Chapter 9

The journey for Rayna, Lacey and the other two women to reach the hive mind leader took four days. Because of the terrain they were only able to travel by foot. They weren’t attacked by any of the sentient pants and Rayna chalked that up to the hive mind leader letting them make it to him purposely.

With full gear and weapons loaded, the four women stand outside the large cave in a state of tension. Everyone was tense except Rayna. She had spent the days last few days reassuring Lacey that everything would turn out just fine. Lacey wanted to believe her, but ever since that plant attacked her, she is doubtful of anything on this planet.

“Remember,” Rayna begins, “stay on guard and nail anything that attacks you.” She turns to Lacey and kisses her deeply. “I want you to stay close to Eliza or Tanya at all times. Through them I will be able to know if you get into trouble.”

“Alright,” Lacey says with a nod. “Just make sure you don’t get killed.”

“I won’t,” Rayna says with a reassuring smile. “We’ll make it out of this alive.”

“And you’re sure this will release you from the hive mind?”

“There is a strong chance and once I am, we can do what we planned.”

They head into the cave, moving slowly. “Careful,” Rayna says in a low whisper, more for Lacey’s benefit than the other two. “They can close themselves off from us.”

“I thought the hive mind was open to everyone in it,” Lacey says.

“As long as he is alive and they are of his creation, he can hide them, just like I can Eliza or Tanya.”

“I still don’t like it,” Lacey says more to herself than the others.

They move on with the only sounds their breathing, their footsteps and the constant dripping of water. The cave grows darker and darker and there doesn’t appear to be any of the luminescent plants so the group relies on their flashlights and even that eventually fails them as does the rest of their electronic equipment.

“I have the distinct feeling this is a trap,” Lacey groans.

“I’m afraid you’re right,” a voice says from behind them.

All four spin around just as the cave lights up with luminescent plats of all different colors of greens, blues, yellows, red, purples and a few in between. Standing before the group is Nikki and Riley. Clad in some kind of armor that looks a lot like bark, it covers nearly all their bodies except their breasts and inner thighs.

“He would like to see you Rayna, but you already know that,” Riley says.

“You two are to remain behind as he will have use for you later,” Nikki adds.

“But you,” Riley says referring to Lacey. “You he cannot use. Your immunity makes you useless.”

“If you want her, you’ll have to get through us,” Eliza says as she and Tanya step forward, putting themselves between Riley and Nikki and Lacey.

Wicked smiles spread across Nikki’s and Riley’s faces. “So be it,” Riley growls.

Tanya and Eliza pull up their weapons and begin firing at the other two women. Lacey turns to face Rayna, wondering why the woman isn’t attacking, but Rayna is long gone.

Rayna left the moment Riley and Nikki turned their focus to the other three. She knows everything will turn out fine and if it turned in Nikki and Riley’s favor then that would change once their leader is dead.

She opens herself to the hive mind fully and can immediately feel the pull from him. Everywhere is dark except for the path leading to him as luminescent plants light the way for her and shutting down as she passes. The path eventually leads into a large chamber full of life, plant life. And I the center of it all he sits.

He looks very human except for his skin which looks much like Riley and Nikki’s armor. He sits within a hemisphere with half his body covered in the same armor. Around him, green tentacles that end with large white spheres and mouths full of teeth along with others that end with smaller pink bulbs. Rayna can only guess the little pink bulbs do more than just look pretty.

She looks around, taking in the sights as well as stretching through the hive mind. They are alone and he pushes out every bit of confidence of his control, but somewhere beneath the façade, Rayna can feel something else—fear. She smiles to herself as she walks further into the chamber.

“Welcome Rayna,” the leader of the hive mind says. “When you were originally taken I saw something in you that I thought would make you a perfect queen. I thought that you’d be perfect for spreading our influence throughout the galaxy faster than I have been able to do on my own.”

“You were obviously wrong,” Rayna says. “Once I discovered, or rather, once I learned everything I couldn’t be your puppet.”

“So you are here to destroy me then?”

“Of course.”

“Killing me will not kill the hive mind or release you like you believe it will,” he informs her. “You are changed at a molecular level as I was. There is no turning back and eventually you will end up like me.”

“Just what I have always wanted,” her voice drips with sarcasm. “With the best minds at your disposal, your scientists will find a way to reverse the effects.”

“Yes, eventually they will,” he agrees. “And it is too bad you will never see that day. I would normally keep you here until you faced a similar fate as I and then one days walk as you do before you, showing you just what the cost of betraying me is. But you are far too unpredictable and far too dangerous.”