The spherical human space-flier landed gracefully, suspended a few centimeters off the ground by its cushion field. The door dissolved away and the two occupants stepped out.

In the distance, the two humanoids could see the largest of the newly-constructed ziggurat-shaped hives. Some were as tall as 12 stories already. Considering that Cerulean happened to know the material the hives were built from was secreted by the builders it was amazing that they could be built so fast. Amazing and horrifying.

The local fibrous tree-like behemoths that once stood there, the subject of an ongoing debate related to the potential sapience, had been ripped from their roots. Some of the bodies were being used as building materials. The resultant cleared terrain was thick with Hiver secretions.

Anything that moved the Hivers killed or drove away. Anything that didn't they tore apart.

The planet had been devastated for kilometers all around. The precious and unique biosphere of Xul, so carefully preserved by millennia of galactic cooperation, was being crudely displaced to make way for yet another imitation of the Hive home world. This would be the fifth inhabited world they had "annexed" since being given access to the wormhole network.

Min-ji Cerulean and Sparkle Amaryllis had come unannounced. It was shamefully impolite, especially when Cerulean knew she would have been denied a visit if she had asked, but both she and the Ringworld she represented were finished playing nice with the Hive. They were going to have to learn one way or the other that there were certain standards of civility to which they would be held.

The move was something of a statement. The Human Consensus had always been scrupulously respectful of Hive territorial claims in the past. This wasn't one they were willing to recognize.

Both women wore plugs in their noses that reached gossamer-thin tendrils down into their bodies and oxygenated their blood directly. Their lungs were already capable of filtering out anything that might harm them, so they could still use the local atmosphere for speech. Doing so, however, was unpleasant tasting and so neither of the two did any breathing unless she had something to say.

<They've detected us by now haven't they?> Min-ji signaled Sparkle's brain implant with her own, affecting a kind of telepathic speech.

<Let me check,> Sparkle replied the same way <Oh yes. Here come two big fliers.>

<Good,> said Min-ji.

While the two waited for the inevitable confrontation, Sparkle retrieved a piece of dried simulated meat from her pocket. She chewed it noisily.

<Do you want some?> she asked Min-ji, still chewing <I have more.>

<I'm good,> Min-ji replied.

The women heard the fliers before they saw them: a low, insectoid humming noise. The Hive hadn't quite reached the point where they worried overmuch about their technology's aesthetic value.

Within moments the squat brown flying machines, no more pleasant to look at than they were to listen to, came buzzing into view. They circled once, surveying the area.

Sparkle waved enthusiastically up at them, all smiles. Min-ji still had her arms crossed.

The fliers buzzed off in the direction they came from, and landed a few dozen meters away from where Min-ji and Sparkle stood. The tops of both fliers opened up like the jaws of a great reptile and Hiver soldier-castes came pouring out. They were accompanied by a single Prime-caste, easily spotted as it was at least a third taller than the others.

"Greetings," yelled Min-ji, in perfect High Hive.

Over the past 200 years Min-ji had become quite fluent in the Hive language. She had even had pheromone glands grown into her neck, allowing her to communicate with all the available subtleties. She knew from experience it was best to leave as little as possible up to the interpretation of the individual Hiver.

The Prime and his entourage approached the two humanoids.

"You trespass on Hive territory, alien," said the Prime.

There was a heady bouquet of aggression pheromones coming from her and the soldier-castes.

"I'm afraid you'll find I don't," said Min-ji "This planet doesn't belong to you. That's what I've come to discuss."

Her calming pheromones were a drop in the ocean of aggression and fear.

"All planets belong to the Hive," said the Prime "There is no life but the Hive."

"So I've heard," said Min-ji "Perhaps I should introduce myself: my name is Min-ji Cerulean, and I'm an Ambassador from Proxima Ring. I've had dealings with your people in the past."

The Prime twitched it's feelers, body language that Min-ji had come to associate with a narrowing of the eyes.

"You are known to the Hive, Ambassador of Proxima," said the Prime "Who is the other human?" it asked, turning to face Sparkle.

"Actually I'm a dog, thank you," said Sparkle "My name is Sparkle Amaryllis. I'm just wearing a human body because humans..." she paused momentarily, for emphasis "Are the best."

"Don't say that," said Min-ji "No species is the best."

"So modest!" squealed Sparkle, adding "I just love humans," as though the intensity of the thought made her want to hug or possibly throttle the nearest person.

The Prime didn't seem to follow much of that exchange. Sparkle spoke High Hive with a slightly electronic accent that betrayed the fact that she can recently downloaded it. She also lacked the pheromone glands necessary to give her words proper emphasis.

"We'd appreciate it if you could bring us to the Planetary Over-Prime," said Min-ji, attempting to get the conversation back on track.

"No," said the Prime "Ambassador of Proxima and Dog: you must leave Hive territory or be destroyed."

"As I already explained, we're not in Hive territory," said Min-ji "This planet is under the protection of the Human Consensus. It belongs to the life forms that live on it. It is the Hive that is trespassing. Now, if you please, I would like to discuss this with someone in a position to make decisions."

Her pheromones denoted forthright seriousness, but they too were lost in the haze of aggression.

"Lies and blasphemy," said the Prime "Leave now or die."

Reacting to signal pheromones, the soldier-castes aimed their slime-dripping weapons all at once, as though acting as a single organism.

"Oh good grief," said Min-ji, shaking her head "You're only going to get yourselves killed."

The soldier-castes opened fire.

If you didn't know what you were doing, or worse yet if you did, you could really mess someone up with an Electromagnetic Field Manipulator. That's why Min-ji preferred to have only a single small one in her right hand. She only ever used it to interface with certain machines that absolutely required it or pick up small objects without bending over.

Sparkle, on the other hand, fancied herself a guard dog. Therefore she had two heavy-duty EMFMs implanted, one in each wrist. "In case one gets blown off!" she had cheerily explained once. Both were wired directly into her forebrain. This meant that her instinct at the first sign of danger was to create a defense field around herself and her protectee worthy of a small space craft.

Min-ji wasn't quite certain what the Hive weapons fired, they guarded the secrets of their obsolete technology jealousy, but she assumed it was some manner of thermonuclear plasma. When whatever it was collided with Sparkle's invisible bubble of protection, the result was a beautiful orange conflagration and a large quantity of screaming, melting Hivers.

Once the plasma storm died down Sparkle disengaged her defense field.

Min-ji fought back tears as she looked over the carnage before her. The Hivers were like children; they weren't ready for interstellar travel. If she had just said something back then, 200 years ago when they wanted access to the wormhole network, she could have prevented all this. Now things had come too far. She was afraid of what would have to happen next.