Chapter Nine
Hool, Suh-Joh’s Hive
5,018 Year of the Mother.
Suh-Joh was puzzled. Even though her senior priest whispered instructions and advised her as to her role of Hive-Mother, she didn’t know how get the males to breed and keep her Hive strong.
Soon, she thought, I must bring forth young. Mating with her half-brothers was borderline incest with all the dangers of inbreeding. I have done enough to earn the condemnation of the other Hives without doing that. I need young males from another Hive. But no Hive-Mother would weaken her Hive willingly by giving up future warriors. Her Chosen-Male warriors had to breed periodically, otherwise they became prematurely sterile and useless for battle.
There has to be an answer; otherwise Lok-Nih and the Spirit-of-the-Mother, Suh-Joh thought, would not have ripened me. She remembered Lok-Nih’s pride in the strength of her Hive and the disdain she’d held for the others. A burst of excitement ran through her. I’ll just take what I need, for my Hive and me.
Suh-Joh thought about the raid conducted jointly by the warriors from the Ag-Gih and Jan-Dil Hives. Those warriors were emaciated and weak, she thought. Why had they combined forces just for a raid? They must be so few it will be only a matter of time before a stronger Hive conquers them. Could that be my Hive? And why not?
The raid on Jan-Dil’s Hive was a complete surprise.
Columns of Suh-Joh’s warriors descended upon the four entrances to Jan-Dil’s Hive and swept-away its guards. Her invading force penetrated into the heart of the hive, surprising the unprepared warriors. The unripened ones, small and undernourished, gave way without resistance.
Suh-Joh knew she had won when the unripened ones, the May-be-Chosen and the Never-to-be-Chosen, signaled their willingness to serve her with the symbolic gifts of water. When examined, the food stores proved to be almost empty; the insect pits showed little movement and the granaries contained only dust. The Hive was on the brink of starvation. It was certainly on the road to death.
She took their food, knowing it was the last of their reserves, and made the ritual response; “Hoo-Lii. I will lead you, this I promise.”
Even though Jan-Dil was Lok-Nih’s daughter and her half sister, Suh-Joh killed her without a second thought. She ordered her warriors to neuter Jan-Dil’s Chosen-Male warriors, pluck their spines and send them to work on the surface. The unripened ones, now prisoners, carried the dead and nearly dead back to her Hive where they became fodder for the food-insects. She was pleased the entire operation was completed before the Children-of-the-Sky rose twice.
Suh-Joh selected the healthiest of the May-be-Chosen females and removed their spines. She picked one, ripened it, and turned her over to a small group of older Chosen-Male warriors. As expected, the males mated with the newly ripened female. Since the female had no spines, she could not bond the males to her. That eliminated any threat of competition to Suh-Joh, which meant the newly ripened female would never be a Hive-Mother.
In one cycle of the Children-of-the-Sky, it became obvious the female was pregnant.
“It worked.” Suh-Joh celebrated the news. She gave the order, “bring the rest of the females to me.”
One by one, after removing their spines, she ripened the captured females. She explained their role was to be brood females for her Chosen-Male warriors. They would be able to mate and bear young, but they would never ripen any Chosen-Male and get the juvenile hormones needed for long life.
Suh-Joh took the best of the captured May-be-Chosen-Males, ripened, and mated with them until she was exhausted—it wasn’t too soon as far as she was concerned. In the process, they bonded with her and became a part of her Chosen-Male warrior contingent. Her first gestation produced healthy offspring. The Hive celebrated the birth of healthy young. There would be more workers and warriors. Now, the Hive had a future.
One cycle of the Children-of-the-Sky later, Suh-Joh struck again; she attacked Ag-Gih’s Hive. Once again, the unripened sued for peace with gifts of water, to which she responded with the ritual promise to lead them, thus sparing them from the insects. She took more May-be-Chosen for mating stock and servants. Other unripened ones and neutered Chosen-Male warriors became workers in the fields on the surface. The ones for which she had no use became fodder for the food-insects.
Suh-Joh’s conquests increased the area under her control so much, so she controlled more fertile valleys than any other Hive-Mother. The ranks of her Chosen-Male warriors grew with new recruits. However, managing such a large area proved difficult. In desperation, she sought answers in the archives on how to achieve economies of scale. There, she found techniques and technologies used in the past to increase food production.
Little by little, she pushed her workers to implement these techniques, adjusting the Hive’s work force in the fields, seeking out the best areas of the land recently brought under her control. At first it was difficult, but as the workers saw more could be produced with less effort, they became enthusiastic.
For several cycles of the Children-of-the-Sky, Suh-Joh focused on organizing her new resources to produce food efficiently. Even before the first harvest was completed, she knew her Hive would have a surplus of food and many young born from the brood females. As a result, the population of her Hive doubled in less than a season. Keeping track of the genetics was just another task that technology from the archives made easier. During this time, no Hive-Mother called upon her.
Due to the rich harvest, Suh-Joh increased her contribution to the Shrine of the Spirit-of-the-Mother. My warriors are strong and well fed, and I’ve taken care of my tithing. Now, she thought, I’m ready to talk to the rest of the Hives about them accepting me as their equal.
She sought counsel from her senior priest, on what might be done to join the Council of Hive-Mothers. During their discussions, he suggested the use of a religious practice could be turned to her cause to avoid war with the other Hives.
“Let there be a meeting of the Council of Hive-Mothers.” It was the call sent out by the priests at the Shrine of the Spirit-of-the-Mother. “Let the meeting be held at the Shrine. Come in peace and piety to discuss the succession of Suh-Joh to Lok-Nih and her position of Hive-Mother.” It was a call to the Hive-Mothers to acknowledge Suh-Joh as Hive-Mother.
Her senior priest used his contacts to urge a meeting. He assured the priests at the Shrine that Suh-Joh had no say in her selection as Hive-Mother and was a faithful follower to the Way-of-the-Mother.
That and a second generous contribution to the Shrine, resulted in a summons being issued for the Council Meeting. At the same time, Suh-Joh posted Lok-Nih’s data file on the history of Hool where all could read it. It provided the rationale for Suh-Joh’s ripening and elevation to Hive-Mother.
The news of the summons and the data file flashed around Hool almost instantly. Who is this new Hive-Mother? What is she doing? At the same time, those Hives adjacent to Suh-Joh spread the word of her conquests. Many signaled their intentions by questioning the need for the meeting. Dissent and distrust cast the meeting in doubt.
“There will be a meeting of the Council of the Hive-Mothers. It will start when the Little Child first appears in the night sky at the beginning of the next cycle of the Children-of-the-Sky.” It was the message again sent out by the priest in charge of the Shrine of the Spirit-of-the-Mother. “It concerns the selection of a new Hive-Mother and the implications to the Way-of-the-Mother. Those who fail to attend will be judged lacking in piety.” It was the closest thing to an order he could give.
Suh-Joh’s old priest had whispered to her the priests at the Shrine-of-the-Mother had read and agreed with Lok-Nih’s data file. She did not fear the meeting; for she knew the priests would not condemn her. However, she also knew the priests were not the ones with poisonous spines; those were the other Hive-Mothers.