Of Hunt and Change : 4

THE QUEEN  

It has been a few weeks since I took Sarah to the hive and a few days since her rebirth. The Empress has asked us – me, Sarah, and several other drones – to accompany the newly evolved queen in securing a new hive location at the town near Sarah’s old house. Several hunt groups have been dispatched to the area to find a cave in the mountain to start a hive. Tunnels have been dug to form a cave network that would let xenomorphs enter the town unnoticed.  

And that’s where we are, running alongside the new queen through the woods to the cave location.  

We drones have to go slower than usual, as the queen isn’t built for speed but for authority and power. We have been running in quiet for a while when, to all our surprises, the queen break the silence.  

‘So, my drones, what were you before your change?’  

‘I apologize, my queen?’ a drone ask in confusion, ‘I do not quite understand the question.’  

‘Who were you as humans? Your names, your professions?’  

Mentally I blink, feeling a bit unsure how to answer the question that has never been heard from a queen before, ‘Erm…people usually called me Nargus, my queen. And I was a programmer.’ I bow slightly towards her.  

‘And you, drone?’ She turn towards another drone near her.  

‘I’ve dropped my human name, my queen, it sounded wrong to me as a xenomorph.’ The drone reply, ‘Right now I’m called Riik, my queen. I was a writer.’  

‘Ahh…’ the queen breath, her warmth touching us all slightly, ‘I know your questions, drones, I could have got all these information right from your mind. But I’m not as good as mother-Empress in leadership. This is all so new to me as it is to you, and I wasn’t a commander like the other queen. It would be good if my immediate guards know more of me than the average drones.’  

‘Um…I apologize, my queen, but does that mean you were a human as well?’ Sarah ask, nearly whispering in thought-voice for fear of angering her. The queen wave her fear aside with a warming touch in her mind.  

‘Don’t worry, Sarah, you may ask. And yes I was. In fact, the only non-human xenomorph in the hive were the Empress herself and one of her Praetorian.’ The queen pause, ‘It’s funny, eh? The humans try to kill us, not knowing that they are actually killing their own brethren – though difference in body, still mostly the same in mind…’  

‘Er…my queen?’ Sarah start.  

‘Yes, Sarah, you may ask that question as well.’ The queen say before Sarah has a chance to speak any further, ‘I was only a 15 years old boy when the I run into the mother-Empress in hiding, and quickly became her third Praetorian…’  

And my mind went blank…the queen has just said she was a boy??? I reach to Sarah and the other drones. And they were in as much disbelief as me.  

‘Yes you heard it right, drones. I was a boy. So excuse me if I’ve got this peculiar behavior for a proper queen. Cocooning process minds no gender nor age of your former self, and any one Praetorian has equal chance to be evolved into a queen.’ She say, and reach out to us, her mind’s embraces us some more, ‘But don’t worry, my drones, I’ve got as much instincts and knowledge as other queens. And I’m quite a strategist, or so mother-Empress told me…you might say all the time I had wasted in those games have finally paid off.’  

‘This queen does certainly talk a lot…’ I think in my mind, momentary forgetting the queen’s ability. And she send a shiver down my spine.  

‘I know what you are thinking, drone.’ She whisper to me, ‘I might have got a boy’s personality, but I’m still a queen.’ And her warmth suddenly encompass me, my legs nearly fell weak from the overwhelming pleasure before she withdraw. ‘I would make you my mate. But that would make your Sarah jealous, no matter how much she like me or want follow my words. You two would do nicely as my new royal guards, when the time is right.’  

And she wink at me, mentally. I blush involuntary as the queen withdraw from my mind. I bow to her in apology while I feel Sarah’s mental eyes upon me.

* * *  

The rest of the way goes uneventful after that. Though I could tell a few other drones have been whispering with the queen and among themselves. Sarah touches my mind once, and I let her in. She seem satisfied at that and withdraw, focusing her senses in the surrounding as we now approaching the designated hive area.  

It is a simple cave, or so it look from the outside. The entrance is covered with brushes and trees and is just big enough for a queen to crawl in.  

We are crawling in a low tunnel for a while until we suddenly found ourselves in a large chamber, with walls covered in hive resin. It’s not as beautifully done or as complex as the first hive, but good enough for me to easily climb on and be hidden in the wall. The queen chamber, I presume. Although it must be temporary, since this location is not very secured for a well-established hive. There are three other entrances to this chamber.  

We all turn as a Praetorian enter the chamber from the opposite entrance and stood before the queen. The Praetorian give us a mental map of the hive as we withdraw from the chamber. As the new queen has only one personal Praetorian guard, we decide to keep watch on the surrounding tunnels to secure the hive ground.  

A long moment has passed when loud hisses are heard from the queen chamber. I immediately reach out to the queen to ensure her safety, but is almost fell from the ceiling at wave of emotions that flooded back to me…the pleasures, the warmth, the feeling are all so overwhelming I almost lost myself within. It take me a few moment to regain myself and turn to Sarah. It is seem she got that feeling as well. I want to head back into the queen chamber to check on her well-being. But Sarah stop me. And with a touch from her mind, I realize.  

The young queen will start laying eggs in the next couple of hours. And we are to capture humans for her.