A Bug's Life (4 page)

“I can just see the Birthing Sac,” Tresia
said. “It seems quite…exposed. DeeDee, you must accept that there
may indeed be no survivors.”

“I know.”

“Logically, yes. Emotionally, you
see the Pillar as being like you, like the Seraphin. And so you are
far more emotionally upset than if this were, say, a Polliship. And
you
want
to find
survivors. I understand the desire.”

“No. The Pillar are nothing like the Seraphin.
As much as I despise the Diamante Families for destroying my
people, I can understand why they felt we were a threat. Roy and
Kyle? They represent the return to the old ways and destruction of
the Diamante Families’ rule. I can look at everyone on this ship
and explain why our people were destroyed, curtailed, or
controlled. But the Pillar? They are a threat to no one. They’re a
defenseless race that have been persecuted by the Diamante Families
for no reason.”

“There is always a reason.”

“Is there? I could even understand
it if the Diamante Families wanted their generational ships. But
they don’t. They did their best to turn this Colony into dust. And
why? Viciousness is the only reason I can come up with. And refuse
– I just
refuse
–
to allow them to destroy the Pillar like they destroyed my
people.”

“Looks like the doctor’s gotten your target
moved away from the majority of the debris and we’ll be in position
shortly,” Roy said over the intercom. “DeeDee, I know without
asking that you’re in there with Tresia. And I also know without
asking that you’re in her form. I’ll save us the energy and not get
into the fight we should be having about this. But are you sure
it’s wise to go out as an Arachnidan?”

“The body’s the thing, Roy, and a stronger
body with many more limbs is the thing for this mission. It’s good
to know you were eavesdropping. And don’t worry, we’ll be
fine.”

“Oh, of course I’m not going to worry. Ha ha
ha. I just have a quarter of my crew about to risk themselves in
the midst of destruction that almost took out my ship. Absolutely
nothing to worry about in this scenario. And of course I was
listening. It’s my ship, you’re my crew, and I don’t want you doing
something reckless out of anger. You’re hiding it well, at least
you think you are, but I could feel the righteous rage when I was
next to you and I can hear it in your voice. Though racing off
recklessly is exactly what you’re doing.”

“We are in position,” Doven said. “Airlock
will be opening in ten seconds.”

“You two can still change your minds,” Roy
said, as Doven counted down.

Bit back the first several things I wanted to
say to this. Willy being unsupportive was one thing. But Roy being
hesitant to try to save survivors wasn’t sitting well with me at
all. “Thanks for the offer. We’ll scream if we need you.” Tresia
and I held on tightly to the bars that were on the sides and top of
the doorway.

“Tresia, be safe. DeeDee, I love
you.”

“Doors opening,” Doven said calmly. “Fly
straight and true.” This was a Quillian blessing, always given when
someone was attempting something very dangerous. Nice to get two
votes of confidence from the cockpit.

The gravity drive turned off in the
airlock, the chamber decompressed, and the door opened. There was
the usual pull trying to drag us through the doorway, but we held
on as the feeling of weightlessness hit and we began to float. Then
Tresia moved slowly through the doorway, still holding onto the
bars. She grasped the metal ladder attached to the outside of
the
Hummingbird
,
and clambered out. I waited for a few seconds, then followed her
out in the same way.

We climbed the ladder until we reached the
strong metal ring where we attached our lifelines. Tested each
clip’s hold more than once. We were secure.

Dr. Wufren had done a good job – we were much
farther from the main wreckage point than we had been, and there
was little floating around the remains of the Birthing
Sac.

“I will go first,” Tresia said, her voice
sounding funny through the helmet’s radio system. “You remain here
until I have made contact – if I aim incorrectly or have issues, it
will be easier for you to pull me back.”

“Roger that.” We still used Old Earth lingo
for certain things. Willy’s influence.

I took hold of Tresia’s lifeline. She aimed
herself and shoved off. I let the lifeline play out, ready to stop
it and pull her back if necessary. After a few long seconds, she
reached the edge of the damaged Birthing Sac and grabbed on. “I am
secure. Searching for signs of life now.”

She crawled over what she could of the remains
of the ship, humming softly. “I need more line, to continue to
search,” she said finally.

“Debris is still coming towards you,” Roy’s
voice crackled in our helmets. “Search quickly or come
back.”

“I can extend using my line,” I
suggested.

“No, that’s too dangerous right now,” Roy
said, voice tight. “Both of you get back in here.”

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped
and shrieked. The being who’d tapped me grabbed a limb and pulled
me back to the ship. “Sorry, DeeDee,” Dr. Wufren said. “Thought I
could do more out here with the two of you.”

“I’m happy I had a tight grasp,” Tresia said.
“DeeDee’s scream almost caused me to lose my hold.”

“Why is my ship’s doctor also
outside of my ship?” Roy asked. “Actually, answer this first – how
did my ship’s doctor
get
out of my ship?”

“DeeDee and Tresia needed help, bro,” Kyle
said. “And we figured you’d yell if I was the one to go out to help
them.”

“Fantastic. Did you all decide we’re a
democracy all of a sudden?”

I could see part of Dr. Wufren’s face through
his helmet, and I was pretty sure his watery blue eyes were
twinkling. Apparently Tresia wasn’t the only one who wasn’t seeing
enough action. “No, my boy. I just believe that I can assist more
effectively from here.” He connected his lifeline to the same metal
ring as Tresia’s and mine. “Tresia, my dear, hold on, please. Roy,
I’m going to try to bring the wreckage closer to us. If you could
oblige…”

“The three of you are insane. I just want to
point this out. Fine. I’m going to move forward, Fren, at the
slowest propulsion we have, short bursts only. That’s still going
to seem fast for the three of you. I want everyone holding on and
screaming if you come loose.”

“I’m ready,” Dr. Wufren said. Tresia and I
chimed in with our preparedness.

The
Hummingbird
moved. It felt very
different being outside of the ship and the gravity generators, but
not as bad as I’d been expecting. I could tell that we were lining
up more closely with the wreckage in part because Tresia’s lifeline
had more slack in it than before.

She moved over parts of the wreckage she
hadn’t been able to reach prior, as Dr. Wufren sagged. “You need to
go back in,” I told him.

“Wait!” Tresia called. “I think I’ve found
something!”

“Grab whoever or whatever quickly,” Roy said,
sounding tenser than he had yet. “Ciarissa’s feeling minds. Minds
that don’t like us.”

I didn’t hesitate. I shoved off, aiming for
where Tresia was. I’d pushed off much harder than she had, and I
reached her quickly. I spun while I floated so that I hit the
wreckage feet first. My impact caused the wreckage to float farther
from the ship, and I heard Roy muttering through the
radio.

We stopped moving, meaning Dr. Wufren had
probably done something.

“There,” Tresia pointed towards the middle.
The hole was large enough for us to climb into, so we
did.

The interior looked like I’d heard honeycombs
described – a series of small, interconnected chambers.
Unfortunately, most of those chambers were destroyed. But not
all.

There was a section of this Birthing Sac that
was still intact. A dozen of the sections sat there, seemingly
fine. And each one held what looked like a silver ball about the
size of a dinner plate in diameter.

“We have a dozen young, and I think they’re
all alive,” I said.

“I have no idea how we remove them safely,”
Tresia shared. “Do you?”

“No clue at all. Roy, any guesses from anyone
else?”

“No, but we have to get out of here.” Roy
sighed. “And, I have to say this now – if we take them on board, we
can’t go to warp. Meaning that the enemies coming are going to be
able to overtake us without issue.”

“They’re protected by something in here – they
survived the attack. I think they could handle a short warp jump if
we can get them out of the wreckage safely.”

“And if they can’t?” Roy asked. “Then we
killed them, as much as the Diamante Families did.”

“
I believe I may have the solution
thanks to Kyle and Willy,” Dr. Wufren said as he climbed into the
area we were, a laser cutter in his hands. “If we can cut around
the intact chambers, we’ll have a smaller and much more manageable
portion to work with.”

I took the laser cutter from him and started
slicing carefully while Willy gave me some tips to avoid cutting
through something important, or our suits and tethers, and Roy
muttered about a crew who all acted like independent entities
instead of functioning like a team.

I chose not to point out that we were actually
functioning like a great team, in part because I knew he knew that
already, and in other part because I wasn’t out here to banter – I
was out here to save the remnants of a sentient race.

“Faster would be better,” Roy shared after I’d
been cutting and he’d been muttering for about five
minutes.

“Working on it. The extra pressure isn’t
helping, in case you weren’t sure.”

“The Diamante ship will be upon us within ten
galactic minutes,” Ciarissa said serenely.

“DeeDee, I’m ordering you and the others back
to the ship.”

“And I’m insubordinate, because I’m not
leaving these Pillar here. Period. You can detach my line from the
ship and I’ll stay here. Come back for me when you can. But they
either come with us or I stay with them.”