The Colony on Meranda IV - Part 18

This post started off as a one-off response to a writing prompt in the Freewriters Community. Then I wrote a part 2 (with the outcome literally determined by a coin toss).

But that naturally leads to a part 3, which is where this short series comes in. I felt that doing it in just one post really wouldn't give enough time to build up a bit of suspense 😀 Enjoy !

Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio

Darkness. Darkness and... voices ? In his head.

It wasn't like someone was talking to him. It was more like the experience when you're at an event in a vast arena. The voices were like the swell of an ocean, thousands of different separate conversations quietly going on around him, but not with him, just a comforting background noise.

Gradually, one of the voices came to the fore. He had to think for a second. There was a name associated with it.... Helen, that was it.

"I'm glad you've come round, governor. Not everyone does. The Hive rejects those that are not compatible."

"Hive ?" he was confused, but then also realised it's what all the voices were. Individual conversations between people. And some not-people. Actually, mostly not-people. But he could still understand snippets he was overhearing.

"I'm sorry to have tricked you, governor, but it was necessary. The Hive has absorbed the compatible human colonists, but found that they considered you their apex. Others will develop over time with your coaching, but the Hive needed a faster solution."

"But.. what if I don't want to be an apex, whatever that is ?"

He felt the smile of certainty in Helen's mind. "It's who you are governor. Once you're in the Hive, you don't have a choice. The youngling's bite carries a kind of virus, and once you're bitten you're either compatible or rejected."

Helen's voice in his mind explained a bit further, although it was telling him things he was somehow and strangely starting to sense. "You're still an individual, but part of the Hive as well. The Hive can take control of your actions if it needs to, and as an apex you have a strong influence in that, but the decisions are made by the Hive as a whole. All the Spineders and other life forms on Meranda, which now includes humans. The planet is literally alive."

As she spoke, he found himself starting to visualise it. A web of life all across the planet, with a dark hole at it's centre. Meranda Base. A hole that needed to be healed.

He knew what was needed. The Hive concurred.

Standing up, he started walking. It was too dangerous to travel above ground where the Hole had warships and weapons. A score of Spineder younglings gathered around him. Their thoughts were warm and fuzzy; he didn't have to explain, they knew their role. Their strong jaws chewed a tunnel for him in a direct line toward the base, and he just kept walking.

Previous posts in this series;

• https://peakd.com/hive-161155/@alonicus/24-january-2025-mariannewests-freewrite-writing-prompt-day-2626-mother-love - the post that started it all, and introduced the spine-spiders
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/escape-from-the-caves-of-meranda-iv - the sequel, where the science team escapes back to base and recommends the planet not be colonised. They were too late.
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-1 - we meet the Governor Dafang and get the first hints that the colony isn't going to plan
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-2 - Governor Dafang takes a trip to the Greenfields settlement, only to find it is not there any more
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-3 - a fractious meeting of the co0lony's government, and a worrying foreshadow
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-4 - this is where things start to really go sideways for the colony
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-5 - Doctor Helen Thwaites returns to Meranda to reveal the cover-up
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-6 - Garnes tries to arrest Helen, and gets told to go away
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-7 - Meranda Base finds itself surrounded by a broad band of patterns
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-8 - Mr Garnes makes his move
  https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-9 - Mr Garnes' juniors aren't impressed by his self-promotion
  https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-10 - Wardek breaks Dafang out of prison, but Doctor Thwaites is swallowed up by the ground.
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-11 - The fugitives use micro-drones to find out what Garnes is up to.
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-12 - Dafang finds out that Wardek was actually a senior NCO in one of the toughest units the Empire has
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-13 - Captured by Imperial Marines
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-14 - A whole battlecruiser goes missing
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-15 - Helen Thwaites makes a re-appearance
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-16 - Helen delivers the Spineders' demands
• https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-17 - Helen and Dafang go underground to meet the Spineders