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The Ant Gods |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BOOK 1: THE BOOK OF THE OLD WORLD
Chapter 1. Talk of Gods
Chapter 2. Beginnings.
Chapter 3. The City.
Chapter 4. Signs of the Gods.
Chapter 5. The Survivor.
Chapter 6. The Astronomer.
Chapter 7. Seeds of Revolution.
Chapter 8. The Commander.
Chapter 9. The Royal Family.
Chapter 10. Love.
Chapter 11. Chaos!
Chapter 12. The House of Gods.
BOOK 2: THE BOOK OF THE NEW WORLD
Chapter 1. Colonists.
Chapter 2. The Commandments.
Chapter 3. Ecstasy and Fear.
Chapter 4. Contacts.
Chapter 5. War.
Chapter 6. A Time of Peace and Plenty.
Chapter 7. The Prophet.
Chapter 8. A Find for Algreth.
Chapter 9. The Beyond.
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Chapter 1. Talk of Gods
David Halkin waited for the vicar, his friend, to bring in their mugs of coffee. He felt somehow empty and disappointed, not
at all his usual self.
His eyes ran over the neatly stacked volumes of ecclesiastical works on the bookshelves but without taking in what he
saw. In any case, he had been in this room many times before and was familiar with its contents and the sombre, Dickensian feel of it. This, however, would probably be the last visit he would make. He drew in the musty, booky smell, savouring it with nostalgic pleasure.
The Reverend Richard Bassett came in and sat down, placing a tray on the low table before him. As he stirred in his own sugar he looked up at Halkin.
"You seem a little unsettled tonight, Dave. Problems?"
The other man sat down too, stretching his long legs out and reaching for his coffee. He pursed his lips and frowned. He did not reply immediately and the silence hung like a small balloon waiting to be pricked.
They were both young men but that was about all they had in common. David Halkin was an agnostic yet with some strongly held beliefs of his own about the nature of things. He had an inner strength that
showed in his tight-muscled face. Now, he shook his head sadly.
"I'm leaving, Richard. Bound for pastures
or, rather, blackboards
new. I've got a post in a small, village school."
He paused to sip his coffee and to let the news sink in.
The vicar's eyebrows rose.
"I didn't think they had blackboards these days
No! Seriously; I shall miss our little chats and that cheeky grin of yours when you think you've won a point. Yes. I shall miss having you about. But, I know you wanted to get out of the city so, presumably this is what you want? Where are you going to?"
"It's a small village near Leicester. Yes! I think I shall enjoy living in the country. The concrete jungle isn't for me, I'm afraid. Not any more. The kids are getting too street-wise." A quick sip, his eyes staring moodily over the mug. "I'm having a bungalow built there."
The Reverend Bassett set his round face in a philosophical grimace. "I have been tempted to do something similar myself many times but it isn't so easy for me. Not so easy having to lean on the Bishop. He usually leans on me. Many country
parish priests would not envy my job here in the city but this is where I am most needed. Maybe when I'm older I'll opt for the easier life and join you, I don't know. If we met up we could pick up where we left off. Perhaps our outlooks would have changed by then." He grinned suddenly at his thoughts, his face a beaming moon.
There was a pause before he continued during which they both reached for a biscuit.
"I hope you will take with you some of the ideas we have turned over during our arguments
even if I haven't managed to convert you."
Halkin smiled back gently and reflected.
"You haven't done that, although I'll admit you have tried hard enough. And I haven't convinced you of an awful lot either, although, in a way, I'm not sorry about that. After all, your beliefs are your life. I don't think I'll ever understand how people can be so certain about things they have never seen, though."
"To repeat what I've said before in our discussions; something inside tells many of us that there is a God. That is why we humans are, perhaps, unique in receiving this message."
"And to repeat my reply to that," Halkin grinned at his friend, "I can understand one getting a message from an inner voice but, to put a face and form to it in the way we have: to know just what He requires of us
No! I can't accept that." He replaced his empty mug.
"Surely God would let us know
?"
"But, we simply aren't capable of interpreting such messages. Here we are, puny life forms on our insignificant speck of cosmic dust. We reach out into the vast distances of the universe with our optical and radio telescopes. Send out our probes. Puzzle over what we find
black holes and such
and, even the things we don't find, like dark material. Then we pass on all this to Stephen Hawking and our top brains and say 'Here, sort all this out'. And why can't they come up with the answers? Because our senses are too limited
even if our brains aren't, which is debatable too. We cannot keep pushing
back the frontiers of knowledge forever
" Halkin stopped for want of the right words.
Richard Bassett clasped his short, plump fingers together and waited patiently and enigmatically.
"Look." Halkin continued eventually. "Take an ant. Let us imagine it has got a brain comparable with ours. It has probably perceived in some way that there are human beings intruding into its world. But it could never, never comprehend what we are all about or how we interrelate. We are the ant's gods."
" And you see us being ants where God is concerned?"
"Exactly."
"The danger of such comparisons
this comparison
is that God has unlimited powers
And we are certainly not ants!"
They had reached another empasse.
Halkin's mouth tweaked in a smile. "There you go
How can we know that God has unlimited powers? That is probably what the ants think we have. Yes, I still maintain we are ant gods."
The vicar straightened his back and raised his arms head high. Halkin wasn't sure whether he was stretching them or pretending to surrender.
"Think of me sometimes when you are lording it over your country domain of ants, Dave," the priest said. His words and the way his lips quirked at the corners belied the simple message they contained: that he would miss his agnostic friend.
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Chapter 2. Beginnings.
On the morning of Friday July 3rd four separate events occurred within the same hour which were to become linked by the threads of fate. They would combine to bring about extremes of love and hate; they would certainly result in death, violent turmoil and upheaval; but they would also end in a new life for a few.
* * *
The sciences teacher at Barston Upper School looked around her class. It was a biology lesson and the faces ranged from polite if not keen interest, uncommitted 'well, I have to be here', through to total advertised boredom.
"Hands up those who still haven't decided on their end-of-term project," she asked.
Three arms lifted tiredly. Two students she could have predicted but she was surprised to see Geraldine Parkinson among them.
"Right, Geraldine. May I suggest that you tackle ants?"
"Ants, Miss? Ugh!"
"Yes, Geraldine. You will find them very interesting creatures to study. You may be surprised
."
A voice from the back attempted a tuneful interruption. "She's got ants in her pants
"
"Thank you, Wayne. We can survive without your brand of humour for a while
Geraldine, if you don't want to confine yourself to one species you could do a general comparison of insect types
the differences between the social orders and the solitary ones. Differences in feeding habits. Which benefit man and which are pests. We have some excellent books and videos in the school library. Don't forget to collect some specimens to study, too. Is that all right?"
"Yes, Miss. I'll try that."
"O.K. Now, Julie, you could try
."
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* * *
Algreth had left the others behind. The fact that he was alone now did not bother him at all. He knew and had faced most of the dangers to be met in this region and he was not one to go through life worrying about the possibility of personal injury or death. He lived the dedicated life of a specialised breed, yet, with his daily investigations into the mysteries of the scientific world went a deep-thinking mind. He was a scientific philosopher in the finest traditions of that order.
He sensed that the weather was about to change, that all the rains which had fallen recently were about to be sucked gently back from the soil upon which he stood and that the temperature would rise pleasantly.
He stood on the brink of a cliff but he was accustomed to the height and knew no fear. This was a region he knew well but it was not entirely suited to his purpose. He needed to be at a lower level. His keen eyes could just make out the vast green area of jungle below and away to his left and he knew that this was where he must explore next.
There were dangers peculiar to that territory but he knew of them. If that was where he would find what he sought then that was where he must go. Algreth made a resolution about his future that was to affect his whole life.
A shadow moved over him and he instinctively froze, crouching lower to the ground but he soon sensed that any danger was passed. A petal drifted down close to his head and he smelled its heady scent as he turned away from the cliff and back to his immediate quest.
* * *
Mrs Parkinson tied Rufus's lead to the rail outside the village shop. She climbed the three steps and opened the door to a jangling of the bell. Soon she was exchanging pleasantries with the shopkeeper. Life was so much more friendly and relaxed in a village, she thought.
She did half her shopping here to support local trade and the rest three miles away at one of Leicester's supermarkets. She laid her list of groceries on the counter and idly searched a rack of biscuits while it was being studied. She turned.
"Oh, there is one more thing that I didn't put on the list
if you've got any. Something to get rid of ants. Is there something called Nippo or some such name?"
"Yes
Let me see." The shopkeeper, a big, slow-moving man, nodded wisely. "We have some here. Nippon." He reached onto a cluttered shelf away from the groceries. Here lay mouse-traps, candles, weed-killer and the like. "I believe it's poisonous, though, so you will have to make sure Rufus doesn't lick any up."
"Oh, that's all right, Jim. Joe is on holiday all next week so, we can keep an eye on him between us."
"Have you got a lot of ants in the garden, then?"
"It's mainly near the back door. They've started coming into the house lately. Little black devils! I think they're after the sugar."
Jim laughed, his huge belly shaking with good humour. "You won't need to buy so much sugar next week, then, after they're gone?"
* * *
The large female ant spent an hour flexing the powerful muscles on her thorax and lifting her wings slightly to make sure they were perfectly dry. A few grains of damp soil adhering to them could cause disaster.
Several other ants tested their wings near her. Some were much smaller than the rest: these were the males. Both winged sexes were already quite excited and this communicated itself to the wingless attendants who scurried from one to the other, combing off soil and touching the waxed bodies of the newly hatched queens with their antennae.
The large female decided this was the moment and launched herself upward. She rose quickly in her maiden flight, wobbling at first but using the three rudimentary eyes little more than light sensors really on the top of her head to keep her flying trim correct. She was followed at short intervals by two males but the laggard of these was to have his brief life ended before he could make a landing.
The male house martin was returning to his mate who was sitting on the clutch of eggs she had laid in their mud and feather nest under the eaves. He was taking her much-needed protein and this was to include, with a quick dip of one wing and a snatching beak, the second male ant.
The female and the surviving male ant had now reached their maximum speed and they passed over the boundary fence, clearing it by several metres. Almost immediately the queen crashed into the leaves of a single, large ash tree in the neighbouring garden. This had been her blurred goal on the horizon. She clung desperately to a leaf and began to release the scent which would attract a male. She was lucky. The surviving male found her ten minutes later.
Much later, she reached the base of the tree. She now carried the sperm within her that would endure for the rest of her lifetime. The queen then commenced to vigorously rub her legs against her large, lacy wings, eventually breaking them off. Henceforth her life would be spent entirely underground where the wings would only be an encumbrance.
She searched now for a place to dig, for the next stage in her life was to begin work on the complex of tunnels and chambers which would house her colony. Normally she would have carried out this task alone, but this queen was soon to have company.
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Chapter 3. The City.
It seemed that the whole universe had been abandoned to the insects. The early July sun beat down on house and garden. These stood unnaturally quiet. The family, who would normally on such a weekend day have been padding between sun-beds and the fridge clutching iced drinks, had piled into their small estate car and fled to a local beauty spot for the afternoon. They had taken their pet dog with them so, the only creatures likely to be found here at this time of day would be a few species of birds or the neighbour's cat, the latter quickly extending his territory whenever the resident dog was locked up
or absent.
As it was, after a brief, quarrelsome chattering by four sparrows over a crust of bread which the dog had somehow missed in the sudden exodus, all was handed over to the bees, the flies, ladybirds and their prey the aphids, and, down below them, a vast range of insects and invertebrates which dwelt on the rugged surface of the garden. This latter group included the ants.
* * *
There were five entrances to the city. Just inside each tunnel mouth a strapping soldier ant, resplendent in polished red armour, stood guard. The traffic flow through each entrance was about normal for early afternoon, there being no special food convoys or military activity.
Each guard monitored the sound waves in case a 'striped flyer' approached for, although ants were not the normal prey of these predators, they had an unpredictable temper and when roused would take their ill-feeling out on anything and anybody they met. To an ant, this could prove fatal.
The guards expected a pass-call from every ant returning to the city and woe betides those who forgot, a soldier could deliver a pretty painful nip. As a final check the colony odour was examined on each entrant.
The higher castes were just as subject to this ritual examination as the lowest vagrant or worker but, they never seemed to forget!
Past the soldier-guards each tunnel cooled and darkened quickly. This uppermost horizontal layer provided a network linking the sloping and even vertical tunnels that connected with the lower regions. These latter contained the main chambers used for storing food, for breeding or, simply resting. There were no frills, no decoration, but each passageway or chamber was cleverly shaped to suit its purpose. At the very lowest level, approaching a metre deep, were the Royal living chambers.
No ant knew for sure when the city had been started for time-measurement was not considered an important science. It was certainly at least fifteen leaf-falls ago although some of the elders said it was many more than this. It was known that the founder had been a queen called Arla-Anda, though the pronunciation across this enormous passage of time had distorted the name to Al-anda and had given rise to the city being known as the Al city. The title 'Queen' was seldom actually used as such as all trades and castes were automatically included in a personal name. But, Anda meant Mother of All. Incorporated into a name it simply translated as 'royal female'.
The strata of the ant society were complex and revolved around the function of each ant. This individual factor was decided during the breeding and rearing of each larva but extraneous factors such as feeding and even air temperature affected the final outcome too.
It was a society dominated by females but not all of these could produce fertile eggs; only the queens could do that. Unfertilised eggs were produced in smaller quantities by both queens and workers. These developed into the males.
The much fewer and smaller males held many of the elitist positions, though, despite the female dominance. They held posts in the Priesthood, Sciences, Entertainment and as full-time politicians. Some had ill-defined roles best described as royal favourites simply because of their skill as lovers, yet the royal females carried active sperm after one mating for the rest of their lives. For many, this became of mixed origins.
The Royal Family was entirely female and other, smaller females held almost every position in the Army, Incubation, Information and as foragers.
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* * *
The main power-wielding body was the Supreme Council. Its executive head was a queen but it comprised representatives from
all the indigenous sectors. Aliens, foreigners and permitted parasites were never allowed to become members. The full council met daily and issued decrees, laws and orders of the day. Its balance had never been carefully worked out but the nature of its representation tilted it inevitably and drastically towards the elite groups even if the royal contribution was excluded.
The Council members always gathered in the Great Chamber at early-light. They touched each other briefly with their antennae, a custom that arose from a need to check the identity of those assembled. They formed an elongated oval and the royal representative, usually the elder queen, would start the day's business. She would issue instructions which were usually accepted without demur as they related to breeding matters. These were the royal prerogative, anyway. Then came military matters as the Commander of the Army needed to be released as soon as possible. After these came affairs calculated to be outside military scope and this gave the Commander time to return for the winding up debates. Usually ant 'speak' was curt and to the point without long speeches.
Each speaker began by identifying themselves by name, even the presiding queen. This day's agenda was fairly typical
at least at the beginning.
"Altressanda. Continue suppression of sexual hatchlings by reducing feed. Number of non-sexuals as given previously except for six extra fighters (ants did not use the terms soldier or police). A small party failed to return and are now presumed dead."
The terse royal communiquι ended and the Commander raised her head. "Algar-Si. Latest on the lost patrol
This was a border patrol near to Cel territory. These have been reported as very aggressive lately and may be building up for a war. I recommend that a Cel alien be offered citizenship in return for information." (She was referring to a small beetle tolerated in the Cel city). "I am reinforcing our strength in that sector."
"Could it have been a crushing or some other natural calamity that caused the loss of the patrol?" It was a politician's query.
"No. Bodies would have been found and, in any case, it would be most unusual for all six to die immediately. It is assuredly a Cel attack. If there are no further questions, I must leave to attend to my duties." The commander departed.
A workers' leader spoke. "There seems to be a decline in the flesh-based food rations issued to workers recently. Is anything to be done to reduce the parasites' food allowance to balance this? My comrades enjoy sweetfood meals of course but these do not build up muscles."
"The Chief of Information replied. "There is a seasonal shortage of flesh-based foods at the moment, largely due to the present hot conditions driving the legless tunnellers deep. Other sources have produced little during the last six brightness periods but this is a temporary shortage I feel sure. Food Control has calculated that termination or expulsion of two cased-winged aliens, one of which is suspected of exceeding permitted egg-sucking anyway, will serve as a buffer until the situation picks up. Algar-Si will be so instructed later."
The workers' leader, an old, small female maintained the head-up pose that suggested she was not going to let the matter drop but, when she again spoke it was on a different tack.
"Has the Chief of Information any news for the Council regarding a calamity of devastating proportions rumoured to have occurred in the Na city? If this rumour has any substance, if it is confirmed, what action does the Council recommend be taken with regard to any captured survivors?"
There was a stirring among several other representatives. Trust a workers' leader to get scent of any new item of news first, they thought. The royal female spoke thoughtfully.
"I would recommend that every attempt be made to capture a Na citizen for questioning. Subsequent action to depend on the information extracted and the attitude of the prisoner."
The Chief of Information agreed that positive news must be obtained and Altressanda's suggestion received the long buzz of assent. She said, "Algar-Si to be so instructed."
It was the turn of the High Priest next. "When are we going to allocate more excavator-worker resources to relieving inner city overcrowding? The population of our city is now well over
" he hesitated as the figure he was about to give was only properly understood by the number-scientists "
three thousand. A very large number," he added weakly.
The workers' leader waved her antenna and buzzed in agreement
There was never any rush to improve the lot of the workers, she thought.
Incubation chipped in. "Surely the egg and larvae chambers need enlarging or adding too first. My workers have barely enough room to do their tasks properly as our breeding stock is expanding so rapidly."
And so the debates and wrangles went on, with the Commander now back at her place listening astutely.
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* * *
The rest of the work force had by now swung into its daily routine. Even the elite non-workers were about their business.
From the upper passageways to the royal chambers in the bowels of the city there was the everyday scuffling and chatter of a thriving community.
Two senior, elder royal females or queens existed in the colony and, despite the potential power conflict that this threatened, they worked harmoniously together. With Altressanda at the Council meeting, her colleague supervised four other 'princesses', none of whom was over two years old but all being fully adult and sexually active. One was, even at this early hour, receiving courtship from a much smaller male five years her senior.
The scientists were already at their daily tasks and several had departed to the surface on various missions. These included taking measurements and bringing back samples.
In the incubation chambers a variety of breeding processes were in hand. The day workers had taken over from their colleagues who had toiled through the night. Not that differences in light intensity were observable at this depth; but all workers were aware of the changes taking place on the surface and sensitive to the fluctuations of temperature which these changes induced below.
In Chamber One, eggs were turned slowly, waxed and polished. This waxing was applied also to the larval stages and it was to prevent bacteria or moulds from attacking the embryo ants. In Chambers Two and Three, successive moultings took place and the skins and other waste products were removed to the surface. Feeding was carried out by nurse-workers. The quantity and the mix of foods was decreed by the queens as it was this factor which would affect the type of ant who would finally
emerge. The larvae lay on their backs, skins shiny with wax, and bent their bodies as a sign that they were hungry; this they did almost constantly. The nurse-workers stroking their bodies in a special way with their antennae induced excretion of waste products. Usually this waste was in liquid form but certain rich diets produced pure white crystals.
The final phase of the breeding process, the hatching of the young adult from a pupa, took place in Chamber Four. Here the soft skinned yet complete ant first smelled the scents of the city and sensed with wonder the full bustle of activity of which he or, more likely, she would soon play a part.
Apart from the usual attendant workers, scientists would come to check humidity and warmth; food process workers might drag away some of the many surplus eggs; and aliens (usually beetles) slunk about or brazenly walked out, according to their nature, after feeding on the yoke of surplus eggs.
The total number of eggs first deposited in Chamber One was enormous but many were instantly removed for food and many of those remaining were only there to feed the hatchlings.
This large breeding complex was given top priority. In any attack on the city, or if any natural calamity befell, this area would quickly be abuzz with defending soldiers and other workers dragging the eggs and larvae to safety.
The food storage and processing chambers adjoined those of the breeding complex. Here the surplus food eggs were brought; insect carcasses, including those of dead ants, were sucked dry; chunks of meat were dragged in from the upper world; there was even an area for cultivating an edible fungus which grew on the roots protruding through one of the chamber roofs.
Process workers skilfully chewed and partially digested the different foods, mixing various blends to be regurgitated for hungry adults or larvae.
At a higher level, the information section was situated. Many younger or smaller ant communities did not have the luxury of such a set-up but the Al city not only had one but several years of selective breeding was producing ants with a remarkable capacity for storing and disseminating information. This had resulted in an intelligence system that had helped the Al army to circumvent several invasion attempts and the food gatherers to beat aliens or other colonies' ants to sources of supply. There were some that thought that it might help scientists some day to resolve several complex problems which were currently taxing their brains.
The soldiers had no special training area. Newly hatched adults pre-destined to become soldiers were allowed a short period for their cuticles to 'harden off' and then given an examination that included a strength test. Then they commenced active duty. The fittest, more astute and the luckiest survived: the average life expectancy of this class being around three years.
Towards late autumn there would be a noticeable slackening off in the tempo of city life. By this time in the yearly cycle, food stores would be at their maximum level and each ant's body store at its highest also. For in the winter, through hard frosts and snowfalls, the ants went deep and slept the long, deep sleep of hibernation.
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Chapter 4. Signs of the Gods.
The High Priests and various Supreme Councils had, over the years, found many signs of a higher power than antkind or the other life forms that they knew of. Nowhere in the known universe was there a creature capable of creating the Slabs, let alone placing them end-to end.
The 'forever water' (a very large fish pool) was also considered a holy sign. The water was contained not by natural, known substances but in a stiff skin which never decayed or wore out: it was obviously God-made. Whether or not the Gods, or a Supreme God, had made the various plants which grew all around the Al city was more difficult to judge. The councillors had argued over this in meetings and privately ever since they could remember. Certainly these plants did die and they appeared to be natural yet several were known to have been placed in their positions ready grown. This surely proved that the unfathomable workings of God were involved.
Apart from these holy signs intruding into the their world, many more mysterious creatures were also to be found, some so fleetingly that they could not be examined physically - or analysed by the minds of the finest theoreticians in the Al city. Some were as elusive and transient as to be no more than a steady pounding noise which slowly approached from afar, vibrated over the city, then receded. This had been likened to gigantic leg steps by some of the more imaginative ants but this was not generally accepted. Also, why should any creature step along the Slabs so frequently?
More awe inspiring were the sound vibrations that occurred sometimes and which were often associated with massive earth movement. The earth moving came mostly at the start and toward the close of each breeding season. Something of an unimaginably immense size moved about all over the Al territory, breaking the surface and turning over large amounts of soil. Even deep boring earth tunnellers were brought wriggling into the brightness. This deeply taxed the minds of priests,
scientists and other thinkers. What could it all mean? At this time many small plants were torn from the surface to disappear forever: other new ones took their place. Some of the vibrations were of a strange pitch and were high above the earth's surface. The ants had no way of knowing these were forms of communication let alone deciphering the calls
"My back's killing me" or "Where do you want these planting, Mary?" were typical. The ants found the noises to be absolutely meaningless but it was becoming more accepted that they were connected with the Gods and their world.
Although the Priesthood had decided aeons ago that the Gods must be benevolent (for hadn't They laid the Slabs to protect the Al city - and also provided the bountiful foods to be found all about?), the sound vibrations of the Gods, if that is what they truly were, always coincided with a large loss of life. In most cases, death came by crushing.
They were merely taking some soul-bodies into The Beyond, stated the priests. The crushing death was to prevent a body being sucked of its fluids and this pointed even more to a Holy death, they argued.
During the drier, warmer periods, in which the nuptial flights of the queens took place, another strange creature came into view so briefly and so swiftly that it had never been properly described. It appeared in a forest of low plants that grew in profusion near the edge of the Al territory. Its visits were
approximately every seven brightness-periods and it raced about the forest biting through the stems of the plants. Most of the tops of these plants disappeared but quite a number fell to the ground. The plants quickly renewed their growth. Why were all plants not attacked in this manner? Another puzzle from The Beyond. As the priests often said, "The ways of the Gods are too mysterious for us to comprehend."
This was no reason, of course, for many ants to speculate.
There were other signs and other associated puzzles. For example: what connection with the Gods did the warm-bodied ones have? The size of these creatures varied enormously, from colossal beasts which were never seen in their entirety to smaller ones still huge compared with an ant which were sometimes found dead and thus provided a rich supply of muscle-building flesh and nutritious body fluids. Why were the really large beasts never found dead
did they live forever?
And what strange creatures the smaller ones were. Although an ant has body hairs, these life-forms were entirely covered in a thick mass of hair. Only their eyes, a region near the eyes with two tunnels, and the underside of their legs were bare (or nearly so). Strangest of all to the ants was the long, tapering appendage at the rear end. It was as long as the creature's body
what was it for? It was a strange place for a sensing device but what else could it be?
Were these creatures in any way a clue as to what the Gods themselves looked like? The first High Priests of Al had assumed, quite naturally, that the Gods were very large ants. But, gradually, modern ideas were usurping these early thoughts: that the Gods were like the warm-bodied ones with a strange appendage at their rear, maybe. Perhaps, even, of some as yet unknown shape or form. A few wild speculations postulated that the Gods were not even of solid substance at all but this did not fit with the known (though unexplained) physical presence of the Gods.
A mystery associated with this physical manifestation of the Gods or Their helpers was that whenever the soil-moving was in progress, two large black objects stepped (there was no other way to describe their progress) about the surface. They had a strong scent somehow reminiscent of certain plant fluids. At this time it was not known for sure that there were only two stepping objects lens sightings at a later time had confirmed that this was so. Some High Priest in a past Council had made himself a figure of ridicule by publicly suggesting that these might be the ends of legs. The idea of a creature, or even a God, managing to balance on only two legs caused such a wave of
antennae-jiggling mirth to sweep the city at this time that the shame-faced priest was, soon after, replaced. As with many other ideas ahead of their time, the existence of two-legged creatures was confirmed later in the Al community's development when a dead 'beaked-flyer' was discovered and examined. These were the most wondrous of the warm-bodied creatures so far to be found dead upon
the surface. Their thick coating of body hairs was arranged in clever parallel patterns and the two legs, both of them branching out at their ends to aid balance, astonished the scientists.
Long-distance foragers who had climbed high into the tallest plants sometimes came across a large structure of dead plant stems and, occasionally, these were occupied. They were soon recognised as the breeding homes of the beaked-flyers for they contained either large, roundish, hard objects (which the scientists advised were eggs) or young immature flyers. The latter had almost hairless bodies, the hairs not yet arranged in the clever patterns of the adults. Sometimes they were found dead on the surface of the ground with a skin over their eyes.
What connection the beaked-flyers had with the Gods was hard to comprehend, as were the other beasts or the plants.
Yet a further sign of the powers of the Gods was the variety of covers which were placed over and around the universe. These were too far away to be seen clearly by any means whatsoever, even with the lenses, but they would sometimes be changed during a brightness-period from blue to a dull grey or vice-versa. Different covers would be used at the darkness-period, these sometimes having their own source of dimmed brightness in them but, ants were rarely about then to examine them. The dull grey covers of the brightness-periods were frequently associated with water globules splashing down and wetting the world. This could cause worrying problems for some ant communities but the Al city was well protected by the Slabs. It was known by the advanced Al civilisation that plants and some creatures fed directly from this moisture. Occasionally and somewhat surprisingly water globules fell from the blue cover during very hot periods. This was mainly down in the forest of thin-bladed plants.
But, of all the signs which the Al ants had to puzzle over, none caused so much controversy or created such awe as the Great White Structure. Mostly this was because of its size, which was beyond
comprehension. Captured or renegade ants from the distant city by the Great White Structure seemed to take it for granted but they were not as advanced as the Als and their religion and sciences were still in a primitive stage of evolution. They tried to describe the Structure or what they knew of it, but nothing they said seemed to make any sense.
Since the coming of the lenses it had been possible to see the Structure, although somewhat blurred and vague, on the horizon and it was almost a certainty now that it was not a part of the cover over the
Universe. It was the dream of all scientists to form part of an expedition to explore this marvel one brightness-period.
So, the signs of the Gods were there or came frequently enough to tantalise all thinking minds.
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Chapter 5. The Survivor.
"Stinkslime!" cursed the leader of the group. "All this sodding distance and the carcass has vanished. Would you believe it?"
The others stood and awaited a decision with stolid resignation. They were used to the choice words; the belligerent poses. This was their leader's normal reaction. If the carcass had been there, it would have been greeted with the same expletive (her favourite) and some other well-chosen words of discontent.
Alsogul had heard it all so many times before from her leader, she could just switch off. She had been through the rookie stage; the angry-but-too-scared-to-challenge stage; the bored stage. Now, it was just click and over to thoughts of sleek, polished young males, come-hither body language, sensuous caresses
Careful, she thought, mustn't get all roused with the gang around.
Although she was typical of the foraging group of eight workers, Alsogul considered herself a little bit better than the others. She had, she thought, a certain style and the males appreciated it. In most community groups there always seems to surface someone with that indefinable air that is so attractive to the opposite sex. Those with this gift learn that this is so during the explorations and tribulations of youth and take with them into maturity a self-confidence and, often, a preoccupation with sex.
Alsogul was an experienced worker. Indeed, she was destined for a leader's appointment in the near future. She was also an experienced lover and philanderer. Her approach technique seldom failed to bring results but she was beginning to wish for something a little bit more out of the ordinary to happen in her life. She was not untypical of a worker in build and body scent but her antennae had an appealing droop and her lower mandible had a firm set to it which males were quick to note. These features and her assured, easy manner were Alsogul's assets. Her leader thought she tended to skive off given half a chance, but then, she thought that of everyant. Other females outside her own worker group found
Alsogul somehow sly, without being able to define just why.
The normal pleasures of the group were in chewing coltac, a manufactured substance which seemed permanently crunchy and was slow to lose its sweetness; in drinking forbidden liquids from over-ripe fruits, which caused a certain loss of co-ordinated motor control but a pleasant soporific haze; and, sinking into the oblivion of sleep after the long labours of the brightness-period. They had many more things to dislike or, even, hate
. The monotony of awakening to the same routine with every
brightness; the cramped and squalid conditions they lived in; the way the privileged classes had all the good things in life without grafting and facing the dangers to get them! The way the workers were treated like their leader's favourite word. And many more.
Alsogul jerked to attention. The leader's harsh tones were addressing the other seven and it didn't pay to miss what she said.
"
and get back to the city. Two of you Alfescul and Alsogul stay behind and scout the area in case that rotting heap is still around somewhere. Right then, you others: let's go."
The two remaining workers looked at each other as the main gang strode off towards the cliff top. Alfescul started to pick her way over the rough terrain.
"Eh! What the hill are you up to?" queried Alsogul, still standing in a relaxed position.
"Scouting around." Her companion spoke in the slow way that comes when a slow mind answers a question it cannot fathom. "That's what we was told to do."
"You sodding twit! Settle down. A beaked-flyer's been and lifted that carcass for sure
It's a thousand slab-lengths from here by now. If you think I'm going to go stumping about in this heat over those rocks, you better think again."
Alfescul stared at her stupidly, weighing this up. She didn't like doing nothing, especially when she had specific orders to the contrary. She chewed her coltac while she thought.
"I think I'll just look around
just a little bit, anyway. I don't mind the heat."
When Alsogul did not reply, merely twitching the ends of her antennae scornfully, she set off.
Alsogul listened to the slowly diminishing rattle of dislodged soil particles as her companion moved further afield. She sagged in the heat, a tiny red dot in a multi-coloured landscape of soil and rock particles, smooth pebbles, tiny flowers and the odd, fallen, diseased leaf. She sensed the activity of other insects but was experienced enough to realise that by standing motionless she was less likely to draw attention from the few enemies she had. The most dangerous of these were the relatives of the web-spinners. These possessed no web but roamed the soil territories seeking unwary prey. They relied upon their speed of attack and were more than a match for even the largest and best trained soldier ant. Fortunately, they did not find ants good to suck and therefore usually only attacked out of spite or so reasoned Alsogul.
She was not worried, however. She spat out her coltac which was losing its flavour. Suddenly, her antennae stiffened. Strange Gods, she thought, not that stupid git returning already. Then she made out approaching Al fighters: two. She prepared to shout a greeting and look busy but they were not heading directly towards her and had not seen her or picked up her scent. They stopped, still a couple of slab-lengths away and, surprised, she noticed for the first time the black, alien ant they were escorting. Her interest quickened. The soldiers' voices carried easily to her.
"This is where you are on your own, love." Then, in a different tone, "What do you think, Zee? Pity to just let her go. I know a randy male who would pay a lot for this one, even if she is black."
"No, you bloody fool. Too risky. There's a sodding worker party somewhere in this sector. Just like you to get us both caught up to something. Let her go: them's the orders. The way she is, she wouldn't be much use to your friend, anyway."
Her colleague sighed. "You're right. Come on then. Let's get rid of this little cow." Then, obviously addressing the alien, "You; trot along home
and keep clear of Al territory in future." The two soldiers stepped briskly away towards the cliff top.
Alsogul remained absolutely motionless, though she relaxed again now. The alien female moved so slowly and aimlessly that she barely moved at all. She was trying to obey the order given to her by the Al soldier but her direction was strangely erratic, almost as though her body was full of a narcotic. What is wrong with her, pondered Alsogul.
She strained for other sounds and scents. Nothing. Slowly she moved to intercept the young, dark-skinned female.
"Al greetings", she almost whispered, studying the alien ant's slow reaction. The other ant looked up but without much surprise. Her listless demeanour was a puzzle.
"Na greetings." The younger ant's voice, soft and pleasant, trembled even with this simple response. She had thought at first that the villainous soldier ant had returned, though her mind was too dulled even to that one's dubious intentions for her future. Did she have any sort of future? Although the Als had not proven friendly, to say the least, she was not sorry to again have some company. The prospect of returning to those mounds of stiffened corpses and the lonely, lifeless city which was her home was a horror of the darkness-dreams. She could not know that there was still life there; that twenty ants were even now toiling to clear away bodies and restore order, inspecting eggs for damage. Perhaps even if she had, she would have found little consolation and little to motivate her return.
She was a food processor by caste and it her colleagues and close relatives who had been hit first by the effects of the food poisoning. It was a thousand-to-one chance that she had been on a special detail away from both the city and the new food source when the crisis had arisen. A small globule of sweet food had been reported near the edge of the flat lands, the border region of the Na territory. After being escorted there, Naleen, for this was her name, had been left to try to either liquefy or otherwise extract some of the precious substance so that it could be transported back to the food chambers. One of her rare excursions, she had enjoyed the experience immensely
. only to return to a horror beyond her comprehension.
Some passageways were already choked with corpses, whilst around her, as she fled in blind panic, workers and soldiers and some of high rank were staggering or collapsing to the ground. Their piteous cries and groans were to stay in her mind for many, many brightnesses to come.
With the Al female's greeting, Naleen struggled to focus her thoughts on this new contact. The Al worker seemed quite friendly. Her gentle tone eased Naleen's fears.
"I am called Alsogul. I am on a work detail. What are you doing here, out of your territory?"
Naleen took several seconds before replying. These were spent building her composure and focussing her mind. Alsogul waited patiently, studying with some envy the other's youthful lines and neat proportions.
"My name is Naleen," she began, then, hesitatingly, stumbled through the minefield of recollections as she told her story.
"Are you going back there?" queried Alsogul, letting out a soft buzz. "That would take more nerve than I've got."
"What else can I do?" Naleen looked appealingly pathetic.
Alsogul was touched by the situation. She delved into her small store of sincerity.
"We will have to think through this situation." She looked duly thoughtful. Then arrived at a conclusion. "Look!" she said, "We'll find you a place to shelter where you will be safe. I will be in a free period soon and I will come back to you with some food. Both of us can think out a plan before then and we can take it from there. Let's find that shelter before my mate returns. She's a bit thick and could report this if she finds us together."
They walked closely in the usual ant manner of single file, Alsogul leading, and she soon discovered a suitable place. They climbed a thick, curving plant stem until they reached the lower leaves. Naleen was to stay on the leaf stem where it branched away from the main trunk of the plant. Here she would not meet any predators and should be safe from discovery by any Al foragers. It would be a long wait until Alsogul's return so she suggested that Naleen get some sleep.
During their return to the city, Alfescul did not interrupt her companion's thoughts with senseless chatter. She had tired herself out scrambling over the rough terrain and
she plodded wearily behind Alsogul. She correctly guessed that Alsogul was plotting something but was a million slab-lengths from realising just what it was.
* * *
At late-brightness, Alsogul reached her free period time with eager anticipation. She had worked out a plan based on what she had overheard the soldier propose
. In this, she herself ran truer to character.
She would take Naleen to border territory which she was familiar with, set her up in a safe shelter, feed her when she could get away, and finally and this was her ultimate purpose - investigate the possibility of getting the alien accepted into another neighbouring community. This she intended to be a new and still under-populated city that had been set up last warm season by a winged royal colonist. 'Truer to character' meant the inclusion of a shady deal before the final part of this plan was realised, but she instinctively knew this part of her plan must not be rushed. In Naleen's shocked state, it would take longer than usual for her confidence to be built up. Nothing worse than a nervous young female for what she had in mind, she thought. Naleen could well be still a virgin and Alsogul had a high-bred male friend who she knew would be willing to pay dearly for that.
The 'safe' border region she chose, and which they reached well before darkness, was some distance into a vast area a veritable jungle - of dense, thin bladed leaves which grew close to the ground. The chances of Naleen being spotted in this high-density plant area were remote. Scavengers seldom explored this region, although dead and decaying earth-tunnellers, a valuable source of protein, were to be found here.
Alsogul knew that what discouraged her own community from visiting this region was the Monster. It was said by the Priesthood to be one of the signs of the Gods but the outside workers, foragers and fighters and the like, feared it. It thundered overhead, biting at the stems of all the plants in the jungle area and spreading a cloud of noxious gases and fumes over the Universe. They weren't sufficient to kill but anyant absorbing these poisons felt pretty rough for a brightness-period or two. That it would visit while Naleen was being hidden there was a risk she would have to take.
The Al worker explained something of this to Naleen, warning her to keep off the plant stems altogether and to press herself close to the ground if the Monster came. She sensed that some of Naleen's natural spirit had returned so she finished the pre-darkness with an exchange of small talk, touched the younger ant with an antenna, and returned to the city.
The male friend that Alsogul needed to complete her selfish ends was not easy to approach as, firstly, he was still attendant to the royal females and, secondly, he did not wish to be openly associated with a common worker who, he thought, was beginning to look her age anyway. His name was Alkrek. He had a smooth technique with females which caused Alsogul's mind to whirl with excitement at the mere thought of sensing him again.
She knew of ways to make the approach provided Alkrek was not plying his trade in the deep chambers where the queens and princesses were usually to be found. As it was, after roughly locating his whereabouts in the food processing section by questioning workers, Alsogul literally bumped into her former lover. Although she was at first disturbed by a certain nonchalance on his part, which even his pose could not conceal, she started the process of 'hooking her fish'.
"What a surprise
. Alkrek! Fancy meeting you after all this time."
"Greetings, Alsogul." His tone was cool and rather formal.
"Would you mind brushing off my skin," she said. This was a standard request from any worker returning from surface duties where small particles of soil adhered to the natural waxes on the skin and required frequent grooming. She had deliberately not asked any other Al citizen to do this as she had shrewdly calculated that it would be a good ploy to keep his attention whilst the bait was being dangled.
"Ah, thank you Alkrek. Your touch is as sure as ever. What an unusual brightness-period I've had." She paused to get her timing right. "Picked up a wandering alien female
What a stunner! I felt quite
jealous, I can tell you."
There was a longer wait now: if Alkrek was the male she thought he was, he should now swallow the tit-bit. Casually he asked, pouching the granules he had removed so far.
"Tell me more, Sogie. What happened to her?"
Alsogul knew that if she was to achieve any of her ambitions behind this scheme promotion; no more surface duties, perhaps; good food
and, wistfully, even seeing a little more of Alkrek her words must be chosen with care.
"I felt sorry for her, Alkrek. She is a refugee from the Na city
perhaps you have heard what took place there?" He buzzed his accent. "She is a lovely little thing yet, undoubtedly still a virgin. I could imagine her falling into the clutches of some unscrupulous males
"
Alkrek broke off his grooming, his interest mounting. "But, what became of her, Sogie?" he asked again smoothly.
"Well, I took a risk. A terrible risk really. I hid her near the border. I'm still not sure just what to do with
her."
The grooming re-started for Alkrek was formulating his own plans now.
A bargain was eventually struck and information about Naleen's whereabouts was passed on by a smug Alsogul. She even forgave him that he did not try to stimulate her: she realised his anticipation for the alien was swamping all other feelings.
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Chapter 6. The Astronomer.
The heat of the July sun felt good upon his back. He relished the freedom of action that his job and his position in the Al strata of society gave him. This brightness-period he felt the usual tingle of anticipation that always came before adventuring into the unknown. This could lead to the discovery of food or simply of new scents but he was not a mere forager, with his explorations came an inquisitive mind examining the possibilities in each new discovery. The meaning of the Universe and all its wondrous component parts taxed his brain more then most others. But, scouring the upper surface during the brightness times had its dangers too and these, he knew, could lead to death.
Algreth was probably better placed to avoid this ultimate catastrophe than the majority of his peers, however. He was big for a non-royal male of his race, and his strength matched his physique. He reacted split-seconds faster than most, too, but his main - and almost his unique asset was the remarkable clarity and long-sightedness of his vision. This had been bred into his line across many generations.
His mentor, long since dead, had explained to him about the breeding of the Reths. He himself, Abreth, had confirmed the legendary existence of the 'Beaked Flyers'. He had also seen many threatened perils in time to alert the Supreme Council. This had led to many wrangles with the military about the best uses of the Reths' main asset but Abreth was as strong in determination and character as he was in his power of sight. As their leader, he had successfully argued for and retained the independence of the astronomer group. This had been upheld in the Council chamber where conservatism and tradition reigned supreme.
"You have been born into a long line with responsibility and privilege", Abreth had confided to his protιgι when Algreth was less than two years old. "Use your eyes wisely that we may one brightness-period know the truth of The Beyond. We are as hatchlings awaiting birth, enclosed a cocoon world. If our eyes can pierce The Surround, we will know the truth and find the Queendom of the Gods." Abreth had been deeply religious.
* * *
The coming of the lenses had at first seemed a threat to the astronomers, or at least to the selectivity and breeding which sustained them as an elite group.
Although always referred to as a 'coming', the lenses had, like many a scientific discovery, simply been there all the time awaiting some sharp mind to realise the possibilities. Indeed, many a worker ant had gazed through water droplets, hanging from leaves and petals, and had enjoyed the distorted yet enlarged and colourful world she saw. It had taken that rare flash of inspiration coupled with a probing curiosity which only strikes a few minds, to begin the process of adopting a new tool for the good of civilisation.
Alpamasco, a name revered in scientific circles, was credited with the find which heralded the dawn of a new era for the astronomers and a long period of controversy for the High Priests. The use of the lenses had now been long accepted by the priesthood, though, and Alpamasco's soul-body, serving the God Family in The Beyond, could rest easy knowing his gift to antkind had been universally accepted.
He had wondered at the droplets as a yearling; had puzzled over their magnifying properties as a budding scientist; and then received his flash of insight and gradually refined his theory of how droplet lenses could be utilised by seeking the correct combination of droplet shape and size, distance and vision skills. All this before he had reached his physical prime.
The Reths had perceived a possible threat and had briefly sat of the fence as Alcor, the High Priest Elder, and his brothers in the priesthood had handed down conflicting sets of principles to the faithful regarding the use to which the lenses were to be put. Over succeeding generations common-sense and the will of the majority had prevailed, however, and the Reths had re-established their ancient rights. They and they alone would use the lenses and liase with other scientists and the High Priests to get the true interpretation of their sightings.
The lens users had probed deeper into The Beyond but few mysteries had been solved. Instead, more and greater riddles were presented for the Supreme Council to puzzle over. Arguments raged and divisions widened. Some heretics or so they were quickly labelled believed they had actually seen a God! Wiser heads wondered
but kept their own counsel. Algreth's trainer was one of a long line who had certainly seen intriguing objects and creatures (or parts of creatures) but he was among the latter group. Only with a few trusted fellow Reths and his protιgι did he speculate freely on a true interpretation of what he had seen but he retained his deep religious convictions never-the-less.
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* * *
Algreth pondered over these discussions as he stepped lightly into and under a canopy of arching, sharp-edged leaves. This was the area of grasses he had resolved to explore. His burnished armour-like cuticle cooled slightly under the protection of the lush thicket and his senses sharpened. His twin antennae searched the scent patterns for anything out of the ordinary but he ignored the skittering of frightened micro-insects which fled before his approach.
An ant does not meet many natural enemies. Most injuries and deaths are caused by its own kind. Indeed, it was the constant lament of all thinking ants that they were their own worst enemies. The politicians and military knew, however, that it was all very well to moralise, but food sources and territory still had to be protected. The shadows of time had enclosed myriad encounters that had only served to strengthen their distrust of other communities.
Algreth lived in a community under a path of slabs, though its true nature and purpose was not, of course, recognised by the ants. His normal territory encompassed the almost vertical cliff of a rockery running in parallel with the slabs which, to the ants, was a good proportion of their community's body-lengths or approximately one slab-length high. The ants took this unusual feature, of soil interspersed with colossal stones and many ground-hugging plants, for granted. They found
the soil, which was grainy from the heavy torrents that followed each rainstorm, difficult to walk over. Many slipped and fell but they were rarely hurt by this. The Supreme Council had decreed in antiquity that the long line of flat, rock-substance slabs at the foot of the cliff was God-made and should be considered a religious monument.
Above the cliff was a vast region of more fertile soil dotted with mighty, hard-stemmed plants and many much smaller plants which bore a very heavily scented flower in the hot season. These plants were favoured by the 'sweet-bodied ones', from which the ants milked a delicious and highly nutritious liquid.
At one end of the line of slabs was a huge area of grasses, only partly explored by the Al city ants. It was through these that Algreth now stepped cautiously. His search routine was almost perfunctory as he was deeply occupied with his thoughts. He compared his trainer's words with the arguments and discussions he had had with his scientific friend Altiasco.
"There must have been a beginning", Altiasco had said, heatedly. "Everything has a start and an end."
Algreth already had his answer to this prepared. "Then how did the Gods start? Who made the Elder God?"
Altiasco had sighed a despairing sound. "I am talking about physical things
things of substance. Gods are not of substance. You cannot put thoughts into a hole and roll a stone on top to keep them there. Neither can a God be put into a hole. But everything than can be, had a start. Some things were made by the Elder God Herself and other things resulted from the things She made."
The arguments had become side-tracked into minor issues. Algreth then brought up the question of the proof of there being a God family at all.
"No!" Altiasco had clarified things for him patiently, like a teacher with a new hatchling. "It is not that we merely need a Supreme God to explain how things were created in the first place: a God is Something some Being that we feel inside us and without which life simply does not make any sense. You tell me; what purpose is there without a God?"
Algreth was sometimes tempted to mention some of his lens sightings in these discussions, but caution prevailed. "Purpose, purpose", he had repeated, waving his antennae for effect. "Purpose has no more meaning than start and end in this argument. Why does there have to be a purpose for anything? Does a rock have any purpose? If it had never been there, what difference would it make?"
The scientist would not be shifted, however. Algreth had realised that his arguments were beating against an inner wall of conviction. It was that, he reasoned, on which gods were created and reasoned arguments could not prevail. Take away that conviction and logic could be given its due. The world would not be explained, he reasoned, and a working system devised within it on inner convictions: logic had to be used then.
* * *
Maybe the new sensing devices the scientists were now working on would help fill in the missing link, Algreth continued to speculate. From what Altiasco had told him about the latest research, a completely new branch of astronomy would be created. At last the Reths' stranglehold on this branch of science long-distance visual sensing - might be broken, for the new sensing plates were absolutely non-visual.
It had long been known that skyborne particles of smell existed and these were usually picked up by an ant's antennae. The range was about five to ten slab-lengths. Over many millennia the antennae had become especially sensitive to certain particularly significant smells, for example sugar-based aromas. They had also become very directionally sensitive, but even so, the distance was not nearly as great as the scientists would have liked. Now, a breakthrough loomed.
The scientists had gradually realised that a residue was deposited on certain leaves by a wide range of smells. They had at first begun to utilise the directional factors in this by noting which way the leaf surfaces faced together with wind factors. The advances now taking place were due to the burgeoning area of data collection in this field. An accuracy in recording types of substance linked with each smell deposit and of the distance to the source was all coming together. Immense distances were being realised. The link with exploring The Beyond was causing additional excitement. Much collating and logging (memorising) information was taking place and the ultimate outcome seemed to depend on the mental abilities of the number team.
Secretly, Algreth was both excited yet concerned.
* * *
The astronomer's sharp vision swept the shadow striped and green-stalked jungle ahead as he advanced. His thoughts were companion enough. He had penetrated about as far as orders permitted when he became aware that a reddish colour had intruded into the edge of his vision. He stopped in his tracks, all philosophical thoughts dissolving into nothing. He strained his eyes and antennae, noting that the red patch moved slightly. A cautious step brought everything clearly into focus: a fellow citizen was standing close to an ant of a very dark colour an alien. The postures of both were not those expected from a meeting of alien cultures, however. Each held the other's gaze raptly; both stroked the other's body with tenderly caressing antennae.
Algreth's mandibles opened slackly in astonishment. He had stumbled across a rare and illicit love-making scene.
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* * *
An ant's mind does not usually react quickly to the completely unexpected and it was many seconds before Algreth turned away and headed for home. It wasn't that he was shocked at witnessing a love-making, this was a commonplace sight in the city. It was the fact that it was taking place with an alien female, albeit a pretty one, and in this remote spot which had scrambled his thoughts so.
As he retraced his path, his mind churned as to what he should do. Early training would have him report in detail everything he saw on his explorations but Algreth had long-since developed a more independent mind. He did not automatically report everything he saw any longer and this encounter certainly needed some thinking about and perhaps, even, further investigation.
He had not identified the Al lover by name but he knew from his scent which stratum of the complex social order he came from. He was a professional lover! It could only be so, was Algreth's quick thought. Then he chided himself, for he knew that simply wasn't true
this was a more complex situation. The female, he ruminated, belonged to the Ci or Na community. He wasn't too sure which. Her colouring had the blackness of a Na citizen, although he had, of course, heard that they had been all but wiped out by a mysterious disease or poison after discovering a new food source. Yes, there were many
more inquiries to make.
He began to meet other Al surface workers and, by the time he had reached the sentries at tunnel-mouth three, his resolve was complete. However, there could be no change of mind; if he did not report the matter immediately, it could never be reported.
The total darkness of the Al city enveloped him and he headed for the main chambers at a quicker pace as his body cooled, brushing impatiently past workers, fighters and others. He had a female acquaintance in Information and he immediately sought her out, making sure they were not overheard before he spoke.
"I wonder if you could tell me something about the neighbouring communities, the alien ones, I mean
. Sometime when you're free, Alco?"
Alco nodded briefly. She was a very pleasant, co-operative young ant but very committed to her work.
"I don't suppose you found any lenses this brightness-period, Algreth", she muttered busily. "The water droplets which follow the darkness-period are soon sucked away by the hot brightness. Any food sources?" She tended to burble on rather but Algreth knew that information given to her for classification and storage would be locked safely in her fine mind. It would be available for immediate recall.
"I just thought that, as I am exploring a new sector, some information on, say, the Na and Ci communities might come in useful." Algreth tried to sound casual. He ignored the burbled questions from her for he knew Alco was not looking for an answer.
"Phew
" Alco breathed. "The Na community! I can tell you
" A soldier ant was hovering impatiently, obviously waiting to report a find but knowing that she must wait for the astronomer to finish whatever business he had first.
"Look;" said Alco, "I'll meet you in Down Chamber Five at early darkness, Algreth. I must get on now." She turned to the fighter.
Algreth was not offended. He twitched his antennae and buzzed agreement, turning away towards his rest recess.
* * *
"That many dead?" Algreth was shocked.
"Yes; only those whose duties had taken them to the limits of Na territory survived because, when they returned to the Na city, the effects of the food poisoning was clearly visible. Ants were tumbling over as they worked." Alco tended to recite without much feeling but, somehow, this matter-of-fact account had a profound effect upon Algreth.
"How did you get such detailed information, Alco", he asked, with only half his mind on the question.
"A young female was found, wandering about in a shocked state, by our boundary patrols. Naleen, she was called. After interrogating her, she was released." Alco was not given to embroidering her information so did not comment on the obvious that an alien was not often welcome or given a home in the Al city. Algreth speculated on what would become of a lone female, wandering in a dazed state in alien territory without the ordered society of which she had been an integral part to sustain her. He mentally shivered.
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Chapter 7. Seeds of Revolution.
"What you got there, then?"
"Mind your own business, you prying old parasite."
"Looks like a leaf to me. Are you eating it or licking it? And who are you calling a parasite?"
The tiny ant gave up her attempt to conceal the small portion of leaf. "Wait 'til this fighter's gone by 'n' I'll tell you what it's all about."
They both pressed into the side of the tunnel and allowed a soldier to march past without hindrance.
"OK
I found out that the scientists had some leaves which was supposed to be coated with food particles. Bits blown along on the wind. I managed to grab a piece when they had finished with it but, I can't taste any food." She flung the portion of leaf down in disgust. "You 'ave a lick, Crill. See if you can find anything."
In the inner city complex the residents called each other by shortened names. Workers and soldiers as well as the elite classes decried this practice as sloppy but the Brell, as this ill-assorted population of hangers-on was collectively called, thought it more friendly. Not that friendliness was a particular characteristic of the Brell.
Now, the even smaller ant pushed eagerly forward, examined the other's booty carefully with her antennae and tried a cautious lick. Then she made a low buzz of surprise. "Yes. There's something on it", she said. "Sort o' sweet tasting. Not enough though to amount to a meal for the tiniest plant-sucker let alone an ant."
A bulkier ant emerged, seemingly from nowhere. It cleverly pinned Crill against the tunnel wall using its superior weight and also faced Crill's companion watchfully. Where food was concerned, no ant could afford to be careless. The intruder seized the leaf but, because Crill held on tightly, there was a loud tearing noise and each ant stood, looking rather foolish, with an even smaller fragment each.
Crill said, "Come on now, Lista; Het found it. It's 'ers." Then, thinking over how little value the leaf fragments were in terms of food content, conceded, "It's supposed to 'ave some foodstuff on it. I don't reckon you'll taste much but you can try."
Lista had not waited for any such concession. She tore at her morsel with her mandible and propelled into her mouth, not even bothering to separate food from leaf by combing it into her mouth pouch. She spat some out messily. "Gods! You two must be getting desperate. Where did this rubbish come from?"
Het was no longer bothered about keeping her secret. In fact she was rather pleased at the chance to show off her knowledge.
"Saw these scientist geezers nipping to and fro with funny-shaped bits o' leaves, didn't I. As they past my little hidey-hole on the way down to their chambers. 'Eard them talking 'bout food on the leaves. I followed 'em next time they went up t' the surface
blimey, it's bright up there! They was running about taking measurements and talking stuff about angles and strengths that I didn't understand. I don't know what they're up to but it 'ad something to do wi' food."
Lista's stance suggested scepticism. "And what about fighters
there musta been some of them about? I suppose they waved you up to help yourself?"
"No. I waited till the brightness was almost over 'an sneaked back out. I can see better in the dark than them geezers. Nothin' on the leaves maybe but
" she paused slyly, "
they was talking about them showing where food sources lay."
The big ant considered. "We could be in bother over this
but I reckon a trip up top next darkness-period could prove a bit tasty, eh?" Lista hissed with greed, "As you say, little un; not much on the leaves but what there is must have come from somewhere."
* * *
In one of the longer adjoining passages the Brell present were more crowded. So much so that a priest, making his way slowly along, found it difficult to press himself out of the way of a refuse-clearance worker who was carrying an evil-smelling pile of rubbish in her gaping mandibles. The priesthood liked to be thought of as 'bringing the message' of the Gods and interpreting Their wishes to the Brell. They liked, as a symbol of this, to be called 'Messenger'. After all, it was a main aspect of their work in the community.
Ants had no concept of worship so there was no equivalent to a church and not even prayer meetings. They did not tend the dying as this was usually a quick process with the dead ant's body fluids immediately being sucked out as a source of food. It was, therefore, in indoctrinating those whom they believed most needed the 'message of life' that the priests specialised. These 'needy' they perceived as being newly-hatched ants
and the Brell!
"You're squashing me flat, Messenger", a citizen he had leaned against squeaked in complaint.
"I'm sorry, my friend", the priest apologised. "How are you called?" The Brell was far too large for him to remember each ant by name. Even the scent was unfamiliar.
"I'm Tez, Messenger
er, Altezega."
"Tez will do fine", said the priest in his friendly way. "Do you need anything, citizen?"
Although he could sometimes be a little patronising, the priest was, on the whole, popular and well-received. He was a sincere ant and he often managed to get scraps of food for the needy. Sometimes he brought healing or soothing waxes for those with damaged or diseased cuticles.
"Would you like to hear something of the message of the Holy Ones?" he pursued.
"I have to be helping dig a sleeping place for a newcomer, Messenger." Tez replied hastily.
The priest was worldly-wise enough to recognise this as a 'no' and Tez knew that the priest knew. She limped away. She had lost a leg when she had met a huge beetle (a 'cased-winged one' to the ants) one brightness-period but her fellow workers had arrived in time to divert its attention long enough for her to make an escape. Two of her fellow workers had lost their lives and Tez was finished as a forager. The short, black-crusted stump often pained her as though the leg was still there in the beetle's crushing grip. It had not helped her belief in a merciful Family of Gods, benignly looking down on the community of ants, and Their Message had a hollow ring to it now.
Another five-legged ant joined Tez. "The Messenger give you owt, Tez?" she asked.
"Only a pain in the backend", Tez joked bitterly. "Offered me a bite o' Message to chew on, though."
Sodie, her friend, jiggled her antennae with mirth.
"These sodding non-workers are all the same with their claptrap. They'll believe anything
and they expect us to as well. By the way
did you hear that the Lens-watchers reckon they've seen a flyer with a beak as long as its own body? Saw it standing by the forever-water."
"Yes; I heard that one too, Sodie." More mirth-jiggling of antennae. "The scientists reckon it drinks through it. Sounds to me as though all the small-beaked flyers
will die
" The pair staggered with the outrageous humour they saw in the situation. Tez's antennae were aching with the jiggling merriment.
Suddenly, a presence loomed beside them. Although they squeezed back against the wall, it made no attempt to pass. They smelled the scent and immediately made out the large, powerful outline of a policing fighter.
"Laughing at me, by any chance", came the question, hard as slab-rock. Suddenly they sobered. They recognised with a chill of fear one of the younger, bullying fighters. They were ill-equipped for flight but both had survived on their wits for many seasons.
"Certainly not, Citizen Fighter", Tez said respectfully. "The Messenger had just told me a joke and has gone to get me a bite to eat. He'll be back in a split time-period
perhaps he'll tell it to you." Her tone was skilfully believable.
"Get back in a rest-recess, then, both of you. You're blocking the passage."
The fighter left hurriedly, for he found, as Tez guessed, contact with a priest embarrassing.
* * *
"See that? Sodding slimesmell fighters!" Further along from Tez and Sodie, a thin, wiry ex-worker had nudged her companion. "I tell you, the only way is to kill the sodding lot."
Her companion was taller, although also very thin. She was called Bo by others but the simple name was usually spoken with respect. Bo was reckoned to be a mean fighter and her taciturn manner discouraged friendliness and undue familiarity. Bo knew that her companion was a hanger-on and was all talk.
Bo carried many scars but no ant knew that several were the results of highly treasonable actions; that of dispatching police-fighters who were careless during their patrols of the inner city area. The thin female carried a fierce hatred of the city regime, its system, its imposed authority and, above all, its police-fighters. She had been slowly gathering a hard core of like-minded followers dedicated to overthrowing the present Al city administration. She had recruited these with some care and they did not include the likes of her present companion.
The group's meetings were difficult to arrange as, although there were many places in the inner city for these to take place, some members were from outside the Brell and it was not easy for their
movements to go unnoticed.
The priest and others who had talked with Bo and recognised something of the hatred she carried, wondered to what it could be attributed. What past traumas could so warp a personality? In truth, Bo had been hatched a hater. Few things brought her pleasure, though she had once held a good position in the food-processing section. She had dropped out to hatch her violent plans and gather others of her kind to aid in their execution. All she said now about the bullying police-fighter was, "I've got that young sod marked."
* * *
"How many aliens would you say there are in Al city?" It was a battered-looking ex-fighter who posed the question to her two friends. A fourth ant joined in
"Maybe I can answer that."
The others turned their heads. They were slightly disturbed that the present overcrowding had allowed an intruder to steal up upon their private discussion. Battered-looking warily asked why?
"Because I used to work in Information
." The others raised their antennae in surprise: a non-Brell in their midst? "
Until I began to get my recalls mixed up."
The oldest member of the original trio, a small fighter who had become too slow to be of any use in battle, cocked her remaining antenna. "How many?"
The female from Information pushed her head forward but paused for effect. "For every six Brell citizens, one is an alien. That doesn't count the aliens who are not of our species
cased-winged ones and the like."
The three buzzes of amazement blended into a single note.
"I am called Cymee", said the old one, "And these are Nen and Clotu. Clotu was a fighter, as I was; Nen was in Incubation."
"Greetings. I am called Mistral."
"Tell me, Mistral; are the workers in Information not worried about this trend, this increase in alien numbers?"
"Why should they be, Clotu? Are you? And if so, why? If they are of a different colour or have different ways, is that really so terrible?"
"It's not so much the colour. It is their way of living, their habits and breeding. Some non-Als are so different I
can hardly understand what they say."
Mistral's antennae stiffened. "Look. I've worked with an alien. She was a good ant. That is all that really matters, surely. Do we have to chase her out because her colour is different to mine?" There was a pause.
"Well, I hate the sods", hissed Clotu. "They take our jobs; eat our food
"
"And work hard for us to earn it", countered Mistral.
"See here, Mistral." The quavering voice of Cymee spoke. "I am old. Too old to hate anyant the way that Clotu does. But when an old fighter retires, she has the right to live among her own kind
the kind I fought to protect. I want to talk over old battles; old ways; Al history. The aliens do not know our ways. They have not learned about our battles. I am often among strangers. Do I deserve this in my final seasons?"
Nen entered the arena. "Also, Mistral
Who should say that this alien population must be? Should it be a High Priest who does not live with them
or Altressanda, who also does not live with them
or, should it be my friend Cymee who has to live with them?"
"But, can you not live with an ant of a different colour or one with different ways? If not, then you cannot live with non-Brells or royals. A worker cannot live with a fighter. A leader cannot live with a subordinate."
"You are talking of individuals, Mistral. We are talking about a large number
enough to change our ways to theirs one brightness-period. Let them keep their ways in their communities. We simply want to keep our ways here in Al city."
Mistral's antennae drooped sadly. "It is a shame we have this conflict, my friends."
Cymee and Nen buzzed agreement. Clotu remained sullen. She said, "When the revolution comes, I know who I shall fight."
* * *
The Brell was a surprising mixture. Drop-outs and has-beens or simply too old, they covered a wide range of knowledge and of intellects. The mixture was volatile, however, and although it had lasted for many seasons, it had grown top-heavy and become too explosive. Like two or more non-compatible chemicals thrown together, it needed something to prevent a violent reaction. It needed a controlling body with claws. That control was about to be stripped away.
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.
Chapter 8. The Commander.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Al army was a medium-sized female well past her prime. She had been in most positions that a soldier could hold tunnel guard, worker party escort, special defence force member, etc and had slowly climbed the ladder of authority to lead units of increasing size. The penultimate step reached, in her sixth year, was the demanding and extremely responsible position of Commander of All Breeding Defence Units.
She had been very relieved to get the appointment as CABDU for she had begun to realise by then that she was living on borrowed time. By any normal standards she was pushing the longevity of a soldier ant. CABDU gave her, for the first time, a role that was completely non-combatant. She was there to direct and to give orders
which she did smartly and efficiently by crisp shouts and quickly released odour warnings. With this high appointment she was under the direct eye of the royals and of several elder Council members. But, before the season had ended, the existing Supreme Commander had died by a crushing and she stepped eagerly into the top job.
With the promotion, almost uniquely, came a change of name. She had been originally called Almargar at her hatching. Now her name became Algar-Si, which meant Highest Soldier.
She had certainly had a more-than-generous helping of luck to help her survival through the dangerous existence of a fighting ant. She had fought her share of battles and had come through many individual encounters - with voracious spiders, tank-like beetles and foraging ants of several feared alien species - with only minor injuries.
To a large extent, though, Algar-Si had survived not through luck but because of her fighting qualities. She had a very quick-thinking mind, an extremely accurate acid jet, and the ability to stay cool. She also remembered the features of each encounter which had led to her victory. She was like a chess player who analyses each of his games afterwards.
Never-the-less, the encounters had left their marks. The Commander had lost several teeth, broken off when gripping the heavily armoured leg of an adversary. This gave her a sort of lop-sided grimace that was hard to read and rather disconcerted her fellow Council members. Deep slashes into her armour had left black, crusty gashes long after they had healed. A broken mid-foot had mended at a slight angle, leaving her with a limp which she contrived to hide. Fortunately, her antennae, which, although folded back in a fight, usually sustained some damage during years of fighting, had come through unscathed. All the soldiers under her command held her battle record in awe. Even the royals and other elite citizens looked at her with a degree of respect.
Algar-Si spent virtually all her time now underground but, as Commander of the Army, she still enjoyed one perk, the freedom to have an occasional sortie to the upper world. There she would amble about carrying out some routine tasks, basking in the hot-brightness and feeling her body temperature rise to a pleasant soporific level.
The decision to make such a change from her usual daily schedule came suddenly at the end of the Council meeting. The trip to the upper world would include a snap inspection of some of her surface fighters, a check on the state of the highways, and a general survey of the city's defences. She gave her usual crisp instructions to her lieutenants and, disguising her limp, departed.
top
* * *
The spider was not particularly big but he was in a foul mood. After two days without eating, he had pounced on a fly at early light only to have some wretched furred monster a field mouse, actually pass so close that her tail had swept spider and prey to one side, the fly being lost in the ensuing scramble for a foothold. The spider had spent a lot of time searching the area without success, getting angrier and hungrier all the time.
He was a surface forager and in his prime. Knowing the position of several ant colonies from bitter experience, he normally kept well clear of their hunting grounds as, even in a one-to-one fight with an ant, he could be disabled or mortally wounded even though, technically, he should emerge the victor. Ant jaws could crush a foot or mangle a leg quite easily and, even with seven others still unimpaired, his normally stealthy progress over the rough terrain would be both painful and hampered.
Worse still, of course, was the possibility of being either sprayed or smeared with toxins or lethally stung, depending on which species of ant he met. But, where there were ants, there were often injured creatures of one sort or another to be found, so he warily penetrated further and further into Al territory.
* * *
Strangely, it was the milkman who was indirectly yet vitally concerned with the impending disaster and its consequences. His cheerful clatter at early-light it was which had frightened away the blackbird in mid tug-o-war with a juicy lob worm. The bird flew to the boundary fence with a nick-nick-nick of alarm, abandoning the half-exposed and mortally damaged worm. This had died slowly and had gradually dried out as the sun rose higher in the clear blue sky.
What would have been gruesome remains to most humans lay, a veritable treasure store of vital and tasty proteins to an ant. It escaped the keen eye of the returning blackbird, the probing gaze of a passing jackdaw and the attentions of a foraging party of Al workers. It was almost as though destiny had reserved a special place for it.
* * *
Algar-Si had learned the rare art, as a soldier 'in the field', of thinking random personal thoughts whilst maintaining a one hundred percent state of alertness and signals processing. She dropped easily into the old pattern now as she left the main highway and struck off from the scent-marked trails farther from the Al city.
She wanted to be alone to fully savour ancient memories. She recalled important battles and this led to her thinking about old comrades, mostly long dead, which in turn led to general thoughts about her life in the city.
It wasn't a bad place to live, she thought, despite the current campaign about improving inner city conditions. This new trend had been highlighted by a few pockets of unrest within the Brell. She had dealt with them firmly for, although she did not believe in discipline merely as a military creed, she was experienced enough to know how city life could deteriorate without it.
Soldier-fighters were also police. It was the policing role which earned them the most criticism, for, in dealing with the city's scavengers and drop-outs, it was inevitable that some of their work would impinge on the lives of innocent citizens. Given, also, the attitude and actions of a few over-zealous younger fighters and situations could easily arise which, without firm control, could soon develop into a violent backlash. Algar-si provided this firm control.
She recognised and even admitted it in the Council's meetings that, of late, there had been a build-up of these pressures in the inner city community. The city had grown steadily and a good supply of food meant that physical growth of active workers had matched this. The younger, larger fighters on police duty seemed to believe that their greater size bestowed some form of elitism upon them. They strutted and bullied. Algar-Si and her subordinate older and wiser lieutenants snapped them into line but they could not be present to supervise their behaviour all the time.
Several alien species, some of which were not ants, were officially tolerated as parasites in the colony. In theory they all had something to trade in return for the licence they were given. Some produced pleasing scents; some produced a special form of foodstuff; some just brought news from farther afield than the Al ants would travel. In return they were allowed to eat surplus eggs and, even, occasionally receive a direct feed from a worker.
They were a considerable source of ill-feeling, especially among the working classes and the poorly fed Brell. It could be extremely irritating to return hungry after a fruitless foraging session to then see a foreign ant or a fat beetle standing gorged on prime egg-yoke. They were often suspected and had occasionally been caught full-clawed of taking more than their permitted share or, far worse, of eating a helpless lava. Never-the-less, as a group they had the Supreme Council's sanction to remain. The priesthood and most elitists supported this: but they were not at the sharp end of the problem.
Neither was Algar-Si. Her job was merely to contain any problem and to put on an obvious display of right-doing by killing any parasites who were caught breaking the rules. She was quite satisfied that her controls were adequate and that the Supreme Council had confidence in her. She was shrewd enough,
she believed, to sense any unspoken criticisms.
Her thoughts tripped happily enough along the paths of her memories and, even when they came back to the present, she was content. Her antennae rotated and her multiple-lensed eyes scanned a wide area forward and to the side and rear as she stepped lightly along. Suddenly she halted.
It was a pleasant odour that had gently assailed her antennal sensors. With a slight change of direction, she cautiously approached its source. The sight of the huge mound of dead meat issuing out of the ground before her made her jaws gape slightly. The flesh was about to putrefy in the heat but no flies or carnivores had located it so far. Algar-Si strode forward and, for the first time since she was a yearling, she allowed the intense excitement of her find to weaken the shield of wariness she always carried. This was a find which any of the professional searchers would have been thrilled to report. She could hardly wait to get back to the city.
As she turned to release a 'food found' scent which would mark her path, a hint of a shadow nudged into the edge of her rear vision. One of the tricks of battle she had learned and which had become a reflex was that of hunching her body into a low, tight mass. This she managed to do in a split-second reaction.
* * *
The spider had been on an approach vector which would not have resulted in contact. However, he turned by a few degrees when he met, tangentially, an ant scent path. From his superior height and with his keener eyesight, he saw Algar-Si while he was still beyond her range of detection. She was in the process of discovering her treasure and it was her slowed movements that stopped him as he was about to turn away.
He studied the ant and saw the object of her interest. Quite suddenly, hunger, impatience and a flash of insight, which told him that this ant was completely off-guard, made him start a stalking advance. He did not notice the signs of a battle-wise veteran as he closed for the kill.
The fatal bite, inflicted downwards at the neck, was only partly blocked by the hunching of Algar-Si's body. As it was, the collar, which extends from the mesosoma to protect the neck, was shattered and the spider's mandibles just penetrated the cuticle, releasing deadly venom into the body fluids but failing to sever the main nerve cord.
The Commander fell heavily to one side and jerked her gaster around under the thorax into the fighting position. Although badly shocked she was not yet disabled by the venom's slow, paralysing effect. She aimed and squirted her own toxins speedily and saw much of the formic acid spray over the bulk of her attacker. Simultaneously, she bit ferociously at the nearest of the spider's legs thereby helping the toxins to penetrate.
The spider jerked its foreleg away. Algar-Si's front teeth, somewhat blunted by age, crushed rather than cut into the spider's skin and made a very painful wound. The jerk, consequently, was extremely vigorous and a tooth snapped off completely.
The predator was becoming aware of several important factors as he drew back to survey the situation. Firstly, the attack had failed to achieve its full tactical objective
the ant was still very much a fighting machine. Secondly, alarm scents had been released and other ants would soon arrive to carry the fight to their enemy. Thirdly, the thing he most feared had actually happened he had received a leg wound. Finally, he began to experience a difficulty in breathing and a strange tingling throughout his body was beginning to grow into a raging fire. Fear came as a new sensation to the spider and he turned and raced away in panic.
He seemed strangely unable to negotiate the rough surface over which he would normally have stepped so lightly and easily. The seven good feet banged against even small pebbles. Eventually a leg inexplicably gave way and soon he had collapsed into a pain-wracked heap. He wrapped his legs tightly under his rounded abdomen
and died in this position some three minutes after his attack.
* * *
Algar-Si died more slowly and was being carried homeward by a fearful group of workers when her body finally gave up the painful struggle to survive. Her carcass was borne to the great Council Chamber. Only a few seconds later, the first pieces of lob worm were carried through to the food storage and processing section.
top
.
Chapter 9. The Royal Family.
Altressanda strode regally into her rest chamber with all the authority and confidence that four seasons as the head of a large, organised and thriving community could bestow.
"That damned silly priest!" she grumbled to anyant prepared to listen. She adopted a rest pose and two attendant workers began to groom her carefully, spreading deliciously aromatic waxes over her large body and combing off a few soil particles.
One of the princesses politely asked what the High Priest had done or said this time to incur her displeasure. She knew that Altressanda was often in a bad mood after a meeting of the Council but that this would gradually dissipate as she talked it out of her system.
"He simply has no grasp of the complex problems in running a city of this size. All he and his minions do is potter about here and there, listening to all the grumbles of the inner city riffraff
and then deciding it can all be cured by waving a magic antenna. I think he is getting senile
No, you have done that bit once. Careful you don't get it all over my upper eyes!"
This latter referred to the three rudimentary light sensors which queens have on top of their heads. Used only in nuptial flights when setting out to form a new colony, they were now of no use to the likes of Altressanda. Never-the-less, they were a symbol of her position as queen and she liked her attendants to treat that area with due care.
"Who was your trainer", she asked the worried attendant. Before the young ant could answer, though, Altressanda had carried on with her diatribe.
Eventually the others joined in. The youngest, who had been receiving the attentions of a male in a remote corner when Altressanda had swept in, was the last to join in the group discussions. Her name was Alpassanda.
Alpassanda had been making plans for some time about her own future. She was jealous of the power which Altressanda and her co-ruler wielded and the fact that Alpassanda's own life seemed to be settling into the same boring pattern as that of her three young sisters. She had gradually included her favourite lover into her confidence and was certain of his co-operation when the right time came. The benefits he could receive were considerable.
She had to ensure that the outcome of her treason was that she remain the only surviving royal female: that way she would get the undivided support of the army for they had to obey royal commands. Alpassanda had known, from the moment that murder became the cornerstone of her plans, that she would need an accomplice. She could not deal with the other five alone. Even so, she still puzzled over the best way
. Could she split them up, perhaps, and get them killed off one by one? She
pondered how this might be done. The timing would be tricky.
She had hidden all this from her sisters under a mask of quiet thoughtfulness and continued to do so now yet making a light-hearted contribution to the discussion and the gossip.
"I have just heard that one of the priests has an added incentive for his work in the inner city
a young female entertainer with an exciting antennae dance." She watched the reaction of the others to her piece of gossip, noting with satisfaction Altressanda's jaws open slightly with surprise.
"Well! The Gods haven't forbidden such conduct and neither has the Supreme Council", Altressanda retorted, quickly recovering her poise. Alpassanda smiled inwardly at the queen's linking together of the Gods and the Supreme Council.
Altressanda's antennae stiffened imperceptibly. She had suspected for some time that the withdrawn nature of her daughter was not due to the innate sulleness to which she had first attributed it. The queen was usually close to the mark when assessing the moods and intrigues among her royal companions and the attendants too. She guessed that this princess had a shrewd and devious mind. She would bear watching. Thank goodness my egg-laying cycle is nearly finished, thought Altressanda. This would allow her more time to indulge her awareness of royal intrigues. She was no fool but it had been two seasons since she had had to order a royal ant to be executed for conspiracy.
* * *
For several days (or brightness-periods, as the ants called them) life in the royal chambers continued uneventfully. Altressanda squeezed out the last eggs of the season. She, her sister and four daughters supervised the egg depository and other incubation chambers to ensure that the royal instructions were being carried out and that standards of care were maintained.
This season's nuptial flights had already begun, brought on by the current spell of hot weather. The astronomers had pinpointed several distant targets on the horizon, as far away from known colonies as possible. None-the-less, each flight and landing was a critical phase and the mating process, which often took place in flight, was very much a hit and miss affair. The flying ants were also extremely vulnerable but the males were doomed anyway: nature had built into their system a self-destruct mechanism.
Not that the Al citizens would bear much concern once the flyers had departed. The workers, who had tended to their every need until the moment of being airborne, would watch briefly with mild interest but the flying ones would quickly be beyond the limits of their short-range vision. Then there was much work to be done below ground and many more larvae to be nursed to maturity.
For the flyers came a moment of unparalleled excitement
which was not all sexual. The strange feeling of flight with its need for constantly changing balance and trim; the rushing of air, like self-made wind; the totally new sensation of incredible accelerations and decelerations as they rose or fell. All was new and weird as they struggled with the uncertainties of their efforts and the buffeting of normal air currents.
Fortunately they were oblivious to the menace posed by the beaked-flyers. Swifts, swallows and martins wheeled hungrily, uttering shrill screams as they picked off incredible numbers in flight. No ant had survived such an attack to report the danger, of course. A flying ant was either lucky and survived through the sheer numbers that took to the air in a very short space of time or, it wasn't lucky and died quickly. For the fortunate in the air, a further hazard of similar proportions faced each ant upon landing for this was invariably in alien territory and alien forager packs knew no mercy. A landing could quite easily end up in a painful, but inevitably losing, fight for survival.
The dotting about of ant colonies over nearly all types of terrain attested to the general success of this hit-or-miss method of distribution, however. Several Al-type colonies had been started, although one or two had fallen to alien invaders.
Natural predators with the ability to overcome a force of ants were few. Two species of bird were particularly partial to a meal of ants, the woodpecker and the wryneck. The latter was quite rare and only one green woodpecker had ventured into Al territory. This had found tree ants so sparse that a return was not warranted. A toad would have proven a considerable menace but, although there was a pond near to the Al city, it had so far only attracted frogs and newts. Whatever other enemies they had, the ants proved remorseless in their conquest of territory.
* * *
top
As each sunny day succeeded the previous and temperatures gradually climbed, Alpassanda pondered deeply over her treasonous and ambitious plans, discarding one after another. Her lover, Alkrek, was content to leave the ideas to the princess, merely helping to examine the weaknesses and dangers in each plan.
She noticed after a while that he seemed very preoccupied with his own thoughts. Perhaps he was hatching his own scheme, she guessed. Whatever it was he was about, it appeared to require many trips to the surface and to other parts of the city. She was so wrapped up in her own machinations, however, that she paid little heed to the lengths of time he was taking away from her. If she had done so, she might have been quite suspicious. She had no way of knowing that he often filled his mouth pouches with food before leaving the city.
* * *
Many well-planned schemes are thwarted by an unexpected twist of fate but, occasionally, half-planned or ill-considered ones are aided by some quite unforeseen event. Such was the case with Alpassanda's nebulous plans.
She had maintained her usual routine of keeping in touch with various departments, this being part of her attempt to prevent the boredom of a princess's normal role getting her down. Now, it unexpectedly paid off. It was during a visit to the scientific chambers that she noticed chemical analysts gathered round a white, powdery substance that seemed to be commanding unusual respect and attention. The scientists stepped aside respectfully as she approached with some curiosity.
"What have we here?" she queried.
The elder analyst answered. "This is a sample of the poison-food taken in by the Na community", he said. "The worker who brought it in has suffered no ill-effects so it is undoubtedly a form of poison which requires ingestion."
"We are about to experiment", a subordinate chipped in.
Alpassanda thought quickly, then came to a decision. She realised her demand would cause some raised antennae but, summoning an imperious tone, she said. "Let me have some. I, too, am curious about its properties. I will give some to a few larvae that are to be terminated and will let you know the results."
The elder analyst did not care much for this interference but it did cover an area he would not have suggested. His own schedule of tests only included feeding the sweet-bodied ones (aphids) and an alien cased-wing who had over-stayed his welcome. There was not much he could do, any way. A royal command was a royal command.
"It is extremely toxic, Royal Daughter. Shall I instruct one of my helpers to carry out the work for you?" He had a genuine concern, despite his annoyance.
"No. That won't be necessary. A royal female is not above taking some risk, Elder. But I thank you for your concern. I shall handle it with great care."
The scientist workers divided the powder, giving Alpassanda about a quarter which she placed with extreme care in her mouth pouch.
"Try not to mix mouth-juices with it or a small amount may get into your body system", warned the elder. "And, please make sure that all in the royal chamber know of its dangers and that none is left
"
"Yes, yes; I know", Alpassanda butted in impatiently. "I am not a fool. I shall take every care."
She left the scientists to their work, her mind churning wildly with excitement. She decided on a final touch, just in case things went wrong: Alkrek would bring in the substance when they were all there, declaring it to be a new sweet-food. She would then appear to eat some declaring it to be delicious but actually pouching it. From what she had heard, there would easily be enough left to wipe out the rest of the family. Alpassanda suffered no remorse during these thoughts, only the heady anticipation of success.
* * *
Successful the plan was. All went as she had hoped. The other five gobbled up the delicious sweet powder that Alkrek laid before them, only Altressanda spoiling the smoothness of the operation by consuming her share in a slower, more sedate manner which she always adopted as part of her 'regal style'. Thus it was that she was still capable of understanding just what had happened and she cursed herself for not associating the sweet-food with the deadly powder she herself had discussed in the Council chamber. But it was too late for her to act: a frightening and painful numbness was creeping over her.
Alkrek panicked when Altressanda did not collapse with the others. Leaping forward, brushing aside an attendant, he seized the narrowest part of her body, that linking the mesosoma with the petiole, and bit hard. His large mandibles crushed through to the vital nerve cord, oesophagus and heart. The latter, unlike the lumped muscle in mammals, is tubular and stretches right down the body, almost from brain to anus. There was no need for the nerve cord to have been severed, however, as the paralysis prevented any dying attempt at retaliation by Altressanda.
Alpassanda reacted with astonishing speed to this new development. Perhaps she had already thought out the next step, as the attendants, witnessing all this with stupefied inaction, would need some
explanation for the outcome. She moved in on Alkrek and delivered a similar lethal bite to that which he himself had delivered to his queen as he sprawled almost in his favourite position across Altressanda's body. The two died locked together and a new queen reigned.
The power, if not the glory, was Alpassanda's. It was this unshared responsibility which was to have such disastrous consequences for the Al community whose citizens were as yet blissfully unaware of the power struggle which had been played out in the bowels of their city.
top
.
Chapter 10. Love.
Algreth's enquiries soon revealed the identity of the male lover he had discovered in the grasslands. What surprised him was that this lover should be a royal favourite. What had Alkrek to gain by such a risky relationship, he wondered. Surely
Alkrek could easily lose his life or even end up in the Brell. He decided to tackle the matter in a scientific way and link his theorising with observations.
He resolved upon a course of surveillance; by following and then watching Alkrek through his lenses. This would be safer than approaching too close. Thus, he returned next early-brightness to the edge of the grasslands and searched for a suitable lens. He was frustrated, however, not by a lack of lenses but simply because he could not penetrate the lush, thick jungle with his magic eye. There was no other way but to track Alkrek into the forest himself.
* * *
The period of the Supreme Council's meeting was as good a time as any for a meeting of Bo's conspirators but it was well past the early-brightness and getting towards the end of the Council's agenda before they could all get together. In fact, there was a nervous delay whilst they awaited the arrival of the last of their group. Bo sensed this and tried to put them at their ease.
"Well, comrades; our plans are beginning to get results. The fighters policing the inner city have been ordered to go in pairs and our disposal of the Cel-border patrol has drawn off many more fighters into that sector. The army is getting rather over-stretched, my friends."
The others had not seen Bo look so pleased for a long time or, had they ever, they thought. One adopted Bo's usually taciturn manner, however.
"That is all very well but, with Algar-Si still in charge of the army and that cow Altressanda running the Council, we will have no easy path before us."
"Relax, Teear. When our comrade from the royal chamber arrives, you will
Ah! Here he comes now."
Alkrek moved easily to a vacant space in the circle of eight. His breeding showed in the courteous
greeting that he gave them. Bo nodded her antennae in recognition and completed her introduction.
"
. Alkrek! Please tell us how your plans for Altressanda are progressing."
Alkrek deliberately waited. He knew that his part in the conspiracy introduced the highest level of treason
and risk. Disposal of the sovereign. That made the lower classes very edgy indeed. He was sadistic enough to enjoy this.
"It is all taken care of, comrade citizens. My own special royal daughter will soon be in control
apparent control. Only, she will be controlled by me
by our New Society Committee, that is."
It had been a remarkable coincidence, mused Alkrek, that a plan which he had devised for poisoning the royal family had been overtaken by a parallel set of events initiated by Alpassanda. But, as far as this group was concerned, Alkrek determined, it must be thought that his plan was the only one. If he was to impress them with his worth and obtain a position of power among them and within the new society they would create, the removal of the existing head of the community and the setting up of a puppet head must be seen to be his doing and his alone. Now he held back, again for dramatic effect, before telling them of the partly-obsolete plan he had devised. One of the other non-Brell present said tightly
"And how do they die, comrade?"
"Ah, comrade Altiopul
You have managed to leave your trusty band of foragers to their own devices for a while."
Get on with it, thought Bo.
"You are right to wonder just how five active royal females could possibly be killed off, together and in the safety of their chamber and with attendants all around." He pointed his antennae around the circle dramatically and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Poison", he said. "I will feed them a little delicacy that will remove their worries
and ours
for ever."
A chorus of low, strangled buzzes greeted this.
"But
where will you get the poison from?" a voice queried.
The antennae bent forward curiously towards him. Alkrek lied smoothly
"I have a friend
a sweet young female
who can let me have any amount. Deadly stuff it is, too." It was not all a lie.
"A female
Friend?" two voices pursued in unison.
"Yes. From the Na city!"
A deathly quiet came over the other ants present.
top
* * *
Alkrek had fully intended to carry out the plan he had outlined to the conspirators. The previous brightness-period he had walked briskly out through the brilliantly-lit tunnel mouth, nodding one antenna to the guard, and had joined the light traffic travelling away from the city.
He did not expect to be followed into the grasses but he paused suddenly at the edge of the jungle and checked, just in case. There were no scents or sounds that should not be there and nothing to be seen of a suspicious nature so, he had slipped into the greenery. Algreth knew which route his quarry must take and had taken up a position which would enable him to parallel the royal favourite's track just within his, Algreth's, range of vision.
Alkrek had grown less stealthy the further he penetrated and the noise of his progress masked that of Algreth. After a while they had reached Naleen's hideout, the shadowy bower formed by the curve of a low, broad-leaved plant. In the half-light of its shade, Algreth had watched the two fondle each other tenderly. Oddly, he had experienced a sudden pang of jealousy.
He had tried to analyse this with his cool, scientist's detachment as the love-making reached a more excited stage, but the detachment seemed harder to maintain and the coolness quickly evaporated. An anger began to burn in his brain for he somehow knew most unscientifically, for he had no evidence - that the young alien female was being used; both her mind and her body. She had been seduced for a reason.
Steadily, Algreth stepped closer and closer. By the time he had got close enough to hear their whispered words, the love-making had stopped. There was a long pause then with no sound whatever and Algreth had grown restless, wondering whether he ought to get back to the city. Then Alkrek had started up a conversation.
"Ahhh! That was superb, my lovely Naleen. You smell as sweet and exciting as a dream-flower."
"And you have made me forget my grief, my dear and tender Al lover."
"Have you really forgotten, Naleen, or has the horror merely been pushed aside? Could you ever return to the Na city, for example?"
She was sharp enough to detect something in his tone.
"Why
why do you ask me that, Krek?" she asked, carefully. Her antennae touched his face and her huge eyes locked on his as though to read the answer there.
"I will be honest with you, Naleen. I am in deep trouble and I need your help."
The tips of her antennae went cold but she remained silent, waiting for his move.
"I have discovered a conspiracy to kill some members of the royal family", he lied smoothly. "I cannot report it because I believe that some of those involved are members of the Supreme Council
or, maybe, they are members of the royal family also. I could easily turn to the wrong citizen
then I would be killed too."
Naleen felt suddenly colder and her mind numbed. Was her newly-restored happiness to be snatched away so soon?
"But
it cannot be the senior royal
Altressanda?
surely. She already has the power."
"Of course it could, my love. She may be frightened that some-ant is plotting to take over and so has conspired to wipe out the others. I have no way of finding out." He seemed genuinely desperate. Naleen's mind completed the circle.
"But, how can I help? Why do you ask about returning to the Na city?" she puzzled.
Alkrek waited a few moments before replying
and it seemed like an eternity to the listening Algreth.
"The only way I can stop it is to kill those conspirators that I know of
And, the only way I can kill so many is by using a
" slight hesitation, "
poison." He paused again as though not wishing to hurt Naleen. "You can get some for me by returning."
Naleen felt completely dazed. Her mind whirled at what he had proposed. She could see no other way
unless
"Could we not go together to a new city? Start again. Forget Al problems?" she pleaded, gently but desperately.
"Naleen, my sweetness! I could not allow this to happen. And
don't you see?
This could solve all our problems. If I succeed
with your help
you will be welcomed into the Al community. We can live in the same city together."
The problem of there being some conspirators left alive did not seem to occur to Naleen at this time. She was a courageous young female and he knew what her answer would be.
"I will get you the poison", she said softly.
top
* * *
Algreth had moved away from the couple but not to return immediately to the city. He speculated on the possible truth of what he had heard. It could be true: Alkrek was certainly in the right position in the community to hear about royal intrigues, he thought. There was no evidence to the contrary
but
somehow Algreth knew he had been listening to an elaborate lie. Yet, if there was no truth in what he had heard, what did Alkrek want the poison for?
The idea came to Algreth quite suddenly. He could not allow Naleen to return to that terrible, dead city, which he knew would be waiting for her. He had moved off in a direction that he calculated would intercept her path.
The confrontation between the two had been worse than he had imagined it would be. A bitter wrangle had developed but, somewhere in the middle of their heated argument it had dawned on Algreth that he loved this dark-skinned female. She was determined to save her lover, though, and at one stage she had brought her forelegs up into the fighting position. He was just as determined to prevent that return to her former home
somehow
So, contrary to his own firm, moral code, he told one of the very few major lies of his life.
"Don't risk a fight with me", he warned. "If you really want to save Alkrek, listen to me."
He was relieved when she relaxed. Wanting her love, he would settle for her trust.
"I am a scientist, Naleen. We have some of the poison in our science chambers. I can easily get some for you. There is no need to return home."
Although she did not instantly trust the big scientist, she recognised the sincerity in his voice. She visibly became more relaxed and she paused to think over the situation and his offer.
"Why were you watching us; listening and spying?", she asked quietly.
"I am not one of the conspirators, if that is what you're thinking", replied Algreth. "My work often takes me into the outer territories. It was a chance meeting, that is all."
"But you saw everything?"
"Yes", he said simply.
There was a period of waiting while Naleen thought out what she must do. She struggled to reach a decision.
"What do you advise, then", she asked.
Algreth had thought out a reply
if not what he, himself, should do.
"Stay at your hideout, Naleen. Stay there", he repeated urgently. "Trust me. Next brightness-period I will bring the poison to you. I will make sure I get to you before Alkrek."
After further thought, Naleen agreed to his proposal and Algreth, with some reluctance, left her. The situation was so complex; the truths and untruths and known and unknown facts so intertwined that he badly needed time to think out his best plan of action. All this was way beyond his usual comforting scientific-astronomer work. He had climbed halfway up the cliff on his way back to the city to pause and reflect.
If he was to get the poison, he had the choice of making the long trek to the Na city or getting it from his own colleagues as he had said he would. The latter course meant stealing some, for he could not think of any excuse that would persuade his analyst colleagues to give him sufficient for his needs. But this was the course he decided to take.
Consequently, the next day saw Algreth await his opportunity on the surface where he could observe the scientists come up for their leaf experiments. He knew that this would leave the science-chambers at their lowest staffing levels and would afford him his best chance. He had ruled out a night-time action as too risky.
It was well into the day before Algreth decided it was time for action. Now was when he must attempt the theft. He had spent some time watching with professional interest his fellow-scientists. He moved towards the city.
Approaching the main entrance he noticed, with some surprise, an unusual amount of activity. He sensed too the pungent aroma of alarm scents and these stimulated his mind and body just as nature had so programmed them. Thus it was that he ran the final slab-length to tunnel mouth three.
He almost forgot to give the pass-call but, while he was being checked he noted that there were four guards on duty he asked what had happened.
"Everything", the police-fighter said, brusquely. "Altressanda and four other royals have been killed
poisoned, they say."
"But there is worse", a colleague chipped in. "Algar-si was killed in combat. A large eight-leg was found dead nearby."
"Good old Alg", said a third. "She could be guaranteed to die at a high price."
Algreth was eager to get below but most of the dreadful news seemed to be known by these four so, he dallied.
"Who is your new commander, then", he asked.
"Too early to say", said the first guard, turning away to do another check.
"The second volunteered her opinion. "It should be Alreegar. She is Algar-Si's best lieutenant. But, who knows until the new Council has met?"
The new Council, thought Algreth. Yes, it would be a new Council
with a new royal leader and, soon, a new military chief.
"Who is the new queen
or, should I say, surviving queen?" asked the astronomer.
"We think it is Alpassanda
there are so many rumours. They even say a royal lover, Alkrek, was caught and killed."
Algreth was stunned by this final piece of information. He turned away from the guards in his confusion and hurried deeper into the city. His route to the science section for it was there that he hoped calm and the truth would be found took him briefly through the crowded passages of part of the inner city. It seemed even more crowded than usual. Small groups blocked the corridors, talking and gesticulating wildly with their antennae. He stumbled past them and, suddenly, cannoned into a dead ant. Other ants around seemed totally unconcerned, yet this was a police-fighter. Body fluids had run from several severe wounds. Algreth hurried on, passing yet another body. Of course, he remembered, they patrol in pairs now. His mind had so much to consider, it whirled, hurting his head.
In the science chambers his colleagues stood in small groups also but there was much more room here. He soon learned the full details of all that had transpired since he had left the city. It was almost as though the Gods had been waiting for him to leave!
* * *
The guards now six in number seemed suspicious when he left the city again. They had no authority to stop him, however
or to take any action other than their routine checks. He had been tempted to leave by another exit.
The blue cover, which the Gods had placed over the universe for several brightness-periods, was beginning to alter. Algreth noticed that the brightness had dimmed and that the cover now had dark-grey smudges. Near the end of the slabs he easily picked up a powerful, distinctive aroma. It was familiar to him, abhorred by him
and his pace quickened in fear.
As he expected, the jungle of grasses had changed. The grass-eater had been. Stalks and leaves lay scattered everywhere and it was their exposed juices which had caused the aroma. It mingled with another more evil and poisonous smell, choking but thinning in the slight breeze. Was this to be another catastrophe, the worst of all, he thought as he pushed through the debris. Naleen could have been crushed!
To a feeling of intense relief which almost caused him to float off the ground, he found her still beneath the broad leaf, perfectly safe. He wanted to place his antennae on her head but he sensed that he must not.
"I was warned that this might happen", she said. "It was pretty terrifying for a while."
How could she be so calm, he wondered
and suddenly noticed the flattened leaf next to her shelter, almost torn from its stem. Gods! That was a close thing, he thought.
"There have been worse things happening in my city", he said tightly. He was not looking forward to giving Naleen that part of the news which he knew would drain away all her rediscovered happiness. Her life seemed so unfairly filled with grief these brightness-periods. Did the Gods have to continue her punishment, he thought.
There was no easy way
. "Naleen", he said gently, "Alkrek has been killed."
It was just as he knew it would be. Her antennae drooped forward lifelessly; her legs allowed her body to sag until her gaster rested on the ground; her many-faceted eyes seem to dull into two big opaque orbs. She barely seemed to be listening as he told her what he had discovered. He had wondered if she would suspect him of killing Alkrek, although she could not know of his jealousy and dislike of her lover, but she did not seem interested in motives, blame or, indeed, anything else beyond his first statement.
An ant cannot cry or sob out its grief. It shows this feeling simply by standing motionless for several minutes with its drooping antennae virtually 'switched off'. Both Algreth and Naleen expressed this emotion now, together.
Without any distinct plan, they both eventually moved away from the mangled grasslands. They walked slowly and neither spoke.
.
top
Chapter 11. Chaos!
Once again the early-brightness showed a blue cover above the Al city. The Supreme Council was already at its business but, for once, breeding information by the queen was not first on the agenda. This had been brushed aside by the events that had recently occurred. Several ants had already reached a state of barely suppressed anger.
"But, Alpassanda, we must appoint the new Commander-in-Chief immediately." Even the usual introduction was dispensed with by the speaker. Alpassanda kept her voice steady and authoritative.
"We must interview those qualified for the position and decide who we, members of the Council, think is best suited. Algar-Si will not be easy to replace."
"Algar-Si had a senior lieutenant
Alreegar. What is wrong with her?"
"There are several good lieutenants. We must choose the best."
"But
We must not delay." There was a buzz of agreement. "There have already been several killings. The Brell are in turmoil. Without a firm lead from the top, the situation could easily get out of control."
"Rubbish!" Alpassanda was beginning to show her annoyance. Her reign should not have to begin with these wrangles.
"The fighters are well organised; they know their duties
and they have fine lieutenants to give them orders. The army will not fall apart in one brightness-period."
* * *
But Alpassanda was wrong. Already there was a conflict of wills at entrance three. Two lieutenants faced each other, behind each one a large group of fighters. The younger officer was speaking.
"We cannot neglect the border regions simply because the Brell are restless. There could be a Cel invasion any brightness-period."
"I tell you, we have lost more than twenty fighters in the inner city. While you are guarding against possibilities, the fighting has already started. We probably have more potential enemies in the Brell than the whole Cel army."
"Well, I am taking my squad to the Cel boder."
The other turned back into the city, fuming.
* * *
Long before mid-brightness-period the Council had broken up because of the reports being brought into the Chamber. These told of fighting in the passageways; disruption of routine services; and vandalism in the breeding and science chambers. Food had been looted and several process workers killed.
Bo was in the centre of a Brell army that was sweeping triumphantly through the complex of tunnels and chambers. It would have been impossible to get to her in the narrow tunnels of the inner city. She was rapidly gaining control over this whole area and had instructed several small units to penetrate the outer and deep-city chambers and to kill any non-Brell leaders. She also despatched a special 'snatch unit' to seize Alpassanda whom she needed as her mouthpiece. Few ants disobeyed royal orders.
* * *
Alreegar had learned a lot from Algar-si. One of these battle strategies was to make sure you are not trapped between enemy forces. So, now she led a hundred or so fighters to the surface. She was not going to be caught between the Brell and any rival army faction. Another lieutenant, who was loyal to her, accompanied her as she led her division upwards.
She had almost reached the surface when she met the smaller party returning to fight the Brell. The lieutenant leading this unit did not like Alreegar. She chose to see her strategic move as an act of desertion
but did not realise just how big Alreegar's force was. A running battle ensued and, as usual with ants, there was no quarter given. When Alreegar finally emerged into the brightness, she had lost her loyal lieutenant and over thirty fighters. Most of these were veterans she could ill-afford to lose.
A further surface battle was to be fought later, for, as her forces scouted the vicinity of the city, they met the tired, edgy, relieved patrol from the Cel border. Their young leader was not in a mood to be told by one of Alreegar's juniors Alreegar herself was out of range to stand at the alert
and battle number two began.
Although Alreegar and the remnants of her division soon hurried to the alarm scents and the stinging spray of venom droplets, she lost more fighters. She was learning, though, and resolved to keep her forces in a tighter group but with just a few outlying scouts.
Suddenly, she was stricken with horror: despite her sensible strategy she realised she had made an appalling, unheard-of blunder. Her legs almost buckled as the full significance of her actions came home. She was not there to beat the Brell
or, simply to ensure her army survived. She had only one priority in a crisis like this and she had totally forgotten about it
. To save the eggs and larvae! Without these there was no future worth fighting for and no point in anything else she was trying to do.
Alreegar came to a rapid decision. She called over a veteran she had had her eye on for some time.
"You will take half the force, Alpimigar, and wait here for my return. Do not get involved in any battles if you can help it." If an ant could blush she would have done so at her next words, which were nothing more than a face-saving lie. "Now that we have secured the surface area, we can bring up the eggs safely." She hastened past this falsehood. "I will take the other half of our force to bring up the eggs and larvae to safety."
She turned away, separating out about fifty smaller fighters. These would be more able to manoeuvre in the narrow passages.
As she hurried back to Entrance Three, Alreegar said to the scarred fighter at her side who was still oozing body-fluids from a slashed thorax, "I do not think the Gods can do any more to us this
brightness-period."
She was to be proved so utterly wrong.
* * *
The small contingent of fighters guarding the breeding chambers had already started to assist the workers there to carry the eggs up to a higher level. They seized eggs and larvae at approximately mid-point and lifted them, mighty bands of muscles straining under their rigid cuticles. Staggering slightly under their loads and scraping the shiny, waxed skins of the larvae against the rough tunnel walls, they began the huge clearance task
Long before it could be completed, a savage band of Brell ants entered the chambers and many fighters were killed or mortally wounded before they could release their loads to defend themselves. The Brell gleefully engaged in an orgy of murderous destruction then, with several of their number stopping only to suck out the tasty contents of some of the abandoned eggs.
* * *
The scientists rushed about trying to save their samples. They were thinkers more than doers, though, and wasted much time in discussing and pondering the dilemma of what to do and where to go. Many had the natural urge to go to the breeding chambers where they knew every bit of help would be required.
Too late: another Brell army piled into the section and claw-to-claw fighting broke out. The scientists, mostly big males, gave a good account of themselves and several
survived the first wave of fighting to be able to retreat to the surface before Brell reinforcements arrived.
* * *
The Information section and most of the politicians had got out early. They had first headed towards the breeding chambers and many reached the top layer of passageways clutching an egg as a prize. They should have been rewarded for their prompt actions by being numbered among the survivors but they were to die a horrible and unexpected death.
* * *
The fate of the priests varied not on their merits but on their luck. The Brell citizens were divided in their actions towards these holy ants, as they were in most things in their poor lives. Some were numbed by the sudden violent happenings and some abhorred what was taking place and stood back from it. Where priests found themselves in such company, they were safe.
Other Brell groups released their pent-up frustrations and hatreds in an explosion of fierce destruction, both of tunnels and the lives of those they found in them. Some just fought each other, blind to any sort of purpose or any sort of reasoning.
The total of dead and badly injured steadily mounted and it included refuse-carrying workers who had been going about their business, priests, tunnel-diggers, larvae-nurses, police-fighters, other off-duty fighters, disabled aliens (both ants and beetles), and many others. No class was safe
although the uprising had started almost as a class war.
The pungent aroma of toxin spray; the sharp smells of alarm and battle scents; the cloying scent released when a stricken ant is dying; the foul smells of body-fluids and half-digested food not to mention excreta. All these mingled in the partially blocked network of tunnels like a backdrop to hell.
To Bo and her hard-liners, this stench brought the elation of success. They fought their way slowly upwards out of the inner city passages and recesses that had been their home, pushing aside corpses and the groaning-wounded. At the uppermost level, with only the flatness of the holy Slabs above their heads, they milled around Bo.
She felt her long heart pulsing with the excitement of battle and of success. This was her finest moment!
* * *
Very few of the survivors were aware of any of the sounds or happenings outside the limited range of their eyes, for their antennae were not tuned for distant events but only for the immediacy of the battle area. Indeed, many antennae were folded back into the fighting position. Just one or two ants became aware of an approaching thumping sound along the slabs. None seemed to realise that an animal presence was hovering over the city. Few paid any heed to the sound waves that beat down on their disrupted colony, for they could not understand the meaning of the sounds anyway. It was just some sort of sign.
"I've been meaning to re-lay some of these slabs for ages, Mary. Nothing annoys me more than a rocking slab."
"Mind your back, Joe. You were off work for a week before, after you laid the patio."
"I'm all right
. Heavens! Look at these ants
millions of them. Nip and get a kettle of boiling water, there's a love, while I lift off a few more slabs. Look at them; running around in circles in a panic."
A few grunts came next as the slab directly covering four of the five entrance tunnels and the main upper tunnel complex was lifted off. Several ants were immediately squashed and others pushed about as the sandy soil was disturbed. The kettle arrived.
"Watch this!
. There, my little friends. That's sorted this particular nest out, Mary. I can get on now."
* * *
All the ants exposed died instantly as the fierce shock of the boiling water hit their tiny bodies. Bo and her group of revolutionaries all died. So did the successful band of egg and larvae carriers, which included the Chief Officer of Information and the Superintendent of Breeding who had left the Supreme Council when it broke up in disarray. The death toll also included several of Algreth's friends, Altiasco and Alpreth, who had hatched with him. Alco from Information died
and many more.
Several ants who had almost reached the top section were hit by a wave of nearly-boiling mud which raced to fill in all the passageways: among these were the elder High Priest and the senior worker's leader. The five-legged Tez died there too in the unfamiliar upper stratum.
The liquid soon dissolved into the dryish soil and soon lost most of its heat. The survivors in the lower sections ceased their fighting as though at a signal and began to dig their way out, for, although there was enough air to sustain them for quite some time, it was heavily polluted.
These survivors included Alpassanda, who now reigned over a population of barely three hundred. Worse for the future success of this reign, was the loss of key workers and the devastation caused to the eggs and larvae. Food would be no problem as the corpses could easily supply the needs of the reduced populace. The new queen had retired sulkily to her chamber and was safe at this depth.
Before the darkness-period came, a sort of order was restored. The slabs were back in place; a small section of passages had been re-opened and connected to a single entrance; and Alpassanda was issuing her first royal commands. The police-fighters were gradually re-establishing their control, too. Everywhere workers laboured unstintingly, though their jaws ached from dragging away corpses and biting out chunks of soil from the blocked passages. But many section heads had perished or were missing. One of the latter number was Alreegar.
* * *
The band of fighters returning to safeguard the eggs and headed by Alreegar were flung over a wide area as the slabs were lifted but she and a companion were catapulted even further by a quirk of fate. Hopelessly separated from the rest of the unit, they found themselves on a strange, smooth, God-made skin similar to that holding the forever-water they had actually dropped onto an empty plastic bag that had held a quantity of sand.
The bag was suddenly lifted and flipped to throw out the remnants of sand and away sailed Alreegar, to land alone, shocked, dizzy, but otherwise unhurt. She remained disorientated for a little while then, as her senses gradually returned, she headed slowly in what she hoped was the direction of the Al city.
This outlying region of Al territory was known to her and she recalled the dangers it contained. Several colossal hard-stemmed plants grew here, casting their dark shadows over a wide area. These were patrolled by an alien race of ants and many Al foragers and fighters had explored here, never to return. Alreegar moved ever more stealthily through the sombre shadows as she remembered this. She had packed more adventures into this one brightness-period than into any single season and she felt tired and older and she was beginning to feel irritable too. She longed to relax and have soil particles combed from her body and to have new waxes applied. Above all, she felt the loss of her former commander, Algar-si.
She realised now, from bitter experience, just how heavy a burden leadership could be. Her head felt as though it would burst but it churned over and over again the recent terrible events. She wondered whether the Gods had set all these in motion to punish everyant for the death of Algar-Si.
* * *
It was Algreth who first saw her but Alreegar picked up the familiar al scent almost immediately. The trio examined each other warily, for Naleen was not too sure of her future now, either. A lengthy period of explanations should have followed but, the Gods had a last surprise in store
..
Something silvery dipped into the soil they were standing on and all three together with a heap of soil particles were tumbled into a container, though they did not recognise it as such, of course. They only knew that their environment now had a hard, unyielding, hazy wall around it whichever way they turned. They became aware that pressed against the outside of this translucent wall were large pinky-white things. They also had an unpleasant sensation of movement caused by constant changes of acceleration and deceleration.
Then, above them, unfathomable sound-waves boomed.
"Geraldine! I am not having those ants in this house."
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Chapter 12. The House of Gods.
Sunday was always a lazy day for the Parkinsons, especially for Dad. Geraldine was awake first and she rolled over and stared at the three captives in the glass jar by her bed. She had had a battle with her mother about being allowed to keep them and she had had to bend the truth slightly as only girls or boys in their early teens can. But she had won although Mum had been a hard nut to crack.
She had fully expected the parental reaction if caught, but Geraldine had hoped to get her specimens safely into her bedroom (her sanctuary!) without being spotted. Just my luck to run into Mum as soon as I step into the house, she had thought. Geraldine sometimes saw her mother as a spider, waiting for some unsuspecting child to fly into her web.
'What's that? A note from school?' or, 'What are you hiding there, Geraldine?' were questions asked with surprising frequency
and often with good cause. How did her mother always manage to be there at the wrong time? Her younger brother, Mark, was just as unlucky.
"But, Mum; I have to do ants for my Biol homework", she had lied trying to infuse sincerity and a wheedling note into her voice. She wasn't due to start the project's practical work until next term but, on an impulse, she had made a start by taking a spoon and a jar into the garden. She had not realised how involved her father was with the tiny species at that very time
but, seeing him lift some slabs, she kept clear of him as she usually did when he was involved in heavy work, for his temper was then on its shortest fuse.
Her mind had been, somewhat to her surprise, unexpectedly stimulated when she had watched a video about ants. Of course, she had seen the cartoon film about ants, but that was different. They were astonishingly organised creatures with a depth of society she had not even dreamed about.
"It has taken us ages to get rid of those near to the door, without bringing in another lot." Her mother had appeared quite firm.
"These can't get out, Mum. Look! There's only three and they are quite safe
I promise to let them go tomorrow."
She had won a rare victory.
Now she used a magnifying glass to study them. She was surprised how different they were. One was almost black and the two reddish ones were odd sizes. The video had mentioned nothing about different types of ants mixing together. She studied each of their bodies carefully for she wanted to identify the two, possibly three, types of ant in the jar from a book she had borrowed with the video. They plodded steadily around the base of the jar, searching for the exit that wasn't there.
Eventually, thoughts of toast and orange juice leaked into her mind dispelling her curiosity. She put down the magnifying glass and sprang off the bed with the energy of youth.
* * *
It was much later in the morning when she joined her father in the lounge. Her mother was preparing the Sunday meal in the kitchen and Mark was playing with his friends somewhere in the village. Geraldine covertly watched her father for several minutes. He was reading the newspaper for the second time with Rufus, their spaniel, at his feet.
"You are lazy, Dad. You never do any work on Sunday mornings", she said with a cheeky grin.
"Six days shall thou labour", he muttered. Then he looked up. "This is when I recover from all the other jobs I've been doing during the week
those that you often promise to help me with but never do."
"I can't lift slabs, Dad."
"No, but you could have mowed the lawn for me on Thursday and saved me one job."
Geraldine wrinkled her nose and pulled down the sides of mouth while she thought.
"Does Mum know about this labouring for only six days?"
He swiftly and wisely changed the subject. He already had his daughter's career pencilled in as a defence barrister. "Anyway, young lady; to change the subject
Mum's not very pleased with you
"
Geraldine grimaced. "I know. It's the ants I brought in. Dad! They're such fantastic creatures. People don't realise just how clever they are
and how well organised. They are great fighters, too, and they take over everywhere they go."
"Sounds like a load of Millwall supporters to me! Deena, those things have been on earth longer than mankind, that much I know
and it hasn't got them very far, has it?"
"Well, I think they will outlast us
and achieve more in the end. They are probably much slower at evolving and just need more time."
"I know
the old biological clock. We came on Earth at one minute to the hour
"
"And the way we are going, Dad, we won't be here to see ten seconds past the hour. The ants will. Maybe they will even be the ones to find out how the clock works
. Don't you laugh."
When he had stopped sniggering, her father pushed away his papers. "Go on, then: fetch them in here. I know you are dying to tell me all about them."
* * *
"I think the red ones are some kind of Formica
"
"I thought that was what people put on kitchen worktops."
"Listen to me, Dad!"
"Go on then
Continue with the biology lesson."
"That sort of ant squirts acid when they fight. The small red one is probably a male", Geraldine had guessed wrongly "There aren't many males: most of them die after mating. The ants have got one thing right, Dad
they are a female-led society."
"That is why they are taking so long to evolve, then."
"Da-ad! You are a one-hundred percent MCP."
"What sort is the little black one, then?"
"Well
It could be Lasius Niger, I think. There are so many different species. It will take me ages to learn them all. I don't know what its doing with the red ones, though. They don't usually mix."
"Ah! Mary. Come to se Geraldine's ants?"
Mrs Parkinson, who had just entered the lounge, screwed up her face at the mention of ants. "No I haven't
And it's dinner-time now so, you can take the horrible, creepy-crawly things away, Geraldine
then see if you can find Mark, quickly, please. He's always out playing when it's meal time!"
"He's probably round at the bungalow they're building next door, Mum. He loves to play in the piles of sand. Serve him right if the people who are going to live there catch him."
"It is not 'they' or 'people', corrected her father. "It is a young man. I believe he is a teacher, actually."
Mrs Parkinson was more worried about getting the dinner served up at that moment than the new neighbour. She ushered her daughter out after the errant son and advised her husband to sharpen the carving knife.
"There you are, Deena!" he said. "We are just like the ants
female led. The Queen has just come and given her orders."
Geraldine and her father laughed.
* * *
In the middle of the afternoon, thunder clouds began to pile up on the horizon. It was nearly time for the ants to be released but Geraldine had not quite decided where to put them. She had learned with horror about the boiling water episode. 'I just thought you were mixing something to do with the slabs', she had said, her normally placid features pouting and twisting with displeasure. She was not appeased when her father explained that more poison could not be put down as his holiday was almost over and Rufus might eat some, and, in any case, he needed a 'quick fix' solution so he could get on with his job. It's a quick way to die, he had pleaded. With her new-found affinity for ants, Geraldine found any more killing
by any method to be cruel and unnecessary. When the poison had first been laid, she had condoned that because the black ants were getting into the house
and, she didn't know then what she knew now.
Soberly almost sadly she stared at the occupants of the jar and wondered if they had eaten any of the food she had put in with them
sugar, crumbs of cheese and some scrapings from the tinned meat which Rufus ate. She knew now, too, about their mouth pouches where some food may well have been stored.
"Just think, little ants", she said solemnly to the jar. "You could be the ones to help me get my O-levels."
She walked down the garden path and crossed the lawn with her jar swinging by her side. The sky was dark and still; the fine spell all but ended. An hour later and torrential rain would soak the parched surface of the garden.
"If Dad killed all your friends, I'd better find a new home for you", she whispered to the jar.
She stopped suddenly and stared at the bungalow next door which was now nearing completion. The garden was a bit of a mess, with hard-baked rutted tracks, mounds of sand, and rubbish heaps of broken bricks and splintered wood. She moved closer to the boundary fence and stared over it thoughtfully. Just one big tree stood alone, its branches reaching almost to the spot where she stood, but there was also a jungle of long grasses and wild flowers, many already going to seed. If I was ant, she mused, I wouldn't mind setting up home in a new garden like that. It looked interesting.
Carefully she tipped the jar, encouraging the ants to walk down and out onto the top of the fence.
"There you are", she said. "You choose. You can either come back into our garden or go into that one."
She stood back and watched.
The three ants seemed to spend ages on top of the dry wooden, fence boards. Then, suddenly, they disappeared from view.
They had chosen a new life.
End of the Book of the Old World.
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