This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/darkPrince010 on 2024-09-27 18:38:49+00:00.
Avelle groaned in frustration as she swiped over the readouts on the console. Mira had helped set up a separate console for her to open her research, but even glancing over Avelle’s shoulder she could see the amount of data on whatever was affecting the Queen and Kin had very few details.
“I had been hesitant previously,” Avelle said. “We had captured the first swarms with sonic netting, or so he told me,” she continued, frustration evident. "But now I worry he used the same blend of toxins to weaken the others in order to facilitate their capture. Although I hadn’t spoken my concerns to Dr. Urgen, I did manage to get a hold of a sample vial. I analyzed the drugs within and found the solution was a compound blend.”
She tapped an empty vial to the side of the console as she continued. “Three of them appear to be enzymatic, but I’m afraid one looks to be related to a category of infections we rarely see, called chuk-stas. I believe your medical fields would call them ‘prions,’ based on what I recall of the little bits of Earthling physiology Dr. Urgen provided for me to review outside of insect species specifically."
“What’s a prion?” Mira asked.
This time, it was the Queen and Kin who responded, although it was clear from Avelle’s expression that seeing them speak through such pain troubled her deeply.
“It is a type of protein that not only is formed incorrectly, but can also turn normal copies of itself into incorrectly-shaped duplicates. They are self-replicating without being anything approaching life, sentient or otherwise, and are very difficult to treat or eradicate.”
Mira looked at Avelle, worry in her eyes, and the nurse simply nodded.
“The three non-prions are nasty pieces of work, but if I had access to a lab, they would likely be treatable…” Avelle paused.
“And the prion part?” Mira pressed.
“That I am unsure of,” Avelle admitted. “Chuk-stas are very rare for our people and, from my understanding, quite uncommon in most other species as well. But my more pressing concern is the other components of the poison. Those three are far more detrimental to the short-term health of the bees, and if not properly addressed could spell death within a few days. The aggregates from the prions will take longer, certainly longer than the others, to kill the host.”
“How much longer?” Mira folded her arms across her chest.
“That’s a good question, but we don’t have a lot of solid knowledge. It’s highly dependent on the individual’s production and retention of the protease in question. It could be only days, or perhaps weeks, months, or longer.”
“And if I got exposed, I’d probably be okay?” Mira asked.
Avelle chuckled lightly, looking her over with a greenish hue returning to her cheeks. “It doesn’t appear that you have a stinger or venom glands. So unless those were missed in my knowledge of human physiology, you should be safe.”
Turning back to the bees, the alien sighed. “My biggest concern is how to get the active enzymes out of them before they cause more damage.”
Mira straightened. “The only one at risk of further propagation is the prion, right?”
“Yes, the others are not native to the bees.”
“Why not just have them sting something and eject their venom load?”
Avelle blinked, considering it for a moment before remembering. “Don’t bees normally die when they sting? I believe their stingers are barbed and embed themselves in the target. If they try to fly away while still attached-”
Mira interrupted by jumping up, an idea forming in her mind. She quickly ran down the stairs, heading to the pantry to fling open the refrigerator, quickly assessing their stocks. Grabbing any old or aging fruit, she began filling a large bin before turning and running back up to the bridge, where the swarm waited, container full of food in hand. When she got there, she was breathless.
“Use these,” she said, instructing the swarm as the queen and her cohort approached. “Sting, but don’t fly away. Instead, either curl around the injection site or have other bees help, but just don’t fly away and hurt yourself.”
There was a buzz of murmured discussion among the bees, and then one from the queen’s group flew forward.
"I’m unafraid to die for my hive if this doesn’t work as planned.”
Mira nodded and smiled. “If this works, nobody’s dying here.”
The bee stepped up to the apple Mira held in her hand and lunged, jabbing their abdomen and stinger into the fruit with a furious buzz. The bee appeared ready to launch themselves off again when Mira hurriedly placed a gentle but firm finger on them, holding them down.
“No, not yet,” she said.
She could see the abdomen shaking as venom pulsed into the fruit. The bee seemed to calm and bent over to begin chewing their stinger free. After the pulsing ebbed, the bee pulled their the bit of chewed-loose fruit skin with stinger out, still intact, with a tiny bead of venom glistening on the tip. As Mira watched, the bee continued to carefully preen and clean the stinger, chewing away the remaining bits of fruit peel.
“That was a brilliant idea!” said Avelle.
Mira felt warmth spread to the tips of her ears and cheeks. She quickly turned to the Queen and Kin, desperately hoping the alien nurse wouldn’t notice the change in her skin color and misinterpret her involuntary blush.
Mira’s eyes slid off the clustered bees to an unremarkable patch of floor as her mind raced. Why was she blushing now, over someone she’d only met in the last hour or two? At the same time, the alien had shown herself to be incredibly brilliant but also caring: Mira noticed the swarm had begun migrating over to the fruit, and the nurse was helping guide some of the more exhausted bees onto her hand before dropping them off on a patch of fruit, only flinching slightly as she did so.
Still, part of Mira’s mind remained wary. Her shoulders tensed as she remembered that the nurse had worked with Dr. Urgen. Yet, at the same time, it was clear from Dr. Urgen’s actions, and Mira’s brief interaction with him, that Avelle’s service to Dr. Urgen could not be rescinded once given. By the time the alien woman likely realized what was happening, it may have been too late.She had crossed the point of safety and any chance of getting away from the hulking, bear-like doctor.
She glanced upwards at Nurse Avelle, marveling at how the muscular arms were still so gentle with the weakened and weary bees. Just then, the alien woman also looked up, meeting Mira’s eyes for a moment and giving her a small, sincere smile. In doing so, they happened to notice groups of bees now flying eagerly and agilely.
Avelle followed her glance, and commented, “It appears the venom discharge is working. Queen and Kin, how do you feel?”
“There is much soreness, and those too weak to move will need help discharging their corrupting poisons as well, but we are feeling better than we were even as we left the spaceport.”
“Oh good!” said Mira, perking up at some of the best news they had received in several anxious days. “How well do you feel?”
“Not our usual selves, it would not be inaccurate to say. But we are certainly feeling better than you appeared to be upon consuming those chor-wit wraps.”
“What are ‘chor-wit wraps’?” Avelle asked.
Mira could feel herself starting to blush again as she quickly insisted, “Nothing! Just a food, a spicy food.”
Before the alien could ask further, Mira addressed the Queen and Kin. “It seems like you’re in much safer health now, so I think it’s time for us to make a jump and get a little farther away from that crazed doctor and whatever enforcers he might send after us.”
The queen hummed in discussion, but before they could reply, the nurse cocked her head. “What do you mean by ‘jump?’ Are you not a swarm intelligence? The doctor told me such travel was incredibly dangerous for a swarm intelligence.”
Mira smiled. "We have some tricks we’ve picked up.”
“Although, Caretaker, she raises a strong point: We should not tip our hand to Dr. Urgen that we have this capability. Rather, let him think we left the system via sublight travel, so we may better slip away in case he tries to catch up to us or cut us off from our projected trajectory."
Mira turned and began inputting commands on the console. She then said, “We are within theoretical maximum sensor range still but should escape it within the hour. But, Queen and Kin, the question now is—where do we go?”
“An excellent question, Caretaker. While we have a cargo of sugar water that was intended to be nectar, it was not promised to any specific receiver. We can easily eat the costs without hurting our current savings, and fly to any destination within our jump range.”
Mira nodded slowly, remembering the staggering sum the bees had accumulated over centuries, thanks to the high profits from honey sales against relatively-low operating and refueling costs.
Avelle wrinkled her mouth and beak in a strange manner, until Mira realized it was probably the alien equivalent of a human biting their lip. The nurse said nervously, "Dr. Urgen is not one to give up easily. I’ve known him to deal with difficult patients by waiting for them …
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