Another trip, another trolley car ride. I'd had enough of them to last a lifetime. I swore then and there that someday soon I would have to get myself an automobile, the expense be damned. I must have known every bump and turn on the tracks as well as the drivers did. I could sleep upon them and come awake in an instant at the stop I desired, such was my familiarity with them. They weren't the height of comfort though, merely being a means to get from one place to the next.

I doubted that McAllister needed to ride them, not with his swanky digs.

Still, saving up for an automobile wasn't going to be easy, or fast, not unless I got lucky with a few cases. Given my current run of luck, that I was not going to count on.

Sharky was, as I had expected, back at the pool hall again. His crew had expanded since the previous day, numbering five now, a surly, hard faced looking lot. Just the type to take a poor unfortunate into a narrow alleyway to have words with. Beside the two that I had met previous, there were two more humans, along with a shaggy furred wolven, a species that was part wolf, part man and all dangerous. He had much in common in appearance to McAllister the Hound, except where McAllister had been refined, the wolven was primal, with a feral gleam to his eyes.

"Got me boys ready" Sharky rumbled to me upon my arrival. "Wese gonna visit dem wasps now?"

"That is the plan," I told him. "I want to try and resolve this without violence if at all possible."

"Where is the fun in that?" drawled one of the new members, a dark skinned man taller than the others. Snickers came from the rest in response.

"Dis isn't ‘bout fun, Tommo," Sharky told him. "Dis about respect and all dat stuff."

"If it does come to violence," I added, "Then I am sure you gentlemen will acquit yourself admirably."

"Best in the business," Tommo assured me. Around the group came nods of agreement. Russ cracked his knuckles, his grin less than pleasant.

Possibly not, I told myself. At least not compared to ogres or trolls. They would do the job if it came to it, and by their looks, rather well. The fact that they would probably enjoy themselves was incidental. They certainly had an air of bravado, an arrogant swagger that spoke volumes of their views on what was to come. I just had to hope I could rein it in before they provoked a disaster. Some of it had to be for show, surely. Me, I had deep concerns about facing off against the Hive, but that lot, they showed no fear. No sane person could possibly be that way inclined. I couldn't tell if it was just confidence or if they actually lacked the gumption to realise just what kind of trouble we could be in for.

"Let us hope that your business is not required," I told him. "You are there as insurance if it does become so."

As we made our way out of the pool hall, more than a few eyes were watching us. The clientele knew trouble when they saw it, and our group had all the appearance of it.

The district of Bluewall, where the Hive lived, was two districts down from us, only a short trip by trolley car compared to many I had made of late. Our boarding caused quite a stir. No one is really happy when a group of apparent thugs crowds them. People shied away from us and looked away as we found seats. It suited me for the time.

Bluewall was one of those districts that has been heavily altered to suit those that lived there. In this case it was largely inhabited by various insectoid species, the Hive being just one of them. The buildings reflected that. Many had been reshaped into a dome shaped appearance, with ledges and high entrances suitable only for those who could fly, or catacombed with openings, few of which were large enough for a person of my size.

Walkways criss-crossed above the streets of the district, linking up many of the structures and along them flowed a steady stream of traffic. There were as many that flew as walked that we saw, buzzing along on wings, the numbers being heaviest around some of the largest of the buildings, towering hive-like edifices. The whole district felt foreign, another city within the city. There were not many other places like it. Unless you knew your way around, it was hard to navigate as the familiar street layout elsewhere in Spire did not exist in Bluewall.

Sharky did seem to know it, heading with unswerving purpose down various narrow streets. I followed as he and his crew sauntered along, walking through the maze as if they owned the place. At one spot, where a number of less streets all converged, a half dozen in number, a pair of insectoids stood on one of the corners. One, tall and lanky, appeared much like a large mantis, which giant multi-faceted eyes and quivering antennae, walking on two pairs of legs with a third pair of limbs further up acting as arms. Its whole head looked like that of an insect, complete with mandibles. The other, more human in appearance, bore a carapace of reddish chitin and a pair of diaphanous wings. Three sets of alien eyes watched out approach from it, orbs of pale grey without blemish or colour.

Of all those that live in Spire, the various bugs are among the hardest to interact with. It is so difficult to get a read on features so alien to anything else. That is coupled with language difficulties as well. Not all of them have the apparatus to form our words, nor we theirs.

The humanoid's wings spread wide as we drew near, beating at the misty air. It lifted a half metre off the ground and hung hovering there, a faint drone from its wings echoing through the spot. When it spoke, its voice had a peculiar buzzing quality to it. "Izz wrong way, strangerzz. Much danger thizz way."

"We are after the Hive," Sharky told them.

"The softskinzz are asking for trouble, but izz going right way for it."

The pair of mandibles clicked and clattered from the mantisman. "Best not to trouble the Hive." Despite its appearance, its speaking voice sounded rather mundane, with only the faintest of hints of an accent. "They are being secretive of late. Any who approach are turned away, and if they persist, then they are attacked."

"How long has this been going on?" I asked.

"A week. Two weeks." The antennae on its head wavered with uncertainty. "Hard to say exactly."

It sure fitted the timeline for if they were behind Hanes' abduction. If they were still holding him, then that also explained why they were keeping all others well away. Now I just had to get him out.

"We have business with dem," Sharky announced. "Dey be lettin' us see dem."

The reddish insectoid dropped back down to the ground, its wings folding along its back. Its head tilted to one side and then back up again. "That izz your choice."

"Best of luck then," the mantisman added. "You are going to be needing it."

Sharky responded with a toothy grin and pushed on.

Only a few minutes later, down one of the small streets, we entered another part of the district and the buildings changed once more. Previous, while different than the style in which most people lived, they still had a regular, built appearance. You could imagine them having been constructed and lived in. What rose up around us there were more like giant mounds of earth and dried mud, all haphazard and without apparent purpose or design behind them, almost as if they had been simply dumped there and left to settle. They were tall, misshapen mounds, with lumps bulging from their sides at random, while hexagonal openings appeared here and there. The mounds funnelled a path to a large open area in the midst of them, and most of the openings in them looked down across it. There were also skeins of thread stretched out between them, the exact purpose of which could not be easily deduced. They were not webs, that much was obvious, for they had not been woven together in regular patterns, or even close together for the most. The mists curled and twisted through the area and little light could be seen except for that which came out of a number of the entrances, an almost sickly green glow.

The large central open area did not stand empty. A half dozen of the Hive hung around in it, stationary until we arrived. Only then did they move, while remaining in their dormant stage, with very few wasps out and visible. It meant that their true heads were exposed, the view of which was disturbing to say the least. They were all sharp edges and protrusions, with many small hexagonal holes set into the flesh that could at best be describe as a greyish brown in colour. From time to time one of the wasps that were active would fly into or out of a hole in the heads of them. Just the sight of it happening was enough to give me a chill. The others didn't show it, but no doubt they felt the same. The very thought of wasps crawling around inside your head was one that few could be comfortable with.

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The Hive reacted to our presence and they began to congregate around us. A few more wasps appeared though they were far from reaching swarm proportions.

"You are not welcome here," they intoned, speaking in unity. It came across dead, monotone, giving off odd echoes as they all spoke, word for word, in exactly the same manner, further reinforcing the alienness of the location and situation.

"I have come to address the Mother," I told them, trying not to show any uncertainty or doubt. If for a moment you felt that you didn't belong, they would react to it. I had to remain calm if my plan was to work.

"Mother is not accepting visitors," the replied, once more in unison.

That had been one of the eventualities I had prepared for. Actually, it had been the one I had expected most. In response I fished out a small flask from my pocket that I had brought with me. I uncorked the lid and let the scent arise from it, one that had a touch of sweetness to it, like honey, but also a strong, sickly odour that put me in the mind of rotting flesh. It smelt terrible to me, but not to the Hive.

"I have a gift for Mother," I told them, holding out the flask towards them. The reaction was near instant. A new wave of wasps emerged from out of the Hives' heads, a soft buzzing singing in the air as they swirled about. They moved far too fast for me to get a proper view of them but it appeared to me that as they emerged from one, they travelled to another and entered their head. A constant flow moved between the six members of the Hive. No words came from any of the Hive, no evidence of communication of any type. Instead they simply parted before us, opening up the way.

When at last they spoke, all they said was, "Mother will speak to you."

One of their number broke away from the rest, and started towards an entrance to the nest, leading the way for us.

"Is dat what Ise think it is?" Sharky asked of me as we followed the Hive member.

"It is."

"Hard to get hold of. Didn't take youse for da type to have it."

I didn't dabble in narcotics. Never have. Never will. They are more trouble than they are worth and you never know when the authorities would decide to clamp down on one or the other. Possibly when it infringed on their markets. What I carried walked a fine line on the legality of narcotics though. It wasn't technically illegal as there are very few affected by it. The Hive were one of those. Firehoney they called it, a substance that gave them an ecstatic buzz and then left them in the pleasant mellow haze of a stupor, often for days on end. For anyone else who tried it, they found it unpalatable.

That could have been why it wasn't classified as illegal. Few worried about what happened to the bugs of Bluewall, and given that it didn't trigger any violent reactions from them, fewer even cared.

Even so, I wasn't entirely happy to be carrying it on my person. I felt slightly tarnished by it, as if I had sold out some principles to save my own life. I could reflect on it later though, for we were being led into the heart of the nest itself, into a maze of twisting, tight tunnels certain to provoke claustrophobia in any that entered. The ceilings were low, forcing us to walk half hunched over. I was far from the shortest there but it must have been really uncomfortable for the big guys, like Sharky. The wolven actually had an easier time of it, despite his height, as he could drop down onto his fists and knuckle along on all fours.

The walls had a spongy feel to them as we brushed against them. More than that, they seemed to pulse, expanding and contracting much like the beat of a heart. Pustules grew out of the wall in places, ones that gave off the baleful green glow that illuminated the interior of the nest. I didn't like the look of it as it gave us a sickened appearance when it flowed over us.

Here and there the tunnel opened up on larger chambers. As we passed them, I peered into them. They were filled with larger hexagonal openings in the walls, rising up from the floor to the ceiling. In some of them members of the Hive could be seen perching.

The air inside the nest had a warm, moist feel to it, and an odour that verged on the unpleasant. It remained hard to define what exactly the odour was, beyond a certain sourness to it, or even what it seemed like. It was just there, lingering in the background, and coming back to the fore only when it seemed like it had faded away.

All in all, making my way through the nest was one of the less pleasant experiences that I have undertaken. The tight confines, the strangeness of it all, the light, the air, all of it combined into an atmosphere designed to unsettle.

When the member of the Hive led us out of the tunnel into a vast central chamber, I let out a breath of relief, able to stand upright once more. I stretched my back and shoulders as the claustrophobic atmosphere lifted a bit. It had not disappeared entirely yet there was some relief from it in the chamber.

The chamber was remarkable. After the pulsating, living nature of the tunnels we had encountered, the chamber had a crystalline feel to it. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling over us bore a coating of reflective materials that caught up the light, amplified it and scattered it all around. It meant that the chamber was much better lit than it had been in the tunnels and even outside.

More of the threads we had seen strung up outside of the nest were present in the chamber, anchored to various parts of it. All converged on a single point in the middle of it, where they merged together and formed into what looked much like an enclosing chair, if one all of white.

And the chair was occupied.

Sitting in the chair was a woman, Mother as she was known. Tall and slender in form, compared to rest of the Hive she appeared almost human, at least at a superficial glance. Up close, and with a more thorough look, the differences did stand out. There were hints of patches of a chitinous nature upon the long, angular features of her face, ones with a touch of green to them. Her chin appeared to split into two horn like protrusions and her eyes, overly large for her face compared to that of a human, had a reflective, multifaceted cast to them. The green light of the pustules on the wall seemed to glow in those eyes, many tiny pinpricks of light that merged together at a distance. Unlike the others, she had hair, long and dark and woven together, while there were no openings for wasps in her head. She wore a long, white dress, sleeveless to reveal pale arms. She lounged back in the chair, her long legs crossed at the ankles. She propped up her head with her right hand as she leant on her right arm.

An imperious gesture summoned over the Hive who had led us to her. "Explain this intrusion," she demanded. "I left instructions that none were to be allowed within." She really didn't need to speak, not given the nature of the Hive. It was more for our benefit that she did so.

"This one," the Hive replied, motioning towards me, "Has brought a gift."

Mother turned her unsettling gaze on me. "Approach," she demanded.

I didn't have much choice to comply. There were edges to her voice, an authority absolute in its power. I could have ignored it, but given our circumstances felt it wise not to. So I approached the feet of her chair, respectfully.

"You have a gift, do you?" she asked, raising her head from her hand. "Very well, speak. I will give you that much."

"I seek information," I told her. "It would be wrong that some fair exchange is not made in return for it, so I present you this." I held out the vial, offering it to her. The glow in her eyes looked as if it increased as she took the vial from my hand, the touch of her skin colder than I had expected as her hand brushed against mine.

"A princely gift indeed," she replied. As she spoke, the sound of a thrumming came from within her throat, one I took to indicate excitement. She opened up the vial and took a whiff of the scent that arose from it. Her eyes lidded half shut as she did and a look of bliss came over her face. "If it is information that you seek, then we shall do our best to provide it. What is is that you wish to know?"

"I am looking for a man," I said. "From what I have been told, three members of the Hive took him around two weeks ago."

The mother lowered the vial as I spoke and a change came over the room, and her demeanour. The pustules that had glowed green darkened and instead gave off an unsettling crimson glow, one that was reflected in her eyes. She sat up straight and her face took on a serious cast.

A buzz began in the chamber and numerous wasps started to crawl out of the head of the Hive that had led us there. They began to congregate around its head, a growing swarm that had an angry feel to it.

I had touched a nerve there, a good indication that I was on the right track.

I sensed rather than saw the change in posture of Sharky and his crew. They could feel the trouble approaching and were making ready for it, shaking lose their arms, ready for a rumble. It just wasn't the best place for it to happen, deep in the heart of the nest, surrounded by Hive in all directions.

"I can’t help you in this," Mother replied. “It is best that you go. Now."

"Not until I get what we came here for," I responded. "A gift given can not be ignored."

"You can have it back," she said, holding the vial out to me. I did not take it. "I can say no more on the matter than that."

"You and yours are in a whole parcel of trouble here," I pressed on. "You are caught up in affairs beyond your understanding. If I do not get what I came here for then others will follow after me and they will not be interested in giving gifts or in peaceful understanding. They will take what they want."

Indecision waged across Mother's face. "I can not do it. Word were exchanged. An understanding reached. Those can not be broken."

"That is regrettable," I told her, even though I understood the dilemma that she found herself in. She was trapped by her vow with no way out of it.

"Dat is very regrettable," Sharky added. "Youse need to be reconsiderin' youse position."

I didn't want to antagonise Mother. I wanted to settle this peacefully. Sharky was not one to be stopped though and I could tell he was itching for a fight. Words weren't his strength. Action was, and he was reacting on that.

But threatening Mother wasn't going to work either, not on her home ground. We were, after all, deep in her nest, and all around us throughout it were Hive. Nasty at the best of times, but here, the thought of taking them on wasn't one that I relished. At all.

A number more of the Hive began to drift into the chamber from the tunnels leading into it. They were no longer dormant, for the wasps swarmed thick around their heads.

"You will go. Now," Mother ordered again.

I looked back to Sharky. He gave me a grin in response.

And did what I knew he would do, and dreaded

Attack.

As plans went, it could have gone better.