The War Apiary

Chapter 15 Mellifera (Fleeing Paris)

From within their trucks that sat on a flat decked carriage of the train that accelerated across the plains of Goal towards the north, Mellifera and her follow scientists watch as the city of Paris's top tier crumpled onto the second tier as a giant blue ball of plasma bloomed like a huge round mushroom ball.

"Zinc oxide explosion?" One young scientist speculated, but they all knew that what was unfolding on the skyline was of no fireworks. The big blue plasmasphere held many of the depictions that were found in texts from the Rust Wars of the Erebus Bomb.

"That's no Zinc oxide, Laddie," One of the older scientists said from the back seats of the truck. "That there is Death incarnate. Some called it 'Esso's Ghost', but it would be correct to call it by its real name. Erebus Bomb." 

Everyone seemed to hold their breaths at the name. The blue sphere exploded into a gargantuan red ball of gas, before visibly being swept away in the wind currents that Paris top tiers were known for.

"I hope Dr. Jones had the sense to get done what he needed before..." Hue whispered to Mellifera from the passenger seat of the truck. She nodded but said nothing, her thoughts wandered. What had the reason been for Arkin Jones to run off into the city with no apparent reason? Did it have anything to do with what just unfolded over Paris?

"I fear that this is only the beginning of things." She whispered back. The train carried their flat decked carriage around a bend in the tracks around the edge of a mound in the flat plain and the view of Paris was lost behind it.

"What makes you think that?"

Mellifera turned the cockpit light on before leaning over Hue and withdrew a book from the glove compartment. The book was an 'Encyclopedia of Modern History' that all QC transport was issued to carry with them at all times. "History has tendencies to repeat." She opened the three-inch book and flipped through the pages before settling on a page and handed it to Hue.

He looked down before raising an eyebrow. "The Chinese empire?"

"Yes," Mellifera replied, "before the collapse of the Antediluvial Ones, there had been events leading up to their demise." Mellifera turned her attention to the rest of the scientists in the back of the truck. "Where we are heading holds many secrets to the past," she said, "we might even find the answer to why things are the way they are. Settle the debt that Mankind has with History." Their glum faces nodded in agreement.

"It says here," Hue readout, "that the Chinese Empire fell due to attacks coming from within its highest ranks. The man responsible for the attacks supposedly oversaw the Erebus Project." He looked up from the book at Mellifera. "Do you think the attack on Paris is just an inside attack?"

She shrugged, "Maybe, it is a common power play by rulers to get the interests of the people in line with their own to achieve a desired outcome."

"You'll have to be careful, Dr. Mellifera, you could be tried for treason with the things that you are suggesting." An older scientist said sternly.

Mellifera furrowed her brow at the accusations before turning back to Hue. "What else does the encyclopedia say about the Erebus Project?"

Hue looked back down at the book on his lap and scanned the page before turning a leaf and taking a couple of minutes to read through the information. "From historical evidence, we can assume that the man who worked with the team to produce the bomb had also been the man to come up with the first known Cure for the Epidemic that was ravaging the bee population and throwing the worlds food resources into the shadow of insecurity. Records from this time are few and far between as most data at the time were secured on a medium still lost today. The only remaining information gleaned from this period of History is from handwritten diaries and the few newspapers that still published in paper form. These sources suggest that the man that legend calls Erebus could be called Hiroshi Nagasaki from an island nation of Japan. Not much is known about this man, except for his fits of mad enthusiasm for cloning." Hue flipped another leaf in the book. "Essos, who the Disciples of X refer to as 'Entity of Human Transcendence', accused Hiroshi Nagasaki of high treason and he was incarcerated in ice to remain in suspended animation for the rest of time."  Hue looked up at Mellifera. "I didn't know that a book like this existed." Hue said looking down at the open book on his lap. "When did they start allocating these?" He asked.

"I think they have been doing so since that expedition three years ago that travelled south of the equator to Madagascar, so quite a new member of all expeditions."

"It had been the newspapers for at least five weeks after the Queens Council released the explosive news of that expedition." One of the scientists in the back spoke up. "One of my friends had been on that team that travelled to Madagascar."

"They should have known better than ask to go down there." Another scientist said. "The south still is very radio reactive. Those who think they know better and go walking off down there deserve such an outcome."

"You know nothing, show some respect for the dead. My friend didn't deserve the fate he got." The first one replied angrily.

"Enough," Mellifera said firmly, her voice cold and hard and resemble that of her fathers which shocked her, but she held her composer. All eight scientists froze and turned their attention to her. She felt Hue next to her tense. "After what we witnessed this evening, I understand how stressed most of us are, but we don't need to convert to bickering amongst ourselves like the Antediluvial Ones." She said in more of a softer tone and she could see them relax. "We will focus on what we were sent out to do and achieve it."

Everyone seemed to nod in silent agreement.

Mellifera gave a slow sigh and gave Hue a small nervous smile to which he nodded to her.

The train swiftly moved them northwards in to the falling twilight. In the morning she hopped to catch up with Arkin Jones and mybe get some sensible infomation out of him about her mother and what happened over in Paris.