When, huh? Well, as much as I didn’t like the sound of that, I liked the idea of Mack’s systems being in arach control, even less.
“When we’re done,” I told him, picking the densest clump of arach code that I could see, “you need to teach me this.”
He didn’t answer, but that was fine by me. I had a feeling he’d have only disagreed, and I was far too busy dealing with the mess I’d just run into to do that. When we got out of this? Well, when that happened, we’d be having this discussion, again.
11—Mack Meets the Queen
By the time, Askavor and I had dealt with the arach code in the central systems, Tens had arrived with the first shuttle, and I had to secure the doors to the hangar, they’d landed in.
“I’ll help Rohan,” Tens said, but Tovy laid a clawed hand on his shoulder.
“You need blood,” he said. “I have helped recover the others, but you are next.”
I saw Tens look up at the vespis, and open his mouth to protest.
“Don’t make me sting you,” Tovy said, and Tens subsided.
“Sure, Doc. Plug me in.”
Mack was already plugged in, the vespis having moved him out of my lap and onto a clear space of floor. He was sleeping, as though that was what you did when you had the chance—and it made me wonder about his past. The only folk I’d come across who slept like this were agents involved in high-tempo ops. Those guys grabbed their sleep where they could get it, but when Mack had ever been involved in those, I had no idea.
With the queen being newly docked, I figured I should check to see if her path was clear. Several of the vespis around flicked their wings and made a series of short buzzes. I frowned, trying to work out what that was all about.
“They think you’re funny,” Tovy supplied. “The queen would prefer it if enemies lined her path. She is angry.”
“Sounds like my kind of gal,” Mack murmured, and I looked over at where he lay.
His eyes were still closed, even if he was far too awake in my head.
“You’re noisy.”
Great.
“Shut up and go back to sleep,” I ordered, but Mack was having none of it.
“Get me on my feet, Doc. I’m not welcoming a royal visitor in this position.”
Tovy hesitated, and Mack started to struggle upright on his own. Several of the wasps nearest him flared their wings in alarm, and two hurried over to hold him still. Mack glared at them, and then looked around the room.
“Get your people off me,” he growled, when he found Tek standing near the door, “or I’m going to start splitting shells.”
Another two wasps wandered over, and pinned his legs.
You and whose army? I thought, but I didn’t say it out loud.
I’d forgotten I didn’t need to.
“When I get out of this,” Mack snapped, “you and I are going to spend some time on the mats.”
We were, hey? and, for some reason, the thought cheered me up, no end.
“Bring it,” I told him, lifting my chin in challenge.
Before Mack could respond, Tek came and planted a foot in the middle of Mack’s chest, pushing him down to the floor.
“I will make sure you are on your feet, when my queen arrives,” the wasp commander said, and tilted its head towards Tens. “Him, too.”
“Your word?” Mack insisted, and Tek flicked his wings, and settled them to his back.
Around him, a ripple of unsettled wings washed through the vespis warriors, and they turned their heads to regard their commander. I couldn’t be sure, but I had the distinct impression that Mack had said something particularly insulting, and they weren’t happy. I got an inkling as to what, when Tek replied.
“All my words,” he answered, and walked back to the door.
He caught Tovy’s eye as he did so, and I knew he was giving the medic his orders. I watched as Tovy flicked his wings, and then lowered his antenna, and made a note that the wing-flick probably meant irritation… sometimes… maybe…
“In this case,” Tovy admitted. “Your Mack is a most uncooperative patient.”
“I heard that.”
“If the boot fits…” Tens murmured, and Mack sighed.
“It’s a mutiny.”
“It’s in your best interest.”
Mack had no reply to that, but settled back to the floor. The wasps pinning him down slowly released him, but their bodies were tense. I figured they were ready to pounce right back onto him, if he didn’t cooperate.
He must have figured the same, because he sighed, and closed his eyes. He didn’t open them again, until we heard the clash of metal on chitin coming from outside, and the faint thud of solid rounds impacting with the walls.
When the first loud crack drifted through the vents, Mack opened his eyes, but he didn’t need to say anything, because Tovy was already moving. The vespis removed the needles from Mack’s arms, expertly staunching the bleeding, and resealing the blood bags. He also hit Mack with another shot in the arm, before helping the captain to his feet.
“Thanks, Doc,” Mack said, and my heart lurched as I thought of our Doc, the one I hadn’t seen since the arach incursion had begun—which reminded me.
I sank back into my implant, and rolled through Askavor’s link and into the ship’s comms system. This time no alien code tried to ensnare me, which was a good thing. Odyssey needed to know about this latest arach incursion; Mack had a standing contract with them.
“And you’re only thinking of this now?”
Of course, Mack had followed me through.
“I’ve been kinda busy.”
His snort was comprehensible even in the digital world.
I drafted the message, describing the arach attack on the ship, the attack on the settlement, and the suspicion that something else was afoot, which we were investigating. Mack took a copy as soon as I’d finished it, and Tens sent his own version.
“You, too?” Mack asked,
