It didn’t take them long, but I figured that was more due to practice than how simple the task was. They worked as a team, making it look easy, before flicking their wings, and landing in front of me.
Their leader clicked and chattered at me, and I heard his voice in my head.
“Our names are not easy for human tongues. You will call me Tek. Your guide is Tovy. These others are Vrav, Kek, Nik, Zarav, Vran, Keriv, and Tok. You can tell them apart by the pattern on their shells.”
I stared at him, not able to tell him that I wasn’t going to remember more than Tek, Tok and Tovy. I would try, though… I stared at the colors patterning the vespis skins. When I had more time, I was sure as shit going to try to memorize who was who.
“That is all we ask. Come,” he said, flipping an antenna at me and the waiting weaver, before leading the way between the trees and up a slight rise.
Not a big bug for words, are you? I thought, and he stopped.
Fuck.
I watched as he turned, and looked me up and down, in a way that reminded me of Mack at his most pissed off. Well, double the fuck. Maybe that commander thing wasn’t species specific.
“No. Now, follow.” He turned and moved off. “Quickly.”
Like I needed to be told, pace he was setting!
I jogged, double-time, in his wake, almost envious of the speed at which the commander, Askavor, and the other vespis moved. I tried to suppress the thought that there were advantages in having more than one pair of legs, and didn’t quite succeed. Nor did I succeed in keeping up.
I tried to up the pace, but the ground was too uneven for sprinting. That didn’t stop me from working at it, though. I watched as they moved further ahead of me, almost losing sight of them as the slope grew steeper. The thought of asking them to wait crossed my mind, but then I decided I’d be damned before I slowed down the mission… or asked for special consideration.
We were supposed to be a team, right? Well, if these goddamn bugs had worked with humans, before, they knew their limitations, and I was not going to beg. They either needed me, or not.
Which didn’t mean I wasn’t going to push myself to catch up, rough terrain, or no. Because I needed them, too.
I moved as fast as I could, trying to balance the need for speed against the need to not cripple myself by rolling an ankle. This hill couldn’t last forever, right? And they’d have to stop when they got to the top, if only to make sure the arach had left the drop-ship. Whatevs, a girl can dream.
I kept moving, only to dive for cover when a shadow passed over me. It took me a moment to register that it was smaller than a shuttle, and accompanied by a low buzzing sound. Well, that made me feel more stupid than usual. Last time I checked, spiders didn’t fly.
The vespis that responded to that was not one I’d had in my head before—and I got the impression that it was mocking me with mimicry.
“Last time I checked”, it said, “we had encountered only one species of spider-kin that could get airborne—and they flew at the mercy of the wind.”
Fuck.
“You must stop saying that, or you will attract the attention of the more adventurous of my species.”
Well, f…damned if that wasn’t embarrassing!
“An interesting alternative,” the vespis said, touching down a little behind me, “but at least it is one we are familiar with. Please start running up the hill, again.”
I wondered why it would want me to do that.
“I have been asked to help you catch up.”
By making me run in front? I thought. Some help! But I didn’t bother arguing with it, just started to run. I heard the whirr of its wings as it took off behind me, and the sound sent a shiver through me. I grabbed hold of panic as the whirr grew to a loud buzz. I knew it wasn’t hunting me—knew that for a fact.
Clung to the hope it was true.
“The queen would have me for an incubator,” only confirmed it, but the part of me that was linked to my survival instincts was having trouble believing it.
I ran, and adrenaline coursed through me when the buzzing filled the air around my head and beat against my skin. I barely suppressed a yelp of fright, when I felt it bite hard on the back of the combat jacket I’d been wearing when I’d woken up. I hadn’t been ready for that—and I was definitely still not ready to be lifted above the ground.
I suppressed another shout, and gritted my teeth. There was no way I wanted to alert the arach to our presence, something my vespis companion should have considered. A little bit of warning would have been nice!
To my surprise, the vespis didn’t respond, but carried me to a point where the trees and bushes thinned, and grass and rocks took their place. The wasp let me go as soon as my feet had touched the ground, and then settled to the ground beside me.
“Crouch,” it advised, wiping its mandibles, as though I’d left a nasty taste in its mouth. “You do not want to be silhouetted against the sky. The others are over there.”
This time, I caught the flick of antenna that gave me the direction, and looked up the hill. The other vespis were lying along the ridgeline, using the grass and clumps of rock to conceal them. I headed up to join the end of the line, only to hear Tek’s voice.
“Looks like the last arach has left the shuttle. There were around forty. We will give them thirty seconds more to get clear, and then head down. Check to make sure they didn’t leave
