Free The Terran Representative by Angus Monarch

paused. Each one’s antennae made rapid movements, pointing in one direction then another as if sending messages between each member. “You’re not like the others.”
    “The colonists on SpaciEm?” I said.
    “Yes and no,” said The Hive. They turned as one and began heading into the ruins. Each one fanned out instead of the group walking in a single file or in a tight grouping. They moved as individuals, hopping over pieces of rubble or skirting chunks of structure, yet remained within a couple arms’ length of another. Their antennae continued to angle and point in different directions as they moved.
    The three of us followed behind. Wards, with a gentle push, put me in the lead. She motioned for me to continue speaking.
    “I appreciate your compatriot letting me know about what you found on SpaciEm,” said The Hive.
    “We found your other members,” I said. “They were sacrificed on Nasee Four.”
    The Hive moved through the emergency exit in a single file. They didn’t jostle or hesitate; they fell straight into line with practiced precision as they passed through the doorway.
    “Yes,” said The Hive. “That is expected. Before I lost contact with…” They paused talking.
    I reached forward and put my hand on the shoulder of the member in front of me and gave it a small squeeze meant to comfort. All seven reacted the same way in unison: reach up and pat my hand except the front six had nothing to pat.
    “I’m not upset, but I appreciate the sentiment,” they said. “It’s difficult to verbally explain myself to someone not of me.”
    We came out of the emergency exit tunnel and spilled into one of Nova Komenco’s streets. The Hive fanned out once more and continued in a specific direction without hesitation.
    “I was called to SpaciEm,” said The Hive.
    They glanced back and smirked at me. Before they had said anything my next question was going to be about why they were on the desert planet. I got the idea that they enjoyed playing with someone who wasn’t familiar with their psychic ability.
    “The colonists contacted you?” I said.
    “No,” said The Hive. Their mandibles clacked and antennae were going wild. “I don’t know how to describe it beyond something tapped me on the shoulder and gestured for me.”
    “Something reached out to you?” said Chare.
    “Yes,” said The Hive. “It reached across vast distances to find me and beckon.”
    We walked in silence. I didn’t know what to say to keep the conversation flowing, so I looked at the ruins around me trying to pick out something I recognized. Everything was a shell of its former self though. The radiation had faded the colors and the windblown sand had pocked marked every smooth surface. Any organic matter had died as soon as the dome broke open and the atmosphere sucked out. The bones of the city didn’t have the fortune to be overgrown with lush foliage.
    “Where are we going?” said Wards. She sounded impatient. It was the type of tone that would have been accompanied by a tapping finger if she sat at a desk.
    “Not much farther,” said The Hive. They pointed to a small building. Its roof hadn’t caved in, but the windows were all broken. They’d probably been destroyed, like everything else, when the atmosphere left. It was difficult to imagine looters had thrown rocks through them.
    We ducked through the front door. The inside had a fine layer of dust on it. I was amazed how intact everything was. The Hive stopped and spread into a V-pattern. Wards, Chare and I crowded behind. The ten of us were nearly on top of each other.
    “There,” said The Hive. They pointed at the floor about halfway across the room.
    Footsteps, leading to and from a blank wall, disturbed the dust.
    The Hive pointed towards the wall and said, “That is where I found the most recent heavy particles.”
    Wards pushed past us and walked over to the wall. She ran her fingers over it and leaned in so close that her helmet almost touched the