The Conquering Queen

Chapter One - The Virgin Queen

The hormones hit her as soon as she leaned back into the Hexapodlian tube and filled her lungs with gummy fluid. Desire. Itching, burning, frantic desire - and death. Billie scrambled for a hand hold and wrenched herself out of the tube before she became overwhelmed. Lingering need haunted her like hunger even after she staggered onto the abdominal deck. 

"Billie? What is it? We're still off course. Why are we off course?" Lady Dappolla's sharp voice filled Billie's headset, but she couldn't speak until she'd vomitted the watery adipocytes out of her lungs. "Billie!"

"There's a queen," Billie finally croaked, "a virgin queen. Iolaus is carrying us to her. The smell is strong. She has to be close." She coughed up a few more flaccid mouthfuls of goo and felt some of the ship's desire subside. Holy hell, that was strong.

A brief silence. "Shoo says there are no colonies in this system. Or the next."

"It must be a new swarm. The queen's still virgin, after all."

Another silence. "Are they ours?"

Billie closed her eyes and tried to remember the smells and moods she'd shared with Iolaus. She wasn't keen on going back into the 'tube. The mating instinct was the most powerful desire of all in a drone, and she wasn't sure she could keep herself separate in a bond like that. "No," she breathed, remembering, "she smells too small. She's not one of ours."

"Shit," Dappolla cursed. Billie smiled, amused that Polly had held down the comm to share that bit of wisdom. "We'll let him pursue her, then. Come on back up to the Head, Billie."

Billie hesitated. "But Polly, if he mates with the queen, Iolaus will -"

"Never get too attached to your drones, Billie," Lady Dappolla Zangold told her, "They live to die. Every queen must know that."

*

The star-speckled darkness of space was refracted a thousand times through Iolaus's compound eyes, curving over their heads and cupping the Head like an alien hand. The crew lounged in luxury under the many-faceted sky: Titus sanding the blade of his great clawver, Theodogenes eating grums, sprawled, boots up, across the lush crimson divan with Lady Dappolla nearby, legs draped carelessly over the arms of her command chair, nudging Theo's thick forarms in a bored way with her toe. The motion only seemed to amuse the big man, whose wicked smile grew with each prod from his queen.

Billie clambered up the thorax into the Head filled with anxiety. The idea of letting Iolaus sacrifice himself to some unknown queen hurt her. They'd been bonded for a long time now - probably too long, she knew. She was really very fond of the big drone, and had hoped, secretly, that he would live long and see many more battles. He'd grown big, even for a Pythian drone, and could best nine out of ten challengers in sparring matches - to say nothing of the legions of little Mycenean drones he had demolished over the years. He was a good ship. One of the best in the swarm.

 "Shoo," she address the whirring silver ball flitting about over Polly's head, "have you calculated our trajectory yet?" 

The little 'bot zipped so close to her face that Billie could feel the tickle of her gossamer wings on her forehead. "Yes!" she declared in her chipper child's voice.

"Shoo," Billie reiterated, "tell me where we are headed." The 'bot started reciting numbers to her, each elocuted emphatically. "Shoo, Shoo, wait, I meant-" Billie tried to cut the 'bot off.

"Don't bother," Theo called lazily. "She has no idea. There are no planets between us and the unknown horizon. Iolaus is headed into the emptiness of space, apparently."

"What?" Billie was puzzled. "Why would a swarm form there?"

"I don't know!" Shoo offered enthusiastically. Billie scowled and waved the little 'bot away.