cannot stop them in time, Bandit-Friend.>

They number 19,683 ships. They must be refugees, Juno. I understand why you do not want to allow them into your empire, but we must do something to help them. I will display a star map for you; please show me where the system is.

From a small lens on his thorax, a star map of the local space appeared in the air between them, and it took several solar seconds for her to figure out the location of the border system where the animal invaders were located. She pointed to it with a single claw digit before signing to him again.

<We need your help in defeating this invasion, Bandit-Friend. Do you think your Hive Mother will send ships to help us fight them? I cannot risk moving what ships I have from the border facing the Forbidden Zone, and my inner empire defense forces are now depleted because of my traitor sister.>

Bandit-Friend looked at her with his yellow eyes for a long moment before he answered her.

Hive Mother, I thought you recently learned that not all animals are bad or trying to attack you. Do you forget this so soon after seeing for yourself how my creators came to fight for you despite us not making peace yet?

She was shocked by his insulting and disrespectful thoughts, and she felt a great anger rising inside of her as a brief vision of tearing Bandit-Friend in half entered her mind. Just as quickly as it came, it was gone, and a great shame replaced it as she breathed deeply through her spiracles to calm herself.

She signed to him again, acutely aware that Bandit-Friend was not of the Hives, and therefore not subject to the same standards of obedience and proper submission as her daughters.

<Bandit-Friend, you are right. I am also right. I cannot allow such a large and unknown animal swarm into my empire. Would your Hive Mother allow such a large and unknown animal swarm into your empire? I think not, Bandit-Friend.>

She knew she had trapped him with her logic, and she waited for him to admit that she was right while he stared back at her, his yellow eyes making the tiny side-to-side movements they always did when he was thinking deeply about something.

Yes, she would, Hive Mother.

She stared at him in shock, wondering if he was telling a falsehood as he continued signing to her.

I know you think I am telling you a falsehood, Hive Mother, but I promise you, I am not. I will explain to you why my Hive Mother would do this. She would do this because they would have information on the persecutors that we do not have. They might have special tools and weapons or advanced technology that we do not, and we would ask them to share it with us so we may better fight the enemy.

She would do this because we could add their ships to our own and increase our numbers to confront the persecutors. Look at my claws, Hive Mother. I have five fingers, all fragile and individually breakable on their own.

Bandit-Friend stopped signing and held up a claw, the five digits splayed out. With his other claw, he grabbed one of the digits and jerked on it, ripping it right off the claw and making her flinch from the unexpected violence.

He looked at her for several solar seconds before placing the digit back into its place. There was a brief surge of electricity as it melded back together, and then he closed the digits in on themselves and held up the now closed claw so she could see before he signed to her again.

Individually, the fingers are easily broken. This is how the persecutors keep winning, by ripping off a finger at a time. But if all the individual fingers join to form a fist, they cannot rip them off one by one, and the fragile fingers now become an unbreakable fist that we can use to strike back at the enemy.

You are still thinking of your empire as a single finger, all by itself, Hive Mother. My Hive Mother is thinking of closing all the fingers on themselves and making a fist. The more fingers we have, the bigger and more powerful the fist.

This is one of the reasons why she would let them in, but the most important reason why she would do this is because it would be the right thing to do. It is how alliances are made, and enduring friendships are created.

We fight better for it because we know we do not fight and die alone, but with others who will stand with us till the end. It is how wars against evil are won; not by the one, but by the many who join in common cause to defeat it.

We fought for the tree animals and the canids, and because of this, they remember what we did for them, and now they and many other animals will make an unbreakable fist with us to confront the persecutors instead of all of us individually being ripped off one by one.

Bandit-Friend stopped signing, and he stared at her, waiting for her response. She stared back at him, not really seeing him as new concepts and the wisdom of his thoughts echoed in her mind. She imagined her ships fighting the persecutors, not alone with just Bandit-Friend's creators, but with many other different animals too.

She looked down at her dominant claw and closed it, finally seeing the way of the many, joined as one unbreakable swarm. She clasped the now closed claw with her other claw, unable to pry apart one of her digits from the others no matter how much she tried, just as Bandit-Friend had told her.

She felt the Hive Mother within sending thoughts to her, and she received them gratefully.

<The machine animal is wise like a Hive Mother, daughter of ours. We see the truth of his thoughts and the undeniable wisdom of them. Perhaps you can ask for assurances by requesting that the animals send enough ships to escort the new animal swarm along the border of the empire instead of through it.

They are of the same Hives, and they will be able to discern if they are truly peaceful or not better than we can, as we cannot see their thoughts. And if they are trying to trick us, then at least our animal friends will be there to help us to end the threat.

If they are truly peaceful, then the animals can take them into their own empires if they truly think it is the right thing to do, and we will still benefit from the knowledge transfer and the addition of so many ships to the animal swarms when the persecutors finally come.>

She thanked the Hive Mother within for her wisdom and guidance, and she looked back up at Bandit-Friend for a few solar seconds before she began to sign to him again.

<Please ask your Hive Mother to send ships to our border to share thoughts with the animal swarm and determine their intentions. If they are truly peaceful, my ships will join yours, and we will escort them together along the border until they are past our territory.

For now, I will allow them to come deeper into the system since there are no Hives within it and order them to engage in crypsis while they make repairs and wait to be escorted. Is this sufficient for you, Bandit-Friend?>

Bandit-Friend grimaced at her before making claw signs.

You are wise, Hive Mother, and you are doing a rightness that will come back to you in a time when you need it the most. Thank you for this, Juno. I will share thoughts with the animal ships in orbit and explain the situation to them.

<Do that, Bandit-Friend. I hope your Hive Mother acts quickly. I am concerned about the animal swarm leaving a trail that leads directly to the empire. I will send my essence back to share thoughts with them and tell them to wait deeper in the system.>

I understand, Juno, and I will pass along your concerns. They are valid, and they will be taken seriously, I promise you that. I will share thoughts with the animal ships now.

As Bandit-Friend began to make noises into the small device that allowed him to share thoughts with the ships in orbit, she gathered her thoughts and what little energy she had remaining to go back to the border system to share thoughts with the animals.

When she was finished, she needed to eat to regain her strength, and she will have to go into a dormant state again to give her mind a rest from the exhausting efforts of the last few hours.

She suspected it would be her last chance to do so in the time to come, and she wearily stared into the focuser as she began to transfer her essence into it for the journey to the furthermost system of the empire.

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