Time to Orbit: Unknown

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> I knew we were getting near the centre of the labyrinth when the trees started to thin out. And I mean that literally – there weren’t less trees, they were just noticeably thinner, the thick bark black and peeling and clearly rotten underneath, the branches dead … Continue reading 13: Maze Invaders

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next “What in there?” Smon asks as she and Tyk walk away from the burrow. “Just a fight,” Tyk says. She inspects her leg; exoskeleton and joint are intact, Ayan hadn’t split or torn anything. There’s barely even a mark. “For Bette?” “Yeah.” Tyk considers not explaining, … Continue reading 21: Star Children

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> “I’m an engineer,” I pointed out. “You are no kel,” the Princess said. “W-well, okay, I mean, I’m not aljik. I’m definitely no Princess. It’s like the drakes – they worked for you without being a caste, right?” “Drakes do the duties of atil, until they … Continue reading 12: Fight Or Flight

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next Smon listens to Tyk explain the issue. “And now hiveheart think to send or not send messenger?” “Yeah. I mean, they’ll send people. They only need to go to two locations, and it’s pretty important. So they will.” Smon tilts her head. The echo stone doesn’t … Continue reading 20: Family Commitments

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> I don’t know what I am. I know who I am, of course. The first shape I mastered was that of a perfect ceramic bowl with a fine white rim. My template had been produced by a large blue worm that, in the manner of its … Continue reading 11: Ease Of Identification

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next Half a season ago, Tyk wouldn’t have dared approach a member of the hiveheart directly, but with the welfare of Smon’s hivemates in the balance she tracks down Hetta that very night, cornering her and Kehetta as they line up for food. “I need to talk … Continue reading 19: For the Hive

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> “Ask me something,” Glath demanded as I paced the edge of the cliff, looking down into the fog below. It had been a few days since our investigation and the shallow bites of the crabs were healing well, but I was never going to forget their … Continue reading 10: Friends and Foes

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next If the hive is working on the assumption of no trade, there are two critical industries likely to suffer more than any other – silk, and blackmoss. Silk is made by spiders high up in the tower, harvested and woven by men, and generally, Redstone River … Continue reading 18: Silk and Stone

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> One day, as Captain Nemo was almost ready to lay her first batch of eggs, an atil on scavenger duty wandered too far from the guards and went missing. She reappeared the next morning, slightly battered but intact, and with a message from the drakes. The … Continue reading 9: Danger above, danger below

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next Slowly, haltingly, nervously, and with Tyk’s help, Smon tells her story to the hiveheart. The room is crowded, with Tyk and her two parents and Smon all crammed in with the hiveheart itself, and Smon’s nervousness isn’t helping Tyk feel calm. The hiveheart, by contrast, listen … Continue reading 17: A New Hive