`I’d give anything to see a weed among all that perfection,’ remarked Anis Langio in a tone bordering on disgust. `Talk about purpose bio-engineering. A purpose for every critter and a critter for every purpose.
Appalling. Specialization ad absurdum!’ `Look at these,’ Rojer said, focusing his sensor at its finest magnification where gatherers were stripping rows of a globular, green vegetable form. Finishing the collection, the gatherers turned from the rows into neat triple ranks and trundled towards a central installation into which they disappeared.
Thousands of these installations had been scanned.
They varied in size, evidently depending on the volume of crops, but not in shape; all being square buildings covering three to four acres, four or five storeys in height with interior access at ground level along each side. Rojer had whizzed a sensor close enough to see that the entrance sloped downwards. Activity continued night and day, for the creatures apparently did not require illumination for their tasks.
`And we thought this duty was boring,’ one yeoman was heard to mumble, eliciting widespread grins and a mild reproof.
`Those buildings have to be the access to tremendous subterranean networks,’ Istvan Mrkovic said thoughtfully. `There isn’t enough space inside any of them to store the amounts brought in on a daily basis.
Do they pick for daily use, since I noticed they do leave immature vegetables on the vines and bushes, or just to process for storage?
Yet I can’t pick up any trace of smoke or heat to account for cooking.
`Vegetarians eat a lot of raw foods,’ Anis remarked.
`Or maybe they have a critter with heat-resistant paddles to stir the stew.
Istvan shot her a reproving look for such levity, though even the captain smiled. `Certainly we haven’t seen anything coming back out for distribution so that has to be taken care of underground. Wow!
What an organization! You gotta give `em that.’ `The workers have to be fed something at some point to continue at the pace they go,’ Anis Langio said, no longer bantering. She had her head propped on one hand and, as she watched the screen, was idly twirling – a dart, springy curl around one finger. It seemed oddly out of character for someone of her rank and experience.
`You don’t see any of them lying down on the job or expiring from lack of care.
`All mining must be done subterraneously, too, Mrkovic decided.
`I haven’t seen anything remotely resembling an adit but those ships required a variety of metals. I’ve noted the presence of all the ores that we use but only that one finished ship in the construction orbit has been covered with their special coating. And if they have every centimetre producing food, the planet must be full up.
`The last harvest before blast-off;’ Anis quipped.
`Not if they’ve only one space-worthy ship.’ `Maybe the agricultural workers are multi-tasked and once the harvest’s in they turn on their construction mode,’ was Anis’ rejoinder. Istvan gave her another of his disgusted looks.
`She could be right,’ Metrios said. `The palp that pulls the pepper could also manipulate delicate equipment.
`And the trundlers shift struts and panels …` Anis went on.
`While the irrigators fill the fuel tanks,’ Doplas, the communications officer, said, joining in the fun.
`That is when we must be most cautious,’ the captain said, and turned to Rojer. `You can withdraw the monitors quickly?’ Rojer nodded.
`Commander Yngocelen and I are still trying to include a small self-destruct unit, sir, just in case, Metrios said. `Small enough not to create much flare but enough to fiz the innards to an unrecognizable slag.’ The captain nodded approval. `Our relief ships are not that far away.
Rojer held his breath in surprise. Would he actually be in on the first invasion of a Hive world? He had heard the gunnery officer, LieutenantCommander Yngocelen, and some of his staff discussing what would be needed to `take out’ the moon batteries, but no-one had sounded very enthusiastic about success in that direction. Despite all they had seen of this Hive world, there were many unknowns.
From their Mrdini allies, and once at first hand on Deneb, humans did know something about Hive colonization practices. The creatures preferred G-type stars, M-5 type planets, worlds similar to Earth, or Cia the Mrdini home world, which meant that the three species were in competition with each other. The Hive method was to send one of their Sphere ships, managed by the Many Mind of ten to sixteen queens with specialized workers doing whatever crewing was needed. Each Mother ship was equipped with scout vessels which it sent on ahead to investigate appropriate systems. The Hiver then `cleared’ the planet of all lifeforms, using as a fumigator first one, then other viral infections until the world had been cleared of its indigenous lifeforms. Then the Mother ship landed its queens and propagated its species until the new world, too, was overpopulated, when the process of exploration and colonization was repeated.