Tower And The Hive Part 1

Anne McCaffrey.

The Tower And The Hive.

I have excellent reason to he particularly grateful to four experts in writing this conclusion of the Talent (aka The Tower and the Hive) series. Dr. Jack Cohen of the University of Warwick and I discussed how I could solve the problem of colonizing Hivers. So I had a structure to begin with. I was dumbfounded to discover that my dictionary had only five lines about the very complex subject of pheromones. The Web came to my a.s.sistance and I asked for help, which was quick m coming from Jonathan Brecher and Louis Culot of CambridgeSoft on their special expertise, both as generalists and for specific knowledge about pheromones. We had some lively E-mail exchanges, since Jonathan knew of Lyon's Pride when I approached him for a.s.sistance. His colleague Louis Culot supplied additional details. I wish also to thank Bibb Graves from Hewlett Packard Houston for a description of gas chromatographs, which register the strength and composition of pheromones. We extrapolated - as is the function of science fiction - that the future would miniaturize what are actually large and c.u.mbersome instruments. But then most current gas chromatographs (GCs) have altered considerably from their original forms, and no doubt will have altered even more by the time of The Tower and the Hive.

I am also grateful to my readers - Mary Jean Holmes, Lea Day and my daughter, Georgeannc Kennedy - who try to spot any inconsistencies, typos and grammar problems which might occur in the fifth of a series that was first started in 1990. I am indebted to my editor, Susan Allison, and her staff of copyeditors, for their valuable comments and a.s.sistance overall.

When an unknown enemy threatened all Human life on Deneb, Jeff Raven shouted - telephathically - for help and reached the Rowan,1 the lonely Lady in the Tower at the Calhsto Tower of Federated Teleport and Telepath (FT&T). With her help as Callisto Prime Talent, Jeli freed his planet of invasion. He also became the next Earth Prime.

The Rowan and Jeff Raven had five children. The precocious Damia, the second daughter of their marriage, emerges as a Prime Talent too, and is sent to occupy the Tower at lota Aungae's new mining planet." There she encounters an intelligence on a distance s.p.a.ceship, known as Sodan. He tries to lure her into giving him directions to her planet. Her family become suspicious of her enchantment with this "mind" and send her brothers Larak and Afra to divert her. In the ensuing meeting of minds, Larak is killed by a brutal telepathic bolt from Sodan, who is only a mind. Damia and Afra are seriously injured too. While recuperating on Deneb, Damia and Afra are contacted by the "dreams" of the Mrdini. An alien race, they have been fighting the dread spheres of the Hiver queens, who were the invaders which Jeff and the Rowan had thwarted.

The Mrdini are exceedingly impressed by the fact that Deneb was able to defeat the attacking Hiver sphere without loss of life. They have been fighting the Hivers for two centuries and only suicide squadrons are able to penetrate and destroy the spheres.

In order to cement relations between the two species, Mrdini young are placed with Human young and grow up learning each other's language and culture. Damia's children* starting with young Lana, each have a pair of Mrdini young.

When Laria reaches sixteen years of age, she is sent to Clarf, one of the five Mrdini worlds. On Clarf, Laria teaches Haste to Mrdinis and learns their "adult" language, accompanied by her two 'Dims, Tip and Hut. At eighteen, she takes over as KT&T Prime at Clarf Tower as the Star League Alliance of Human and Mrdini continues to track down or resist the Hiver incursions.

Then three Hiver spheres penetrate League s.p.a.ce and three pursuit squadrons of mixed Human and Mrdini ships are sent after each of the Hiver ships, to track them to their separate destinations. Another group is sent to trace their ion trails back to their planet of origin. In order to continue these searches most effectively, FT&T is asked to supply the flagship of each group with a Prime, or sufficient lesser Talents, to keep m touch with the League Rase and to "receive" additional supplies of food and material on what could be long voyages.

Young Thian Raven, Laria s brother, is sent to the I*2z<*zm, under="" the="" command="" of="" captain="" ashiant,="" as="" he="" and="" the="" ships="" backtrack="" the="" fleeing="" hiver="" spheres.="" thian="" himself="" comes="" under="" threat="" when="" the="" nova-blasted,="" derelict="" great="" sphere="" of="" the="" hivers="" is="" found="" in="" s.p.a.ce.="" a="" jealous="" latent="" talent="" attacks="" him="" while="" he="" is="" part="" of="" a="" team="" exploring="" the="" dead="" sphere,="" and="" he="" is="" nearly="" killed.="" damia="" a.s.sists="" him="" in="" identifying="" his="">

Meanwhile one of the queens fleeing the Great Sphere has been captured and is incarcerated in an unused facility on Heinlein Moon Rase, where she can he studied from a viewing station carefully placed safely out of her reach in her "prison." Mrdini and Humans alike await her exit from the pod. Attempts to contact the huge, mantis!ike queen are futile, as she does not recognize any other species. All hopes to establish negotiations and thus curtail Hiver incursions in the Star League are thwarted.

The Mrdini are not convinced that the nova which had devastated the Great Sphere has destroyed the Hivcr homework! and wish to have proof. Thiun, bravely recovering from the attack, agrees to accompany the Mrdmi ship the AJATL in its Search, thus making sure of supplies and contact during what is possibly a yearlong trek. Hy doing so, he will prevent any young Mrdinis from "going on the line"-a Mrdini euphemism for self-sacrifice to feed their crewmates.

The League decides to try to salvage what they can of the Great Sphere to learn more about Hiver s.p.a.ce engineering.

Afra accompanies his second-born son, Rojer, to the Gf+fjff under Captain Etienne Osullivan, for special duty when a sphere is tracked to a Hiver-occupied system identified on Mrdini maps. Despite being of the same species, the sphere is fired upon from the planet and its queens are destroyed as they try to escape the bombardment of their ship in pods.

Back on Iota Aurigae, Zara Lyon, sister of Laria, Thian and Rojer, becomes quite upset about the condition of the queen in Heinlein Base and determines to a.s.sist the captive. She manage;, to sneak a ride to Earth's Moon. Her interference results in saving the life of the captive queen, who has been slowly freezing. Even before this incident, Damia and Afra have worried about Zara's potential as a Tower Prime. Jeff and Rowan Raven agree that Zara might be better suited to another profession and Zara is, with Elizara Reidinger, as a dedicated medical T-l.

Despite orders from the High Council to maintain a watching brief,"* a Mrdini ship's captain attempts to coerce Rojer into teleporting the ship's missiles to destroy Hiver settlements on Xh-j J. Rojer's two 'Dini friends, K.at and Gil, are killed defending him from the Mrdini captain. Rojer barely escapes with his life. His mother, Damia, arrives to succor him and removes him to his grandmother's quiet home on Deneb Five to recuperate from the loss of his dear friends."*

The Rowan, arriving on the (jfofjff in the Xh-jj system, helps Captain Rtienne Osullivan execute a daring plan to "steal" the refugee sphere, and to destroy the two Hiver vehicles in orbit about Xh-J S. She requires the a.s.sistance of Thian, returned from his post on the Mrdini ship, and HI a via, a T-l from the Rowan's native planet, Altai r. With the use of Talent, the sphere is purloined from the system and sent on its way to the League, thus giving the Alliance a relatively urn.lam-aged Hiver s.p.a.ceship for Mrdini and Human engineers to examine. Teleported explosives Mow up any chance tor the Xh-jj Hiver population to leave the surface. The smaller Hiver scout ships that emerge from an underground hangar to tight hack arc also destroyed. The Alliance sets up on one of the Xh-jj moons to monitor the surface. Once the intact sphere ship is moored off Phobos Moon Base, teams are set up to examine it in detail. This is best accomplished with the help of Talents. To avoid the aggravating "sting-pzzt" emanating from Hiver artifacts, the Talents control the exploration from a distance. Thian heads the team that includes the newest engineering graduate, his brother Rojcr, Flavia and other a.s.sorted Talents, including several latent ones (Lieutenant Commander Scmirame Kloo) who discover that they are bothered by the sting-pzzt emanations of Hiver artifacts. (Only Talents are affected by this phenomenon.) While the Talented team is able to search the intricate labyrinth of a Hiver ship, including the "bridge" apparently staffed by twelve queens, they are unable to power it up. The Talents decide that the only recourse is to teleport the Heinlcin Base queen mto the bridge and see how she activates the ship. Lver watchful of his grandchildren, )eff Raven, Earth Prime, approves of this ploy and comes along to he sure the queen does not escape. She shows the watching Primes the power-up sequence and is then deftly 'ported back to her prison.

Meanwhile, other squadrons are following a sphere designated Number Three, which seems uninterested in many likely M-? worlds that it pa.s.ses. These are briefly investigated by Talents, in one instance by T-2 Kincaid Dano, whose capacity is overtaxed by the scope of the mission. Before he can be burned out, either by his duties and by the unfortunate struggle for his attentions by officers on the ship, he is transferred to Laria's Tower on Clarf with his TJinis, Nil and Plus. He insists, despite his fatigue, on contacting Rarth Prime with a report that there arc more Hiver-occupicd worlds than previously suspected: Hivcrs now occupy four of the twenty likely planets he has probed.

He recommends that these worlds be examined by the League as possible colonial worlds to relieve the pressure on overpopulated Mrdini planets.

Consequently, while the main squadron under Captain Ashiant continues to follow the sphere so obviously headed in a special direction, another group, under the command of Captain Vestapia Soligen on the Columbia, is staffed to explore the four M-type worlds: Talavera, Waterloo, Marengo and Ciudad Rodrigo. Prime Talent Flavia, Zara Lyon and Lieutenant Rhodri Eagles, T-3 and incidentally cousin to the Lyon children, arc part of that contingent.

Suddenly more spheres are identified, some uncomfortably close to the Columbia while others speed to join or a.s.sist the Hiver that Captain Ashiant is tracking. This unexpected development suggests that the Hivers do have some form of communication. It would appear that this sphere is searching for a star as near to their homeworld's primary as possible. But what are the parameters? From records of earlier star maps in the general area of the nova, the signature of the primary, before it was destroyed by its primary, is verified. Thus the searchers are able to discover exactly what sort of primary the Hivers are looking for.

Following Number Three, the astrogators spot a primary with the requisite signature and Captain Ashiant engages some of the enemy spheres in a s.p.a.ce battle. At first the Human*Mrdini ships are overwhelmed, until Thian realizes that Talent can end the battle by tele-porting explosives to detonate the fuel tanks of the Hiver ships. As Talents are not supposed to engage in defensive, or offensive, maneuvers, there is some criticism of Thian's actions. However, the explosives do destroy the spheres. Captain Soligen's squadron, also being pursued by Hivers, is able to use this method too to destroy the spheres. In contrast to a direct confrontation, the Hivers do recognize other s.p.a.ceships as threats, so the Hivcrs are prevented from establishing a new home-world.

While that threat is eliminated, many more Hiver worlds have been located during the chase. All of them must he identified, and since the ethics or the Human*Mrdini Alliance do not include species genocide, how can the Hivers be prevented from following their cyclic behavior of overpopulating their planets and looking tor new worlds to inhabit? How can FT&T under Jeff Raven's capable management find enough suitable Talents to keep up with the ever-expanding demands for Primes?

By noon ot the clay after the destruction of the Number Three Hiver sphere, the newly promoted Admiral Ashiant was already giving orders to elements of his Fleet to implement the second phase of their five-year mission. They could now begin to identify and reconnoitre all Hiver-occupied worlds in this quadrant ot s.p.a.ce. They were to initiate in-depth probes ot such planets, disable any orbiting spheres and establish monitoring satellites to warn the Alliance of any further suspicious surface activity.

As the Viidim and KLTL were already within the system targeted by Number Three as possessing a primary similar to their original one, Admiral Ashiant ordered Captains Pat Shepherd and Prim to do a thorough environmental exploration of the viable planets in the M-S and M-6 positions.

"They might as well," Admiral Ashiant told his Captain, Ailsah Vandermeer, "since the chase to destroy the two remaining scouts has already taken them halfway there. Rather tar out to consider an immediate colonization of ihose worlds, but who knows how hist the Alliance will spread once the threat of Hivers is reduced? The Mrchni certainly need more s.p.a.ce."

"So they do," Ailsah agreed sympathetically.

"I suspect those habitable worlds closer in to our home systems, 'Dini and Human, will receive the first mandates. However"-and he slapped his desk top decisively-"no need for us to hang about. Captain Vandermeer, if you will please initiate a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn of the Washington, we'll begin the long journey home."

"Aye, sir," Vandermeer said, giving him a crisp salute and a wry grin. "It will, as you know, take us five full ship days to slow enough to execute the maneuver."

"Long enough for Shepherd and Prim to do their probes and be halfway back to us," Ashiant murmured.

"Should be an interesting cruise, sir."

"Indeed," Admiral Ashiant said, lightly fingering the circle of tiny stars that was bis new rank. Hastily withdrawing his hand, he cleared his throat.

"Anything else, sir?" Vandermeer asked, pretending not to see that gesture.

"No, Captain, that'll be all. Good day."

When news of those orders reached the Primes relaxing in the FT&T lounge, there was both excitement and regret.

"I wish one of us had been able to go with Captain Shepherd," said the recently promoted Lieutenant T-2 Clancy Sparrow in a wistful tone. "It'd be interesting to see what Hivers consider 'perfect worlds.' "

"They seem to have found sixteen planets near enough perfect to eliminate any other life-forms, including Deneb," Prime Talent Thian remarked in a droll tone. "And seemingly about one in five of other M-type worlds we marked on our way while pursuing Number Three."

He still couldn't believe that he and his fellow Talents had managed to defeat the Hiver sphere: a process in which, after the first skirmish, only the enemy had died. It had been inc.u.mbent on the Alliance- somehow-to keep the Hivers from establishing a new home system to replace the original world that had been consumed by their sun's nova. If Prime Talent Thian had thought of a way to reduce loss of life among Human and Mrdini, surely he should not be criticized for devising what was now known as the Genesec ploy. That fact that he was Talent was the point of dispute, for Talent should not be involved in combat, however tenuous the connection. The pacifist element of Humankind had been appalled and the FT&T organization had received considerable criticism, despite the success of the Genesee ploy. The success was almost irrelevant in the storm of display and rebuke. However, the ma-jority of the Alliance had been relieved that the problem had resulted in few losses. After all, the Prime Talents had only delivered what the Navy explosive experts had prepared. "Teleportation" was a main FT&T function. The explosive packages, carefully placed on the Hiver fuel tanks, had been actually detonated by naval personnel with the sanction of the High Council and on the orders of Admiral Ashiant, so the Talent involvement had been a quite legitimate duty.

The old argument about a gun not being dangerous until it is loaded and aimed at a target was revised and adjusted to the FT&T. So, as the delivery agent, like a gun delivering a bullet, were the Talents guilty because they had sent a lethal package where it could destroy the acknowledged enemy of the Alliance? Or were those who gave the command for the substance to explode the guilty ones? That the resultant combination of "Talents" and "naval specialists" had caused the enemy ships to disintegrate offered much fuel to the point where the satisfactory outcome was nearly irrelevant.

A good night's sleep had restored energy to the Primes and the rest of"their team on the Washington, ;incl they'd wound up the hist details of their controversial partic.i.p.ation in the hattle to their own satisfaction. They were definitely looking forward to the exploration phase of their current a.s.signment, studying the scanty probe reports of the first Hiver-occupied planet on the Fleet's return heading.

"Will we have to wait until the other ships rejoin the Fleet before we actually get to probe or land on the up-coming world?1' Clancy asked, [lacing up and down die lounge cabin.

"Don't see why we'd need to wait for Shepherd and Prim," Thian said. He was himself beginning to get restless, though the respite from frantic activity and precision teleportations had been welcome.

"Don't see why not if we get there first," Clancy said.

"Speaking of getting a*zyw*fnr, just when do I get transferred to the Columbia-" asked Prime Rojer, c.o.c.king his head and making his urgency plain to his older brother and team leader. "That was the deal for me, remember? I help demolish the Hiver spheres and then 1 get transferred to the Columbia-"

"And Cousin Asia," Clancy put in, his expression carefully bland. Rojer shot him a dire look that Clancy ignored.

"When you've helped me reprovision this squadron," Thian answered, linking his fingers behind his head as he leaned back and stretched out his long legs.

"Then you don't think the conservatives are going to insist that FT&T stop a.s.sisting the Fleet?" Roj asked.

Clancy's scoffing laugh echoed Thian's dismissal of that possibility.

"Look, bro," Thian said, sitting forward, elbows on his knees. "The FT&T was very carefully," and he emphasized the syllables, "nurtured as an autonomous public service-"

"And who can argue that getting rid of an implacable enemy isn't a public service3" Clancy put in.

"Back in the twenty-first century, when Henry Darrow was the manager of our budding organization, he determined to split it from any political group and to remain legally separate from any governmental agency until harth became a united world. His successors stu- diously kept FT&T apolitical and also made certain that the facilities of the Towers were on a iirst-corne-first-serve basis. It's impossible to bribe a Talent, remember, not with Primes who can 'read'anyone's mind. The guilty always give themselves away anyhow." He grinned. "Of course, the present emergency with the greedy Hivcrs required FT&T to do a lot of kinetic transfers that would make the founders of our elite band spin in their graves. Nevertheless, it is still in our precious Charter that we Talents are required to teleporta lot of people and things that are repellent to our sensitive souls, though not illegal. Meanwhile we preserve the ent.i.ty and integrity of FT&T . . ."

"And suborn Primes whenever they could be found . . ." Clancy added. "Like your grandmother on Altair."

"Granddad was the one who was really suborned. He had had no intention of leaving Deneb . . . before he met Grandmother." Thian's grin was broad. "Had the Hiversbut known they had met their match in Jeff Raven and Angharad Gwyn aka the Rowan as partners, they might have quit while they were ahead."

"Not while there were Hiver queens needing planets to colonize," Clancy put in.

"And that, of course, brought the entire FT&T organization in at the time of the Deneb Penetration with the Rowan as the focus for the Mind Merge that helped Jeff Raven dispatch the Hiver scouts trying to depopulate his homework!," said Roger.

"And why the Mrdinis decided to ask us, through Mother and Dad, to join forces and defeat the Hivers," Thian said, ".since we could take out a Hiver sphere without having to resort to suicide missions." He leaned back again, pleased with his summation of the events leading up to recent developments: denying the Hivers a new base from which to continue their unique form of colonization.

"I wonder how many of the bleeding hearts and conservatives have bothered to see the Hiver queen at Heinlein Base," Rojer said. "The sight of her would be instructive."

"We could ask Cousin Roddie Eagles." Thian gave his brother another slv look.

Rojer's anxiety to get to the Columbia had much to do with his courtship of Roddie's youngest sister, Asia, an engineer as well as a T-4. Initially the Columbia, flagship of Squadron B's five ships, had been sent to examine four M-type planets that had been used, and abused, by the Hivers, one-named Marengo-being on the verge of total ecological disaster. The ma.s.sive effort initiated to save the world was well under way and some encouraging succession of hardy gras-soids had already been triumphantly broadcast. Ruins of Hiver occupations were evident on two of the other planets, Waterloo and Talavera, while the fourth, Ciudad Rodrigo, seemed to have an active Hiver colony.

"I should be aboard the Columbia. Now. Not still stuck here."

"Don't fret so, Roj," Thian said, broadcasting soothing thoughts to his pacing brother. "Our orders were approved by both High Councillors, Admiral Mekturian and Gktmglnt. They'll handle any interference to the rest of our mission."

"Not to mention Earth Prime [eff Raven and Callisto Prime Rowan," Clancy added. "1 see no reason for anxiety, Roj." Clancy at least forbore to tease his cousin about the real reason for his fretfulness-missing Asia.

"All we have to do on our way home," Thian said, "is Hnd all the Hiver-occupied planets . . . and constrain attempts by any of them to dispatch another colonial venture."

"That's all!" Rojer's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Which will probably take the best part of our lives," Clancy said, not particularly depressed by the prospect. "I might even make commander by the time we're done."

"I doubt we'll devote our lives to the project," Thian said, gesturing to include his brother.

"No, you're Primes," Clancy agreed without rancor.

There was a pause.

"Think I can talk the Admiral into letting me get down on the Hiver world we're heading for?" Thian asked wistfully. He clasped and unclasped his hands in frustration.

Thi Tiwtr and the Hive I "You're a Prime, Thi," Clancy said. "Too valuable to be risked."

"And far more capable of defending myself than anyone else on the ship," Thian said, then bowed quickly to his brother. "And you too, Roj. I'm sure I'd find something no one else could."

"You're a Lyon, aren't you," Clancy said, "as well as a Prime? You will," he added with a rea.s.suring grin, and stretched his legs out, yawning. "The Admiral won't deny you anything."

"Well, then again, Ashiant may be under orders not to risk you on anything, Thian," said Rojer in a knowing drawl.

"Oh?" Thian's raised eyebrows encouraged Rojer to elaborate on that statement.

"You can't be risked, bro," Rojer said with a snort. "They need you to take over from either Grandmother or possibly Grandfather."

Thian gawked at his brother. "How do you come to that remarkable conclusion?"

"You've been the focus for all our Mind Merges. I'm surprised you didn't guess. It's obvious to me"-Rojer looked over to Clancy, who nodded in agreement-"that you're the logical successor."

Thian sat for a moment, mouth agape; then he "glanced" into the minds of his younger brother and cousin and realized that both were certain of that. Slapping his forehead dramatically, he flung himself back on the couch, staggered by the prospect.

"Not for a few more decades," Rojer said consolingly, "since, praise be, our grandparents seem in excellent health."

"Spare me!" Thian said, groaning, his hand still clapped to his forehead.

What's the matter, Thian? asked Alison Ann Greevy, T-5, nursing em-path, from the sick bay.

Thian let his lover, Gravy, "hear" the conversation.

Oh, I thought something was wrong, she said with a mental sigh of relief, and her mind touch left his.

"What's wrong with that sort of future, bro?" Rojer asked. "You're at least getting a chance to travel now and see real life and all that good stuff. Besides, you've got Gravy. And it isn't as if you can't pick a nice inaccessible spot to live in to enjoy your private lire when you do get stuck with being Earth Prime." Rojer rolled his eyes, coloring his thoughts with envious scenes of marital harmony.

That's enough of that! Thian said sternly, abandoning his shocked surprise.

Rojer only grinned, delighted to have annoyed Thian. "And don't keep me here one moment past getting the last load of supplies on board."

"I'll be well rid ot you," Thian said emphatically.

"I'll never be more than a thought away," Rojer said, and teleported himself out of the room before his brother could take physical vengeance.

Thian caught (fancy's amused glance and, wit ha laugh, was restored to his usual good humor.

"Younger brothers," Clancy murmured sympathetically.

That evening in the privacy ot their quarters, Thian and Gravy had talked over the prospect of his having to take up either of those tremendous responsibilities-Earth Prime or Callisto Station. Since both his parents and grandparents had expressed their approval of Alison Ann, the couple no longer needed to conduct their liaison as discreetly as possible. Indeed, once Thian knew his attachment to Gravy was approved, he teleported her belongings into his quarters.

"Frees s.p.a.ce up for someone else," she'd muttered as she saw her things neatly being fitted into his closets and drawers. "Though it was kmda fun being zapped about by you, Thi darlin'."

"You never knew where you were going to wake up, though," he'd teased, hugging her tightly against him.

"Well, I'm here where I belong," was her contented reply.

She was, however, surprised when Admiral Ashiant adroitly started including Lieutenant Greevy when he invited the FT&T personnel to his mess table, a tacit recognition of their current status as well as pub- lic approval. Once Alison Ann got over the shock, she rather enjoyed the perks that now came her way more frequently.

"'Sides which, no one dares complain about 'em either," Gravy added, tweaking Thian's nose. "They're jealous and can't do a thing about it."

The next morning Earth Prime Jeff Raven contacted Thian.